Three-dimensional ecological footprint and economic complexity nexus in GCC countries

Behnaz Saboori () and Mohammad Hassan Tarazkar ()
Additional contact information
Behnaz Saboori: Sultan Qaboos University
Mohammad Hassan Tarazkar: Shiraz University

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, 2025, vol. 27, issue 5, No 72, 11675-11696

Abstract: Abstract The ecological footprint is unable to separate stock capital from flow capital and measures only natural capital. In this study, the three-dimensional ecological footprint was measured for the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). For the first time, the three-dimensional ecological footprint (EF3-D) and economic complexity nexus were examined in GCC countries, and the results are compared to the classical ecological footprint (EF2-D). The quantile regression method was used to investigate the impacts of economic complexity, population, economic growth, and energy consumption on different quantiles of EF2-D and EF3-D over the period 2000–2017. The results indicated that, in addition to its ecological benefits, economic complexity can effectively decouple environmental sustainability from both EF2-D and EF3-D in GCC countries. Additionally, empirical findings supported an inverse U-shaped relationship between both the three-dimensional and traditional ecological footprints and economic growth at all quantiles. Moreover, population and fossil fuel energy were found to have a positive effect on EF2-D and EF3-D in GCC countries. Based on these findings, policymakers are advised to propose comprehensive policies that target not just the size but also the depth of ecological footprints.

Keywords: 3-D ecological footprint; Economic complexity index (ECI); GCC countries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-023-04374-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:endesu:v:27:y:2025:i:5:d:10.1007_s10668-023-04374-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/10668

DOI: 10.1007/s10668-023-04374-8

Access Statistics for this article

Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development is currently edited by Luc Hens

More articles in Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().