Determination of social, environmental, and economic determinants of sustainable development in Turkey

Sustainable development is a development model that combines economic, environmental, and social dimensions. Each dimension is important for the model. This thesis examines the relationship between the prominent variables of the dimensions and sustainable development in Turkey's sustainable development goals. The study investigates the impact of ecological footprint, globalization, and population density variables on sustainable development for the period 1990-2021. Fourier-based unit root, causality, and cointegration tests are used to examine the stationarity of the variables, the causal interaction between the variables, and long-term dynamics. According to the analysis results, only population density was found to have a causal relationship with sustainable development. Globalization and population density positively affect sustainable development, but the ecological footprint negatively affects it. In this case, it is important for Turkey's policymakers to continue their efforts to promote globalization and effectively manage population density while placing greater emphasis on reducing the ecological footprint in order to achieve sustainable development goals.