Digital-economic transformation's environmental impact: transportation CO2 emissions in fragile and transition economies

ŞAHİN S.

Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, cilt.150, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, SSCI, Scopus) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 150
  • Basım Tarihi: 2026
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.trd.2025.105132
  • Dergi Adı: Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Compendex, EconLit, Environment Index, Geobase, INSPEC, Public Affairs Index
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Digital transformation, Economic growth, Environment, Financial development, Panel CS-ARDL analysis, Transportation infrastructure
  • İstanbul Yeni Yüzyıl Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This study investigates the impact of digital and economic transformation on transport-sector CO2 emissions across two country groups—fragile economies (Mozambique, Niger, Chad, Burundi, Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Yemen, and Somalia) and transition economies (Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Uzbekistan)—over 1990–2023. Employing the Cross‑Sectionally Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS‑ARDL) approach, the analysis uncovers disparities in environmental adaptation capacity and institutional frameworks between the groups. Results indicate that transition economies adjust more rapidly to environmental deviations, whereas the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) holds for fragile economies in the short and long run. The findings highlight the need to strengthen environmental governance, policy capacity in fragile states and pursue institutional restructuring and sustainable development strategies in transition economies. Policy recommendations for both groups include adopting green logistics, prioritizing environmentally aligned infrastructure investments, fostering regional cooperation, facilitating technology transfer, enhancing financing mechanisms, and investing in capacity‑building with local stakeholder engagement.