Strategic resource management for economic sustainability: Assessing the impact of technological advancement and energy efficiency

Abstract

In the last two decades, numerous empirical studies have been done exploring the relationship between natural resources and economic growth. Still, the contradictory findings lead the policymakers and governments to adopt inadequate and inappropriate policies for sustainable development. Following the trend, the present study examines the nexus of natural resources and trade with the economic performance of the top global economies during 1988–2021. Using the second and third-generation econometric approaches, this study found the validity of the long-run equilibrium relationship between mineral rents, trade, oil rents, and economic performance. This study employs the cross-section augmented autoregressive distributed lag estimator and concludes that natural resources are adversely affecting the economic performance of the region. However, trade has a beneficial impact on the economic performance. The results are found robust, where energy efficiency and technological advancement are progressively influencing economic performance. This study suggests resource management and improved trade policies to attain economic sustainability.