The dynamics of financial development, environmental degradation, economic growth and population health in the Economic Community of West African States

Abstract By exploring the nexus between financial development and population health in the ECOWAS region we contribute to the debate on population health and also examine the direction of causality between population health and its determinants. We utilised a panel dataset of 11 ECOWAS nations from 1990-2019. The study used the augmented mean group (AMG) estimator to examine the long-run associations among the chosen variables. The empirical results indicate that financial development and economic growth are positive drivers of population health. The analysis also demonstrates that lower population health is associated with increased environmental degradation (CO2 emissions) in the ECOWAS region. However, regarding the country-specific analysis, the impact of the determinants of population health varied per country. The empirical estimates of the Dumitrescu Hurlin panel causality tests reveal a bidirectional causality between population health and its determinants. The empirical outcomes offer new insights for policymakers by means of financial development, environmental degradation, and income as economic tools to promote population health by guiding finance, growth, and environmental policies.