Addressing International Sustainable Economic Recovery in Developing Economies: The Roles of Natural Resources Market, Institutional Quality and Environmental Regulations

The study examines the moderating role of environmental regulations on the relationship between the natural resource market, institutional quality, and sustainable economic growth (SEG) in developing economies. We employed the resource curse theory and utilized secondary data from 103 developing economies from 2001 to 2022 for the empirical study. Employing the common correlation effect mean group (CCEMG) and the pooled mean group (PMG) estimators, the findings show that resource commodity import has a positive link with SEG. However, resource commodity export recorded a negative link with SEG. Regarding institutional quality, political stability, and absence of violence, governance effectiveness and the rule of law recorded a positive link with SEG. Moreover, voice and accountability may effectively influence SEG in developing economies through other factors. Finally, we found that environmental regulation positively moderates the link between the natural resource market, institutional quality, and sustainable economic growth in developing economies. The findings provide a policy guide for developing economies’ natural resource markets and institutional quality in promoting SEG. Moreover, the findings urge policymakers to enforce and strengthen environmental regulations and policies to facilitate resource markets and institutional structures to promote SEG.