The environment and growth nexus: An empirical examination of the environmental kuznets curve hypothesisin cote d’ivoire

The objective of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the environment and growth nexus in Cote d’Ivoire and assess the EKC hypothesis for CO2.The analysis is extended to investigate the long run relationship between CO2 emissions and Agricultural Value Added, Industrial as well as Services Value Added. The data used ranged from 1960 to 2015. An ARDL model is used to assess long run relationship between CO2 emissions and per capita GDP. We found that CO2 emissions and per capita GDP are not cointegrated. Results also do not support the EKC hypothesis for CO2 in the country. When we considered sectoral contribution to GDP instead of Per capita GDP, we found that CO2 emissions and Agricultural and Services sector’s Value Added are cointegrated and moreover, there was long run causality running from Agricultural Value Added and Services Value Added to CO2 emission. In the case of the industrial Sector’s Value Added we found no long run relationship with CO2 emissions. However, there is short run causality running from Industrial Value Added to CO2 emissions in the country. The EKC hypothesis is supported in the Agricultural, Industrial and Services sectors.