Do Oil Price Shocks Matter for Environmental Degradation? Evidence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve in GCC Countries

This paper aims to examine the asymmetric impact of oil price shocks on environmental degradation for a panel six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries from 1996 2016. We use dynamic seemingly unrelated regressions (DSUR) approach that considers cross-sectional dependency reveal interrelations between and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. The finding shows positive prices have statistically significant negative effect CO emissions, while did not affect More specifically, negatively influenced emissions in Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Emirates Arab. In turn, most is found Qatar Arabia. Meanwhile, effects emission Oman While other countries, it does impact. Also, results support an Kuznets curve Kuwait, Arab Emirates; contrast, hypothesis was rejected Bahrain Oman. study could help policymakers adopt renewable energy policies energy-saving technologies sustain economic development improve quality.