ENVIRONMENTAL KUZNETS CURVE HYPOTHESIS IN BRICTS: THE ROLE OF TOURISM

Kuznets (1955) predicted that the changing relationship between per capita income and income inequality is an inverted-U shaped curve. Kuznets Curve says that as per capita income increases, income inequality also increases at first and then starts declining after a turning point. In the 1990s, Kuznets Curve hypothesis is started to apply the relationship between environmental quality and per capita income. According to this hypothesis which is called Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), firstly as per capita income increases, environmental degradation also increase and then starts declining after a turning point. Generally, the relationship between economic growth, energy consumption and environmental degradation has been investigated for testing EKC hypothesis. However, some sectors stimulate economic activity. Tourism sector is one of the most important sectors which not only contribute to an economy, but also other sectors. Tourism development has increased energy demand and urbanization. These activities cause environmental pollution. As a result, the relationship between tourism and environmental pollution is significant for policymakers and researchers. In this study, it is examined the relationship between per capita CO2 emissions, real per capita GDP, per capita energy consumption, trade openness rate and the number of international tourists who visit BRICTS countries over the period from 1995 to 2011 in order to test connection between tourism and carbon emissions using the EKC framework. Pedroni (2009) cointegration test is used to determine the relationship. The results reveal that there is a cointegration relationship with between CO2 emissions and independent variables. Tourist arrivals and economic growth have a negatively effects on CO2 emissions. In contrast, trade openness decreases the emissions in BRICTS countries.