Toward a Sustainable Future in India: Examining the role of foreign direct investment and agricultural development in environmental degradation using NARDL framework

Toward a Sustainable Future in India: Examining the role of foreign direct investment and agricultural development in environmental degradation using NARDL framework | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Toward a Sustainable Future in India: Examining the role of foreign direct investment and agricultural development in environmental degradation using NARDL framework Zeeshan Ahmad, Zeeshan Anis Khan, Marya Shaheen, Shah Husain, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9365245/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Investigating Pollution-Haven Hypothesis (PHH) is main motive of conducting this study, focusing on the asymmetric impacts of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and agricultural development on CO₂ emissions in India. Asymmetrical advance econometric model i.e., NARDL model are used to investigates dynamic asymmetrical inter-connectedness among the selected variables using long time series data spanning from 1970–2021. The findings robustly support the Pollution-Haven Hypothesis (PHH) in India, demonstrating that positive shocks in FDI are associated with increased CO₂ emissions, indicative of polluting industries relocating to areas with less stringent environmental regulations. Further results reveal that agricultural activities significantly reduce CO₂ emissions, supporting sustainable agricultural practices, while increased trade openness corresponds with higher emissions. Surprisingly, population growth shows a negative impact on emissions, possibly reflecting urban efficiency improvements and sustainable consumption patterns. These insights underline the importance of stringent environmental regulations to mitigate the adverse effects of FDI and suggest adjustments in trade policies to include environmental considerations, emphasizing the need for balanced and informed policy measures to achieve sustainable development in India. Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH) Agriculture Based- Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) CO₂ Emissions NARDL Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9365245","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":623848554,"identity":"0cb64c3c-a840-403b-be30-c89db152d4c6","order_by":0,"name":"Zeeshan Ahmad","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Maharaja Suhel Dev State University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zeeshan","middleName":"","lastName":"Ahmad","suffix":""},{"id":623848556,"identity":"64f1bf70-67c0-4062-9de1-cc058e09656b","order_by":1,"name":"Zeeshan Anis Khan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Aligarh Muslim University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zeeshan","middleName":"Anis","lastName":"Khan","suffix":""},{"id":623848558,"identity":"51f6b3e2-3ec9-42d3-a59e-a02b234f2a6b","order_by":2,"name":"Marya Shaheen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Aligarh Muslim University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marya","middleName":"","lastName":"Shaheen","suffix":""},{"id":623848559,"identity":"dcff1d5a-1141-4256-9900-12bd1277bb48","order_by":3,"name":"Shah Husain","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"GITAM University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shah","middleName":"","lastName":"Husain","suffix":""},{"id":623848560,"identity":"3c3772de-08bf-4eb4-9191-442e5680a6c4","order_by":4,"name":"Dr Imran Ali Baig","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA9klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACNgbmhsMMDBJAxvGDD4ACPHyEtTBCtPAznkk2AGlhI2wPYwMziJJsPmAmATGEAOBjP9h4uKDGwm7DsQNplV9z7GSATn346AY+h/EkNhyecUwiecOZg8duy25LBjqMzdg4B69fgFp42CSSDW4cSLstuY0ZqIWHTRqvFv6HQC3/gFruPzArltxWT4QWCaAtvG0SdpINB8wYP247TIwWoC0z+yQS+BnOJEszbjvOw8ZMwC/y/cmHPxd8q7MHReXHn9uq7fnZmx8+xqcFBhIbgAQzD4jJTIRyELAHEYw/iFQ9CkbBKBgFIwsAADmrSkitHDI+AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Jamia Millia Islamia","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"Dr","firstName":"Imran","middleName":"Ali","lastName":"Baig","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-09 08:10:22","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9365245/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9365245/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108557023,"identity":"3a6cd3b1-e74a-4d34-9a8c-a99230d01ac1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-06 01:42:02","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":822251,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript4.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9365245/v1_covered_b8b08595-6ee3-4fed-b556-944b85703204.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Toward a Sustainable Future in India: Examining the role of foreign direct investment and agricultural development in environmental degradation using NARDL framework","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH), Agriculture Based- Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), CO₂ Emissions, NARDL","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9365245/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9365245/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eInvestigating Pollution-Haven Hypothesis (PHH) is main motive of conducting this study, focusing on the asymmetric impacts of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and agricultural development on CO₂ emissions in India. 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