Cross-sectional Autoregressive Distributed Lag Research Articles

Public Energy R&D Spending and Green Energy for Sustainable Development: COP28 Perspective of G7 Economies

Achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) is one of the top priorities for countries worldwide, and the recent COP28 has focused mainly on achieving sustainable development via clean energy investment financing. However, countries and regions still struggle to find various policy-level indicators to achieve sustainability engagement. In this context, finding the right combination of policy indicators becomes crucial. Therefore, the current study seeks to identify the key drivers of sustainability for the G7 economies by utilizing data from 1990–2019. This study employed the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) panel time series method of estimating primary results and a novel sustainable development index as the dependent variable. The study revealed that public energy R&D budgets, increasing income levels, improving the political risk index, and promoting clean energy are important for achieving sustainable development in the G7 countries and that the depletion of natural resources has an adverse influence on sustainability. These empirical results are supported by various economic and environmental theories, i.e., the environmental Kuznets curve, the innovation theory of sustainability, the Dutch disease hypothesis, and the political economy of development and energy transition theory. Based on these findings, energy investment is recommended, especially for clean energy projects, and increasing income levels via sustainable economic activities to achieve sustainability in the G7 economies.

Global Value Chain Spillovers and Economic Growth of SAARC Countries under the BRI Perspective

This study revisits the relationship between trade and growth, emphasizing the functions of the global value chain (GVC). This is a pioneer study to empirically evaluate the impact of GVC trade on the economic growth of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations from the perspective of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The objective of this article is to analyze the potential contribution of BRI in the development of these countries backward, forward and sectoral-level GVC participation. We employed second-generation econometric techniques for this empirical analysis over the period 1990–2022. To ensure the robustness of the results of cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL), we used the augmented mean group (AMG) and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) models. The results indicate that forward and backward GVC involvement increases economic growth for SAARC countries. On the contrary, due to improper implementation of domestic policies, economic environment and inadequate absorptive capacity, GVC participation comes with a negative impact on the economic growth of the sample countries. The sectoral GVC trade in manufacturing industries is linked to a favourable impact on growth, while sectoral GVC trade-in service shows a negative association with gross domestic product (GDP). The results of our analysis demonstrate that GVCs are a driver of economic growth. Countries can unlock potential gains by implementing policies that promote participation in GVCs and by strengthening domestic fundamentals through regional collaborations within the BRI.

Estimating the impacts of economic globalization and natural resources on ecological footprints within the N-shaped EKC in the Next 11 economies

The economic development of N-11 countries has been significantly influenced by the contributions of natural resources (NAT) and economic globalization (EG). These countries have been facing drastic environmental problems for several years. Hence, it is imperative to ascertain the environmental ramifications of natural resource extraction activities in the N-11 nations. In doing so, this study examines the impact of gross domestic product (GDP), EG, and NAT on ecological footprints (EF) within the time frame of 1971 to 2022 in the group of N-11 countries. After verifying the cross-sectional dependence, this work found the integration of all variables at first difference. To provide short and long run econometric results; this study utilizes cross sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL). The findings indicate that the presence of NAT rent has a detrimental impact (0.03%) on the ecological quality within the N-11 nations. Moreover, it can be argued that both EG and GDP exhibit environmentally sustainable characteristics over an extended period by (0.03% and − 3.12%) respectively. This study does not provide evidence for the presence of an N-shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) in the N-11 nations. Based on the findings, a policy recommendation is proposed for the nations in question. These countries must immediately implement and enforce robust environmental laws while fostering a heightened sense of environmental consciousness. It is imperative for emerging economies to increase their investments to explore and adopt efficient technologies in various economic sectors, including mining.

Do environmental taxes and renewable energy consumption play a role in climate change mitigation? International evidence from developing economies

Climate change and environmental degradation are largely attributed to increased carbon dioxide emissions (CO2). This study investigates the effectiveness of environmental taxes and renewable energy consumption on reducing CO2 emissions in 36 developing countries from 1994 to 2018, using the Cross-Sectional Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) panel data methodology. Our findings indicate that renewable energy consumption plays a crucial role in lowering CO2 emissions, underscoring the need for increased investment in renewable energy infrastructure and technological advancements. Conversely, environmental taxes do not have a significant impact on emissions reduction in these countries, possibly due to inadequate implementation and institutional constraints. These findings suggest that policies promoting renewable energy, such as subsidies, incentives, and investments in research and development, are crucial for achieving meaningful emission reductions. Therefore, international efforts may be more effective by providing financial support and technological assistance rather than emphasizing environmental taxes, which may not be suitable for developing nations.

Energy Poverty and Environmental Quality Nexus: Empirical Evidence from Selected South Asian Countries

South Asian countries are included in the economies of developing Asia. The region of South Asia is predominantly affected by energy poverty issues due to a heavy reliance on conventional energy and unpredictable access to energy services. It has about a quarter of the world's population and is home to three of the world's ten most populated countries: India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. This study investigates environmental sustainability dynamics in South Asian countries from 2000 to 2021, utilizing the Cross-sectional Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) and Dumitrescu-Hurlin (D-H) causality methods. The research offers insights into the long-term trends and causal relationships that shape environmental outcomes in South Asian nations. Based on empirical findings, in the long-term, it is revealed that increases in energy poverty, economic growth, income inequality, and capital formation raise greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while renewable energy and labor reduce GHG emissions. On the other hand, the error correction term shows the speed of adjustment toward equilibrium at 0.75%. Furthermore, the D-H panel causality reveals a directional link between variables. These findings highlight the urgent need for South Asian countries to implement policies to address energy poverty, promote renewable energy adoption, and reduce income inequality to mitigate GHG emissions and achieve long-term environmental sustainability effectively.

The Impact of Ecological Footprint, Urbanization, Education, Health Expenditure, and Industrialization on Child Mortality: Insights for Environment and Public Health in Eastern Europe.

The purpose of this study is to examine the connection between child mortality in Eastern Europe and ecological footprint, urbanization, education, health expenditure, and industrialization. The study acknowledges the significance of understanding how these factors influence the infant mortality rates in this region from 1993 to 2022. The Grossman Health Outcome (H-O) model investigates the theoretical framework. For the existence of the cross-sectional dependency, mixed-order unit root, and cointegration problem, the famous Cross-Sectional Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) approach is applied. The research also used the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) and Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (CCEMG) to check robustness. The findings illustrated that health expenditure and education lessen the infant mortality rate in Eastern European countries. But ecological footprint, industrialization and unemployment raise the infant mortality rate. According to the CS-ARDL findings, expenditure on healthcare significantly reduces child mortality. Still, the ecological footprint significantly impacts increasing child mortality. However, the AMG and CCEMG models demonstrate that investing in education is the most effective strategy for reducing child mortality. Therefore, the government of Eastern European countries should provide more priorities in the sustainable urbanization, health expenditure, and education sectors. The robustness of the AMG and CCEMG also demonstrated the strength of the CS-ARDL findings. This research paper contributes to SDG 3 by examining the environmental and health factors that influence child mortality in Eastern Europe. Policymakers, public health professionals, and other stakeholders can use the findings to inform the development and implementation of programs that specifically target the identified causes of child mortality.

HDI, Oil Prices, Government Expenditures in GCC: Evidence from a Cross Sectional ARDL Approach

This study explores the relationship between oil prices and the Human Development Index (HDI) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. It investigates whether oil prices remain the primary driver of economic growth and development in the region. The analysis employs a Cross-Sectional Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) approach and Cointegrated Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CCEMG) methods, following unit root and stationarity tests. The findings reveal an insignificant correlation between oil prices and HDI in the overall GCC countries. However, significant relationships are observed at the individual country level. These results suggest that policymakers in the region should prioritize economic diversification and focus on sectors such as tourism in Dubai and the specific policies implemented in Saudi Arabia to foster sustainable development.

Impact of energy consumption on life expectancy in lower-middle-income West African countries

Life expectancy is a key determinant of a nation’s health and well-being. However, West African countries face several challenges in improving life expectancy, such as inadequate healthcare infrastructure, corruption, poor sanitation, and environmental quality due to environmental degradation. In addition, energy accessibility is an important determinant of health outcomes and environmental quality. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 7, 12, 13, 14, and 15 are directly linked with energy access; achieving these goals will lead to an improvement in energy access. Therefore, in this study, using data obtained from the World Bank and the Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, we investigated the impact of energy consumption and corruption on life expectancy in lower-middle-income West African countries from 1990 to 2021. The results of the cross-sectional auto-regressive distributed lag technique showed that renewable energy has a positive and significant impact on life expectancy in lower-middle-income West African countries in both the short and long run. However, non-renewable energy was found to have a significant and negative impact on life expectancy in the long run and a negative but non-significant impact in the short run. Corruption had a debilitating effect on life expectancy in both the short and long run. We recommend that policymakers should make a conscious and deliberate push toward transitioning to renewable energy through public–private partnerships to provide affordable and clean energy while tackling corruption.

Remittance and carbon dioxide emissions in the Southern African Customs Union region: Is there a modified environmental Kuznets curve?

The remittance-carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions nexus remains a hotly debated topic in the literature, with the majority of studies offering mixed conclusions. This study attempts to reconcile these disparities by investigating the nonlinear effect of remittances on the CO2 emissions in top-remittance receiving countries in Southern African Customs Union (SACU) region, using the modified Environmental Kuznets Curve framework which focuses on the effect that remittances might have on CO2emissions. The Cross-Sectional Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ADRL) approach is applied to these top-remittance receiving countries from 1990 to 2020, representing a pioneering investigation for these countries. The finding of this study reveal that both the estimated coefficient of remittances and its quadratic term are statistically significant, with remittances displaying a positive coefficient and the quadratic term exhibiting a negative coefficient. This pattern confirms the presence of a modified EKC hypothesis, meaning as remittances increases, CO2 levels displays an unambiguous inverted U-shaped trajectory.

Exchange Rate Volatility and Foreign Remittances in SAARC Countries

This study explores the relationship between exchange rate volatility and foreign remittances on the economies of SAARC countries over the period 2000 to 2023. With the ongoing debate among policymakers and researchers on this subject, the study employs the Cross-Sectional Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model to analyze data from eight SAARC nations. The variables considered include remittances, foreign reserves, trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), political stability, and GDP growth, sourced from the World Development Indicators (WDI), while exchange rate volatility is calculated using the GARCH method. The analysis involves two models. In the first model, remittances serve as the dependent variable, with exchange rate volatility, GDP growth, trade, inflation, and political stability as independent variables. In the second model, exchange rate volatility is the dependent variable, with remittances, GDP growth, trade, inflation, foreign reserves, and FDI as the independent variables. The results indicate both long-run and short-run relationships between exchange rate volatility and foreign remittances in SAARC countries. The findings show that remittances are positively associated with GDP growth and inflation, while exchange rate volatility, trade, and political stability have negative relationships with remittances. Additionally, exchange rate volatility has a positive association with inflation, while GDP growth, remittances, trade, FDI, and foreign reserves exhibit negative associations with exchange rate volatility. Granger causality tests reveal complex bidirectional and unidirectional causal relationships among the variables. These insights offer valuable implications for policymakers aiming to manage exchange rate volatility and enhance remittance inflows in the SAARC region.

How does geopolitical risk affect sustainable nuclear energy development?

Nuclear energy can play a vital role in the global transition toward sustainable energy sources because nuclear energy is widely recognized as a carbon-free energy source and helps mitigate the environmental impacts of economic activities. Thus, it is essential to shed light on the factors that can promote global nuclear energy production. This analysis aims to investigate the impact of geopolitical risk on nuclear energy production in the top nuclear energy-consuming nations from 1996 to 2022. The study employs a cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) model for empirical analysis and disaggregates the data into groups of developed and developed economies. The analysis confirms that the geopolitical risk boosts long-run nuclear energy production in developed and developing economies. Additionally, the GDP, financial development, research and development spending, and environmental technologies cause nuclear energy production to rise in the long run in developed and developing nations. However, in the short run, only GDP and environmental technologies boost nuclear energy production in both groups of economies, while geopolitical risk, financial development, and research and development technologies do not exert a significant impact on nuclear energy production. These findings imply that policymakers should take advantage of the risky geopolitical situations and increase reliance on domestic energy sources by increasing nuclear energy production.

Promoting Environmental Sustainability: The Role of Renewable Energy Systems and Environmental Taxes

This study examines the effects of renewable energy consumption and environmental taxes on CO2 emissions in OECD countries from 1990 to 2022, employing the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) approach. The findings reveal that both renewable energy consumption and environmental taxes significantly reduce CO2 emissions in both the short and the long term, emphasizing their crucial roles in climate change mitigation and sustainability promotion. Furthermore, this study identifies that industrialization and urbanization contribute to increased emissions, whereas foreign direct investment aids in emission reduction through the facilitation of green technology transfer. Economic growth is initially associated with higher emissions, but this trend reverses as economies mature and adopt sustainable practices. These results highlight the importance of continuous investment in renewable energy infrastructure and the implementation of robust environmental tax policies to achieve long-term sustainability goals. The integration of environmental considerations into economic and urban planning, along with leveraging foreign direct investment for technological advancements, is imperative for balancing economic growth with the necessity to reduce carbon emissions and effectively address climate change. This research provides a better understanding of the diverse factors influencing CO2 emissions and offers critical insights for policymakers.

Climate policy stringency and trade in energy transition minerals: An analysis of response patterns

Climate policies directly affect cleaner energy technology markets, affecting price signals for greener electricity production. In turn, the manufacturing of energy technologies relies heavily on mineral inputs, posing challenges in securing mineral ores and concentrates either from local mines or overseas. This paper contributes to the mineral-energy literature by examining the impact of climate change policies on the net import demand for five essential minerals used in cleaner energy technologies: copper, aluminium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese. We examined country-level panel data from 33 countries from 1992 to 2015 to understand patterns in net imports relative to renewable generation. This metric allows the examination of technological improvements that contribute to more efficient use of imported mineral inputs in renewable energy systems. Results suggest that while both net import volumes and renewable generation have increased over time, net imports per renewable generation have continuously declined on average, suggesting that nations may have efficiently utilized imported resources to generate more than proportionate increases in cleaner energy. Moreover, results from a cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag model show that the stringency of environmental policies significantly affects net mineral imports per renewable generation, with marked variations across minerals and countries. Notably, with stricter policies, import reliance on cobalt and aluminium per renewable energy increases in the short run and eventually declines in the long run. Import reliance for copper declines per unit of renewable energy in the short run but increases in the long run. These findings emphasize the need for tailored policies to navigate mineral trade dynamics effectively. The research contributes valuable insights to the ongoing discussions surrounding sustainable energy transitions and global mineral trade patterns.

Exploring Economic Factors to Enhance the Performance of Real Estate Investment Trusts in the Eastern European Region

ABSTRACT This study explores the economic determinants that can improve the performance of real estate investment trusts (REITs) in Eastern European economies. Employing a cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) approach, the findings show that an improvement in dividend yield, net income, stock return, exchange rates, and size can improve the performance of REITs. However, leverage and interest rates adversely affect the performance of REITs. The study spotlights the crucial role standardized regulation can play in mitigating fragmentation in the real estate market, being capable of streamlining capital allocation and hence, offering notable advantages to REITs in smaller Eastern European states.

Achieving sustainable development in ECOWAS countries: the impact of trade openness, poverty and human capital

This study investigates the relationship among trade openness, poverty, and human capital development in the pursuit of sustainable development across a panel of ten ECOWAS economies over a 34-year period (1987–2020). Specifically, it examines the roles of trade openness, poverty, and human capital development in sustainable development, while also exploring the moderating role of trade openness on the poverty-sustainable development relationship within the ECOWAS region. To conduct this analysis, the study employs panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) using both the Pool Mean Group (PMG) estimator and Cross-Sectional Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) techniques, taking into account cross-sectional dependence, cointegration, and other relevant diagnostic tests. The findings indicate that poverty has a consistent negative long-run impact on sustainable development, while human capital is positively associated with sustainability over the long term. Trade openness lacks a significant relationship with sustainability in both the short and long run. Inflation is insignificantly related to sustainability. Exchange rates demonstrate mixed effects. In terms of moderation, trade openness positively and significantly moderates the poverty-sustainability relationship in the long run but not the short run. Robustness testing using the AMG and P-OLS models further validates the significant positive impact of human capital and the insignificant effect of trade openness on sustainable development. Given poverty’s significant negative association and human capital’s positive link with sustainable development, the findings suggest the need for integrated policy mixes prioritizing multidimensional poverty reduction and human capability enhancement to promote sustainability objectives across both short- and long-term horizons in ECOWAS countries. Furthermore, prudent management of exchange rates and well-designed trade policies should complement these efforts to mitigate potential risks and harness any benefits for sustainability.

Economic Growth Through Tourism: A Global Analysis Using CS-ARDL Approach

This paper examines the effects of tourism receipts and governance on economic growth in a panel of 103 countries. The short-run results of the Cross-Sectional Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model, indicate that labour force and fixed capital positively impact on economic growth, highlighting the significance of investing in infrastructure and maintaining a vibrant workforce. The validity of the Tourism-Led Growth (TLG) theory in the short and as well as in the long-run has been proved by a robust and significant positive connection between tourism receipts and GDP growth. Surprisingly, the presence of mobile cellular subscriptions (ICT) in the model does not affect economic growth significantly, indicating the possibility of reaching a point of technical saturation. Trade has a substantial influence on short-term GDP growth, while the role of governance in economic development is complex and might depend on contextual settings. The results indicate that attraction of worldwide tourists can substantially impact economic growth. Further research should investigate the time-based and regional aspects of these connections to improve our comprehension of the dynamics of economic growth.

Environmental policy stringency and ecological footprint linkage: Mitigation measures of renewable energy and innovation

We scrutinize the environmental policies' efficacy in reducing ecological footprint by interweaving two other vibrant parameters of environmental degradation mitigation, i.e., renewable energy sources and innovation. To this end, we apply a Cross-Sectional Autoregressive Distributed Lags (CS-ARDL) approach to analyze panel time-series data (1990–2018) in the context of OECD countries. Our analysis shows that environmental policy significantly reduces ecological footprint through renewable energy and innovation channels. Our findings also support the idea that environmental policy's effectiveness is conditional on countries' bio-capacity surplus/deficit and the level of industrialization. The overall findings hold up well in the presence of cross-sectional dependence, short-run heterogeneity, and long-run homogeneity under the respective sample. Our findings underscore the need for more stringent environmental policies, supported by technological advancements and clean energy initiatives, to mitigate the impact of human economic activities on natural resources.

Do circular economy, renewable energy, industrialization, and globalization influence environmental indicators in belt and road initiative countries?

This paper is the first comprehensive research to examine the effect of circular economy on environment employing two environmental degradation indicators (CO2 emissions, ecological footprint) and one environmental quality indicator (load capacity factor) for 57 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries during 2000-2019. The effect of other variables such as renewable energy, industrialization, and globalization was also controlled. The study applied the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag method (CS-ARDL), the augmented mean group (AMG), and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) methods as a robustness checks. The empirical findings reveal that circular economy and renewable energy have pro-environmental effects by decreasing carbon emissions and ecological footprint and increasing the load capacity factor in BRI countries. However, industrialization and globalization have detrimental effects on the environment. The result of causality shows a bidirectional causality between renewable energy, circular economy, industrialization, and three environmental indicators, but the relationship of globalization with CO2 emissions and the load capacity factor is unidirectional and with the ecological footprint is bidirectional. All the results are confirmed by the robustness tests. The study suggests policy implications for the BRI government.

Effects of Women Education on Child Labor in South Asia

Lack of education and poverty are major factors contributing to child labor. A crucial component of economic and social growth is education of the society. This study contribution looks at how educating women affect child labor in South Asia. It used yearly data from 1990 to 2020. The Cross-Sectional Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model use for short run and long run predictions. The significant impact of female education on reducing child labor, emphasizes the significance of participating in girls' education. Policies aimed at enhancing access to and quality of education for girls can help mitigate child labor by authorizing women and breaking poverty cycle. Development of Urban strategies must rank the providing of education, health and social security facilities to the residents of urban areas.

Role of collaborative governance in unlocking private investment in sustainable projects

This scholarly investigation scrutinizes the involvement of the private sector in environmentally sustainable projects, employing the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag methodology on yearly data spanning from 2000 to 2020 across 11 low and lower-middle-income Asian nations. It specifically assesses the influence of the good governance index. Findings indicate a notable correlation, where a 1% enhancement in the index corresponds to a 0.34% increase in private engagement in green projects in the short term and a 0.64% increase in the long term. The study underscores the significance of economic stability; a 1% escalation in uncertainty leads to a 0.56% short term and 0.73% long-term reduction in private participation. It underscores the driving role of gross domestic product growth and the proliferation of small and medium-sized enterprises, emphasizing the necessity for tailored financial instruments to stimulate private investment in green projects. Moreover, it explores practical policy avenues such as e-government services, information and communication technology-driven digital transformation, sustainable corporate governance, and issuance of state-backed green bonds to foster private-sector participation in eco-friendly initiatives. Future research avenues encompass examining the repercussions of the pandemic on private green investments and evaluating the efficacy of the public-private partnership model in green projects across these economies.