Department of Economics, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Lahore Campus, Lahore, Pakistan.
Department of Economics and Business Administration, Division of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Education, Lahore, Pakistan.
Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2021 Jul;28(26):34017-34026. doi: 10.1007/s11356-020-10907-9. Epub 2020 Sep 25.
The utilization of economic capabilities to raise production in the economy enhances the industrial activities and use of transportation. These activities deteriorate the quality of the environment and raise the level of particulate matter (PM). The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of economic capabilities and population agglomeration on PM emissions for the sample of 23 sub-Saharan African countries-a highly polluted region of the world. The study used panel regression from 2007 to 2015 and found that production capabilities are highly significant and directly effecting PM emissions. The Kuznets hypothesis does not hold in this region, and the concentration of population in urban areas is also significant. To avoid the problem of possible endogeneity in the empirical model and for robustness check, the study also utilized system GMM and found consistent results. The findings of the study are highly valuable to reduce PM and propose that the policymakers in Sub-Saharan African countries should opt for industrial specialization rather than economic complexity and ensure that the proper measures are taken to control PM. Moreover, population concentrations should not be taken place in a few main urban cities.
利用经济能力来提高经济中的生产力会促进工业活动和运输的使用。这些活动会降低环境质量并提高颗粒物（PM）的水平。本研究的目的是调查经济能力和人口聚集对撒哈拉以南非洲 23 个国家样本（世界上污染严重的地区）的 PM 排放的影响。该研究使用了 2007 年至 2015 年的面板回归，并发现生产能力具有高度显著性，并直接影响 PM 排放。在该地区，库兹涅茨假说不成立，城市地区的人口集中也很重要。为了避免实证模型中可能存在的内生性问题并进行稳健性检查，该研究还利用系统 GMM 进行了检验，并得出了一致的结果。该研究的结果对于减少 PM 非常有价值，并提出撒哈拉以南非洲国家的政策制定者应该选择工业专业化而不是经济复杂性，并确保采取适当的措施来控制 PM。此外，人口集中不应仅在少数主要城市进行。
