An empirical analysis of the non-linear impacts of ICT-trade openness on renewable energy transition, energy efficiency, clean cooking fuel access and environmental sustainability in South Asia

Abstract

Energy security and environmental sustainability have become an integral policy agenda worldwide whereby the global economic growth policies are being restructured to ensure the reliability of energy supply and safeguard environmental well-being as well. However, technological inefficiency is one of the major hindrances in attaining these over-arching goals. Hence, this paper probed into the non-linear impacts of ICT trade on the prospects of undergoing renewable energy transition, improving energy use efficiencies, enhancing access to cleaner cooking fuels, and mitigating carbon dioxide emissions across selected South Asian economies: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Maldives. The results from the econometric analyses reveal that ICT trade directly increases renewable energy consumption, enhances renewable energy shares, reduces intensity of energy use, facilitates adoption of cleaner cooking fuels, and reduces carbon-dioxide emissions. Moreover, ICT trade also indirectly mitigates carbon-dioxide emissions through boosting renewable energy consumption levels, improving energy efficiencies, and enhancing cleaner cooking fuel access. Hence, these results, in a nutshell, portray the significance of reducing the barriers to ICT trade with respect to ensuring energy security and environmental sustainability across South Asia. Therefore, it is ideal for the government to gradually lessen the trade barriers to boost the volumes of cross-border flows of green ICT commodities. Besides, it is also recommended to attract foreign direct investments for the potential development of the respective ICT sectors of the South Asian economies.

A Panel Dynamic Analysis on Energy Consumption, Energy Prices and Economic Growth in Next 11 Countries

“…Following Murshed and Dao (2020) and Murshed (2020c), the Panel FMOLS and panel DOLS approaches are used for checking the robustness of the panel ARDL results for the entire panel group of Next 11 countries. FMOLS (Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares) approach was developed by Phillips and Hansen (1990) and DOLS (Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares) approach was developed by Stock and Watson (1993).…”

Renewable Energy Use and Ecological Footprints Mitigation: Evidence from Selected South Asian Economies

“…However, although such monotonic fossil fuel-dependency has significantly contributed to the economic growth of these nations, it has simultaneously resulted in unprecedented degrees of environmental problems across South Asia [2,3]. Under such circumstances, protecting the environment has become necessary to ensure environmental sustainability within this region [4,5]. However, South Asia's macroeconomic policies have traditionally focused on promoting economic growth without emphasizing protecting the environment.…”

Calibrating the Impacts of Regional Trade Integration and Renewable Energy Transition on the Sustainability of International Inbound Tourism Demand in South Asia

“…This technique is suited for the panel data sets used in this paper since it generates efficient estimates in the context of panel data with smaller number of cross-sections and larger time periods. The presence of CD, if not accounted for, results in the estimation of spurious stationarity properties whereby the first-generation unit root and cointegration techniques become inappropriate due to these tests not accounting for the CD issues within the estimation processes [39]. The results from the CD analysis, as reported in Table 3, provide statistical support to the panels being cross-sectionally dependent.…”