Does the pollution halo hypothesis exist in this “better” world? The evidence from STIRPAT model

Multinational corporation has changed their host countries. The new wave of FDI inflow attracted the interest of policymakers. FDI has significant effects on both productivity and carbon dioxide emissions. The host countries should carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages of FDI to their nation. The previous literature has not illustrated the global context’s theoretical halo or haven pollution hypothesis. Using panel data of 96 countries between 2004 and 2014, our empirical results confirm the haven pollution hypothesis in both developing and developed countries. We employ the different general methods of moments (GMMs) to engage FDI in traditional STIRPAT theoretical frameworks. The empirical results contribute to the evidence of the EKC theory. The country’s income level has been used to modify our models. The affluence of the economy, urbanization, FDI, and industrial sector would cause harmful effects on carbon dioxin emissions globally. The paper implies the two models which can be used for both developed and developing countries. The policymaker can use both short-run and long-run elasticities from those models to implicate their country’s FDI inflow strategy. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11356-022-21654-4.