Fintech inclusion in natural resource utilization, trade openness, resource productivity, recycling and minimizing waste generation: Does technology really drive economies toward green growth?

Ever since the industrial revolution, financial sector is considered a significant claimant of driving growth in society. However, adverse eco-friendly projects by financial means raise various concerns that either financial market products benefit environment. In this lieu, the present study aims to analyze the role of fintech in natural resource utilization, trade openness, resource productivity and recycling and minimizing waste generation in China. For this purpose, data from the 1995 to 2021 period is analyzed using the “Quantile Autoregressive Distributed lag (QARDL) model. The Granger causality test is also used to analyze the causal association between variables and to know about their relative significance. According to the findings, the error correction term (ECM) has an expected negative sign with statistical significance across different quantiles showing that the relationship between these variables reverts to the long-run equilibrium. QARDL short run and long run estimation indicates that fintech promotes natural resource utilization, resource productivity, trade openness, and recycling of waste materials and management with the significance of these effects varying at different quantiles. The findings of Granger Causality indicate that a bidirectional association is present between fintech and recycling and waste management, and unidirectional causality is found to be present from fintech to resource productivity. The study recommends the government formulate and implement policies aimed at promoting fintech and integrating them with streamlined natural resources and industrial and trade sectors.