The impact of inclusive finance and lifelong learning on carbon neutrality: Evidence from African countries

IF 6.3 2区经济学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE

Research in International Business and Finance Pub Date : 2025-05-24 DOI:10.1016/j.ribaf.2025.102996

Muhammad Shahbaz , Abdulkadir Barut , Hind Alofaysan , Serhat Çamkaya

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Abstract

This paper explores the role of inclusive finance in achieving carbon neutrality, with a particular emphasis on the impact of lifelong learning in this context. The study covers 16 African countries and examines data from 2000 to 2020. The MMQR estimator is applied for the empirical analysis, while the Driscoll-Kraay estimator was used to test the robustness of the findings. Our empirical results indicate that both inclusive finance and lifelong learning positively contribute to carbon neutrality. Additionally, renewable energy consumption and urban population growth also support the goal of carbon neutrality, while economic growth does not exhibit a similar effect. These findings offer valuable insights for policymakers by highlighting the importance of inclusive finance when integrating it into sustainability strategies. Recommendations include creating policies that increase financial inclusion, encouraging renewable energy investments, and aligning economic development goals with carbon neutrality goals to support sustainable growth in Africa.

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普惠金融和终身学习对碳中和的影响：来自非洲国家的证据

本文探讨了普惠金融在实现碳中和中的作用，并特别强调了终身学习在这一背景下的影响。这项研究涵盖了16个非洲国家，并检查了2000年至2020年的数据。采用MMQR估计进行实证分析，采用Driscoll-Kraay估计检验研究结果的稳健性。实证结果表明，普惠金融和终身学习对碳中和都有积极的促进作用。此外，可再生能源消费和城市人口增长也支持碳中和的目标，而经济增长没有表现出类似的效果。这些发现强调了将普惠金融纳入可持续发展战略的重要性，为政策制定者提供了有价值的见解。建议包括制定增加金融包容性的政策，鼓励可再生能源投资，使经济发展目标与碳中和目标保持一致，以支持非洲的可持续增长。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Research in International Business and Finance BUSINESS, FINANCE-

CiteScore

11.20

自引率

9.20%

发文量

240

期刊介绍： Research in International Business and Finance (RIBAF) seeks to consolidate its position as a premier scholarly vehicle of academic finance. The Journal publishes high quality, insightful, well-written papers that explore current and new issues in international finance. Papers that foster dialogue, innovation, and intellectual risk-taking in financial studies; as well as shed light on the interaction between finance and broader societal concerns are particularly appreciated. The Journal welcomes submissions that seek to expand the boundaries of academic finance and otherwise challenge the discipline. Papers studying finance using a variety of methodologies; as well as interdisciplinary studies will be considered for publication. Papers that examine topical issues using extensive international data sets are welcome. Single-country studies can also be considered for publication provided that they develop novel methodological and theoretical approaches or fall within the Journal''s priority themes. It is especially important that single-country studies communicate to the reader why the particular chosen country is especially relevant to the issue being investigated. [...] The scope of topics that are most interesting to RIBAF readers include the following: -Financial markets and institutions -Financial practices and sustainability -The impact of national culture on finance -The impact of formal and informal institutions on finance -Privatizations, public financing, and nonprofit issues in finance -Interdisciplinary financial studies -Finance and international development -International financial crises and regulation -Financialization studies -International financial integration and architecture -Behavioral aspects in finance -Consumer finance -Methodologies and conceptualization issues related to finance