The impact of supply chain digitisation on sustainable development in global panel data. Does the energy efficiency matter?

Abstract

To deal with climatic changes and resource depletion, sustainable development has become a focal strategy in global discussion. Digitization in the supply chain sector is flourishing and its impact is not limited to one aspect of life but further extended to sustainable development. The present work estimates the role of supply chain digitization and energy efficiency in sustainable development. The study mainly explores different dimensions of sustainable development, for instance economic, social, and environmental aspects. The study uses produced capital as a measure of the economic aspect of sustainability, human capital as a social measure of sustainable development and emissions footprint, and natural capital as an environmental measure of sustainable development. The study investigates the empirical analysis of panel data of 146 economies from 1990 to 2023. The estimation has performed with the assistance of pooled OLS, the Driscoll and Kraay method, and rigorous Simultaneous Quantile Regression model. The findings indicate the constructive role of both supply chain digitization and energy efficiency in all aspects of sustainable development. The analysis highlighted the negative association between supply chain digitization and sustainable development in economic and social aspects. Whereas the correlation coefficient of +0.484 suggests the positive association between supply chain digitization and social measure of sustainable development. Furthermore, the analysis reports a more intense impact of supply chain digitization and energy efficiency on sustainable development in the highest quantiles. The research suggests to implement policies supporting sustainable supply chain practices such as carbon pricing, renewable energy targets and circular economic initiatives. Furthermore, promoting supply chain digitization and energy efficiency investments can, not only enhance social, economic and environmental sustainability but can foster global cooperation and knowledge sharing to develop standardized sustainable supply chain operations.