The role of green innovation and tourism towards carbon neutrality in Thailand: Evidence from bootstrap ADRL approach

Mitigating the environmental concerns through total quality management and green manufacturing practices

This study seeks to explore the intricate relationship between total quality management (TQM) and environmental performance (EP), incorporating the mediating role of green manufacturing practices (GMPs). Additionally, the study examines the moderating impact of environmental strategy on the connections between GMPs and EP. Data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to managers of manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and were subjected to analysis using structural equation modeling. The results reveal a positive and significant impact of TQM on EP. Furthermore, the findings suggest that GMPs partially mediate the association between TQM and EP, while the anticipated moderating effect of environmental strategy between GMPs and EP is also supported in this study. These outcomes hold valuable implications for enhancing the environmental performance of SMEs through the integration of TQM and GMPs. It is important to note that this research exclusively focuses on manufacturing SMEs; therefore, future studies should extend their examination of this concept to other industries. Additionally, the study's findings provide a valuable roadmap for SME administrators aiming to elevate their environmental performance.

Time-varying causality relationships between trade openness, technological innovation, industrialization, financial development, and carbon emissions in Thailand

Over the last twenty years, there has been swift growth in industrialization and technological advancements, driving economic progress. Nevertheless, it is inevitable that these sectors will bring about environmental shifts. Thus far, endeavors have been undertaken to assess the influence of industrialization and technological advancements on environmental deterioration. Additionally, the extensive discussion surrounding the impact of financial development, trade openness, and technological innovation on the environment has not yielded conclusive empirical findings. Studies often operate under the assumption of symmetric relationships, potentially leading to biased results. Adding to the discussion on the drivers of carbon neutrality, the time-dependent effects of critical aspects such as financial development and technological innovation should inform meaningful policies for environmental management. This article explores the time-varying causal association between trade openness, industrialization, financial development, technological innovation, and CO2 emissions in Thailand using novel time-varying Granger causality tests. The time-varying causality outcomes demonstrate that the associations change significantly over time, in contrast to the results of Toda-Yamamoto causality. Overall, there exists a bidirectional relationship between industrialization, financial development, trade openness, technological innovation, and CO2 emissions over different time sequences. These outcomes have implications for both policy and research.

Unveiling the relationship of ESG, fintech, green finance, innovation and sustainability: case of Gulf countries

Technological advancement and innovations not only transformed businesses but also optimize numerous functional areas of financial services. Besides, green finance and fintech are also essential tools to achieve sustainable development agendas. Thus, it is imperative to document the evidence that how conducive such factors are to achieve 2030 sustainable development goals. The study, in this regard, is aimed to scrutinize innovation, green finance, financial technologies, and ESG factors altogether in order to determine their effectiveness on sustainable development in Gulf countries in the time span of 2000-2020. The study opts for methods of moments quantile regression (MMQR) and claim that green finance, green innovation, and fintech helps in achieving sustainable development goals. However, among ESG factors, social and governance role is negative in the sampled economies. Findings are interesting for policy makers and government institutions because it assists them to improve governance evaluation system and classification standards so that countries may no longer experience hindrance when indulging in sustainable development actions.

How to lead on carbon neutrality through sustainable development: A perspective on renewable energy, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and logistics networks

In the face of intensifying climate change-induced environmental problems, understanding the causal relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and socioeconomic factors is crucial for achieving sustainable development. This study investigates how the causal relationships between renewable energy, information and communication technology (ICT), logistics networks, economic growth, industrialization, and energy intensity impact sustainable development using a panel dataset drawn from 104 countries and covering 2006 to 2019. Methodologically, panel unit root, panel co-integration, and Granger causality tests are employed as robust econometric techniques. The results of the panel unit root and co-integration tests confirm the stationarity of the variables and reveal significant long-term relationships among them throughout the empirical analysis period. Notably, the panel FMOLS and DOLS estimates indicate a positive effect of RE and ICT on reducing CO2 emissions, whereas GDP and energy intensity have a negative impact on CO2 emissions reduction. Moreover, the pairwise Granger causality test findings indicate bidirectional causal relationships between RE and CO2, IND and CO2, ICT and RE, IND and RE, GDP and ICT, as well as IND and ICT. The study recommends providing policy support, including for technological development and innovation, towards establishing a system that fosters sustainable development.

Probing environmental sustainability pathways in G7 economies: the role of energy transition, technological innovation, and demographic mobility

Global warming remains the most devastating environmental issue embattling the global economies, with significant contributions emanating from CO₂ emissions. The continued rise in the level of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions serves as a compelling force which constitutes the core of discussion at the recent COP26 prompting nations to commit to the net-zero emission target. The current research presents the first empirical investigation on the roles of technological advancement, demographic mobility, and energy transition in G7 pathways to environmental sustainability captured by CO₂ emissions per capita (PCCO2) from 2000 to 2019. The study considers the additional impacts of structural change and resource abundance. The empirical backings are subjected to pre-estimation tests consisting of cross-sectional dependence, second-generation stationarity, and panel cointegration tests. The model estimation is based on cross-sectional augmented autoregressive distributed lag, dynamic common correlated effects mean group, and augmented mean group for the main analysis and robustness checks. The findings reveal the existence of EKC based on the direct and indirect effects of the components of economic growth. The indicators of demographic mobility differ in the direction of influence on PCCO2. For instance, while rural population growth negatively influences PCCO2 in the short-run alone, urban population growth increases PCCO2 in the short-run and long-run periods. Nonrenewable energy, information computer technology (ICT) imports, and mobile cellular subscriptions serve as positive predictors of PCCO2, while ICT exports and renewable energy moderate the surge in PCCO2. Policy implications that enhance environmental sustainability are suggested following the empirical verifications.

Exploring the roles of green finance and environmental regulations on CO2es: defining the roles of social and economic globalization in the next eleven nations

Achieving sustainable environmental growth and preventing further environmental degradation are challenging goals for policymakers. This study looks at environmental laws and green finance's role in fostering a more sustainable environment. The literature still needs to empirically or theoretically investigate how environmental laws and green financing affect carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, particularly when combined with moderating factors such as social and economic globalization. As a result, this study investigates how environmental laws and green funding can help the N-11 nations cut their CO2 emissions. Our research uses empirical data from a group of the N-11 nations that span the years 2000 to 2019. To handle issues with panel data analysis, such as cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity, we use advanced panel approaches (CIPS and CADF unit root and cointegration test and cross-sectional augmented ARDL). This research demonstrates that green financing (GFI) and environmental laws (ENV) have a negative but significant effect on CO2 emissions. While social globalization moderates the causal relationship between energy consumption and GDP while negatively and significantly causing GFI and ENV with CO2 emissions among the N-11 countries, economic growth has had a positive and significant effect on CO2 emissions in the N-11 countries. According to our research, nations could achieve the SDG-7 and SDG-13 goals if they adopted green financial and environmental policies.

Quantity or quality? The impact of financial geo-density on firms' green innovation

Green innovation is an essential support for environmentally sustainable development. However, little attention has been given to the impact of financial expansion on green innovation in the existing literature, and there is a lack of studies based on the perspective of the financial geographical supply structure. This study uses latitude and longitude information to construct firm-level financial geo-density data in China. It examines the impact of financial geo-density on a firm's green innovation and mechanisms. The results reveal that as financial geo-density increases, green innovation quantity increases, but green innovation quality decreases. The findings of the mechanism test indicate that an increase in financial geo-density decreases the cost of financing and boosts bank competition in the vicinity of the firm, hence resulting in a rise in the firms' green innovation quantity. Nevertheless, the degree of bank competition increased by financial geo-density increase negatively affects firms' green innovation quality. Heterogeneity analysis shows that financial geo-density has a more significant positive impact on a firm's green innovation quantity in high environmental regulation areas and high-pollution industries. Firms with low innovation capabilities are the main group responsible for the decline in green innovation quality. For firms located in low environmental regulation areas and medium- to light-pollution industries, financial geo-density has a more significant inhibition effect on green innovation quality. Further tests have shown that the extent to which financial geo-density enhances a firm's green innovation quantity diminishes as market segmentation increases. A new concept of financial development policies based on green development and innovation is presented in this paper for developing economies.

Technology innovations impact on carbon emission in Chinese cities: exploring the mediating role of economic growth and industrial structure transformation

China seems ambitious to achieve a "carbon emissions peak" before 2030 and "carbon neutrality" before 2060. To deal with this emissions mitigation plan, technology innovations are regarded as a crucial factor. However, considering its rebound effect (CO₂ emissions driving effect) through economic growth, technology innovations might not prove a promising contributor to CO₂ reduction. Therefore, there is a need to investigate further the nexus between technology innovations and CO₂ emissions for conclusive debate. Based on the data of 215 cities in China, this paper uses mediating effects model to investigate the direct and indirect impacts (through economic growth and industrial structure transformation) of technology innovations on CO₂ emissions from a microeconomic perspective. The main results suggest that technology innovations generally increase CO₂ emissions in China both directly and indirectly. The impact of technology innovations and economic growth on CO₂ emissions indicated the EKC characteristics. Furthermore, the contributions of technology innovations to CO₂ emissions are distinguished in different regions. Thus, there is an urgent need for China to promote innovations in "clean technology" and to transform industrial structure to the tertiary industry to achieve the targets of carbon neutrality and emissions peaking.

Exploring the association between resource dependence and haze pollution in China: the mediating effect of green technology innovation

Haze pollution has been addressed in extensive studies over the last few years. However, the relationship between resource dependence and haze pollution has not been fully investigated. This study focuses on addressing this problem while considering the mediating role of green technology innovation. A panel dataset of 263 prefecture-level cities in China from 2005 to 2018 is used for the analysis. The results show the following: (1) the two-way fixed-effect model reveals that resource dependence contributes significantly to haze pollution, and this finding remains robust across a series of robustness tests. (2) A mediation analysis indicates that resource dependence is unfavorable for green technology innovation, indirectly affecting the alleviation of haze pollution. (3) The results of panel threshold regression suggest that green technology innovation promotes haze reduction in the weak and medium resource dependence stages, whereas this optimization effect disappears in the strong resource dependence stage due to rebound effects. (4) The results of regional heterogeneity demonstrate that the positive effects of resource dependence on haze pollution exist in eastern and western China but not in central China. Based on these results, policy implications are given to reduce haze pollution.

Services as a Determinant of Botswana's Economic Sustainability

In 2015, the services sector contributed about 58 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), which was a significant increase from the 47.6 percent observed in 2005, and a shift from the mining, agriculture, and manufacturing sector. This increase calls to support services as the catalyst for sustained economic development as indicated by the structural transformation and modernization theories. The main objective of this paper was to examine the relationship between and the impact of services on the economic development in Botswana and make recommendations on how Botswana can apply well-directed policies to improve its services sector and diversify its impact on other sectors and GDP, making it less reliant on mining which is vulnerable to price volatilities. The paper applied econometric modeling and results of the Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bounds test for cointegration indicate that services and other industries services, agriculture, industry, mining, and investment impact GDP over the short and long run. These variables impacted GDP and converged to equilibrium at the speed of 46.89 percent, with a percent change in services in the short and long run impacting GDP by 0.328 and 0.241 percentages, respectively, and the outcome of the Wald test indicated causality from services to GDP growth. The services sectors have contributed over 40 percent to the country's GDP from 1995 to the present, though the sectors have not gone without challenges with limitations such as limited infrastructure development; poverty and inequality; unemployment of over 20 percent; disease, which has dampened productivity; and lack of proper governance and accountability, which has created a habitat for an increase in cases of corruption in state and private entities. The findings of the study with the lessons learned from other studies with similar findings recommend that the government of Botswana should formulate suitable policies and strategies for services diversification. This is by expanding the market for the sector in areas such as tourism that were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, escalating investments by instituting strategies to attract and grow domestic and foreign investments, and improve on management of institutions and resources.

Using media reports to analyze the spatio-temporal evolution of carbon dioxide management development in China

Over the past few decades, the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions management problem has attracted global attention. China is transitioning to carbon neutrality and experienced rapid development in low-carbon management. However, current studies have limited understanding of the evolutionary process and development issues at a macro-level, which may hinder the structural reformation of stepwise carbon-neutral development. This study used the content analysis method to process and code reports from China’s most prominent news media, Xinhua News Agency, to identify China’s low-carbon evolution and development issues. The results depict a trend of gradually increasing carbon management within China and highlight the staged development features. Years 2010 and 2021 are the critical nodes of carbon emissions management in China, representing the two primary actions of low-carbon pilot city projects and the carbon-neutral construction. However, the results also reveal the uneven development problem of China’s carbon management behind the rapid transition. The government is the primary participant in carbon management, but the participation of firms and the public is relatively low. The power industry implements the highest amount of carbon management actions, but less attention is paid to other sectors with high carbon emissions. Report tones on environmental protection and green technology have gradually declined, while the tone on economic and social development has increased. There are evident differences in the number of carbon management measures implemented between regions. The southeast coastal regions report more management numbers than China’s central and western regions. The top three provinces (or municipalities) are Beijing (131), Shanghai (93), and Guangdong (78). From an industry perspective, more-reported regions have implemented carbon management measures in more industries than less-reported regions. This study provides a distinctive contribution to the theoretical work on China’s carbon emissions regulation and the emerging planning and management mechanisms.

Environmental Regulation and Corporate Innovation Behavior Based on the “Double Carbon” Strategy – Empirical Analysis Based on A-Share Listed Companies of Heavy Pollution Industries on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges

Environmental regulations have been intensified across the country under the pressure of the national “double carbon” strategy, the constraints of energy-saving and emission-reduction targets by enterprises, and public opinion. The tightening of environmental regulations is bound to impact the innovation behavior of heavily polluting enterprises; however, it remains uncertain whether the impact is positive or negative. Using a differences-in-differences approach of data from listed companies in China’s heavily-polluting industries between 2010 and 2016, this paper examines the changes in their innovation behavior under the tightening environmental regulations after the “smog explosion” event as a “quasi-natural experiment” at the end of 2011. The study found that the “smog event” had a significant net negative effect on the innovation behavior of heavily polluting firms, with a significant decrease in their innovation inputs. The quantile regression results show that the R&D intensity of enterprises is related to the haze treatment effect in a U-shaped curve. Further research found that the decline in innovation investment was more significant for state-owned heavily-polluting firms compared to private heavy polluting firms. Robustness tests indicate that the empirical results of this paper are somewhat robust. This paper aims to identify the contradictory roots of the “Porter hypothesis” debate by analyzing the differences in innovation behavior of enterprises with different R&D intensity and different property rights.

The role of clean energy in the development of sustainable tourism: does renewable energy use help mitigate environmental pollution? A panel data analysis

The tourism industry has long been accused of being the major driver of global warming as a result of the size of the industry and its subsequent high energy consumption, most of which comes from sources that emit carbon dioxide. However, in spite of the criticism directed towards tourism due to its negative effects on the environment, there is a scarcity of research that has aimed to ascertain its impact on the environment, thus revealing the existence of a gap in the literature. The current study uses a dynamic GMM model for 38 OECD countries from 2008 to 2019 for the purpose of filling the gap in the literature by investigating the effects of tourism development on the environment, as well as ascertaining the role of renewable energy in mitigating environmental impact. Unlike past studies that have alluded to the fact that tourism development exacerbates the emissions of carbon dioxide and hence global warming, the current research shows that in the OECD countries, tourism does not have any significant link with greenhouse gas emissions. This is because OECD nations have long started to shift from the use of fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy that do not exacerbate greenhouse gas emissions. However, the current research concurs with the findings of past studies that renewable energy consumption significantly decreases greenhouse gas emissions. The use of renewable energy sources instead of fossil fuels should continue to be encouraged in all nations for the purpose of achieving the carbon neutrality goal of the United Nations.

Energy market uncertainty and the impact on the crude oil prices

Our paper proposes a novel measure of global energy market uncertainty and studies its impact on oil prices. The current literature primarily relies on a single or small number of observable variables, or general macroeconomic uncertainty (JLN) and economic policy uncertainty (EPU) indices to reflect energy market uncertainty. Using a Factor Augmented Vector Autoregression model (FAVAR), we construct time-varying global energy market uncertainty in a data-rich environment. Our estimates show variations from JLN and EPU proxies. The results reveal that real oil prices respond strongly to our proposed aggregate energy market uncertainty shocks. We also find heterogeneous responses to different types and magnitudes of uncertainty shocks. The real price of oil is affected the most under unexpected strong demand for alternative energy sources scenario.

Does environmental and renewable energy R&D help to achieve carbon neutrality target? A case of the US economy

The current study investigates carbon neutrality targets for the US's case while analyzing the role of environmental-related research and development (ERR&D) and renewable energy research and development (RER&D). This study also considered economic growth (GDP) and energy productivity (EP) as controlled variables. Utilizing the time series data over the period from 1990 to 2019, this study used various econometric approaches, such as unit root tests and cointegration tests for stationarity and the long-run association between variables, respectively. This study's main econometric regression tools, such as dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) and fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), are utilized. The empirical findings reveal that economic growth played a negative role in achieving carbon neutrality targets. However, EP, RER&D, and ERR&D positively contribute to carbon neutrality target achievement by reducing atmospheric CO₂ emissions. Moreover, this study found a cointegration relationship between the study variables. The bidirectional causality is found between ERR&D and CO₂ emissions, while a unidirectional causality is observed, running from exogenous variables towards CO₂ emissions. Based on the empirical findings, this study recommends expanding the investment and expenditures in both ERR&D and RER&D sectors to attain carbon neutrality.