Investigating the effect of economic policies of government on environmental quality in elected countries
Subject Areas : environmental management
MohammadReza
Shahab
1
(Semnan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Semnan, Iran)
Seyede Marvehi
NaserSadrabad
2
(2-MSc Student of Economic Development and Planning, Islamic Azad University, Science and Research
Branch, Semnan, Iran)
Keywords: Economic policies of the gover, air pollutants, Environmental quality, Panel data,
Abstract :
Introduction:The process of economic development and set of economic policies in recent decades have changedthe environmental challenges to one of the most important concerns of policy makers. Therefore,investigating the role and impact of the economic policies of the government on environmental qualitycan be very important.Material and Methods:In this study, the effect of government’s policies on environmental quality in 7 countries of Iran,Syria, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia in the Middle East and North of Africa (MENA)during 2007-1997 was investigated in the form of econometric models using panel data. Theenvironmental quality, based on the amount of air pollutants as one of the important indicators ofenvironmental pollution, was studied, and carbon dioxide emission and aerosols concentration wereconsidered as the variables indicative of air pollution.Results and discussion:The results show that depending on the type of index selected for the environmental quality,government's economic policies can have a direct and positive relationship with air pollutants. Indeed,the findings emphasize that investment of government is an important and influential variable indetermining the amount of carbon dioxide emissions in the studied countries, and has put a positiveimpact on increase of carbon dioxide emissions. However, this result is not confirmed in the case ofaerosols.