Title: The relationship between income, energy consumption, population and deforestation for environmental quality in Nigeria

Authors: Ibrahim Kabiru Maji; A.S. Abdul-Rahim; Adamu Buba Ndawayo; Christopher Amechi Ofozor; Hamisu Alhaji Basiru; Salem Mohammed Bin Mubarak

Addresses: Department of Economics, Bauchi State University, Gadau, Nigeria; Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia ' Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia ' Faculty of Environmental Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia; School of Basics and Remedial Studies, Funtua, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria ' Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia ' Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia; Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Hussain Adamu Federal Polytechnic, Jigawa, Nigeria ' Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract: This research paper evaluates the effect of income, energy consumption and population on deforestation for environmental degradation in Nigeria. To achieve this objective, a cointegration analysis was used to verify the long-run relationship among the variables, with a dataset spanning from 1981 to 2011. The estimates of income provide evidence of a negative and important relationship with deforestation in both long- and short-run periods. This suggests that higher income can reduce deforestation and improve environmental quality. Furthermore, the coefficient of the population consistently provides evidence of a positive and important relationship with deforestation in the long- and short-run periods. Therefore, the population has been identified as the major cause of deforestation and environmental degradation in the model. Conversely, the estimates of energy consumption in both periods did not provide any evidence of a statistical relationship with deforestation. Therefore, policies of enhancing growth and curtailing deforestation were suggested.

Keywords: deforestation; income; energy use; population and environmental degradation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGE.2017.089850

International Journal of Green Economics, 2017 Vol.11 No.3/4, pp.204 - 216

Accepted: 07 Nov 2017
Published online: 13 Feb 2018 *

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