Analyzing technology-emissions association in Top-10 polluted MENA countries: How to ascertain sustainable development by quantile modeling approach

This study investigates the relationship between technological progression and ambient air pollution in top-10 polluted Middle East and North African (MENA) countries by using monthly data for the period of 1990–2017. The Quantile cointegration proposed by Xiao (2009), Quantile-on-Quantile regression (QQ) proposed by Sim and Zhou (2015), and Quantile Autoregressive Granger causality developed by Troster et al. (2018) are applied. In particular, we examine to which extent, quantiles of technological progression affect the quantiles of ambient air pollution, by developing separate indicators for both the mentioned aspects using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Our empirical findings unfold mutual dependence between technological progression and ambient air pollution. Furthermore, the results of Quantile Autoregressive Granger causality test conclude a bidirectional causal relationship between technological progression and ambient air pollution.