Iranian Business Management Association International Journal of Resistive Economics 2345-4954 13 4 2025 11 05 The Impact of Productivity on Governance Quality: A Case Study of Selected Countries 153 163 235369 10.22034/oajre.2025.543732.1133 EN Amir Mansour Tehranchian Professor, Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran. Morteza Alavian Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran. Seyedeh Mahsa Khabbaz Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics & Administrative Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran. 0009-0009-6422-4496 Journal Article 2025 08 28 Governance quality , as a core pillar of sustainable development , is strongly shaped by countries " economic structures and resource - use patterns . Using panel data for 61 countries over 2010 - 2022 , this study examines the role of productivity in explaining governance outcomes . The results show that higher productivity has increased CO₂ emissions - used here as an inverse indicator of governance - particularly in economies heavily dependent on fossil fuels . This finding reflects the dominance of the scale effect , whereby productivity gains expand production and energy use without improving environmental efficiency . The theoretical analysis further indicates that the effect of productivity on governance is highly dependent on countries " energy mix and institutional capacity ; hence , productivity cannot be regarded as an inherently sustainability - enhancing factor . Empirical evidence also confirms that in the absence of an energy transition , productivity improvements may intensify environmental pressures rather than mitigate them . Accordingly , strengthening governance requires aligning productivity - enhancement strategies with clean - energy deployment , green taxation , and investment in low - carbon technologies . Such integration can shift productivity from a source of environmental risk to a driver of improved governance and sustainable development . https://www.oajre.ir/article_235369_074b4dcd11597d262903a73ff376cda5.pdf