Dynamics of environmental pollution, socio-economic factors and total fertility rate in MENA, ECOWAS and ASEAN regions

Abstract

One of the critical items in the environmental agenda is managing and controlling regional haze and air pollution. These haze, emissions and air pollution are emitted into the environment, causing dangerous harm and imposing threats to public health, human wellbeing, and fertility issues, which sometimes lead to death. The researcher aims investigates broad effects of environmental pollution, socio-economic factors on total fertility rate in MENA, ECOWAS and ASEAN regions from 1970 to 2019. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions consist of 21 countries, and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) comprises 15 countries. While 10 viable countries constitute the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). A longitudinal/panel dataset covering the regions is sourced mainly from the 2019 World Development Indicators (WDI) to examine the study objectives. In the methodology, a panel fixed-effect (FE) model are employed in estimating the objective after ascertaining the FE suitability using the Hausman Test. The results show that (i) environmental pollution (as proxied by CO2 emissions) has a negative and statistically significant effect on total fertility rate in MENA and ECOWAS but has a significantly positive effect on TFR in ASEAN. Based on the findings, many robust policies are recommended to manage/control environmental pollution to drive down fertility and other public health threats.