Development, effective governance and environmental sustainability risk: emerging markets perspective

The study examines the extent to which development and other key factors influence environmental sustainability risk among developing economies in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Empirical analyses were carried out using panel corrected standard error (PCSE), an estimation technique by Beck and Katz, Am Polit Sci Rev, 634-647, (1995). The results suggest that development, defined by a more holistic index, has significant positive impact on CO₂ emissions, but negative impact on ecological footprint among economies in the sub-region. The results further show that effective governance, corruption control and regulatory quality tend to minimize adverse impact of development on CO₂ emissions, all other things being equal. Additionally, the study finds that political instability exacerbates the adverse effect of development on CO₂ emissions.