Governance and Environmental Degradation in MENA Region

This paper uses annual aggregate data for 21 countries in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for the period 2002-2007 to determine the impact of a better quality or so-called good governance on environmental degradation. The paper uses three governance indicators namely, government effectiveness, regulatory quality and control of corruption published by Political Risk Services International Country Risk Guide (PRS). Our findings regarding government effectiveness based on panel data regression analysis support positive effect on environmental quality. In the other word, better governance has a negative impact on environmental degradation. Therefore, policies to improve governance indicators in the region are suggested.