Does educated labor force is managing the green economy in BRCS? Fresh evidence from NARDL-PMG approach

The nexus between labour force participation and environmental sustainability: Global comparative evidence

The pursuit of environmental sustainability and decent employment are among the fundamental macroeconomic priorities of the 21st century. Extant studies reveal that labour market dynamics have a bearing on global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Thus, this study empirically examines the effect of labour force participation on environmental sustainability from a global perspective. Employing the Driscoll-Kraay fixed effects (DKFE) and system Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) estimators for a panel of 173 countries from 1996 to 2020, we find that labour force participation (LFP) enhances environmental quality. When controlled for income differences, the study reveals that while LFP significantly reduces environmental pollution in Low-income and High-income countries, it is environment-degrading in Upper-middle-income countries. Furthermore, with regard to level of development and geographical region, rising LFP significantly reduces GHG emissions in developing countries, whereas the effect is insignificant in developed economies. Likewise, the effect of LFP is divergent across geographical regions. However, when LFP is disaggregated into the male and female components, the results show that male-LFP is environment degrading while female-LFP is environmental augmenting. Contingent on these findings, practical policy implications are discussed.

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.

Entrepreneur barrier analysis on renewable energy promotion in the context of Pakistan using Pythagorean fuzzy AHP method

Ideal energy policies based on the identification of main obstacles might indorse the growth of renewable energy. In light of the importance of promoting entrepreneurship in renewable energy resources, the current study examined the barriers to develop renewable energy entrepreneurship in Pakistan. As a result, the current study proposes a systematic approach for prioritizing hurdles to entrepreneurship based on their relevance. The research was split into two parts. To begin, a literature survey and interviews with experts were used to identify potential obstacles. Second, the Pythagorean fuzzy analytical hierarchical process (PF-AHP) approach was hired to finalize and categorize the challenges. Twelve barriers were finalized, and they were then divided into four categories. Finally, PF-AHP was used to determine barrier weights and ranks. The final results showed that the legal and regulatory framework obstacle category is the most essential among the main categories, while the overall ranking of obstacles revealed that the lack of policy is more vital than the other twelve sub-barriers in various groups.