The impact of internet use on air pollution: Evidence from emerging countries

The crucial roles of ICT, renewable energy sources, industrialization, and institutional quality in achieving environmental sustainability in BRICS

The BRICS countries-Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa-are committed to achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13, which focuses on mitigating climate change. To attain this goal, it is crucial to emphasize the significance of ICT, renewable energy sources, industrialization, and institutional quality. This study contributes to the literature by examining the potential role of these factors in environmental sustainability in the BRICS economies from 2000 to 2021, utilizing cross-sectional augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) estimation and other novel econometric techniques. Accordingly, the study suggests that BRICS governments and policymakers prioritize the use of ICT in the industrial and institutional sectors to achieve faster environmental sustainability in the short-run, as per the CS-ARDL results. However, the study advises caution in the long-term as the interaction between ICT and renewable energy sources, industrialization, and institutional quality may not favour environmental quality. Although the renewable energy sources interaction with ICT may not yield immediate progress, strong measures need to be taken to ensure that short-term gains are not nullified. In conclusion, the study highlights the potential of ICT, renewable energy sources, industrialization, and institutional quality in achieving environmental sustainability in the BRICS countries, while recommending cautious measures in the long run to safeguard the progress made.

Toward a low carbon path: Do E-commerce reduce CO2 emissions? Evidence from China

To address global climate change, achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality has become a global consensus. However, the means to simultaneously achieve carbon reduction and promote green economic development, particularly in developing countries, require further investigation. This study evaluates the impact of e-commerce on CO2 emissions. Through an examination of the effects of the National E-Commerce Demonstration City (NEDC) policy from 2006 to 2017, this paper reveals that e-commerce growth facilitated by the NEDC policy resulted in a 7.89% reduction in total CO2 emissions and a per capita reduction of 1.1146 tons in the pilot cities. Mechanism analysis demonstrates that the upgrading of industrial structure, development of digital finance, and the growth of innovation and entrepreneurship serve as primary pathways for this impact. The robustness of the findings is supported by parallel trend tests, placebo tests, and additional sensitivity analyses. Furthermore, the research reveals that the NEDC policy exhibits a more significant reduction in CO2 emissions in cities with higher levels of economic development and non-resource-based cities. Welfare analyses show that the NEDC policy has significant socio-economic effects. These findings provide new evidence on the environmental effects of the digital economy and offer insights into achieving carbon neutrality.

Does ICT influence carbon emissions in the context of universal connectivity: a global perspective?

The Connect 2030 initiative, launched by the International Telecommunication Union, is in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations Agenda 2030. Its main objective is to achieve universal connectivity, a goal that is closely related to environmental issues. This topic currently receives attention from researchers and policymakers. Given these considerations, our study investigates the impact of information and communication technologies on carbon dioxide emissions for a panel of 84 countries spanning the years 2009 to 2020. Using principal component analysis, we construct an ICT index that encompasses international bandwidth, reflecting the universal connectivity, and participation in international data exchanges. The empirical analysis applies the pooled mean group-panel autoregressive distributive lag (PMG-ARDL) approach to estimate both the long-run and short-run coefficients of CO2 emissions' determinants. Our findings show that ICT and renewable energy mitigate CO2 emissions, unlike financial development, GDP, and non-renewable energy, which contribute significantly to emissions for the full sample. These outcomes suggest that promoting ICTs in general and international bandwidth in particular, as part of universal connectivity, improves the quality of the global environment.

How does Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry agglomeration affect carbon emission efficiency? Evidence from China

The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry takes on critical significance in promoting economic development and reducing carbon emissions. From the agglomeration perspective, how the ICT industry agglomeration affects carbon emission efficiency (CEE) in 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2020 is innovatively investigated. We measured CEE using a dynamic directional distance function-based DEA model. Then, based on the research hypotheses, the specific impact and transmission mechanism of ICT industrial agglomeration on CEE are revealed using a spatial Dubin model and a threshold panel model. The results show that: (1) the ICT industry agglomeration exerts a remarkable inverted "U-shaped" effect on CEE. This non-linear effect is significant in the eastern and central regions, but not in the western region. (2) ICT industry agglomeration can affect CEE in neighboring regions. The spatial spillover effect shows an inverted "U-shaped" in the central region, positive in the western region, and insignificant in the eastern region. (3) when green technology innovation exceeds the threshold value (4.948), ICT industry agglomeration positively affects CEE, and when energy structure exceeds the threshold value (0.389), their marginal effects are significantly negative. The threshold effect also shows regional heterogeneity. This research proposes policy recommendations focusing on accelerating the ICT industry transformation, leveraging the spillover and technological advantages of agglomeration, and enhancing regional cooperation.

Green growth strategies in Asia: unleashing the heterogeneous asymmetry of ICT capital, financial fragility, environmental policy stringency, and education

Financial fragility, ICT capital, environmental policy stringency, and education are the main factors that have also gained popularity regarding their impact on green growth. This study examines the impact of financial fragility, ICT capital, environmental policy stringency, and education on green growth. For analyzing the short- and long-run estimates, we have applied the panel QARDL model. The results of the panel QARDL model highlight that the estimates of non-performing bank loans and bank costs are negatively significant in both the short and long run, implying that financial fragility hurts green growth in the short and long run. Similarly, the estimated coefficients of the internet (mobile) and education estimates are positively significant in the short and long run, confirming that ICT capital and education are causing green growth, while environmental policy stringency promotes green growth only in the long run. Regarding the asymmetric effects of all the factors on green growth, the Wald test only confirms asymmetric effects in the long run. The study offers several significant recommendations for sustainable green development policies.

Impact of Internet development on carbon emission efficiency under carbon neutral target: evidence from global 58 economies

With the introduction of economy carbon neutral target policies one after another worldwide, the carbon emission reduction actions of economies around the world have become a hot topic attracting international attention. Meanwhile, the role of the Internet in energy saving and emissions reduction in economies around the world is also becoming more prominent. However, for now, there is still a lack of in-depth research on the impact and role relationship between Internet development and global economy carbon emission efficiency. Therefore, based on the availability of data, this study used the Malmquist index based on game intersection to measure and analyze carbon emission efficiency based on 58 economies around the world that proposed carbon neutrality targets between 2000 and 2019. The study used a spatial econometric model to explore the impact of Internet development on carbon emission efficiency. The objective was to provide a policy reference for high-, medium-, and low-income economies worldwide to achieve their carbon neutrality targets as soon as possible. The results of the study showed that carbon emission efficiency was closely linked to economic development level in economies around the world, that the gap between the development levels of high- and low-Internet-connected economies is gradually widening, that Internet development significantly improved carbon emission efficiency, that levels of economic and financial development played a mediating role in the relationship between Internet development and carbon emissions efficiency, and that the level of urbanization played a moderating role in the relationship between Internet development and carbon emissions efficiency. Exploring the influence and the mechanism of action between Internet development and carbon emission efficiency will contribute to early achievement of global carbon neutrality targets in all economies.

Green growth as a determinant of ecological footprint: Do ICT diffusion, environmental innovation, and natural resources matter?

The nexus between green growth and ecological footprint is associated with crucial environmental implications. But this domain is not examined sufficiently and provides ambiguous findings. Furthermore, these studies have not addressed the role of natural resources, environmental innovation, and ICT in influencing ecological footprint. Our study analyzes the impact of green growth, ICT, environmental innovation, and natural resources on the ecological footprint ofemerging-7 and developed-7 economies. We employed CS-ARDL methodology to draw the long-run and short-run estimates of the said relationships. The obtained findings show that green growth, ICT, and environmental innovation reduce the ecological footprint in emerging economies in the long run. However, natural resources enhance the ecological footprint in emerging economies in the long run. Green growth, ICT, natural resources, and environmental innovation reduce the ecological footprint in the long run in developed economies. Based on these outcomes, the study recommends important policy suggestions.

Global digital divide and environmental degradation in Africa

ICTs and access to Internet use are considered vital for the achievement of sustainable development goals. So, this study explored the effect of the global digital divide, trade openness, renewable energy consumption, and forestation on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 42 high-income countries (HICs) and high-middle-income (HMICs), low-income countries (LICs), and low-middle-income countries (LMICs) of Africa from 1990 to 2018. TheDumitrescu-Hurlin causality results confirmed a unidirectional causality from GHG emissions to the global digital divide (HICs and HMICs), global digital divide to GHG emissions (LICs), and GHG emission to trade openness (LICs and LMICs). Moreover, the long-run results of the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model showed an increase in GHG due to an increase in the global digital divide in all three panels. Further, ARDL results showed reduced GHG emissions due to increased trade openness in LIC and LMICs, renewable energy consumption, and forestation in all three panels. Thus, to encounter pollution from Internet use, the government should start environment-friendly projects through public and private investment in smart and modern environment-friendly technology and reduce the taxes and tariffs on them. Moreover, the governments of African countries should create public awareness through print and electronic media for raising the forestation area.

Is smart carbon emission reduction justified in China? Evidence from national big data comprehensive pilot zones

The intelligent revolution caused by new digital technologies has provided new impetus to reduce carbon emissions. However, the current research on new digital technologies and carbon emissions is still in its infancy and lacks empirical conclusions between them. Therefore, this paper studies the impact of new digital technologies on carbon emissions, identifies its mechanism, and analyzes the regional heterogeneity of its effects. This research treats the National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zones pilot in China as a quasi-natural experiment for the development of new digital technologies along with city-level data covering from 2011 to 2019 to conduct a staggered difference-in-difference (DID) model analysis. We find that new digital technologies significantly reduce carbon emissions. This conclusion is still valid after a series of robustness tests such as heterogeneity treatment effect analysis, ex-ante trend test, spillover effect test, and placebo test. Additionally, new digital technologies can reduce carbon emissions by promoting the transformation of industrial structure, improving the level of green technology innovation, and promoting industrial agglomeration. At the same time, the heterogeneity analysis shows that new digital technologies' carbon emission reduction effect is more evident in non-western regions, southern regions, and large cities. To expand the carbon emission reduction effect of new digital technologies, the government should promote the development and application of new digital technologies, and implement differentiated policies based on regional characteristics.

The asymmetric effect of ICT on CO2 emissions in the context of an EKC framework in GCC countries: the role of energy consumption, energy intensity, trade, and financial development

This study examines how "information and communication technology (ICT)" affects carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations asymmetrically, controlling energy consumption, its intensity, trade, and financial development following an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) approach. It employs panel data covering 1995-2019, 2^nd generation unit root, Westerlund cointegration tests, nonlinear pooled mean group (PMG) estimate, and Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality check. The Westerlund test validates a long-run association among variables. The study confirms the EKC proposition for the GCC countries. It reveals that a decrease in CO₂ emissions is associated with both positive and negative parts of ICT and the expansion of financial development. While per capita GDP increases pollution, squared GDP per capita reduces it; energy consumption, intensity, and trade amplify carbon emissions. D-H causality check yields several bidirectional and one-way causalities and verifies the robustness of PMG outcomes. Our findings suggest that promoting ICT becomes one of the critical techniques to decrease CO₂ emissions in GCC nations due to its significant negative influence on CO₂ emissions.

From COVID to conflict: Understanding the deriving forces of environment and implications for natural resources

In the contemporary world, the importance of natural resources is increasing day by day especially due to extraordinary circumstances, i.e., COVID-19 and global conflicts. The abundance of natural resource is considered competitive advantage and crucial for sustainable development. However, the role of natural resources can be questionable especially if its impact on the economy is negative. Sustainable use of natural resources is currently the biggest challenge for governance. Following these footprints, the study aims to revisit a novel perspective of natural resources in the context of global conflicts using data from Asian economies for the period of 1996-2020. In this pursuit, this study investigates how governance balances macroeconomic variables with sustainable development to account for effective climate change adaptation, mitigation efforts and integral to control conflicts. The second-generation test of CIPS and CADF are used to deal with cross-sectional dependence issues and Westerlund cointegration to estimate long-run relationships. Furthermore, the long-run coefficients are estimated by the PMG estimator using dynamic panel ARDL approach. The findings confirm that surpassing the threshold level of governance is essential to promote environmental quality and preservation of natural resources. The region needs to promote steward policy for resources. This can take the form of nationalizing resource assets, increasing taxes and royalties on resource extraction to ensure sustainable development. The handlers need to design polices supportive to renewable energy consumption, endorse IT based industry solution, encourage high-tech inward FDI, promote green financing and support sustainable development.

Impact of digital economic development and environmental pollution on residents' health: an empirical analysis based on 279 prefecture-level cities in China

BACKGROUND

The digital economy based on the internet and IT is developing rapidly in China, which makes a profound impact on urban environmental quality and residents' health activities. Thus, this study introduces environmental pollution as a mediating variable based on Grossman's health production function to explore the impact of digital economic development on the health of the population and its influence path.

METHODS

Based on the panel data of 279 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2017, this paper investigates the acting mechanism of digital economic development on residents' health by employing a combination of mediating effects model and spatial Durbin model.

RESULTS

The development of digital economy makes direct improvement on residents' health condition, which is also obtained indirectly by means of environmental pollution mitigation. Besides, from the perspective of spatial spillover effect, the development of digital economy also has a significant promoting effect on the health of adjacent urban residents, and further analysis reveals that the promoting effect in the central and western regions of China is more pronounced than that in the eastern region.

CONCLUSIONS

Digital economy can have a direct promoting effect on the health of residents, and environmental pollution has an intermediary effect between digital economy and residents' health; At the same time, there is also a regional heterogeneity among the three relationships. Therefore, this paper believes that the government should continue to formulate and implement scientific digital economy development policies at the macro and micro levels to narrow the regional digital divide, improve environmental quality and enhance the health level of residents.

Renewable energy for achieving environmental sustainability: institutional quality and information and communication technologies as moderating factors

The environmental challenges are currently placed at the forefront in order to achieve sustainable development. Although existing studies have largely examined the underlying factors of the environmental sustainability, the institutional quality and the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) still insufficiently investigated. The aim of this paper is to clarify the role played by institutional quality and ICTs to mitigate environmental degradation at different scales of the ecological gap. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to examine whether the quality of institutions and ICTs consolidate the contribution of renewable energy to reduce the ecological gap and thereby, promote environmental sustainability. The results of panel quantile regression applied to fourteen selected Middle East (ME) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries from 1984 to 2017 showed that the rule of law, control of corruption, Internet use, and mobile use exert no beneficial effects on environmental sustainability. The ICTs and the institutional development through the presence of an appropriate regulatory framework and the control of corruption have rather advantageous moderating effects on the environmental quality. Indeed, our findings revealed that the effects of renewable energy consumption on the environmental sustainability are positively moderated by the control of corruption, Internet use, and mobile use for countries with medium and high ecological gaps. The beneficial ecological effects of renewable energy are also moderated by the presence of a solid regulatory framework, but only for countries with high ecological gaps. In addition, our results showed that financial development promotes environmental sustainability in countries with low ecological gaps. Urbanization has perverse effects on the environment across all quantiles. The results found lead to important practical implications for preserving the environment as it suggests designing ICTs and improving the quality of institutions oriented to renewable energy sector in order to reduce the ecological gap. In addition, the findings from this paper can serve decision-makers in terms of environmental sustainability given the globalizing and conditional approach followed.

Industrial co-agglomeration, Internet utilization, and the development of green and low-carbon cycle - based on the empirical study of 41 cities in the Yangtze River Delta of China

The construction of green and low-carbon circular (GLC) development economic system is conducive to the promotion of "carbon peaking and carbon neutral." The level of GLC development in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region is related to the realization of the ambitious goal of "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality" in the region. This paper use principal component analysis (PCA) to process GLC development level of 41 cities in the YRD from 2008 to 2020. Then, we constructed panel Tobit model and threshold model from the perspective of industrial co-agglomeration and Internet utilization and empirically tested the influence of the two key variables on GLC development of the YRD. We found that (1) the YRD's level of GLC development showed a dynamic evolution trend of "fluctuation, convergence, and rise." The four provincial-level administrative regions of the YRD are in the order of  GLC development level: Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Anhui. (2) There is an inverted "U" Kuznets curve (KC) between industrial co-agglomeration and the development of GLC of the YRD. In the left segment of KC, the industrial co-agglomeration promotes GLC development of the YRD. In the right segment of KC, the industrial co-agglomeration inhibits GLC development of the YRD. Internet utilization enhances GLC development of the YRD. And the interaction of industrial co-agglomeration and Internet utilization cannot significantly enhance GLC development. (3) Double-threshold effect of opening-up is manifested as follows: industrial co-agglomeration on GLC development of the YRD goes through an insignificant-inhibited-improved evolutionary trajectory. Single-threshold effect of government intervention is manifested as follows: the impact of Internet utilization on GLC development of the YRD shifts from insignificant role to significant enhancement. In addition, there is an inverted-N type KC effect between industrialization and GLC development. Based on the above findings, we proposed suggestions in terms of industrial co-agglomeration, Internet-like digital technology application, anti-monopoly, and rational industrialization.

Information and communication technology, institutional quality, and environmental sustainability in ASEAN countries

Concerns regarding climate change pollution have remained critical in achieving sustainable development goals. However, countries are still having difficulty reducing environmental deterioration, requiring substantial attention. Hence, this study evaluates the effect of information and communication technology (ICT), institutional quality, economic growth, and energy consumption on ecological footprint under the environment Kuznets curve (EKC) framework in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries from 1990 to 2018. Moreover, this study also checks the impact of an interaction term (ICT and institutional quality) on ecological footprint. We utilized cross-section dependence, cross-section unit root, and Westerlund's cointegration tests for the econometric investigation to check cross-section dependence, stationarity, and cointegration among parameters. For long and short run estimation, we used pooled mean group (PMG) estimator. PMG outcomes demonstrate that the ICT and institutional quality clean the environment by mitigating the ecological footprint. Further, the joint impact of ICT and institutional quality also moderate environmental degradation. Moreover, economic growth and energy consumption increase the ecological footprint. In addition, empirical outcomes also support the presence of the EKC hypothesis in ASEAN countries. The empirical outcomes suggest that environmental sustainability's sustainable development goal can be achieved through ICT innovation and diffusion and by improving the intuitional quality framework.

The effect of institutions and urbanization on environmental quality: evidence from the Belt and Road Initiative countries using dynamic panel models

Increased globalization in urban areas raise energy consumption that leads to high carbon dioxide discharge and degrade environmental quality. Other economic activities also produce emission; however, a well-established institutional framework can overcome the issues of environmental degradation and minimize the effect of harmful factors on the environment. In this regard, this study investigates the effect of urbanization, energy consumption, and industrialization on carbon dioxide emission by taking into consideration the role of institutional quality in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries for the period of 2002 to 2019. Employing dynamic panel techniques, the results are in line with theories which show that increased urbanization, energy consumption, industrialization, and economic growth raise carbon dioxide emission and lead to environmental degradation. The study also found that international trade and political stability reduce emission; however, institutional quality as a whole positively affects carbon dioxide emission. The study also found a U-shape relationship between urbanization and carbon dioxide emission. The interaction term between institutional quality and urbanization significantly mitigates carbon dioxide emission and raise environmental sustainability. The findings of this study have considerable policy suggestions for the sample countries.

The effects of financial development and technological progress on environmental sustainability: novel evidence from Asian countries

This research is an endeavor to improve the literature on information and communication technology (ICT)-financial development-environmental sustainability nexus by conducting an aggregated and disaggregated analysis on the role of financial development and technological progress in attaining a sustainable environment. By employing a unique and comprehensive set of financial development and ICT indicators, this study offers an in-depth analysis of the role of financial development, ICT, and especially their interactions in maintaining environmental sustainability in 30 Asian economies from 2006 to 2020. Results from the two-step system generalized method of moments indicate that separately, both financial development and ICT are detrimental but together, their joint effects are beneficial to the environment. Several policy implications and recommendations are made to help policymakers to craft, design, and implement appropriate policies to improve environmental quality.

The role of GICT and environmental regulation in affecting ecological footprint

Research studies have recently diverted attention towards the determinant of ecological footprints, but related issues have not provided consistent results. Based on the IPAT model (environmental impact (I) is decomposed into three elements: population (P), affluence (A, economic growth), and technology level (T)), this paper empirically explores the validity of the green information and communication technology (GICT)-induced environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. The research applies a quantile regression (QR) that tests over 95 countries' panel data for the period 2000-2017 by using six types of ecological footprint (EF) as environmental degradation indicators and environmental regulations (ERs) as interaction variables. We confirm the vital role that GICT plays in lessening cropland, forest area, and grazing land, while increasing its impact on built-up land. Additionally, the findings partially support the existence of an inverted U-shaped GICT-induced environmental EKC hypothesis for a decreasing impact on cropland, forest area, and grazing land via consideration of non-market-based ER as the interaction term. GICT does not notably reduce carbon-absorption land usage; however, improvements of GICT and non-market-based ER in those nations have been accompanied by lower environmental degradation.

The role of economic growth, information technologies, and globalization in achieving environmental quality: a novel framework for selected Asian countries

This study examines the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT), GDP growth, population, and globalization on the environmental quality of 31 Asian economies (i.e., categorized as lower middle-income, upper middle-income, and high-income groups Asian economies). This analysis employed the time series data from 1990 to 2018. The robust second-generation econometric technologies are used in this analysis. This study applied the Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) premises under the extended "STIRPAT model" to add population and GDP (per capita) and information technologies (ICTs) by employing ecological footprint. To estimate, the estimators of this study used the CS-ARDL estimates, and for robustness check, this study used the augmented mean group (AMG) test. The co-integration test found the long-run association between ecological footprint and its main determinants. The results of CS-ARDL have confirmed the imperative role of information technologies in mitigating the ecological footprint in the higher, upper-middle, and lower-middle-income economies of Asian economies. The statistical findings of this study are robust to diagnostic tests and alternative estimation proxies and techniques. Moreover, policymakers need to identify the direction of the information technology-ecological footprint nexus through cooperation in combating climate change with financial assistance in the ICT sector.

Does tourism productivity respond to economic growth and CO2 emissions asymmetrically in Asian countries? The implication for sustainability

In this study, we have analyzed the asymmetric influence of tourism activities on economic growth and CO₂ emissions in selected Asian economies covering the time span from 1992 to 2020. The results are estimated using the panel NARDL approach. These results confer that a rise in tourism activities causes the CO₂ emissions to decline and economic growth to rise, whereas a fall in tourism activities causes the CO₂ emissions to rise and economic growth to decline in the long run. Similarly, internet use reduces CO₂ emissions and enhances economic growth in the long run. On the other side, financial efficiency causes CO₂ emissions to fall and economic growth to rise in the long run. The results propose essential policy implications.

The role of ICT diffusion in sustainable human development: an empirical analysis from SAARC economies

This study intends to examine the impact of ICT diffusion, globalization, financial development, government effectiveness, and economic growth on sustainable human development (SHD) (i.e., the development of human capital adjusted against the human ecological footprint) using 2005-2020 panel data of SAARC economies. The methodology involves econometric techniques robust to cross-sectional dependence (CSD), such as Pesaran CSD tests; second-generation unit root tests; Pedroni, Kao, and Westerlund cointegration tests; FMOLS, DCCE-MG, and Driscoll-Kraay (DK) regressions; and DH causality tests. The findings of the cointegration tests demonstrate that the variables are cointegrated and have a long-run equilibrium relationship. The results from the DCCE-MG and DK regressions indicate that ICT diffusion has a significant favorable impact on SHD. Similarly, globalization and economic growth also have a significant positive impact on SHD. On the other hand, the impact of government effectiveness and financial development was found to be insignificant. In addition, the DH causality test results show the presence of a unidirectional causality running from ICT diffusion to SHD and globalization to SHD. A bidirectional causal link is detected between economic growth and SHD. Therefore, the study concludes that in order to resolve the undesirable consequences of environmental degradation on human development in the globalized era, it is essential for SAARC economies to tackle the challenges of adequate ICT infrastructure: particularly, access and affordability. By eliminating these significant barriers to ICT access, CO₂ emissions can be reduced, and human development can be sustained simultaneously.

Asymmetric role of non-renewable energy consumption, ICT, and financial development on ecological footprints: evidence from QARDL approach

This study examines long-term connection and short-term dynamics concerning ecological footprint and six independent variables, named fossil fuel consumption, energy consumption, financial depth, trade, GDP, and ICT for Pakistan's duration from 1960 to 2019. The "QARDL-quantile autoregressive distributed lag" technique is used for time series and panel estimation. The QARDL model exhibits the connection between variables over the quantiles range, reflecting varying stages of Pakistan's ecological footprint. The results exhibit noticeable quantile-varying co-integration connection among ecological footprint and six independent variables. The results accentuate the significant influence of energy consumption, strong financial position, economic growth, and ICT technologies on ecological well-being, which assists in understanding short and long-term impact on the environment in Pakistan.

How ICT and globalization interact with the environment: a case of the Chinese economy

An era of rapid changes in the technological and economic aspects of developing and developed countries can have detrimental extortions on the environment around the world. From the perspective of globalization, the rapid development and growth can reroute to enhance the interaction between people, organizations, and countries across the globe including China through the usage of information and communication technology which in turn contributes to the economic growth of one side, whereas on the other side, it affects the environmental quality. Referring to this aspect, this study is focused to inspect the link between information and communication technology, and globalization with the facets of degradation in the environment that as CO₂ emission and ecological footprint by keeping the view of economic growth prospects as well via using the EKC hypothesis. In our study, time-series data was employed from 1987 to 2020 for China using the Dynamic ARDL approach. Grounded on the findings of the study, economic growth from the sight of GDP fallouts in rising the emission of CO₂ and EFP in the short and long run whereas GDP sqr cause decrease in the CO₂ emission and EFP. Thus, this authorizes the presence of inverted U-shaped existence among GDP sqr, CO₂ emission, and EFP. Therefore, this provides provision for the EKC hypothesis in China. Furthermore, ICT and globalization cause a decline in the emission of CO₂ and EFP in the short and long run respectively. In combatting challenges linked to the environment, globalization, as well as ICT, is seen as a crucial factor based on the pieces of evidence in our study while the policy implications are also proposed in the paper.

Multiple effects of ICT investment on carbon emissions: evidence from China

Little research has been conducted on the multiple possible future environmental effects of different types of information and communication technology (ICT) investment. This paper innovatively calculates the ICT productive capital stock (PCS) in China from 2007 to 2018 and explores the multiple effects of ICT PCS on carbon emissions. The results show that (1) ICT PCS is conducive to carbon emission reduction; furthermore, ICT software PCS has a significant carbon emission reduction effect, while ICT hardware PCS has the opposite outcome. (2) The spatial effect demonstrates that ICT and its hardware and software PCS can significantly reduce carbon emissions in surrounding areas. (3) The ICT PCS indirectly affects carbon emissions through the digital economy and energy efficiency, but the role of the influence mechanism varies according to the type of ICT PCS. (4) There is a nonlinear relationship between all ICT PCS and carbon emissions due to differences in green productivity and ICT PCS levels. Finally, this study provides valuable references for optimizing ICT investment and promoting low-carbon development.

How does digital infrastructure affect residents' healthcare expenditures? Evidence from Chinese microdata

Healthcare expenditure is only one of the heavy burdens that families face in developing countries. Current research mainly focuses on analyzing the effects of financial policy. There is a lack of studies that examine the understanding and assessment of the impact of digital infrastructure on this issue. In this study, we used the Broadband China policy as a quasi-natural experiment to explore the impact of digital infrastructure on residents' healthcare expenditures in China. Using the differences-in-differences (DID) model and micro-survey data, we found that digital infrastructure has a positive impact on reducing the burden of healthcare expenditure in China. Our findings indicate that residents in cities can save up to 18.8% on healthcare expenses following large-scale digital infrastructure construction. Through mechanism analysis, we found that digital infrastructure reduces residents' healthcare expenditures by improving both commercial insurance availability and the healthcare efficiency of residents. In addition, the effects of digital infrastructure on reducing healthcare expenditure are more pronounced among middle-aged individuals, those with low levels of education, and those with low incomes, which indicates this digital construction wave helps bridge the social gap between the poor and the rich. This study provides compelling evidence of the positive impact of digital society construction on social health and wellbeing.

Intelligent Manufacturing and Carbon Emissions Reduction: Evidence from the Use of Industrial Robots in China

Driven by the information technology revolution, using artificial intelligence to promote intelligent manufacturing while achieving carbon emissions reduction is increasingly the focus of international attention. Given this, based on the fact that China's industrial manufacturing is more intelligent, this paper uses industrial sector data and robot data from 2000 to 2017 to examine the impact of intelligent manufacturing on industrial carbon dioxide emissions and to discuss its internal mechanism. The research found that intelligent manufacturing significantly inhibits carbon dioxide emissions in the industrial sectors. The emission reduction effect is more obvious in industries with higher carbon emissions and intelligence. The mechanism test shows that intelligent manufacturing mainly achieves industrial emission reduction by reducing fossil energy consumption in the production process and improving energy use efficiency. The research findings of this paper provide favorable evidence for using new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to achieve carbon emissions reduction, and validate the importance of intelligent manufacturing in tackling climate change in the future. It provides an essential reference for developing countries to use artificial intelligence for their carbon emissions reduction goals.

Urbanization and carbon emissions: looking at the role of mobile phone adoption in Sub-Saharan African countries

Despite the plethora of studies on urbanization-carbon dioxide emissions relationship, studies that consider the role of mobile phone adoption are limited in the ecological literature. This study relied on the stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence and technology (STIRPAT) analytical framework for modelling environmental impacts and adopted fixed effects ordinary least squares with Driscoll and Kraay standard errors (FE-DK) and the novel method of moments quantile regression (MM-QR) estimation techniques to examine the role of mobile phone adoption in the urbanization-carbon dioxide emissions link for 21 SSA economies, spanning 1995-2017. Results of estimation based on FE-DK statistically provide support for population size, per capita income, energy intensity, urbanization and mobile phone adoption as determinants of the two forms of carbon dioxide emissions (consumption-based carbon dioxide emissions and production-based carbon dioxide emissions). Distributional effects of these factors explain that (i) urbanization has heterogeneous positive effect on the two forms of carbon dioxide emissions, with higher impact in economies with relatively lower level of carbon dioxide emissions and (ii) mobile phone adoption has heterogeneous negative effect on the two forms of carbon dioxide emissions, with greater impact in economies with relatively higher level of carbon dioxide emissions. The study discussed the policy implications of these results in the context of SSA countries.

The role of information communication technologies on carbon emissions in OECD countries: new evidence from method of moments quantile approach

This paper aims to investigate the effects of information and communication technologies (ICT) on carbon emissions (CO2) in the OECD area. For this purpose, a comprehensive panel data set is utilized covering the 1994-2018 period for 38 countries and a novel method of moments panel quantile regression model which allows to account for fixed effects and endogenous explanatory variables. Results suggest that the ICT, represented by the percentage of individuals using the Internet in the total population, contributes positively to CO2 emissions up to 0.40th quantile and has no effect after this level. The results imply that countries with relatively low per capita emissions are susceptible to the rebound effects, in which better energy efficiency results in increased demand for energy and ICT-related items, hence increasing carbon emissions. At this juncture, one policy idea would be to include a carbon tax into the per-unit purchase price of smartphones, tablets, smart gadgets, and any other relevant ICT items. Additionally, this legislation can assist decrease conspicuous consumption, which can be viewed as a trigger for the demand for ICT products. Additionally, these countries should encourage enterprises to invest in and employ energy-efficient technologies through tax incentives or subsidies.

Investigating the Role of Information and Communication Technologies, Economic Growth, and Foreign Direct Investment in the Mitigation of Ecological Damages for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

At the present time, information and communication technology (ICT) has played a vital role in socio-economic development such as economic growth, literacy, life expectancy, and employment levels in societies, however, such development has come with various environmental damages perspectives. This study scrutinizes the impact of ICT, economic growth, and foreign direct investment (FDI) on carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in the 44 One Belt and Road Initiative (OBRI) countries split into sub-region from 1991 to 2019. This study applied various econometrics approaches such as cross-sectional dependence, second-generation unit root, and Westerlund panel cointegration techniques are executed to analyze the panel data set. The full modified ordinary lease square and dynamic ordinary lease square estimators are applied to investigate the long-term influence of ICT development, GDP (economic growth), and FDI on CO₂ emissions. The empirical analysis was performed at a disaggregated level to assess the possible environmental influences across the OBRI countries. Overall, the results reported that broadband and mobile development have an adverse effect on CO₂ emissions. The finding further reveals that the broadband indicator negatively affects CO₂ emissions in all OBRI regions except South Asia. Similarly, the mobile use indicator protects the environmental quality in all OBRI regions except MENA (Middle East and North Africa) and Central Asia. Regarding country-wise analysis, broadband has alleviated the pollution level in 21 countries, while mobile has alleviated it in 15 countries. Moreover, economic growth is responsible to increase pollution levels in all panels and regions except Europe. Besides, the results highlight that higher FDI reduces environmental pollution whereby, the pollution halo hypothesis is supported to hold for all OBRI panels and regions except MENA countries. Based on the empirical findings, the policymakers and governments of these economies should design policies to grow smarter cities, transportation systems, electrical grids, industrial processes, and energy-saving production through ICT development on a macro level.

Economic complexity, ICT, biomass energy consumption, and environmental degradation: evidence from Iran

Economic complexity, biomass energy consumption, and information communication technology (ICT) have diverse impacts on energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Nevertheless, analysis of these variable effects is not addressed in the previous literature; the antiqueness of this article is stuffing this gap. This study assessed the relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, biomass consumption, economic complexity index (ECI), ICT, and CO₂ emissions in Iran in 1994-2018. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model and the quantile regression (QR) econometric technique were used to investigate the factors affecting CO₂ emissions in the tails of the conditional distribution. The share of each influential factor was predicted through the variance decomposition analysis (VD) for the next 10 years. The empirical results showed a long-run relationship between the variables. So, the variables of biomass consumption, ECI, and ICT improve the quality of the environment in Iran by reducing CO₂ emissions, and the per capita GDP variable increases CO₂ emissions. Results suggest no evidence indicating the presence of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC); however, QR demonstrated the existence of EKCs in the lower quantiles of the conditional distribution. The ECI will have the most share to change the CO₂ emissions in the future. The income threshold should be determined at the turning point of the EKC to increase economic development. Moreover, investing in increasing biomass consumption is vital. Policymakers also need to consider strict added value for the export of products.

Digital Economy and Environmental Sustainability: Do Information Communication and Technology (ICT) and Economic Complexity Matter?

In the current era of digital economy, the role of information communication and technology (ICT) and economic complexity are important for controlling environmental unsustainability and formulating policies to deal with ecological concerns. However, the relationship between digital economy and environment has been studied widely; nevertheless, the relationship between ICT-based digital economy, economic complexity, and ecological footprint has not been studied extensively. Therefore, the aim of current study is to fill the existing gap by investigating the relationship between ICT, economic complexity, and ecological footprint in the case of G-seven (digital) economies. Furthermore, the past research studies were usually based on carbon emissions to measure environmental sustainability, while this study fills the gap using ecological footprint as a proxy for environmental degradation. By using the panel data over the period of 2001-2018 for G-seven economies, this study performs first-generation as well as second-generation unit root testing methods. Findings of both Pesaran's and B&P's cross-sectional dependence testing approaches confirm the presence of cross-sectional dependence across all G-seven economies. The empirical findings of cointegration (Pedroni and Kao) tests verify a stable long-run association between ecological footprint, ICT import, ICT export, economic complexity, economic growth, and other control grouped variables. The empirical evidence obtained from the fully modified OLS model suggests that ICT export, economic complexity, and economic growth enhance the intensity of ecological footprint, while ICT import, research and development (RD), and trade are helpful in reducing ecological footprint in G-seven economies. These empirical findings obtained are verified by pooled mean group-ARDL (PMG-ARDL) methodologies and confirm that there is no inconsistency in the results. On the basis of these results, some policy implications for ecological footprint, ICT, and economic complexity are discussed.

Examining the effects of information and communications technology on green growth and environmental performance, socio-economic and environmental cost of technology generation: A pathway toward environment sustainability

Human capital and ICT have a significant role in determining human development. The impacts of ICT and human capital on green growth and environmental sustainability should be explored for sustainable economic development. This research contributes to the literature on the role of ICTs and human capital in the determination of green growth and environmental performance. Based on time-series data 1990-2019, the study intends to investigate the impact of ICTs and human capital on environmental and green growth performance for China. The study reports that ICTs tend to reduce CO2 emissions and improve green growth in the long-run. However, education reduces CO2 emissions in the long-run but does not produce any significant impact on green growth in the long-run. It is suggested that government should invest in environmental efficiency and environmental technologies simultaneously with human capital that could significantly contribute to pollution reduction. Lastly, policies to increase human capital should be implemented simultaneously with policies to promote ICTs contribution in order to confirm green growth and environmental protection.

Haze pollution reduction in Chinese cities: Has digital financial development played a role?

Based on the exogenous shock of digital financial development in China in 2013, a difference-in-differences (DID) model is set up in this paper to investigate the causal relationship between digital financial development and haze pollution reduction. The finding of the paper is that a one standard deviation increase in digital finance after 2013 decreases the PM2.5 concentrations by 0.2708 standard deviations. After a number of robustness checks, like placebo tests, instrumental variable (IV) estimations, eliminating disruptive policies, and using alternative specifications, this causal effect is not challenged. In addition, this paper explores three potential mechanisms of digital finance to reduce haze pollution: technological innovation, industrial upgrading, and green development. Moreover, the heterogeneous effects signify that the usage depth of digital finance works best in haze pollution reduction. Digital finance has more positive effects in cities in the north and those with superior Internet infrastructure and higher levels of traditional financial development. However, the quantile regression estimates suggest that for cities with light or very serious haze pollution, the positive impact of digital finance is limited. These findings supplement the research field on the environmental benefits of digital finance, which provides insights for better public policies about digital financial development to achieve haze pollution reduction.

Can Digital Economy Promote Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction in Heavily Polluting Enterprises? Empirical Evidence from China

This paper examines the impact of digital economy on corporate energy conservation and emission reduction (CECER) using China's A-share listed heavily polluting enterprises from 2012 to 2019 as a sample. Our results show that: (1) Digital economy can significantly increase CECER, and this effect is significant for mining and manufacturing enterprises, and less significant for power, heat production and supply enterprises; (2) Mechanism research shows that digital economy promotes CECER through enhancing the green technology innovation capability, easing the financing constraints, and boosting market competition; (3) Heterogeneity research indicates that the promotion of digital economy to CECER is more significant in economically developed regions and regions with less financial pressure from local governments. This paper clarifies the factors influencing CECER and provides empirical evidence for achieving digital economy development and government goals for CECER.

The nexus of financial development, technological innovation, institutional quality, and environmental quality: evidence from OECD economies

The present study investigates the effect of institution quality, technological innovation, and financial development on environment quality using 37 OECD nations from 1998 to 2018. The cross-sectional dependence (CD) and Lagrange multiplier (LM) techniques are used to measure the cross-sectional dependence. The second-generation panel unit root tests and panel cointegration tests are applied to examine the unit-root properties and long-run association existence between variables. Finally, we employed the two-step (SYS-GMM) methodology to estimate the coefficient values. The findings showed that financial development has a positive effect on selected carbon (CO2) emission dimensions. When the moderating term is introduced, it was identified that institutional quality and technology innovation conditioning effects are crucial between financial development and CO2 emission. Our evidence-based study provides significant results for technology innovation and institutional quality moderating role in reducing CO2 emissions in OECD economies. Our findings are also robust to alternative measures, which could be useful for policymakers to formulate long-term and short-term strategies and policies for a better sustainable environment.

The role of private investment in ICT on carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) mitigation: do renewable energy and political risk matter in Morocco?

The present study proposed the relationship among private investment in information and communication technology (ICT), carbon emissions (CO₂), renewable energy, political risk, and economic growth over the period of 1985-2020 in Morocco. The dynamic ARDL simulations (ARDL) model suggests that private partnership in ICT plays a significant role in abating CO₂ emissions, the adaptation of renewable energy is a key contributor in CO₂ degradation, while economic growth shows a positive and significant association with CO₂ emissions, indicating that economic growth increases CO₂ emissions. The study also analyzed political risk in the study region, which indicates that low political risk mitigates CO₂ emissions in Morocco. The findings provide significant enlightenment to acknowledge the importance of private partnership in ICT for the purpose to decarbonize CO₂ emissions, and adopting the use of renewable energy. The findings also suggest that a stable political system is inventible towards low-carbon development.

Examining the effect of information and communication technology, innovations, and renewable energy consumption on CO2 emission: evidence from BRICS countries

The increasing use of information and communication technology (ICT) in this digital era and its interlinkage with other economic and environmental factors have gotten considerable attention from researchers. ICT tools are considered very important in economic activities such as international trade, the financial sector, and foreign direct investment. ICT is also interlinked with innovation and energy consumption. However, ICT with these activities influences ecological footprint, especially in emerging economies such as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries. Therefore, this topic has got considerable attention from researchers and policy makers on the impact of ICT and economic growth activities on environmental quality. Consequently, this study investigates the impact of information and communication technology, renewable energy consumption and innovation on carbon dioxide emission in BRICS countries from 1990 to 2019 using cointegration, generalized least square, and panel corrected standard errors models. The findings show that two ICT indicators, mobile cellular subscription and fixed broadband subscription, negatively affect carbon emission along with economic growth and financial development. Innovation and renewable energy consumption also significantly reduce emission in presence of ICT indicators, while trade openness and fixed telephone subscriptions increase it. In the case of the ICT index model, all variables are positively associated with carbon emission except renewable energy consumption, however, the square and interaction term of all indicators significantly reduce carbon emission and evidence the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis except trade openness. ICT growth should be considered in the energy sector, innovation, and financial development to enhance environmental quality. The findings of the study have considerable policy implications for the sample countries.

International tourism, digital infrastructure, and CO2 emissions: fresh evidence from panel quantile regression approach

The main motivation behind this study is the importance of tourism and ICT industry in the economic development of a country and their potential effects on the country's environmental quality in the digital era. For empirical analysis, the study applies FMOLS, DOLS, and quantile regression techniques for Asian economies. The findings of the study confirmed that tourism and digitalization improve environmental quality in FMOLS and DOLS models. In the basic quantile regression model, the estimates attached to tourism arrival are positive 5^th quantile to 40^th quantile and then turn negative from 60^th quantile and onwards. Likewise, the estimates attached to tourism receipts in the robust quantile regression model are positive from quantile 5^th to quantile 20^th and negative and increasing from quantile 30^th and onwards. Conversely, the estimates of digital infrastructure are insignificant in the basic quantile model at all quantiles except the 95^th. However, the estimated coefficients of digital infrastructure in the robust model are negative and rising from 40^th quantile to 70^th quantile and negative and declining from 80^th quantile to 95^th quantile. In general, we can say that as the tourism and digital sectors grow, the CO₂ emissions decline.

Does the Development of Digital Finance Contribute to Haze Pollution Control? Evidence from China

Mitigating haze pollution is of practical significance to the green economy, and the development of digital finance may help achieve this goal. However, the effect of digital finance on haze pollution has not been systematically explained. Based on Chinese prefectural panel data for the 2011–2016 period, this study on haze concentration, technological innovation, and digital inclusive finance index as the dependent variable, mediating variable, and the core independent variable, respectively, investigated whether digital finance has improved haze pollution control in China using fixed effect (FE) and random effect (RE) models, a mediating effect model, a threshold panel model, and a dynamic spatial Durbin model (SDM). Four key results were obtained. (1) Digital finance significantly decreased haze pollution. After accounting for potential endogeneity, this conclusion was still valid. (2) The analysis of the influencing mechanism showed that digital finance was conducive to haze reduction by promoting regional innovation capabilities. (3) There was a nonlinear relationship between the influence of digital finance and haze pollution. Specifically, the impact of digital finance on haze pollution has gradually increased with the improvement of regional innovation capabilities. (4) Haze pollution displayed a significant positive spatial agglomeration in China. Digital finance can alleviate local haze pollution but will aggravate haze pollution in adjacent areas. Based on the results of this study, some pertinent policy suggestions were proposed.

Investigating the links between ICTs, passenger transportation, and environmental sustainability

This paper investigates linkages between ICTs, passenger transportation, and environmental sustainability with regard to a panel dataset of 46 countries over the years 1998-2016. Telephone and internet penetration are employed to measure ICTs, while environmental damages are proxied in terms of three different indicators related to carbon emissions coming from different sources. The empirical methodology employs the 2-step system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) with the consideration of two empirical specifications: without and with conditioning variables (per capita GDP growth, urbanization, and energy consumption). The findings show that the association between ICTs and passenger transportation activity can positively affect environmental sustainability with regard to carbon emission reductions. Second, the adoption of the telephone in the road transport sector is more efficient than the internet in reducing carbon emissions. Third, internet connectivity is better employed in the air and rail passenger sectors. Public policies and their effective implementations are discussed.

The impact of information and communication technology, financial development, and energy consumption on carbon dioxide emission: evidence from the Belt and Road countries

In today's digital era of globalization, information and communication technology (ICT) has been considered important that contributes to various sectors of an economy and increases economic growth; however, an increase in ICT may influence environmental quality which needs attention. For this purpose, this study examines the effect of ICT, energy consumption, economic growth, and financial development on carbon emission in the Belt and Road countries from 2000 to 2019 using OLS, fixed effect, dynamic system generalized method of moments (GMM), and generalized least square (GLS) models. The results indicate that ICT, financial development, energy consumption, and economic growth increase carbon dioxide emission, while renewable energy use and international trade reduce it. Foreign direct investment exerts both positive and negative effects on carbon emission across different models with different proxies of financial development. In the individual indicators model, only FBS seems to reduce carbon emission, while other indicators are positively associated with CO2 emission. The findings have considerable policy suggestions for the Belt and Road countries in the improvement of ICT sector, innovations, and enhancing financial institutions which can enhance environmental quality.

The role of institutional quality in FDI inflows and carbon emission reduction: evidence from the global developing and belt road initiative countries

Achieving economic growth is the primary concern mostly of every country to enhance living standard; however, an increase in economic activities may have environmental consequences. Foreign direct investment is also considered a driver of economic growth while it affects the quality of environment. The role of institutions can be useful to enhance foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow which can in turn increase economic growth and safeguard environmental quality. Based on the ongoing debate, this study attempts whether the quality of institutions plays any role in FDI inflow and in enhancement of environmental quality. For this purpose, this study examines the role of institutional quality in FDI inflows and carbon emission reduction in the global panel, 107 world developing, and 39 Belt and Road Initiative countries for the period of 2002-2019. By using both static and dynamic panel models, the results indicate that governance indicators are important for FDI inflows, but this impact varies in different panels. Overall, institutional quality has a significant and positive impact on foreign direct investment inflow, while energy use reduces it in all panels. Economic growth positively associated with carbon emission, while the square of GDP evidences the environmental Kuznets curve. FDI and trade increase global and developing countries' emissions, while reducing emission in Belt and Road countries. Institutional quality along individual indicators, political stability, rule of law, and regulatory quality are found to be poor governance indicators in all panels, while voice and accountability and control of corruption are weak indicators in Belt and Road countries; however, the interaction term proves that the quality of institutions is regulated by financial development and FDI in carbon emission reduction in all panels. This study has considerable policy significance for countries to carry out strong policy reforms to increase green FDI and improve environmental quality.

The Effects of Information and Communication Technology, Economic Growth, Trade Openness, and Renewable Energy on CO2 Emissions in OECD Countries

This study examines the relationships between information and communication technology (ICT) usage and CO2 emissions considering economic growth, trade openness, and renewable electricity in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries for the period 1990–2018. It adopts pooled mean group (PMG) estimation based on the autoregressive distributed lag model. The PMG estimates indicate that although the coefficient value is small, ICT progress acts as a factor in increasing CO2 emissions in the long run. However, there is no significant short-run relationship between these two variables. Furthermore, economic growth increases CO2 emissions in the short and long run. The expansion of renewable electricity and trade openness reduces CO2 emissions in the long run. To mitigate the CO2 emissions originating from ICT, energy-saving technologies that use ICT as an energy management system should be further enhanced. The expansion of renewable electricity and the promotion of trade openness will also contribute to the mitigation of CO2 emissions in this region.

Does ICT diffusion lead to energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in emerging Asian economies?

The role of information and communication technology (ICT) is imperative in the transformation of the world. ICT is directly affecting all the sectors of the whole economy. Thus, the present study is determined to investigate the effect of ICT on energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in emerging Asian economies from 1990 to 2019. The panel augmented autoregressive distributed lag-pooled mean group approach has been used for empirical investigation. Two separate models have been designed to attain the empirical consensus. ICT is measured through two proxies namely broadband subscriptions (internet) and mobile cellular subscriptions (mobile). Results show that internet and mobile upsurge the energy efficiency in the long run. However, internet and mobile have a reducing impact on carbon emissions in the long run. While FDI enhances energy efficiency and reduces carbon emissions inferring that environmental efficiency improves in the long run. The study suggests that policymakers must be aware of the impact of ICT on energy efficiency and environmental quality and regulate their manufacturers to enable the amalgamation of ICT into users' routines.

Analysis of the mechanism of the impact of internet development on green economic growth: evidence from 269 prefecture cities in China

As the digital economy develops rapidly and the network information technology advances, new development models represented by the network economy have emerged, which have a crucial impact on green economic growth. However, the relevant previous studies lacked the role of analyzing the direct and indirect effects of internet development on green economic growth at the prefecture-level city level. For this purpose, this paper aims to examine the intrinsic mechanism of the impact of internet development on green economic growth and provide empirical support for cities and regions in China to increase internet construction. Furthermore, the mixed model (EBM), which includes both radial and non-radial distance functions, is applied to calculate the green economic growth index. Fixed effect model and mediation effect model are also employed to test influence mechanisms of the internet development on green economic growth using panel data of 269 prefecture-level cities in China from 2004 to 2019. The statistical results reveal that internet development has contributed significantly to green economic growth. When the internet development level increases by 1 unit, the green economic growth level increases by an average of 5.0372 units. However, regional heterogeneity is evident between internet development and green economic growth, that is, the promoting effect of internet development on green economic growth is gradually enhanced from the eastern region to the western region. We also find that internet development guides industrial structure upgrading improves environmental quality and accelerates enterprise innovation, which indirectly contributes to green economic growth. And internet development mainly achieves green economic growth through enterprise innovation. Based on the above findings, we concluded that policymakers should not only strengthen the guiding role of social actors to promote the stable development of the internet industry, but also foster the construction of the three models of "internet+industry integration," "internet+environmental governance," and "internet+enterprise innovation" to promote green economic growth.

The Impact of Internet Development on Urban Eco-Efficiency-A Quasi-Natural Experiment of "Broadband China" Pilot Policy

Based on the panel data of 285 prefecture-level cities and above in China from 2005 to 2019, this paper takes the “Broadband China” pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment and evaluates the impact of Internet development on urban eco-efficiency (symbolized by the “Broadband China” policy) by constructing multi-period difference-in-difference (DID) and spatial DID models. Results show that: the “Broadband China” pilot policy significantly improves the urban eco-efficiency: the eco-efficiency in pilot cities is about 16.8% higher than that in other cities. The results remain consistent after testing for robustness, including using estimation methods, excluding the sample of key cities, changing core explanatory variables, and introducing instrumental variables. Next, the influence of the “Broadband China” pilot policy on eco-efficiency is characterized by significant regional heterogeneity: Internet development significantly improves the eco-efficiency in the central, eastern and northeastern regions that are economically more developed and not resource-dependent. In contrast, this effect is not obvious in the western region that is economically less developed and resource-dependent. Moreover, the influencing mechanism of Internet development on eco-efficiency suggests that the “Broadband China” strategy boosts urban eco-efficiency by increasing the Internet penetration rate, improving technological innovation capacity, and upgrading the industrial structure. In addition, results from the spatial DID models indicate that the “Broadband China” pilot policy improves the eco-efficiency in local cities and significantly enhances that in neighboring cities. Based on this, this paper puts forward some suggestions regarding promoting new network infrastructure construction and differentiating development policies to fit local conditions.

Environmental sustainability in digitalized SMEs: Comparative study from Poland and Serbia

Pandemic times and an increasing pace of sustainable development have accelerated the process of Industry 4.0 implementation. Digitalization is one of the key issues of Industry 4.0 development. The paper investigates an identified research gap on the perception of digitalization in terms of environmental goals and sustainability in the SME sector. The study features a comparative research design and examines the perception of digitalization in small and medium-sized enterprises in Poland and Serbia. The study gathered 235 responses on the impact of Industry 4.0 and digitalization in SMEs on environmental issues and sustainable development. Findings revealed that digitalizing the company has a positive effect on reducing carbon emissions. However, statistically significant discrimination in reducing harmful emissions was found between Poland and Serbia. Provided research procedure further adds to the practical implication in finding carbon emissions as the most important issue in sustainable development in the SME sector.

How CO2 emissions respond to changes in government size and level of digitalization? Evidence from the BRICS countries

The role of government size and digitization in the process of environmental quality is a matter of considerable debate in the field of environmental economics. BRICS economies have suffered from environmental pollution. This paper scrutinizes that how CO₂ emissions respond to government size and digitization in BRICS economies. Empirical estimates of the ARDL approach show that government size has a positive impact on CO₂ in Brazil, India, and China, while negative impact on CO₂ in Russia in the long run. The long-run estimates reveal a negative and significant effect of digitization on CO₂ in Brazil, India, and China. Education and e-learning activities have a favorable and crucial role played in environmental quality in Brazil, India, and China. Based on these findings, BRICS authorities should improve the efficiency of government expenditures and invest more in digitization to improve the quality of the environment.

How does internet use affect ecological footprint?: An empirical analysis for G7 countries

The study aims to search the effects of internet usage on the environment degradation in relation to technological revolutions. In this respect, G-7 countries are selected as the sample group. The link between environmental degradation and internet use in G7 countries is examined for the period from 1990 to 2015 with using panel data methodology by using AMG (Augmented Mean Group) estimator and heterogeneous panel causality. As a result of the panel results; it is found that the impact of internet usage on environmental degradations is negative. In addition, energy use and GDP per capita increase environmental degradations as trade openness and financial development impact on environmental degradations is meaningless. According to the panel causality analysis, the existence of a bidirectional causality relationship between energy use, internet use and ecological footprint. In additions, one-way causality relationship between GDP, trade, financial development index and ecological footprint is obtained.

The effect of information and communication technologies and total factor productivity on CO2 emissions in top 10 emerging market economies

The aim of this paper is to investigate the nexus among information and communication technologies (ICT), total factor productivity (TFP), and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in the top 10 emerging market economies for the period from 1995 to 2014 using the panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) approach. Analysis results suggest that the internet usage and fixed telephone subscriptions have a positive impact on environmental pollution, although mobile cellular subscriptions and TFP have a negative impact on carbon emissions. According to causality test results, there is bidirectional causality between CO₂ and all independent variables. Consequently, the results justified the use of TFP instead of GDP as an indicator of the economic development and the importance of ICT in environmental problems since ICT has proven to be undeniable in environmental policies. Thus, possible policies prioritize environmental sustainability in the digitalization of the economy, which ensures both a pollution-reducing effect and an increase in TFP.