Role of information and communication technology in economic progress and increasing demand for renewable energy: evidence from China and India

ABSTRACT

This paper intends to know the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on the economic progress and renewable energy consumptions in two Asian economic giants namely India and China. To achieve the objectives, generalised method of moments (GMM) and pooled ordinary least square (OLS), fixed effect and random effect models have been applied using yearly panel data of individuals using internet as ICT, growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP) as economic progress, electric power consumption as energy consumptions and foreign direct investment (FDI). This study observes significantly positive impact of ICT on renewable energy consumptions while negative and insignificant impact on the economic progress in India and China. It is observed that countries are similar in renewable energy expansion, time spent on internet, electricity generation and policy support for renewable energy generation while they significantly differ in the number of internet subscribers, internet-based entrepreneurships and sources of renewable energy. This study proposes to apply ICT in all possible sectors to boost-up economic growth as well as to enhance the demand for renewable energy consumptions.

KEYWORDS:

• ICT
• economic growth
• renewable energy
• India
• China
• OLS
• GMM

JEL CODES:

• F43
• O13
• Q43
• Q55

Acknowledgement

The authors acknowledge the insightful comments and recommendations of anonymous reviewers and the Editor to improve the quality of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability

Data will be supplied as per request.

Notes

1 Data source: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Emon Kalyan Chowdhury

Dr. Emon Kalyan Chowdhury is an Associate Professor in Accounting and Head of the Department of Accounting at Chittagong Independent University. He was in charge of implementing a Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP) financed by the World Bank, monitored by the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh and the Ministry of Education to enhance quality of education at tertiary level in Bangladesh. His research interests include but not limited to stock return and volatility, capital asset pricing model, stock valuation, sustainability and integrated reporting, environmental accounting, inflation accounting, auditing and international accounting. He obtained PhD degree in Accounting, MBA in Accounting, MBA in Finance & Human Resource Management and BBA in Accounting. More than 25 research papers of Dr. Chowdhury got published in different reputed peer reviewed journals. He examines Ph.D. theses of different foreign universities.

Mohammad Nayeem Abdullah

Dr. Mohammad Nayeem Abdullah is an Associate Professor and Dean of CIU Business School (CIUBS). He obtained his PhD Degree in Finance, M.Sc. in Finance and Management, BBA in Finance & Banking. Dr. Abdullah has numerous publications in national and international peer reviewed journals to his credit, and he has also completed a number of training programs in the country. He is also a Reviewer for a number of international peer-reviewed journals.

Rahat Bari Tooheen

Mr. Rahat Bari Tooheen is an Assistant Professor at CIU Business School (CIUBS), Chittagong Independent University. He obtained Master degree in Disaster Management, another Master degree in Public Health, and B.Sc. in Population Environment. He has a notable number of academic publications in national and international peer reviewed journals to his credit, and has co-authored a book chapter in a volume published by the American Public Health Association (APHA). Mr. Tooheen obtained the Full Band Score of 9.0 on the IELTS test in October 2004. His research interests include Green Business and Environmental Economics.