The Effects of Representative Public Governance on Carbon Dioxide Emissions: What Transmission Mechanisms in Developing Countries ?

This work contributes to the literature on the relationship between representative public governance and carbon dioxide emissions. Previous studies have not yet addressed the channels through which representative public governance affects the level of carbon dioxide emissions. Using a STIRPAT model we estimate a system GMM to determine the direct effects, and then a structural equation mediation to show the indirect effects. We consider a set of 83 developing countries over a period from 2000 to 2023. The results of the global estimation show that representative public governance has no direct impact on emissions. However, energy consumption, population and GDP² increase emissions, while GDP reduces them. The mediation analysis shows that representative public governance indirectly affects CO2 emissions in developing countries. The effect is mainly negative through the channel of women's civil liberties, the financing of public campaigns and the relative power of elected governments. The effect is rather positive through the equal distribution of wealth. We suggest strengthening women's civil liberties by promoting easy access to education to strengthen their representation in environmental decision-making. Transparent public funding can also help reduce corruption and direct finances towards environmental programmes. Finally, governments can put in place public policies aimed at reducing inequalities to limit the positive effect of the unequal distribution of resources.