Environment-Related Technological Innovation and Ecological Footprint in India: Aggregate and Component-Wise Time–Frequency Analysis

This study investigates the time-frequency dynamics between environment-related technological innovation and environmental quality using the ecological footprint as a comprehensive measure of environmental quality and its components for India. To capture time-varying and frequency-dependent relationships, the study adopts a wavelet coherence framework, which allows simultaneous analysis of short-, medium-, and long-run dynamics between environment-related technological innovation and environmental quality for the period between 1990Q1 to 2022Q4. The results indicate that the relationship between environment-related technological innovation and environmental quality is strongly time-varying and scale-dependent. In the aggregate ecological footprint, the significant coherence is concentrated on the short and medium horizons, while the long-run interactions are weak and non-persistent. The phase dynamics show that the rise in ecological footprint precedes the adoption of environment-related technological innovation. In components analysis, it shows a strong short-term coherence between technological innovation in the environmental field and single parts of the ecological footprint. At the same time, the medium-run effects are intermittent, and the long-run relationships are mostly insignificant or driven by boundary effects. The results suggest that the environmental benefits from environment-related technological innovation are gradual and uneven in ecological dimensions. Therefore, policymakers should complement technology-promotion strategies with regulatory and demand-side measures to avoid overreliance on long-term technological solutions and to better address short-term ecological footprint.