Search Results (116)

In sustainable development studies, a key question is how the abundance of natural resources influences long-run economic growth. However, there is no consensus on this issue. Some literature suggests a negative impact, while other studies find no effect at all, and other research indicates a positive impact. This study aims to examine the relationship between natural resource rents, renewable energy, and economic growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries over the period from 1990 to 2023. The study utilizes the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) to provide reliable findings across different quantiles. We also incorporate a series of control variables, including capital, labor force participation, non-renewable energy, and trade openness. The findings indicate that natural resources rent enhances economic growth in GCC countries, supporting the Rostow hypothesis. Although renewable energy has a positive impact on economic growth, it does not have an effect on natural resource rents. Additionally, capital, labor force participation, non-renewable energy, and trade openness play a critical role in raising economic growth in these countries. Based on the empirical results, this study provides several valuable recommendations for policymakers to enhance the management of natural resources in GCC countries. Full article

This study examines the effects of supply chain disruptions and ICT product exports on natural resource rents in European countries between 2004 and 2022. The findings show that strong supply chains increase natural resource rents, while ICT product exports support environmental sustainability and reduce natural resource rents. Patents reduce natural resource rents, while investments made by financial institutions in resource-intensive sectors increase natural resource rents. In addition, urban population growth was found to put pressure on natural resources, leading to a decrease in natural resource rents. Importantly, economic growth has no significant effect on natural resource rents in EU countries. Full article

Achieving zero carbon emissions is crucial for mitigating climate change and meeting global targets. This study examines the economic and financial drivers of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions using a panel dataset of 141 developed and developing countries from 1990 to 2020. Employing the generalised method of moments (GMM), the findings indicate that industrial and manufactural activities remain the dominant source of CO₂ emissions, particularly in developed economies, while agriculture is a major contributor to N₂O emissions, especially in developing countries. While the service sector reduces both emissions, the effect is more pronounced for CO₂ than for N₂O. Urbanisation, trade openness, and natural resource rents also positively correlate with emissions. However, financial development presents a dual effect, offering the potential for emissions reduction through green financing. These insights underscore the need for targeted policies, including stricter industrial regulations, sustainable agricultural practices, green urban planning, and financial strategies that support low-carbon transitions. Full article

In natural resource-dependent economies, global resource price volatility makes financial systems more vulnerable to economic shocks. The relationship between natural resource rent and bank stability lies in how fluctuations in resource revenues can affect financial institutions’ stability. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it explores the effect of natural resource rent (NRR) on bank stability (BS) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Second, it examines whether institutional quality (IQ) moderates the association between BS and NRR. To achieve these goals, we used a sample of 68 conventional banks located in the MENA region between 2005 and 2020 and performed the System Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM) as an econometric approach. The empirical findings show that NRR is negatively and significantly associated with BS, while IQ significantly enhances BS in the MENA region. Additionally, the outcomes support evidence that the MENA banks benefit from an interaction between IQ and NRR. This result was confirmed for both the Z-ROA and Z-ROE as measures of BS. The results of this paper could have several useful applications for policymakers and bankers. Policymakers should prioritize strengthening institutional frameworks to mitigate the adverse effects of resource dependence on financial stability. In addition, bankers are invited to focus on improving institutional quality by fostering an institutional environment, including compliance with anti-corruption standards and coordination with regulatory bodies to boost financial resilience. Full article

Mining has significantly shaped Eastern European economies, particularly during their transition from centrally planned to market-oriented systems. While abundant natural resources can lead to a “resource curse” that hinders economic growth, they also offer opportunities for sustainable development if managed effectively. This study investigates the dynamics of mineral resource rents in Eastern Europe, shaped by economic freedom, urbanization, educational achievement, and international trade, from 1990 to 2021. Using methods such as MMQR, AMG Robustness Analysis, CCEMG, fixed effects, cointegration, Granger causality, and unit root tests, the study provides a comprehensive analysis of these relationships. The findings reveal that educational achievement reduces reliance on mineral resource rents by fostering human capital and supporting economic diversification. Urbanization similarly decreases resource dependency by promoting innovation and technological advancement. Trade openness also shows a negative link with mineral rents, suggesting that global integration facilitates shifts toward more advanced, technology-driven sectors. Economic freedom presents mixed results, highlighting the need for strong governance to ensure sustainable and equitable outcomes. This study is novel in integrating these factors into a unified framework, specifically applied to Eastern Europe’s post-communist transition, a region often overlooked in global resource studies. The results contribute most directly to Sustainable Development Goal 4 on Quality Education by demonstrating how human capital development reduces resource dependence and promotes economic resilience, and to Sustainable Development Goal 8 on Decent Work and Economic Growth, by showing that trade openness and economic diversification can drive sustainable economic progress. Ultimately, the study offers actionable insights for balancing economic growth with environmental and social sustainability in transitional economies. Full article

The global economy faces a critical challenge: balancing economic survival through natural resource utilization with the imperative of long-term environmental sustainability. Green innovation presents a viable solution, yet its effectiveness hinges on establishing well-structured legislative frameworks. This study, covering the period 1996 to 2022, examines the moderating effect of green innovation on the relationship between natural resource rents and ecological footprint while also considering the roles of globalization, financial development, and energy transition in the ten most resource-abundant countries. Utilizing the augmented mean group (AMG) estimator, the findings indicate that natural resource rents significantly contribute to ecological footprint, reinforcing concerns about resource-driven environmental degradation. However, green innovation mitigates these adverse effects, promoting sustainable resource management in alignment with SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). Additionally, renewable energy and globalization positively influence environmental conditions, reinforcing the drive toward clean and affordable energy (SDG7), while economic growth, financial development, and non-renewable energy exacerbate environmental harm. Furthermore, foreign direct investment (FDI) increases ecological footprint, reinforcing the Pollution Haven Hypothesis for resource-rich economies. Rigorous robustness checks using CCEMG, FMOLS, and DOLS methodologies, along with country-specific analyses, affirm the empirical validity of these results. In light of these conclusions, the paper advocates for legislative reforms to enhance sustainability and optimize resource utilization, ensuring a balanced approach to economic development and environmental preservation. Full article

Starting with the debate on the “resource curse”, the main aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of natural resource rents on income/wealth inequality in the European Union (EU) during the period from 1990 to 2023. Excepting the Gini index, natural resources rents reduced other measures of income and wealth inequality, and the results indicate that growth has a masking mediating effect on the Gini index, but no mediation role of GDP was observed in the case of the top 1% income/wealth share. The income inequality based on the top 1% share significantly increased in Denmark after the discovery of oil and gas relative to the control group composed of Finland and Sweden. Other control variables are considered, and some policy recommendations are proposed to reduce income/wealth inequality. Full article

Reforestation is widely promoted as a nature-based solution for climate change, yet its unintended consequences, such as deforestation leakage, remain under-investigated. This study provides empirical evidence of reforestation-induced leakage in the Brazilian Amazon, using municipality-level panel data from 2000 to 2023 and spatial Durbin panel models to estimate both the magnitude and spatial reach of agricultural displacement. Despite the positive local effects of reforestation projects, we found a significant displacement of deforestation to the vicinity of municipalities. We estimated a statistically significant deforestation leakage effect of approximately 12% from the reforested area, due to the agricultural displacement of cattle ranching activities. Spatial spillovers are strongest within a 150 km radius and within two years after reforestation onset. Sensitivity tests using alternative spatial weight matrices, including distance decay and land rent-weighted specifications, confirm the robustness of these findings. Livestock intensification, proxied by cattle stocking rates, does not significantly mitigate displacement effects, challenging assumptions about land sparing benefits. These results suggest that current carbon market protocols (e.g., Verra, ART-TREES) may improve their leakage analysis to avoid under- or over-estimating net carbon benefits. Incorporating spatial econometric evidence into offset methodologies and reforestation planning can improve climate policy integrity and reduce unintended environmental trade-offs. Full article

Improving environmental quality is essential for achieving sustainable economic development when nations pursue growth. Although previous studies looked into different factors of sustainability, the precise effects of natural resource rents as well as renewable energy on CO₂ emissions are yet to be studied in depth. This dissertation attempts to fill the gap by looking at the relationship between economic growth, natural resource rents, renewable energy, and the level of financial development with the environmental quality in eleven regions of emerged and developing economies over the time period of 1990 to 2022. The findings from the Pedroni cointegration analysis reveal a long-run association among financial development, renewable energy, natural resource rents, economic growth, and carbon emissions. Further analysis using the method of moments quantile regression (MMQREG) indicates that renewable energy and natural resource rents significantly reduce CO₂ emissions, particularly at higher quantiles, enhancing environmental quality. Conversely, financial development exacerbates CO₂ emissions, negatively affecting environmental sustainability. Economic growth demonstrates a nonsignificant negative relationship with carbon emissions. The study highlights the critical contributions of renewable energy and natural resource rents to improving environmental quality, while emphasizing the adverse environmental effects of financial development. Policymakers are encouraged to prioritize investments in renewable energy and the effective management of natural resources to mitigate carbon emissions and achieve sustainability in these economies. Full article

This study analyzes the influence of natural resource rents, governance indicators, and their interactions on economic growth in twelve oil-producing countries in the MENA region from 2002 to 2021. Various versions of a panel ARDL model are estimated using PMG, MG, and DFE estimators. The results suggest that natural resource rents in MENA oil-producing countries positively affect long-term economic growth when accompanied by good governance. Government effectiveness and control of corruption also contribute positively to economic growth in the long run. Furthermore, financial development is found to enhance long-term economic growth. These findings highlight the potential of natural resources to drive economic growth when supported by strong institutions. To maximize natural resource rent benefits, MENA countries should improve governance indicators such as government effectiveness, control of corruption, and rule of law. This includes enhancing civil service competence, decision implementation, and managing political pressure. Key factors include revenue mobilization, infrastructure quality, policy consistency, and penalties for corruption. Ensuring equality under the law, transparent legal processes, an independent judiciary, and access to legal remedies are crucial for effective rule of law. Additionally, MENA countries should prioritize developing non-oil sectors like tourism, industry, technology, entertainment, transportation, and communication. Full article

The durable nature of supply chains in the Middle Eastern region is critical, given the region’s strategic role in global trade corridors, yet geopolitical conflicts, territorial disputes, and governance challenges persistently disrupt key routes like the Suez Canal, amplifying vulnerabilities. This study addresses the urgent need to predict and mitigate supply chain risks by evaluating machine learning (ML) models for forecasting economic complexity as a proxy for resilience across 18 Middle Eastern countries. Using a multidimensional secondary dataset, we compare gated recurrent unit (GRU), support vector regression (SVR), gradient boosting, and other ensemble models, assessing performance via MSE, MAE, RMSE, and R². The results demonstrate the GRU model’s superior accuracy (R² = 0.9813; MSE = 0.0011), with SHAP, sensitivity, and sensitivity analysis confirming its robustness in identifying resilience determinants. Analyses reveal infrastructure quality and natural resource rents as pivotal factors influencing the economic complexity index (ECI), while disruptions like trade embargoes or infrastructure failures significantly degrade resilience. Our findings underscore the importance of diversifying infrastructure investments and stabilizing governance frameworks to buffer against shocks. This research advances the application of deep learning in supply chain resilience analytics, offering actionable insights for policymakers and logistics planners to fortify regional trade corridors and mitigate global ripple effects. Full article

While achieving common prosperity necessitates a focus on the efficiency and equity of the primary income distribution, income inequality persists in China. As a critical tax incentive mechanism, China’s Accelerated Depreciation Policy (ADP) of fixed assets not only promotes important changes in corporate productivity and production methods but also significantly influences the primary income distribution within enterprises. However, current research offers a limited understanding of the importance of the ADP in the primary income distribution. Given that the core of the primary distribution lies in adjusting the labor income share, we regard 2014’s ADP as an exogenous “quasi-natural experiment”. After theoretically analyzing this policy’s effect on the labor income share of enterprises, our use of difference in differences (DID) validates our theoretical expectations with respect to China’s A-share listed companies during 2010–2022. The results show that the ADP can significantly increase enterprises’ labor income share; all hypotheses proved to be robust. The analysis of mechanisms shows that the ADP mainly affects the labor income share as it upgrades the corporate human capital structure as well as rent-sharing. Analyzing for heterogeneity, we find that positive effects due to the ADP affecting the labor income share are more prominent among private enterprises, medium and small-sized firms, companies with high financing constraints, capital-intensive industries, manufacturing enterprises, and those with a high level of skilled labor. The conclusions of this study contribute to uncovering the impacts of the ADP on income distribution, offering a clearer identification of particular mechanisms explaining the ADP’s effect on the labor income share. It holds significant theoretical value for understanding the micro-mechanisms of economic impacts generated by relevant policies. Furthermore, it provides policy insights in achieving common prosperity. Full article

This study focuses on the effect of financial development, natural resource rent, human development, and technological innovation on the ecological and carbon footprints of the G-10 countries between 1990 and 2022. This study also considers the impact of globalization, trade openness, urbanization, and renewable energy on environmental degradation. The study uses Kao and Westerlund DH cointegration tests, FMOLS and DOLS estimators, and panel Fisher and Hatemi-J asymmetric causality tests to provide reliable results. Long-run estimates confirm an inverted U-shaped linkage between financial development and ecological and carbon footprints. Natural resource rent and technological innovation increase ecological and carbon footprints, while human development decreases them. Furthermore, globalization, trade openness, and renewable energy contribute to environmental quality, while urbanization increases environmental degradation. The Fisher test findings reveal that financial development, natural resource rent, human development, and technological innovation have a causal link with the ecological and carbon footprint. The results of the Hatemi-J test show that the negative shocks observed in the ecological and carbon footprint are affected by both negative and positive shocks in financial development, natural resource rent, and technological innovation. Moreover, positive and negative shocks in human development are the main drivers of negative shocks in the carbon footprint, while positive shocks in human development lead to negative shocks in the ecological footprint. Full article

Algeria’s resource-dependent economy faces significant challenges in balancing hydrocarbon reliance with environmental sustainability, yet existing research largely overlooks the comprehensive load capacity factor (LCF) metric in favor of traditional emissions analyses. This study examines the relationships between the LCF and key economic–environmental factors in Algeria from 1980 to 2023, including total natural resource rents, energy transition, technological innovation, GDP, primary energy consumption, and urbanization. Using ARDL and DARDL econometric approaches complemented by a kernel-based regularized least squares analysis, the research captures both linear and nonlinear relationships while accounting for asymmetric dynamics in short- and long-term perspectives. The findings reveal that natural resource rents, technological innovation, and urbanization significantly impair Algeria’s LCF, while primary energy consumption shows a minimal positive impact. The energy transition initiatives demonstrate mixed effects, highlighting the complexities of green energy implementation in resource-dependent economies. These results suggest that Algeria’s sustainable development requires targeted policies focusing on resource management efficiency, environmentally conscious urban planning, and green technology adoption, providing valuable insights for other resource-rich nations pursuing similar sustainability transitions. Full article

Sustainable development is significantly influenced by various factors, including natural resource rents (NARR), economic complexity (ECCP), globalization (GLBL), economic growth (ENG), renewable energy consumption (RNEC), and institutional quality (INTQ). This study examines the relationships between these factors and sustainable development in the “Next 11” (N-11) countries, from 1996 to 2021. The results of the cross-sectional dependence and co-integration tests reveal significant long-term relationships between these factors. The outcomes of pooled mean group autoregressive distributed lag (PMG-ARDL) analyses show that ECCP, ENG, RNEC, GLBL, INTQ and NARR significantly improve the sustainable development of the N-11 countries in the long run. Furthermore, the results show that ENG, INTQ, and NARR deteriorate, while ECCP, RNEC, and GLBL improve the sustainable development of the N-11 countries in the short run. To further analyze the complex relationships in the dataset, an artificial neural network (ANN) was applied. The results show a linear prediction with an overall R value of 0.987, indicating a robust correlation between the variables. This study provides valuable policy implications for the N-11, highlighting opportunities to enhance long-term ecological sustainability. The findings suggest that policymakers can promote sustainable development by leveraging economic complexity, renewable energy consumption, and institutional quality, while minimizing the negative impacts of globalization and ecological footprints. Full article