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In this study, the validity of the double dividend hypothesis for several African countries (Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Mali, South Africa, and Uganda) is investigated for the period of 1994–2017. The double dividend hypothesis claims that, in addition to reducing environmental pollution, environmental taxes can also increase employment. In this study, the validity of this hypothesis is examined with panel co‐integration and long‐run estimators. According to the findings obtained, environmental taxes increased environmental degradation and unemployment in Cameroon, environmental degradation in the Ivory coast, environmental degradation and employment in Mali, environmental restoration in South Africa and employment in Uganda. When the individual results obtained from the study are evaluated in general, it can be said that the double dividend hypothesis is not valid for African countries. The study proposes that taxation should be used as a financial incentive rather than a command‐and‐control policy to combat unemployment and environmental degradation.

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PurposeThere is extensive literature on the effect of military expenditure on economic growth. However, there is also a wide gap in the literature on the relationship between productivity and innovation, which is considered the driving force of economic growth and military expenditures. To this end, this study examines the effect of military expenditures on economic growth, innovation and labor productivity for the period 1995–2019 in most militarized countries.Design/methodology/approachThe tests used in the study's empirical analysis are techniques that take into account cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity. The stationarity of the variables was tested with the Pesaran’s (2007) unit root test. Then, empirical findings were revealed based on the analysis through Westerlund’s (2008) cointegration test and Emirmahmutoglu and Kose’s (2011) panel causality test.FindingsAccording to the empirical results, there is a long-run relationship, in other words, a cointegration between military expenditures and productivity, innovation and economic growth. Additionally, there are causality relationships between military expenditures and productivity, innovation and economic growth.Practical implicationsThese results support the arguments of military Keynesianism and the Benoit hypothesis.Originality/valueDespite the widespread theoretical debate, no empirical study tests the effect of military expenditure on productivity and innovation to the author's best knowledge. Hence, this study aims to fill this gap in the literature. Moreover, the fact that the econometric method used is based on second generation tests and the timeliness of the period range makes the study's findings more significant.

In this study, relationships between environmental protection expenditures, income inequality, and economic growth were examined for selected OECD countries for the period 1995-2017 using Emirmahmutoğlu and Kose (2011), and Kónya ( 2006) panel causality tests. When the results obtained from the study are evaluated in general, it has been found that there is a causality relationship between environmental protection expenditures and economic growth from environmental protection expenditures to economic growth and there is a bidirectional causality relationship between environmental protection expenditures and income inequality.