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Journals / Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Üniversitesi SBE Dergisi / 2026 / Cilt: 16 Sayı: 3

Determinants of environmental degradation and their variation across indicators: Evidence from the BRICS-T countries

Çevresel bozulmanın belirleyicileri ve göstergelere göre değişimi: BRICS-T ülkelerinden kanıtlar

Esin Kendir0000-0003-0435-7499
Burcu Aslantaş Ateş(SÜLEYMAN DEMİREL ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0000-0002-8896-5303
Harun Yakışık(ÇANKIRI KARATEKİN ÜNİVERSİTESİ)0000-0001-9542-1614
Pages
1070–1089
Publication Date
2026-09-26
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AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The findings indicate that energy use increases carbon dioxide emissions and the ecological footprint while reducing carbon intensity.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

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Objective & Hypothesis:Rising energy use, deepening trade integration, and continued economic growth worldwide have made environmental degradation a multidimensional phenomenon.
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Key Findings & Data:The analysis uses panel data covering the period 2010–2020 and includes energy use, economic growth, trade openness, and institutional quality as the main explanatory variables.
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Conclusion & Impact:The findings indicate that energy use increases carbon dioxide emissions and the ecological footprint while reducing carbon intensity.
🔬Design:Modeling & Simulation
📍Scope:2010–2020 Verileri
⚙️Variables:Çevresel sürdürülebilirlik · Ekolojik ayak izi · Driscoll–Kraay tahmincisi

Abstract

Rising energy use, deepening trade integration, and continued economic growth worldwide have made environmental degradation a multidimensional phenomenon. Accordingly, measuring environmental degradation solely in terms of carbon dioxide emissions may not fully capture the extent of environmental pressures. This study investigates the determinants of environmental degradation in BRICS-T countries using carbon dioxide emissions, the ecological footprint, and carbon intensity as alternative indicators. The analysis uses panel data covering the period 2010–2020 and includes energy use, economic growth, trade openness, and institutional quality as the main explanatory variables. The appropriate panel data model is selected using the Hausman test, and a series of diagnostic tests is conducted to identify potential violations of the model assumptions. The final models are estimated using Driscoll–Kraay robust standard errors. The findings indicate that energy use increases carbon dioxide emissions and the ecological footprint while reducing carbon intensity. Trade openness reduces the ecological footprint but increases carbon intensity. Economic growth has a statistically significant effect only on carbon intensity, whereas the effect of institutional quality varies across the three environmental indicators. These findings underscore the need for environmental policies that account for the multidimensional nature of environmental degradation.

Özet

Küresel ölçekte artan enerji kullanımı, ticari entegrasyon ve ekonomik büyüme, çevresel bozulmayı çok boyutlu bir olgu hâline getirmiştir. Bu nedenle çevresel bozulmanın yalnızca karbondioksit emisyonlarıyla ölçülmesinin çevresel baskının tüm boyutlarını yansıtmada yetersiz kaldığı ileri sürülmektedir. Bu çalışma, BRICS-T ülkelerinde çevresel bozulmanın belirleyicilerini çevresel bozulmanın ekonomik ve düzenleyici kurumsal kapasiteyle olan ilişkisi üzerinden incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Analizde 2010–2020 dönemine ait panel veri kullanılmış; enerji kullanımı, ekonomik büyüme, ticari açıklık ve kurumsal kalite temel açıklayıcı değişkenler olarak ele alınmıştır. Uygun panel veri modeli Hausman testiyle belirlenmiş, model varsayımları çeşitli tanısal testlerle değerlendirilmiştir. Nihai tahminler Driscoll–Kraay dayanıklı standart hatalarıyla elde edilmiştir. Bulgular, enerji kullanımının karbondioksit emisyonları ve ekolojik ayak izini artırırken karbon yoğunluğunu azalttığını göstermektedir. Ticari açıklık ekolojik ayak izini azaltmakta, karbon yoğunluğunu ise artırmaktadır. Ekonomik büyüme yalnızca karbon yoğunluğu üzerinde anlamlı etki göstermiştir. Ayrıca kurumsal kalite göstergesinin etkilerinin kullanılan çevresel bozulma göstergesine göre farklılaştığı belirlenmiştir. Bu bulgular, çevre politikalarının farklı çevresel göstergeler dikkate alınarak daha etkili ve kapsamlı biçimde tasarlanması gerektiğine işaret etmektedir

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Cite This Article

Kendir, E., Ateş, B. A., Yakışık, H. (2026). Determinants of environmental degradation and their variation across indicators: Evidence from the BRICS-T countries. Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Üniversitesi SBE Dergisi, Cilt: 16 Sayı: 3, 1070–1089. https://doi.org/10.30783/nevsosbilen.1927807

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