The Impact of Demographic Features, Globalization and Technological Innovation on Ecological Footprint in Emerging European Countries

Abstract

Addressing environmental degradation is a top priority for world leaders and communities. The pollution-sphere is growing in thickness creating vital risks for humans and wild life on Earth. Assessing the complex interaction between human-related features and environmental welfare creates the premises for cooperation between academia and policymakers, as the last are searching for efficient instruments for mitigating climate change without affecting social and economic development.

In this context, this research aims to evaluate the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI), globalization, technological innovation, demographic features, and ecological footprint. Previous research brought evidence to support that economic globalization can harm the environmental quality but also can support the ecological regeneration, after a certain development threshold. Additionally, it supports the transfer of new technologies and the renewal of production facilities, contributing to increased energy efficiency and green growth. Depending on the development status of the national economy, and active interaction with global markets and free transfer of financial resources and technologies will add environmental degradation, confirming the pollution haven hypothesis, or on the contrary will decrease the ecological footprint.

This study uses a panel of emerging European countries to demonstrate the impact of demographic features, globalization, and technological innovation on ecological footprint. The main findings support the evolutionary thesis, showing that some of the selected national economies still depend on the foreing resources to recover structural gaps and support the economic output growth. The care for ecological welfare is still in debate, as stringent issues such as poverty, poor institutional framework and low technological capacity are still priorities for local governents.