IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i18p11708-d918157.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ecological Footprint and Its Determinants in MENA Countries: A Spatial Econometric Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammadreza Ramezani

    (Department of Agricultural Economics, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM), Mashhad 9177948978, Iran)

  • Leili Abolhassani

    (Department of Agricultural Economics, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM), Mashhad 9177948978, Iran
    Economic Research Branch, Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Belfast BT9 5PX, UK)

  • Naser Shahnoushi Foroushani

    (Department of Agricultural Economics, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM), Mashhad 9177948978, Iran)

  • Diane Burgess

    (Economic Research Branch, Agri-Food & Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Belfast BT9 5PX, UK)

  • Milad Aminizadeh

    (Department of Agricultural Economics, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM), Mashhad 9177948978, Iran)

Abstract

Countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have been facing serious environmental issues due to over-exploitation of natural resources. This paper analyzes the ecological footprint as a proxy of environmental degradation and determines its influencing factors in 18 MENA countries during 2000–2016. Despite the many studies on the relationship between the ecological footprint and its determinants in the region, the current study use spatial econometric models to take into account spatial dependence in the ecological footprint as well as its determinants. Using a spatial Durbin model, we revealed that neighbors’ behavior can significantly affect a country’s ecological footprint. Factors such as GDP per capita, trade openness, and financial development were found to increase environmental degradation, while the renewable energy consumption, urbanization, and quality of democracy effectively reduce the ecological footprint. These factors not only affect the ecological footprint in the host country, but also affect it in the adjacent countries in different ways. Due to the interdependence of the countries, we recommend development of a regional vision of the bio-economy such that the scope of the analysis goes beyond the country level to account for territorial effects. Furthermore, considering the great potential for renewable energy consumption in the region, we recommend MENA countries to develop use of renewable energy sources in order to reduce environmental degradation in the region.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammadreza Ramezani & Leili Abolhassani & Naser Shahnoushi Foroushani & Diane Burgess & Milad Aminizadeh, 2022. "Ecological Footprint and Its Determinants in MENA Countries: A Spatial Econometric Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-20, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:18:p:11708-:d:918157
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/18/11708/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/18/11708/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yu Liu & Hongwei Xiao & Precious Zikhali & Yingkang Lv, 2014. "Carbon Emissions in China: A Spatial Econometric Analysis at the Regional Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(9), pages 1-19, September.
    2. Lægreid, Ole Martin & Povitkina, Marina, 2018. "Do Political Institutions Moderate the GDP-CO2 Relationship?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 441-450.
    3. Gorus, Muhammed Sehid & Aydin, Mucahit, 2019. "The relationship between energy consumption, economic growth, and CO2 emission in MENA countries: Causality analysis in the frequency domain," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 815-822.
    4. Mrabet, Zouhair & Alsamara, Mouyad & Mimouni, Karim & Mnasri, Ayman, 2021. "Can human development and political stability improve environmental quality? New evidence from the MENA region," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 28-44.
    5. Li, Jinying & Li, Sisi, 2020. "Energy investment, economic growth and carbon emissions in China—Empirical analysis based on spatial Durbin model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    6. Viktoriia Koilo, 2019. "Evidence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve: Unleashing the Opportunity of Industry 4.0 in Emerging Economies," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-18, July.
    7. Haider Mahmood, 2020. "CO2 Emissions, Financial Development, Trade, and Income in North America: A Spatial Panel Data Approach," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(4), pages 21582440209, October.
    8. Bagliani, Marco & Bravo, Giangiacomo & Dalmazzone, Silvana, 2008. "A consumption-based approach to environmental Kuznets curves using the ecological footprint indicator," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 650-661, April.
    9. Selden Thomas M. & Song Daqing, 1994. "Environmental Quality and Development: Is There a Kuznets Curve for Air Pollution Emissions?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 147-162, September.
    10. Artemiou, Andreas & Li, Bing, 2013. "Predictive power of principal components for single-index model and sufficient dimension reduction," Journal of Multivariate Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 176-184.
    11. Martin Dür & Lars Keller, 2019. "Research Collaboration of Austrian and Indian Teenagers in the Context of Education for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-19, September.
    12. Tiba, Sofien & Belaid, Fateh, 2020. "The pollution concern in the era of globalization: Do the contribution of foreign direct investment and trade openness matter?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    13. Al-Mulali, Usama & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2015. "The effect of energy consumption, urbanization, trade openness, industrial output, and the political stability on the environmental degradation in the MENA (Middle East and North African) region," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 382-389.
    14. Galeotti, Marzio & Lanza, Alessandro, 1999. "Richer and cleaner? A study on carbon dioxide emissions in developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(10), pages 565-573, October.
    15. Cropper, Maureen & Griffiths, Charles, 1994. "The Interaction of Population Growth and Environmental Quality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(2), pages 250-254, May.
    16. Maddison, David, 2006. "Environmental Kuznets curves: A spatial econometric approach," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 218-230, March.
    17. Nabila Abid & Jianzu Wu & Fayyaz Ahmad & Muhammad Umar Draz & Abbas Ali Chandio & Hui Xu, 2020. "Incorporating Environmental Pollution and Human Development in the Energy-Growth Nexus: A Novel Long Run Investigation for Pakistan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-22, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ghazala Aziz & Suleman Sarwar, 2023. "Empirical Evidence of Environmental Technologies, Renewable Energy and Tourism to Minimize the Environmental Damages: Implication of Advanced Panel Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-20, March.
    2. Saud, Shah & Haseeb, Abdul & Zafar, Muhammad Wasif & Li, Huiyun, 2023. "Articulating natural resource abundance, economic complexity, education and environmental sustainability in MENA countries: Evidence from advanced panel estimation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Uzar, Umut, 2024. "The dynamic effect of income distribution, natural resources, and freedom of press on ecological footprint: Theory and empirical evidence for emerging economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    4. Bashir, Muhammad Adnan & Qing, Li & Raza Syed, Qasim & Barwińska-Małajowicz, Anna & Hashmi, Shabir Mohsin, 2024. "Resources policy from extraction to innovation: The interplay of minerals, geothermal energy, technological advancements, and ecological footprint in high-ecological footprint economies," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bo Sui & Chun-Ping Chang & Yin Chu, 2021. "Political Stability: an Impetus for Spatial Environmental Spillovers," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 79(2), pages 387-415, June.
    2. Sebri, Maamar, 2009. "La Zone Méditerranéenne Face à la Pollution de L’air : Une Investigation Econométrique [The Mediterranean Zone in front of Air pollution: an Econometric Investigation]," MPRA Paper 32382, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Shahnazi, Rouhollah & Dehghan Shabani, Zahra, 2021. "The effects of renewable energy, spatial spillover of CO2 emissions and economic freedom on CO2 emissions in the EU," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 293-307.
    4. Atwi, Majed & Barberán, Ramón & Mur, Jesús & Angulo, Ana, 2018. "CO2 Kuznets Curve Revisited: From Cross-Sections to Panel Data Models," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 40, pages 169-196.
    5. Linna Chen & Shiyi Chen, 2015. "The Estimation of Environmental Kuznets Curve in China: Nonparametric Panel Approach," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 46(3), pages 405-420, October.
    6. Lv, Zhike & Gao, Zhenya, 2021. "The effect of corruption on environmental performance: Does spatial dependence play a role?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 45(2).
    7. Masih, A. Mansur M. & De Mello, Lurion, 2011. "Does the ‘Environmental Kuznets Curve’ Exist? An Application of Long-run Structural Modelling to Saudi Arabia - La Curva di Kuznets esiste? Un’applicazione LRSM al caso dell’Arabia Saudita," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 64(2), pages 211-235.
    8. Terciane Sabadini Carvalho & Eduardo Almeida, 2008. "A hipótese da Curva de Kuznets Ambiental Global: uma perspectiva econométrico-espacial," Anais do XXXVI Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 36th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 200807021032430, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    9. Zhang, Wenwen & Chiu, Yi-Bin, 2020. "Do country risks influence carbon dioxide emissions? A non-linear perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    10. Huixia Zhao & Emi Uchida & Xiangzheng Deng & Scott Rozelle, 2011. "Do Trees Grow with the Economy? A Spatial Analysis of the Determinants of Forest Cover Change in Sichuan, China," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 50(1), pages 61-82, September.
    11. Jaeger, William K. & Kolpin, Van & Siegel, Ryan, 2023. "The environmental Kuznets curve reconsidered," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    12. Lenzen, Manfred & Wier, Mette & Cohen, Claude & Hayami, Hitoshi & Pachauri, Shonali & Schaeffer, Roberto, 2006. "A comparative multivariate analysis of household energy requirements in Australia, Brazil, Denmark, India and Japan," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 181-207.
    13. Nicolae Stef & Sami Ben Jabeur, 2023. "Elections and Environmental Quality," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(2), pages 593-625, February.
    14. Balado-Naves, Roberto & Baños-Pino, José Francisco & Mayor, Matías, 2018. "Do countries influence neighbouring pollution? A spatial analysis of the EKC for CO2 emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 266-279.
    15. Huaping Sun & Samuel Attuquaye Clottey & Yong Geng & Kai Fang & Joshua Clifford Kofi Amissah, 2019. "Trade Openness and Carbon Emissions: Evidence from Belt and Road Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-20, May.
    16. Terciane Sabadini Carvalho & Eduardo Almeida, 2011. "The Globalenvironmental Kuznets Curve And The Kyoto Protocol," Anais do XXXVII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 37th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 183, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    17. Khan, Syed Abdul Rehman & Zaman, Khalid & Zhang, Yu, 2016. "The relationship between energy-resource depletion, climate change, health resources and the environmental Kuznets curve: Evidence from the panel of selected developed countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 468-477.
    18. Nicole Grunewald & Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso, 2009. "Driving Factors of Carbon Dioxide Emissions and the Impact from Kyoto Protocol," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 190, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    19. Bradford David F. & Fender Rebecca A & Shore Stephen H. & Wagner Martin, 2005. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve: Exploring a Fresh Specification," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-28, June.
    20. Rothman, Dale S., 1998. "Environmental Kuznets curves--real progress or passing the buck?: A case for consumption-based approaches," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 177-194, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:18:p:11708-:d:918157. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.