Renewable energy has attracted researcher attention in recent years, and the number of studies conducted on the topic has increased. The importance of renewable energy has increased because certain energy resources are exhaustible and they damage the environment in various ways. Fossil fuel-based energy is the main culprit for environmental damage and lately renewable energy is the main focus as a safe alternative to fossil fuels. However, replacement of fossil fuels by renewables may have a negative impact on human development, even if it has a positive impact on the environment. With this rationale, this study investigates the relationship between renewable energy and human development in 28 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries from 1990 to 2017 by using the Westerlund and Edgerton panel cointegration test with structural breaks and the Dumitrescu and Hurlin causality test. The results of the panel data analysis revealed that renewable energy affected human development positively. In addition, the causality test determined the presence of a bidirectional causality relationship between renewable energy and human development. This study is unique in the sense that it is the only study in the literature examining the relationship between human development index and renewable energy for the countries in question. While similar analyses were conducted in the past for different regions or for just one type of renewable energy, no such study has been conducted in this scale with this method. Another differentiating feature of the study is that it demonstrates the bidirectional nature of the study not just the unidirectional causality. Policymakers are advised to invest in renewable energy projects and also create frameworks which provide incentives to the private sector for renewable energy production.

Tourism sector has become one of the largest export items in the globalized world and in turn an item of national income for the countries. However, the globally expanding tourism sector may lead to negative impacts such as environmental degradation, and detrimental effects on social and cultural values despite its positive effects on economic growth, employment, and balance of payments. In the study, we explore the short and long run effects of international tourism and real gross domestic product on environment proxied by carbon dioxide emissions in Mediterranean European states over the period of 1995-2018, using second generation cointegration and causality tests. The short run analysis revealed a one-way causality from real gross domestic product to carbon dioxide emissions. Furthermore, the long run analysis indicated that international tourism had a positive influence on carbon dioxide emissions in Italy and Slovenia and real gross domestic product had a positive influence on carbon dioxide emissions in most of the countries in the sample.

Stock markets foster economic growth through meeting the fund requirements of the firms by individual and institutional investors. Pension funds and insurance companies with their long-term investment horizon are critical institutional investors in capital markets. Therefore, this article explores the effect of pension funds and insurance companies on stock market development in 15 emerging market economies over the 2004–2019 period through panel cointegration and causality tests. The causality analysis revealed that stock market development had a significant impact on pension funds and the insurance sector in the short term. However, the cointegration analysis revealed that pension funds had a positive effect on stock market development in Brazil, Chile, Hungary, Mexico, Peru, and South Africa and the insurance sector had a positive impact on stock market development in Chile, Indonesia, Korea Republic, Philippines, and South Africa in the long term.

Tourism sector has become one of the leading economic sectors and export items for the countries in the globalized world after consistent growth during the past six decades. Furthermore, tourism sector is also a significant component of economic growth and an important source of foreign exchange and employment due to its labor intensive structure. Therefore, many countries have designed and implemented various economic and non-economic measures to improve inbound tourism. In this context, this study investigated the impact of economic, social, cultural, and political globalization on inbound tourism in selected Mediterranean countries for the period of 1995-2017 through panel regression analysis considering the limited related literature. The regression analysis revealed that economic globalization, social globalization, cultural globalization, and political globalization positively affected inbound tourism. In this regard, the policies raising economic, social, cultural and political integration with global economy is expected to make a positive contribution to the development of inbound tourism.