Navigating the Nexus of Democracy, Corruption, and Military Spending on Environmental Decay

Navigating the Nexus of Democracy, Corruption, and Military Spending on Environmental Decay | 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 Navigating the Nexus of Democracy, Corruption, and Military Spending on Environmental Decay Soumyajit Bhunia This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7635586/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 This study aims to investigate the interplay between democracy, defence expenditure, corruption, and environmental decay across South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries, spanning a period of twenty years of panel data from 2000 to 2019. By exploring these interconnected determinants, our study aims to shed some light on how governance and military expenditure influence environmental quality concerning carbon footprints. Understanding these dynamics can reveal the mechanisms through which corruption and military expenditure exacerbate environmental degradation. We analyse the determinants of environmental degradation utilizing the Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) approach. Our analysis will provide insights into the ways in which corruption may undermine democratic institutions and contribute to environmental harm. Additionally, this paper also seeks to highlight the importance of fostering transparent governance and sustainable policies to mitigate ecological degradation. Regression results indicate positive association between military spending and environmental degradation. However, we find a contradict result between democracy and carbon emissions. Typically, freedoms and elevated consumption patterns in democratic economies frequently result in higher energy demands, leading to larger environmental footprints. Political corruption index positively and significantly influences carbon emissions, driving greater industrial activity and resource exploitation, escalating CO2 emissions and degrades the environment. JEL Codes: C23; E66; H50; O50 Environmental Economics Econometrics Macroeconomics environmental degradation military expenditure corruption panel data dynamic OLS Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. 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. 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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-7635586","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":516253759,"identity":"ff945a1d-82b4-4c0d-8bfe-bb63db32b6bb","order_by":0,"name":"Soumyajit Bhunia","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5792-8623","institution":"Panskura Banamali College (Autonomous)","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Soumyajit","middleName":"","lastName":"Bhunia","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-09-17 04:34:40","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":true,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":true},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7635586/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7635586/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":91596294,"identity":"e44cb697-0b27-4144-9806-7d07a71c0467","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-18 07:39:16","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":443967,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SoumyajitBhuniaBookchapterMU.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7635586/v1_covered_9218606a-777c-43dd-9001-071acc43474e.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eNavigating the Nexus of Democracy, Corruption, and Military Spending on Environmental Decay\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"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":"environmental degradation, military expenditure, corruption, panel data, dynamic OLS","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7635586/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7635586/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study aims to investigate the interplay between democracy, defence expenditure, corruption, and environmental decay across South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries, spanning a period of twenty years of panel data from 2000 to 2019. 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