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Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing economies, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), has become a focal point of discussion. This study contributes to this discourse by investigating the effects of international capital flows on SDGs in SSA, with a specific focus on the moderating mechanisms that influence these effects. Using data from 41 SSA countries spanning 2000 to 2018, the findings emphasize the crucial role of governance quality and ICT diffusion as effective factors moderating the nexus between international capital flows and SDGs. The study reveals a nuanced impact of international capital flows on sustainable development, encompassing both positive and negative effects across economic, social, and environmental dimensions. However, the presence of good governance practices and widespread diffusion of information and communication technologies (ICTs) serves as crucial conditional factors, enhancing the positive effects of international capital flows on economic and social sustainability while simultaneously mitigating their potential adverse effects on environmental sustainability. Through improvements in governance structures and the promotion of ICT diffusion, policymakers can create an environment conductive to maximizing the benefits of international capital flows while minimizing their adverse repercussions, thereby fostering sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa. • We examine the effects of governance and ICT on international capital flows-SDGs nexus. • International capital flows(ICF) negatively influenced the environmental sustainability index. • ICF have weak positive effect of the economic and social sustainability indices. • Good governance modulate the negative impacts of ICF on on environmental sustainability. • Good governance and ICT complement ICF for achieving economic and social sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the association between institutional quality, natural resources and multidimensional well-being in Saudi Arabia from 1990 to 2021, filling a notable gap in the existing literature on the linkage between human well-being and natural resources in a country with significant global energy influence. By integrating Sen's capabilities approach and constructing comprehensive indices of human well-being, including quality of life (QL) and standard of living (SL), this study specifically investigates the direct effects of natural resources wealth on these two indices and emphasizes the role of institutional quality as a transmission channel. The results show that natural resources, particularly total natural resource rents and oil rents, have positive direct effects on QL and SL, suggesting that effective resource management can enhance human well-being and economic prosperity. Furthermore, institutional quality plays a key role in shaping this relationship, with factors such as institutional quality index, government stability, and law and order having net positive effects on QL and SL. The study also identifies critical thresholds for controlling corruption, beyond which the positive effects of natural resource rents on QL and SL become more pronounced. These results highlight the importance of accountable and strong institutions to ensure equitable distribution of benefits from natural resources for human well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving the global decarbonization goal under global conflicts is becoming more uncertain. Within this context, this article seeks to examine the effects of global environmental management and efforts to achieve this goal. Specifically, it investigates the role of democracy, control of corruption, and civil society participation as mechanisms that moderate the impact of environmental policy and legislation, particularly clean energy policy and climate change legislation (laws and regulations), on carbon emissions in highly polluted countries. The empirical results show that (i) the effects of democracy-clean energy policies and climate change legislation are relatively small in reducing carbon emissions; (ii) the effect of controlling corruption-climate change regulations is strong in reducing emissions, meaning that governments with higher control of corruption are more effective at enacting and executing laws and regulations dealing with environmental challenges which help achieve desirable environmental outcomes; (iii) strong civil society participation helps the execution of clean energy policies and climate change legislation to curb emissions, and (iv) the robustness check also provides strong evidence that higher control of corruption can contribute to the effectiveness of these policies and legislation in reducing carbon emissions. Overall, these findings suggest that the efficiency of well-designed environmental policy and legislation should be supported by a combination of higher civil society participation and greater control of corruption that can efficiently enforce such policies and legislation. • We examine the role of climate policies and legislation (CPL) in meeting net-zero emission. • We focus on the moderating role of democracy, control of corruption, and civil society. • The interaction effects of democracy and CPL on reducing carbon emissions are relatively small. • Corruption control complements climate change regulations for reducing carbon emissions. • Strong civil society participation complements CPL for reducing carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Complementarity between entrepreneurship and educational capital in reducing CO 2 emissions is examined. • The four types of entrepreneurship increase the level carbon emissions (CO) in developing countries. • Necessity and informal entrepreneurship have the highest contribution to CO. • Education capital can be used to reduce the negative effect of necessity and opportunity entrepreneurship on CO. • Education capital can be used to reduce the negative effect of formal and informal entrepreneurship on CO. This inquiry extends previous literature by assessing the role of educational capital (educational levels and government spending on education) in modulating the negative impact of different types of entrepreneurship on environmental quality for 32 developing economies. Four different types of entrepreneurship are included in the analysis, namely: opportunity entrepreneurship, necessity entrepreneurship, formal entrepreneurship, and informal entrepreneurship. The followings are the main findings provided by the system Generalized Method of Moments (Sys-GMM): (i) all the four types of entrepreneurship increase carbon emissions; (ii) necessity and informal entrepreneurship have the highest contribution to carbon emissions compared to opportunity and formal entrepreneurship; (iii) the conditional impact of educational capital, particularly tertiary education and government expenditure on education, reduces carbon emissions in the models pertaining to opportunity and necessity entrepreneurship; however, only tertiary education reduces carbon emissions in the models pertaining to formal and informal entrepreneurship; (iv) the net impacts on carbon emissions from the complementarity between educational capital and both opportunity and necessity entrepreneurship are negative and significant only for the tertiary education and government expenditure in education, indicating that these later can be used to modulate the negative impact of opportunity and necessity entrepreneurship on environmental quality; (v) the net impacts on carbon emissions from the complementarity between educational capital and both formal and informal entrepreneurship is negative and significant only for the tertiary education, meaning that this later can be used to modulate the negative impact of formal and informal entrepreneurship on environmental quality. Contributions to the theoretical and empirical literature, implications to policymakers and practitioners, and future research directions are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The effects of FDI and foreign aids on ending poverty and hunger through agricultural production is examined. • Agricultural production mediates the relationship between FDI and poverty reduction (PR). • Agricultural production mediates the relationship between PR and both social infrastructure aid and agriculture-forestry-fishing aid. • Agricultural production also explains the relationship between FDI, social infrastructure aid and food security. The Sustainable Development Goals of eradicating poverty in all its forms and ensuring zero hunger by 2030 remain among the main challenges facing humanity. Despite the high flows of foreign capital (foreign aids and FDI) and the importance of the agricultural sector in developing countries, the question that arises is why these countries still live in the vicious circle of poverty and food insecurity? To answer this question, we applied the three step-approach proposed by Baron and Kenny (1986) to demonstrate how foreign direct investment (FDI) and four types of foreign aids [social infrastructure aid (SIA), investment aid (IA), Non-investment aid (NIA), and agriculture-forestry-fishing aid (AFFA)] reduce poverty and ensure food security through the development of the agriculture sector. Using data for 50 developing countries over the period 1995–2015, we found, in the first step of this approach, that FDI and the four types of foreign aids have positive and statistically significant impacts on poverty reduction and food security, except for NIA, which has an insignificant impact on food security. In the second step, we found that FDI and only two types of foreign aids (SIA and AFFA) have positive impacts on agricultural production. In the third step, we found that agricultural production in developing countries played a mediating role between FDI, SIA, AFFA, and poverty reduction. It also explains the relationship between FDI, SIA, and food security. Accordingly, we can conclude that ending poverty and hunger in developing nations depends on the development of the agriculture sector, the inflows of FDI, and the composition of foreign aids given to the host countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Policymakers in many developing countries are facing pressures between the needs of environmental sustainability. In this context, the present article aims to examine the determinants of environmental sustainability in Saudi Arabia by addressing the following two questions: Is there an EKC in Saudi Arabia? Does financial development, human development, FDI, and trade openness lead to environmental improvement in Saudi Arabia? The empirical findings show that (i) per capita income, financial development, FDI and foreign trade positively contributes to environmental degradation; (ii) EKC hypothesis is validated in the case of Saudi Arabia; (iii) environmental degradation is very sensitive to the levels of financial development, FDI, and foreign trade; and corresponding thresholds were calculated. Policy makers in Saudi Arabia are invited to augment these variables at the level of the calculated thresholds (turning point) to attain the desired impact on environmental improvement. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • Our finding shows that financial development, GDP, FDI and trade contribute negatively to environmental quality. • We also confirm the validity of EKC hypothesis in Saudi Arabia. • Inverted U-shape relationships are found between emissions and the variables FDI, financial development, and trade. • Corresponding thresholds are calculated and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to the prior discussion of the emerging research on entrepreneurship and sustainable development, the purpose of this study is to investigate the ability of the entrepreneurial activity to simultaneously enhance economic growth, advance environmental objectives, and improve social conditions in developing countries. We mainly found that entrepreneurship in these countries positively contributes to the economic and social dimensions of sustainable development, while its contribution to the environmental dimension is negative. The results of causality test confirm the interactions among entrepreneurship and these three dimensions in both short and long-run. Limitations and future research directions, some managerial and policy implications for entrepreneurial action in sustainable development are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to exhibit an exhaustive survey which is related to the great flight of the literature of energy- environment-growth nexus at the individual and regional scale studies covering the period from 1978 to 2014. The survey takes into consideration the sample (country, region, etc.), periods covering, econometric strategies, and conclusions. Our survey is based on the causality direction among (i) the energy use variables (electricity, nuclear, renewable and non-renewable) and output growth; (ii) between economic growth and environment; and between the three variables at the same time. Globally, these surveys provide paradoxical and not conclusive results which energy consumption can boost economic growth through the productivity enhancement and it can boost also the environmental damages through the enhancement of pollutant emissions. Our survey sheds more the lights on the energy-environment-growth literature by giving an extensive listing (1978–2014) of these causal linkages among the energy use variables, environment and economic growth for both individual and collective cases. There is a unanimous consensus about the importance of dealing with such dynamic relationship, which is seems to be a cornerstone element in setting any ambition strategies (energy, ecological and economics). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the causal relationship between two types of energy variables and economic growth using dynamic simultaneous-equation panel data models for 17 developed and developing countries. Our results indicate that there is a unidirectional causality running from nuclear consumption to economic growth in Belgium and Spain, while a unidirectional causality running from economic growth to nuclear consumption is supported in Bulgaria, Canada, Netherlands, and Sweden. A bidirectional relationship appears in Argentina, Brazil, France, Pakistan, and the USA, while no causality exists in Finland, Hungary, India, Japan, Switzerland, and the U.K. Second, the results for the second nexus among renewable energy and economic growth show that there is a unidirectional causality running from renewable consumption to economic growth in Hungary, India, Japan, Netherlands, and Sweden, while there exist a unidirectional running from economic growth to renewable consumption in Argentina, Spain, and Switzerland. A bidirectional relationship is supported in Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Pakistan, and the USA, while no causality exists in Brazil, Finland, and Switzerland. Third, we find the existence of a bidirectional causality between nuclear consumption and economic; and a unidirectional causality running from economic growth to renewable energy consumption for the global panel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an extensive review of the rapidly growing in the literature on the nexus between economic growth and four types of energy consumption: total energy consumption, electricity consumption, nuclear consumption, and renewable consumption. The various hypotheses associated with the causal interaction between these variables along with a survey of the empirical literature are also discussed. The survey focuses on country coverage, periods, modeling techniques, and empirical conclusions. A general observation from these studies that results are found to be sensitive to methodology and type of energy considered. The empirical results for the specific countries surveyed show that (i) for energy consumption-growth nexus: 29% supported the growth hypothesis, 27% the feedback hypothesis, 23% the conservation hypothesis, and 21% the neutrality hypothesis; (ii) for the electricity consumption-growth nexus: 40% supported the growth hypothesis, 33% the feedback hypothesis, and 27% conservation hypothesis; (iii) for the nuclear consumption-growth nexus: 60% supported the neutrality hypothesis, and 40% the growth hypothesis; and (iv) for the renewable consumption-growth nexus: 40% supported the neutrality hypothesis, 40% the conservation hypothesis, and 20% the growth hypothesis. These mixed results may be attributed to the different used data, selected variables, and econometric approaches undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new sustainable development goals (SDGs) call for actions to close the gap between the protection of the environment and the socio-economic development. To shed light on the link among economy, society, and ecology, this study assesses the ability of renewable energy to moderate the effects of CO 2 emissions on human development and economic growth for 31 transitional economies. Our findings substantiate that: (i) CO 2 emissions have unconditional negative effects on human development and economic growth; (ii) the net impacts on human development and economic growth are positive from the interplay between renewable energy and CO 2 emissions, i.e. renewable energy reduces the influences of per capita CO 2 emissions on human development and economic growth; (iii) renewable energy interacts with CO 2 intensity and CO 2 emissions from liquid fuel consumption to negatively influence economic growth and human development. To dampen these net negative effects, corresponding renewable energy thresholds were computed and discussed. Theoretical and empirical contributions, implications to policymakers, and practitioners are also discussed. • Effect of renewable energy (RE) on environment, economic growth, and human development (HD) is examined. • CO 2 emissions (CO) have unconditional negative effects on economic growth and HD. • RE complements CO 2 emissions to enhance economic growth and inclusive human development. • RE interacts with CO from liquid fuel consumption and CO 2 intensity to negatively affect economic growth. • RE interacts with CO from liquid fuel consumption and CO 2 intensity to negatively affect HD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new sustainable development goals (SDGs) call for actions to close the gap between the protection of the environment and the socio-economic development. To shed light on the link among economy, society, and ecology, this study assesses the ability of renewable energy to moderate the effects of CO 2 emissions on human development and economic growth for 31 transitional economies. Our findings substantiate that: (i) CO 2 emissions have unconditional negative effects on human development and economic growth; (ii) the net impacts on human development and economic growth are positive from the interplay between renewable energy and CO 2 emissions, i.e. renewable energy reduces the influences of per capita CO 2 emissions on human development and economic growth; (iii) renewable energy interacts with CO 2 intensity and CO 2 emissions from liquid fuel consumption to negatively influence economic growth and human development. To dampen these net negative effects, corresponding renewable energy thresholds were computed and discussed. Theoretical and empirical contributions, implications to policymakers, and practitioners are also discussed. • Effect of renewable energy (RE) on environment, economic growth, and human development (HD) is examined. • CO 2 emissions (CO) have unconditional negative effects on economic growth and HD. • RE complements CO 2 emissions to enhance economic growth and inclusive human development. • RE interacts with CO from liquid fuel consumption and CO 2 intensity to negatively affect economic growth. • RE interacts with CO from liquid fuel consumption and CO 2 intensity to negatively affect HD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study contributes to the existing environmental economics literature by examining the short- and long-run impacts of renewable and nuclear energy consumption on CO 2 emissions in the case of 15OECD countries over the period 1990–2018 using both the Fully Modified OLS (FMOLS) and the vector error correction model approach (VECM) estimation methods. The results of the FMOLS show that: (i) investment in nuclear energy reduces CO 2 emissions in Canada, Netherlands, Japan, Switzerland, Czech Republic and UK, (ii) investment in renewable energy reduces CO 2 emissions in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, UK, US, Japan, Switzerland, Finland, Czech Republic; however, it increases CO 2 emissions in Netherlands and South Korea, and (iii) both nuclear and renewable energy consumption reduces carbon emissions for the panel estimations. Moreover, the results of the VECM method show that nuclear and renewable energies reduce CO2 emissions in the long-term. Our results suggest that the best option to reduce CO 2 emissions is to aim for a mix of nuclear and renewable energy. No need to choose. On the contrary: the two sources of energy are complementary. Policy implications are also discussed. Image 1 • Investment in nuclear energy and renewable energy reduced CO2 emissions in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, UK, US, Japan, Switzerland, Finland, Czech Republic; however, it increases CO2 emissions in Netherlands and South Korea. • Both nuclear and renewable energy consumption reduces carbon emissions for the panel estimations. • The best option to reduce CO2 emissions is to aim for a mix of nuclear and renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Closing the gap between carbon emissions and economic development is one of the solutions for reaching the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The role of renewable energy in rebalancing environmental and economic conditions is becoming a significant subject of some debates in the current discussion circles. Hence, the main purpose of this article is to use both growth and environmental functions to demonstrate the effectiveness of renewable energy in promoting economic growth and mitigating carbon emissions in the case of 15 major renewable energy-consuming countries using both fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and vector error correction model (VECM) estimation techniques. The results of the FMOLS method show the efficiency of renewable energy in increasing economic growth and reducing carbon emissions. We also find, from the VECM Granger causality test, that there is (i) a bidirectional causality between economic growth and renewable energy inshort- and long-run for both estimated functions, validating the feedback hypothesis; (ii) no causal relationship between CO 2 emissions and renewable energy in the long-run, but a bidirectional causality between the two variables is found in the short-run; (iii) a bidirectional relationship between economic growth and CO 2 emissions is found in both short and long-run. Policy and practical implications and future research directions are also discussed. • Using the fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and the vector error correction model (VECM) techniques. • A bidirectional causality between economic growth and renewable energy inshort and long-run for both models, validating the feedback hypothesis. • A bidirectional relationship between economic growth and CO 2 emissions in both short and long run. • No causal relationship between CO 2 emissions and renewable energy in the long run, but a bidirectional causality between the two variables is found in the short run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how good governance and technological innovation complement foreign direct investment (FDI) to mitigate carbon emissions in twenty-three emerging economies for the period 1996–2014. Based on the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) approach, we established the following results: First, from the non-interactive regressions, FDI inflows have positive effects on the four indicators of carbon emissions while increasing governance quality and technological innovation have negative effects on these indicators. Second, from the interactive regressions, the interactions between FDI and both political and institutional governance decrease the level of CO 2 emissions. Moreover, the interactions between technological innovation and FDI reduce CO 2 emissions in all the estimated models, except in the model pertaining to CO 2 emissions from electricity and heat production; as a result, environmental quality is improved. Policy implications and future research directions are also discussed. • The impact foreign direct investment (FDI) on carbon emissions is examined. • We also examine the roles of governance and innovation (TI) in reducing this impact. • The interplay between FDI and governance reduces the level of CO 2 emissions. • The interplay between TI and FDI reduces CO 2 emissions. • Findings hold for 23 emerging economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We examine the effect of political stability on renewable energy production (RENP) • We investigate whether the financial development affect RENP • Support for our hypotheses has been provided based on panel quantile approach • The effect of political stability index on REP is heterogeneous. • We argued that financial development affects positively renewable energy production • The findings could guide the necessary energy policy transformation in MENA Region With the growing pressure from the adverse impact of environmental pollution and climate change, the deployment of renewable sources is becoming one of the economic priorities for governments worldwide. Despite potential gains of renewable sources, little evidence is provided in the literature about the determinants of renewable energy deployment in the MENA region. In particular, whether political stability, governance quality and financial development matter or not for unleashing the potentials of renewable energy programs. To this end, this paper aims to fill the gap by examining the impact of political stability, quality of governance and institutions, and financial development on the deployment of renewable energy production in 9 selected MENA countries using annual data over the period 1984-2014. Accordingly, an innovative panel quantile regression model with non-additive fixed effect has been developed to tackle this issue. Our findings confirm that the effect of political stability is clearly heterogeneous and supports earlier claims about the importance of political stability to foster investments in the renewable energy sector. Findings also show that financial development has a positive impact on renewable energy production. In addition, we also find that the interaction term between governance effectiveness and financial development is negative for the lower quantiles but positive for the highest quantiles. These findings support our hypotheses and suggest that political stability, governance effectiveness, and financial development are essential drivers for promoting renewable energy production in the MENA region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability has become an important and widely applied concept in the environmental economics literature. Despite the numerous studies employing an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), this model has been critiqued for its incompleteness. This article builds a modified EKC model to examine the contribution of financial development for achieving sustainable development in the case of 14 selected Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. Using the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) and Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (CCEMG) estimators, our empirical results show that the EKC hypothesis is valid for per capita CO2 emissions and ecological footprint. The results provide evidence also of the presence of linear and non-linear relationships between financial development and non-sustainability and indicate that financial development is likely to have a small long-term impact on sustainable development. This suggests that current efforts aimed at protecting the environment and achieving sustainability will be ineffective given the extent of the problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water pricing reform is crucial because it must increase consumers’ well-being and enhance the incentive role of tariff. This paper proposes a scenario-based modeling approach to simulate the impact of water pricing reform and water supply restriction policy on consumers’ welfare. To do so, we estimated the Algerian households’ water demand function using an original survey. The estimation results are used to simulate seven scenarios and calculate the variation in consumers’ welfare. We show that reforming water pricing policy will lead to a significant reduction in consumers’ welfare (i.e., −2.4% of household net income per month). Furthermore, a restriction of daily water supply hours results in a welfare loss equivalent to a water price increase by 10%. However, by increasing the second tariff block to production cost (i.e., 28.45 DZD/m3), welfare loss, in terms of net income, is evaluated at only 52 Algerian dinars, which is the lowest loss compared the other scenarios. The paper calls for the adoption of the policy option that causes the lowest losses in term of consumers’ welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]