Investigating the Role of ICT and Natural Resource Rent in Human Development and Environmental Quality: Evidence from N11 Countries and the SUR Approach
Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
Lorestan University
Abstract
The relationship between natural resources and economic growth has long been a subject of interest among researchers, leading to the formulation of the resource curse hypothesis. This study aims to examine the simultaneous relationships between human development, ecological footprint, and key socio-economic factors influencing them, including information and communication technology (ICT), natural resource rent, industrial value-added, urbanization, globalization, financial development, and, most importantly, the interactive effects of ICT and natural resource rent. Using panel data for N11 countries (with a focus on Iran) over the period 2007–2021, this study employs the Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) approach. The results reveal a dual role of ICT: on the one hand, it significantly increases human development with a coefficient of 0.08, while on the other hand, it exacerbates the ecological footprint index, leading to a significant 0.64 increase. This finding highlights the conflict between technological advancement and environmental sustainability. Additionally, natural resource rent not only significantly reduces human development by -0.39 but also substantially increases the ecological footprint with a coefficient of 4.01, confirming the adverse effects of resource dependence and supporting the resource curse hypothesis. According to the results, industrial value-added and urbanization enhance human development with coefficients of 0.52 and 0.21, respectively, while also intensifying environmental pressure by 1.04 and 2.90, respectively. Financial development significantly increases human development (13.09), yet it also dramatically raises the ecological footprint (468.28), emphasizing the need for green financial policies. Finally, the interactive effect of ICT and natural resource rent positively impacts human development (0.003) while reducing the ecological footprint (-0.03), suggesting that ICT development can potentially mitigate the resource curse hypothesis in N11 countries. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers in the studied nations.
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