Improving the environmental quality: Should African countries locally innovate or import innovation?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Does environmental quality get benefits from local innovation or the imported one? To answer this question, we investigate a sample of African countries throughout 2009–2018, using the panel dynamic System Generalized Method of Moment (SGMM) as an econometric approach. The empirical findings indicate that local innovation significantly improves the environmental quality while the imported one has harmful effects. The robustness check confirms this conclusion and proves the positive effects of local innovation in preserving the environment quality.