The effect of gender equality on the carbon intensity of well-being: panel data analysis for the MENA economies 1995-2018
Journal of Chinese Economic and Foreign Trade Studies
ISSN: 1754-4408
Article publication date: 31 January 2022
Issue publication date: 1 November 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the ecological efficiency through assessing the relation of the “carbon intensity of well-being” (CIWB) to gender equality, gross domestic product (GDP)/capita, the urban intensity of the population, the age structure of the population, foreign direct investment as a percentage of GDP and manufacturing as a percentage of GDP.
Design/methodology/approach
CIWB equation is estimated for a panel of 18 MENA economies and Turkey over the period 1995–2018 using the two-way fixed effects Prais–Winsten regression with panel-corrected standard errors.
Findings
The elasticity coefficients obtained from the estimated models indicated mixed effects on CIWB. While the increase of female educational attainment, accompanied with an increase in the female labor force participation rate, reduce CIWB, the younger female population and the younger population, in general, increase CIWB. Furthermore, while increasing FDI inflows reduces CIWB, increasing the manufacturing share of GDP increases CIWB.
Originality/value
The pursuit of Sustainable Development Goals worldwide has moved the relevant literature on climate change mitigation and adaptation measures to a new level, where using the CIWB method is increasingly used to reflect carbon dioxide emissions per capita unit of expected lifespan. The present paper’s contribution to the literature is two-fold: one is computing and estimating the CIWB to examine ecological efficiency for the middle east and north africa (MENA) economies and Turkey over the period of study; and two is integrating and validating the beneficial impacts of integrating the gender equality dimension in the CIWB–climate change literature.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge that the analysis conducted in this paper is not free of limitations, primarily data availability. Though authors indicated that missing data points were obtained via linear interpolation to satisfy having a balanced panel, data for some variables were altogether missing. For example, having data for females holding parliamentary positions would have shed light on the gender implications for the environment, as evidenced in recent empirical literature. Moreover, with the data available and interpolation, the authors were still only able to conduct estimations with some limitations (Model (1) excludes an independent variable and two of the MENA countries, and Model (2) excludes three of the MENA countries). Finally, the estimated model was of homogeneous slopes, while one with heterogeneous slopes would have allowed us to obtain country-specific results (provided this specification is found to be appropriate for the panel data at hand). This may, however, open the door for further exploration of the gender–environmental degradation relation.
Citation
Sileem, H. and Al-Ayouty, I. (2022), "The effect of gender equality on the carbon intensity of well-being: panel data analysis for the MENA economies 1995-2018", Journal of Chinese Economic and Foreign Trade Studies, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 239-260. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCEFTS-09-2021-0060
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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