To satisfy human needs and desires, it is necessary to produce goods and services that require the use of some production factors, such as labor, capital, and energy, among others. Nowadays, energy is a key production factor for economic activity in all countries. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the relationship between energy, economic growth, urbanization, and financial development in the country-members of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) during the period of 1971–2015. Panel data Econometric methods are applied in this research, namely cross-section dependence (Pesaran test), unit root (Cross-sectional Augmented Dickey Fuller and Cross-sectional Im, Pesaran, and Shin tests), cointegration (Kao and Fisher–Johansen tests), and heterogeneous causality (Hurlin and Dumitrescu test). The results achieved in this research demonstrate that the variables of this model are characterized by a cross-section dependence, and they are integrated in order one. An equilibrium or long-term relationship between them exists. By means of the Fully Modified OLS and Dynamic OLS estimators it this demonstrated that there is a positive relationship between GDP and EC, while there is a negative relationship between FD, CPI, URB, and TO and EC. The economic policy recommendations drawn from this investigation are that financial development promotion, urbanization, and trade openness may contribute to reducing energy consumption in these countries.

This article examines the environmental Kuznets curve for the member countries of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), using the ecological footprint as a measure of environmental degradation during 1980–2016. Panel data econometric methods are applied in this research, such as the cross-section dependence, unit root, cointegration and causality tests, and the new method of moments quantile regression (MMQR). The results suggest that the variables are characterized by a cross-section dependence, integrated of order one, and cointegrated. The fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) method shows that renewable energy reduces environmental degradation, and the environmental Kuznets curve is validated. In contrast, patents and trade openness do not show a statistically significant relationship. These results are confirmed with the MMQR, where renewable energy reduces environmental degradation in quantiles from 4 to 6, while the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis is valid in quantiles from 3 to 9, and patents and trade openness do not show a statistically significant relationship in any quantile. Therefore, it is essential to promote renewable energies, cleaner technologies, and environmental regulations to reduce polluting emissions.

This paper studies the convergence of environmental sustainability and its main determinants in selected American countries. In addition, it studies the impact of economic activity, income inequality, trade openness, and innovative activity on the sustainability of these countries. Convergence tests such as unit root and club convergence are applied. Furthermore, cointegration and causality tests are used, and long-term parameters are estimated using methods robust for cross-sectional dependence. The results show evidence of stochastic convergence with the univariate unit root tests in the five indicators (energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, ecological footprint, energy intensity, and load capacity factor) used, while with the panel data unit root tests only in four (carbon dioxide emissions, ecological footprint, energy intensity, and load capacity factor). There is no evidence of convergence towards a single club considering the complete sample, but there is evidence of convergence towards several clubs. The variables are integrated of order one and are cointegrated. Moreover, using robust estimators in the presence of cross-sectional dependence in long-term economic activity, income inequality, trade openness, and innovative activity deteriorate sustainability, while renewable energy improves it in these countries.

The Internet is a networking infrastructure that allows people's communication throughout the world, transcending time and space limits. Nowadays, the Internet has changed the way of doing business, leading to a digital economy. Indeed, e-commerce has emerged as commercial transactions conducted over the Internet, which has become a source of economic growth for countries. In this sense, the research question conducting this research is as follows: what are the main variables that have affected the development of e-commerce in European countries from 2003 to 2017? In so doing, panel data econometric methods are used in this research. The tests of cross-section dependence (Pesaran test), unit root (Cross-sectional Im, Pesaran and Shin tests), cointegration (Kao and Fisher-Johansen tests), and heterogeneous causality (Hurlin and Dumitrescu test) are applied. In this regard, the results show that the variables in this research are characterized by a transversal dependence, and that they are integrated of order one. Furthermore, there is evidence that the variables are cointegrated, suggesting that there is a long-term relationship equilibrium between these variables. In addition, there is a bidirectional causality relationship between R&D spending (RD) and mobile phone penetration (MPP). Also, there is a unidirectional relationship from the development of e-commerce (EC) to RD and from per capita disposable income (PI) to RD. Besides, results suggest a positive and significant effect of MPP, RD, and PI on the EC in European developed countries. Therefore, these results show that the CE of the developed countries of Europe could be promoted through the improvement of the MPP, DR and IP.

There remain several unexplored questions in relation to the analysis of regional innovation systems (RISs). This is the case, for example, about the nature of some types of system failures that avoid developing innovations in regional economies. In this case, system failures may hinder the operation and development of innovation systems as a whole, and thus opening up the possibility of a new policy rationale that replaces the neoclassical market failure concept. The objective of this paper is to discuss the role that might be played by science, technology and innovation (STI) policy when some types of system failures appear. Particularly, the possibility of finding these failures in emerging economies is evaluated as a consequence of immature innovation systems characterising these countries. In this paper, the case of the province of Michoacán in Mexico is evaluated.