STOTEN-D-19-06559_final.pdf (527.19 kB)
The effect of financial crises on air pollutant emissions: an assessment of the short vs. medium-term effects
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 18:58 authored by Lucia Pacca, Alexander AntonarakisAlexander Antonarakis, Patrick Schröder, Andreas AntoniadesAndreas AntoniadesThis paper empirically investigates the impact of financial crises on air pollutant emissions (CO2, SO2, NOx and PM2.5). A panel data approach is used, including 419 financial crisis episodes in >150 countries over the period 1970–2014. The short- and medium-term effects of crises are estimated, using a GMM specification (for short-term) and the estimation of impulse response functions (for medium-term). Results show that in the short-term, as a consequence financial crises, emissions decrease for all gases except for PM2.5. In particular, emissions of CO2, SO2 and NOx decrease by 2.6, 1.8, and 1.7% respectively. However, in the medium-term, financial crises cause insignificant effect on emissions, or in some cases even lead to a 1–2% increase, cancelling out the initial benefit. Our analysis also shows that the effect of crises is larger in high income and upper-middle income countries. Moreover, recent crises had a larger short-term impact on air pollutants than crises in previous decades. Our results suggest that the beneficial impact of financial crises on air quality is short-lived. To preserve this beneficial impact in the long run and avert new negative post-crisis emission patterns and dynamics, policy responses to financial crises should encompass tighter environmental regulations and green investments.
Funding
Assessing the impact of Debt on Forest Cover, Air Pollution and Resource Efficiency; 1916; SSRP
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
Science of the Total EnvironmentISSN
0048-9697Publisher
ElsevierExternal DOI
Volume
698Page range
133614Department affiliated with
- Strategy and Marketing Publications
Research groups affiliated with
- climate@sussex Publications
- Sussex Sustainability Research Programme Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2019-09-20First Open Access (FOA) Date
2020-08-07First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2019-09-10Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedKeywords
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC