Nexus among financial technologies, oil rents, governance and energy transition: Panel investigation from Asian Economies

Amidst the evolving landscape of global economies, the quest for sustainable energy solutions stands as a paramount challenge. In this context, the nexus between financial technologies, oil rents, governance, and globalization emerges as a crucial axis influencing the transition towards cleaner energy sources. Within five prominent Asian economies—China, India, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia—a profound investigation into the dynamics among these variables between 1995 and 2021 using cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lagged (CS-ARDL) model. This study intricately examines how advancements in financial technologies, oil rents, quality of governance, and the expansive forces of globalization collectively shape the course of the energy transition in this pivotal region. The results confirm that oil rents, financial technologies, and globalization determine the long-term energy transition from fossil fuels to clean energy; nevertheless, governmental effectiveness adversely affects the shifting of energy from non-renewable to clean and green sources of energy consumption. Except for the oil rents and regulatory quality, the findings under the short run are consistent with the long run; however, the magnitude of the coefficients varies. The augmented mean group estimator validates the prior findings and recommends that Asian countries would improve the governance framework and stimulate financial technologies for energy sustainability.