IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i12p9327-d1167376.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Dynamic Impact of Financial Technology and Energy Consumption on Environmental Sustainability

Author

Listed:
  • Mohd Afjal

    (VIT Business School, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 632014, India)

  • Chinnadurai Kathiravan

    (VIT Business School, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 632014, India)

  • Leo Paul Dana

    (Faculty of Management, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada)

  • Chitra Devi Nagarajan

    (VIT Business School, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 632014, India)

Abstract

This research investigates the dynamic interplay between financial technology, information and communication technology, energy consumption, and economic growth on environmental sustainability within Emerging and Growth-Leading Economies (EAGLEs) from 2005 to 2020. Utilizing advanced econometric techniques, such as Fully Modified Least Squares (FMOLS) and Vector Autoregressive Error Correction Model (VECM), the investigation scrutinizes the hypothesized relationships among these variables. Panel unit root tests were deployed to assess stationarity, while panel least squares methodology was employed to determine the presence of co-integration among the variables under study. The analysis reveals that internet usage, GDP, and renewable energy consumption exhibit a notable influence in diminishing CO 2 emissions within EAGLE economies. Additionally, the findings substantiate the existence of long-term causality originating from these variables and impacting CO 2 emissions. Conversely, the role of ATM networks in CO 2 emissions remains ambiguous, implying that financial technology’s influence on environmental sustainability is inconclusive. Consequently, the research posits that environmental sustainability in EAGLE economies is chiefly determined by factors such as internet usage, economic expansion, and renewable energy consumption, with financial technology demonstrating no discernable impact. In light of these findings, the study advocates for the reevaluation and adaptation of existing policies and strategies to account for shifting climatic conditions. By doing so, decision-makers can better align their efforts with the pursuit of environmental sustainability in the context of rapidly evolving economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohd Afjal & Chinnadurai Kathiravan & Leo Paul Dana & Chitra Devi Nagarajan, 2023. "The Dynamic Impact of Financial Technology and Energy Consumption on Environmental Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-21, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:12:p:9327-:d:1167376
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/12/9327/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/12/9327/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ang, James B., 2007. "CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and output in France," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 4772-4778, October.
    2. Christopher A. Sims, 1986. "Are forecasting models usable for policy analysis?," Quarterly Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, vol. 10(Win), pages 2-16.
    3. Ulrike Malmendier, 2009. "Law and Finance "at the Origin"," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1076-1108, December.
    4. Engle, Robert & Granger, Clive, 2015. "Co-integration and error correction: Representation, estimation, and testing," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 39(3), pages 106-135.
    5. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2006. "Estimation and Inference in Large Heterogeneous Panels with a Multifactor Error Structure," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(4), pages 967-1012, July.
    6. Ciarreta, A. & Zarraga, A., 2010. "Economic growth-electricity consumption causality in 12 European countries: A dynamic panel data approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3790-3796, July.
    7. Pesaran M.H. & Schuermann T. & Weiner S.M., 2004. "Modeling Regional Interdependencies Using a Global Error-Correcting Macroeconometric Model," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 22, pages 129-162, April.
    8. Sorrell, Steve, 2009. "Jevons' Paradox revisited: The evidence for backfire from improved energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1456-1469, April.
    9. Arouri, Mohamed El Hedi & Ben Youssef, Adel & M'henni, Hatem & Rault, Christophe, 2012. "Energy consumption, economic growth and CO2 emissions in Middle East and North African countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 342-349.
    10. Zhang, Shun & Liu, Xuyi, 2019. "The roles of international tourism and renewable energy in environment: New evidence from Asian countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 385-394.
    11. Kunofiwa Tsaurai & Bester Chimbo, 2019. "The Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Carbon Emissions in Emerging Markets," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 9(4), pages 320-326.
    12. Jamiu Adetola Odugbesan & Husam Rjoub, 2020. "Relationship Among Economic Growth, Energy Consumption, CO2 Emission, and Urbanization: Evidence From MINT Countries," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(2), pages 21582440209, April.
    13. Richard York, 2012. "Do alternative energy sources displace fossil fuels?," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 2(6), pages 441-443, June.
    14. Xiang Deng & Zhi Huang & Xiang Cheng, 2019. "FinTech and Sustainable Development: Evidence from China Based on P2P Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-19, November.
    15. Amri, Fethi & Zaied, Younes Ben & Lahouel, Bechir Ben, 2019. "ICT, total factor productivity, and carbon dioxide emissions in Tunisia," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 212-217.
    16. Charfeddine, Lanouar & Kahia, Montassar, 2019. "Impact of renewable energy consumption and financial development on CO2 emissions and economic growth in the MENA region: A panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 198-213.
    17. Thomas Philippon, 2019. "On Fintech and Financial Inclusion," NBER Working Papers 26330, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Beck, Thorsten & Chen, Tao & Lin, Chen & Song, Frank M., 2016. "Financial innovation: The bright and the dark sides," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 28-51.
    19. Sims, Christopher A, 1980. "Macroeconomics and Reality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(1), pages 1-48, January.
    20. Dehghan Shabani, Zahra & Shahnazi, Rouhollah, 2019. "Energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, information and communications technology, and gross domestic product in Iranian economic sectors: A panel causality analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 1064-1078.
    21. Love, Inessa & Zicchino, Lea, 2006. "Financial development and dynamic investment behavior: Evidence from panel VAR," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 190-210, May.
    22. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel & Sinha, Avik, 2019. "Foreign Direct Investment–CO2 Emissions Nexus in Middle East and North African countries: Importance of Biomass Energy Consumption," MPRA Paper 91729, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 19 Jan 2019.
    23. Qi, Tianyu & Zhang, Xiliang & Karplus, Valerie J., 2014. "The energy and CO2 emissions impact of renewable energy development in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 60-69.
    24. Kao, Chihwa, 1999. "Spurious regression and residual-based tests for cointegration in panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 1-44, May.
    25. Avom, Désiré & Nkengfack, Hilaire & Fotio, Hervé Kaffo & Totouom, Armand, 2020. "ICT and environmental quality in Sub-Saharan Africa: Effects and transmission channels," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    26. Christopoulos, Dimitris K. & Tsionas, Efthymios G., 2004. "Financial development and economic growth: evidence from panel unit root and cointegration tests," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 55-74, February.
    27. Katsuya Ito, 2017. "CO2 emissions, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, and economic growth: Evidence from panel data for developing countries," International Economics, CEPII research center, issue 151, pages 1-6.
    28. Zhaohua Wang & Wei Liu & Jianhua Yin, 2015. "Driving forces of indirect carbon emissions from household consumption in China: an input–output decomposition analysis," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 75(2), pages 257-272, February.
    29. G. S. Maddala & Shaowen Wu, 1999. "A Comparative Study of Unit Root Tests with Panel Data and a New Simple Test," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(S1), pages 631-652, November.
    30. Adeoluwa Akande & Pedro Cabral & Sven Casteleyn, 2019. "Assessing the Gap between Technology and the Environmental Sustainability of European Cities," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 581-604, June.
    31. Ito, Katsuya, 2017. "CO2 emissions, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, and economic growth: Evidence from panel data for developing countries," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 1-6.
    32. Kavya Clanganthuruthil Sajeev & Mohd Afjal, 2022. "Contagion effect of cryptocurrency on the securities market: a study of Bitcoin volatility using diagonal BEKK and DCC GARCH models," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(6), pages 1-21, June.
    33. Christian Haddad & Lars Hornuf, 2019. "The emergence of the global fintech market: economic and technological determinants," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(1), pages 81-105, June.
    34. Levin, Andrew & Lin, Chien-Fu & James Chu, Chia-Shang, 2002. "Unit root tests in panel data: asymptotic and finite-sample properties," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 1-24, May.
    35. Fritz, Martin & Koch, Max, 2014. "Potentials for prosperity without growth: Ecological sustainability, social inclusion and the quality of life in 38 countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 191-199.
    36. repec:bla:obuest:v:61:y:1999:i:0:p:631-52 is not listed on IDEAS
    37. Wang, Yuan & Li, Li & Kubota, Jumpei & Han, Rong & Zhu, Xiaodong & Lu, Genfa, 2016. "Does urbanization lead to more carbon emission? Evidence from a panel of BRICS countries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 375-380.
    38. Pao, Hsiao-Tien & Tsai, Chung-Ming, 2011. "Multivariate Granger causality between CO2 emissions, energy consumption, FDI (foreign direct investment) and GDP (gross domestic product): Evidence from a panel of BRIC (Brazil, Russian Federation, I," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 685-693.
    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. Mohd Afjal, 2023. "Bridging the financial divide: a bibliometric analysis on the role of digital financial services within FinTech in enhancing financial inclusion and economic development," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-27, December.
    2. Can Li & Qi He & Han Ji & Shengguo Yu & Jiao Wang, 2023. "Reexamining the Impact of Global Value Chain Participation on Regional Economic Growth: New Evidence Based on a Nonlinear Model and Spatial Spillover Effects with Panel Data from Chinese Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-31, September.
    3. Pu, Ganlin & Wong, Wing-Keung & Du, Qiang & Al Shraah, Ata & Alromaihi, Abdullah & Muda, Iskandar, 2024. "Asymmetric impact of natural resources, fintech, and digital banking on climate change and environmental sustainability in BRICS countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    4. Li, Songran & Hu, Kaiwen & Kang, Xueqing, 2024. "Impact of financial technologies, digitalization, and natural resources on environmental degradation in G-20 countries: Does human resources matter?," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    5. Zhu, Yi & Lin, Yangyi & Tan, Yanyu & Liu, Bin & Wang, Hao, 2024. "The potential nexus between fintech and energy consumption: A new perspective on natural resource consumption," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).

    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. Chen, Ping-Yu & Chen, Sheng-Tung & Hsu, Chia-Sheng & Chen, Chi-Chung, 2016. "Modeling the global relationships among economic growth, energy consumption and CO2 emissions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 420-431.
    2. Al-Mulali, Usama & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2016. "The investigation of environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in the advanced economies: The role of energy prices," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1622-1631.
    3. Liu, Xuyi & Zhang, Shun & Bae, Junghan, 2017. "The nexus of renewable energy-agriculture-environment in BRICS," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 489-496.
    4. Xiuqin Zhang & Xudong Shi & Yasir Khan & Taimoor Hassan & Mohamed Marie, 2023. "Carbon Neutrality Challenge: Analyse the Role of Energy Productivity, Renewable Energy, and Collaboration in Climate Mitigation Technology in OECD Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-20, February.
    5. Hassan, Taimoor & Song, Huaming & Khan, Yasir & Kirikkaleli, Dervis, 2022. "Energy efficiency a source of low carbon energy sources? Evidence from 16 high-income OECD economies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    6. Iftikhar Yasin & Nawaz Ahmad & M. Aslam Chaudhary, 2020. "Catechizing the Environmental-Impression of Urbanization, Financial Development, and Political Institutions: A Circumstance of Ecological Footprints in 110 Developed and Less-Developed Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 147(2), pages 621-649, January.
    7. Swamy, Vighneswara & Dharani, Munusamy, 2019. "The dynamics of finance-growth nexus in advanced economies," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 122-146.
    8. Touitou Mohammed, 2021. "The Relationship Between Economic Growth, Energy Consumption and CO2 Emission in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)," Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia, Sciendo, vol. 21(2), pages 132-147, December.
    9. Qamruzzaman, Md & Jianguo, Wei, 2020. "The asymmetric relationship between financial development, trade openness, foreign capital flows, and renewable energy consumption: Fresh evidence from panel NARDL investigation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 827-842.
    10. Bakry, Walid & Mallik, Girijasankar & Nghiem, Xuan-Hoa & Sinha, Avik & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2023. "Is green finance really “green”? Examining the long-run relationship between green finance, renewable energy and environmental performance in developing countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 341-355.
    11. Abidin Öncel & Ali Kabasakal & Aziz Kutlar & Samet Acar, 2024. "Energy consumption, economic growth and Ecological footprint relationship in the top Russian energy importers: a panel data analysis," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(8), pages 21019-21052, August.
    12. Ozcan, Burcu, 2013. "The nexus between carbon emissions, energy consumption and economic growth in Middle East countries: A panel data analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1138-1147.
    13. Phrakhruopatnontakitti & Busakorn Watthanabut & Kittisak Jermsittiparsert, 2020. "Energy Consumption, Economic Growth and Environmental Degradation in 4 Asian Countries: Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(2), pages 529-539.
    14. Ajide, Kazeem & Ridwan, Ibrahim, 2018. "Energy consumption, environmental contaminants, and economic growth: The G8 experience," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 51, pages 58-83.
    15. Acheampong, Alex O. & Dzator, Janet & Savage, David A., 2021. "Renewable energy, CO2 emissions and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa: Does institutional quality matter?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 43(5), pages 1070-1093.
    16. Sofien Tiba & Mohamed Frikha, 2020. "EKC and Macroeconomics Aspects of Well-being: a Critical Vision for a Sustainable Future," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(3), pages 1171-1197, September.
    17. Hamit-Haggar, Mahamat, 2012. "Greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and economic growth: A panel cointegration analysis from Canadian industrial sector perspective," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 358-364.
    18. Francisco García-Lillo & Eduardo Sánchez-García & Bartolomé Marco-Lajara & Pedro Seva-Larrosa, 2023. "Renewable Energies and Sustainable Development: A Bibliometric Overview," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-22, January.
    19. Moataz Elshimy & Khadiga M. El-Aasar, 2020. "Carbon footprint, renewable energy, non-renewable energy, and livestock: testing the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for the Arab world," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(7), pages 6985-7012, October.
    20. Armenia Androniceanu & Irina Georgescu, 2023. "The Impact of CO 2 Emissions and Energy Consumption on Economic Growth: A Panel Data Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-17, January.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:12:p:9327-:d:1167376. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.