Economic and Demographic Determinants of Sustainability of the Environmental Performance Index: Case Study of Middle East and North Africa

Environmental Performance Index (EPI) is calculated based on 22 environmental indicators such as water resources, air pollution, biodiversity and climate change. The index quantitatively measures and evaluates the performance of policies and programs of countries aimed at reducing environmental issues as well as protecting and managing the environment and natural resources. This paper aims at examining the status of the EPI’s dimensions, exploring the causes of its fluctuations and identifying the determinants of its sustainability. The paper uses secondary data. The EPI has been derived from the Yale University’s website and the macro-economic and demographic variables have been extracted from the World Bank’s website for the period 2010 to 2018. The data have been analyzed using the event history analysis. The findings suggest that the probability of the sustainability of the EPI is o.45 in the countries under study. Further, after adjusting for other variables, the EPI has a positive relationship with life expectancy at birth and a negative relationship with variables such as urbanization and population growth rates. Moreover, the impact of demographic variables is greater than economic variables in Middle East and North Africa, which highlights the need for policymakers to focus on demographic factors when designing and implementing polices aimed at the sustainability of the EPI.