scholarly journals Assessing the Impact of ICT Sector on Sustainable Development in the European Union: An Empirical Analysis Using Panel Data

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 592
Author(s):  
Sorin-Iulian Cioacă ◽  
Silvia-Elena Cristache ◽  
Mariana Vuță ◽  
Erika Marin ◽  
Mihai Vuță

Information and communication technologies (ICT) play a central role at the European level because it fosters innovation and increases productivity through an enlarged access to information. As such, the main objective of this work was to assess the impact of various ICT core indicators at the European Union level on two of their sustainable development goals: economic growth and reduction of inequality. To this purpose, we used panel data models based on data collected from the Eurostat database. We proposed two panel data regression models, according to which we found a positive statistically significant relationship between the variable measuring level of internet access and change in GDP per capita. We also found a negative relationship between the transition towards a digital society and the dependent variable INEQ_INC, namely an increase of 1% of ICT sector share in GDP will lead to a decrease of 0.27% of income inequality distribution. This result showed that the progress made in implementing a digital society may decrease societal income inequality.

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 55-67
Author(s):  
Nicolae Istudor ◽  
Vasile Dinu ◽  
Emilia Gogu ◽  
Elena-Maria Prada ◽  
Irina-Elena Petrescu

Since migration is considered to play an important role on the attainment of the sustainable development goals (SDG’s) this study analyses the reversed perspective of the migration-SDG’s nexus. The data set consists of 308 observations on 28 European Union countries (including the United Kingdom) over a time span of 11 years (between 2008 and 2018). The analysis employed various stages of estimation in order to compare different results obtained from the panel data regression models. Besides the classical panel data regression models, the paper includes the estimation of Arellano-Bover/Blundell-Bond model that uses the Generalized Method of Moments (also known as GMM) as an econometric tool to solve the endogeneity of the selected variables. The focus is on two sustainable development goals: labour and economic growth, and education of the European Union member states plus the United Kingdom. The results showed that there is a significant influence of the selected variables on the migration flows at the European Union level. Although there are some contradictory results regarding the direction and statistical significance of the link between the variables of interest, most estimators do not have fundamentally different results. The GDP per capita keeps its positive impact on migration by generating an immigration flow towards countries with high GDP per capita. Economic growth proves to be the main trigger of migration, while education also plays an important role in shaping migration. The importance of this study derives from the reversed perspectives analysis, considering migration as being directly influenced by the achievement of the sustainable development goals.


Author(s):  
F. Javier Heredia Yzquierdo

The United Nations have developed the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as a global agreement aiming to eradicate extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice and leave no one behind. Agreed by world leaders at the UN in 2015, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) succeed the well-known Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Parts of the Goals directly address environmental issues. Other do indirectly. In response to this growing awareness, the European Union has enacted a number of policies targeting environmental issues, including lowering carbon emissions and water conservation. It can be argued that the EU is at the forefront of addressing the environmental issues outlined in the SDGs. These policies are mentioned in this Paper and they are to be considered strategic. Artificial Intelligence has been having an impact in human activities for decades. Lately the impact is happening exponentially. The European Union is aware of such a fact and it implements policies towards increasing innovation in the public and private sector, including funding programmes and instruments to foster business development and efficiency in the Union and in the Member States. AI is also capable of having a profound impact in the environmental issues that the Agenda 2030 is bringing.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7961
Author(s):  
Alexandra Fratila (Adam) ◽  
Ioana Andrada Gavril (Moldovan) ◽  
Sorin Cristian Nita ◽  
Andrei Hrebenciuc

Maritime transport is one of the main activities of the blue economy, which plays an important role in the EU. In this paper, we aim to assess the impact of maritime transport, related investment, and air pollution on economic growth within 20 countries of the European Union, using eight panel data regression models from 2007 to 2018. Our results confirm that maritime transport, air pollutants (NOx and SO2) from maritime transport, and investment in maritime port infrastructure are indeed positively correlated with economic growth. In other words, an increase of 10% in these factors has generated an associated increase in economic growth rate of around 1.6%, 0.4%, 0.8%, and 0.7% respectively. Alongside the intensity of economic maritime activities, pollution is positively correlated with economic growth, and thus it is recommended that policymakers and other involved stakeholders act to diminish environmental impacts in this sector using green investment in port infrastructure and ecological ships, in accordance with the current European trends and concerns.


2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olesea Sirbu ◽  
Rodica Crudu ◽  
Augustin Ignatov

Abstract In the present conditions when the demographic pressure upon the environment is higher than ever, the humanity faces the challenge of sustainability. Namely the sustainability of human activities is important and nothing can assure it better than sustainable energy supplies. The European Union is the leading global power in terms of adjusting its policies to increase innovation to assure a sustainable growth of its energy sector as a key to an advanced economic system. The present research focuses on the impact of European Union policies on the sustainable development of its energy sector by analyzing quantitatively and qualitatively various indicators intended to offer a throughout insight. The results obtained focus on the identification of the main innovation paradigms; the description of the main modern environmental challenges, especially in the energy domain; the determination of the relation between innovation and energy sustainability, and its analysis at the level of European Union.


2007 ◽  
Vol 09 (02) ◽  
pp. 141-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
JENNIFER FRANZ ◽  
COLIN KIRKPATRICK

Since the adoption of the EU's first Sustainable Development Strategy in 2001, the European Commission has been committed to undertaking impact assessments of its major policy proposals, covering the potential positive and negative economic, social and environmental effects both inside and outside the European Union. This paper provides as evaluation of a sample of the Commission's recent EC Impact Assessments, focusing on the extent to which the goal of sustainable development has been integrated into the impact assessment analysis.


Equilibrium ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michaela Stanickova

Research background: Economic crisis hit all the European Union Member States hard, with the impact of crisis varying considerably. The low growth performance in the EU has increased concerns regarding an increasing wage dispersion, income inequality at large, and social exclusion in line with poverty. Inequality should be seen as a cornerstone of both sustainable and inclusive growth under the Europe 2020 Strategy. Social inequality in the EU is a real problem, which hampers sustainable economic growth. Purpose of the article: The purpose of this study is to introduce evaluation of social development convergence and divergence trends between the EU Member States in the context of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The study gives an outline of the issues of the labour market and income disparities and poverty. Policymakers must be clear about what social objectives they are aiming to achieve, therefore special attention is paid to headline national goals of the Europe 2020 Strategy. Methods: The main task of this study is to assess social dimension and inequalities problems in the EU27 by applying Data Envelopment Analysis method, resp. time-series dynamic efficiency analysis in the form of output-oriented Malmquist Productivity Index. This study contains changes of key social equality indicators related to the Europe 2020 Strategy and compares objectives and general outlines of period 2010-2015, as well as the impact on national economics and living conditions. Findings & value added: Results contain elements of typology premises of the EU28 and point to a large diversity in inequality patterns, as the Author observes both increases and decreases in inequality at the EU level. Recent changes in social inequality have been associated with the business cycle, particularly with the accessibility of the labour market and, of course, with income inequality. Additionally, the development challenges are discussed for improvement of the socioeconomic well-being of the EU and to avoid social disparities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 1309-1336
Author(s):  
Vlad Turcea

The present paper aims to highlight the discrepancies between two countries of the European Union, Romania and Denmark, in the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals. As Denmark is seen as a primer European and Global nation in achieving the United Nations' targets, Romania can use this example as a guideline on how to act and to obtain the most notable results. The article proposes some key principles that Romanians could follow in order to successfully fulfill the 2030 Action Plan having, as an example, the strategies and indicators reached by Denmark. The current work paper is structured as a review of the two reports that voluntarily summarize the situation of the Sustainable Development Goals in each state, followed by a statistical analysis of investment behavior and concluded with an analysis of the most notable differences between the states based on the dataset published by Eurostat.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 13185
Author(s):  
Daniela Cristina Momete ◽  
Manuel Mihail Momete

The 17 sustainable development goals (SDG) established by 2030 Agenda cannot be achieved unless the learners are educated about sustainable development. Education for sustainable development (ESD) is a key component in preparing individuals to cope with sustainable challenges and paves the way towards a more sustainable aware society and life satisfaction. However, ESD is very complex as it depends on numerous factors and needs significant development all over the word. The paper aims to design an original and easy-to-apply framework which maps and tracks the actual performance in quality education across the European Union member states (EU27), focusing on SDG4—quality education from Agenda 30. The framework integrates three interventions—formal, non-formal, and essential education—and delivers a useful tool, a composite index, which maps and tracks the performance of the EU27 in the transition to ESD in a practical manner. The research categorizes four clusters of countries and tracks the Nordic countries of the EU27 among the high performers tier, allowing the identification of the best practices which can be spurred at European level. The findings of this paper may be used by educators, researchers, national and European authorities, and other stakeholders to monitor and accelerate progress in ESD, especially for low performers.


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