Relationship between information communications technology, economic growth and carbon emissions: evidence from panel analysis of the G20

The paper deals with the contribution of information and communications technology (ICT) to economic growth and environmental sustainability by examining the long-run equilibrium relationships between ICT, carbon emissions and economic growth. The paper employs cointegration techniques, fixed-effects and random-effects models for panel data of the G20 countries from 1991 to 2010. The test results indicate that a long-run equilibrium relationship exists among these variables. In testing short-run relationship, ICT has been an important contributor to economic growth while the role of ICT as an important contributor to carbon emissions has been marginalised in advanced economies over the past two decades. In rapidly developing economies, ICT has also been an important contributor to economic growth while ICT is associated with a large increase in carbon emissions.