Is Economic Liberalization causing Environmental Degradation in India? An Analysis of Interventions

Abstract

India’s fossil fuel based energy-led economic growth and carbon emissions are largely influenced by economic liberalization. In this paper, we have considered twenty years before and after liberalization (1971-2010) and by formulation of an error correction model, we have demonstrated how causal associations among economic growth, drivers of growth, and negative consequences of growth undergo changes based on three constructs, namely industrialization, energy efficiency, and rural-urban migration. Analysis of missing feedback link in Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis using contextual interventions is the primary contribution of this paper in ecological economics literature