Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The nexus of environmental degradation and technology innovation and adoption: an experience from dragon

  • Published:
Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Chinese economy traces an outstanding economics growth and development by utilizing its natural resources and cheap labor force along with environmental problems. China is focusing on policies related to technology for people’s well-being. Despite this, about 2 million Chinese are going to die yearly due to air pollution regarding the Global Air Quality Report of the World Health Organization. The marginal impact of technology innovation and adoption is inaudible in the Chinese pollution equation. Therefore, this study analysis spotlights on nexuses of technology innovation and adoption CO2 emission for the Chinese economy, respectively. The marginal impacts infer that technology innovation and trade openness are mitigating the CO2 emission, whereas technology adoption and GDP enrich the CO2 emission in the Chinese context. Lag periods of technology innovation and adoption also have significant linkage with CO2 emission. Hence, an increase in technology innovation will help lessen the CO2 emission. The introduction of green energy and efficient ICT equipment is needed to tackle environmental degradation. The policy-makers can put a carbon tax on inefficient industrial processes and products for sustainable development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

ICT:

Information and telecommunication technologies

TI:

Technology innovation

TA:

Technology adoption

LMIC:

Lower middle-income countries

CO2 :

Carbon dioxide emission

PCA:

Principal component analysis

JB:

Jarque-Bera test

CUSUMSQ:

Cumulative sum of squares of recursive residuals

ARDL:

Autoregressive distributive lag model

GDP:

Gross domestic product

WHO:

World Health Organization

WDI:

World Development Indicator

ADF:

Augmented Dicky-Fuller

PP:

Phillips-Perron

CUSUM:

Cumulative sum of recursive residuals

References

  • Aghaei M, Rezagholizadeh M (2017) The impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on economic growth in the OIC countries. Econ Environ Stud 17:255–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed Z, Wang Z, Mahmood F, Hafeez M, Ali N (2019a) Does globalization increase the ecological footprint? Empirical evidence from Malaysia. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:18565–18582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahmed Z, Wang Z, Ali S (2019b) Investigating the non-linear relationship between urbanization and CO2 emissions: an empirical analysis. Air Qual Atmos Health 12:945–953. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-019-00711-x

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Albiman M, Sulong Z (2016) The role of ICT use to the economic growth in Sub Saharan African region (SSA). J Sci Technol Policy Manag 7:306–329

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Mulali U, Saboori B, Ozturk I (2015a) Investigating the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in Vietnam. Energy Policy 76:123–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2014.11.019

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Al-Mulali U, Sheau-Ting L, Ozturk I (2015b) The global move toward Internet shopping and its influence on pollution: an empirical analysis. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22:9717–9727

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Añón Higón D, Gholami R, Shirazi F (2017) ICT and environmental sustainability: a global perspective. Telematics Inform 34:85–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Apergis N, Ozturk I (2015) Testing environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in Asian countries. Ecol Indic 52:16–22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.11.026

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asongu SA, Le Roux S, Biekpe N (2017) Enhancing ICT for environmental sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa. Technol Forecast Soc Chang 127:209–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2017.09.022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asongu SA, Le Roux S, Biekpe N (2018) Enhancing ICT for environmental sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa. Technol Forecast Soc Chang 127:209–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balsalobre-Lorente D, Shahbaz M, Ponz-Tienda JL, Cantos-Cantos JM (2017) Energy innovation in the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC): a theoretical approach. In: Carbon footprint and the industrial life cycle (243–268). Springer, Cham

  • Ben M, Ben S (2015) The environmental Kuznets curve, economic growth, renewable and non-renewable energy, and trade in Tunisia. Renew Sust Energ Rev 47:173–185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charfeddine L, Al-malk AY, Al K (2018) Is it possible to improve environmental quality without reducing economic growth: evidence from the Qatar economy. Renew Sust Energ Rev 82:25–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coroama VC, Hilty LM, Heiri E, Horn FM (2013) The direct energy demand of internet data flows. J Ind Ecol 17:680–688

    Google Scholar 

  • das Neves Almeida TA, García-Sánchez IM (2017) Sociopolitical and economic elements to explain the environmental performance of countries. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24(3):3006–3026

  • Engle RF, Yoo BS (1987) Forecasting and testing in co-integrated systems. J Econom 35(1):143–159

  • EPI Rank (2018) Environmental Performance Index by Yale University. https://epi.envirocenter.yale.edu. Accessed 10 Mar 2019

  • Hafeez M, Chunhui Y, Strohmaier D, Ahmed M, Jie L (2018) Does finance affect environmental degradation: evidence from One Belt and One Road Initiative region? Environ Sci Pollut Res 25:9579–9592. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-1317-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hafeez M, Yuan C, Khelfaoui I, Sultan Musaad OA, Waqas Akbar M, Jie L (2019a) Evaluating the energy consumption inequalities in the one belt and one road region: implications for the environment. Energies 12:1358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hafeez M, Yuan C, Shahzad K, Aziz B, Iqbal K, Raza S (2019b) An empirical evaluation of financial development-carbon footprint nexus in One Belt and Road region. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:25026–25036

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hafeez M, Yuan C, Yuan Q, Zhuo Z, Stromaier D (2019c) A global prospective of environmental degradations: economy and finance. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:25898–25915

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hajko V, Sebri M, Al-Saidi M, Balsalobre-Lorente D (2018) The energy-growth nexus: history, development, and new challenges. In: The economics and econometrics of the energy-growth nexus (1–46). Academic Press

  • Hamidi A, Ramavandi B (2020) Evaluation and scientometric analysis of researches on air pollution in developing countries from 1952 to 2018. Air Qual Atmos Health. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-020-00836-4

  • Houghton J (2010) ICT and the environment in developing countries: opportunities and developments. Dev Dimens ICTs Dev Improv Policy Coherence 6:149

  • Ioannides YM, Overman HG, Rossi-Hansberg E, Schmidheiny K (2008) The effect of information and communication technologies on urban structure. Econ Policy 23:202–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ITU (2018) Statistics. https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx. Accessed 10 Mar 2019

  • ITU (2018a) Environmental Sustainability and Climate Change. https://www.itu.int/en/action/climate/Pages/stat/default.aspx. Accessed 10 Mar 2019

  • Jayakar K, Park EA (2013) Broadband availability and employment: an analysis of county-level data from the National Broadband Map. J Inf Policy 3:181–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johansen S (1988) Statistical analysis of cointegration vectors. J Econ Dyn Control 12(2–3):231–254

  • Khan N, Baloch MA, Saud S, Fatima T (2018) The effect of ICT on CO2 emissions in emerging economies: does the level of income matters? Environ Sci Pollut Res 25:22850–22860

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landrigan PJ, Fuller R, Acosta N, Adeyi O, Arnold R, Basu NN et al (2018) The Lancet Commission on pollution and health. Lancet 391(10119):462–512

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lennerfors TT, Fors P, van Rooijen J (2015) ICT and environmental sustainability in a changing society. Inf Technol People 28:758–774

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu J, Yuan C, Hafeez M, Yuan Q (2018) The relationship between environment and logistics performance: evidence from Asian countries. J Clean Prod 204:282–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miao Z, Baležentis T, Tian Z, Shao S, Geng Y, Wu R (2019) Environmental performance and regulation effect of China’s atmospheric pollutant emissions: evidence from “three regions and ten urban agglomerations”. Environ Resour Econ 74:211–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mundial B (2018) World Development Indicators (WDI). Recuperado de https://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/home.do

  • Naser M, Afzal I, Gow J (2016) Electricity consumption and information and communication technology in the next eleven emerging economies. Int J Energy Econ Policy 6:381–388

    Google Scholar 

  • Pesaran MH, Shin Y, Smith RJ (2001) Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships. J Appl Econ 16(3):289–326

  • Pradhan RP, Arvin M, Nair M, Bennett S, Bahmani S (2017) ICT-finance- growth nexus: empirical evidence from the Next-11 countries. Cuad Econ 40:115–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Qi X, Han Y, Kou P (2020) Population urbanization, trade openness and carbon emissions: an empirical analysis based on China. Air Qual Atmos Health 13:519–528. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-020-00808-8

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Raheem ID, Tiwari AK, Balsalobre-Lorente D (2020) The role of ICT and financial development in CO2 emissions and economic growth. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27:1912–1922

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rauf A, Liu X, Amin W, Ozturk I, Rehman OU, Hafeez M (2018) Testing EKC hypothesis with energy and sustainable development challenges: a fresh evidence from belt and road initiative economies. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25:1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saboori B, Sulaiman J, Mohd S (2012) Economic growth and CO2 emissions in Malaysia: a cointegration analysis of the environmental Kuznets curve. Energy Policy 51:184–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salam S, Hafeez M, Mahmood MT, Akbar K (2019) The dynamic relation between technology adoption, technology innovation, human capital and economy: comparison of lower-middle-income countries. Interdiscipl Descript Complex Syst 17(1-B):146–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sassi S, Goaied M (2013) Financial development, ICT diffusion and economic growth: lessons from MENA region. Telecommun Policy 37:252–261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2012.12.004

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang Y, Sanchez-Rodrigues V, Leighton E (2015) The use of ICT in road freight transport for CO2 reduction—an exploratory study of the UK’s grocery retail industry. Int J Logist Manag 26:2–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yakunina RP, Bychkov GA (2015) Correlation analysis of the components of the human development index across countries. Proc Econ Finan 24:766–771

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yao X, Yasmeen R, Li Y, Hafeez M, Padda IUH (2019) Free trade agreements and environment for sustainable development: a gravity model analysis. Sustainability 11:597

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yasmeen R, Li Y, Hafeez M, Ahmad H (2018) The trade-environment nexus in light of governance: a global potential. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25:34360–34379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yasmeen R, Li Y, Hafeez M (2019) Tracing the trade–pollution nexus in global value chains: evidence from air pollution indicators. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:5221–5233. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-3956-0

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yuelan P, Akbar MW, Hafeez M, Ahmad M, Zia Z, Ullah S (2019) The nexus of fiscal policy instruments and environmental degradation in China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26:28919–28932. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06071-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zivot E, Andrews DWK (2002) Further evidence on the great crash, the oil-price shock, and the unit-root hypothesis. J Bus Econ Stat 20:25–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the respected Editor Professor Yong S. Chung and anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions and comments to improve manuscript quality.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, No. 10 Xitucheng Haidian District, Beijing, 100876, People’s Republic of China

    Wang Xinmin, Peng Hui & Muhammad Hafeez

  2. Department of Economics, Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan

    Babar Aziz

  3. Shanxi University of Finance and Economics, Taiyuan, Shanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Muhammad Waqas Akbar

  4. Department of Electronics Science and Technology, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

    Muhammad Ayzed Mirza

Authors
  1. Wang Xinmin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peng Hui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Muhammad Hafeez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Babar Aziz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Muhammad Waqas Akbar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Muhammad Ayzed Mirza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Muhammad Hafeez.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 118 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Xinmin, W., Hui, P., Hafeez, M. et al. The nexus of environmental degradation and technology innovation and adoption: an experience from dragon. Air Qual Atmos Health 13, 1119–1126 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-020-00868-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-020-00868-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation