A Spatial Econometric Analysis of Air Pollutant Concentrations and Economic Growth on Public Health: Empirical Evidence from Central Asian Countries

Air pollution of the countries of Central Asia has affected not only the health of the population since 1990 but also influenced the environment. This study has been made empirically analyzes the spatial autocorrelation analysis that is based on the 1991 to 2017 database of Central Asian countries on the socio-economic factors influencing the concentration of Sulfur Dioxide (SO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Ozone (O3), and Particulate Matter (PM2.5) in the air. Besides, this study validated Global Moran's I statistics to determine spatial positive autocorrelations. The results show that there is a strong correlation between air pollution concentrations and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. The achievement identified that the concentrations of SO2, CO, NO2, O3, and PM2.5 have a spatial aggregation and distribution effect, which is significantly influenced by the spatial characteristics and the Central Asian Regional Economic Unions. It also determined that an energy policy of a country can be affected the emissions of air pollutants from neighboring countries due to policy effects. Therefore, there is a need for regional coordination of environmental policies and the transfer of pollution-intensive industries, to keep air pollution in countries of Central Asia at a normal level. In addition to the empirical results of this study, the following two conclusions can be identified. First, it identified the need for a unified policy to reduce air pollution to reduce emissions from air pollution sources. Second, there is a need for a renewable energy policy for the development and promotion of renewable energy