Economic growth and sustainable developments within the BRICS, MINT and G-7 countries: a comparative panel data analysis

Abstract

This study analysed the effect of economic growth on sustainable development within the (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS), Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey (MINT) and G-7 countries using a panel dataset from 1990 to 2017. The study estimates via the auto regressive distributed lag (ARDL) were supported by cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) and cross-sectional distributed lag (CS-DL). The results confirm that sustainable development and economic growth are co-integrated at the panel level. Consequently, the study concluded that economic growth increases the level of sustainable developments in the BRICS, MINT and G-7 countries in the short run. However, economic growth was a drag on sustainable development in only the BRICS and MINT countries in the long run. The study thereby suggests varied policies to achieve sustainable developments in the BRICS blocs. The novelty of this study is partly the construction of sustainable development indexes that are robust to cross-sectional dependence and small sample bias.