IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/qualqt/v52y2018i2d10.1007_s11135-017-0487-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Let the data speak: semiparametric evidence on the environmental Kuznets curve in Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Ekpeno L. Effiong

    (University of Uyo)

  • Alex O. Iriabije

    (University of Uyo)

Abstract

This paper revisits the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis and applies a flexible semi-parametric panel fixed effects technique to identify the true shape of the income-pollution relationship for a sample of 49 African countries for the period 1990–2010. Compared with standard panel data techniques which yields different conclusions, the former show that the income-pollution nexus is non-monotonically increasing and decreasing for $$\hbox {CO}_2$$ CO 2 and $$\hbox {PM}_{10}$$ PM 10 emissions respectively. Hence, the effect of economic growth differs with each atmospheric pollutants and is not sufficient for improving environmental quality. There is need for policies that emphasizes sustainable economic growth and the use of cleaner energy sources.

Suggested Citation

  • Ekpeno L. Effiong & Alex O. Iriabije, 2018. "Let the data speak: semiparametric evidence on the environmental Kuznets curve in Africa," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 771-782, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:qualqt:v:52:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s11135-017-0487-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11135-017-0487-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11135-017-0487-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11135-017-0487-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Beckerman, Wilfred, 1992. "Economic growth and the environment: Whose growth? whose environment?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 481-496, April.
    2. Badi H. Baltagi & Dong Li, 2002. "Series Estimation of Partially Linear Panel Data Models with Fixed Effects," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 3(1), pages 103-116, May.
    3. Grossman, G.M & Krueger, A.B., 1991. "Environmental Impacts of a North American Free Trade Agreement," Papers 158, Princeton, Woodrow Wilson School - Public and International Affairs.
    4. Kaika, Dimitra & Zervas, Efthimios, 2013. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) theory—Part A: Concept, causes and the CO2 emissions case," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1392-1402.
    5. Kaika, Dimitra & Zervas, Efthimios, 2013. "The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) theory. Part B: Critical issues," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1403-1411.
    6. 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.
    7. Arrow, Kenneth & Bolin, Bert & Costanza, Robert & Dasgupta, Partha & Folke, Carl & Holling, C.S. & Jansson, Bengt-Owe & Levin, Simon & Mäler, Karl-Göran & Perrings, Charles & Pimentel, David, 1996. "Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 104-110, February.
    8. Taskin, Fatma & Zaim, Osman, 2000. "Searching for a Kuznets curve in environmental efficiency using kernel estimation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 217-223, August.
    9. Bertinelli, Luisito & Strobl, Eric, 2005. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve semi-parametrically revisited," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 350-357, September.
    10. Marzio Galeotti, 2007. "Economic Growth And The Quality Of The Environment: Taking Stock," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 9(4), pages 427-454, November.
    11. Orubu, Christopher O. & Omotor, Douglason G., 2011. "Environmental quality and economic growth: Searching for environmental Kuznets curves for air and water pollutants in Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 4178-4188, July.
    12. Ogundipe, Adeyemi & Alege, Philip & Ogundipe, Oluwatomisin, 2014. "Income Heterogeneity and Environmental Kuznets Curve in Africa," MPRA Paper 55822, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Nguyen Van, Phu & Azomahou, Theophile, 2007. "Nonlinearities and heterogeneity in environmental quality: An empirical analysis of deforestation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 291-309, September.
    14. Luzzati, T. & Orsini, M., 2009. "Investigating the energy-environmental Kuznets curve," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 291-300.
    15. York, Richard & Rosa, Eugene A. & Dietz, Thomas, 2003. "STIRPAT, IPAT and ImPACT: analytic tools for unpacking the driving forces of environmental impacts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 351-365, October.
    16. Kun Ho Kim, 2013. "Inference of the environmental Kuznets curve," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(2), pages 119-122, February.
    17. Natina Yaduma & Mika Kortelainen & Ada Wossink, 2015. "The environmental Kuznets curve at different levels of economic development: a counterfactual quantile regression analysis for CO 2 emissions," Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(3), pages 278-303, November.
    18. Adonis Yatchew, 1998. "Nonparametric Regression Techniques in Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(2), pages 669-721, June.
    19. Dinda, Soumyananda, 2004. "Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 431-455, August.
    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. Antonio F. Galvao & Thomas Parker & Zhijie Xiao, 2024. "Bootstrap Inference for Panel Data Quantile Regression," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(2), pages 628-639, April.
    2. Alexandra Soberon & Irene D’Hers, 2020. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Semiparametric Approach with Cross-Sectional Dependence," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-23, November.
    3. MARINESCU Ștefana & MAHDAVIAN Seyed Mohammadreza & RĂDULESCU Magdalena, 2022. "Globalization, Energy Mix, Renewable Energy, and Emission: Romanian Case," European Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Bucharest Economic Academy, issue 02, June.

    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. Effiong, Ekpeno & Oisaozoje, Alex, 2016. "Let the Data Speak: Revisiting the Environmental Kuznets Curve in Africa," MPRA Paper 73163, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Alexandra Soberon & Irene D’Hers, 2020. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve: A Semiparametric Approach with Cross-Sectional Dependence," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-23, November.
    3. Zhang, Qianxue & Liao, Hua & Hao, Yu, 2018. "Does one path fit all? An empirical study on the relationship between energy consumption and economic development for individual Chinese provinces," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 527-543.
    4. Simone Marsiglio & Alberto Ansuategi & Maria Carmen Gallastegui, 2016. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve and the Structural Change Hypothesis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 63(2), pages 265-288, February.
    5. Pablo-Romero, María del P. & De Jesús, Josué, 2016. "Economic growth and energy consumption: The Energy-Environmental Kuznets Curve for Latin America and the Caribbean," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1343-1350.
    6. Richard T. Carson, 2010. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve: Seeking Empirical Regularity and Theoretical Structure," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 4(1), pages 3-23, Winter.
    7. David I. Stern, 2017. "The environmental Kuznets curve after 25 years," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 7-28, April.
    8. Sabuj Kumar Mandal & Devleena Chakravarty, 2017. "Role of energy in estimating turning point of Environmental Kuznets Curve: an econometric analysis of the existing studies," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 19(2), pages 387-401, October.
    9. Myo Myo Htike & Anil Shrestha & Makoto Kakinaka, 2022. "Investigating whether the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis holds for sectoral CO2 emissions: evidence from developed and developing countries," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(11), pages 12712-12739, November.
    10. Pascalau, Razvan & Qirjo, Dhimitri, 2017. "TTIP and the Environmental Kuznets Curve," MPRA Paper 80192, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Bennedsen, Mikkel & Hillebrand, Eric & Jensen, Sebastian, 2023. "A neural network approach to the environmental Kuznets curve," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    12. Barra, Cristian & Zotti, Roberto, 2016. "Investigating the impact of national income on environmental pollution. International evidence," MPRA Paper 74149, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Muhammad Shahbaz & Avik Sinha, 2019. "Environmental Kuznets curve for CO2emissions: a literature survey," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 46(1), pages 106-168, January.
    14. 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.
    15. Sugiawan, Yogi & Managi, Shunsuke, 2016. "The environmental Kuznets curve in Indonesia: Exploring the potential of renewable energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 187-198.
    16. 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.
    17. Maralgua Och, 2017. "Empirical Investigation of the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis for Nitrous Oxide Emissions for Mongolia," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 7(1), pages 117-128.
    18. Zilio, Mariana & Recalde, Marina, 2011. "GDP and environment pressure: The role of energy in Latin America and the Caribbean," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(12), pages 7941-7949.
    19. Mikkel Bennedsen & Eric Hillebrand & Sebastian Jensen, 2022. "A Neural Network Approach to the Environmental Kuznets Curve," CREATES Research Papers 2022-09, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    20. Zhimin Zhou, 2019. "The Underground Economy and Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) Emissions in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-20, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental Kuznets curve; Atmospheric pollutants; Semi-parametric regression; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa
    • Q5 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:spr:qualqt:v:52:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s11135-017-0487-6. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.