Effective Environmental Regulations Research Articles

Pathways to Sustainability in Sub-Sahara Africa: Are Institutional Quality Levels Subservient in Achieving Green GDP Growth?

AbstractThere is a growing need for a transition to green economic growth (GGDP) given that the current economic system is largely environmentally unsustainable. This study thus addresses GGDP enhancement in less developed countries using the case of Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) countries where institutional deficiencies are typically at the root of most resource depletion and environmental degradation issues. Six institutional quality measures were used namely corruption control, government effectiveness, political stability, regulatory quality, rule of law, and voice of accountability while controlling for other factors like industrialization, energy use, and population growth in the region. The study applied a battery of second-generation panel econometric techniques in the empirical analysis after which both Bootstrap Quantile regression (BQR) technique and panel ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation approaches were applied to observe the variables' roles on GGDP advancement in SSA. From the findings, corruption control and government (policy) effectiveness favorably impact Green GDP in SSA. However, both rule of law and regulatory quality performed poorly as they were insignificant to GGDP enhancement. Furthermore, all control variables promote GGDP except for population growth. Thus, the findings buttress the need to strengthen institutions for effective governance and quality environmental regulations to enhance GGDP growth towards actualizing sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the SSA region.

Identifying and prioritizing the barriers to green innovation in SMEs and the strategies to counteract the barriers: An interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy approach

Increasing environmental burdens and the importance of innovation in the presently competitive environment have encouraged small- and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) to adopt and implement green innovation practices. This process, however, is faced with many limitations and obstacles. The purpose of this study is to propose a framework to identify barriers to green innovation in SMEs and to provide solutions/strategies to overcome such barriers. Using the systematic literature review (SLR) method and the opinions of 20 experts, the study primarily identified 29 sub-categories of barriers falling under seven main categories including “management”, “organization”, “human resources”, “financial resources”, “external cooperation”, “customers, markets or competitors”, and “the external environment.” Similarly, 22 strategies were discovered that could help to counteract the barriers identified. To determine the weights of the barriers, the Intuitionistic Fuzzy Multiplicative Best-Worst Method (IFMBWM) was used. The strategies, too, were ranked through the Interval-Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy MULTIMOORA (IVIF-MULTIMOORA) method. Then, a sensitivity analysis and a comparative analysis were applied to confirm the robustness of the proposed method and ensure the consistency of the obtained ranking of alternatives. As the results revealed, the optimal and effective solutions that could be used by policy-makers/managers to overcome the barriers to green innovation were “simplifying authorization and licensing procedures”, “effective environmental laws and regulations”, “shared responsibility throughout the supply chain”, “a supportive organizational culture”, and “merit-based selection of managers.”

Quantifying the impact: Are coastal areas impoverished by marine pollution?

We propose a methodological framework to assess the causal impact of Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) events on economic indicators at a territorial level, with special consideration for spatial effects. Using the Mar Menor region in Spain as a case study, we empirically apply our framework. Our findings indicate a significantly negative causal effect of marine pollution resulting from HAB events on income per capita at the census section level. We observe that this effect is exacerbated by spatial interactions among neighboring census sections adjacent to those directly affected by seawater degradation. These results underscore the importance of implementing effective environmental regulations to mitigate seawater pollution and proactive measures to safeguard the well-being of local populations. Our research provides valuable insights for future studies in similar coastal regions.

Driving carbon emission reduction in China through green finance and green innovation: an endogenous growth perspective.

Discovering drivers of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions is vital for the Chinese government to achieve carbon peak and carbon neutral. With this aim, a theoretical endogenous growth model capturing the mitigating effect of green finance and green innovation on carbon emissions is constructed in this study, which is further empirically examined using China's municipal-level panel data during 2010-2019. The main findings are as follows: First, there is theoretical and empirical evidence supporting that green finance and green innovation can inhibit carbon emissions. Second, the above inhibitory effects demonstrate clear regional disparities with significant effects only in eastern and central Chinese cities, which are moderated by environmental regulations and marketization levels, respectively. Third, in cities with high green finance, green finance plays a more significant role in reducing carbon emissions than green innovation, and the opposite is true in cities with low green finance. In addition, the robustness and endogeneity checks indicate that the results of this study are robust and reliable. These theoretical and empirical findings create profound implications for CO2 emission reduction by vigorously guiding funds to green finance and formulating scientific and effective environmental regulations to promote green innovation in China.

Environmental regulations, technological innovation, and low carbon transformation: A case of the logistics industry in China

China is the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide. The logistics industry is the second largest source of CO2 emissions, second only to the manufacturing industry. Therefore, developing effective environmental regulations to achieve low-carbon transformation in the logistics industry is an urgent task for government managers. Based on the 2005–2021 panel data of China's 30 provinces, this article adopts a data-driven nonparametric additive model to investigate the role of environmental regulations in CO2 emission reduction in the logistics industry. The results display that overall, environmental regulations contribute to carbon reduction in the logistics industry (an inverted N-shaped effect). After endogeneity test and various robustness tests such as replacing the variable value of core variable, this conclusion still has good reliability. Further heterogeneity analysis indicates that the carbon reduction effect of mandatory environmental regulations fluctuates frequently (a W-shaped impact). However, the carbon reduction impact of incentive environmental regulations has gradually shifted from insignificant in the early stages to prominent in the later stages (an inverted U-shaped pattern). Regional heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of environmental regulations on carbon reduction in the eastern, central, and western regions also has significant nonlinear characteristics. Finally, this article verifies that technological innovation and energy consumption structure are effective intermediate mechanisms for environmental regulations to affect emission reduction. The research findings provide practical inspiration for the government to formulate relevant environmental policies and promote the green development of the logistics industry.

Heavy metal transport with adsorption for instantaneous and exponential attenuation of concentration

Heavy metal pollutant is a serious problem in environmental pollution, and it is very difficult to eradicate once it enters the soil. As heavy metal adsorption has been proven to occur, the heavy metal’s behaviour can be modeled as a transport equation with adsorption. Previous adsorption term mostly due to the concentration alone, while in here, the desorption effect given by the rate of change of the concentration is also included. Also, the heavy metals are frequently considered to enter the soil after being dumped into the soil for a certain period of time. But, quick dumping onto the soil can introduce heavy metal instantaneously. Heavy metals entering the soil through leaching or when their concentration in the soil is influenced by chemical reactions, can all lead to the exponential decay of heavy metals entering the soil. Based on two-dimensional advection diffusion equation (ADE) with the new adsorption term, analytical solutions are obtained for the cases of instantaneous and exponential attenuation of heavy metals emission to soil by the method of Laplace transform. The results highlight the significant influence of emission type on the peak concentrations. If heavy metals are instantaneously enter the soil, the peak occurs in the range of 1–3 m radius from the point of emission on the first day, while for exponential attenuation the peak occurs close to the point of emission. Furthermore, there exists a correlation between retardation factors and heavy metal concentrations, where a decrease in retardation factors leads to an increase in heavy metal concentration. It is essential to investigate both types of heavy metals emission to provide valuable information for proper pollution management, effective environmental regulations and enforcement.

Water Impacts and Effluent Quality Regulations of Canadian Mining

Energy transition relies on the scaling up of mineral production and may lead to increased pressure on water resources due to the intensity of water use in mining. The status of Canada as a major mineral producer and a country with effective environmental regulations prompted our study of the water impacts of Canadian mining. In 2002, the Canadian government introduced effluent quality regulations that targeted metal mining companies. By analyzing regional and sectoral data, we find that such regulations were important for mitigating both the water quality and water quantity impacts of metal mining. Despite increasing output, metal mining reduced its contribution to total mining withdrawals and discharge from 85% in the pre-regulation period to 62–65% in the post-regulation period. In the absence of such regulations, non-metallic mineral mining and, in particular, coal mining, increased their pressure on water resources. Finally, we find that since 2002, over 90% of regulated operations have met effluent quality standards. However, we document increased flows of discharge to mine tailings, a development which requires further analysis.

Carbon emissions reduction and tax evasion behaviour: a trade-off between environmental goals and economic feasibility

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the impact of carbon emissions (carbon dioxide [CO2]) reduction on tax evasion behaviour.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses data from 200 countries from 2000 to 2017. The empirical analysis is based on various methodological tools, including ordinary least-squares model, fixed- and random-effects models. In addition, GMM and linear mixed model has been used for robustness purposes.FindingsThe results show that carbon emissions reduction significantly affects tax evasion behaviour; when carbon emissions decrease, tax evasion behaviour increases. This indicates that the reduction of CO2 emissions is linked to significant costs, placing a financial burden on companies and leading them to evade taxes to counterbalance these costs.Practical implicationsThis study has important implications, as it highlights that the efforts made by countries to minimize CO2 emissions are associated with high costs and may lead to increased tax evasion, potentially contributing to countries’ budget deficits. The results provide valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders to implement effective environmental and fiscal regulations that contribute to a sustainable and eco-friendly future. These regulations can help maintain a balance between improving economic growth and ensuring the protection of the environment.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to test the impact of carbon emissions on tax evasion using macro-level data.

The Impact of Environmental Regulation Implementation: A Meta-Analysis

Effective environmental regulations are crucial for biodiversity preservation and fostering innovation to mitigate environmental damage. The aim of this research is to set the groundwork for further research into the substantial role of environmental regulatory policies in promoting pro-environmental innovation. This research employs a meta-analysis approach, focusing on correlational studies published between 2001 and 2021 in English. Inclusion criteria for data selection consisted of articles addressing environmental regulations and their implementation. Correlation analyses were conducted using JASP software. The findings indicate a significant relationship between environmental regulations and their implementation, with a correlation coefficient of 0.28. With a 95% confidence interval, the estimated true score range lies between 0.14 and 0.41. Bias testing was performed using the trim and fill method, and no evidence of publication bias was found, supporting the validity of the meta-analysis results. Thus, it can be concluded that environmental regulations play a significant role in encouraging pro-environmental innovation and urging governments in each country to provide certainty about their pro-environmental policies.

Tourism development, environmental regulations, and natural resource management: Evidence from G20 countries

The rapid development in the tourism sector across the globe has posed significant challenges for the conservation and management of natural resources, necessitating the implementation of effective environmental regulations. In this perspective, to add empirical evidence in the academic literature, this study aims to investigate the role of tourism development and environmental regulations in the management of natural resources in the G20 countries. To serve the objective, this paper takes the data of G20 countries over the period of 1995–2020 and employ FGLS and PCSE econometric techniques for empirical estimations. The results have shown that tourism development, environmental regulations, environmental protection technologies, and government regulatory quality interventions have a positive impact on natural resources management. However, natural resource depletion has a negative impact on the protection of natural resources. The results were significant when both a common AR(1) model and a panel-specific AR(1) model were used. Although the slope coefficients vary slightly, the estimates are comparable using the Prais-Winsten and Driscoll-Kraay standard error regressions. The findings of the study hold promising insights for policy formation in G20 countries for developing environmental and tourism policies to manage the natural resources for the future generations.

Political connection and water pollution: New evidence from Chinese listed firms

We analyze the data of 689 Chinese listed firms between 1999 and 2010 to study the relationship between firms’ political connections and their pollution emissions. We find that, ceteris paribus, a polluting firm with politically connected top managers discharges about 25% more chemical oxygen demand (COD) per 10,000 RMB (about 1,500 USD) worth of total output. The impact of political connections on COD emissions gradually fades out with the departure of politically connected top managers. However, political connections do not affect firms’ emissions of unregulated water pollutants or air pollutants that receive high levels of public attention. In addition, we find evidence that polluting firms may leave wastewater treatment units idle, which lessens treatment costs and thus raises pollution emissions. The findings of this study would help advance discussion about managing water pollution and designing effective environmental regulations under a command-and-control policy schema in developing countries.

A Balanced Prescription for More Effective Environmental Regulations

Government agencies increasingly base the structure and approval of environmental regulations on a benefit-cost test. For regulations that pass this test, total benefits exceed total costs. Under a benefit-cost framework, the degree of regulatory stringency is set at an economically efficient level whereby the tightness of the regulation is increased up to the point where the incremental benefits equal the incremental costs. Setting regulatory standards to achieve the efficient degree of pollution control does not fully discourage entry into polluting industries, provide compensation to those harmed by pollution, or establish meaningful incentives for effective enforcement. This article proposes that the benefit-cost approach be retained as the guiding principle for regulatory policy, but that sanctions for regulatory violations be greatly enhanced. A different, more ambitious proposal by Elliott and Esty advocates pollution control to the lowest level that is technologically feasible, coupled with compensation for those injured by pollution. The unbounded regulatory framework advocated by Elliott and Esty sets aside benefit-cost balancing, generating the prospect of inordinate costs with few environmental dividends from the highest levels of stringency. Their more promising proposal is to establish a compensation system for environmental harms. Compensation for those harmed by pollution has some parallels with successful workers’ compensation programs, but to be successful it must address challenges not faced in the employment context. More stringent regulation of long-term risks may be more welfare-enhancing for future generations than their proposed environmental damages compensation fund. Protection may yield greater dividends for more affluent future generations than compensation.

Greening through centralization of environmental monitoring?

This paper investigates the impact of China's environmental monitoring centralization on firms' greenwashing practices, by examining the causal relationship between environmental governance at the local level and effective environmental regulations for sustainable growth. Using a difference-in-difference (DID) model, we analyze data from Chinese-listed firms over a period spanning from 2010 to 2019. Our results show that environmental monitoring centralization can significantly reduce greenwashing practices, particularly in cases where there is a high level of environmental decentralization. Furthermore, we find that privately-owned firms with high levels of pollution and technology intensity are particularly motivated to reduce greenwashing practices as environmental decentralization levels increase due to the centralization of environmental monitoring policies. Finally, our study reveals that the centralization of environmental monitoring policy shock can effectively curb greenwashing practices by strengthening environmental regulation levels. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers seeking to promote sustainable growth through effective environmental regulations.

Do trade openness and institutional quality contribute to carbon emission reduction? Evidence from BRICS countries.

The quest for rapid economic development by modern nations has led to an unprecedented increase in carbon emissions. Knowledge spillovers from increasing trade activities and effective environmental regulations have been suggested as viable means of controlling these rising emissions. To that end, this study aims to examine the impact 'trade openness' and 'institutional quality' had on CO2 emissions in BRICS countries from 1991 to 2019. Three indices, namely, institutional quality, political stability, and political efficiency, are constructed to measure the overall institutional impact on emissions. A single indicator analysis is conducted for a deeper investigation of each index component. Given the existence of cross-sectional dependence among variables, the study uses the modern dynamic common correlated effects (DCCE) method to estimate their long-run relationships. Confirming the pollution haven hypothesis, the findings reveal that 'trade openness' indeed is a cause of environmental degradation in the BRICS nations. Through reduced corruption, improved political stability, bureaucratic accountability, and better law and order, 'institutional quality' is found to be contributing positively to environmental sustainability. It is also confirmed that renewable energy sources do have a positive environmental impact; however, it is found to be insufficient to offset the adverse effects caused by non-renewable sources. Based on the results, it is advised that BRICS countries should strengthen their cooperation with developed countries so that positive spillovers of green technologies may occur. Moreover, renewable resources should be aligned with firms' profits so that sustainable production practices can become the new norm.

How renewable energy investment, environmental regulations, and financial development derive renewable energy transition: Evidence from G7 countries

Renewable energy transition is an imperative agenda of the Conference of the Parties. It has a tremendous role in limiting carbon emissions, and environmentalists have recently highlighted the critical need to identify the factors influencing the energy transition. By evaluating the evidence of the G7 from 2000 to 2020, this study broadens the scope of this argument by providing potential determinants of the energy transition. This study explores the dynamic influence of renewable energy investment, financial structure, and environmental regulation on renewable energy transition. The study applied the cross-section autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) model to resolve the issues of slope heterogeneity and cross-section dependency in panel data analysis. The results exhibit that green energy investment, financial development, and environmental policy stringency stimulate sustainable energy transition in the long run. Manifestly, the interaction term of financial development and ecological regulations offer comparatively stronger influence than their individual effects, implying that effective environmental regulations direct the movement of financial resources toward the renewable energy transition. Similar results are also affirmed through the augmented mean group estimator. It suggests that the policymakers would formulate integrated policies to strengthen the ecological regulations and financial sector development, reducing financial barriers and introducing new green financial products.

The impact of marine pollution on the probability of business failure: A case study of the Mar Menor lagoon

The impact of coastal water quality and its interaction with business results is still an unexplored field. This study uses a probit model and estimates marginal effects to investigate the impact of chlorophyll a concentration in the Mar Menor (Spain) coastal waters on the probability of business failure of firms located in this area. This coastal area has been in a critical ecological condition since 1980 when intensive irrigation agriculture expanded to the surroundings of this salted lagoon. Therefore, identifying the most damaging productive activities is crucial to convince companies and policymakers to overcome this situation. The most remarkable findings of our study are the following. First, we find opposing geographical impacts on the probability of business failure for companies located on the Mar Menor coast: A location effect showing a decreasing probability of business failure for companies located near the Mar Menor and a pollution effect indicating an increased probability of failure due to proximity to water pollution. Second, we further identify the economic sectors in which the pollution effect outweighs the location effect. We find that most of the examined productive activities seem to be negatively affected by the pollution effect, overcoming the positive effect of being located near the Mar Menor. Third, marine eutrophication increases the probability of business failure for some economic activities but not for others. Concretely, agricultural and transport activities benefit from being near the coast despite the quality of the water. These firms’ probability of failure decreases when they are located near the sea), whereas a 1 mg/m3 increase of chlorophyll a raises the probability of business failure for accommodation services (8.4%), minor trade (9.5%), financial and real estate services (11%), and industrial and building activities (14.4%). This paper highlights the need to design effective environmental regulations to preserve the area of Mar Menor, considering the specific productive characteristics of the different agents. We highlight the sectors requiring additional incentives to implement pro-environmental strategies and reduce their contribution to environmental pollution. The main insights from this analysis are applicable to other coastal areas around the world that suffer from marine eutrophication due to human activities.

Transforming living labs into lighthouses: a promising policy to achieve land-related sustainable development

Abstract. The previous rather abstract debate about sustainable development has been focused by the introduction of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 and the related European Union (EU) Green Deal (GD) in 2019. Restricting attention to agriculture, proposed targets and indicators are, however, not specific enough to allow a focus for developing innovative and sustainable management practices. Clarity is needed because farmers are suspicious of governmental actions. To confront these problems, the European Commission (EC) has presented the Mission concept that requires joint learning between farmers, scientists and citizens. For the soil mission, “living labs” are proposed that should evolve into “lighthouses” when environmental thresholds for each of at least six land-related ecosystem services are met. This presents “wicked” problems that can be “tamed” by measuring indicators for ecosystem services that are associated with the land-related SDGs in a given living lab. Thresholds with a character that is occasionally regional are needed to separate the “good” from the “not yet good enough”. Contributions by the soil to ecosystem services can be expressed by assessing soil health. By introducing the mission concept, the policy arena challenges the research community to rise to the occasion by developing effective interaction models with farmers and citizens that can be the foundation for innovative and effective environmental rules and regulations. We argue and illustrate with a specific example, that establishing Living Labs can be an important, if not essential, contribution to realizing the lofty goals of the SDGs and the Green Deal as they relate to agriculture.

Municipal Water Use Kuznets Curve

The relationship between per capita municipal water use (PCMWU) and per capita gross domestic product (PCGDP) (purchasing power parity, constant 2011 US$) is statistically analysed for each country in the world. The results indicate that PCMWU will increase with the rising PCGDP at the beginning, which will then decrease when PCGDP reaches a certain level. This trend follows the rules of the Water Use Kuznets Curve, an inverted U-shape curve that describes the relationship between water use and gross domestic product (GDP). The unbalanced panel data analysis of world 183 countries and 22 developed countries revealed that the PCGDP at the peak point of the Municipal Water Use Kuznets Curve (MWUKC) is approximately US$33,000. The specific reason for the MWUKC is the saturation of municipal water demand. At the same time, the driving forces include technological advancements, growth in water prices, effective environmental regulations and policies, and water-saving consciousness. Most of these mechanisms benefit from economic development. The experiences of developed countries provide guidance and positive indicators for developing countries or countries with increasing PCMWU. Due to the accelerated economic growth in developing countries, these countries could reach a turning point more rapidly.

Dynamic Game Analysis of Enterprise Green Technology Innovation Ecosystem under Double Environmental Regulation.

In the context of China’s “double carbon” target, an urgent problem that remains to be solved is how to drive the construction of an enterprise green innovation ecosystem through effective environmental regulations to alleviate the pressure of energy saving and emission reduction. Based on this, we constructed a tripartite evolutionary game model of enterprises, governments and financial institutions, and used the evolutionary game theory and MATLAB simulation to analyze the evolutionary process of the interaction of the subjects of the green technology innovation of enterprises under the dual environmental regulation. The research finds that: (1) Both formal and informal environmental regulations can promote green technology innovation in enterprises, provided that the enforcement is controlled within an appropriate range; (2) Informal environmental regulations are a weaker driver of green technology innovation in firms than formal environmental regulations; (3) Six types of environmental regulation strategies, namely, the “penalty enterprises mechanism“, “financial support mechanism“, “public supervision mechanism”, “punishes financial institutions mechanism”, “financial subsidy mechanism” and “carbon tax mechanism“, have a decreasing effect on promoting the development of the green technology innovation ecosystem of enterprises; (4) Combining the implementation of a middle-intensity subsidy mechanism, a high-intensity penalty mechanism, a low-intensity public supervision mechanism and a middle-intensity carbon tax mechanism is the optimal strategy combination to encourage collaborative green technology innovation between companies and financial institutions.

Assessing the moderating effect of institutional quality on economic growth-carbon emission nexus in Nigeria.

This study explores the relationship between economic growth and carbon dioxide and the moderating effect of institutional quality in Nigeria from 1990 to 2020, by employing long-run and short-run dynamic ARDL regression, quartile regression and Granger causality test for the estimation. Utilizing CO2 per capita emissions; GDP per capita, a proxy for economic growth; capital stock (CAPSTK), proxy for capital investment in Nigeria and control of corruption and regulatory quality (COC and RGQ) which represent the effective environmental regulations and laws put in place for the control and prevention of environmental degradation, the study found a significant cointegration between CO2 emissions and economic growth (lnGDP) in Nigeria. Furthermore, an N-shaped nexus exists between CO2 emissions and economic growth in the long-run and short-run instead of the inverted U-shape curve postulated by the EKC hypothesis. This was confirmed by both ARDL and quartile regression results. Similarly, InCAPSTK contributed significantly to the growth of CO2 emissions in Nigeria both in the long run and short run; although, the short run did so at 10% significant level. Contrary to expectations, control of corruption (COC) contributes significantly to CO2 emissions in the long run, but when it interacts with income (InGDP times COC), it significantly contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions. More so, regulatory quality (RGQ) had no significant impact on CO2 emissions in Nigeria either in the long run or short run, even when it interacts with InGDP. This finding is further supported by the quartile regression outcomes and Granger causality. The study therefore concludes that CO2 emissions–economic growth nexus in Nigeria assumes an N-shape both in the long run and short run. Based on the results, the study recommends that Government should pursue industrialisation policy with sophisticated method of production that will bring about rapid economic progress and at the same time support environmental sustainability.