Search Results (970)

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries consistently rank among the highest per capita CO₂ emitters globally, yet rigorous empirical analysis of the structural drivers of these emissions in the post-Paris Agreement era remains scarce. This study investigates the determinants of CO₂ emissions per capita across six GCC economies—Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—over the period 2015–2022, using pooled ordinary least squares (OLSs) and country fixed effects (FEs) panel regression models with country-clustered standard errors. The focal explanatory variable is energy use per capita, complemented by GDP per capita, trade openness, urbanization, foreign direct investment (FDI), and industry value added as controls. A quadratic income term explicitly tests the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. Results consistently show that energy use is the dominant driver of emissions. The EKC hypothesis is supported in the FE framework. The implied turning point of approximately USD 85,500 per capita (constant 2015 USD) is already exceeded by Qatar (panel mean: USD 114,835) and approached by the UAE (USD 71,434), while Bahrain (USD 55,681), Kuwait (USD 51,531), Saudi Arabia (USD 61,232), and Oman (USD 38,591) remain on the EKC’s rising slope, consistent with their continued emissions’ growth trajectories. Urbanization exerts a significant positive within-country effect on emissions. Trade openness reduces emissions in cross-sectional specifications, while FDI is systematically insignificant. These findings support energy efficiency reforms, renewable energy expansion, and low-carbon urban planning as the most effective policy levers for GCC decarbonization. Full article

The growing incorporation of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into global financial systems has significantly influenced investment decision-making. Previous studies have mainly concentrated on ESG performance and their associated implications for businesses and have failed to examine the role of ESG risks in shaping barriers to cross-border investment. In this regard, this paper attempts to analyze the effects of ESG risks on foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows based on an unbalanced panel dataset for up to 250 countries spanning the years 2000 to 2024, coupled with cross-sectional data for 2020. This study uses a two-dimensional approach, whereby structural ESG risks are evaluated using panel FMOLS regression, while ESG risk exposures are assessed using cross-sectional models. This research also considers moderating factors such as economic development, industrial composition, and innovation capabilities. Based on the use of the national-level ESG risk, it is evident that ESG risks considerably reduce inward foreign direct investment. Full article

The finance–environment nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa remains complex, particularly in nations where institutional quality and fiscal policies are in an early stage. To address this, the study evaluates the impact of financial development on environmental sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa, emphasising the moderating roles of environmental taxes and regulatory quality. Using a balanced panel methodology across 11 SSA nations from 2006 to 2023, the study employs a multi-estimation model (fixed effects (FE), Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL)) to capture both short- and long-run relationships. From the analysis, the FE and FMOLS estimates indicate that financial development significantly increases ecological footprints, while foreign direct investment and government expenditure are associated with lower environmental footprints. However, the ARDL estimates reveal that environmental taxes and regulatory quality significantly reduce the ecological footprint, motivating a policy shift. Most importantly, the moderation estimation reveals that environmental taxes condition the finance–environment nexus in SSA. This depicts that while financial development worsens environmental outcomes, its adverse effects are nullified and reversed under a stronger environmental tax framework. These findings are relevant to the Environmental Kuznets Curve theory and draw insights from the institutional and financial intermediation theory. The study provides evidence that financial development, when integrated with effective environmental taxation and institutional quality, promotes environmental sustainability in SSA. Policymakers are therefore urged to strengthen environmental tax frameworks, integrate green financial intermediation and intensify regulatory institutions to achieve a sustainable finance–environment model and support SDG 13 in SSA. Full article

This study examines the long- and short-run determinants of green employment in Saudi Arabia over the period 1990–2024 using an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing framework within an error-correction model. Six macroeconomic and structural variables are analyzed: renewable energy capacity, GDP growth, domestic credit, urbanization, foreign direct investment, and the Vision 2030 policy regime shift. Supplementary analyses test the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis and map causal relationships using pairwise Granger causality tests. The bounds test indicates long-run cointegration among the variables (F = 8.45, exceeding the 5% I(1) critical bound of 3.61). The model explains 89% of the variation in log green employment (R² = 0.89) and passes standard diagnostic tests for serial correlation, heteroskedasticity, normality, and parameter stability. Three correlates of long-run green employment are identified. The post-2016 dummy used to capture the Vision 2030 regime shift is associated with the largest coefficient in the long-run equation (θ = 1.75, p = 0.008), although this estimate should be interpreted with caution because the dummy absorbs all post-2016 changes, including policy effects, the rapid expansion of renewable capacity, broader institutional reforms, and possibly changes in measurement practices. Renewable energy capacity is the primary continuously measurable driver (θ = 0.145, p = 0.018), with Toda–Yamamoto modified Wald tests indicating a bidirectional predictive relationship between investment and employment. Urbanization exerts a significant positive long-run effect (θ = 0.098, p = 0.001). The error correction term (δ = −0.520, p < 0.001) implies equilibrium reversion with a half-life of approximately one year. The EKC hypothesis is not supported in the Saudi context, suggesting that active decarbonization policy—rather than income-driven structural change alone—is needed for environmental improvement. The findings carry implications for Vision 2030 implementation and for other resource-dependent economies undertaking structural green transitions. Full article

This paper examines how remittances-to-GDP are conditionally associated with GDP growth upswings and downturns in four lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) in mainland Southeast Asia—Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam (CLMV)—over 2000–2021, conditional on other external inflows including foreign direct investment (FDI), official development assistance (ODA), and trade openness. Employing a nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (N-ARDL) model with a Dynamic Fixed Effects (DFE) estimator, this study estimates short- and long-run regime-differentiated associations between GDP growth regimes and remittances to GDP, controlling for foreign direct investment (FDI), official development assistance (ODA), and trade openness. GDP growth is decomposed into above- and below-median regimes, allowing the model to examine whether remittance dynamics differ across growth upswings and downturns. Panel estimates are complemented with dynamic multipliers that trace conditional adjustment paths over different horizons. The results reveal a high-growth-driven regime pattern rather than formal statistical evidence of unequal high- and low-growth coefficients. In the long run, above-median growth significantly reduces remittances to GDP (${\widehat{\theta }}_1=-0.130$, very strong evidence), consistent with the household insurance motive; below-median growth has no significant long-run association (${\widehat{\theta }}_2=-0.127$, no evidence). In the short run, above-median growth is positively associated with remittances (${\widehat{\tilde{\beta }}}_1^{+}=0.033$, very strong evidence), while below-median growth again shows no significant short-run response (${\widehat{\tilde{\beta }}}_1^{-}=0.051$, no evidence). Formal Wald tests do not reject equality between the high- and low-growth coefficients in either horizon; therefore, the findings should be interpreted as a regime-differentiated significance pattern within a nonlinear specification, not as formal proof of coefficient asymmetry. Taken together, these responses are consistent with a one-sided counter-cyclical interpretation of remittances: remittances to GDP decline when domestic growth is above the median, while no significant adjustment is observed during below-median growth episodes. The pattern documented here is therefore driven by the high-growth regime and should not be read as evidence of an active counter-cyclical surge during downturns. Trade openness and ODA exhibit significant positive short-run co-movement with remittances, whereas FDI shows a strong positive long-run association with remittances to GDP. The novelty of this study lies in providing new panel evidence on regime-differentiated remittance–growth associations for CLMV within a nonlinear N-ARDL and dynamic multiplier framework, while transparently reporting that formal Wald tests do not reject equality between high- and low-growth coefficients. Policy implications center on facilitating reliable remittance channels—reducing transfer costs and expanding financial inclusion—without assuming that remittance inflows automatically rise during downturns. Full article

This study investigates the short-term and long-term impacts of gross domestic product (GDP), inflation, foreign capital flows, trade balance and interest rate on stock market performance in Saudi Arabia for the period 1990–2023. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach and error correction model (ECM) are employed to empirically examine the short-run and long-run relationships. The ARDL-ECM technique is effective for analyzing cointegration and assessing adjustment processes. Additionally, impulse response function (IRF) analysis based on the vector autoregression (VAR) model, estimated using these macroeconomic indicators, is applied in this paper. This study provides novel insights and addresses emerging gaps in the literature concerning Saudi Arabia as a developing economy. The long-term relationship in the bounds test results confirms its existence. In the long run, inflation and interest rate exert a statistically significant negative effect on stock market performance, while the trade balance has a significant positive impact. GDP and foreign capital inflows do not exhibit statistically significant long-run effects. Short-run dynamics indicate persistence in stock market performance along with significant effects from inflation and interest rate changes, while GDP and foreign capital inflows remain statistically insignificant in the long-run scenario. Forecast error variance decomposition (FEVD) results show that approximately 68.5% of the variation in market performance is explained by its own shocks, followed by foreign capital flows (16.3%) and inflation (8.4%). While foreign capital flow does not exhibit statistical significance in the ARDL long-run estimates, its contribution in variance decomposition highlights its role as an important source of external shocks. These findings are relevant to various stakeholders, including investors and policymakers. Additionally, policy emphasis should be placed on controlling inflation and maintaining stable interest rates while improving trade balance conditions. Although foreign capital flow does not show a direct long-run effect, its role in influencing market variability suggests the need for a stable and well-regulated investment environment. Full article

As climate conditions become increasingly extreme, greater emphasis should be placed on environmental considerations in outward investment to achieve sustainable green development for Chinese enterprises. Therefore, based on panel data of Chinese listed enterprises from 2008 to 2023, this study examines the impact of Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) and climate policy uncertainty (CPU) on corporate green total factor productivity (GTFP). The findings indicate that OFDI significantly enhances GTFP, but CPU weakens this positive effect. Mechanism analysis reveals that OFDI improves corporate GTFP through promoting green management innovation, deepening digital transformation, and increasing green investment, while CPU exerts negative effects by undermining these mechanisms. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the effect of OFDI is more pronounced for enterprises in eastern regions, non-heavy-pollution enterprises, and low-carbon-intensity enterprises. Furthermore, spillover effect analysis demonstrates that OFDI’s impact on corporate GTFP exhibits significant spatial boundary characteristics and time-varying evolutionary patterns. Finally, external incentives (government environmental subsidies) and internal drivers (climate risk) can hedge against the negative effects of the interaction between CPU and OFDI. Full article

This study investigates the determinants of economic growth in the Next-11 economies over the period 1996–2024, with particular emphasis on the roles of structural, institutional, and human capital factors. Using a comprehensive panel dataset for eleven emerging economies, the analysis employs three robust estimation techniques—Driscoll–Kraay Standard Errors (DKSEs), Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLSs), and Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSEs)- to address common econometric issues such as heteroskedasticity, serial correlation, and cross-sectional dependence. The empirical results reveal that industrial output, energy consumption, human capital, institutional quality, and foreign direct investment significantly contribute to economic growth. Among these factors, industrial output and energy consumption exhibit particularly strong and consistent positive effects across all estimation methods, highlighting the importance of structural transformation and energy availability in supporting economic expansion. In contrast, trade openness shows a negative and statistically significant relationship with economic growth in most model specifications, suggesting that structural constraints, import dependence, and limited domestic productive capacity may restrict the growth benefits of external integration in these economies. The study also explores the conditional effects of foreign direct investment through interaction terms with human capital and institutional quality. The findings indicate that the growth-enhancing impact of foreign investment depends significantly on domestic absorptive capacity, particularly the availability of skilled labor and effective governance structures. These results emphasize the importance of complementary policies aimed at strengthening education systems, improving institutional quality, and enhancing regulatory effectiveness. From a policy perspective, the findings suggest that the Next-11 economies should prioritize industrial development, energy infrastructure expansion, human capital investment, and institutional reforms to maximize the benefits of globalization and foreign investment. Overall, the study contributes to the literature by providing robust empirical evidence on the interconnected roles of structural, institutional, and human capital factors in shaping economic growth in emerging economies. Full article

As a major source of investment in Africa, the rapid growth of China’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Africa has exerted a profound influence on regional development and food security. Based on multinational panel data of African countries from 2006 to 2024, this paper systematically investigates the impact, transmission mechanisms, and heterogeneous characteristics of China’s FDI on food security in Africa. The empirical results show that China’s FDI in Africa has a significant positive effect on food security. Mechanism analysis indicates that China’s FDI improves food security indirectly, mainly through upgrading infrastructure and promoting agricultural technology spillovers. Moderating effect analysis reveals that a sound governance environment and strong absorptive capacity amplify its positive impact, whereas a less diversified industrial structure (a low share of secondary industry) weakens its effectiveness. This paper provides policy implications for optimizing the layout of China’s investment in Africa and promoting the sustainable development of Africa’s food system. Full article

This study examines the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) in provincial income growth and convergence in Vietnam within a dynamic panel framework. Using a balanced dataset of 59 provinces over the period 2002–2022, the analysis employs the two-step System Generalized Method of Moments (System GMM) estimator to account for income persistence, endogeneity, and unobserved heterogeneity. The empirical model incorporates interaction terms to explore whether the growth effects of FDI vary with provincial development conditions and labor-market characteristics. The results reveal a high degree of persistence in provincial income dynamics, indicating that regional disparities evolve gradually over time. In a homogeneous specification, FDI does not exhibit a statistically significant average impact on income growth. However, once regional heterogeneity is explicitly incorporated, foreign investment becomes significantly associated with income dynamics. The negative interaction between FDI and initial income suggests that the marginal growth effect of FDI is stronger in poorer provinces, implying that foreign investment is associated with faster convergence through reduced income persistence. At the same time, the interaction between FDI and educated labor supply highlights the importance of local absorptive capacity and labor-market conditions in shaping the spatial realization of FDI benefits. Overall, the findings suggest that FDI is associated with differences in the dynamics of income adjustment across provinces, with potential implications for the speed of convergence. Its developmental impact appears to depend less on the scale of inflows than on the structural conditions that allow foreign investment to generate locally embedded productivity gains. Full article

This study examines how external regulatory conditions and internal organizational capabilities shape corporate tax compliance among foreign investment enterprises (FIEs) in Azerbaijan. It develops an integrated framework that brings together enforcement-based factors, tax planning capacity, and institutional and governance quality. Using survey data from 266 foreign-owned firms, the study applies structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyse direct, mediating, and moderating relationships. The results show that stronger enforcement is associated with higher levels of compliance and encourages firms to develop tax planning capabilities. In turn, these capabilities contribute positively to compliance behaviour. The findings also indicate that tax planning capacity partially mediates the relationship between enforcement and compliance. In addition, institutional and governance quality moderates the link between enforcement and tax planning capacity, with the effect varying across institutional environments. Overall, the results suggest that corporate tax compliance is influenced not only by external regulatory pressure but also by firms’ internal capabilities and the broader institutional context. The study provides useful insights for policymakers seeking to improve compliance through coordinated regulatory and institutional reforms. Full article

Rapid expansion in urbanisation, along with the rising demand for energy consumption, has deepened environmental apprehensions among developing economies and intensified their concerns about long-run environmental sustainability. This article examines how urban expansion and rising energy consumption impact environmental sustainability, and whether environmental taxes moderate this relationship, by using a panel of 110 developing countries over the period of 2010 to 2024. To capture both static and dynamic relationships among the variables, we have applied complementary econometric methodologies that allow for cross-country heterogeneity and persistence in emissions. The estimated outcomes show that urban expansion and energy consumption are significantly increasing gas emissions, and this outcome is consistent with the idea that environmental costs of urban-led growth and energy-intensive development. But as we have added environmental taxes as a moderating policy instrument, the positive impact of energy consumption and urbanisation on emissions becomes negative in most specifications. The significant impact of both interaction terms, i.e., environmental taxes and urbanisation, and environmental taxes and energy consumption, across different estimation strategies, suggests that environmental taxation weakens emissions and encourages structural change with rising energy use. Renewable energy consumption and foreign direct investment have significant influences on emissions, emphasising the role of energy structure and investment composition in shaping environmental outcomes, whereas the income effect varies across models. The outcomes of dynamic models also confirm emissions persistence, but over time, environmental taxes reduce the degree of emissions persistence. The estimated outcomes imply that environmental taxes can support a decoupling of urbanisation and energy-driven growth from environmental degradation. Thus, developing countries should balance urban development, energy demand, and environmental sustainability through credible market-based regulations. Full article

This study examines the relationship between manufacturing-specific foreign direct investment (FDI) and manufacturing output in ASEAN-6 countries over the period 2012–2022. While existing empirical studies largely rely on aggregate FDI measures, such evidence may obscure sector-specific mechanisms through which foreign investment affects production capacity and industrial performance. Focusing on manufacturing-oriented FDI allows for a more direct assessment of how sector-targeted investment is associated with industrial resilience and value-added stability, which represent the economic dimension of sustainability considered in this study. Sustained industrial output performance is proxied by manufacturing value added (GDPm) and interpreted as the manufacturing sector’s ability to maintain and expand value added over time amid macroeconomic volatility and external shocks. Using a balanced panel dataset of six ASEAN economies (ASEAN-6) with 66 country-year observations and a fixed-effects specification selected through standard model-selection tests, the results indicate that manufacturing-specific FDI is positively and statistically significantly associated with manufacturing output at the panel-average level. Manufacturing contribution to GDP also exhibits a strong positive association, while exchange rate movements are negatively associated with manufacturing output. Inflation is positively associated with output during the study period and is interpreted as a context-specific co-movement rather than a normative implication for long-run sustainability. To provide additional insight into shock-period dynamics, the analysis compares pre-COVID (2012–2019) and COVID/post-COVID (2020–2022) sub-period estimates. The positive association between manufacturing-oriented FDI and output is more pronounced before the pandemic. It weakens during the pandemic and early recovery years, consistent with supply-chain disruptions and temporarily reduced absorption capacity. The findings highlight the importance of sector-specific FDI, industrial structure, and macroeconomic stability in supporting manufacturing resilience in ASEAN-6 economies. Full article

Discourse on the issue of fuel subsidy removal has become a pressing issue amongst concerned stakeholders and scholars with divergent views on the subject. This present study therefore explores the contributing role of the fuel subsidy removal on sustainable growth in Nigeria spanning 2010–2022. This was achieved by investigating the impact of the fuel subsidy removal on sustainable growth. Different econometric strategies, including the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL), along with fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) techniques, were employed and further validated the robustness of the outcomes. The results revealed that the removal of the subsidy would have a long-term positive impact on the Nigerian economy. This was substantiated by the estimated coefficients of fuel subsidy as a proxy of subsidy removal, energy consumption and fuel export, which consolidate these discoveries. These findings were further consolidated by the coefficients of fuel imports, fuel price, exchange rates and inflation, which are negatively and significantly related to economic growth but positively significant for poverty, except for exchange rate, which was insignificant. The empirical outcomes indicate that taking away fuel subsidies in Nigeria reduces the excessive fiscal spending and borrowing needed to support oil importation in the economy, which results in increased foreign reserves and enhances national infrastructural development, foreign direct investment and currency appreciation, thus leading to more sustainable growth. This study offers new insights for policymakers, investors and other stakeholders on the importance of formulating efficient fuel subsidy policies and sustainable development goals (SDGs) for Nigeria. Full article

In the context of the global sustainability agenda, firms are increasingly expected to incorporate environmental considerations into their global expansion strategies. However, existing studies mainly focus on formal institutions and economic factors, while the role of informal institutions remains underexplored. This study examines how Confucian cultural values influence Chinese firms’ outward foreign direct investment (OFDI), particularly their investment behavior in environmentally stringent host countries, such as Germany, Sweden, and Canada. Using panel data of Chinese A-share listed firms from 2009 to 2024, this study employs panel regression analysis to test the effects of cultural values, environmental pressure, and CEO power. The results show that cultural values are positively associated with both OFDI intensity and the likelihood of investing in environmentally stringent countries. In addition, environmental pressure strengthens this relationship, whereas CEO power weakens it. This study contributes to the literature on responsible global expansion by highlighting the role of informal institutions and firm-level characteristics. The findings also provide practical implications for policymakers and firms seeking to promote environmentally responsible international investment behavior. Full article