The Impact of Carbon Emissions on Infant Mortality Rate in Azerbaijan

Abstract

This is the pioneering study to examine the impact of CO2 emissions on infant mortality rates (IMR) in Azerbaijan using data covering the period 1982-2022. The stationarity levels of the variables were analyzed with nonlinear unit root tests (KSS, Sollis and Kruse) and the results showed that CO2 was non-stationary while IMR was stationary. We determined the existence of a long-run relationship between the variables and analyzed the long-run effects using the A-ARDL method. The findings revealed that a 1% increase in CO2 emissions increases IMR by 1.69% on average. Causality analysis using the Fourier Todo-Yamamoto test shows that there is a unidirectional causal relationship from CO2 to IMR. These results emphasize the critical impact of environmental pollution on infant health.