The Effects of Pollution and Business Environment on Firm Productivity in Africa
This paper explores the links between city competitiveness and air pollution and the business environment. Because competitive cities not only attract more productive firms, but also facilitate their business, the paper look at firm performance as a proxy for city competitiveness. It focuses on African firms, because this region is developing fast and experiencing increasing pollution levels and the effects of agglomeration economies. The analysis finds two interesting results. First, the negative association between air pollution and firm performance can be seen at lower than expected levels of pollution. Second, the effects of capacity agglomeration on labor productivity growth are stronger compared to other regions. These findings suggest that cities in this region should address pollution issues soon, as they continue to grow fast and pollution levels are becoming an increasing concern.
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2019-04
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| Subjects: | CITY COMPETIVENESS, AIR POLLUTION, BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT, FIRM PRODUCTIVITY, AGGLOMERATION ECONOMIES, LABOR PRODUCTIVITY, |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/850371556630917519/The-Effects-of-Pollution-and-Business-Environment-on-Firm-Productivity-in-Africa https://hdl.handle.net/10986/31599 |
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| Summary: | This paper explores the links between
city competitiveness and air pollution and the business
environment. Because competitive cities not only attract
more productive firms, but also facilitate their business,
the paper look at firm performance as a proxy for city
competitiveness. It focuses on African firms, because this
region is developing fast and experiencing increasing
pollution levels and the effects of agglomeration economies.
The analysis finds two interesting results. First, the
negative association between air pollution and firm
performance can be seen at lower than expected levels of
pollution. Second, the effects of capacity agglomeration on
labor productivity growth are stronger compared to other
regions. These findings suggest that cities in this region
should address pollution issues soon, as they continue to
grow fast and pollution levels are becoming an increasing concern. |
|---|