Can Health Spending Save West Africa from Its Own Growth? Examining Pollution, Agriculture, and Economic Development

Can Health Spending Save West Africa from Its Own Growth? Examining Pollution, Agriculture, and Economic Development | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Can Health Spending Save West Africa from Its Own Growth? Examining Pollution, Agriculture, and Economic Development Daniel Paakwesi Tawiah, Collins Adu, Richard Bless Edzi, Wisdom Edem Drah, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9429892/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Carbon emissions have emerged as the major contributor to global warming and the deterioration of air quality. Despite the growing awareness of environmental challenges, many developing economies are still facing growing levels of carbon emissions and environmental pollution in their pursuit of economic growth, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, where most of the economic growth is realized in agricultural activities and energy usage. This study examines the relationship between environmental sustainability and economic development in West Africa, with a focus on the roles of carbon emissions, air pollution, agricultural development, and health investment. Utilizing a balanced panel data set from 15 West African countries over the period 2000–2021, the study examined the direct effects of environmental sustainability on economic development as well as the moderating effects of health investment. The study’s empirical findings suggest that environmental degradation is a significant factor in West African economic development. The findings also emphasize the importance of health investments as a crucial mechanism for mitigating the adverse effects of environmental degradation on economies. It is recommended that governments enhance environmental policies and increase investment in public health infrastructure to ensure resilience against environmental pollution and climate change. JEL Classification : Q53, Q54, O13 Carbon Emissions Air Pollution Agricultural Intensification Economic Growth Health Investment Full Text Additional Declarations Declaration of competing interest: The authors state that none of their known conflicting financial interests or personal connections could have impacted the work published in this publication. Data availability statement : Data will be made available upon request from the corresponding author. Ethical Approval : Not applicable Consent for Publication : All authors have read and agreed to the publication of the manuscript. Supplementary Files Highlights.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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