Globalization and its environmental effects: assessing the role of de facto and de jure conditions in trade, financial and information (ICT) developments in West Africa

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates whether de facto and de jure conditions in trade, financial, and information globalization affect CO2 emissions in the West African sub-region using the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) with fixed effects. The Stochastic Impact by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) framework is extended to incorporate renewable energy consumption and globalization for the period 1990-2018. The results highlight the significant environmental deterioration effects of income, population and energy intensity, and the mitigation effect of renewable energy consumption in the West African sub-region. Further evidence shows that: (i) de facto trade globalization increase CO2 emissions though insignificant, while de jure conditions mitigate CO2 emissions and have a strong significant impact across the conditional distribution; (ii) the benign environmental impact of financial globalization in the sub-region is driven by de jure conditions and the impact is significant across the entire distribution; (iii) information globalization reduces CO2 emissions with de jure conditions having the dominant effect. Overall, de jure conditions in trade, financial, and information globalization are essential for mitigating CO2 emissions in the sub-region. Hence, there is need to mainstream environmental issues into the institutional framework for climate change mitigation with emphasis on renewable alternatives.

KEYWORDS:

• Economic globalization
• information globalization
• de facto and de jure globalization
• carbon emissions
• quantile regression
• West Africa

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Philip C. Omoke

Philip Chimobi Omoke is a Professor in the Department of Economics Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu Alike Ikwo in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. His primary research interests are mainly in Macroeconomics, Monetary and Financial Economics, and Applied Econometrics. He has published articles in Scholarly Journals including Journal of Forecasting (Wiley), Energy Exploration and Exploitation (SAGE), Resources Policy (Elsevier), Economic Change and Restructuring (Springer), Quality and Quantity (Springer), Environment, Development and Sustainability (Springer), Journal of the Knowledge Economy (Springer) among others.

Chinazaekpere Nwani

Chinazaekpere Nwani is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Economics and Development Studies, Alex Ekwueme Federal Uiversity, Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. His areas of research interests include Applied Econometrics, Development Finance, Sustainable and Green Investment, Resource and Environmental Economics. He has published articles in Scholarly Journals including; Energy (Elsevier), Resources Policy (Elsevier), Natural Resources Forum (Wiley), Sustainability (MDPI), Energy Exploration and Exploitation (SAGE), Environment, Development and Sustainability (Springer), Journal of International Development (Wiley) among others.

Ekpeno L. Effiong

Ekpeno L. Effiong is a Lecturer in the Department of Economics, University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria. His primary areas of research interests include Macroeconomics and Applied Econometrics with secondary stint in Energy, Environment and Development. His publications in professional peer-reviewed journals include: OPEC Energy Review; African Development Review; Journal of International Development (Wiley); Journal of International Trade and Economic Development (Taylor & Francis); Quality & Quantity; Journal of Social and Economic Development; Environment, Development and Sustainability; Environmental Science and Pollution Research (Springer); Global Business Review, Margin: Journal of Applied Economic Research (SAGE) among others.