article · Environment and Development Economics
An examination of African nations from 1996 to 2020 investigates the relationship between institutional governance and carbon dioxide emissions. Using dynamic panel data modelling to account for endogeneity, the research evaluates how political regimes and governance quality influence environmental pollution. The primary outcome demonstrates that stronger, higher-quality institutions significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions across the continent. Additionally, the analysis supports both the environmental Kuznets curve and pollution haven hypotheses. Digitalisation is shown to significantly curb environmental pollution. Conversely, industrialisation, natural resource exploitation, and intensive energy usage operate as positive drivers of emissions. Robustness checks confirm the reliability of the link between effective institutions and lower pollution, providing empirical support for stronger environmental regulations in African economies.
Addressing environmental degradation requires understanding how national governance influences emissions. By demonstrating that robust political institutions and digitalisation curb pollution, while industrialisation and intensive energy use increase it, this research provides African policymakers with evidence to support stronger environmental regulations alongside economic development initiatives.
The abstract does not indicate an application pathway, as it focuses strictly on macroeconomic and policy analysis.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
Abstract This paper tests the pollution emissions and institutional quality nexus in Africa. Specifically, we analyze the effect of the political regime and the quality of political governance on CO 2 emissions. To control for endogeneity, we apply the system generalized method of moments on a dynamic panel of African countries over the period 1996–2020. The key finding suggests that better institutions have a negative and significant effect on pollution in Africa. The findings also validate the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. Moreover, the results support the pollution haven hypothesis. Finally, if digitalization significantly curbs pollution, then industrialization, natural resources, as well as the intensive use of energy, are considered as positive predictors. All the sensitivity and robustness tests globally validate the strength of the negative association between the good quality of institutions and the level of polluting emissions in Africa. The results call for some policy recommendations in environmental regulation for African economies.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.1017/s1355770x24000044
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
