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

Authors: Ahmed Malumfashi Halliru; Nanthakumar Loganathan; Narayan Sethi; Asan Ali Golam Hassan

Addresses: Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Department of Economics, Umaru Musa Yar'adua University, Katsina, Katsina State, Nigeria ' Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ' Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology Rourkela, Rourkela, Odisha, India ' Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: FDI; CO₂; energy; growth.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGE.2020.112576

International Journal of Green Economics, 2020 Vol.14 No.4, pp.327 - 348

Received: 16 Jul 2020
Accepted: 13 Nov 2020
Published online: 20 Jan 2021 *

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