The Relationship Between Human Development Indicators and Technology Spillover with Environmental Quality: Evidence from Panel ARDL Model for D8 Countries

Developing countries exhibit unfavorable environmental conditions due to suboptimal technology utilization, low productivity, lower per capita income, and other factors that intensify environmental pressures. This situation underscores the significance of investigating the impacts of technology spillovers on environmental quality. In recent years, substantial attention has been devoted to assessing environmental quality and sustainability at national and international levels. Governments worldwide have recognized that environmental performance cannot be viewed solely through economic development; it must encompass other facets of development, particularly social development. Given that the Human Development Index (HDI) can concurrently gauge social and economic progress, this study aims to assess the influence of HDI components (life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, and gross national income) as well as technology spillover (resulting from the import of knowledge carriers) on environmental quality in D-8 countries during the period from 2003 to 2022, utilizing the autoregressive distributed lag method. The findings reveal a U-shaped relationship between HDI variables and long-term environmental quality. Furthermore, technology spillovers foster increased knowledge, the development of competitive advantages, and economic integration. The results also highlight a significant negative long-term relationship between technology spillover and environmental quality. Consequently, policymakers in D-8 countries are encouraged to establish a framework conducive to introducing and localizing eco-friendly technologies through adopting macroeconomic policies.