Spatial spillover effects of official development assistance on environmental pressure in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries

Abstract

Impoverished sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is under increasing environmental pressure from global environmental changes. It is now generally accepted in academic circles that economic development in SSA countries can cause environmental pressure in other countries. However, there is research gap on the impact of economic assistance on environmental pressure in SSA countries and whether economic assistance causes spatial spillovers of environmental pressure between SSA countries. To better understand the impact of economic assistance on environmental pressures in SSA, a dynamic spatial Dubin panel model was developed. It helped us explore the spatial spillover effects of economic assistance on environmental pressures in recipient countries based on the panel data from 34 SSA countries. The results show that economic assistance had a positive stimulating effect on environmental pressures of recipient countries, which means that the degree of human disturbance to the environment has deepened. Due to the regional correlation effect, neighboring countries were saddled with environmental pressures from the target country. Moreover, environmental pressures have time inertia, which can easily produce a snowball effect. The decomposition of effects shows that the impact of economic assistance on environmental pressures is relatively minor. Environmental pressures have spillover effects, so to deal with diffuse risks, joint regional prevention and control policies should be developed.