The impact of digitalization and economic growth on sustainable environmental management in Asian countries
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Abstract
The relationship among information and communication technology (ICT), economic growth, and environmental pollution has gained increasing importance in recent years. This study examines the linkage between CO2 emissions, economic growth, and digitalization for the period 2001-2022 using a panel of 15 countries with comparable data that together represent approximately 50% of the world population. Stationarity of the series was assessed with Levin-Lin-Chu (LLC) and Im-Pesaran-Shin (IPS) panel unit root tests, and cointegration relationships were analyzed using Pedroni and Kao tests. The direction and magnitude of long-run relationships among the variables were estimated by the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) method. FMOLS results indicate that economic growth, internet usage, and labor exert a positive effect on CO2 emissions, whereas mobile subscriptions and capital accumulation have a negative effect on CO2 emissions. Dumitrescu–Hurlin panel causality test results reveal a unidirectional causality running from economic growth to CO2 emissions, while bidirectional causality exists between CO2 emissions and each of internet usage, mobile subscriptions, capital accumulation, and labor. In light of these findings, it is concluded that information and communication technologies and capital accumulation may play an effective role in reducing environmental pollution in the Asian countries studied.
Keywords
Abstract
The relationship among information and communication technology (ICT), economic growth, and environmental pollution has gained increasing importance in recent years. This study examines the linkage between CO2 emissions, economic growth, and digitalization for the period 2001-2022 using a panel of 15 countries with comparable data that together represent approximately 50% of the world population. Stationarity of the series was assessed with Levin-Lin-Chu (LLC) and Im-Pesaran-Shin (IPS) panel unit root tests, and cointegration relationships were analyzed using Pedroni and Kao tests. The direction and magnitude of long-run relationships among the variables were estimated by the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) method. FMOLS results indicate that economic growth, internet usage, and labor exert a positive effect on CO2 emissions, whereas mobile subscriptions and capital accumulation have a negative effect on CO2 emissions. Dumitrescu–Hurlin panel causality test results reveal a unidirectional causality running from economic growth to CO2 emissions, while bidirectional causality exists between CO2 emissions and each of internet usage, mobile subscriptions, capital accumulation, and labor. In light of these findings, it is concluded that information and communication technologies and capital accumulation may play an effective role in reducing environmental pollution in the Asian countries studied.
