Digital technologies, trade, renewable energy as sources of green growth: A comparative analysis of developed and developing countries

Managing rapid, sustainable, and resilient economic growth has become a core concern worldwide. This research focuses on digital technologies, renewable energy, and trade openness in influencing green growth across 54 developed and 110 developing economies over the period (1990-2023). The digital technologies are measured with internet users, broadband, mobile phones, and fixed telephone users. The principal component analysis is also used to construct a single measure of digital technologies. Panel data econometrics techniques, including the panel quantile regression approach, are used for empirical analysis. The empirical findings show that digitalization is a significant source of green growth in both developed and developing countries. However, individual measures have differential effects on green growth both between and within developed and developing countries, implying that the heterogeneity of individual measures needs to be considered as per the needs of developed and developing economies. Renewable energy appears as a catalyst for green growth in developed economies. However, in developing countries, its effect is generally negative except for fixed effects results. Trade also significantly boosts green growth in developed countries but does not exert a significant influence in developing countries. Besides, distributional analysis also supports the baseline findings. The heterogeneous effects of renewable energy and trade suggest the importance of diverse policy approaches across the developed and developing world. These findings provide meaningful insights for policy managers seeking to leverage digital technologies for sustainable economic prosperity in a digitally driven and environmentally concerned world. • Green growth sources are explored using a panel data set. • Digital technologies significantly support green growth. • Renewable energy supports green growth only in developed countries. • Trade affects green growth differently across developed and developing countries.