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Pollution, Economic Development and Democracy: Evidence from the MENA countries

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  • Mohammad Reza Farzanegan

    (University of Marburg)

  • Gunther Markwardt

    (University of Dresden)

Abstract

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries are among the world's top emitters of CO2 and SO2 in per capita terms. The objective of this paper is to analyze whether investing in the democratic development of these countries is an e ective tool to make the economic growth in this region more environmentally compatible. Arguing on the basis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis and using panel data on the income-emissiondemocracy nexus, we nd evidence that improvements in the democratic development of the MENA countries help to mitigate environmental problems. Our results clearly show, that the quality of democratic institutions has a greater in uence on local environmental problems than on global environmental issues in the MENA region.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad Reza Farzanegan & Gunther Markwardt, 2012. "Pollution, Economic Development and Democracy: Evidence from the MENA countries," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201227, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    • Handle: RePEc:mar:magkse:201227
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    Cited by:

    1. Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza & Krieger, Tim, 2017. "The response of income inequality to positive oil rents shocks in Iran: Implications for the post-sanction period," Discussion Paper Series 2017-04, University of Freiburg, Wilfried Guth Endowed Chair for Constitutional Political Economy and Competition Policy.
    2. Jochimsen Beate & Raffer Christian, 2018. "Herausforderungen bei der Messung von Wohlfahrt," Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 67(1), pages 63-100, May.
    3. 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.
    4. Buehn, Andreas & Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza, 2013. "Hold your breath: A new index of air pollution," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 104-113.
    5. Acheampong, Alex O. & Opoku, Eric Evans Osei & Dzator, Janet, 2022. "Does democracy really improve environmental quality? Empirical contribution to the environmental politics debate," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    6. Charfeddine, Lanouar & Mrabet, Zouhair, 2017. "The impact of economic development and social-political factors on ecological footprint: A panel data analysis for 15 MENA countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 138-154.
    7. Afesorgbor, Sylvanus Kwaku & Demena, Binyam A., 2019. "The Effect of Trade on the Environment: Evidence from Meta-analysis," 2019 Annual Meeting, July 21-23, Atlanta, Georgia 291225, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    8. Hassan F. Gholipour & Mohammad Reza Farzanegan, 2018. "Institutions and the effectiveness of expenditures on environmental protection: evidence from Middle Eastern countries," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 20-39, March.
    9. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan & Tim Krieger, 2018. "Oil Rents Shocks and Inequality in Iran," CESifo Working Paper Series 6876, CESifo.
    10. Sylvanus Kwaku Afesorgbor & Binyam Afewerk Demena, 2022. "Trade Openness and Environmental Emissions: Evidence from a Meta-Analysis," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 81(2), pages 287-321, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    democratic development; political institutions; environmental quality; MENA;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O56 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Oceania
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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