Visiting Fellow Paper: Exploring the Development, Environment, Trade, and Technology Nexus in the CAREC Region -- A Path Analysis from Technology to Sustainable Development

CAREC Institute Visiting Fellow Program paper “Exploring the Development, Environment, Trade, and Technology (DETT) Nexus in the CAREC Region: A Path Analysis from Technology to Sustainable Development,” authored by Rabia Nazir, examines the role of international trade, environmental quality, and information and communication technology (ICT) in driving sustainable development (SD). Using trade and environmental quality as mediating factors, the study examines the direct and indirect effects of ICT on SD (proxied by GDP). It uses a structural equation method to investigate the relationship between trade, environmental quality, ICT, and SD using data on the CAREC economies from 2000 to 2022.

The findings show that the total impact of ICT on GDP is positive; ICT has a positive impact on trade, energy consumption, and ecological footprint but a negative impact on energy efficiency. In turn, all these variables—except for energy efficiency—have positively impacted GDP. The study’s conclusions have important ramifications directly through ICT to improve SD and indirectly through reducing environmental degradation and improving trade. This study extends the prior literature by examining the moderating effect of trade and environmental quality on the relationship between ICT and SD.