Does greenhouse gas emission have any relevance to per capita health expenditure? Empirical evidence from Nigeria

Abstract

The quest to achieve sustainable development in the world has led to higher energy consumption which invariably leads to increasing environmental pollution through greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental pollution poses dangers to human health and the need to protect human health increases pressure on health care expenditure. Human capital development is necessary for any economy to achieve sustainable development. This study is an attempt to examine if greenhouse gas emissions have any impact on per capita health expenditure in Nigeria, using data from 1990 to 2015. The study is anchored on the Environmental Kuznets’ Curve Hypothesis that postulates an inverted u-shaped relationship between the environment and income. The bounds test technique was used to estimate the long-run relationship between the dependent and the explanatory variables while the error correction method within the ARDL model was used to estimate the speed of adjustment. The paper found that greenhouse gas emissions have negative but statistically significant influence on health expenditure in Nigeria. Gross domestic product, population density and mortality rate were all statistically significant suggesting that these variables were important in influencing health  expenditure in Nigeria in the long run. The paper therefore recommends that companies that emit gases should be taxed for these emissions and the revenue directed towards environmental management.

Keywords: ARDL, Environment, Greenhouse gases, Health expenditure, Pollution