Search Results (23)

Understanding how energy use and economic activity shape carbon emissions is pivotal for achieving global climate targets. This study quantifies the dynamic nexus between disaggregated energy consumption, economic growth, and CO₂ emissions in India and China—two economies that together account for more than one-third of global emissions. Using annual data from 1990 to 2021, we implement Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural networks, which outperform traditional linear models in capturing nonlinearities and lagged effects. The dataset is split into training (1990–2013) and testing (2014–2021) intervals to ensure rigorous out-of-sample validation. Results reveal stark national differences. For India, coal, natural gas consumption, and economic growth are the strongest positive drivers of emissions, whereas renewable energy exerts a significant mitigating effect, and nuclear energy is negligible. In China, emissions are dominated by coal and petroleum use and by economic growth, while renewable and nuclear sources show weak, inconsistent impacts. We recommend retrofitting India’s coal- and gas-plants with carbon capture and storage, doubling clean-tech subsidies, and tripling annual solar-plus-storage auctions to displace fossil baseload. For China, priorities include ultra-supercritical upgrades with carbon capture, utilisation, and storage, green-bond-financed solar–wind buildouts, grid-scale storage deployments, and hydrogen-electric freight corridors. These data-driven pathways simultaneously cut flagship emitters, decouple GDP from carbon, provide replicable models for global net-zero research, and advance climate-resilient economic growth worldwide. Full article

The intersection of green finance and artificial intelligence (AI) represents a rapidly emerging and high-impact research domain with the potential to reshape sustainable economic systems. This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric and network analysis aimed at mapping the scientific landscape, identifying research hotspots, and highlighting methodological trends at this nexus. A dataset of 268 peer-reviewed publications (2014–June 2025) was retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection, filtered by the Business Economics category. Analytical techniques employed include Bibliometrix in R, VOSviewer, and science mapping tools such as thematic mapping, trend topic analysis, co-citation networks, and co-occurrence clustering. Results indicate an annual growth rate of 53.31%, with China leading in both productivity and impact, followed by Vietnam and the United Kingdom. The most prolific affiliations and authors, primarily based in China, underscore a concentrated regional research output. The most relevant journals include Energy Economics and Finance Research Letters. Network visualizations identified 17 clusters, with focused analysis on the top three: (1) Emission, Health, and Environmental Risk, (2) Institutional and Technological Infrastructure, and (3) Green Innovation and Sustainable Urban Development. The methodological landscape is equally diverse, with top techniques including blockchain technology, large language models, convolutional neural networks, sentiment analysis, and structural equation modeling, demonstrating a blend of traditional econometrics and advanced AI. This study not only uncovers intellectual structures and thematic evolution but also identifies underdeveloped areas and proposes future research directions. These include dynamic topic modeling, regional case studies, and ethical frameworks for AI in sustainable finance. The findings provide a strategic foundation for advancing interdisciplinary collaboration and policy innovation in green AI–finance ecosystems. Full article

We investigate the sustainability of the asymmetric public social spending (PSS)–financialization relationship in the Eurozone over the period of 1995q1–2023q4. We follow the theoretical endogenous nexus of PSS with the financial fragility hypothesis (FFH) and finance-led growth regime; the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model and cointegration are applied for this purpose. The analysis suggests the following: (1) The selected determinants of the three stages of the FFH affect dependent PSS asymmetrically in the long run (as well as in the short run, sometimes); meanwhile, more often than not, significantly larger effects tended to be negative changes. (2) The asymmetric shocks of explanatories gently increase PSS in many cases but also decrease it strongly in others. (3) The “automatic stabilizer” role of PSS is proven, whereas the contrary is not rejected; that is, PSS was also used as a “counter-automatic stabilizer” tool. (4) This leads to “ratchet effects”; the direction of these effects is unclear, but it seems to decline over time. (5) The financialization of the PSS phenomenon is revealed and discussed using relevant economic interpretations for certain determinants, such as credits to nonfinancial corporations, relative profitability, domestic borrowing from abroad, and the snowball effect; all of these have long-term effects on PSS, comprising negative changes, with asymmetric dynamics towards a new equilibrium at a horizon of between 4 and 16 quarters. Policy implications are related to the sustainability of PSS through the control of the economy’s financialization. We contribute to the literature by analyzing—for the first time as far as we know—the endogenous nonlinear long- and short-run dynamics of PSS based on a comprehensive model of the FFH and the finance-led growth regime. Full article

Innovation and productivity improvements are essential drivers of economic growth, social stability, and sustainable development. As a high-risk, long-term activity, innovation requires external support, especially from the financial sector. In response, governments have introduced various financial support policies, yet their effectiveness remains debatable. Using panel data from Chinese listed firms between 2006 and 2022, we examined the impact of an innovation-oriented financial support initiative in China—the Technology and Finance Integration (TFI) pilot—on firm innovation and total factor productivity (TFP). This quasi-natural experiment effectively alleviated endogeneity and helped us establish the causality. Our results show that TFI significantly enhances both the quantity and quality of firms’ innovation, as well as TFP. Furthermore, we found that the policy effects are more pronounced in firms with higher perceived uncertainty, in private firms, and in those located in regions with advanced financial development. Improved liquidity conditions, increased R&D investment, and better asset allocation constitute plausible mechanisms for interpreting our results. Theoretically, this paper complements the research on the nexus between financial support and innovation activity, shedding light on the underlying mechanisms. Practically, our findings provide valuable insights for the formulation of financial policies to promote innovation, particularly in developing countries that lack sufficient R&D incentives and effective market mechanisms to drive technical upgrading and productivity growth. Full article

The savings behavior of individuals has been a topic of both macroeconomic and policy importance throughout history. Theoretical and empirical research shows that savings result from several demographic and economic factors working together to produce long-term, sustainable economic growth. This study therefore examined the nexus between domestic savings and sustainable economic growth in a South African perspective between 1990–2023, emphasizing the critical role that savings play in fostering long-term economic stability and environmental resilience. The ARDL framework was used to analyze data from the World Bank and the South African Reserve Bank. The results of the study demonstrate that corporate savings have a major effect on sustainable economic growth, especially over the long term. When corporate savings rise by 1%, the economy expands by 3.12%, which highlights the significant multiplier effect of investment. The extent of this impact depends on factors such as the efficiency of capital allocation, technological capacity, financial market development, government policies, and macroeconomic stability. These factors collectively determine how effectively corporate savings are transformed into productive investments that drive sustainable economic growth. Conversely, savings made by the government and the public, especially in the long run, have no appreciable impact on sustainable economic growth. Given that domestic savings mobilization is the most suitable channel for financing capital accumulation to support economic growth and development, the study suggests reviewing current policies to encourage domestic savings mobilization. This paper contributes to the broader discourse on sustainable economic policies in emerging markets, offering actionable insights for policymakers, financial institutions, and stakeholders promoting a more sustainable economic future for South Africa. Full article

As a derivative of traditional finance, supply chain finance plays a crucial role in facilitating the sound and stable operation of enterprises. This paper investigates the impact of supply chain finance on corporate sustainable growth. The findings reveal that supply chain finance not only fosters sustainable growth but also amplifies this effect through digital technology integration. Moreover, for firms and service-oriented businesses located in the central region, supply chain finance exerts a more pronounced positive influence on sustainable growth. In addition, the impact of supply chain finance on firm sustainable growth can be stage-specific depending on the financial situation. Full article

Urban air quality is inextricably linked to the operations of micro-firms. This paper employs the “Qinling-Huaihe” River demarcation as an instrumental variable to construct a regression discontinuity design (RDD) coupled with the two-stage least squares (2SLS) approach. This methodological framework is utilized to investigate the influence of urban air quality on the corporate total factor productivity (CTFP) of publicly listed manufacturing firms from 2015 to 2020. Drawing on the broken windows theory of urban decay and the general equilibrium theory, this research elucidates a significant adverse effect of urban air pollution on CTFP. We rigorously confirm the validity of the RDD by conducting covariate continuity tests and manipulating distributional variables. Furthermore, the robustness of the baseline regression outcomes is substantiated through a series of sensitivity, robustness, and endogeneity checks, employing alternative instrumental variables. The analysis extends to examining the heterogeneity across environmental attributes, regional features, and green branding. The mechanistic investigation reveals that public environmental concerns, financing constraints, and investments in technological innovation serve as mediators in the nexus between urban air pollution and CTFP. Additionally, it is observed that environmental regulation exerts a positive moderating influence, whereas female leadership has a negative impact in this context. The imperative for timely environmental governance is underscored by these findings, which offer crucial insights for policymakers seeking to refine business environment strategies and for corporations aiming to pursue sustainable growth. Full article

The primary objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between finance and economic growth in a cohort of 16 economies within the MENA region spanning a four-decade period from 1980 to 2021. This study employs panel unit root and panel co-integration analyses to investigate this long-term nexus. The fully modified and dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) approaches are utilized to estimate the long-run coefficients. The findings underscore the existence of cross-sectional interdependence among these nations. Furthermore, Pedroni’s panel co-integration research robustly supports the idea of a long-term co-integrating relationship between financial development and economic growth. Our long-run panel estimations reveal a positive and statistically significant impact of financial development on GDP per capita income growth. In addition to this broad analysis, this paper conducts a detailed time-series examination focused on a specific country to validate the robustness of the results. These findings further substantiate the favorable influence of financial development on income growth in the majority of MENA nations. Notably, private sector participation in these economies is found to be alarmingly low. As a result, a significant policy implication of this study underscores the urgent need for policymakers to prioritize measures conducive to private sector expansion. Moreover, enhancing financial inclusion, addressing the crowd-out effect, and tackling non-performing loans are critical areas requiring attention within the MENA region. Furthermore, our research highlights the potential benefits of developing stock markets as part of an optimal strategy to enhance both economic and income growth rates. In conclusion, this study contributes valuable insights into the finance–growth nexus in the MENA region, emphasizing the importance of financial development as a driver of economic prosperity and the need for targeted policy initiatives to support private sector growth and financial stability. Full article

In modern times, many countries are committed to achieving climate neutrality and environmental sustainability. Without financial innovation and green financing, switching to clean energy, reducing carbon emissions, and mitigating climate change will be impossible. The main objective of this study is to obtain zero carbon to protect the environment. To analyze sustainable development pathways, this research examines the impact of renewable energy and financial innovation on the environmental protection of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia from 2010 to 2021. The use of renewable energy sources, pollution, and climate change are all significant elements. Innovation can help slow the rate of global warming by lowering carbon emissions and expanding the usage of renewable energy sources. Green financing and innovation are powerful tools for environmental safety and deterioration. The acceleration of renewable energy growth is the primary driver of sustainable development. Moreover, green financing balances the innovation–energy–environment–climate nexus. Similarly, green finance amplifies the positive effects of innovation on using renewable energy. This study provides valuable insights into achieving zero carbon by producing renewable energy sources and modern green technology. Further research is possible by adding more dimensions of renewable energy sources. Full article

International trade has created more economic growth opportunities in the agriculture sector. The agricultural sector remains key to the South African economy, with a vibrant international market becoming available as the country’s agriculture exports grow. However, the impacts of human-caused global warming have intensified as a result of increased greenhouse gas emissions, notably carbon dioxide (CO₂), which negatively affects agricultural productivity and the economy. Considering the future energy resource demands for agricultural productivity due to the expected population growth and the emphasis on environmental remedial actions, the following question presents itself: what impact will a clean energy supply have on the agricultural economy and the environment, notwithstanding that agriculture, as a sector, also has a huge potential to contribute to renewable energy production? This study examines the effect of the nexus of South Africa’s renewable energy supply, CO₂ emissions and trade openness on agricultural economic growth from 1990 to 2021. The nexus provides crucial insights into policies targeted at promoting renewable energy in the agricultural sector by isolating key areas of priority. An autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test, fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) test, a dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) test and a canonical cointegrating regression (CCR) econometric analysis were used to estimate the nexus. The results showed that growth in the agricultural sector leads to deterioration in the environment, while international trade benefits the sector. The scale of renewable energy supply slowed down the agricultural economy. The study makes a new contribution in providing empirical evidence for the links between renewable energy supply and agricultural GDP, which can drive policy on renewable energy use in the agricultural sector in South Africa. The paper recommends intentional renewable energy production research and development (R&D) finance focusing on renewable energy human development planning and investments in vocational programmes in higher learning institutes, agricultural renewable energy policy and the creation of green incentive schemes for feedstock producers, especially in rural areas in the agricultural sector. Full article

This paper is founded on both the theoretical schemes of financialization, as a new regime of accumulation, and the shareholder value, the everyday finance, the structured finance, as well as the finance-led growth regime, whose special institutional forms concern the wage–labor nexus, the competition form, the monetary regime, the state–society relations, the insertion into the international regime, and the coherence and dynamic of the growth regime. It also aims to examine if the Greek social security system (the “system”) used financial logic in economic policy during the period of 2000q1–2021q3. It is econometrically approached through the short-run Granger causality tests but mainly the autoregressive distributed lag model in order to estimate the long-run relationships of the social contributions and benefits paid, with variables expressing the financialization either of the whole economy or particularly of one of the public sectors. So, these steady-state relationships proved statistically significant, and they are considered to be compatible with several mechanisms of the finance-led growth regime. Thus, the sustainability of the “system” should be insured by the policy makers in the economic progress and the creation of new jobs able to fund it. This article contributes to the literature by offering empirical evidence on the financialization and relevant compilation analysis. Full article

In this research, we examine how the quality of institutions promotes financial market development (FMD) in 21 emerging markets (classified by the Financial Times Stock Exchange Group). The moderating role of culture is also empirically tested. For this purpose, a balance panel dataset of 21 emerging markets from 1984 to 2020 is utilized from various secondary data sources. The study applies two-stages least square regression with the instrumental variable, and lag transformation to overcome the endogeneity problem in the nexus of institutions and finance, which is least focused on in prior literature. The empirical findings show that institutional quality and the national culture promote FMD in these economies. The main findings are consistent with law and finance, and financial socialization theories. We argue that academics, policymakers, and researchers should comprehend the critical role of institutional and cultural indicators in forming an effective financial system that may lead to sustainable economic development. This research contributes to the literature on emerging markets in this helpful paradigm. We conclude that quality institutions play a critical role in magnifying the FMD of emerging markets. It is crucial to comprehend the connection between FMD and institutions, as the growth dividend from financial development can be boosted by strengthening institutions and understanding the culture. Our results are robust to alternative measures of institutions and FMD and the correction of potential endogeneity. Full article

The nexus between local governments’ budgets and regional growth is a complex one, with organic interconnections, ideally offering better outcomes, both in the matter of (local) fiscal consolidation and the welfare of societies. In this study, we analyze the impact of local fiscal consolidation efforts (as reflected by the budget indicators regarding local revenues and expenditures for the countries involved) on regional development, using a sample of 21 EU Member States and a timescale between 2001 and 2019, based on specific data reported by Eurostat and the World Bank. By employing the Generalized Linear Model (GLM), the results show that some of the considered indicators have a statistically significant positive influence on the GDP per capita at the regional level, thus highlighting the important role of sound local public finances in achieving the objectives of regional development. Based on our findings, we recommended some improvements regarding the practice of local fiscal policy in order to enhance the role of fiscal consolidation in sustaining regional development within the subject countries. Full article

Boosting the externalities across the water, energy, food, and waste (WEFW) sectors is challenging, especially considering tightening constraints such as population growth, climate change, resource-intensive lifestyles, increased waste production, sanitary crises and many others. The nexus approach supports the transition to a more sustainable future because intersectoral trade-offs can be reduced and externalities exploited, making imperative for decision makers, entrepreneurs, and civil society to simultaneously engage, with respect to all the components of the nexus. This research addressed intersectoral synergies and trade-offs in the case of the WEFW nexus in Romania, judging from the perspectives of entrepreneurial activity and economic results. The objective of this research was to explore the nexus in-depth by statistically analyzing the financial and economic indicators reported by active enterprises at county-level, based on the Romanian Ministry of Public Finance data. Research results describe the effects of the policies implemented in the fields of WEFW sectors. At the same time, attention was paid to the quality of the entrepreneurial activity, analyzed from the perspective of economic performance. This paper fills a research gap regarding the WEFW nexus by resorting to an economic and entrepreneurial performance assessment in order to find sectoral pathways toward policy cohesion in Romania. Findings suggested the existence of major trade-offs among sectors, owing to the fact that each county has a different development degree. Full article

The influence of market sentiments on the bankruptcy risk propensity of firms has been extensively explored in the literature. However, less attention has been paid to whether the corporate life cycle plays any role in this nexus. The purpose of this research is to unveil how the corporate bankruptcy risk propensity responds to market sentiments, and whether this sentiments–risk relationship varies over different stages of the corporate life cycle. Using a sample of 301 Pakistani non-financial listed firms for 2005–2014, we employ two-step generalized method of moments (GMM) regression estimation to address the issue of endogeneity. Empirical evidence reveals that managers tend to escalate a firm’s bankruptcy risk during high market sentiments. Further analysis indicates that during the period of positive market sentiments, introduction stage firms prefer to assume the highest bankruptcy risk followed by decline and growth firms, while mature firms continue to be risk-averse. This research contributes to the corporate finance literature by suggesting that managerial risk-taking is influenced by market sentiments and corporate managers show a different attitude towards risk at different stages of the corporate life cycle. Therefore, to ensure enterprise sustainability, capital market regulators should have a robust risk management framework in place to discipline the excessive risk-taking by firm managers over different stages of the corporate life cycle. Moreover, investors and creditors shall take into consideration the respective life cycle stage of the firm to minimize the risk exposure of their investment portfolios. Our results are robust to alternate econometric specifications and alternate variable specifications. Full article