Effects of mining sector FDI, environmental regulations, and economic complexity, on mineral resource dependency in selected OECD countries

Abstract

Mineral resources are pivotal in boosting a country's foreign direct investment and economic complexity; nevertheless, their exploitation should be regulated by implementing environmental policies governing economic activities. Thus, current study explores the quantile-dependent association of mineral resource dependency with the mining sector's foreign direct investment (FDI), economic complexity, and environmental regulations for selected OECD economies. The OECD nations comprise developed and developing zones; thus, their importance regarding mineral resource dependency is immensely vital. The annual data from 2004 to 2021 has been taken and Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) is employed after a preliminary investigation of the panel series. The outcomes revealed that mining sector FDI and economic complexity exert pressure on resources in low- and high-resources-dependent countries. In comparison, environmental regulations reduce mineral resource dependency. A bi-directional causality is documented between mining sector FDI, economic complexity and environmental regulations. This study also applies Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and Feasible Generalized Least Square (FGLS) to address reverse causality and cross sectional dependency. Notably, a two way relationship is confirm using causality test between FDI, economic complexity, environmental regulations, and mineral resources. Robustness estimators confirm the prior estimations and offer relevant policy implications.