Achieving pro-poor growth and environmental sustainability agenda through information technologies: as right as rain

Democracy, information, and communication technology infrastructure and environmental quality

Environmental degradation is an urgent global concern. While previous studies acknowledge the substantial effects of both democracy and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on environmental quality, their joint effects remain underexplored. Addressing this gap, our research investigates the individual and synergistic effects of democracy and ICT infrastructure on environmental quality. Utilizing the system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator, we assess a panel dataset from 152 countries between 2003 and 2019. Our results indicate that both democracy and ICT infrastructure advancements substantially improve environmental quality. Furthermore, an enhanced ICT infrastructure augments the positive effects of democratic practices on the environment and vice versa. However, when ICT infrastructure is insufficient, the positive influence of democratic systems on the environment becomes negligible, and similarly, without a solid democratic foundation, the benefits of ICT infrastructure on environmental quality are diminished. This underscores a synergistic relationship between democracy and ICT in fostering sustainable environmental progress. Consequently, our study offers significant insights into the multifaceted interplay between democracy, ICT infrastructure, and the environment.

Economic growth and carbon emissions in Pakistan: the effects of China's Logistics Industry

The logistics business is a crucial contributor to economic development, yet it is also the leading source of carbon emissions. Economic growth at the expense of environmental deterioration is a challenging issue; this phenomenon offered a new avenue for scholars and policymakers to investigate and address these issues. The recent study is one of the attempts to explore this intricate subject. The goal of this research is to determine whether or not the Chinese logistics sector has an impact on Pakistan's GDP and carbon emissions as a result of CPEC. The research utilized data from 2007Q1 to 2021Q4 using the ARDL approach for an empirical estimate. Due to the mixed order of variable integration and finite data set, the ARDL technique is well deserved, which helps reach sound policy inferences. The study's key results indicated that China's logistic business enhances Pakistan's economic development and carbon emissions in the short and long term. Similarly, China's energy usage, technology, and transportation contribute to Pakistan's economic progress at the price of environmental damage. The empirical study may be a model for other developing nations, given Pakistan's viewpoint. With the support of the empirical results, policymakers in Pakistan and other associated countries would be able to plan for sustainable growth in conjunction with CPEC.

Green project management practices, green knowledge acquisition and sustainable competitive advantage: empirical evidence

Purpose

This study aims to envisage the impact of green project management (GPM) practices on sustainable competitive advantage (SCA). Moreover, this study also accessed the mediating role of green knowledge acquisition (GKA) as a mechanism between GPM and SCA.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a quantitative field survey, the data were collected from the multi-sector manufacturing enterprises (n = 265) in Pakistan. The measurement and structural model were tested through Analysis of Moment Structure by conducting a covariance structure analysis.

Findings

The findings suggest that GPM practices are positively related to SCA. In addition to this direct effect, GKA play a significant role in explaining the associations between GPM practices and SCA. The findings bring essential insights for the enterprises, policymakers, practitioners and project managers to promote GPM practices for low-carbon projects to achieve SCA.

Research limitations/implications

The data used in this study is cross-sectional in nature. The geographic location is limited to firms in Pakistan, while well-validated subjective measures are used to make the survey more convenient for participants.

Practical implications

The practitioners in general, while project managers in particular, are recommended to implement GPM practices and GKA to achieve high performance of SCA.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to examine GPM practices and its effect on SCA directly and via GKA in a single model.

Time Flies When You are Having Fun: The Mediating Effects of Project Opportunity Management in the Relationship Between Project Leaders’ Self-Efficacy and Multidimensional Project Success

Numerous studies have linked various leadership styles with project success; however, the role of project leaders’ self-efficacy and project opportunity management has been rarely studied. The present study examines the effects of project leaders’ self-efficacy on multidimensional project success through project opportunity management. Drawing on data of 386 project professionals, the hypothesized relationships were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) via MPlus. Empirical findings support that project opportunity management helps to explain and predict the relationship between project leaders’ self-efficacy and project success. The study extends project management literature by presenting a new model of multidimensional project success.

Evaluating race-to-the-top/bottom hypothesis in high-income countries: controlling emissions cap trading, inbound FDI, renewable energy demand, and trade openness

The massive rise in the world's average temperature has created major economic and environmental issues that must be addressed by strict environmental legislation. Carbon pricing is seen as a sustainable instrument capable of assisting in the reduction of negative environmental externalities associated with global carbon emissions. The race-to-the-bottom (RTB) hypothesis describes a competitive environment in which economies sacrifice environmental quality standards to undercut competitors, thus undermining the ecological sustainability objective. The study contributed to the evaluation of the RTB hypothesis by examining the role of emissions cap trading instruments in conjunction with inbound foreign direct investment, economic growth, renewable energy demand, and trade openness in reducing carbon emissions, using aggregated data from high-income countries from 1975 to 2019. The linear and non-linear ARDL estimator is used for empirical analysis. The results show that emissions cap trading lowers carbon emissions in the long run while increasing in the short run. Inbound FDI confirmed the "pollution halo hypothesis" in the long run while verifying the "pollution haven hypothesis" in the short run. The per capita income and its associated positive shocks substantially decrease carbon emissions in the short and long runs. Renewable energy demand and trade openness increases carbon emissions in the short and long runs, respectively. On the other hand, trade openness decreases carbon emissions in the short run. The results confirmed the RTB hypothesis in the short run. At the same time, it substantiates the "race-to-the top" (RTT) in the long run, by imposing stringent environmental policies to the way forward towards green and clean development. The study concludes that emissions cap trading and investment in cleaner technologies played a decisive role in reducing environmental pollution. As a result, it is desired to make environmental regulations more environmentally friendly by adopting carbon pricing and technology transfer that will lower the average world temperature.

Searching for Hidden Connections between the Evolution of Poverty in Developing Countries and Information Technology

In today’s economy, information technology is present in all aspects of life and has the potential to be used for the development of society. The study aims to find hidden connections between the evolution of poverty in developing countries and information technology. The methodology of the study is based on the monitoring of statistical data from the world atlas Knoema, which characterizes the economic development of countries and the level of poverty, as well as data from the International Telecommunication Union, which characterizes the level of development of information technology in countries around the world. As a result of the study, the evolutionary changes of gross domestic product and the development of information technology were traced, with the subsequent establishment of a relationship between them, confirmed on the basis of the method of rating scores. Finally, a comparative analysis was made to identify the causal links between the evolution of poverty and information technology through the precise indicators that Knoema and the International Telecommunication Union collect to trace the regulatory environment within a country such as the affordability of ICT services, ICT literacy, and the poverty rate. It was found that despite the availability of information technology price policy in developing countries and the uneven growth of GDP mainly in post-Soviet countries, except for the period of the COVID-19 crisis, gaps were identified in the form of low or no ICT literacy at poverty thresholds of 3.8–9.8%. This demonstrates the hidden links between poverty and population’s practical knowledge of information technology, and may constrain the socio-economic development of developing countries. The findings can be used by policymakers as a tool to combat poverty, and are also useful to scholars and economists who work on the digitalization of the population and inclusive education.

Environmental and natural resource degradation in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic: a wake-up call

The study's objective is to examine the relationship between COVID-19 cases, environmental sustainability ratings, and mineral resource rents in a large cross section of 97 countries. The emergence of novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) enlarges its magnitude across the international borders and damages social, economic, and environmental infrastructure with a high rate of human death tolls. The mineral resources are also devastated, which served as a primary raw input into the production system. The adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment and mineral resources are studied in a large panel of countries and found that mineral resource rents and population growth improve environmental sustainability rating (ESR). In contrast, an increase in coronavirus cases decreases the rating scale across countries. Further, mineral resources first decrease along with increased COVID-19 cases due to strict government policies, including the mandatory shutdown of economic institutions. Further, mineral resource rents increase later because of resuming economic activities in many parts of the world. The high rate of population growth is another important factor that negatively affects mineral resources across countries. Through impulse response and variance decomposition estimates, an exacerbated coronavirus cases and population growth would likely negatively affect ESR and mineral resources. In contrast, COVID-19 recovered cases will likely play a more significant role in securing mineral resources over time. Therefore, the global mineral resource conservation policies and improving ESR are highly needed during the COVID-19 to keep the significant economic gains in unprecedented times.

Analysis of income inequality and environmental pollution in BRICS using fresh asymmetric approach

With rapid economic growth, BRICS is facing enormous burdens of carbon emission and severe issues of income inequality. However, behind this economic success, the BRICS economies also face few thoughtful challenges to improve environmental quality by catching up the sustainable development goals. Consequently, the existing empirical research is concerned with the dynamic links between income inequality and CO₂ emissions by using the novel nonlinear ARDL approach, but small attention has been paid to the BRICS in literature. Therefore, we observed that a negative and positive change in income inequality has positive effect on CO₂ emissions in Russia and South Africa in the long run, although a positive change in income inequality has positive effects on CO₂ emissions in Brazil, Russia, and China, while a negative change in income inequality has negative effect on CO₂ emissions in India, Brazil, and Russia in the short run. Hence, the findings value specific attention from policymakers in BRICS economies.

How Does Income Inequality Influence Environmental Regulation in the Context of Corruption? A Panel Threshold Analysis Based on Chinese Provincial Data

The question of how the income inequality of residents affects the level of environmental regulation in the context of official corruption was the core research issue of this study. We analyzed this problem using the panel threshold regression model from 26 provinces in China from 1995 to 2017. We found that when there is no official corruption, the widening of the residents' income inequality promotes stricter environmental regulations; when the corruption problem is serious, the expansion of the residents' income inequality leads to the decline in environmental standards; that is, the impact of residents' income inequality on environmental regulation has a threshold effect due to corruption. In addition, the threshold effect due to corruption of all residents' income inequality on environmental regulation is mainly generated by the urban residents' income inequality and the urban-rural income inequality. This paper contributes to the literature that concentrates on the relationship between income inequality and environmental regulation, and shows that corruption is a key factor that can deeply influence that relationship. The research conclusion shows that increasing anti-corruption efforts can not only maintain national political stability, social fairness, and justice, but also be a powerful measure for environmental pollution governance.