The nexus between technological innovation, human capital and energy efficiency: Evidence from E7 countries

Enhancing energy efficiency is very effective in supporting environmental sustainability. Financial inclusion, human capital, and technological innovation are newly cited as dominant factors for environmental sustainability in emerging economies. Against this background, this study investigated how financial inclusion and technological innovation affected energy efficiency in E7 countries from 2004 to 2021. The study identifies the diverse effect of variables at different quantiles through a novel Moments Quantile Regression (MM-QR) method to explore the heterogeneous interconnection among the variables. The MMQR outcomes suggest financial inclusion positively affects energy efficiency across all quantiles. Besides, the findings show that human capital positively affects energy efficiency in E7 countries at lower, medium, and higher quantiles. At the same time, estimated outcomes suggest that technological innovation promotes energy efficiency only at lower quantiles. This study recommends appropriate policies for decision-makers in E7 economies based on the study outcomes regarding adequately channelling human capital, financial resources, and technological innovation to promote energy efficiency and achieve sustainable development goals. (c) 2024 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.