Renewable energy, information and communication technology, financial development, natural resources, institutional quality, and agricultural productivity in Asian countries.

Abstract

This study highlights the nexus between renewable energy consumption (REC), information and communication technologies (ICT), financial development (FD), natural resources (NR), institutional quality (IQ), and agricultural productivity (AGP) in 29 Asian countries for the 2000-2021 period. The fully modified least-squares (FMOLS) and dynamic least-squares (DOLS) estimation are used for the empirical analysis. The Driscoll and Kraay estimation (DSK) and the generalised method of moments (GMM) are used for robustness checks. The empirical results indicate that REC, ICT, FD, IQ have a significant positive impact on AGP. Specifically, a unit increase in REC, ICT, FD and IQ lead to a 6.097%, 2.292%, 0.688% and 0.002% points increase in AGP, respectively. Meanwhile, NR has a significant negative influence on AGP. Specifically, a unit increase in NR leads to 0.226% points reduce in AGP, implying that the resource curse persists in Asian countries. The results of the causality test illustrated bidirectional causality between FD, IQ, and AGP. Compared with previous studies in the Asian region, this study provides additional empirical evidence on the impact of REC and ICT on AGP, and the interaction of these two factors on agricultural development in the region. The research results suggest that managers need to issue policies to enhance sustainable AGP through the development of renewable energy sources, the application of ICT in agricultural production, and capital incentives for green projects to promote sustainable agricultural growth for Asian countries.