The Impact of Social Investment and Green Finance on Sustainable Development: Evidence From Emerging Market Economies

This study examines how social investment and green finance affect sustainable development (SDE) in 16 emerging market economies from 2014 to 2022. Truncated regression, Prais-Winsten regression, and single-equation instrumental variables (IV) regression models were applied for the empirical analysis. The findings reveal that social investment and green finance have positive effects, whereas poverty and ecological footprint negatively affect SDE. Social investment reduces the negative impact of poverty on SDE by enhancing human development and reducing economic vulnerability, confirming the moderation impact. The Juodis-Karavias-Sarafidis (JKS) panel's non-causality analysis confirms the causal relationship between variables. This study recommends that emerging markets allocate more resources for social and green initiatives and limit their consumption of natural resources to avoid the negative consequences of a high ecological footprint. This study implies that doing and going green is essential for meeting sustainability challenges in the post-modern era in emerging market economies.