Industrial Growth and Sustainable Development in Iran

Authors

1 Department of Economics, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr, Iran

2 Department of Economic Development and Planning, Faculty of Management and Economics, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

This study aims to measure how much the industrial sector suppresses the development process to be sustainable in Iran. We employ a quadratic-log form of regression model to test the Industrial Environmental Kuznets Hypothesis. In addition, we use a Vector Auto-Regressive model to estimate the nexus among the industrial growth, income inequality, environmental pollution, and energy consumption in Iran during 1971 and 2014. The results confirm the Industrial Environmental Kuznets Hypothesis. Moreover, they show that all the three variables present the same response to the shock in the industrial growth since all the responses are increasing. It provides preponderance of evidence for the incompatibility of industrial growth with social, environmental, and resource development in Iran. This sector should be modified, improved, and reconstructed to pave the way for harmonization among the quadruple layers of sustainable development including industrial growth, environmental quality, social satisfaction, and optimal usage of resources. The policy-makers are advised to consider the sustainability properties in their development strategies as the development process evolves comprehensively.
 

Keywords


Adams, W. M. (2006). The Future of Sustainability: Re-thinking Environment and Development in the Twenty-first Century. Report of the IUCN Renowned Thinkers Meeting, 29, 31-40.
Adu, D. T., & Denkyirah, E. K. (2018). Economic Growth and Environmental Pollution in West Africa: Testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis. Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences, Retrieved from
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S245231511730320X/pdfft?md5=2847a95ecedb4d3fced7e5569500f2c3&pid=1-s2.0-S245231511730320X-main.pdf.
Antoci, A., Galeotti, M., & Sordi, S. (2018). Environmental Pollution as Engine of Industrialization. Commun Nonlinear Sci Numer Simulat, 58, 262-273.
Bornhorst, F., Gupta, S., & Thornton, J. (2009). Natural Resource Endowments and the Domestic Revenue Effort. European Journal of Political Economy, 25(4), 439-446.
Cantore, N., Clara, M., Lavopa, A., & Soare, C. (2017). Manufacturing as an Engine of Growth: Which is the Best Fuel? Structural Change and Economic Dynamic, 42, 56-66.
Cato, M. S. (2009). Green Economics: an Introduction to Theory, Policy and Practice. London: Earthscan.
Dong, B., Wang, F., & Guo, Y. (2016). The global EKCs. International Review of Economics & Finance, 43, 210-221.
Erzurumlu, S. S., & Erzurumlu, Y. O. (2015). Sustainable Mining Development with Community Using Design Thinking and Multi-criteria Decision Analysis. Resources Policy, 46, 6-14.
Facchini, F., & Couvreur, S. (2015). Inequality: The Original Economic Sin of Capitalism? An Evaluation of Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-first Century. European Journal of Political Economy, 39, 281-287.
Genevey, R., Pachauri, R. K., & Tubiana, L. (2013). Reducing Inequalities: a Sustainable Development Challenge. New Dehli, India: The Energy and Resources Institute Press.  
Giddings, B., Hopwood, B., & O'brien, G. (2002). Environment, Economy and Society: Fitting them Together into Sustainable Development. Sustainable Development, 10(4), 187-196.
Halati, A., & He, Y. (2018). Intersection of Economic and Environmental Goals of Sustainable Development Initiatives. Journal of Cleaner Production, 189, 813-829.
Jafari, H. H., & Baratimalayeri, A. (2008). The Crisis of Gasoline Consumption in the Iran's Transportation Sector. Energy Policy, 36(7), 2536-2543.
Kaldor, N. (1967). Strategic Factors in Economic Development. New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Ithaca: Cornell University.
---------- (1966). Causes of the Slow Rate of Economic Growth of the United Kingdom: an Inaugural Lecture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Keeble, B. R. (1988). The Brundtland Report: Our common future. Medicine and War, 4(1), 17-25.
Li, K., & Lin, B. (2015). Impacts of Urbanization and Industrialization on Energy Consumption/CO2 Emissions: does the Level of Development Matter? Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 52, 1107-1122.
Nikolaou, I. E., & Tsalis, T. (2018). A Framework to Evaluate Eco- and Social-labels for designing a Sustainability Consumption Label to Measure Strong Sustainability Impact of Firms/Products. Journal of Cleaner Production, 182, 105-113.
Özokcu, S., & Özdemir, Ö. (2017). Economic Growth, Energy, and Environmental Kuznets Curve. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 72, 639-647.
Shahbaz, M., & Lean, H. H. (2012). Does Financial Development Increase Energy Consumption? The Role of Industrialization and Urbanization in Tunisia. Energy Policy, 40, 473-479.
Szirmai, A., & Verspagen, B. (2015). Manufacturing and Economic Growth in Developing Countries, 1950–2005. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 34, 46-59.
Taghvaee, V. M., & Hajiani, P. (2016). Environment, Energy, and Economy Elasticities in Iran: a Compromise in Short run and Long run with Simultaneous Model. Proceedings of the Fourth European Academic Research Conference on Global Business, Economics, Finance and Banking. Zurich, Switzerland.
---------- (2014). Price and Income Elasticities of Gasoline Demand in Iran: Using Static, ECM, and Dynamic Models in Short, Intermediate, and Long run. Modern Economy, 5(9), 939-950.
Taghvaee, V. M., & Parsa, H. (2015). Economic Growth and Environmental Pollution in Iran: Evidence from Manufacturing and Services Sectors. Custos E Agronegocio Line, 11(1), 115-127.
Taghvaee, V. M., Shirazi, J. K., Boutabba, M. A., & Aloo, A. S. (2017). Economic Growth and Renewable Energy in Iran. Iranian Economic Review, 21(4), 789-808.
Ward, B., & Dubos, R. (1983). Only One Earth. The Care and Maintenance of a Small Planet. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.
Wilkinson, R. G., & Pickett, K. E. (2011). The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger. Pennsylvania: Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
---------- (2009). Income Inequality and Social Dysfunction. Annual Review of Sociology, 35, 493-511.
World Bank. (2018). Topics, Sustainable Development. Retrieved from http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/sustainabledevelopment/overview#1.
Xu, T. (2018). Investigating Environmental Kuznets Curve in China–Aggregation Bias and Policy Implications. Energy Policy, 114, 315-322.