Global Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

The Impact of Bad Governance on Carbon Dioxide Emissions in African Countries with Population Density as an Intervening Factor

Abdulrasaki Saka*

The practice of corruption is particularly critical in most countries in Africa and policies aiming to reduce and/or curb the practice have failed, yet the rising carbon dioxide emissions are increasing according to World Bank data 2013. The empirical evidence on the misalignment between bad governance-induced corruption trends and corresponding carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions is surprisingly consistently negative, inconclusive and subject to error control. The study examines the issue of the relationship between corruption perception index and CO₂ emissions (environmental impacts) using the rich augmented stirpat linked panel data for the period 1960-2012. The paper also provides evidence on the intervening role of population density, manufacturing sector value added as a component of GDP, services sector value added as a component of GDP and final consumption expenditure. The empirical findings suggest the existence of negative impacts in both Low Income Countries in Africa (LICA) and Low Middle Income Countries in Africa (LIMCA). These impacts, robust across both LICA and LIMCA, are found to have no significance in the case of Upper Income Countries in Africa (UICA). The estimated results indicate that the average effect of corruption perception index over CO₂ emissions, when the corruption perception index changes across time and between countries increases by 1%, CO₂ emission reduces by about 0.62% and 4.50% for LICA and LMICA respectively, holding all other predictors constant. Overall, the findings are inconclusive and suggest that further research is still required as the expected coefficient signs are not found.

Published Date: 2024-07-29; Received Date: 2019-08-05