Does Technological Innovation Improve Environmental Sustainability in Developing Countries? Some Evidence from Tunisia
Résumé
This paper contributes to the ongoing debate on the drivers of environment sustainability by investigating the impact of technological innovation on CO2 emissions in the case of a developing country, Tunisia. To do this, we introduce a comprehensive global approach based on autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) models with break-points and Granger causality tests. Our outcome leans toward non-acceptance of Kuznets hypothesis. In addition, the impact of energy consumption on CO2 emissions is positive. Moreover, even if the direct effect of technological innovation is statistically insignificant, it indirectly contributes to reducing the effect of energy consumption on CO2 emissions. Furthermore, in both short- and long-runs, there is a one-way impact going from technological innovation to energy consumption, although there is no causality between technological innovation, economic growth, and CO2 emissions. Consequently, we think policy makers should stimulate innovation and enhance the technological capacity of Tunisia to improve environmental quality.