Greening the chain: strategic pathways to resource efficiency in the European Union’s digital economy

The paper analyzes the impact of supply chain performance on resource usage and productivity in the EU27 countries between 2010 and 2023, considering its interaction with digitalization, financial market development, and innovation. The research employs an innovative approach of using the dynamic Generalized Method of Moments together with the Method of Moments Quantile Regression and shows that digitalization, which is captured with a composite index of digitalization capability, positively impacts resource productivity and resource use, especially the latter. Higher supply chain pressures (SCHEU) are associated with increased resource consumption and only marginal, short-term effects on resource productivity, reflecting adaptive responses rather than efficiency gains. The findings further indicate that supply chain pressures act as common disruption shocks whose effects depend on digital and financial structures, highlighting the role of adaptive capacity in mitigating disruption-driven resource inefficiencies. Financial development is associated with lower resource productivity but higher resource consumption, reflecting scale effects. Innovation exhibits heterogeneous effects, improving resource productivity in some contexts while increasing resource consumption due to scale and expansion effects. The study highlights differences across EU countries in digital maturity, financial markets, and resource endowments, emphasizing the need for adaptive corporate strategies. From a policy perspective, the results suggest that strategies aimed at reducing vulnerability to supply chain pressures, strengthening digital capabilities, and aligning financial development with sustainability objectives are central to improving resource management in an increasingly disruption-prone global economy.