Effect of environmental policies on exports from sub‐Saharan African countries

Abstract

Abstract The objective of this work was to analyse the effects of environmental quality and environmental regulations on the exports of sub‐Saharan African countries. Adopting the pollution haven hypothesis as a theoretical framework, we use a gravity model enriched by environmental variables. Our main results indicate that it is the environmental quality of sub‐Saharan African (SSA) countries, as measured by the Environmental Performance Index, and the differences in environmental quality between a country and its partner that constitute a barrier to SSA exports. It therefore appears important for SSA countries to integrate the environmental factor into their policies to improve the competitiveness of their exports.