FDI inflows, energy consumption and sustainable economic growth for ECOWAS countries: the pollution haven hypothesis approach

• Main Authors: Halliru, Ahmed Malumfashi, Loganathan, Nanthakumar, Sethi, Narayan, Hassan, Asan Ali Golam
• Format: Article
• Published: Inderscience Publishers 2020
• Subjects: HB Economic Theory
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/90049/; http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJGE.2020.112576

This study examined the pollution haven hypothesis for CO2 emissions and ecological footprint with the role of sustainable economic growth, energy consumption, human capital and bio-capacity in six ECOWAS countries using data spanning over 1970 until 2017. Employing a Pooled Mean Group (PMG) technique, the empirical results support the pollution halo hypothesis for CO2 emissions and Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH) for ecological footprint. Furthermore, we found evidence of inverted U-shaped pattern of CO2 emissions, which validate the EKC hypothesis, but a U-shaped relationship was found for ecological footprint as indicators of environmental degradation. A unidirectional causal link exists between FDI and CO2 emissions, but a feedback hypothesis is validated between FDI and ecological footprint. The policy implications are that environmentally friendly FDI should be prioritised to achieve a sustainable environment via developing renewable energy.