Unleashing the pandemic volatility: A glimpse into the stock market performance of developed economies during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant financial losses globally, increasing the volatility of financial assets. Thus, this study models the stock market volatility of developed economies during the COVID-19 pandemic. For this purpose, we used the GJR-GARCH (Albulescu, 2020; Albulescu, 2020) [1,1] econometric model on the daily time series returns data ranging from 01st-July-2019 to 18th-November-2020. The entire dataset was equally divided into two subsets; before COVID-19, and after the COVID-19. The empirical results of this study showed the presence of volatility clustering, leverage effect, and excess kurtosis indicating leptokurtic phenomena in all stock indices returns. In addition to this, it can be noted that compared to before COVID-19, the stock markets showed negative returns, and increased volatility during the COVID-19. Hence, based on these findings, this study provides significant insights for global stock market investors and economic policymakers regarding financial portfolio construction particularly during crises times.

Techno-economic analysis of biogas production from domestic organic wastes and locally sourced material: the moderating role of social media based-awareness.

Management of organic waste addresses the issue of cleanliness and sanitation in developing nations such as Pakistan, where improper waste management usually leads to significant health problems and early mortality. The control of organic waste in rural regions of Pakistan and other developing nations needs to be undertaken using effective solutions. This study contributes to satisfying local needs such as cooking, lighting, and maintaining a comfortable temperature in anaerobic locations and works as a guideline for converting to biogas. This research aims to ascertain households' most substantial challenges concerning biogas production using domestic organic waste and locally sourced materials. The analysis is conducted on data from 81 respondents gathered using a comprehensive questionnaire assessment. Respondents were carefully chosen with the purposive sampling process. Primary data were collected from a structured questionnaire and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to evaluate the formulated assumptions. The results indicate that managing organic waste positively influences the sustainable improvement of biogas using human organic waste and locally resourced materials. The selected variables and their moderating effect significantly and favorably influence this conceptual model. Furthermore, all manipulating influences are constructively connected with implementing biogas technology using organic waste and locally resourced material, minimizing household energy expenses, and satisfying local needs. This study concludes that the government's green energy policy and economic incentives encourage households to use biogas energy produced from organic waste and locally resourced material. The government should use modern technology, resident training, and expert methodological assistance to induce households into biogas production using domestic organic waste and locally resourced material. Finally, the study's limitations and suggestions for further research are also addressed.

Assessment of heavy metal distribution and bioaccumulation in soil and plants near coal mining areas: implications for environmental pollution and health risks.

Monitoring heavy metals (HMs) across source distance and depth distribution near coal mining sites is essential for preventing environmental pollution and health risks. This study investigated the distribution of selected HMs, cadmium (Cd2+), chromium (Cr2+), copper (Cu2+), manganese (Mn2+), nickel (Ni2+), lead (Pb2+), and zinc (Zn2+), in soil samples collected from ten sites (S-1-S-10) at two different depths (0-15 and 15-30 cm) and distances of 50, 100, and 200 m from a mining source. Additionally, three plant species, Prosopis spp., Justicia spp., and wheat, were collected to assess HM bioavailability and leaf accumulation. Coal mine activities' impact on soil properties and their HM associations were also explored. Results reveal HM concentrations except for Cr2+ exceeding World Health Organization (WHO) limits. In surface soil, Cd2+ (58%), Cu2+ (93%), Mn2+ (68%), Ni2+ (80%), Pb2+ (35%), and Zn2+ (88%) surpassed permissible limits. Subsurface soil also exhibited elevated Cd2+ (53%), Cu2+ (83%), Mn2+ (60%), Ni2+ (80%), Pb2+ (35%), and Zn2+ (77%). Plant species displayed varying HM levels, exceeding permissible limits, with average concentrations of 1.4, 1.34, 1.42, 4.1, 2.74, 2.0, and 1.98 mg kg-1 for Cd2+, Pb2+, Cr2+, Cu2+, Mn2+, Ni2+, and Zn2+, respectively. Bioaccumulation factors were highest in wheat, Prosopis spp., and Justicia spp. Source distance and depth distribution significantly influenced soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and soil organic carbon (SOC). Soil pH and EC increased with an increase in soil depth, while SOC decreased. Pearson correlation analysis revealed varying relationships between soil properties and HMs, showing a considerably negative correlation. Concentrations of HMs decreased with increasing depth and distance from mining activities, validated by regression analysis. Findings suggest crops from these soils may pose health risks for consumption.

Does biogas energy influence the sustainable development of entrepreneurial business? An application of the extended theory of planned behavior.

As a result of air pollution and accelerated climate change, entrepreneurship is gradually becoming a deciding factor in the global conversation about saving the planet with renewable energy sources. To sustain the economy and entrepreneurial culture for future generations, researchers and entrepreneurs seek environmentally friendly methods for supporting entrepreneurial enterprises. Fossil fuel-based energy has significantly impeded the country's sustainable development. Pakistan lacks research examining the connection between biogas energy technology and entrepreneurship. This study aims to cover this void in the literature by employing the theory of planned behavior to investigate bioenergy as a business prospect for supportable monetary growth. The primary data comprises 358 comprehensive questionnaire survey respondents. PLS-SEM verifies the model and examines the suppositions. According to pragmatic findings, all views are positively and substantially associated with the sustainable progress of business enterprises implementing biogas energy. In contrast, social media awareness had no moderating effect on the dependent variable. Consequently, social media awareness substantially modifies the associations between all independent variables adopting biogas energy. The results of this research indicate the standing of altering social customs regarding private enterprise, increasing businesspersons' consciousness of these matters, reforming controlling arrangements, and highlighting the assistance of business events made possible by biogas energy technology, which increases businesspeople's investment returns. Conclusively, the study's limits and approvals for future research are emphasized.

Assessing the impact of human capital, renewable energy, population growth, economic growth, and climate change policies on achieving the sustainable development goals.

The global emphasis on achieving sustainable development goals necessitates the involvement of researchers and regulators worldwide. In light of this, recent research has examined the effect of human capital, renewable energy, population growth, economic growth, and environmental protection on the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in a developed economy like Pakistan, which is the most important country in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region. This study analyzed secondary data from 1990 to 2019, using the World Development Indicators as the secondary data source. Using the augmented Dickey-Fuller test to investigate stationarity and the autoregressive distributed lag model to evaluate the nexus between variables, the researchers analyzed the relationship between the variables. The findings indicate that all predictors, such as the human capital index (HCI), renewable energy consumption, and renewable energy, exhibit a negative correlation with carbon emissions and a positive correlation with the SDGs. In this study, sustainability and the HCI are positively correlated. Reducing carbon emissions requires competent and dependable employees. As Pakistan transitions to renewable energy and strives for 30% green electricity by 2030, the report highlights the ecological benefits of controlled population growth. According to the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI), effective climate policies advance the environmental objectives of a nation. Economic and population growth have a positive correlation with carbon emissions as well. These results facilitate Pakistani policymakers' creation of effective SDG-related initiatives for sustainable development.

Does healthy city construction facilitate green growth in China? Evidence from 279 cities.

In the face of the challenge of balancing urban economic development and environmental protection, the concept of a healthy city has emerged as a promising model for sustainable urban development. This study empirically investigates the impact of healthy city construction on green growth by utilizing a difference-in-difference model estimation on a panel dataset of 279 Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2007 to 2019. The findings reveal that healthy city construction significantly contributes to green growth, particularly in pilot cities, and this effect is observed across cities of different sizes and economic bases. Additionally, we identify two channels through which healthy city construction promotes green growth: enhancing innovation capacity and enriching human resources. These findings have implications not only for Chinese cities navigating the path towards green growth but also for other developing nations striving for economic transformation and environmentally sustainable development.

How does the target of green innovation for cleaner production change in management process? Quality targeting and link targeting.

The global economy has accelerated the transition to a green, low-carbon economy. An enterprise's green innovation (GI) is directly related to its capacity for sustainable production as a micro-subject of economic development. This study examined the impact of managerial capacity on enterprise green innovation and changes of green innovation targeting. We used data collected manually from 423 Chinese A-share companies from 2010 to 2017. The effect of various external impact signals was then investigated. This study's findings are as follows: (1) Managerial ability stimulated green enterprise innovation. The marginal effect was 0.0696. While quality targeting has focused more on green invention innovation, managerial capacity significantly improved the marginal impact of green substantial innovation by 0.0375; (2) The clean production link targeting analysis confirmed that enterprises focused on end-of-pipe governance innovation (0.0466), along with new energy innovation (0.0495) rather than energy-saving innovation (-0.0227); (3) The multi-period DDD (Difference in Difference in Difference) model revealed that low-carbon city policy promoted green innovation with a diminishing trend; (4) The voluntary environmental regulation signals, ISO14001 certification, displayed a substitute effect for managerial capacity on enterprise green innovation. This paper provides recommendations, including that enterprises should improve the utilization of new and renewable energy while improving and optimizing production processes. The government should also improve innovation incentive policies and strengthen environmental information disclosure.

Can bioenergy act as an entrepreneurial opportunity for the sustainable economic development of an emerging economy? A socio-technical approach.

Challenges in adopting renewable energy have become significant roadblocks to the country's sustainable progress. There is a shortage of studies examining how adopting biogas energy plants affects entrepreneurship in Pakistan's off-grid areas. This study aims to address this gap in the literature by investigating bioenergy as an entrepreneurial opportunity for the sustainable economic development of an emerging economy. Primary data comprising 305 respondents was used in Punjab Province by employing an inclusive questionnaire survey. The partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique validates the model and analyzes the designated hypotheses. Empirical outcomes reveal that enhanced social and entrepreneurial prosperity adopting biogas plants, sustainable economic development of entrepreneurial businesses adopting biogas plants, and adoption in entrepreneurship improve the standard of living positively and significantly associated with intention to enhance entrepreneurship performance through biogas energy adoption. On the contrary, the production-cost reduction of adopting biogas plants in entrepreneurial businesses had no significant effect on intention to improve entrepreneurship performance through biogas energy adoption. Meanwhile, the intention to enhance entrepreneurship performance through biogas energy adoption positively mediates the relationship among enhanced social and entrepreneurial prosperity adopting biogas plants, sustainable economic development of entrepreneurial businesses adopting biogas plants, biogas plant adoption in entrepreneurship improves the standard of living, and economic development of entrepreneurial activities adopting biogas technology. Correspondingly, social media and word of mouth significantly moderate the relationships between the intention to enhance entrepreneurship performance through biogas energy adoption and the economic development of entrepreneurial activities adopting biogas energy. The results of this study show how crucial it is to change societal norms surrounding entrepreneurship, raise entrepreneurs' awareness of these issues, reform regulatory systems, and emphasize the benefits of entrepreneurial activities offered by biogas energy plants that grow entrepreneurs' standard of living. Finally, the study's limitations and recommendations for additional studies are highlighted.

Neutralizing the surging emissions amidst natural resource dependence, eco-innovation, and green energy in G7 countries: Insights for global environmental sustainability.

The unrelenting surge in global warming in the current era suggests the inevitable need for governments across the globe to embark on policy measures that will help flatten the curve of the surging emissions. Consequently, the concept of carbon neutrality has become a vital policy approach for countries to achieve sustainable development. The present study extends the debates on carbon neutrality by examining the extent to which prominent factors such as natural resource dependence, eco-innovation, and green energy (biofuel and renewable energy) facilitate or hinder strides toward achieving carbon neutral environment in G7 economies. The study considers the additional roles of carbon tax, environmental policy stringency, and financial development in longitudinal data ranging from 1997 to 2019. The verification of the stated hypotheses hinges on a battery of estimators comprising cross-sectional ARDL, common correlated effects mean group, augmented mean group, and panel quantile regression. The empirical findings show that green energy, carbon tax, and environmental policy support the drive towards carbon neutrality by reducing the stock of CO2 emissions. On the other hand, natural resource dependence and financial development hinder the carbon neutrality agenda by escalating the surge in CO2 emissions. Robustness analyses are conducted from the angle of an additional outcome variable and estimation technique of which the results corroborate the empirical regularity of the main findings. Policy implications are derived from the empirical findings.

Exploring the nonlinear relationship among financial development, human capital and CO2 emissions: a comparative study of South and East Asian emerging economies.

Despite worldwide commitments to reduce fossil fuel consumption in favour of alternative energies, several countries still rely on carbon-intensive sources to meet their energy demands. The previous studies show inconsistent results on the association between financial development and CO2 emissions. As a result, the impact of financial development, human capital, economic growth and energy efficiency on CO2 emission is evaluated here. Empirical research on a panel of 13 South and East Asian (SEA) nations between 1995 and 2021 using the CS-ARDL. Estimates from the empirical analysis considering energy efficiency, human capital, economic growth and overall energy use yield different findings. Financial development has a negative effect on CO2 emission, while economic growth positively impacts CO2 emission. The data also show that improving human capital and energy efficiency has a positive, though statistically insignificant, impact on CO2 emission. According to the causes and effects analysis, CO2 emission will be influenced by policies that aim to improve financial development, human capital, and energy efficiency, but not vice versa. Policy considerations that can be implemented in light of these findings and sustainable development goals can be accomplished by promoting financial resources and human capital.

Evaluating the environmental impact and economic practicability of solar home lighting systems: a roadmap towards clean energy for ecological sustainability.

The vitality contribution is a vital cause for defensible monetary improvement and collective success by eradicating poverty. Adopting the solar home lighting system (SHLS) is advantageous not only in social lifestyles but also improves the health of family members and increases home-based small businesses activities due to the inexpensive and continuous supply of energy. The main aims of the study are to scrutinize the most substantial barriers to adopting SHLS in Pakistan. A comprehensive, structured questionnaire appraisal was conducted for sample size with the help of non-probability sampling (purposive sampling), and primary data was collected. The designated hypotheses were evaluated using partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). In the present study, we validate the model using a sample of 271 adopters of SHLS contributed as respondents. The results disclose that entire autonomous variables expressively and positively correlated with adopting SHLS dipping energy disasters and improving home-based small business activities. Correspondingly, social media-based awareness of SHLS significantly moderates and positively affects the selected factors in this study. Empirical results indicate that prudently eradicating maintenance barriers with experienced professionals, subsidy in prices from the government, quality base satisfaction of owners, and social media-based awareness are the primary tools to adopt SHLS. Additionally, the outcomes offer valuable suggestions to the competent authorities that introduce encouragement and maintenance policy for adopting SHLS.

Digital transformation: fresh insights to implement green supply chain management, eco-technological innovation, and collaborative capability in manufacturing sector of an emerging economy.

The increasing significance of green supply chain management in developing countries' manufacturing sector is primarily driven by the deteriorating environment, signified by decreasing raw material resources, a surplus of waste sites, and rising pollution levels. Green supply chain management can provide competitiveness while boosting a company's environmental sustainability if implemented effectively. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the effect of green supply chain management practices on the firm performance of the manufacturing sector. This research aims to determine the moderating effect of collaborative capability and the mediating influence of eco-technological innovation and environmental strategy on the relationship between green supply chain management and firm performance. Five hundred fifty survey questionnaires are gathered from manufacturing firms of China. Utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM), the proposed hypotheses have been analyzed and investigated. The results show that green supply chain management indirectly affects the firm performance. Moreover, green supply chain management is positively related to environmental strategy and eco-technological innovation, which effectively enhance firm performance. The findings further indicate that environmental strategy and eco-technological innovation significantly mediate the association between green supply chain management and firm performance. Furthermore, collaborative capability significantly and positively moderates the relationship between green supply chain management and firm performance. As a result, the adoption of these factors influences firm performance positively and will assist the manufacturing sector in meeting diverse yet radically changing requirements and overcoming obstacles originating from a dynamic global business environment. Consequently, it is of the utmost importance that businesses must utilize green practices with relatively low environmental impacts. Companies can considerably maintain and improve their firm performance by reducing the environmental impact if they have effective collaborative capabilities, eco-technological innovation, and environmental strategies.

Modelling the asymmetric effects of renewable and nonrenewable energy consumption and financial development on CO2 emissions in India: Empirical findings from the NARDL and Wavelet Coherence Approach.

A major challenge for humans in the twenty-first century is devising a way to minimize environmental pollution while fostering economic growth that will not deplete the planet's resources. Despite increased awareness of climate change and efforts to combat it, the amount of pollution emissions on the Earth continues to drop significantly. This study employs cutting-edge econometric methods to examine the long- and short-term asymmetric and causal impacts of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and financial development on CO2 emissions in India at both aggregate and disaggregated levels. Thus, this work fills a significant gap in research. A time series from 1965 to 2020 was used for this study. Wavelet coherence was employed to investigate causal effects among the variables, while the NARDL model addressed long-run and short-run asymmetry effects. Our findings indicate that (i) REC, NREC, FD, and CO2 emissions are all interconnected in the long run, (ii) NREC and FD significantly trigger CO2 emissions in India in the long run, and (iii) the results of a wavelet coherence-based causality test support the long-term estimates of this study.

Economic development, social media awareness, and technological innovation in biogas sector under climate change in the post-COVID-19 pandemic conditions.

After COVID-19, financing for emerging nation reserves in renewable energy bases was deemed a crucial aspect of sustainable development. Investing in biogas energy plants can be highly beneficial for lowering the use of fossil fuels. Using a survey of shareholders, investors, biogas energy professionals, and active social media participants in Pakistan, this study evaluates the intentions of individual investors to invest in biogas energy plants. The primary purpose of this study is to increase investment intent for biogas energy projects following COVID-19. This study focuses on financing biogas energy plants in the post-COVID-19 era and evaluates the research's assumptions using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The study employed the technique of purposive sampling to acquire data for this investigation. The results indicate that attitudes, perceived biogas energy benefits, perceived investment attitudes, and supervisory structure evaluations inspire one's propensity to finance biogas vitality plant efforts. The study found a link between eco-friendly responsiveness, monetary benefits, and investors' actions. The aspiration of investors to mark such reserves was set up to be unpretentious by their risk aversion. Conferring to the facts, evaluating the monitoring structure is the critical factor. The previous studies on investment behavior and other forms of pro-environmental intent and action yielded contradictory results. In addition, the regulatory environment was evaluated to see how the theory of planned behavior (TPB) affects financiers' objectives to participate in biogas power plants. The consequences of the study indicate that feelings of pride and discernment of energy expansively affect people's desire to invest in biogas plants. Biogas energy efficacy has little effect on investors' decisions to invest in biogas energy plants. This study offers policymakers practical ideas on enhancing investments in biogas energy plants.

Sustainable green revolution through the development of solar power projects in Pakistan: a techno-economic analysis.

Energy is essential to a recent way of life that needs to be addressed in economic and environmentally supportable improvement negotiations. The economic output of solar energy development has become the primary concern, particularly in emerging nations like Pakistan. The present research estimates a techno-economic analysis and sustainable green revolution by improving this country's solar energy projects (SEP). The study observes the moderating role of top management and risk factors of the procedures between financial management procedures and the economic output of SEP. A comprehensive opinion poll assessment accomplishes the investigation on facts from 61 respondents (finance executives, financial managers, shareholders, and owner investors). Partly least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) evaluates the hypotheses. The findings indicate that a techno-economic analysis and green revolution favor the ecological improvement of solar energy installations. The cash-flow analysis significantly contributes to the SEP's improved economic output. In addition, the results reveal that the role of top management and risk factors suggestively moderate the relationship between financial management procedures and the economic output of SEP. These outcomes give policymakers, competent authorities, and regulators an excellent guide to upsurge cleaner fabrication and ecological improvement of SEP.

Assessing the competitiveness of Indian solar power industry using the extended Five Forces Model: a green innovation perspective.

India's demand-supply imbalance electricity market results from the country's rapid population growth and extensive industrialization. Due to increased costs, many residential and commercial customers have difficulty paying their electric bills. Households with lower incomes are confronted with the most severe energy poverty in the entire country. A sustainable and alternative form of energy is required to solve these issues. Solar energy is a sustainable energy choice for India; however, the solar industry faces many issues. One of them is managing end-of-life cycle photovoltaic (PV) waste, as massive deployment of solar energy capacity has resulted in generating large amounts of PV waste, ultimately affecting environmental and human health. Therefore, this research employs "Porter's Five Forces Model" to analyze the factors that significantly impact the competitiveness of India's solar power industry. The inputs for this model consist of semi-structured interviews conducted with experts in the solar power industry on various solar energy-related issues and a critical analysis of the national policy framework using the relevant literature and official statistics. The impact of five significant stakeholders of the solar power industry on solar power generation in India is evaluated: buyers, suppliers, competitors, substitutes, and potential competitors. Research findings indicate the Indian solar power industry's current status, challenges, competition environment, and future estimates. This study will help the government and stakeholders to understand the intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting the competitiveness of the Indian solar power sector and suggest policy recommendations to formulate procurement strategies that promote sustainable development within the solar industry.

Environmental quality and energy transition prospects for G-7 economies: The prominence of environment-related ICT innovations, financial and human development.

Energy transition and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are fundamental to achieving sustainable development and ensuring a bright and healthy future. To contribute to the empirical literature on these objectives, this study explores the long-term influence of environment-related ICT innovations (EICT) on energy transition and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) in G-7 economies for the first time, while considering financial development (FD) and human development (HD). Additionally, the study investigates the moderating role of FD with EICT and HD in energy transition and GHGE. Using a Cross-Sectional Augmented Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) technique to tackle the issues of cross-sectional dependency and slope heterogeneity, the study evaluated data from 1990 to 2020. The results indicate that EICT, FD, and HD have a significant positive effect on long-term energy transition, and mitigate GHGE in G-7 economies. Furthermore, the influence of EICT and HD on energy transition and GHGE is amplified in the presence of financial development, as evidenced by the moderating effect of FD. Based on these facts, the study suggests various policy measures, such as investing in clean technologies and education, to promote the energy transition and environmental quality in G-7 economies to achieve sustainable development goals.