The role of energy efficiency, renewable resources, green innovation, and fiscal decentralization in sustainable development: Evidence from OECD countries

Energy efficiency and renewable resources for sustainable development are novel discussion areas for academics and researchers. Similarly, most developed and emerging countries are experiencing fiscal decentralization to enhance regional development. However, the importance of these sectors in sustainable development is still unclear in the literature. This research investigates the influence of energy efficiency, renewable energy, green innovation, and fiscal decentralization on sustainable development. Using the data for 18 fiscally decentralized OECD countries from 1995 to 2020, the roles of linear and nonlinear green innovation and renewable energy are also considered. This study uses novel moment quantile regression and finds that revenue decentralization, expenditure decentralization, and fiscal decentralization are significant drivers of sustainable development. Additionally, energy efficiency and value-added manufacturing significantly enhance sustainability in the region. However, green innovation and renewables are resources that exhibit a U-shaped association with sustainable development. The robustness of these results is validated via a series of parametric and nonparametric approaches. From the policy perspective, this research suggests improved research and development on renewable energy, green innovation, and energy efficiency could significantly encourage the OECD's journey towards sustainable development. Additionally, subnational governments should be given more fiscal autonomy, which may encourage regional level investments and boost the confidence of clean energy producing sectors to accelerate sustainable regional development.