Exploring the Regime Dependent Impacts of Renewable Energy, Growth, and Population on Inclusive Wealth

Inclusive wealth is a key measuring indicator of sustainable development. Long-term development is a process of accumulation and sound management of a portfolio of assets-manufactured capital, natural capital, human and social capital. Existing indicators for measuring economic progress have many limitations such as GDP and HDI and does not focus on sustainability of the nation. Previous indicators are missing true values from the natural resource. The new indicators such as green GDP, index of sustainable and economic welfare, and genuine progress indicators are concern about sustainability. The major objective of this paper is to estimate the inclusive wealth for South Asia from the period of 1990-2010. This study has used wealth accounting methodology and aggregates the value of produced capital, human capital, forest resources and exhaustible resources. Inclusive wealth is an important instrument for human well-being. The main implication of the paper is inclusive wealth make better decisions for achieving sustainable development for South Asia. Accounting for natural capital strength also is useful for educating decision makers and assessing the relative importance of non-market benefits relative to market benefits.

Inclusive wealth (IW) measures the wealth of all the assets from which human wellbeing is derived, including produced, human and natural capital. This metric represents a region’s capacity to create and maintain human wellbeing over time and reflects how human, manufactured, natural and environmental factors interact and contribute to sustainability. However, IW is mostly measured at national levels and thus is difficult to deploy in more fine-grained applications of regional sustainability. To fill this gap, we aimed to develop a hybrid geospatial method to measure IW at a finer resolution using multisource data and geographical technology and to understand how different capital types are distributed and interact at a regional scale. Taking China and Japan as examples, this paper mapped the distribution of IW and its three constituent forms of capital at an approximately 1 km resolution in both countries in 2017. Some patterns that cannot be observed in country-level studies are revealed. First, the IW density of Japan is approximately 6 times that of China, and Tokyo has over three times the IW as that of Beijing. This finding underscores the greater overall sustainability of Japan. Second, the results show clear regional variation and an urban-rural divide of wealth in both countries. There is a northeast-southwest demarcation line that divides China into two parts with different levels of wealth, and the IW of Japan is concentrated along the Taiheiyo Belt. Furthermore, contrasts exist between the distribution of natural and human capital. Natural capital always accounts for very little of the wealth in developed regions with high IW and, in particular, high human capital.

Energy is important in supporting the ease and comfort of human life in this modern era. In fact, countries are increasingly using fossil energy sources to support industrialization and rising prosperity. Unfortunately, this fossil energy also creates health problems and negatively impacts the earth, such as global warming, climate change, and various pollution problems. Various countries responded to this concern by making Paris Agreements to reduce fossil energy use and maximize renewable energy use. This research aims to explore the factors that influence renewable energy consumption. Using a sample data set from 133 countries from 2011 to 2021, we investigate various country characteristics such as economic development, financial growth, human capital, and technological developments in renewable energy consumption. By running a panel regression analysis, our investigations show that a country’s financial growth and human capital development still significantly negatively affect renewable energy consumption. Meanwhile, we also cannot find evidence of a significant relationship between a country’s economic growth and technological developments in increasing renewable energy consumption. Renewable energy consumption for a country is costly and not easy because it is related to investment and human behavior. Therefore, a higher commitment from the government is needed to support the achievement of sustainable development.

The measures to improve energy efficiency and increase of renewable energy production and consumption should be encouraged in the interest of sustainable development. Many factors can influence the use of renewable energy such as the level of economic development of an economy, nationals’ and the main  economic actors’ environmental awareness, energy import dependency, ratio of the urban population, and government subsidization intensity among the others. The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the share of renewable energy in the total energy consumption and net energy import as a percentage of energy use less production, greenhouse gas emission per capita and human capital using by OECD countries data from 1990 to 2014. The results indicate that there is a negative relationship between net energy import and renewable energy consumption, and also negative relationship can be shown between the amount of greenhouse gas emission per capita and renewable energy consumption. However, we identified a positive relationship between human capital and renewable energy consumption for energy importer countries above a certain level of human capital.

Renewable and non-renewable energy consumption-growth nexus: Evidence from a panel error correction model

This study extends recent work on the relationship between renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and economic growth to the case of developed and developing countries over the period 1990–2007. Heterogeneous panel cointegration procedures show a long-run equilibrium relationship between real GDP, renewable energy consumption, non-renewable energy consumption, real gross fixed capital formation, and the labor force with the respective coefficient estimates positive and statistically significant for developed and developing country panels. The results from the panel error correction models reveal bidirectional causality between renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and economic growth in the short- and long-run for each country panel.

Purpose The concept of inclusive wealth has evolved and significant literature in the field of economics highlighted the importance of inclusive wealth as a measure of sustainable development. However, no bibliometric review–based study has been conducted yet, so this study aims to review the existing literature related to inclusive wealth to identify the past, present and future research patterns to facilitate the researchers. Design/methodology/approach This study extracts 1,444 papers from the Web of Science database and uses bibliometric analysis to identify the historical and current patterns of studies and project future research agendas in the domain of inclusive wealth. This study conducted citation analysis to identify the influential papers, authors, institutions and countries, whereas coauthorship analysis verified the interactions between authors, affiliations and countries. Similarly, cocitation and coword analysis were conducted to identify the existing and emerging themes. Findings This study found eight hotspot clusters that show the evolutionary trends in this field. The identified clusters fall into several key categories. These include the role of financial technology in promoting inclusive green growth; natural capital accounting, particularly biodiversity accounting, and the concept of inclusive wealth as means to support sustainable development without harming biodiversity; and the influence of telecommunications on enhancing female participation in economic development. In addition, the clusters highlight the role of structural transformation and mobile banking in fostering inclusive development, as well as the impact of globalization and technological advancement on the business environment. Other important areas include energy policy, economic transformation and sustainable development; the integration of green energy policies to address environmental concerns and ensure long-term sustainability; and the impact of materialism on consumer behavior and economic well-being, with an emphasis on biodiversity-conscious economic models. Research limitations/implications In this paper, the authors have only explored the studies from Web of Science database and did not cover Scopus database. Practical implications This is a pioneer study that adopts bibliometric analysis to explore the importance of inclusive wealth as a reliable step toward a sustainable future by presenting valuable insights into the evolving landscape of this field. Along with that, this study summarizes its hotspot themes and also suggests the future trajectories to help the researchers contribute significantly in the domain of sustainable development. Social implications Four main clusters pave the way for future research agenda. The clusters are named as follows: the integration of sustainable agricultural practices and natural capital accounting to conserve biodiversity, strengthen financial and technological institutions, enhance global competitiveness and ensure inclusive development; the development of a green labor market and promotion of green finance to support inclusive wealth, which in turn guarantees sustainable development in line with Sustainable Development Goal 15; and the role of investment in business and infrastructure development in promoting inclusive growth. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to comprehensively map the intellectual structure and emerging trends in the field of inclusive wealth using four bibliometric techniques. It offers valuable insights for researchers and policymakers by identifying influential contributors, evolving themes and strategic future research agendas aligned with sustainable development goals.

Dynamics between Financial Development, Renewable Energy Consumption, and Economic Growth: Some International Evidence

This study investigates forest resilience in the face of intensifying energy competition and ecological pressures in MINT countries (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey) from 1990 to 2024. Energy competition is represented by renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, while ecological pressures are assessed through environmental degradation, green economic growth, and population density. Using a Vector Autoregression (VAR) approach, all variables are treated as endogenous to capture dynamic feedback relationships. Stationarity tests confirm that most variables are first- difference stationary without long-run cointegration. Granger causality analysis reveals bidirectional relationships between forest area (FA) and non-renewable energy consumption, and between environmental degradation and population density. Unidirectional causality is also found from renewable energy consumption, environmental degradation, and green economic growth to FA; from environmental degradation to renewable energy consumption; and from FA and non-renewable energy consumption to population density. Impulse response and variance decomposition results suggest that non-renewable energy consumption and ecological, such as environmental degradation and population density have a negative impact on FA, whereas renewable energy consumption and green economic growth contribute positively. The findings highlight the urgent need to integrate energy, environmental, and development policies to support forest sustainability amid growing global energy demands and ecological stress.

ABSTRACTThis study examines the relationship between economic growth, renewable energy consumption, energy consumption, capital fixed formation, and trade openness for the period 1971–2015 for South Africa. In this regard, the study used auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound testing approach. The empirical findings show that the variables in the study are cointegrated indicating the existence of long-run relationship among them. Granger causality test shows that there exists bidirectional causality between renewable energy consumption and trade openness to economic growth. This result supports feedback hypothesis. The stability of model was also checked at the end. The empirical findings provide strong evidence that the interdependence between renewable energy consumption and economic growth indicates that renewable energy is important for economic growth, and likewise economic growth encourages the use of more renewable energy source.

This study examines how natural resource dependence, the shift to renewable energy, and sustainable development are connected, with a focus on what this means for Indonesia’s policies. Using data from 137 countries between 1990 and 2022, the research examines the long- and short-term effects of natural resource rents, socioeconomic factors, and human capital on renewable energy use and the Sustainable Development Index across different income groups. The study uses advanced econometric methods, including the CIPS unit root test, the Panel ARDL model with PMG estimation, and Dumitrescu–Hurlin causality tests, to address cross-sectional dependence and identify reliable links. The results show a complex picture: while having many natural resources can slow the growth of renewable energy use, it also helps improve long-term sustainable development, highlighting the role of good institutions and policy choices. Upper-middle-income countries like Indonesia have the highest average Sustainable Development Index, indicating strong development despite moderate reliance on resources. The analysis also finds a two-way relationship between renewable energy use and sustainable development and points to human capital as a key factor in advancing renewable energy. These findings suggest that Indonesia should adopt a policy approach that uses resource revenues to invest in renewable energy and build human capital. This combined strategy would help Indonesia move toward more diverse, fair, and environmentally sustainable growth.

How do trade liberalization and human capital affect renewable energy consumption? Evidence from the panel threshold model

Economic and social progress is directly and closely related to energy consumption. In the latest decades, there is a higher need to reduce energy consumption from conventional sources, replacing it with energy obtained from unconventional sources. The environmental concern is one of the objectives of the European economic policy, with a particular focus on renewable energy consumption and energy efficiency in order to lower the environmental impact. In this context, we analyzed energy consumption per capita and renewable energy consumption per capita in the EU with the help of parametric methods, using the β-convergence model, and semiparametric methods, using the σ-convergence model. In this research we proposed to study six analysis models of the period 1960–2015, based on the availability of data. We concluded that the EU states went through a convergence process in a slow pace of energy consumption per capita and renewable energy per capita, showing a convergence pattern. The results of the study show that there is a relationship between the convergence of conventional energy consumption and the convergence of renewable (unconventional) energy consumption. The study covers a long period of time in which EU member states had different economic and social systems, implicitly different degrees and rates of development. In addition, the interest in renewable energy is relatively recent in the whole world. There is a possibility that future research will provide more optimistic results, in terms of accelerating the convergence rate, as appropriate measures and technologies are applied to renewable energy production in all EU member states.

China has witnessed significant growth in trade through vide range trade liberalization strategies and urbanization has also been entered in advanced stage. Based on these dynamics, how much energy consumption of both renewable and none renewable account for energy consumption in whole system is a point of higher attention for the researchers. To understand this salient emerging debatable concern, we investigate the impact of trade openness and urbanization effect on renewable and non-renewable energy consumption in China for the period 1990-2018. We apply the quantile regression technique for the analysis; our results show that trade significantly increases the non-renewable energy consumption in all quintiles while partially increasing renewable energy consumption. This shows that trade activities in production and export commodities heavily rely on non-renewable energy inputs instead of renewable energy inputs. Urbanization affects non-renewable energy consumption only in three quintiles, while its effect is insignificant in most of the quintiles. Similarly, urbanization does not affect renewable energy consumption as in almost all quantiles the coefficients are statistically insignificant. This implies that urbanization is one of the determinants of energy consumption in China. The empirical findings of this study suggest some policy recommendations; first, the government needs to implement certain regulations while expanding trade to minimize the negative effect of non-renewable energy consumption; besides government should provide incentives to industrial units and traders for using renewable energy which may help to attain long term sustainable development goals. The government should also put certain limitations on population moving from rural to urban destinations.

Renewable and non-renewable electricity consumption, economic growth and climate change: Evidence from a panel of selected African countries