Accounting asymmetries in the long-run nexus between globalization and environmental sustainability in the United States: An aggregated and disaggregated investigation

Abstract

In recent years, the number of studies on the relationship between globalization and ecological footprint is steadily increasing, yet the literature lacks any formal consensus. Previous studies unveil beneficial as well as harmful effects of globalization on the environment. Furthermore, most of the scholars rely on linear methods to investigate this relationship, which can produce biased outcomes when non-linearities exist in data. Unquestionably, the United States played a leading role in increasing global connectivity; however, the present US administration has demonstrated not only a penchant for isolationism by keeping certain critical resources, technologies, and manufacturing capacities in the US but also the tendency to ignore environmental concerns both domestically and globally. On this backdrop, this study uses asymmetric ARDL, and asymmetric causality methods to investigate the asymmetric relationship between globalization and the ecological footprint of the US. Additionally, the disaggregated asymmetric impacts of social, economic, and political globalization on footprint are also ascertained. The results indicate non-linear cointegration among variables. The long-run estimations reveal that a 1% positive change in overall globalization and in economic globalization increases ecological footprint by 1.32 and 0.72%, respectively, while a similar 1% negative change alleviates footprint by 6.75 and 1.05%, respectively. The outcomes elucidate much more dominant effects associated with negative changes in total and economic globalization. In contrast, positive changes in social globalization improve the environment by mitigating ecological footprint. Interestingly, positive shocks to political globalization stimulate footprint, indicating the validity of the environmental governance failure hypothesis. Further, Granger causality from positive changes in globalization to the footprint is found. Lastly, this study is concluded by comprehensive policy implications, including policy regarding FDI, trade, and enhancing social globalization, among others. © 2020 Elsevier Inc.