The economic development and environmental sustainability nexus have long been a fiercely debated issue. Researchers have widely acknowledged the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis when evaluating this relationship. Recently, an emerging strand of research examined the EKC through the lens of the Economic Complexity Index (ECoI) as a broader measure of economic development. However, empirical evidence of the index’s environmental impact is still limited. Despite its growing prominence, no prior research has been conducted in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) using the ECoI, particularly in the EKC context. Furthermore, research comparing the ECoI differentiated impacts on Ecological Footprint and Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) emissions is largely lacking. Extending on this line of research, our investigation intends to ascertain the influence of ECoI, income, globalization as well as non-renewable energy consumption on two dominant environmental pressure metrics: CO₂ emissions and ecological footprint per capita (EFpc) within the EKC hypothesis context in six GCC countries during 1995–2018. To this end, Pedroni’s cointegration approach was conducted to examine the long-term association between variables; cointegration coefficients were analyzed using Dynamic and Fully modified OLS. Our investigation indicates the emergence of an inverted U-shaped link between ECoI and environmental sustainability in the GCC region for both CO₂ emissions and EFpc. Furthermore, according to the individual country analysis, our findings demonstrate that the EKC hypothesis is sensitive to both the environmental degradation indicator used and the country analyzed; such that the quadratic link incorporating ECoI is confirmed for Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait when EFpc is employed. In comparison, it holds for Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar when CO₂ emissions are used. Moreover, the findings show that income per capita and non-renewables consumption significantly harm environmental sustainability, however, in terms of EFpc only. In contrast, through its three sub-dimensions, globalization contributes to the environmental burden by increasing both EFpc and CO₂ emissions. These conclusions emphasize the economic complexity’s dominant role in mitigating environmental pollution in GCC beyond a certain threshold. Finally, the paper reaches a concise set of implications. Among the foremost, the GCC nations could enhance their environmental sustainability by diversifying their energy sources and increasing reliance on renewable sources, encouraging investment in carbon-reduction technologies, converting their economy from energy-intensive to technology-intensive, as well as imposing strict environmental laws to enable globalization to improve environmental quality.

One of the most pressing global concerns is ensuring high levels of human well-being without overburdening natural resources. The impact of natural resource abundance on the economy’s monetary dimensions has long been controversial, with researchers debating whether it is a blessing or a curse. Recently, focus has shifted to its impact on non-monetary attributes (i.e., human well-being), with conflicting empirical evidence with respect to existence of the resource curse. However, studies on the indirect impact of natural resources on well-being are rare. This inquiry extends previous research by investigating the effect of natural resource abundance on human well-being and the underlying mechanisms that may clarify the convoluted link between the two variables in the UAE from 1990 to 2019. The novel contribution of this research is the evaluation of the resource curse concept from a broader perspective by considering how resource endowments indirectly affect human well-being via environmental quality, human capital, and governance channels. To this end, in the present study, we utilized the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique for cointegration and deployed the vector error correction model (VECM) for causality investigation. The ARDL results indicate cointegrated variables with diverse integration orders, signifying a long-term bond. Furthermore, the outcomes endorse the notion that resource endowment is inversely related to well-being as calibrated by the Human Development Index (HDI), corroborating the “Resource Curse Concept”, whereby large resource endowments impede human well-being. In terms of transmission channels, natural resources improve human well-being through environmental quality. In contrast, both human capital and governance have insignificant impacts on the influence of natural resources on well-being. Therefore, resource endowments improve human well-being as long as they do not harm the environment. The present analysis also resulted in the development of a feedback hypothesis between natural resource endowments and human well-being. The findings of this study provide several insights into the control of the direct and indirect adverse effects of natural resources on human well-being, the foremost being the provision of incentives for low-carbon energy use, reducing energy intensity, and assisting businesses engaged in R&D to minimize the cost of employing renewables, as well as investments in low-carbon technologies/cleantech and environmental technologies.

This study aims to bridge the empirical research gap in governance-modulating effects on the link between a country’s productive structure and individuals’ well-being. In doing so, this study utilizes the economic complexity index to quantify a country’s productive structure and the social progress index to measure quality of life. The empirical strategy relies on the system-GMM approach, covering 75 developing countries from 2011 to 2021. The following conclusions were drawn from the empirical analysis. (1) Economic complexity and governance consistently and unconditionally improve quality of life. (2) Governance substantially modulates economic complexity to enhance quality of life, generating an overall positive net effect. (3) The results remain robust and consistent across several GMM specifications, regardless of whether the six governance indicators compiled by the World Bank were clustered using principal component analysis into four categories (i.e., general, political, economic, and institutional) or used individually. (4) Of the six governance indicators, government effectiveness, the rule of law, and control of corruption were found to be particularly significant, as were economic and institutional governance. (5) An additional threshold analysis was implemented to identify the critical governance levels that further improve quality of life. The thresholds for complementary policies are then established as follows: 0.8435, 1.846, and 1.717 for government effectiveness, rule of law, and corruption control, respectively, and 5.59, 3.14, and 3.32 for general, institutional, and economic governance, respectively. Consequently, economic complexity and governance are necessary and sufficient to improve well-being below these thresholds. Complementary policies are, however, necessary to sustain the overall positive impact beyond these thresholds. The findings of this study provide insights into complementary policies for leveraging economic development to improve the well-being of developing countries.