Decoupling Approach to Carbon Emissions and Economic Growth Nexus: Evidence from Economic Community of West African States Economies

Abstract

Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis has dominated literature in ecological and environmental studies. Though a lot of studies have either validated or refuted the theory, researchers are still divided as to its relevance in explaining environmental disasters in this modern era. Besides, not many studies have verified the validity of theory for carbon emissions-economic growth nexus in less industrialized economies. Using decoupling and decomposition analysis, the study aims to investigate whether economic growth drives carbon emissions in less industrialized economies. The research approach is deductive since the study seeks to validate or invalidate a theory. The research design is causal since the study seeks to explain the effect of economic growth on environmental pollution. The research method is quantitative since the study relies on secondary quantitative data to study the relationship between carbon emissions and economic growth. The study samples 15 economies from the target population of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The sample design is a purposive sampling method since the selected countries must meet certain criteria. The source of data is primarily secondary data. Data is gathered from World Bank Development Indicators. The analysis is a decoupling and decomposition analysis of economic growth from carbon emissions over 31 years from 1990 to 2020. Tapio decoupling method as well as logarithm mean divisia index (LMDI) decomposition method is applied to conducting decoupling analysis and decomposition analysis respectively.

Presenters

Francis Ayensu
Lecturer, School of IT Business, Ghana Communication Technology University, Jiangsu, Ghana

Details

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Theme

Ecological Realities

KEYWORDS

EKC, Tapio Decoupling Aalysis, LMDI Decomposition Analysis, Carbon Emissions, ECOWAS