Publication: The Effects of Pollution and Business Environment on Firm Productivity in Africa
Date
2019-04
ISSN
Published
2019-04
Author(s)
Soppelsa, Maria E.
Lozano-Gracia, Nancy
Xu, L. Colin
Abstract
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.
Citation
“Soppelsa, Maria E.; Lozano-Gracia, Nancy; Xu, L. Colin. 2019. The Effects of Pollution and Business Environment on Firm Productivity in Africa. Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8834. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31599 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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