The Role of Digital Transformation in the Efficient Use of Resources

Year 2025, Volume: 59 Issue: 4, 757 - 768, 08.10.2025

Hüseyin Şentürk

https://doi.org/10.51551/verimlilik.1711925

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to empirically examine the role of digitalization, research and development (R&D) activities and environmental taxes in improving resource efficiency in European Union (EU) states over the period 2008-2022.
Methodology: The study conducts empirical analyses with the Panel ARDL (AutoRegressive Distributed Lag) model using data from the specified period. This methodology allowed to identify both short-run and long-run dynamic relationships between variables.
Findings: The findings show that in the long run, both dimensions of digitalization (Human Capital Index and Online Services Index), R&D expenditures and environmental taxes have a positive and statistically significant effect on resource productivity. In the short-run, the marginal effects of the Human Capital Index and R&D expenditures were found to be negative or insignificant, while the negative effect of environmental taxes on resource productivity in the short-run was explained by the initial difficulties in transition processes and adaptation costs.
Originality: This study makes an important contribution to the literature on resource productivity in EU member states by simultaneously addressing two different dimensions of digitalization (human capital and online services) and environmental taxes with a Panel ARDL model.

Keywords

Resource Efficiency , Digitalization , Panel ARDL

Kaynakların Etkin Kullanımında Dijital Dönüşümün Rolü

Abstract

Amaç: Bu çalışma, 2008-2022 döneminde Avrupa Birliği (AB) ülkelerinde kaynak verimliliğini artırmada dijitalleşme, araştırma ve geliştirme (Ar-Ge) faaliyetleri ve çevresel vergilerin rolünü ampirik olarak incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır.
Yöntem: Çalışma, belirlenen dönemdeki verileri kullanarak Panel ARDL (AutoRegressive Distributed Lag) modeli ile ampirik analizler gerçekleştirmiştir. Bu yöntem, değişkenler arasındaki hem kısa hem de uzun dönemli dinamik ilişkileri tespit etmeye olanak tanımıştır.
Bulgular: Elde edilen bulgular, uzun dönemde dijitalleşmenin her iki boyutu (İnsan Sermayesi Endeksi ve Çevrimiçi Hizmetler Endeksi), Ar-Ge harcamaları ve çevresel vergilerin kaynak verimliliği üzerinde pozitif ve istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir etkiye sahip olduğunu göstermiştir. Kısa dönemde ise, özellikle İnsan Sermayesi Endeksi ve Ar-Ge harcamalarının marjinal etkileri negatif veya anlamsız bulunmuş; çevresel vergilerin kısa dönemde kaynak verimliliğine negatif etkisi, geçiş süreçlerindeki başlangıç zorlukları ve adaptasyon maliyetleri ile açıklanmıştır.
Özgünlük: Bu çalışma, AB üye ülkelerindeki kaynak verimliliği literatürüne, dijitalleşmenin iki farklı boyutunu (insan sermayesi ve çevrimiçi hizmetler) ve çevresel vergileri eş zamanlı olarak Panel ARDL modeli ile ele alarak önemli bir katkı sunmaktadır.

Keywords

Kaynak Verimliliği , Dijitalleşme , Panel ARDL

References

• Aghion, P. ve Howitt, P. (1992). “A Model of Growth through Creative Destruction”, Econometrica: Journal of the Econometric Society, 60(2), 323-351. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2951599
• Aghion, P. ve Howitt, P.W. (2009). “The Economics of Growth”, MIT Press Cambridge, MA.
• Baumol, W.J. ve Oates, W.E. (1988). “The theory of Environmental Policy”, Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139173513
• Birleşmiş Milletler. (2022). “UN E-Government Survey 2022: The Future of Digital Government”, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
• Bosquet, B. (2000). “Environmental Tax Reform: Does It Work? A Survey of the Empirical Evidence”, Ecological Economics, 34(1), 19-32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(00)00173-7
• Convery, F.J. (2009). “Origins and Development of the EU ETS”, Environmental and Resource Economics, 43, 391-412. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-009-9275-7
• D'Adamo, I., Gastaldi, M. ve Morone, P. (2022). “Economic Sustainable Development Goals: Assessments and Perspectives in Europe”, Journal of Cleaner Production, 354, 131730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.131730
• Daly, H.E. (1997). “Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development”, Beacon Press.
• Dickey, D. A., & Fuller, W. A. (1979). Distribution of the estimators for autoregressive time series with a unit root. Journal of the American statistical association, 74(366a), 427-431. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2286348
• Eurostat. (2001). “Economy-wide Material Flow Accounts and Derived Indicators: A Methodological Guide”, Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
• Fischer-Kowalski, M. (2011). “Analyzing Sustainability Transitions as A Shift between Socio-Metabolic Regimes”, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 1(1), 152-159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2011.04.004
• Fischer-Kowalski, M., Swilling, M., Weisz, H. ve Williams, E. (2011). “Decoupling Natural Resource Use and Environmental Impacts from Economic Growth”, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
• Freire-González, J. ve Ho, M.S. (2018). “Environmental Fiscal Reform and the Double Dividend: Evidence from A Dynamic General Equilibrium Model”, Sustainability, 10(2), 501. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su10020501
• Frenken, K. ve Schor, J.B. (2017). “Putting the Sharing Economy into Perspective”, Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 23, 3-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2017.01.003
• Ghobakhloo, M. (2020). “Industry 4.0, Digitization, and Opportunities for Sustainability”, Journal of Cleaner Production, 256, 120427. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119869
• Gil-Garcia, J.R., Dawes, S.S. ve Pardo, T.A. (2018). “Digital Government and Public Management Research: Finding the Crossroads”, Public Management Review, 20(5), 633-646. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2017.1327181
• Goulder, L.H. (1995). “Environmental Taxation and the Double Dividend: A Reader's Guide”, International Tax and Public Finance, 2, 157-183. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00877495
• Griliches, Z. (1990). “The Search for R&D Spillovers”, The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 92(1), 29-45. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3440244
• Griliches, Z. (2007). “R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence”, University of Chicago Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226308906.001.0001
• Hao, L.N., Umar, M., Khan, Z. ve Ali, W. (2021). “Green Growth and Low Carbon Emission in G7 Countries: How Critical the Network of Environmental Taxes, Renewable Energy and Human Capital Is?”, Science of the Total Environment, 752, 141853. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141853
• Herman, K.S. (2023). “Green Growth and Innovation in the Global South: A Systematic Literature Review”, Innovation and Development, 13(1), 43-69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/2157930X.2021.1909821
• Hilty, L.M. ve Aebischer, B. (2015). “ICT for Sustainability: An Emerging Research Field”, ICT Innovations for Sustainability, 3-36. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09228-7_1
• Hurlin, C. ve Mignon, V. (2004). “Second Generation Panel Unit Root Tests”, Thema Cnrs, University of Paris X, memo.
• Im, K.S., Pesaran, M.H. ve Shin, Y. (2003). “Testing for Unit Roots in Heterogeneous Panels”, Journal of Econometrics, 115(1), 53-74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4076(03)00092-7
• Jaffe, A.B., Newell, R.G. ve Stavins, R.N. (2005). “A Tale of Two Market Failures: Technology and Environmental Policy”, Ecological Economics, 54(2-3), 164-174. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2004.12.027
• Johnstone, N. ve Labonne, J. (2009). “Why Do Manufacturing Facilities Introduce Environmental Management Systems? Improving and/or Signaling Performance”, Ecological Economics, 68(3), 719-730. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.06.003
• Johnstone, N., Hascic, I., Poirier, J., Hemar, M. ve Michel, C. (2012). “Environmental Policy Stringency and Technological Innovation: Evidence from Survey Data and Patent Counts”, Applied Economics, 44(17), 2157-2170. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2011.560110
• Kamble, S.S., Gunasekaran, A. ve Gawankar, S.A. (2019). “Sustainable Industry 4.0 Framework: A Systematic Literature Review Identifying the Current Trends and Future Perspectives”, Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 122, 41-55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2018.05.009
• Krausmann, F., Gingrich, S., Eisenmenger, N., Erb, K.H., Haberl, H. ve Fischer-Kowalski, M. (2009). “Growth in Global Materials Use, GDP and Population during the 20th Century”, Ecological Economics, 68(10), 2696-2705. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.05.007
• Lange, S., Pohl, J. ve Santarius, T. (2020). “Digitalization and Energy Consumption. Does ICT Reduce Energy Demand?”, Ecological Economics, 176, 106760. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106760
• Lin, B. ve Li, M. (2022). “Understanding the Investment of Renewable Energy Firms in the Face of Economic Policy Uncertainty–Micro-Evidence from Listed Companies in China”, China Economic Review, 75, 101845. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2022.101845
• Mondejar, M.E., Avtar, R., Diaz, H.L.B., Dubey, R.K., Esteban, J., Gómez-Morales, A. ve Garcia-Segura, S. (2021). “Digitalization to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals: Steps towards A Smart Green Planet”, Science of The Total Environment, 794, 148539. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148539
• OECD. (2011). “Environmental Taxes: A Guide for Policy Makers”, OECD Publishing.
• Pesaran, M.H. (2004). “General Diagnostic Tests for Cross Section Dependence in Panels”, Cambridge Working Papers. Economics, 1240(1), 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.572504
• Pesaran, M.H. (2007). “A Simple Panel Unit Root Test in the Presence of Cross‐Section Dependence”, Journal of Applied Econometrics, 22(2), 265-312. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jae.951
• Pesaran, M.H., Shin, Y. ve Smith, R.P. (1999). “Pooled Mean Group Estimation of Dynamic Heterogeneous Panels”, Journal of the American Statistical Association, 94(446), 621-634. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1999.10474156
• Pigou, A. (2017). “The Economics of Welfare”, Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781351304368
• Popp, D. (2002). “Induced Innovation and Energy Prices”, American Economic Review, 92(1), 160-180. http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/000282802760015658
• Schwab, K. (2024). “The Fourth Industrial Revolution: What It Means, How to Respond. Handbook of Research on Strategic Leadership in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”, (Editörler: Z. Simsek, C. Heavey, B.C. Fox), Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Stahel, W.R. (2019). “The Circular Economy: A User's Guide”, Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9780429259203
• Sterner, T. ve Coria, J. (2013). “Policy Instruments for Environmental and Natural Resource Management”, Routledge. http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781936331833
• Zhang, D., Mohsin, M., Rasheed, A.K., Chang, Y. ve Taghizadeh-Hesary, F. (2021). “Public Spending and Green Economic Growth in BRI Region: Mediating Role of Green Finance”, Energy Policy, 153, 112256. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112256