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Sustainable Resource Utilization in Global Economics Background: Outlook and Challenges

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 27290

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Muhammad Asif Khan

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Guest Editor

1. Department of Commerce, Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Kotli, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, 11100, Pakistan
2. Director Students Financial Aid, University of Kotli, 11100 Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan
Interests: financial economics; corporate and behavrioral finance; green finance; international assets pricing; institutional and development economics

Prof. Dr. Gyuricza Csaba

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Guest Editor

Institute of Crop Production, Szent Istvan University, 2100 Gödöllő, Hungary
Interests: soil cultivation and use; green manure management; energy crops; agroforestry; minimum tillage; sustainable crop management; climate change adaption
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Judit Oláh

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Guest Editor

Hungarian National Bank—Research Center, John von Neumann University, 6000 Kecskemét, Hungary
Interests: logistics management; food; bioenergy; food chain; Industrie 4.0
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the decades, the role of natural resources in sustainable economic growth and development has gained considerable attention among research scholars, regulators, and other stakeholders, as is reflected in the view that “Clear waters and green mountains are as good as mountains of gold and silver.”

Abdulahi et al. (2019) argue that economies specializing in natural resource extraction and export experience comparatively low rates of economic growth, even though, intuitively, resource abundance increases wealth and purchasing power. The dichotomous findings in the resource and sustainable economic development literature have created the natural resource curse paradox—a paradox in which countries with an abundance of natural resources experience stagnant or even negative economic growth (Abdulahi et al., 2019; Badeeb et al., 2017).

Abdulahi et al. (2019) attribute this paradox to the following three reasons. First, natural resource extraction processes consume economic resources that could otherwise be allocated to industries that are thought to promote long-term economic growth, such as manufacturing or services. Second, global prices for natural resources are volatile and thus destabilize exporting economies. Third, the concentrated nature of many natural resource supplies facilitates rent capture by non-inclusive governments, whose institutions support the retention of political power rather than the promotion of economic growth.

Thus, it becomes imperative to find out the avenues for Sustainable Resource Utilizaion to determine the optimum possible benefits, considering the specific economics background of the respective region/economy/group.

The goal of this Special Issue may be accomplished by preferably empirical contributions, devoted to extending resource economics and sustainable development literature on various paradigms of the effective and efficient utilization of natural resources. With this in mind, we would be delighted to receive scholarly contributions to “Sustainable Resource Utilizaion in Global Economics Background: Outlook and Challenges”. We invite authors to come up with their own empirical work concerning the effective and efficient resource utilization of natural resources. The scope of this Special Issue encompasses (but is not limited to):

Implementing novel statistical and econometrical models in developing new tools and solutions to the forecasting issues associated with classical modelling;
Marginal trade-off (cost–benefit) analysis of resources for sustainable development;
Stochastic analysis gauging the efficiency of natural resources for sustainable development;
Application of dynamically simulated ARDL to examine the effect of positive and negative shocks in a variable of interest (for example, sustainable economic development, natural resources, etc.)

Dr. Muhammad Asif Khan
Prof. Dr. Gyuricza Csaba
Dr. Judit Oláh
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

sustainable utilization of resources
sustainable development
natural resource rent/revenue
robust time series estimation
dynamic modelling
simulation
panel threshold settings

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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25 pages, 1265 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Misunderstanding of China’s Investment, and a Clarification: “Faustian Bargain” or “Good Bargain”? On the OFDI Data of Central and Eastern Europe

by Cheche Duan, Yicheng Zhou, Dehong Shen, Shengqiao Lin, Wei Gong, József Popp and Judit Oláh

Sustainability 2021, 13(18), 10281; https://doi.org/10.3390/su131810281 - 14 Sep 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2769

Abstract

The close development of the economic relations between China and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) since 2012 has triggered the European Union’s criticism of China’s foreign policy towards Eastern European countries. The European Union believes that China’s investment growth has led to a governance crisis in CEE countries. Based on the global governance indicators of the World Bank and the outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) data of the Ministry of Commerce of China, this paper conducts a test using the panel data model and the regression discontinuity method. An imbalanced panel dataset is adopted, covering 16 CEE countries from 2000 to 2018. The empirical research results indicate that, representing a small proportion of the investment inflows to CEE countries, China is not yet able to exert a domination effect on the region, and China’s economic power is far less than the European Union’s regulatory influence. Furthermore, China’s share of the OFDI in CEE has a U-shaped effect on the regulatory quality of host countries, and the two have a mutually causal relationship. Specifically, the impact on the host country’s regulatory quality is first manifested in the Shanghai effect, and when China’s share reaches a certain level, it is manifested in the California effect. The U-shaped effect is associated with the strategic factors of CEE countries and China’s positive contribution to good global governance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Resource Utilization in Global Economics Background: Outlook and Challenges)

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21 pages, 2323 KiB

Open AccessArticle

by Faheem Ur Rehman, Ejaz Ahmad, Muhammad Asif Khan, József Popp and Judit Oláh

Sustainability 2021, 13(10), 5408; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105408 - 12 May 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2014

Abstract

Whether better infrastructure influences Chinese export sophistication (ES) and diversification (ED) is an important question, which surprisingly remains unaddressed. The current study contributes to the ES and ED literature by capturing the symmetric and asymmetric effect of infrastructure on ES and ED. We employ a robust dynamically simulated autoregressive distributed lag (DYS-ARDL) dynamic method, which is an extended version of NARDL and ARDL. The major aim of this new DYS-ARDL dynamic approach was to abolish the issue in orthodox ARDL model approach while examining the long-run and short-run. The new dynamic DYS-ARDL model is accomplished in estimating, stimulating, and robotically plotting predictions of counterfactual alterations in one explanatory variable and its impact on the dependent variable while holding the remaining regressors constant. Furthermore, this new method of DYS-ARDL model can estimate, stimulate, and plot to forecast graphs of positive and negative variations in the variables robotically as well as their short and long-run associations. Interestingly, the results of this study witness the presence of long-run relationship between infrastructure and ES and ED in China. The present study shows that better infrastructure will be more beneficial for Chinese ED and ES. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Resource Utilization in Global Economics Background: Outlook and Challenges)

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23 pages, 1815 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Dynamic Effect of Oil Resources on Environmental Quality: Testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis for Selected African Countries

by Mohamed Ouédraogo, Daiyan Peng, Xi Chen, Shujahat Haider Hashmi and Mamoudou Ibrahima Sall

Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 3649; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073649 - 25 Mar 2021

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2636

Abstract

This paper examines the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) theory, augmenting the role of oil resources and energy consumption in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions using the annual data of 11 African oil-producing countries from 1980 to 2014. We apply advanced panel cointegration and panel autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) techniques coupled with Granger non-causality analysis to account for cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity. The results of the augmented mean group (AMG) reveal that oil resources abundance degrades the environmental quality in Angola while abating CO₂ emissions in Algeria, Gabon, Morocco, and Nigeria. Contrarily, energy consumption escalates pollution in the Congo Democratic Republic (COD), Côte d’Ivoire (CIV), Gabon, Morocco, and Tunisia. Our findings support the EKC hypothesis only in Cameroon, CIV, and Nigeria while exhibiting a U-shaped curve in Algeria and Morocco. Causality analysis unveils that oil resources Granger cause energy consumption, suggesting the balance between renewable and non-renewable energy sources. The current study has important policy implications for promoting green technology, economic diversification, service sector, and green investments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Resource Utilization in Global Economics Background: Outlook and Challenges)

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16 pages, 362 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Role of Energy Consumption, Economic Growth and Globalization in Environmental Degradation: Empirical Evidence from the BRICS Region

by Habib Ur Rahman, Umer Zaman and Jarosław Górecki

Sustainability 2021, 13(4), 1924; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041924 - 10 Feb 2021

Cited by 36 | Viewed by 3410

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of energy consumption, globalization, and economic growth on the CO₂ emission of the BRICS (Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa) region. Using annual data from 1989 to 2019, this research applies a panel cointegration approach. In this framework, we use Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) methods to examine the long-run relationship between the selected variables. This empirical investigation reveals that there is a long-run association between these variables, and energy consumption positively and significantly affects the carbon emission in these countries. These results indicate that energy consumption is the primary source of environmental degradation in the region. In contrast, the globalization (KOF Index of Globalization) negatively and significantly affects the carbon emission, implying the improvement of environmental quality. Further, this research could not find the presence of environmental Kuznets curve in the region. Policy guidelines are suggested in the line of findings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Resource Utilization in Global Economics Background: Outlook and Challenges)

18 pages, 1996 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Use of Energy Resources, Regulatory Quality, and Foreign Direct Investment in Controlling GHGs Emissions among Selected Asian Economies

by Hafiz Syed Mohsin Abbas, Xiaodong Xu, Chunxia Sun, Atta Ullah, Ghulam Nabi, Samreen Gillani and Muhammad Ahsan Ali Raza

Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1123; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031123 - 21 Jan 2021

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 2903

Abstract

“United in Science” is the recent slogan of the United Nations climate summit in 2020. A collective effort of institutional governance, energy resources utilization, foreign inclusion, and regional collaboration is required for the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) of achieving a clean environment. In reaching this objective, this study investigates the sustainably of Regulatory Quality (RQ), Energy Consumption per capita (ECpc), Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and their interaction in reducing the Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) Emissions. This study considered 27 Asian economies, covering the more extensively undertaken regional investigation, in the time period from 2001 to 2018. The results of the two-step system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) show that RQ has a strong positive significant impact on GHGs emissions reduction. It further indicates that FDI inflows support the institutions to enhance their institutional capacities. Simultaneously, ECpc has negative impacts on GHGs emissions. Furthermore, RQ interaction with ECpc and FDI also have a strong significant positive impact on GHGs emissions reduction in Asia. The study concludes that the Asia region has been implementing aggressive and prudent policies towards environmental up-gradation to achieve sustainability. However, FDI inflows should be more allocated to environmental quality and energy efficacy to clean the climate and promote regional collaboration. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Resource Utilization in Global Economics Background: Outlook and Challenges)

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25 pages, 1219 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Sustainable Utilization of Financial and Institutional Resources in Reducing Income Inequality and Poverty

by Atta Ullah, Zhao Kui, Saif Ullah, Chen Pinglu and Saba Khan

Sustainability 2021, 13(3), 1038; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031038 - 20 Jan 2021

Cited by 44 | Viewed by 5101

Abstract

This study aims to determine the role of globalization, electronic government, financial development, concerning the moderation of institutional quality in reducing income inequality and poverty in One Belt One Road countries. The electronic government and regional integration of the economies of the One Belt One Road countries has increased globalization and can play a vital role in reducing income inequality and poverty. However, this globalization and digital transformation of government systems can only be beneficial in the presence of good institutional quality. The sample includes 64 One Belt One Road countries from 2003 to 2018. We employed a two-step system generalized method of moment (Sys-GMM) and a robustness check through Driscoll–Kraay standard errors regression. Our findings show that globalization, economic growth, e-government development, government expenditure, and inflation have a statistically significant and negative impact on income inequality and are key to eradicating income inequality and poverty. On the other hand, financial development, gross capital formation, and population size positively influence income inequality, which causes an increase in poverty and income inequality as financial development and population levels increase. Moderating variable institutional quality also positively impacts income inequality, which means that institutional quality in Belt and Road Countries is weak, as they are mostly developing countries that need to improve their systems. Moreover, the marginal effect also revealed that institutional quality has a corrective effect on the factors’ relationship with income inequality. Our findings endorse and conclude that globalization and e-government development improve economic growth and eradicate poverty and income inequality by boosting digitalization, investments, job creation, and wage increases for semi-skilled and unskilled human capital in Belt and Road countries. The sustainable utilization of financial and institutional resources plays a vital role in reducing income inequality and poverty in Belt and Road countries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Resource Utilization in Global Economics Background: Outlook and Challenges)

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Review

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36 pages, 14013 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceReview

An Overview of Bioplastic Research on Its Relation to National Policies

by Ricard Garrido, Luisa F. Cabeza and Victor Falguera

Sustainability 2021, 13(14), 7848; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13147848 - 14 Jul 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 6833

Abstract

There is an increasing concern about fossil energy and products derived from it. The plastic industry depends on oil, and produced plastics cannot degrade naturally. An alternative to plastics from oil is the use of bioplastics, which can be degradable. The bibliometric study of the publications related to bioplastics carried out in this paper shows that research on this topic is growing both in developed (USA, European Union, and Canada) and in developing countries (China, India, Thailand, and Malaysia), mostly following the implementation of bioeconomy standards and labels by their governments. The main authors and the collaborations they have worldwide are also presented here. The research carried out in this paper is not only devoted to technological aspects but also to economic aspects and inhabitant ratios. Trends in publications, by country and authors, are analyzed. Finally, this paper also studies the countries governmental policies and how they impact the bioplastic field. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Resource Utilization in Global Economics Background: Outlook and Challenges)

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