Does Ethical Behaviour Affect Sustainable Development? Evidence from Developed and Developing Countries

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between ethical behavior and green growth for a large sample of 109 countries, comprised of developed and developing countries. We applied panel corrected the standard error (PCSE) and system generalized moment of method (S-GMM) to achieve the set-aside objectives. We use the recent data from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED). Our results show that high ethical behavior is associated with an increase in green growth, suggesting that the ethical standard plays a significant role in achieving sustainable development. We also find that the relationship between ethical behavior and green growth is more pronounced in developed countries than in developing countries. This is attributed to the ethical standard laid down in most of the developed countries. The results are unaffected by alternative variable measurements and econometric estimations. Our findings highlight the need for policymakers to consider non-economic and technological factors such as ethics to achieve growth that is both environmentally and economically sustainable.