IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v79y2025ics0275531925003186.html

Harnessing FinTech for green growth: financial innovations and energy efficiency in OECD nations

Author

Listed:
  • Siddik, Abu Bakkar
  • Mondal, Md. Saheb Ali
  • Uddin, Myne
  • Yong, Li

Abstract

We investigate the influence of FinTech startup financing on energy efficiency in 32 OECD countries from 2010 to 2022, considering the roles of financial development, financial institutions, and financial markets. Using a comprehensive dataset, we apply Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with a Super Slack-Based Measure (Super-SBM) to calculate energy efficiency scores, along with econometric techniques to ensure robustness and explore non-linear effects. Our findings demonstrate that FinTech financing significantly enhances energy efficiency, particularly in countries with more advanced financial systems. Additionally, financial development through well-established institutions and markets plays a crucial role in promoting energy efficiency, with the effects being stronger in highly developed countries. The quantile analysis further reveals that these impacts are asymmetric, with stronger effects observed in countries that already have higher levels of energy efficiency. These results suggest that while FinTech and financial development contribute positively to energy efficiency, their influence varies across different country contexts. Policymakers should focus on strengthening financial systems in less-developed nations to fully capitalize on FinTech innovations for improving sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Siddik, Abu Bakkar & Mondal, Md. Saheb Ali & Uddin, Myne & Yong, Li, 2025. "Harnessing FinTech for green growth: financial innovations and energy efficiency in OECD nations," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:79:y:2025:i:c:s0275531925003186
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2025.103062
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531925003186
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2025.103062?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Qingyang Wu, 2024. "From bits to emissions: how FinTech benefits climate resilience?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 67(5), pages 2009-2037, November.
    2. Appiah-Otoo, Isaac & Chen, Xudong & Ampah, Jeffrey Dankwa, 2023. "Exploring the moderating role of foreign direct investment in the renewable energy and economic growth nexus: Evidence from West Africa," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    3. Zeng, Ming & Zhang, Weike, 2024. "Green finance: The catalyst for artificial intelligence and energy efficiency in Chinese urban sustainable development," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    4. Beck, Nathaniel & Katz, Jonathan N., 1995. "What To Do (and Not to Do) with Time-Series Cross-Section Data," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 89(3), pages 634-647, September.
    5. John C. Driscoll & Aart C. Kraay, 1998. "Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation With Spatially Dependent Panel Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(4), pages 549-560, November.
    6. Du, Qunyang & Xue, Mengzhe & Li, Zhongyuan & Min Du, Anna & Yang, Tianle, 2024. "Economic vulnerabilities and sustainability in energy utilities: Managing climate change in the face of geopolitical turmoil," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    7. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    8. Zhou, Jun & Yin, Zhichao & Yue, Pengpeng, 2023. "The impact of access to credit on energy efficiency," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    9. Pata, Ugur Korkut & Yilanci, Veli & Zhang, Qianxiao & Shah, Syed Ale Raza, 2022. "Does financial development promote renewable energy consumption in the USA? Evidence from the Fourier-wavelet quantile causality test," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 432-443.
    10. Tan, Ruipeng & Xu, Mengmeng & Qiao, Gang & Wu, Huaqing, 2023. "FDI, financial market development and nonlinearities of energy and environmental efficiency in China: Evidence from both parametric and nonparametric models," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    11. Su, Xianfang & He, Jian, 2024. "Quantile connectedness among fintech, carbon future, and energy markets: Implications for hedging and investment strategies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    12. Wei, Xun & Pal, Shreya & Mahalik, Mantu Kumar & Liu, Weibai, 2024. "The role of energy efficiency in income inequality dynamics in developing Asia: Evidence from artificial neural networks," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    13. Reed W. Robert & Webb Rachel, 2010. "The PCSE Estimator is Good -- Just Not As Good As You Think," Journal of Time Series Econometrics, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-26, September.
    14. Ofori, Isaac K. & Gbolonyo, Emmanuel Y. & Ojong, Nathanael, 2023. "Foreign direct investment and inclusive green growth in Africa: Energy efficiency contingencies and thresholds," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    15. Hou, Yan & Li, Xiaobo & Wang, Hui & Yunusova, Rimma, 2024. "Focusing on energy efficiency: The convergence of green financing, FinTech, financial inclusion, and natural resource rents for a greener Asia," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    16. Roger Koenker & Kevin F. Hallock, 2001. "Quantile Regression," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 143-156, Fall.
    17. Polat, Onur & Ozcan, Burcu & Ertuğrul, Hasan Murat & Atılgan, Emre & Özün, Alper, 2024. "Fintech: A Conduit for sustainability and renewable energy? Evidence from R2 connectedness analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    18. Ding, Jinxiu & Li, Lingxue & Zhao, Jinsong, 2024. "How does fintech prompt corporations toward ESG sustainable development? Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    19. Fare, Rolf, 1989. "Multilateral Productivity Comparisons When Some Outputs Are Undesirable: A Nonparametric Approach," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(1), pages 90-98, February.
    20. Doytch, Nadia & Elheddad, Mohamed & Hammoudeh, Shawkat, 2023. "The financial Kuznets curve of energy consumption: Global evidence," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    21. Edziah, Bless Kofi & Opoku, Eric Evans Osei, 2024. "Enhancing energy efficiency in Asia-Pacific: Comprehensive energy policy analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    22. Arthur Lewbel, 2012. "Using Heteroscedasticity to Identify and Estimate Mismeasured and Endogenous Regressor Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 67-80.
    23. Yao, Niaoer & Fabus, Michal & Hu, Lifeng & Qian, Fangbin, 2023. "Resource efficiency and economic sustainability in APEC: Assessing the financial sector's role," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PB).
    24. Galeone, Graziana & Ranaldo, Simona & Fusco, Antonio, 2024. "ESG and FinTech: Are they connected?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    25. Bremer, Leon & den Nijs, Sacha & de Groot, Henri L.F., 2024. "The energy efficiency gap and barriers to investments: Evidence from a firm survey in The Netherlands," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    26. Trianni, Andrea & Cagno, Enrico & Farné, Stefano, 2016. "Barriers, drivers and decision-making process for industrial energy efficiency: A broad study among manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 1537-1551.
    27. Picazo-Tadeo, Andres J. & Reig-Martinez, Ernest & Hernandez-Sancho, Francesc, 2005. "Directional distance functions and environmental regulation," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 131-142, June.
    28. Karakaya, Etem & Alataş, Sedat & Erkara, Elif & Mert, Betül & Akdoğan, Tuğba & Hiçyılmaz, Burcu, 2024. "The rebound effect of material and energy efficiency for the EU and its major trading partners," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    29. Zhongye Sun & Xin Zhang & Yifei Gao, 2023. "The Impact of Financial Development on Renewable Energy Consumption: A Multidimensional Analysis Based on Global Panel Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-20, February.
    30. Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Abakah, Emmanuel Joel Aikins & Shao, Xuefeng & Le, TN-Lan & Gyamfi, Matthew Ntow, 2023. "Financial technology stocks, green financial assets, and energy markets: A quantile causality and dependence analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    31. Zhu, Bangzhu & Tian, Chao & Wang, Ping, 2024. "Exploring the relationship between Chinese crude oil futures market efficiency and market micro characteristics," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    32. Teng, Mingming & Shen, Minghao, 2023. "Fintech and energy efficiency: Evidence from OECD countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    33. Khan, Imran & Khan, Inayat & Ikram, Rana Muhammad Adnan & Ali, Mohammad Ajmal, 2024. "Integrating FinTech with Industry 4.0 for sustainable mineral resource management: Exploring the interplay of technology, regulation, and economic dynamics," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    34. Chang'an Wang & Long Wang & Shikuan Zhao & Cunyi Yang & Khaldoon Albitar, 2024. "The impact of Fintech on corporate carbon emissions: Towards green and sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(6), pages 5776-5796, September.
    35. Murshed, Muntasir & Ahmed, Rizwan & Khudoykulov, Khurshid & Kumpamool, Chamaiporn & Alrwashdeh, Nusiebeh Nahar Falah & Mahmood, Haider, 2023. "Can enhancing financial inclusivity lower climate risks by inhibiting carbon emissions? Contextual evidence from emerging economies," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    36. Xu, Si & Zhang, You & Chen, Lan & Leong, Lin Woon & Muda, Iskandar & Ali, Anis, 2023. "How Fintech and effective governance derive the greener energy transition: Evidence from panel-corrected standard errors approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    37. Zhou, P. & Ang, B.W. & Poh, K.L., 2008. "A survey of data envelopment analysis in energy and environmental studies," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 189(1), pages 1-18, August.
    38. Yu, Weihua & Liang, Wenjing & Yao, Xin, 2024. "The effect of the county-to-district conversion policy on energy efficiency of enterprises: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    39. Seiford, Lawrence M. & Zhu, Joe, 2002. "Modeling undesirable factors in efficiency evaluation," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 16-20, October.
    40. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    41. Tone, Kaoru, 2001. "A slacks-based measure of efficiency in data envelopment analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 130(3), pages 498-509, May.
    42. Adom, Philip Kofi & Amuakwa-Mensah, Franklin & Akorli, Charity Dzifa, 2023. "Energy efficiency as a sustainability concern in Africa and financial development: How much bias is involved?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    43. Li, Guoxiang & Wu, Haoyue & Jiang, Jieshu & Zong, Qingqing, 2023. "Digital finance and the low-carbon energy transition (LCET) from the perspective of capital-biased technical progress," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    44. Taskin, Dilvin & Dogan, Eyup & Madaleno, Mara, 2022. "Analyzing the relationship between energy efficiency and environmental and financial variables: A way towards sustainable development," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    45. Chen, Zhongfei & Huang, Wanjing & Zheng, Xian, 2019. "The decline in energy intensity: Does financial development matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Umar, Muhammad & Horobet, Alexandra & Negreanu, Cristina Carmencita & Belascu, Lucian & Mirza, Nawazish, 2025. "Fintech adoption, AI development, and energy transition dynamics," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arsen Benga & Glediana Zeneli (Foto) & María Jesús Delgado‑Rodríguez & Sonia Lucas Santos, 2025. "Company efforts and environmental efficiency: evidence from European railways considering market-based emissions," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(5), pages 9977-10012, May.
    2. Gómez-Calvet, Roberto & Conesa, David & Gómez-Calvet, Ana Rosa & Tortosa-Ausina, Emili, 2014. "Energy efficiency in the European Union: What can be learned from the joint application of directional distance functions and slacks-based measures?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 137-154.
    3. Zhang, Bin & Lu, Danting & He, Yan & Chiu, Yung-ho, 2018. "The efficiencies of resource-saving and environment: A case study based on Chinese cities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 493-507.
    4. Ning Zhang & Jong-Dae Kim, 2014. "Measuring sustainability by Energy Efficiency Analysis for Korean Power Companies: A Sequential Slacks-Based Efficiency Measure," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-13, March.
    5. Chiu, Yung-Ho & Lee, Jen-Hui & Lu, Ching-Cheng & Shyu, Ming-Kuang & Luo, Zhengying, 2012. "The technology gap and efficiency measure in WEC countries: Application of the hybrid meta frontier model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 349-357.
    6. Charles, Vincent & Kumar, Mukesh & Irene Kavitha, S., 2012. "Measuring the efficiency of assembled printed circuit boards with undesirable outputs using data envelopment analysis," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(1), pages 194-206.
    7. Zhou, Haibo & Yang, Yi & Chen, Yao & Zhu, Joe, 2018. "Data envelopment analysis application in sustainability: The origins, development and future directions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 264(1), pages 1-16.
    8. Zhou, P. & Ang, B.W. & Poh, K.L., 2008. "A survey of data envelopment analysis in energy and environmental studies," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 189(1), pages 1-18, August.
    9. Xiang Ji & Jiasen Sun & Qunwei Wang & Qianqian Yuan, 2019. "Revealing Energy Over-Consumption and Pollutant Over-Emission Behind GDP: A New Multi-criteria Sustainable Measure," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 54(4), pages 1391-1421, December.
    10. Long, Xingle & Wu, Chao & Zhang, Jijian & Zhang, Jing, 2018. "Environmental efficiency for 192 thermal power plants in the Yangtze River Delta considering heterogeneity: A metafrontier directional slacks-based measure approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3962-3971.
    11. Noor Ramli & Susila Munisamy & Behrouz Arabi, 2013. "Scale directional distance function and its application to the measurement of eco-efficiency in the manufacturing sector," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 211(1), pages 381-398, December.
    12. Yu Liu & Rui-tang Guo & Wei-guo Pan, 2024. "Evaluation of carbon emission efficiency and spatial relevance in the thermal power industry: evidence from China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(9), pages 22715-22745, September.
    13. Mergoni, Anna & Emrouznejad, Ali & De Witte, Kristof, 2025. "Fifty years of Data Envelopment Analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 326(3), pages 389-412.
    14. Kamguia, Brice & Tadadjeu, Sosson & Ndoya, Hermann & Djeunankan, Ronald, 2025. "Assessing the nexus between industrialization and inclusive green growth in Africa. The critical role of energy efficiency," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    15. Afzalinejad, Mohammad, 2020. "Reverse efficiency measures for environmental assessment in data envelopment analysis," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    16. Bretholt, Abraham & Pan, Jeh-Nan, 2013. "Evolving the latent variable model as an environmental DEA technology," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 315-325.
    17. Wasi Ul Hassan Shah & Gang Hao & Hong Yan & Rizwana Yasmeen, 2022. "Efficiency evaluation of commercial banks in Pakistan: A slacks-based measure Super-SBM approach with bad output (Non-performing loans)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(7), pages 1-22, July.
    18. Annageldy Arazmuradov, 2016. "Economic prospect on carbon emissions in Commonwealth of Independent States," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 395-427, November.
    19. Margaréta Halická & Mária Trnovská, 2018. "Negative features of hyperbolic and directional distance models for technologies with undesirable outputs," Central European Journal of Operations Research, Springer;Slovak Society for Operations Research;Hungarian Operational Research Society;Czech Society for Operations Research;Österr. Gesellschaft für Operations Research (ÖGOR);Slovenian Society Informatika - Section for Operational Research;Croatian Operational Research Society, vol. 26(4), pages 887-907, December.
    20. Veasna Trakem & Hongzhong Fan & Dyna Sam & Sokhan Chen, 2026. "How do agricultural trade liberalization, climate variability and change, and governance quality influence food security in ASEAN?," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 18(2), pages 495-540, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:79:y:2025:i:c:s0275531925003186. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ribaf .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.