Agricultural Productivity, Green Energy Consumption, Governance Quality, and Environmental Degradation in BRICS Economies. Evidence from a PMG-ARDL Approach
Abstract
This study examines the relationships between agricultural productivity, green energy consumption, governance quality, and environmental degradation in BRICS economies. The main objective is to assess whether improvements in agricultural performance intensify environmental pressure and to what extent green energy adoption and institutional quality can mitigate these adverse effects. The analysis is based on a balanced panel dataset covering the period 2002–2023 and employs the Pooled Mean Group Autoregressive Distributed Lag (PMG-ARDL). The empirical findings reveal that agricultural productivity significantly increases environmental degradation in the long run, highlighting the environmental costs associated with agricultural intensification in emerging economies. In contrast, green energy consumption and governance quality exhibit strong and consistent pollution-reducing effects, contributing to improved environmental sustainability. This study provides original empirical evidence by jointly integrating agricultural productivity, green energy, and governance quality within a unified dynamic framework, offering important insights for designing sustainable agricultural and energy policies in emerging economies.
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[7] Chen, Y., Z. Zhao, and L. Zhang. (2025). Green energy and agricultural pollution in BRICS. Energy Economics, 128: 107526.
[8] Dalei, N. N., and H. Gupta. (2024). Green energy and environmental sustainability in BRICS. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 31: 5678–5691.
[9] Dhahri, S., and A. Omri. (2020a). Are international capital flows really matter for achieving environmental sustainability ? Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27: 37657–37674.
[10] Dhahri, S., and A. Omri. (2020b). Foreign capital towards SDGs 1 and 2—Ending poverty and hunger: The role of agricultural production. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, 53: 208–221.
[11] Dhahri, S., and A. Omri. (2020c). Entrepreneurship contribution to the three pillars of sustainable development: What does the evidence really say? World Development, 106: 104987.
[12] Dong, X., and Z. Wang. (2023). Environmental pollution and agricultural productivity: Evidence from China. Ecological Economics, 213: 107947.
[13] Gharbi, S., S. Ben Jabeur, and S. Mefteh-Wali. (2025). Energy transition and environmental sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, 455: 142327.
[14] Hausman, J. A. (1978). Specification tests in econometrics. Econometrica, 46 (6): 1251–1271.
[15] Kao, C. (1999). Panel cointegration tests. Journal of Econometrics, 90 (1): 1–44.
[16] Liu, Y., J. Qiao, and Y. Zhang. (2022). Agricultural productivity growth and structural transformation in Asia. Agricultural Systems, 198: 103386.
[17] Ogunniyi, A. I., A. O. Adebayo, M. A. Salman, and O. A. Kehinde. (2020). Governance and agricultural emissions. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27: 29950–29966.
[18] Omri, A., K. Saidi, and Y. Ben Zaied. (2025). Energy transition, structural change, and environmental sustainability: New evidence from developing economies. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 200: 123177.
[19] Oyelami, L. O., A. A. Alola, and I. Bekun. (2023). Population dynamics and environmental sustainability. Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, 17: 100223.
[20] Pata, U. K. (2021). Green energy, agriculture, and ecological footprint in BRIC countries. Renewable Energy 173: 197–208.
[21] Pesaran, M. H., Y. Shin, and R. P. Smith. (1999). Pooled mean group estimation of dynamic heterogeneous panels. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 94 (446): 621–634.
[22] Shang, Y., Y. Lian, H. Chen, and F. Qian. (2024). The impacts of energy investment and green innovation on carbon emissions : Evidence from China. Science of the Total Environment, 912: 169100.
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[25] Westerlund, J. (2007). Testing for error correction in panel data. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 69 (6): 709–748.
[26] Xu, L., H. Du, and X. Zhang. (2023). Particulate matter pollution and agricultural productivity. Journal of Cleaner Production, 382: 135292.
[27] Yadav, S., P. Goyari, and R. K. Mishra. (2024). Environmental governance and green technology adoption. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 67(2): 350–371.
[28] Zhang, W., G. Cao, X. Li, J. Zhang, and J. Wang. (2020). Closing yield gaps in China by empowering smallholder farmers. Nature, 587: 75–80.
[29] Zhang, Y., S. Wang, and X. Li. (2023). Agricultural productivity growth and environmental pressure in developing economies : Evidence from panel data analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 383: 135458.
[30] Zhao, J., W. Sun, and H. Li. (2024). Green energy and ecological footprint. Journal of Cleaner Production, 434: 140125.
[31] Zhu, B., M. Zhang, Y. Zhou, P. Wang, and J. Sheng. (2024). Environmental innovation, green energy, and sustainable agricultural development: Evidence from emerging economies. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 197: 122909.
Published
2026-02-27
How to Cite
KILANI, Hadda; BENAMAR, Mohamed.
Agricultural Productivity, Green Energy Consumption, Governance Quality, and Environmental Degradation in BRICS Economies. Evidence from a PMG-ARDL Approach.
Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism, [S.l.], v. 17, n. 1, p. 19 - 29, feb. 2026.
ISSN 2068-7729.
Available at: <https://journals.aserspublishing.eu/jemt/article/view/9339>. Date accessed: 04 mar. 2026.
doi: https://doi.org/10.14505/jemt.v17.1(81).02.
Section
Article
Copyright© 2025 The Author(s). Published by ASERS Publishing 2025. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of CC-BY 4.0 license.