Democracy, information, and communication technology infrastructure and environmental quality

Environmental degradation is an urgent global concern. While previous studies acknowledge the substantial effects of both democracy and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on environmental quality, their joint effects remain underexplored. Addressing this gap, our research investigates the individual and synergistic effects of democracy and ICT infrastructure on environmental quality. Utilizing the system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator, we assess a panel dataset from 152 countries between 2003 and 2019. Our results indicate that both democracy and ICT infrastructure advancements substantially improve environmental quality. Furthermore, an enhanced ICT infrastructure augments the positive effects of democratic practices on the environment and vice versa. However, when ICT infrastructure is insufficient, the positive influence of democratic systems on the environment becomes negligible, and similarly, without a solid democratic foundation, the benefits of ICT infrastructure on environmental quality are diminished. This underscores a synergistic relationship between democracy and ICT in fostering sustainable environmental progress. Consequently, our study offers significant insights into the multifaceted interplay between democracy, ICT infrastructure, and the environment.