Does environmental sustainability affect the renewable energy consumption? Nexus among trade openness, CO2 emissions, income inequality, renewable energy, and economic growth in OECD countries

The effect of eco-friendly and financial technologies on renewable energy growth in emerging economies

Successfully integrating renewable energy sources depends on eco-friendliness, financial technology, and economic growth (GDP). This paper examines the dynamic effect of innovative financial and green technology on renewable energy for 38 emerging economies from 2006 to 2021. Using the dynamic First-difference Generalized Method of Moments (FD-GMM) model, the analysis identifies a critical GDP threshold of 1831.772 US dollars, significant at the 1 % confidence level. Below this threshold, GDP negatively affects green energy adoption, while above it, GDP positively influences the shift to greener energy, supporting the predicted U-shaped relationship in the data. The results conclude that eco-friendly and financial technology positively and significantly influence renewable energy adoption, where the dynamics and barriers to adopting eco-friendly and financial technologies in emerging countries may differ from those in developed nations. Based on the findings, relevant energy policies have been recommended for energy stakeholders, Tech firms and decision-makers.

How do energy consumption, globalization, and income inequality affect environmental quality across growth regimes?

This paper investigates the impacts of renewable and nonrenewable energy consumption, income inequality, and globalization on the ecological footprints of 49 countries for the period of 1995-2018. Panel cointegration test reveals a long-run relationship between the variables. Long-run parameter estimates derived from AMG and CCEMG, increasing income and nonrenewable energy consumption, have a significant positive impact on the ecological footprint, while countries that consume more renewable energy have seen an improvement in the quality of the environment. Conversely, neither income inequality nor globalization has a significant effect on national EFs. Evidence from the estimation of the panel threshold error correction model, where GDP growth is used as the transition variable, indicates a significant threshold effect, which supports a nonlinear relationship among the variables by identifying two distinct growth regimes: lower and upper. For the estimation sample, the positive and significant parameter estimates for economic growth in both growth regimes do not support the EKC hypothesis. The results indicate that renewable and nonrenewable energy consumption has a larger impact on the EF in the upper than lower growth regime. The threshold estimates are in line with the linear long-run estimates that do not indicate that income inequality has a significant impact on ecological footprint. However, globalization appears to negatively affect environmental quality in the lower growth regime.

Assessing key indicators of efficient green energy production for IEA members

Environmental pollution, increased energy consumption, and growing demand for the energy sector have been widely discussed. Due to policymakers and different organizations impacting a lot of new regulations, tools have been implemented to use clean energy that has zero impact on the environment. The International Energy Agency (IEA) supports energy efficiency and evaluation by developing tracking indicators and analyzing energy consumption data. The paper identifies critical indicators for efficient green energy production and ranks the IEA member countries using the CRITIC-TOPSIS method. Results showed that CO2 emissions and monitoring energy consumption are the most significant indicators while assessing the countries' performance regarding green energy production. The results indicated Sweden as the best-performing country regarding green energy production and reaching energy efficiency between 1990 and 2020. While Turkey and the USA ranked last, resulting in significantly increased CO2 emissions within the time range that need more efforts and policy implications to reach similar energy efficiency levels as other IEA countries.

How Do R&D and Renewable Energy Consumption Lead to Carbon Neutrality? Evidence from G-7 Economies

The discussion about whether research and development and advanced energy structure can efficiently control pollution has gained the consideration of researchers across the globe. However, there is a lack of enough empirical and theoretical evidence to support this phenomenon. To offer support of empirical evidence along with theoretical mechanism, we examine the net Impact of research and development (R&D) and renewable energy consumption (RENG) on CO2E utilizing panel data from G-7 economies for 1990-2020. Moreover, this study investigates the controlling role of economic growth and nonrenewable energy consumption (NRENG) in the R&D-CO2E models. The results obtained from the CS-ARDL panel approach verified a long-run and short-run relationship between R&D, RENG, economic growth, NRENG, and CO2E. Short- and long-run empirical results suggest that R&D and RENG improve environmental stability by decreasing CO2E, while economic growth and NRENG increase CO2E. Particularly, long-run R&D and RENG reduce CO2E with the effect of -0.091 and -0.101, respectively, while in the short run, they reduce CO2E with the effect of -0.084 and -0.094, respectively. Likewise, the 0.650% (long run) and 0.700% (short-run) increase in CO2E is due to economic growth, while the 0.138% (long run) and 0.136% (short run) upsurge in CO2E is due to an increase in NRENG. The findings obtained from the CS-ARDL model were also verified by the AMG model, while D-H non-causality approach was applied to check the pair-wise relationship among variables. The D-H causal relationship revealed that policies to focus on R&D, economic growth, and NRENG explain variation in CO2E but not vice versa. Furthermore, policies considering RENG and human capital can also affect CO2E and vice versa, meaning there is a round effect between the variables. All this indication may guide the concerned authorities to devise comprehensive policies that are helpful to environmental stability and in line with CO2E reduction.

How economic growth affected from technological innovation, CO2 emissions, and renewable energy consumption? Empirical analysis in G7 countries

Today's economically developed nations are also among the most advanced in energy production and consumption. In particular, the widespread implementation of renewable energy sources and the plethora of technological advancements supporting long-term prosperity stand out. The present research examines how carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, technological advancements, and renewable energy sources affect economic expansion. Research and development (R&D) expenses are considered a proxy for technological progress. The analysis quantified the interplay between the factors using annual data for the G7 countries from 1996 through 2020. We examine the association between our variables using panel unit root tests, Pedroni cointegration tests, ARDL coefficient estimations, and Dumitrescu and Hurlin causality tests. The Pedroni cointegration test indicated that the variables are cointegrated. According to the ARDL method of computation, increasing levels of CO₂ emissions are beneficial to long-term economic growth. However, improvements in renewable energy and technology dampen economic expansion. The economy's expansion and increased carbon dioxide emissions have a reciprocal relationship. The Dumitrescu and Hurlin causality test shows a uni-directional chain of events from CO₂ emissions to technological improvements, from economic growth to the use of renewable energy, and from consumption of renewable energy to technological advances. Based on our research results, investing in renewable energy consumption is still suggested for long-term sustainable development and environmental protection. Also, directing technological innovations to renewable energy resources and facilities to reduce costs and improve efficiency is suggested.

The dynamic relationship between green tax incentives and environmental protection

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of green tax incentives such as investment tax credit and taxable income deductions related to the environmental sustainability and climate change which are becoming more popular in developing countries, whereas introducing green tax incentives related to the environment and climate change helps and meets the sustainability objectives of growth and development. For this purpose, we selected the top 100 listed companies on the Swedish stock market (SSM), Nasdaq Stockholm (SN), in order to better understand the real facts and figures of green tax environment. This study uses a longitudinal research design because sample observations vary across firms and over a short time and conducts probit and logistic regression to identify the beneficiaries of the tax incentives. The findings show that different firm-level characteristics significantly impact the probability of being an ITC beneficiary.

The Short- and Long-Run Impacts of Air Pollution on Human Health: New Evidence from China

Under the background of the far-reaching impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on global economic development, the interactive effect of economic recovery and pollution rebound makes the research topic of air pollution and human health receive attention again. Matching a series of new datasets and employing thermal inversion as an instrumental variable, this study investigates the physical and mental health effect of air pollution jointly in China. We find that in the short run, the above inference holds for both physical and mental health. These short-run influences are credible after a series of robustness checks and vary with different individual characteristics and geographical locations. We also find that in the long run, air pollution only damages mental health. Finally, this study calculates the health cost of air pollution. The above findings indicate that in China, the effect of air pollution on physical and mental health cannot be ignored. The government needs to consider the heterogeneity and long-run and short-run differences in the health effects of air pollution when formulating corresponding environmental and medical policies.

Do drivers of renewable energy consumption matter for BRICS economies? Nexus among technological innovation, environmental degradation, economic growth, and income inequality

In light of increasing concerns about climate change and energy security, renewable energy has been seen as the most promising solution to fulfil future energy needs. This study examines the drivers of renewable energy consumption (REC) and the nexus between GDP growth, technological innovation, gross fixed capital formation, CO2 emissions, income inequality, and renewable energy consumption (REC) using annual data from BRICS countries. To this end, the study uses the augmented mean group (AMG) estimator, a second-generation estimator that takes slope homogeneity and cross-sectional dependence into consideration. For robustness, the pooled mean group (PMG) estimator has also been utilized. The findings of both estimators indicate that carbon emissions, technological innovation, and gross fixed capital formation exert adverse and significant impacts on REC. The findings also show that the use of renewable energy will rise as income inequality declines. We also employ the Dumitrescu and Hurlin (DH) granger causality test. The results of the analysis demonstrate a one-way causal association between income inequality and REC. This finding confirms that a reduction in income inequality will have a major impact on the adoption of renewable energy sources.

Can money supply endogeneity influence bank stock returns? A case study of South Asian economies

This study tests the Post-Keynesian theory regarding bank stock returns and money supply endogeneity in the context of South Asian countries. This study uses panel data set from different sources over twenty-eight (28) years. The research uses different econometric techniques before switching to the generalized method of moments (GMM). The empirical results indicate a significant positive effect of net interest rate margins on bank loans in South Asian countries, whereas a positive relationship exists between foreign to local interest rates and the money supply. The findings depict that positive associations exist between inflation and money supply of banks, and between the money supply and bank stock returns. More specifically, the GMM results show that the money supply has positively affected the stock prices of banks suggesting strong policies for the stakeholders of these economies for the sake of economic growth and sustainable development.

Nexus among green energy consumption, foreign direct investment, green innovation technology, and environmental pollution on economic growth

The objective of this study is to examine the impact of green energy consumption (GEC), foreign direct investment (FDI), green innovation technology (GIT), and environmental pollution (EP) on economic growth (EG) of selected South Asian countries under the sustainable development goal (SDGs) number seven (7). This study uses panel annual data set from world development indicators (WDI) and OECD statistics for twenty-one (21) years starting from 2000 to 2020. This study applies dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) for data analysis and long-run relationship among variables. The findings of our study states that FDI, green energy consumption, and green innovation technology have positive effect among selected sample countries. However, it is noted that environmental degradation has adverse effect on economic growth.