IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/tefoso/v199y2024ics0040162523007308.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Digitalization and carbon footprint: Building a path to a sustainable economic growth

Author

Listed:
  • Škare, Marinko
  • Gavurova, Beata
  • Porada-Rochon, Malgorzata

Abstract

Digitalization is a primary driver of sustainable development. We investigate the impact of digitalization on the carbon footprints of the (national) government sector, households, enterprises, non-governmental organizations, and imported carbon footprints. We use panel data analysis to study the link between digitalization and sustainable economic growth by monitoring digital carbon footprint patterns. Our study results show that digitalization has a positive and statistically significant impact on sustainability development measured by the sustainable development goals (SDG). Furthermore, our results support the hypothesis that advancing total factor productivity, referring to green total factor productivity, is critical for meeting SDGs. Notably, we determine that the ecological footprint across sectors and countries is diverging, or at best, slowly converging at a pace that is not even close to that required to meet the 2030 SDGs. Therefore, policymakers and practitioners must strategically revise sustainability policies to ensure industrial and economic transition and adaptability to climate change and advance economic green growth and sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Škare, Marinko & Gavurova, Beata & Porada-Rochon, Malgorzata, 2024. "Digitalization and carbon footprint: Building a path to a sustainable economic growth," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:199:y:2024:i:c:s0040162523007308
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2023.123045
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162523007308
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.123045?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin & Dong, Xiucheng & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2022. "Assessing the digital economy and its carbon-mitigation effects: The case of China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    2. Santos, João & Borges, Afonso S. & Domingos, Tiago, 2021. "Exploring the links between total factor productivity and energy efficiency: Portugal, 1960–2014," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    3. Gupta, Dipti & Ghersi, Frédéric & Vishwanathan, Saritha S. & Garg, Amit, 2019. "Achieving sustainable development in India along low carbon pathways: Macroeconomic assessment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Lucas Chancel, 2022. "Global carbon inequality over 1990–2019," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-04157767, HAL.
    5. Al-mulali, Usama & Binti Che Sab, Che Normee, 2012. "The impact of energy consumption and CO2 emission on the economic and financial development in 19 selected countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 4365-4369.
    6. Bahram Adrangi & Lauren Kerr, 2022. "Sustainable Development Indicators and Their Relationship to GDP: Evidence from Emerging Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-13, January.
    7. Song, Malin & Peng, Licheng & Shang, Yuping & Zhao, Xin, 2022. "Green technology progress and total factor productivity of resource-based enterprises: A perspective of technical compensation of environmental regulation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    8. Ângelo Barroso & Cristina Chaves & Francisco Vitorino Martins & Manuel Castelo Branco, 2016. "On the possibility of sustainable development with less economic growth: a research note," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 18(5), pages 1399-1414, October.
    9. T. S. Breusch & A. R. Pagan, 1980. "The Lagrange Multiplier Test and its Applications to Model Specification in Econometrics," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 47(1), pages 239-253.
    10. Xu, Li & Tan, Junlan, 2020. "Financial development, industrial structure and natural resource utilization efficiency in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    11. Gedion Onyango & Japheth Otieno Ondiek, 2021. "Digitalization and Integration of Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) in Public Organizations in Kenya," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 511-526, September.
    12. Wei Zhang & Siqi Zhao & Xiaoyu Wan & Yuan Yao, 2021. "Study on the effect of digital economy on high-quality economic development in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-27, September.
    13. Ufua, Daniel E. & Emielu, Emmanuel T. & Olujobi, Olusola J. & Lakhani, Faraz & Borishade, Taiye T. & Ibidunni, Ayodotun S. & Osabuohien, Evans S., 2021. "Digital transformation: a conceptual framing for attaining Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 9 in Nigeria," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(5), pages 836-849, September.
    14. Dogan, Eyup & Seker, Fahri, 2016. "The influence of real output, renewable and non-renewable energy, trade and financial development on carbon emissions in the top renewable energy countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1074-1085.
    15. Oryani, Bahareh & Koo, Yoonmo & Rezania, Shahabaldin & Shafiee, Afsaneh, 2021. "Barriers to renewable energy technologies penetration: Perspective in Iran," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 971-983.
    16. Tang, Chang & Irfan, Muhammad & Razzaq, Asif & Dagar, Vishal, 2022. "Natural resources and financial development: Role of business regulations in testing the resource-curse hypothesis in ASEAN countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    17. Keen, Steve & Ayres, Robert U. & Standish, Russell, 2019. "A Note on the Role of Energy in Production," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 40-46.
    18. Bai, Caiquan & Du, Kerui & Yu, Ying & Feng, Chen, 2019. "Understanding the trend of total factor carbon productivity in the world: Insights from convergence analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 698-708.
    19. Bahareh Nikmehr & M. Reza Hosseini & Igor Martek & Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas & Jurgita Antucheviciene, 2021. "Digitalization as a Strategic Means of Achieving Sustainable Efficiencies in Construction Management: A Critical Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-12, April.
    20. Kerstin Fritzsche & Silke Niehoff & Grischa Beier, 2018. "Industry 4.0 and Climate Change—Exploring the Science-Policy Gap," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-17, November.
    21. Zaheer Allam & David Jones, 2021. "Future (post-COVID) digital, smart and sustainable cities in the wake of 6G: Digital twins, immersive realities and new urban economies," Post-Print hal-03477845, HAL.
    22. Wang, Xinyue & Wang, Qing, 2021. "Research on the impact of green finance on the upgrading of China's regional industrial structure from the perspective of sustainable development," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    23. Zhenci Xu & Yingjie Li & Sophia N. Chau & Thomas Dietz & Canbing Li & Luwen Wan & Jindong Zhang & Liwei Zhang & Yunkai Li & Min Gon Chung & Jianguo Liu, 2020. "Impacts of international trade on global sustainable development," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(11), pages 964-971, November.
    24. Aurelija Burinskienė & Milena Seržantė, 2022. "Digitalisation as the Indicator of the Evidence of Sustainability in the European Union," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-20, July.
    25. Sperling, Daniel & Yeh, Sonia, 2010. "Toward a global low carbon fuel standard," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 47-49, January.
    26. Lucas Chancel, 2022. "Global carbon inequality over 1990–2019," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 5(11), pages 931-938, November.
    27. Chad Syverson, 2017. "Challenges to Mismeasurement Explanations for the US Productivity Slowdown," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 165-186, Spring.
    28. Gabriela Viale Pereira & Elsa Estevez & Diego Cardona & Carlos Chesñevar & Pablo Collazzo-Yelpo & Maria Alexandra Cunha & Eduardo Henrique Diniz & Alex Antonio Ferraresi & Frida Marina Fischer & Flúvi, 2020. "South American Expert Roundtable: Increasing Adaptive Governance Capacity for Coping with Unintended Side Effects of Digital Transformation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-47, January.
    29. Rishan Adha & Cheng-Yih Hong & Somya Agrawal & Li-Hua Li, 2023. "ICT, carbon emissions, climate change, and energy demand nexus: The potential benefit of digitalization in Taiwan," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(5), pages 1619-1638, August.
    30. Altanshagai Batmunkh, 2022. "Carbon Footprint of The Most Popular Social Media Platforms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-10, February.
    31. Xiaoyan Li & Jia Liu & Peijie Ni, 2021. "The Impact of the Digital Economy on CO 2 Emissions: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-15, June.
    32. Chuanyu Zhao & Zhongquan Liu & Xianfeng Yan, 2023. "Does the Digital Economy Increase Green TFP in Cities?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-22, January.
    33. Raymond Saner & Lichia Yiu & Melanie Nguyen, 2020. "Monitoring the SDGs: Digital and social technologies to ensure citizen participation, inclusiveness and transparency," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 38(4), pages 483-500, July.
    34. Sorrell, Steve, 2009. "Jevons' Paradox revisited: The evidence for backfire from improved energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1456-1469, April.
    35. Lucas Chancel, 2022. "Global carbon inequality over 1990–2019," Post-Print halshs-04157767, HAL.
    36. Joungyoon Chun & Choong-Ki Kim & Wanmo Kang & Hyemin Park & Gieun Kim & Woo-Kyun Lee, 2019. "Sustainable Management of Carbon Sequestration Service in Areas with High Development Pressure: Considering Land Use Changes and Carbon Costs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-20, September.
    37. Florian Egli & Bjarne Steffen & Tobias S. Schmidt, 2019. "Learning in the financial sector is essential for reducing renewable energy costs," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(10), pages 835-836, October.
    38. Daniel Francisco Pais & Tiago Lopes Afonso & Ant nio Cardoso Marques & Jos A Fuinhas, 2019. "Are Economic Growth and Sustainable Development Converging? Evidence from the Comparable Genuine Progress Indicator for Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Countries," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 9(4), pages 202-213.
    39. Jens Malmodin & Dag Lundén, 2018. "The Energy and Carbon Footprint of the Global ICT and E&M Sectors 2010–2015," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-31, August.
    40. Simona Rasciute & Paul Downward & William H Greene, 2017. "Do Relational Goods Raise Well-Being? An Econometric Analysis," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 43(4), pages 563-579, September.
    41. Congqi Wang & Rui Zhang & Haslindar Ibrahim & Pengzhen Liu, 2023. "Can the Digital Economy Enable Carbon Emission Reduction: Analysis of Mechanisms and China’s Experience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-20, June.
    42. Chiaramonti, David & Maniatis, Kyriakos, 2020. "Security of supply, strategic storage and Covid19: Which lessons learnt for renewable and recycled carbon fuels, and their future role in decarbonizing transport?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    43. Emilia Herman, 2022. "The Interplay between Digital Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development in the Context of the EU Digital Economy: A Multivariate Analysis," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-28, May.
    44. Solomon, Edna Maeyen & van Klyton, Aaron, 2020. "The impact of digital technology usage on economic growth in Africa," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    45. Sachs,Jeffrey D. & Kroll,Christian & Lafortune,Guillame & Fuller,Grayson & Woelm,Finn, 2022. "Sustainable Development Report 2022," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781009210089, November.
    46. Wu, Haitao & Hao, Yu & Ren, Siyu & Yang, Xiaodong & Xie, Guo, 2021. "Does internet development improve green total factor energy efficiency? Evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    47. Karol Kempa & Ulf Moslener & Oliver Schenker, 2021. "The cost of debt of renewable and non-renewable energy firms," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 6(2), pages 135-142, February.
    48. Qi Feng & J. George Shanthikumar, 2018. "How Research in Production and Operations Management May Evolve in the Era of Big Data," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 27(9), pages 1670-1684, September.
    49. Tilman Santarius & Johanna Pohl & Steffen Lange, 2020. "Digitalization and the Decoupling Debate: Can ICT Help to Reduce Environmental Impacts While the Economy Keeps Growing?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-20, September.
    50. Lange, Steffen & Pohl, Johanna & Santarius, Tilman, 2020. "Digitalization and energy consumption. Does ICT reduce energy demand?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    51. Qiang Ma & Zeeshan Khan & Muhammad Tariq & Hayriye IŞik & Husam Rjoub, 2022. "Sustainable digital economy and trade adjusted carbon emissions: Evidence from China’s provincial data," Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 5469-5485, December.
    52. Yi, Ming & Liu, Yafen & Sheng, Mingyue Selena & Wen, Le, 2022. "Effects of digital economy on carbon emission reduction: New evidence from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    53. Kerong Zhang & Liangyu Jiang & Yanzhi Jin & Wuyi Liu, 2022. "The Carbon Emission Characteristics and Reduction Potential in Developing Areas: Case Study from Anhui Province, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-28, December.
    54. Allam, Zaheer & Jones, David S., 2021. "Future (post-COVID) digital, smart and sustainable cities in the wake of 6G: Digital twins, immersive realities and new urban economies," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wen Li & Jiaxin Zhang & Hanyu Zhu & Ting Hao & Lei Mei & Yi Su, 2024. "Green Marketing and the Path to Realizing Local Sustainable Development—Joint Dynamic Analysis of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) Based on China’," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-27, May.
    2. Liu, Shihua & Padhan, Hemachandra & P., Jithin & Jose, Annmary & Rahut, Dil, 2024. "Do green trade and technology-oriented trade affect economic cycles? Evidence from the Chinese provinces," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    3. Wu, Qingyang & Li, Shanhong, 2024. "Decarbonization by digits: How data factors drive nonlinear sustainable dynamics in manufacturing," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 374(C).
    4. Hala Mohamed Sh Elmanaei & Wagdi M. S. Khalifa & Ayşen Berberoğlu, 2024. "Unpacking How Natural Gas, Digital Growth, and Hydro-Based Energy Sources Impact Ecological Sustainability in Egypt," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-16, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Robert Istrate & Victor Tulus & Robert N. Grass & Laurent Vanbever & Wendelin J. Stark & Gonzalo Guillén-Gosálbez, 2024. "The environmental sustainability of digital content consumption," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Charfeddine, Lanouar & Umlai, Mohamed, 2023. "ICT sector, digitization and environmental sustainability: A systematic review of the literature from 2000 to 2022," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    3. Du, Juntao & Shen, Zhiyang & Song, Malin & Zhang, Linda, 2023. "Nexus between digital transformation and energy technology innovation: An empirical test of A-share listed enterprises," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    4. Federica Cappelli, 2024. "Unequal contributions to CO2 emissions along the income distribution within and between countries," Working Papers 2024.06, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    5. Bai, Ling & Guo, Tianran & Xu, Wei & Liu, Yaobin & Kuang, Ming & Jiang, Lei, 2023. "Effects of digital economy on carbon emission intensity in Chinese cities: A life-cycle theory and the application of non-linear spatial panel smooth transition threshold model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    6. Cathaysa Martín-Blanco & Montserrat Zamorano & Carmen Lizárraga & Valentin Molina-Moreno, 2022. "The Impact of COVID-19 on the Sustainable Development Goals: Achievements and Expectations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-25, December.
    7. Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin & Dong, Xiucheng & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2022. "Assessing the digital economy and its carbon-mitigation effects: The case of China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    8. Cappelli, Federica, 2024. "Unequal contributions to CO2 emissions along the income distribution within and between countries," FEEM Working Papers 341641, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM).
    9. Jianchun Fang & Giray Gozgor & Mantu Kumar Mahalik & Gupteswar Patel & Xueyin Song, 2024. "Globalisation and carbon dioxide emissions inequality in OECD countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(5), pages 2178-2193, May.
    10. Satar Bakhsh & Md Shabbir Alam & Wei Zhang, 2024. "Green finance and Sustainable Development Goals: is there a role for geopolitical uncertainty?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1-30, August.
    11. Ivanova, Diana & Wieland, Hanspeter, 2023. "Tracing carbon footprints to intermediate industries in the United Kingdom," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    12. Huang, Chenchen & Lin, Boqiang, 2024. "Digital economy solutions towards carbon neutrality: The critical role of energy efficiency and energy structure transformation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    13. Tobias Angel & Alexandre Berthe & Valeria Costantini & Mariagrazia D’Angeli, 2024. "How the nature of inequality reduction matters for CO2 emissions," Working Papers 2024.14, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    14. André, Mathias & Bourgeois, Alexandre & Combet, Emmanuel & Lequien, Matthieu & Pottier, Antonin, 2024. "Challenges in measuring the distribution of carbon footprints: The role of product and price heterogeneity," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    15. Francisco & Veronica Lupi & Wouter Botzen & Richard S.J. Tol, 2024. "Urban and Non-Urban Contributions to the Social Cost of Carbon," Working Paper Series 0424, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    16. Destek, Mehmet Akif & Hossain, Mohammad Razib & Aydın, Sercan & Shakib, Mohammed & Destek, Gamze, 2023. "Investigating the role of economic complexity in evading the resource curse," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
    17. Malerba, Daniele & Roscioli, Federico & Gaentzsch, Anja & Ward, Hauke, 2024. "Changing carbon footprints and the consequent impacts of carbon taxes and cash transfers on poverty and inequality across years: A Peruvian case study," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    18. Saia, Artjom, 2023. "Digitalization and CO2 emissions: Dynamics under R&D and technology innovation regimes," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    19. Missbach, Leonard & Steckel, Jan Christoph, 2024. "Distributional impacts of climate policy and effective compensation: Evidence from 88 countries," EconStor Preprints 296491, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    20. Haimeng Liu & Liwei Wang & Jinzhou Wang & Hangtian Ming & Xuankuang Wu & Gang Xu & Shengwu Zhang, 2024. "Multidimensional spatial inequality in China and its relationship with economic growth," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:199:y:2024:i:c:s0040162523007308. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00401625 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.