Evaluation of educational resource utilization efficiency, regional technological heterogeneity, and total factor productivity change in 35 European countries.

Educational resource utilization efficiency (ERUE) and productivity growth are considered current global challenges that the modern world faces. This study evaluates the educational resource utilization efficiency, dynamic productivity change, and regional discrepancies in technologies involved in educational resource utilization in 35 European countries and four regions. DEA Super SBM, Meta frontier analysis, and Malmquist productivity index are employed to gauge the ERUE, technology gap ratio (TGR), and total factor education resources productivity change. A set of inputs and outputs is used from 35 European countries for the study period of 1998-2021. Results revealed that the average ERUE in European countries is 0.6312, Which indicates a 36.88% improvement potential in educational resource utilization. Southern Europe continuously exhibits superior average ERUE scores (0.6871) compared to other regions, indicating a higher efficiency in using educational resources. Luxembourg (1.0813), Czechia (0.9356), and Slovenia (0.8984) are found to be the top three performers in terms of ERUE level. The technology gap ratio value is highest in Southern Europe. It demonstrates that southern European countries used the most advanced technology in education resource utilization. The average Malmquist Index (MI) in European countries is 1.0349. It Indicates a 3.49% growth in educational resource utilization. Technology is the primary determinant of productivity growth, as Technological change is higher than efficiency change. Southern European countries showed the highest MI of 1.0542. Italy, Lithuania, and Serbia were found to have higher average MI scores over the study period (1998-2021). Finally, the Kruskal Wallis test proved that ERUE and TGR in 4 different regions of Europe are heterogeneous. In contrast, the MI in European regions isn't found to be significantly different.

Repercussions of environmental policy stringency on carbon, energy and non-energy productivity in highly emerging economies: perspective of green growth.

Emerging economies have prioritized the enhancement of carbon and energy productivity to uphold environmental integrity. Consequently, the policymakers introduced the environmental policy stringency measure to control emission activities. Accordingly, this study explores the environmental stringency policy's impact on carbon, energy, and non-energy productivity over the period of 1995-2020. This study addresses the impact of environmental policy stringency on quality of life (exposure to environmental risk). Regardless of variation, growing economies have higher carbon productivity. It is worth noting that energy productivity compared to carbon is higher. Based on the findings derived from the CS-ARDL model, it can be concluded that environmental stringency policies significantly positively impact carbon productivity in emerging countries. Economies that implement stringent environmental rules have the potential to enhance both energy and non-energy productivity to a greater extent. Meanwhile, the environmental policy effectively reduces environmental risk exposure and increases the quality of life. Environmental technology is inefficient in promoting emerging economies' environmental productivity. Similarly, trade promotes carbon activities and may involve comparative advantage race, pollution heaven hypothesis possible to exist. This study provides empirical evidence supporting the notion that investing in human capital is crucial in enhancing productivity. The findings suggest a more comprehensive and integrated approach to environmental policy in rising economies. This all-encompassing strategy is considered crucial for making significant gains in carbon productivity and simultaneously promoting sustainable green growth.

The impact of public awareness, infrastructure, and technological development with economic growth on solid waste management of European countries: does governance quality matters.

Solid waste generation is a significant problem affecting the ecosystem, human health, and safety. However, the issue is not given the attention it truly deserves. Consequently, this study is aimed at assessing the impact of various factors, such as economic growth, public awareness, infrastructure, and technological advancements, on generating municipal waste in the European Union (EU) for the period 1995-2020. Furthermore, the study incorporated the mediating effect of economic growth and government effectiveness with public awareness, infrastructure, and technological development to reduce waste generation. By employing the bias-corrected method of moments, the study finds that overall waste generation does not decrease over time in EU economies. Furthermore, Denmark is the top-ranked country among the sampled countries to generate waste. However, Finland is at the top in government effectiveness. The empirical findings showed that economic growth is the significant reason for the increase in solid waste production. Additionally, the interaction effects of economic growth with public awareness, infrastructure, and technological development are positive. However, the individual impact of public awareness, infrastructure, and technological development is positive in reducing waste generation. Governance effectiveness is a significant tool to lower waste generation in European economies.

Evaluating the role of banking efficiency, institutions and financial development for sustainable development: Implications for Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

This study explores the relationship between banking efficiency and financial development in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) economies from 2007 to 2018. The study employs three dimensions to assess financial development: (i) depth, (ii) stability, and (iii) efficiency. In the initial stage, BRI banking efficiency is quantified using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Subsequently, the Generalized Method of Moments technique is applied to identify the connection between banking efficiency and financial development. The study employs fundamental structural benchmarks to evaluate disparities between actual financial development indicators and predicted values. Banking efficiency plays a crucial role in determining the depth, stability, and efficiency of financial development within BRI economies and is pivotal in closing these gaps. Strong institutional frameworks also support the advancement of the BRI's financial development sector. Moreover, foreign direct investment positively impacts reducing financial development gaps and promoting growth in the financial sector. The study concludes that BRI member countries should prioritize banking industry reforms to enhance the stability, depth, and efficiency of their financial sectors.

Unveiling the liaison between financial development dimensions, energy efficiency and ecological footprint in the context of institutional frameworks: evidence from the Emerging-7 economies.

Financial development and energy efficiency can facilitate the transition towards a more environmentally sustainable and responsible economy. Simultaneously, the importance of institutional effectiveness cannot undermine the need to manage financial and energy consumption activities. To this end, the primary objective of this study is to examine the effects of financial development and energy efficiency on the ecological footprint of the Emerging-7 economies from 2000 to 2019. The study specifically focuses on the influence of these factors within the context of robust institutional mechanisms. We employ the STIRPAT (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology) model as the analytical framework to accomplish this. This study takes into consideration three aspects of financial development, which are: (i) the depth of financial development, (ii) the stability of financial development, and (iii) the efficiency of financial development. In addition, this study has developed an institutional index using principal component analysis. The index comprises several crucial indicators: Control of Corruption, Government Effectiveness, Political Stability, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law, and Voice and Accountability. The study raises the importance of energy efficiency in terms of energy intensity on ecological footprint. The study's findings suggest that without robust institutional mechanisms, the potential of financial development depth, stability, and efficiency to improve ecological well-being may not be fully realized. However, the study concludes that these institutional mechanisms positively impact mitigating the ecological footprint.

Green transition and economic growth in G20 countries: evidence from disaggregated energy sources.

Green transitioning through renewable energy sources is the most effective strategy for any economy. This study investigates the extent to which G20 countries are shifting towards a green economy compared to prioritizing economic growth. To this end, the present study analyzes the nodes between income and renewable (solar, wind, hydro, and biomass) and nonrenewable (oil, coal, and gas) energy sources for the period of (1997-2020) in G20 countries. The energy-environmental Kuznets curve method is applied to study their behavior at various stages of growth. The main findings showed that wind, solar, and biomass energies have an inverted N-shaped relationship with income. The hydroelectricity did not follow any traditional EKC shape, showing a steady positive trend and growth. While nonrenewable energy consumption, i.e., coal, oil, and gas, follows an N-shaped EKC curve. The impact of foreign direct investment in the solar and wind sectors is positive. The varying outcomes concerning foreign direct investment (FDI) indicate that although G20 countries strive to achieve their green transition objectives by discouraging environmentally harmful investments, their success remains limited. The study indicates that G20 nations are progressing toward a green transition; however, additional technological innovations are required to transform these economies from brown to green. Governments can establish research institutions, offer grants and incentives, and encourage collaboration between academia, industry, and government to support green technology R&D.

Economic growth and environmental technology simultaneously important for reducing energy poverty and ecological footprint in E7 economies: do political institutions play a role?

Energy poverty and climate change are major concerns for the emerging seven countries. Therefore, this study explores the economic growth impact on reducing energy poverty and ecological footprint in the emerging seven economies from 2000 to 2019. Energy poverty is measured using three disciplines: availability poverty, accessibility poverty, and affordability poverty. We applied a new dynamic method, "bias-corrected method of moments estimators (2021)," for long-run outcomes. This study used the environmental Kuznets curve-approach to measure economic growth's scale effect and technique effect to reduce energy poverty and ecological footprint. Importantly, the study explores the mediating role of politically stable institutions in mitigating environmental and energy poverty. Our findings validate that energy poverty and ecological footprint could not reduce at the initial stage of economic growth. However, the later development stage shows a positive effect on reducing energy poverty and ecological footprint. These results validated an inverted U-shaped Kuznets curve hypothesis for emerging seven. Further, the result found that strong political systems are more quick-witted and have the legislative power to swiftly implement beneficial policies to pull out of the vicious circle of energy poverty. Further, environmental technology significantly reduced energy poverty and ecological footprint. The causality analysis entails that a bidirectional exists between energy poverty, income, and ecological footprint.

Energy efficiency evaluation, changing trends and determinants of energy productivity growth across South Asian countries: SBM-DEA and Malmquist approach.

Energy efficiency is widely regarded as the most efficient means of supplying additional energy to meet the rising demand. However, extensive energy consumption causes greenhouse emissions, environmental destruction, and a decrease in energy efficiency (EE). This study investigates the role of energy efficiency and productivity growth in the ecological improvement of South Asia. Moreover, it evaluates the determinants (efficiency change or technology change) of energy productivity change across different SA (South Asian) countries. To estimate the energy efficiency and productivity change, we employed SBM-DEA and Malmquist Productivity Index methods with three inputs (capital stock, labor, and energy consumption), a single desirable output (gross domestic product) and a single undesirable output (CO2 emissions) on the well-extended dataset (2001-2019) for 6 South Asian countries. Furthermore, to check the impact of energy policy (2010) over the study period, the statistical significance of the change in mean scores for energy efficiency and productivity over two time periods (2001-2010 and 2011-2019) and six countries was examined using the Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results reveal that the average EE score of all 6 SA countries for the study period is 0.7278. This score shows that SA countries still have the potential of 27.22% to improve their energy efficiency to minimize the inputs to get the optimum output level with the least emissions. The primary determinant of energy productivity growth is technological change instead of efficiency. The average energy efficiency level is significantly different for two time periods, 2001-2010 and 2011-2019. Results conclude that energy efficiency and productivity in SA declined over the period, and potential causes are an inefficiency in the energy conversion process, extensive utilization of inputs, and less output growth.

Impact of "Three Red Lines" Water Policy (2011) on Water Usage Efficiency, Production Technology Heterogeneity, and Determinant of Water Productivity Change in China.

This research evaluates the effects of the Three Red Lines policy on water usage efficiency (WUE), production technology heterogeneity, and water productivity change in 31 Chinese provinces between 2006 and 2020. SMB-DEA, Meta-frontier analysis, and Malmquist-Luenberger index (MLI) techniques were employed for estimation. Results revealed that the mean WUE (2006-2020) in all Chinese provinces was 0.52, with an improvement potential of 48%. Shanghai, Beijing, Shaanxi, and Tianjin were the best performers. The WUE scores before (2006-2011) and after (2012-2020) water policy implementation were 0.58 and 0.48, respectively; on average, there was more than a 9% decline in WUE after the implementation of the water policy. The eastern region has the most advanced water utilization technology as its technology gap ratio (TGR) is nearly 1. The average MLI (2006-2020) score was 1.13, suggesting that the MLI has increased by 12.57% over the study period. Further technology change (TC) is the key predictor of MLI growth, whereas efficiency change (EC) diminished from 2006 to 2020. The mean MLI score for 2006-2011 was 1.16, whereas the MLI Score for the period 2012-2020 was 1.10, indicating a modest decline following the implementation of the water policy. All three Chinese regions experienced MLI growth during 2006-2020, with TC the main change factor.

Efficiency evaluation of commercial banks in Pakistan: A slacks-based measure Super-SBM approach with bad output (Non-performing loans).

According to recent figures from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), since 2006, commercial banks' non-performing loans (NPLs) have significantly risen. To this end, the primary objective of this research is to explore the impact of NPLs on the operational efficiency of commercial banks in Pakistan. NPLs were incorporated as bad output in the efficiency estimation of 24 CBs for the period 2006-2017. This study employs the data envelopment analysis (DEA) Super-SBM with the undesirable output for the efficiency evaluation of CBs. To test the robustness of our results, we used two different input-output bundles (model A and model B). The findings show a significant difference exists between the results estimated with and without undesirable output. Furthermore, the results of super-efficiency estimation rank the most efficient CB for the study period and distinguish it from other efficient DMUs. Models A and B show that foreign banks are always more efficient than domestic banks, while private CBs have higher efficiency scores than public CBs in domestic banking. In addition, the big five CBs show mixed findings, as in model A, they were more efficient than other domestic CBs, while in model B were less efficient. In the second stage of the empirical study, we use the system GMM to examine the impact of NPLs, bank size, and net interest margin on CBs efficiency. We discovered that NPLs have a negative and significant effect on banking efficiency, whereas bank size and net interest margin positively affect the efficiency of commercial banks in Pakistan.

The impact of COVID-19 on the US renewable and non-renewable energy consumption: a sectoral analysis based on quantile on quantile regression approach.

The repercussions of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic go well beyond health concerns, affecting virtually every aspect of our lives, including daily energy consumption. Therefore, this study explores the impact of COVID-19 on renewable and non-renewable energy consumption in the USA, which has been severely affected by the recent pandemic. We conducted a detailed analysis of the energy consumption demands of various sectors in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Our in-depth analysis comprises two parts. Initially, we determine the monthly growth change by utilizing the month-on-month method. Subsequently, we used the quantile-on-quantile approach of Sim and Zhou (2015) on data spanning from December 2019 to August 2021 to explore the impact of COVID-19 on energy consumption across the whole distribution. The study's outcomes underscored that compared to renewable energy, non-renewable energy consumption was more affected by the COVID-19 lockdown, and the overall energy consumption (both renewable and non-renewable) remained low. These findings accentuate global strategic management tools to tackle COVID-19 cooperatively and restore the energy mix. Such measures are critical for energy access, security, and evenhandedness.

A cross-country efficiency and productivity evaluation of commercial banks in South Asia: A meta-frontier and Malmquist productivity index approach.

South Asia primarily consists of developing economies with diverse financial systems. The commercial banking industry plays a crucial role in each country's financial development in the region. This research aims to evaluate commercial banking industries' efficiency and productivity growth in the South Asian (SA) region over 6 years (2013-2018). In addition, the technology gap among the banking industries of all countries is also explored. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) Meta-frontier is employed to measure the technical efficiency (TE) and technology gap ratio (TGR) among the countries. Further Malmquist productivity index (MPI) is used for productivity change estimation. Results indicate that, on average, 147 commercial banks (CBs) have a technical efficiency score of 0.6208, while CBs in Nepal are the most efficient in the region with an average score of 0.7153. The Meta frontier analysis also confirms the presence of different production technologies in CBs. Nepal's CBs group frontier is closer to meta-frontier (technology gap ratio, TGR = 0.9361) While, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka rank second, third, fourth, and fifth, respectively. The results of productivity contend that the total factor productivity change of all 147 CBs decreases by 0.8 percent on average over the study period. CBs have enhanced their productivity growth in Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Pakistan, but declining trends have been witnessed in Indian and Bangladesh's commercial banking industries.

Unraveling the role of China's OFDI, institutional difference and B&R policy on energy efficiency: a meta-frontier super-SBM approach.

Under the Belt and Road initiative, the cooperative network between Chinese firms and participating countries has evolved rapidly to seek new markets for foreign investment. Foreign investment is one of the most effective ways of improving environmental energy efficiency through technology spillover. Therefore, first, this article applies the foreign direct investment theory with an interactive effect of institutional difference on energy efficiency. We employed the meta-frontier super-slacks-based measure approach to find the sampled countries' environmental energy efficiency. We also divided the study sample into six regions to consider group heterogeneity and the variation in energy efficiency performance in various Belt and Road regions. For the empirical investigation, we applied the generalized method of moments approach. The impact of China's outward foreign direct investment on energy efficiency is positive in the full sample. Nevertheless, the region-wise study found mixed results regarding China's outward foreign direct investment to promote energy efficiency and the Belt and Road region. In addition, the study further infers that institutional distance can be the greater impediment to promoting host countries' efficient energy-based investment.

The nexuses between carbon emissions, agriculture production efficiency, research and development, and government effectiveness: evidence from major agriculture-producing countries.

Agriculture production efficiency and carbon emissions have become the challenge for the sustainable world. Therefore, this study explores the relationships between agriculture production and carbon emissions in major (seventeen) agriculture-producing countries over the time period of 1996-2018. Data envelopment analysis is applied to estimate the efficiency of agriculture sector production. The results suggested that the USA, Russia, Korea, Japan, and Italy were efficient agriculture production. Among BRICS countries, China (0.183), India (0.378), and Brazil (0.382) are far off to Russia in Agriculture production efficiency. Growth of research and development investment by 1% increases agriculture production efficiency by 0.0773 (full panel), 0.119 (developing), and 0.0245(developed), respectively. Carbon emissions are also significantly decreased by research and development investment. However, the effectiveness of the government on carbon emissions can be both positive and negative in developed and developing countries' cases. Nevertheless, both developed and developing governments are concerned about increasing agriculture production efficiency. The shape validity of the environmental Kuznets curve is also varied between the developed and developing groups. From the policy perspective, it is suggested that the government should reform its policies to avoid carbon activities and enhance the agricultural sector on a priority basis to increase the efficiency of current raw resources, generate jobs, and reap a variety of other advantages.

The impact of preferential trade agreements on bilateral trade: A structural gravity model analysis.

Trade agreements are thought to raise trade integration, but existing preferential trade agreements (PTAs) are insufficient in measuring market access of products. This study develops a product-based coverage index of PTAs using the World Trade Organization (WTO) preferential trade agreements and calculates bilateral trade measures using the EORA multi-regional input-output (MRIO) tables covering 189 countries worldwide over the period 1990-2015; the structural gravity model is employed to test how PTAs affect bilateral trade. Our findings show that countries sharing a common PTA could boost the trade volume compared to those without PTAs, supporting the trade creation effect. However, the trade promotion effect of the product-based coverage index of PTAs is significant only if the member countries are low-and middle-income countries. Further, the wide range of product liberalization brought by PTAs can promote global production networks by stimulating the trade of intermediate goods. Our results are important for understanding the market access effect of PTAs with the increasing development of trade integration and global value chains (GVCs).

The impact of trade on energy efficiency in the global value chain: A simultaneous equation approach.

Fostering energy efficiency is one of the most effective ways to sustain economic growth while addressing climate change and limiting emissions. On the other hand, the pattern of international trade has changed many folds. The present study quantified the value-added trade (VAT) and developed a simultaneous equation model to empirically analyze the impact of value-added trade on energy efficiency in the global value chains (GVC). The Super-SBM model is used to estimate energy-efficiency. Empirical results indicate that India, Brazil, USA, Poland, France, Turkey, Israel, Italy are super-energy efficient, as their efficiency score is greater than 1. Secondly, value-added trade significantly improves energy efficiency by 0.434 after controlled the time and country effects. In addition, trade is divided into value-added exports and value-added imports to describe the internal trade mechanism, which depicts that the magnitude of the energy efficiency effect of value-added exports (0.011) is greater than that of imports (0.009). The findings also suggest that investment in R&D, foreign investment, and human education significantly improves energy efficiency. Foreign direct investment (FDI) positively increases the energy efficiency after controlled the unobserved fixed effects of country and year. It reflects the importance of the technology diffusion on increasing energy efficiency through FDI. Additionally, political regimes have also major impacts on both energy efficiency and value-added trade.

Inequalities by energy sources: An assessment of environmental quality.

Energy demand is rising day by day, driven mainly by the development of countries. At the same time, uneven economic growth in countries is the prime cause of inequality in energy consumption. Keeping in view the worth of energy in the growth process, this study quantifies the impact of energy inequalities and trade on environmental quality over the period 1995-2018 for 57 countries. The Theil approach is used to quantify inter-and intra-regional disparities in five energy sources; oil, coal, natural gas hydroelectricity, and renewable energy. The results show that North America has the highest oil consumption inequality between the regions while East Asia & Pacific has the highest index value within the regions. Coal consumption inequality is declining in North America, but not in East Asia and the Pacific. Europe & Central Asia, and North America have the highest inequalities in natural gas consumption between the regions. Inequality is shrinking in hydropower consumption between the regions, however, such trend has not loomed within the regions. Europe & Central Asia and East Asia & Pacific have major renewable consumption inequalities within the regions. Generally, there is a decreasing temporal trend in energy consumption inequalities of all energy sources. The GMM technique is applied to investigate the impact of energy inequalities and trade openness on environmental quality. The results reveal that energy inequalities degrade environmental quality. Moreover, trade has a positive impact on environmental quality. However, democratic countries can be advantageous to improve the environmental quality. The study implies that countries should take actions to reduce energy inequalities within and between the regions. Specialization in production through trade can also be an option for improvement in the environment.

The impact of CEO tenure on corporate social and environmental performance: an emerging country's analysis.

This paper analyzes the extent to which CEO (chief executive officer) tenure affects the corporate social and environmental performance of all nonfinancial Chinese firms listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges during 2009-2015. The study uses a fixed-effect panel regression model by considering the overtime data across the firms. 2SLS regression model then is used to control the problem of endogeneity. The study confirms the negative effect (8.8%) of the increase in CEO tenure on the corporate social and environmental performance. The findings also explain that the corporate social and environmental performance of CEOs increases significantly in the initial years of service than in their later years. The study concludes that an inverse relationship between CEO tenure and corporate social and environmental performance is more pronounced with a higher percentage of independent directors, where CEOs have longer anticipated employment tenure and firms under state control, consistent with the signalling explanation of career concern and career horizon effect. Finally, the impact of CEO tenure on corporate social and environmental performance has become stronger in recent years.

Energy consumption and financial development indicators nexuses in Asian economies: a dynamic seemingly unrelated regression approach.

In recent times, financial development and industrial progression accrue energy demand. Therefore, the present research is investigating the nexuses of energy consumption-financial development indicators for 32 Asian economies including the FDI, economic growth, and urban sprawl. The long-run marginal impacts and causal linkage are estimated through the dynamic seemingly unrelated regression and the heterogeneous causality respectively. The estimates infer that financial development indicators are deteriorating the energy consumption in the Asian region, while both FDI and urban sprawl accrue energy consumption. However, economy-wise estimates infer the heterogeneous impacts on energy consumption. Heterogenous causality infers a bidirectional causality among the financial development indicators and energy consumption. There is a need to devise the energy policies related to the financial sector for sustainable usage energy and a clean environment.

An analysis between financial development, institutions, and the environment: a global view.

Financial development is important for the growth of a country which indirectly affects the environment adversely through industrialization. However, in the presence of strong institutions, this adverse effect can be reduced. The main concern of the present study is to estimate the relation between CO2 and financial development (FD) in the presence of economic institutions as an interactive term. A sample of 101 countries has been selected for econometric analysis for the period from 1995 to 2017. The cross-section dependence test statistics for dependency, CIPS and CADF for panel unit root test, Westerlund test to ascertain the long-run affiliations, and FMOLS to extract the long-run coefficients have been applied. Dumitrescu and Hurlin test is also employed to know about the causal nature of the panel series. The findings show that financial development has a positive relationship with CO2. However, after inclusion of economic intuitions, the adverse impact of financial development on the environment is reduced. The study also confirms the presence of environmental Kuznets curve in the context of income and financial development. The findings imply that financial development can help to improve environment quality if it is accompanied with strong institutional framework such as assurance of property rights, government integrity, and liberalization in financial sector.