This study explores the impact of fiscal policy on environmental pollution, employing the vector autoregressive (VAR) model on annual data from 1976 to 2018 in Pakistan. We estimate the effect of total expenditure, total revenue, education expenditures, health expenditures, and other dynamic determinants such as gross domestic product (GDP), private investment, market rate, and crude oil price on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in particular. Further, this study creates impulse response functions to check the fiscal shocks, coordinating with five scenarios of public expenditures, segregated into government revenue, and education and health expenditures. The outcomes indicate that government spending in the public sectors (education and health) had a diminishing effect on CO2 emissions, whereas government revenue that was collected from taxes improved economic growth but at a cost of environmental pollution. In Pakistan, a fiscal policy scenario has been implemented that increases government expenditures to alleviate the effects of CO2 emissions. Therefore, policymakers should provide the right direction for the feasible distribution of resources in every public sector through a powerful structure, which will ultimately reduce the overall level of environmental deficit.
Despite remarkable success in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to achieve maximum economic growth, the Next-11 emerging economies grappling with an undesirable situation of environmental degradation have become a hot topic at COP28. Researchers have long focused on this connection, emphasizing the urgent need for international and national environmentalists to promote sustainable development (SD) in these rapidly growing economies under the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change action plans. As a result, this study examines the role of FDI in the N-11 emerging economies, focusing on energy usage and technological innovation within the theoretical framework of the Halo-Haven hypothesis, covering the period from 1990 to 2022. We utilize ARDL, FMOLS, and DOLS techniques to analyze both short-term dynamics and long-term equilibrium relationships, effectively managing heterogeneity, time dynamics, and cross-sectional dependence issues to produce comprehensive results. The long-term analysis supports the haven hypothesis, demonstrating an affirmative relationship between FDI, economic growth, and carbon emissions, whereas energy usage is negatively associated with carbon emissions. Furthermore, the D-H test established a reciprocal causal relationship between variables such as FDI, economic growth, trade openness, and environmental pollution. However, we found a one-way causal correspondence in the usage of green energy, the technological innovation index, and carbon emissions. Given the mixed findings, policymakers should focus on attracting FDI to the green energy sector while reinforcing regulations and implementing stringent oversight for FDI in energy-intensive industries. This approach will ensure that such investments adhere to high environmental standards, thereby benefiting future generations.
The research aims to examine the role of green human resource management (GHRM) in the university's environmental performance. Furthermore, this research also focuses on the mediating effect of green commitment and pro-environmental behavior. It also aims to check how green self-efficacy moderates the relationship between green commitment and pro-environmental behavior. The paper opted for a quantitative design using the convenience sampling technique/approach by collecting the data through a structured questionnaire on 208 academic staff currently employed in the university. The data were collected from August until December 2021 on two campuses (Gujranwala, Jhelum) of the University of Punjab in Pakistan. The current study results give empirical insights that show how green human resource management practices lead to environmental performance at a greater level in a university setting. Study results proposed that change in behavior of employees through human resource management practices can ultimately affect the organization's environmental performance. Further results also demonstrate that green self-efficacy moderates the relationship between green commitment and pro-environmental behavior. This study highlights the role of the university staff's level of commitment and self-efficacy, which are beneficial for enhancing the university's environmental performance. The originality of this study fills the gap in how green commitment mediates the relationship of green human resource management and environmental performance further; it fulfills the gap of green self-efficacy that moderates the relationship of pro-environmental behavior and green commitment. The study sheds light on green human resource management practices in the higher education sector. It emphasizes the vital role of academic staff's environmentally conscious behavior in enhancing a university's environmental performance. The further study highlighted the increasing concept of green human resource management as a set of building the ability, enhancing motivation, and providing opportunities to influence workers' pro-environmental behaviors. The conclusion of the current research was capable of validating the positive concerns of green GHRM, behaviors, and commitments for environmental performance.