Research Article
Environmental Performance and Carbon Emissions: Revisiting the Role of Environmental Taxes and Policy Stringency for OECD Countries
Arshad Ali*
,
Gohar Ali
Issue:
Volume 14, Issue 3, June 2026
Pages:
56-70
Received:
12 October 2025
Accepted:
2 February 2026
Published:
27 May 2026
Abstract: Effectively combating climate change is a critical objective in the twenty-first century, with rising global temperatures, extreme weather events, and environmental degradation having severe social and economic consequences, necessitating urgent policy actions. The current study examines the impact of environmental taxes and environmental policy stringency on CO2 emissions in OECD countries, utilizing a balanced panel dataset of 32 OECD countries from 2000 to 2022. Additionally, this study incorporates key control variables, including renewable energy consumption, economic growth, financial development, urbanization, and human capital, to provide a comprehensive analysis. The empirical results reveal that 1% increase in environmental taxes leads to a 0.119% reduction in CO2 emissions, while a 1% increase in environmental policy stringency results in a 0.040% decrease in CO2 emissions. Renewable energy significantly reduces emissions, whereas urbanization contributes positively to CO2 emissions. Using system GMM for robustness tests shows that environmental taxes and strict environmental policies can effectively improve the quality of the environment in OECD countries. Moreover, we categorized 32 OECD countries into two groups to address potential heterogeneity: low-emitting countries and high-emitting countries. Our empirical findings of these groups are consistent with the overall results. Finally, our empirical results support the EKC hypothesis by confirming an inverted U-shaped relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions across all models. Thus, we concluded that environmental taxes and strict environmental policies have a significant impact on CO2 emissions among OECD countries.
Abstract: Effectively combating climate change is a critical objective in the twenty-first century, with rising global temperatures, extreme weather events, and environmental degradation having severe social and economic consequences, necessitating urgent policy actions. The current study examines the impact of environmental taxes and environmental policy st...
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Research Article
Factors Affecting Farmers’ Participation in Watershed Management Programs in Northern Ethiopia: A Case Study in the Upper Mugie Sub-watershed
Agmasie Belay*,
Tibebe Tigabu,
Tewodros Assefa
Issue:
Volume 14, Issue 3, June 2026
Pages:
71-83
Received:
19 May 2026
Accepted:
8 June 2026
Published:
29 June 2026
DOI:
10.11648/j.ijepp.20261403.12
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Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the factors influencing farmers’ participation in watershed management in the Mugie Sub-watershed, located in the northeastern highlands of Ethiopia. A combination of purposive and random sampling techniques was used to select 200 households from four villages. Data was collected using a structured survey questionnaire, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews. The data were analyzed using a range of statistical techniques, including descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis. The results revealed that farmers’ perception was strongly correlated (r = 0.612, p < 0.01) with their decision to participate in watershed management programs, followed by stakeholders’ support (r = 0.163, p < 0.05). In contrast, the slope of the farmland and the gender of the household head showed significant negative associations. Binary logistic regression analysis further indicated that six independent variables were important in explaining farmers’ decisions to participate in watershed management programs. These variables included land redistribution, gender, family labor force, educational opportunity, farm size, and land slope. Land redistribution, gender, family labor force, educational opportunity, and land slope had negative effects, whereas farm size had a positive effect. Further analysis also demonstrated the role of individual variables in explaining variation in farmers’ decisions to participate in the program. Among these, two variables were found to be statistically significant: the gender of the household head and land tenure security. Accordingly, the chi-square value for gender (X2 = 9.052) was statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. Similarly, the chi-square value for land tenure security (X2 = 8.691) was also statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. The findings of the study suggest the need to raise farmers’ awareness of the long-term benefits of watershed management programs and to design strategies that help diversify their livelihoods.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the factors influencing farmers’ participation in watershed management in the Mugie Sub-watershed, located in the northeastern highlands of Ethiopia. A combination of purposive and random sampling techniques was used to select 200 households from four villages. Data was collected using a structured survey q...
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