Implications of Philippine National Output, Population, and Business Establishments to Natural Resources Depletion

Abstract

Natural resources depletion in the Philippines is a growing concern brought about by different economic indicators that resulted in its current status. This study aimed to identify the relationship between the different economic indicators namely GDP, Population, and Business Establishments to Natural Resources Depletion. The aforementioned variables were examined, and the theory of the Environmental Kuznets Curve was applied to further describe this relation. With reference to previous studies by Abdul Ghafoor Awan and Humaira Liaqat (2021) under similar backgrounds used in the study, the Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test, Engle-Granger Two-Step Method, and the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) Regression were used. The results showed that GDP and Business Establishments have a significant negative effect on the depletion of natural resources, while Population has a significant positive effect. The concept of the Environmental Kuznets Curve supports the findings about the Philippines' GDP and Natural Resources Depletion. This study contributes to the policy-making sector as it can be used as the basis of environmental and industrial laws and recommendations to government agencies and officials, as well as provide suggestions to future researchers of studies related to the economic implications to natural resources depletion.