The Impact of CO2 Emissions and Energy Consumption on Economic Growth: A Panel Data Analysis

This study aims to examine the dynamic connection among economic growth, CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and foreign direct investments (FDIs). The panel section considers the period of 2000–2020 for 25 EU Member States excluding Malta and Croatia. The annual data are retrieved from the World Bank and Eurostat databases. The empirical analysis used estimation procedures such as first- and second-generation panel unit root tests (CIPS) and panel ARDL based on the three estimators PMG, MG, and DFE. The Hausman test indicated that the PMG estimator is the most efficient. The PMG and DFE estimators suggested that there exist only short-run causalities from CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and FDIs to GDP growth rate, while the MG estimator proved the existence of both short-run and long-run causalities. Three hypotheses on the positive correlation between the three regressors and GDP growth rate were in general confirmed. The identified causalities may represent recommendations for policymakers to stimulate the renewable energy sector to improve sustainable development.

The Impact of Digitalization on Public Administration, Economic Development, and Well-Being in the EU Countries

Purpose: Digitalization has been the driving change in creating jobs and increasing economic growth in recent years. However, the digitalization of countries and sectors is uneven. The paper focuses on various factors that have an impact on the economic development and well-being in EU countries. Its purpose is to show the evolution of EU countries in terms of digital transformation and how other indicators, such as e-government, human development index, labour productivity, and economic growth influenced the well-being in EU countries in 2019-2021. Design/methodology/approach: The dataset consists of 15 numerical indicators extracted from Eurostat and World Bank databases. We apply principal component analysis and cluster analysis. Findings and Practical Implications: The main research results show that the first dimension - named the impact of innovation on well-being - is dominated by e-government, the percentage of ICT specialists in total, internet use by individuals, the Human Development Index, the Digitalization Index, the Happiness Indicator, human capital, and the integration of digital technology. The second dimension is characterized by government expenses and productivity. Finally, the third dimension is dominated by the GDP growth rate. 77.67% of the total variance is explained by the first three principal components. Originality: Four clusters have been identified by means of the K-Means clustering algorithm. All four clusters are well determined, with cluster 1 including the three Nordic countries ranking first, followed by cluster 3 of well-developed countries and cluster 4 containing mainly emerging economies.