The Financial Development, Energy Use, Trade Receptivity, and Carbon Emission of Sub-Saharan Africa and MENA Countries

The abstract is assembled as a synopsis of discrete abstracts from diverse studies drafted by the author as they relate to the outlined variables in the dissertation topic. The First study scrutinized the influence of energy utilization, trade receptivity, and financial development on CO2 emissions of 10 countries in the Middle East and North Africa within the period of 1970 to 2017 employing DOLS {dynamic ordinary least squares} and the FMOLS {fully modified ordinary least squares}. The main findings reveal energy utilization and receptivity of trade have a significant positive influence on CO2 emissions. Contrarily, the influence of financial development on the emissions of CO2 is negative and statistically significant. The second study utilized the STIRPAT (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology model) to investigate the impact of natural resources extraction, population, affluence, and openness in trade on CO2 emissions and energy utilization of 17 SSA (Sub-Saharan Africa) countries from 1971-2019. The Westerlund (2007) Error-Correction Model, The Pooled Mean Group (PMG ARDL), the panel FMOLS {Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square} and dimension group mean Panel DOLS (Dynamic Ordinary Least Square techniques) were used to assess carbon emission and energy utilization long-run multiplier. The empirical results reveal that natural resource extraction, urbanization, and income have a significant positive impact on energy utilization and CO2 emissions in SSA countries in the remote future. On the contrary, openness in trade, in the long run, has a negatively significant influence on energy utilization and the emission of CO2 of SSA countries. The third study examines the interaction of Foreign Direct Investment, fiscal development, renewable energy usage, economic growth, and CO2 emissions of South Africa (1970 to 2014). The findings are: the existence of a statistically significant correlation among the series was detected by the Johansen multivariate cointegration and the ARDL bound cointegration result. Furthermore, a significant positive correlation existed between GDP (economic growth), financial development, and CO2 emissions in both the long run and short run. Contrarily, renewable energy consumption exerts a negative relationship on CO2 in the short run. The granger causality results show proof of bidirectional stimulus running from renewable energy to economic growth.