Institutions' quality and environmental pollution in Africa

• 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
• ISSN: 1355-770X; 1469-4395
• DOI: 10.1017/S1355770X24000044

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.