Abstract:

In this paper, whether the CO2 emissions converge among European countries or not has been inquired within the frame of convergence hypothesis under Fourier cointegration test which was developed by Tsong et al. (2016). In this context, annual data concerning Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and England for the period of 1965-2019 were used with addition of annual data concerning Europe's average CO2 emissions. This paper is the first study in the literature to test whether the CO2 emission is convergent within the frame of the convergence hypothesis under the Fourier cointegration method. As stated in the results of the Tsong et al. (2016) Fourier Cointegration test, a cointegrated relationship was found between the per capita CO2 emissions of Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Turkey and the average per capita CO2 emission of Europe. Based on these results, it has been determined that there is a convergence between the per capita CO2 emissions of these countries and the average per capita CO2 emissions of Europe. On the other hand, no cointegrated relationship has been found between the per capita CO2 emissions of Cyprus, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, UK and the average per capita CO2 emissions of Europe. Therefore, no convergence was determined between these countries and average per capita CO2 emissions of Europe.

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