What are the effects of economic globalization on CO2 emissions in MENA countries?

This paper explores whether economic globalization is (de)carbonizing the MENA region. Based on a comprehensive econometric analysis including ARDL and NARDL models for a panel of 17 MENA countries over the 1980-2018 period, it reveals the existence of asymmetric long-term impacts of economic globalization on CO2 emissions. As economic globalization increases, CO2 emissions increase, but the effect is much stronger for trade globalization than for financial globalization. On the other hand, the decrease in globalization has no effect. The study also shows that, the effects of financial globalization are different between OPEC and non-OPEC MENA countries. It appears that financial globalization pushes OPEC MENA oil-exporting countries to reduce their CO2 emissions with the transfer of technologies and the development of their financial market. These different results between OPEC and non-OPEC MENA countries allow us to propose differentiated policies for these two groups of countries.

Automated summary

This paper examines the impact of economic globalization on carbon emissions in the MENA region. The results indicate that while overall economic globalization leads to an increase in CO2 emissions, the effect is stronger for trade globalization than for financial globalization. Additionally, the study finds that financial globalization has different effects on OPEC and non-OPEC MENA countries, with financial globalization contributing to lower CO2 emissions in OPEC nations through technology transfer and financial market development.