This paper examines the causal relationship between CO2 emissions and economic growth in 10 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. This study attempts to answer one critical question: does economic growth Granger-cause CO2 emissions in SSA countries? Unlike some of the previous studies, this paper uses a dynamic panel data analysis procedure to examine this linkage. The results of the error-correction model (ECM)-based panel causality show that there is a unidirectional causal flow from economic growth to CO2 emissions in the 10 studied countries. This applies irrespective of whether the causality is tested in the short run or in the long run. These findings have important implications. They demonstrate that CO2 emissions mitigation policies are unlikely to have any adverse effects on these countries’ long-term growth paths. This implies that these countries can pursue CO2 emission reduction policies without necessarily compromising their quest for a long-term positive growth trajectory.

中文翻译：

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撒哈拉以南非洲国家的二氧化碳排放和经济增长：面板数据分析

本文研究了 10 个撒哈拉以南非洲 (SSA) 国家的二氧化碳排放量与经济增长之间的因果关系。本研究试图回答一个关键问题：经济增长格兰杰会导致 SSA 国家的 CO2 排放吗？与之前的一些研究不同，本文使用动态面板数据分析程序来检查这种联系。基于误差校正模型 (ECM) 的面板因果关系的结果表明，在 10 个研究国家中，存在从经济增长到 CO2 排放的单向因果流。无论是在短期还是长期测试因果关系，这都适用。这些发现具有重要意义。它们表明，二氧化碳减排政策不太可能对这些国家的长期增长路径产生任何不利影响。