Estimating the Effects of Economic Complexity and Technological Innovations on CO 2 Emissions: Policy Instruments for N-11 Countries

Jiangling Yu, Feng Ju, Muhammad Wahab, Ephraim Bonah Agyekum, Clement Matasane and Solomon Eghosa Uhunamure ()
Additional contact information
Jiangling Yu: MBA Education Center, School of Management, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255000, China
Feng Ju: School of Business Management, Weifang Vocational College, Weifang 261000, China
Muhammad Wahab: Department of Computer Science, The Government College University, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan
Ephraim Bonah Agyekum: Department of Nuclear and Renewable Energy, Ural Federal University Named after the First President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, 19 Mira Street, 620002 Ekaterinburg, Russia
Clement Matasane: Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, P.O. Box 652, Cape Town 8000, South Africa
Solomon Eghosa Uhunamure: Faculty of Applied Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, P.O. Box 652, Cape Town 8000, South Africa

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 24, 1-15

Abstract: Every year, the problem of environmental degradation becomes more severe globally. It is widely believed that technological innovation and economic complexity are understood as structural transformations toward a more sophisticated and knowledge-based means of production as a viable way to fight against climate change. However, the studies integrating these two elements into the same environmental policy framework are still scant. With this in view, this study investigates the dynamic linkage between economic complexity, technological innovations, economic growth, and nonrenewable energy on CO 2 emissions in the N-11 nations. This study uses data from 1980 to 2020. It applies the recent method of cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lags (CS-ARDL). The cointegration method shows a strong association among the variables. The findings of the CS-ARDL show that technological innovations are negatively related to environmental degradation, while nonrenewable energy deteriorates the environment by escalating CO 2 emissions. This study fails to validate the EKC in the N-11 nations. In addition, economic complexity is helping these economies to achieve environmental sustainability by lowering environmental pollution. Based on the findings, this work recommends that the N-11 countries restructure their industrial sectors with low-carbon energy sources. For this purpose, these countries should increase their research and development budgets. This will help in launching environmentally friendly energy sources in their economic development model.

Keywords: economic complexity; CO 2 emissions; technological innovations; economic growth; N-11 nations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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