Democracy, economic development and air pollution: insights from global evidence

This paper examines the impact of democracy and economic development on air pollution for a global sample of 143 countries during 2000–2020. The findings from the fixed effects and the System Generalized Method of Moments estimators demonstrate that: i) democracy reduces air pollution through the channels of resource availability, institutional capacity, public awareness, and policy enforcement; ii) the effectiveness of democracy in reducing air pollution is stronger in upper middle-income and high-income countries compared to low-income and lower middle-income countries, due to the enhanced functioning of these channels in richer democracies; iii) the Environmental Kuznets Curve is validated for the global sample, but not for sub-samples. While democratic governance can lead to environmental improvements universally, the challenges faced by low-income and lower middle-income countries can limit the extent of these benefits.