Institutions' quality and environmental pollution in Africa

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environment and development economics 2024-06, Vol.29 (3), p.206-233
Main Authors: Mignamissi, Dieudonné, Mougnol A. Ekoula, Hervé William, Thioune, Thierno
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agreements
Autocracy
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide emissions
Climate change
Democracy
Digitization
Emissions
Energy consumption
Environmental impact
Environmental Kuznets curve
Environmental policy
Environmental protection
Environmental quality
Environmental regulations
Environmental testing
Hypotheses
Industrialization
Institutions
Method of moments
Natural resources
Pollution
Pollution control
Pollution effects
Pollution levels
Quality
Sustainable development
Trends
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Summary: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.
ISSN:1355-770X
1469-4395
DOI:10.1017/S1355770X24000044