The present study investigates the necessary and sufficient conditions for the ecological footprint in a panel of 103 countries in 2018 by employing two distinct analytical approaches: Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) and Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) models. The NCA and fsQCA models are data-based and were analyzed using R software. The research utilized various factors, such as economic growth, institutional quality, urbanization, energy consumption, fragile states, and trade openness, as influencing factors. The NCA model examines the necessary conditions for the influence of independent variables on the ecological footprint. In contrast, the fsQCA model allows for exploring sufficient conditions and identifying the optimal combination of variables that increase or decrease the ecological footprint. The results of the NCA model indicate that only energy consumption is a necessary condition for the ecological footprint. In contrast, the fsQCA model shows that low GDP is necessary for a low ecological footprint. Moreover, the fsQCA model reveals five combined solutions for increasing or decreasing the ecological footprint. For example, solution 4, with a compatibility of 0.98, states that increasing urbanization and institutional quality, along with reducing energy consumption, leads to a decrease in the ecological footprint. The term \\\"compatibility\\\" in this context refers to the extent to which the solution satisfies the necessary and sufficient conditions of the model. The findings suggest that policymakers should focus on reducing energy consumption to decrease the ecological footprint and promote low economic growth to achieve a sustainable environment.

Keywords