IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v15y2025i2p21582440251335192.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Urban Expansion, Governance, and Environmental Quality: Decoding the Drivers of Human Development in SADC Countries (2000-2020)

Author

Listed:
  • Erick Okoth
  • Abdulmalik Egesa Omar

Abstract

Human Development Index (HDI) serves as a crucial measure of socio-economic progress, yet the nuanced relationships between HDI and key factors such as economic growth, urbanization, institutional quality, environmental pollution, and corruption control remain underexplored. This study examines the impact of economic growth, urban development, institutional quality, environmental pollution and control of corruption on HDI in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a region with diverse economic and social challenges. To achieve this, the study employs advanced econometric techniques, specifically the Dynamic Common Correlated Effects (DCCE) and Augmented Mean Group (AMG) estimators. This research analyzes panel data spanning from 2000 to 2020 across 16 SADC countries, addressing cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneous slopes. The findings indicate that economic growth has a consistently positive impact on HDI in several countries, including Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, and the overall panel emphasizing its vital role in enhancing human development. Urbanization effects vary, with both positive and negative outcomes observed in countries like Zimbabwe and Seychelles. Institutional quality is positively linked to HDI in Lesotho and Mauritius, reinforcing the importance of effective governance. Environmental pollution shows a complex impact, benefiting HDI in Angola but impairing it in Zimbabwe. Corruption control also exhibits mixed effects, with negative impacts on HDI in Lesotho and Seychelles. This study highlights the need for tailored policy interventions that address specific regional and national contexts. It recommends enhancing institutional quality and tackling environmental pollution to promote sustainable human development across the SADC region.

Suggested Citation

  • Erick Okoth & Abdulmalik Egesa Omar, 2025. "Urban Expansion, Governance, and Environmental Quality: Decoding the Drivers of Human Development in SADC Countries (2000-2020)," SAGE Open, , vol. 15(2), pages 21582440251, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:15:y:2025:i:2:p:21582440251335192
    DOI: 10.1177/21582440251335192
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440251335192
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/21582440251335192?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
    ---><---

    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:sae:sagope:v:15:y:2025:i:2:p:21582440251335192. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.