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Convergence analysis of the ecological footprint: theory and empirical evidence from the USMCA countries

Abstract:

The lower ecological footprint (EF) is the sine qua non condition of cleaner energy. The purpose of this study is to investigate the convergence of per capita ecological footprint for the USMCA (The North American Free Trade Agreement) countries, involving the USA, Canada, and Mexico, over the 1961 to 2016. To this aim, the TAR (threshold autoregressive) panel unit root test is applied. Empirical findings indicate that convergence of the EF exists in the second regime, which represents 48.08 percent of the sample, and divergence in the first. Canada is the transition country between two regimes. These results signify common environmental policies-actions among the USMCA countries to mitigate-stop their environmental degradation. Additionally, detected convergence and divergence also might help the policymakers of the USMCA countries to understand which strategies-policies-actions converge or diverge them in the case of EF.