Türkiye’de Ekolojik Ayak İzi ile Finansal Gelişme Arasındaki İlişki: Fourier Testinden Kanıtlar

The impact of financial development on the ecological footprint and the relationship between them is of great importance for sustainable development and environmental protection. While financial development contributes to economic growth, it can also increase the consumption of natural resources and environmental pollution. For this reason, balancing financial development with environmental sustainability is critical to preserving the quality of life for future generations. Effective environmental policies and green financing tools can simultaneously promote economic growth and minimize the ecological footprint, thereby improving environmental quality. This study investigates the long-term relationship between financial development and ecological footprint in Türkiye. The dataset covers the period from 1980 to 2022 and consists of annual observations. The stationarity of the variables was tested using the Fourier KPSS unit root test and the KPSS unit root test. After determining that the variables were not stationary at their level values, the Fourier cointegration test was used to examine the long-term relationship between the variables. The results of the study revealed a cointegration relationship between ecological footprint and financial development in Türkiye. According to the long-term DOLS estimation results, there is a statistically significant positive relationship at the 1% significance level between financial development and ecological footprint, indicating that increases in financial development lead to increases in the ecological footprint. This finding underscores the need for more environmentally friendly policies and careful decision-making in the process of achieving financial development.