Digital economy and environmental sustainability in Latin America: Evidence from the ecological footprint for SDGs 13 and 15
Energy Nexus, cilt.24, 2026 (ESCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 24
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.nexus.2026.100826
- Dergi Adı: Energy Nexus
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Digital economy, Ecological footprint, Structural breaks, MMQR, Latin America
- Atatürk Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Environmental sustainability in Latin America faces pressures associated with the intensive use of natural resources, productive transformation, and differences in countries' technological and institutional capacities—challenges related to SDGs 13 (Climate Action) and 15 (Life on Land). This study analyzes the effect of the digital economy, as a technological dimension of an expanded STIRPAT framework, on the ecological footprint in 14 Latin American economies during 2000–2021, incorporating economic, demographic, and institutional factors. The empirical strategy combines advanced panel data models that control for cross-section dependence, heterogeneity, and structural disruptions, along with instrumental variables, MMQR quantile regressions, and causality analysis. The results show a long-term equilibrium relationship between the ecological footprint and its determinants. The digital economy has a negative effect on the ecological footprint, although its effect is moderate and diminishes in the upper quantiles of environmental pressure. In contrast, economic growth, trade openness, and population density have a positive effect on ecological footprint, while the informal economy shows no robust effects. The rule of law shows heterogeneous effects and greater relevance in economies with high ecological footprints. Causality analysis indicates that economic growth, population density, and the digital economy statistically precede variations in the ecological footprint. At the same time, the rule of law maintains a bidirectional relationship with environmental performance. These results suggest that the environmental contribution of digitalization requires complementary policies in the energy transition, institutional strengthening, and productive transformation, considering the structural differences among Latin American economies and their role in progressing toward SDGs 13 and 15.