Testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis in developing countries using the ecological footprint method

Environmental pollution, which has existed from the past to the present, but which has increased with the Deceleration of the industrial revolution, is among the important problems of the world. The eden hypothesis, which proposes the relationship between environmental pollution and economic growth in the inverse U-shape, is known as the Environmental Kuznet Curve (EKC). Dec. The hypothesis states that an increase in income level up to a certain income level will cause environmental pollution, but after a certain income level, an increase in income level can reduce environmental problems. In this study, time series analysis was applied to test the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis in Turkey, Brazil and Mexico, and the period 1974-2021 was examined. For this purpose, real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, square of gross domestic product per capita (GDP ²), human population living in the city (URB) and dependent variable ecological footprint variables were determined as independent variables and equations were created. Unit root test, cointegration test and long-term coefficient estimators were used to estimate the effects of independent variables on the ecological footprint, which is our dependent variable. Considering the tests performed, it was concluded that the Environmental Kuznets Hypothesis is valid in Turkey, while it is not valid in Belgium and Mexico, and at the same time, it was concluded that the increase in the population living in the city in Turkey and Mexico reduces the ecological footprint, while the ecological footprint also increases as a result of the increase in the population living in the city in Belgium.