Is climate change a source of economic disparities between regions in Benin? Evidence from the spatial effects analysis method

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Despite numerous studies on the impacts of climate change in developing economies, scarce research focuses on these spatial effects in the internal regions of these countries. To shed light on this concern, this study aims to analyze the spatial effect of climate change on regional economic disparities in the context of Benin. The secondary data are extracted from the World Bank’s Climate Knowledge Portal and a Beninese local finance database covering the period from 2010 to 2019. A random-effects panel model and a dynamic spatial Durbin model of endogenous growth are used. The results reveal that, in the absence of spatial effects, average temperature reinforces economic disparities by 4.4 points within regions. A one-point increase in precipitation increases economic disparities by 0.001 points. The spatial model reveals both short- and long-term positive spatial externalities. Thus, a one-point positive variation in precipitation in neighboring regions leads to a 0.005% increase in a given region’s own revenue per capita. Similarly, a one-point increase in precipitation in a given region induces a 0.004% rise in own revenues in neighboring regions. Damage caused by climate change in one area encourages positive economic dynamics in neighboring areas. These spatial interactions reinforce economic differences and maintain economic disparities between Benin’s regions.

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    • Figure 1. Trends in per capita revenues by department
    • Figure 2. Spatial distribution of mean temperature and precipitation
    • Figure 3. Spatial distribution of the average Gini index within departments
    • Table 1. Explanatory variables and expected signs
    • Table 2. Descriptive statistics for own-source revenues per capita (in FCFA*)
    • Table 3. Gini index of own revenues per capita in departments
    • Table 4. Moran index
    • Table 5. Effect of climate change on regional economic disparities using the random-effects model
    • Table 6. Effect of climate change on regional economic disparities using the dynamic panel SDM model
    • Table A1. SDM estimation in fixed-effect panel
    • Table A2. Pairwise correlations
    • Conceptualization
      Hortensia Acacha-Acakpo, Denis Acclassato Houensou, Christian Duhamel Logozo, Sylvain Hekponhoue
    • Formal Analysis
      Hortensia Acacha-Acakpo, Denis Acclassato Houensou, Christian Duhamel Logozo
    • Methodology
      Hortensia Acacha-Acakpo, Denis Acclassato Houensou, Christian Duhamel Logozo, Sylvain Hekponhoue
    • Supervision
      Hortensia Acacha-Acakpo, Denis Acclassato Houensou, Sylvain Hekponhoue
    • Validation
      Hortensia Acacha-Acakpo, Denis Acclassato Houensou, Sylvain Hekponhoue
    • Writing – review & editing
      Hortensia Acacha-Acakpo, Denis Acclassato Houensou, Christian Duhamel Logozo, Sylvain Hekponhoue
    • Data curation
      Christian Duhamel Logozo
    • Investigation
      Christian Duhamel Logozo
    • Software
      Christian Duhamel Logozo
    • Visualization
      Christian Duhamel Logozo, Sylvain Hekponhoue
    • Writing – original draft
      Christian Duhamel Logozo