IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/teepxx/v6y2017i2p134-152.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental Kuznets Curves for air pollution in African and developed countries: exploring turning point incomes and the role of democracy

Author

Listed:
  • Iddisah Sulemana
  • Harvey S. James
  • James S. Rikoon

Abstract

The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis advances an inverted U-shaped relationship between economic growth and environmental pollution. Scholars have estimated turning point incomes for various pollutants within and across countries. However, the majority of these studies were conducted for developed countries. Very few studies have focused on developing countries. In particular, the relationship between economic growth and air pollution in Africa remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we test whether the EKC hypothesis holds for carbon dioxide (CO2) and particulate matter (PM10) emissions in African and high-income OECD countries. We find that the EKC hypothesis holds for both CO2 and PM10 for African and OECD countries. Further, our examination of the effect of institutional quality on air pollution reveals an insignificant effect for CO2 for both samples. However, democracy is positively and significantly correlated with PM10 emissions for African countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Iddisah Sulemana & Harvey S. James & James S. Rikoon, 2017. "Environmental Kuznets Curves for air pollution in African and developed countries: exploring turning point incomes and the role of democracy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(2), pages 134-152, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:teepxx:v:6:y:2017:i:2:p:134-152
    DOI: 10.1080/21606544.2016.1231635
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21606544.2016.1231635
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/21606544.2016.1231635?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. Nelson, Gerald C. & Rosegrant, Mark W. & Palazzo, Amanda & Gray, Ian & Ingersoll, Christina & Robertson, Richard & Tokgoz, Simla & Zhu, Tingju & Sulser, Timothy B. & Ringler, Claudia & Msangi, Siwa & , 2010. "Food security, farming, and climate change to 2050: Scenarios, results, policy options," Research reports Gerald C. Nelson, et al., International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Shafik, Nemat & Bandyopadhyay, Sushenjit, 1992. "Economic growth and environmental quality : time series and cross-country evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 904, The World Bank.
    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. Özge Barış-Tüzemen & Samet Tüzemen, 2022. "The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment and Biomass Energy Consumption on Pollution in BRICS Countries: A Panel Data Analysis," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 14(1), pages 76-92, January.
    2. Lazăr, Dorina & Minea, Alexandru & Purcel, Alexandra-Anca, 2019. "Pollution and economic growth: Evidence from Central and Eastern European countries," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 1121-1131.
    3. Zhao, Jun & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Dong, Xiucheng & Dong, Kangyin, 2021. "How does financial risk affect global CO2 emissions? The role of technological innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    4. Abid Rashid Gill & Sallahuddin Hassan & K Kuperan Viswanathan, 2019. "Is democracy enough to get early turn of the environmental Kuznets curve in ASEAN countries?," Energy & Environment, , vol. 30(8), pages 1491-1505, December.
    5. Naftaly Mose & Omonike Ige-Gbadeyan & Stoyan Tanchev, 2024. "Economic Growth and Carbon Emissions: A Comparative Study between Kenya and South Africa," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 8, pages 27-50.
    6. Qudsia Kanwal & Xianlai Zeng & Jinhui Li, 2023. "Measuring the recycling potential of industrial waste for long-term sustainability," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-13, December.
    7. Andrew Phiri & Simba Mhaka & Lovemore Taonezvi, 2024. "Too poor to be clean? A quantile ARDL assessment of the environmental Kuznets curve in SADC countries," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(11), pages 27301-27323, November.
    8. Sulemana, Iddisah & Kpienbaareh, Daniel, 2018. "An empirical examination of the relationship between income inequality and corruption in Africa," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 27-42.
    9. Chien, Fengsheng & Anwar, Ahsan & Hsu, Ching-Chi & Sharif, Arshian & Razzaq, Asif & Sinha, Avik, 2021. "The role of information and communication technology in encountering environmental degradation: Proposing an SDG framework for the BRICS countries," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    10. Benoit Mougenot & Rosa Pamela Durand Santa Mar a & Claudia Lucia Koc Olcese, 2022. "Testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: An Empirical Study for Peru," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(1), pages 193-199.
    11. Kwabena Twerefou, Daniel & Danso-Mensah, Kwadwo & Bokpin, Godfred A., 2017. "The environmental effects of economic growth and globalization in Sub-Saharan Africa: A panel general method of moments approach," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 939-949.

    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. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Hoang, Thi Hong Van & Mahalik, Mantu Kumar & Roubaud, David, 2017. "Energy consumption, financial development and economic growth in India: New evidence from a nonlinear and asymmetric analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 199-212.
    2. Michael Greenstone & Rema Hanna, 2014. "Environmental Regulations, Air and Water Pollution, and Infant Mortality in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(10), pages 3038-3072, October.
    3. Song, Tao & Zheng, Tingguo & Tong, Lianjun, 2008. "An empirical test of the environmental Kuznets curve in China: A panel cointegration approach," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 381-392, September.
    4. Kym Anderson & Anna Strutt, 2012. "Agriculture and Food Security in Asia by 2030," Macroeconomics Working Papers 23309, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    5. 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.
    6. Ghimire, Narishwar & Woodward, Richard T., 2013. "Under- and over-use of pesticides: An international analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 73-81.
    7. Jha, Raghbendra & Murthy, K. V. Bhanu, 2003. "An inverse global environmental Kuznets curve," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 352-368, June.
    8. Honma, Satoshi, 2012. "Environmental and economic efficiencies in the Asia-Pacific region," MPRA Paper 43361, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. 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.
    10. Muhammad Shahbaz & Syed Jawad Hussain Shahzad & Mantu Kumar Mahalik & Perry Sadorsky, 2018. "How strong is the causal relationship between globalization and energy consumption in developed economies? A country-specific time-series and panel analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(13), pages 1479-1494, March.
    11. George Halkos & Iacovos Psarianos, 2016. "Exploring the effect of including the environment in the neoclassical growth model," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 18(3), pages 339-358, July.
    12. Fabian Knorre & Martin Wagner & Maximilian Grupe, 2021. "Monitoring Cointegrating Polynomial Regressions: Theory and Application to the Environmental Kuznets Curves for Carbon and Sulfur Dioxide Emissions," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-35, March.
    13. C. Seri & A. de Juan Fernandez, 2021. "The relationship between economic growth and environment. Testing the EKC hypothesis for Latin American countries," Papers 2105.11405, arXiv.org.
    14. Saidi Kais & Ben Mbarek Mounir, 2017. "Causal interactions between environmental degradation, renewable energy, nuclear energy and real GDP: a dynamic panel data approach," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 51-67, March.
    15. Ouraich, Ismail & Dudu, Hasan & Tyner, Wallace E. & Cakmak, Erol, 2014. "Could Free Trade Alleviate Effects of Climate Change: A Worldwide Analysis with Emphasis on Morocco and Turkey," Conference papers 332460, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    16. 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.
    17. B. Venkatraja, 2021. "Does China exhibit any evidence of an Environmental Kuznets Curve? An ARDL bounds testing approach," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 1, pages 88-110,111-.
    18. Andreoni, James & Levinson, Arik, 2001. "The simple analytics of the environmental Kuznets curve," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 269-286, May.
    19. Alvarez-Herranz, Agustin & Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Cantos, José María, 2017. "Energy innovation and renewable energy consumption in the correction of air pollution levels," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 386-397.
    20. Ajanaku, B.A. & Collins, A.R., 2021. "Economic growth and deforestation in African countries: Is the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis applicable?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).

    More about this item

    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:taf:teepxx:v:6:y:2017:i:2:p:134-152. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/teep20 .

    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.