Technological Forecasting & Social Change 186 (2023) 122185

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Technological Forecasting & Social Change

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/techfore

Green investment, financial development, digitalization and economic

sustainability in Vietnam: Evidence from a quantile-on-quantile regression
and wavelet coherence
Ngo Thai Hung 1
Faculty of Economics and Law, University of Finance-Marketing, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

JEL classification: This study analyzes how economic sustainability in Vietnam could be promoted by realizing opportunities
C32 represented by green investment, digitalization, and financial development. The relationship between digitali­
C33 zation, green investment, financial development, and sustainable development has yet to be thoroughly inves­
Q43
tigated. In addition, no research has been conducted in Vietnam on the relationship between these indicators to
Q48
the best of our knowledge. By doing so, we adopt a novel three-stage methodology comprising quantile-on-
Keywords:
quantile regression developed by Sim and Zhou (2015), Granger causality in quantiles proposed by Troster
Digitalization
Financial development
(2018), and wavelet analysis. The findings demonstrate a strong positive effect of digitalization, green invest­
Green investment ment, and financial development on economic sustainability in Vietnam across most quantiles, indicating that
Vietnam investment in green resources, technology innovation, and financial development supports the country's tran­
Quantile regression sition to sustainable development. Overall, the empirical findings show that digitalization, green investment, and
financial development can all play a significant role in significantly increasing the sustainability of Vietnam's
current high economic growth trajectories. The findings could create a roadmap for developing countries to use
technology innovation, green investment, and financial development in productive sectors to accomplish sus­
tainable development goals.

1. Introduction
Academics, industry representatives, and policymakers have
increased attention to sustainable development. Stable economic growth
and energy efficiency are critical for attaining sustainable development
in the digital era (Hosan et al., 2022). However, fostering sustainable
economic growth and development should not come at the expense of
future generations—that is, economic advancement and environmental
sustainability should go hand in hand (Azam, 2019). Sustainable
development has become a must for all economies worldwide (Musah
et al., 2022; Singh et al., 2022). Economic development needs a high
quantity of energy consumption, and the waste gas and wastewater
created can pollute the environment. As a result, governments should
opt for environmentally friendly green growth (Song et al., 2019).
There is a considerable gap between current renewable energy in­
vestment patterns and sustainable development. More crucially, specific
macroeconomic policies that are more environmentally friendly have
been postulated in the literature to help decouple CO2 emissions from
economic growth (Luukkanen et al., 2019), which means that it is crit­
ical to invest in renewable energy sources. As per Musah et al. (2022),
investments in green projects are vital for economic growth, environ­
mental protection, and resource conservation, all of which can be
furthered by green investments. Although other countries have imple­
mented green investment by aggressively investing in clean energy to
assist in the improvement of their environmental quality, Vietnam is still
behind because only a small amount of its energy comes from renewable
sources (Nguyen et al., 2021). According to Shibata (2021), technology
improves the efficiency with which currently available resources are put
to use, improvement of environmental sustainability. As a result, tech­
nological advancements investments are an alternative way for Vietnam
to foster economic sustainability without compromising environmental
quality. Specifically, technological advancements are significantly
linked to research and development (Zeraibi et al., 2021; Gao and
Zheng, 2017; Sun et al., 2021). Thus, investments in research and
development have all of the characteristics necessary to assist Vietnam
in becoming a low-carbon economy and achieving its sustainable

E-mail address: hung.nt@ufm.edu.vn.

1
Authors' information: PhD in Finance, University of Finance-Marketing, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.122185
Received 30 May 2022; Received in revised form 4 November 2022; Accepted 12 November 2022
Available online 23 November 2022
0040-1625/© 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
N.T. Hung
development goals.
The reason for choosing Vietnam is that as a major producer of in­
dustrial goods, Vietnam is a major consumer of energy and an emitter of
carbon. Although the economy of Vietnam is thought to be ICT-savvy, it
is unclear how efficient the ICT revolution that swept the nation has
been at providing financial services to the population and whether it has
helped the country's enhanced economic growth. According to figures
from the International Telecommunication Union, Vietnam has made
considerable strides in the adoption of important ICTs, including the use
of mobile phones and the internet. In essence, Vietnam's economy has
grown since its economic reforms and admission to the World Trade
Organization in 2006. The concern about increased carbon emissions is
palpable with expanding economic development, trade opening up to
the rest of the world, and fast industrialization. Vietnam's expanding
environmental challenges pose a threat to long-term growth. Like the
developed world, Vietnam will play an important role in lowering car­
bon emissions once it recognizes the requirement for a green financial
system and commits to decreasing carbon emissions through green in­
vestment or financing, renewable energy consumption, and technolog­
ical innovation. The adoption of a green financial system is required
once attention is drawn to the sustainable growth of the economy, so­
ciety, and financial sector on a global scale and a scientific perspective
on the reality of development (Luukkanen et al., 2019; Musah et al.,
2022). Further, Vietnam has witnessed rapid economic growth, with
annual GDP growth rates of around 6 % since the early 1990s (World
Bank, 2021). In Vietnam, energy expenditures have risen faster than
income, particularly for low-income deciles. It is becoming increasingly
important to foresee innovation and knowledge economy difficulties in
order to disclose how to strengthen the relationships between techno­
logical and economic sectors through the lens of sustainability (Musah
et al., 2022). Technological, social, and economic processes are intri­
cately linked to adapting socioeconomic and ecological systems to a
complex and uncertain environment. This research intends to fill that
vacuum by investigating the linkages between the knowledge economy
and innovation in Vietnam.
The global economy has seen significant changes as a result of the
rapid evolution of information and digital innovation (Vyshnevskyi
et al., 2020). The growth of networks, the Internet, and the broad
adoption of digital solutions have resulted in massive changes in prac­
tically every aspect of life (Aleksandrova et al., 2022; Liu et al., 2022).
The COVID-19 pandemic has been occurring since the beginning of 2020
and has expedited these developments even more (Brodny and Tutak,
2022). Because COVID-19 has accelerated almost all countries' digital
transformation, it will positively impact their capacity for social inno­
vation, which will benefit society as a whole (Nagy and Veresne Somosi,
2022). In light of Vietnam's situation during the pandemic, digital-based
communication networks have played a significantly more significant
part in defining the country's future development since 2019. Vietnam's
commerce and economy had begun to transition digitally before the
epidemic, as seen by the growth of technology-based applications and
more online trading sites (Raeskyesa and Lukas, 2019). As a result, it is
vital to evaluate the impact of digital innovation on economic devel­
opment in this nation and several concerns in terms of potential and
challenges that the Vietnamese government should take into account.
Besides, Brodny and Tutak (2022) stated that digital technologies are
rapidly being used in manufacturing and service processes, and they are
quickly becoming associated with modernity and innovation. Hence,
digitalization and the application of the Industry 4.0 concept are
increasingly becoming a driver of economic growth for many firms,
governments, and regions around the world. In light of this, the eco­
nomic impact of digitalization has piqued the interest of many re­
searchers in recent years.
Financial markets and financial institutions are both parts of a
financial system. Growth is primarily aided by a robust and functional
monetary system that utilizes resources to be employed most creatively,
driving more effective distribution. Prior studies such as Wu et al.
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Technological Forecasting & Social Change 186 (2023) 122185
(2020), Mohieldin et al. (2019), Chen et al. (2020), Sharma and Kautish
(2020), Lenka and Sharma (2020), and Mohanty and Bhanumurthy
(2019) have highlighted the importance of financial development in
boosting economic sustainability. In developing countries still in the
early stages of economic development, the linkages between outputs and
financial development are strengthening. Growing countries with un­
derdeveloped financial systems, on the other hand, are trapped in a vi­
cious cycle in which insufficient financial development results in poor
economic performance (Wu et al., 2020).
This study is motivated by the aggravating trends in economic
development and the poor renewable energy use scenarios in Vietnam.
Against this background, the present study aims to analyze the consid­
erable impacts of digitalization, green investment, and financial devel­
opment on economic sustainability in Vietnam. Among the major
relevant economic sustainability factors, our work explicitly emphasizes
the impact of technology innovations, financial development, and green
investment in the Vietnamese context. These indicators have been
acknowledged in the literature to affect economic development around
the world (Sun et al., 2021; Gao and Zheng, 2017; Indriastuti and
Chariri, 2021; Gao and Zheng, 2017; Ning et al., 2022; Musah et al.,
2022; Mtar and Belazreg, 2021; Chen et al., 2020; Shahbaz et al., 2022).
In addition, with the recent ratification of the Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership, Vietnam can be expected to enhance its eco­
nomic development (Zeraibi et al., 2021). However, given the nation's
previous patterns of green growth, this predicted growth can also be
accompanied by digital innovation, financial development, and green
investment, allowing for sustainable development in the years ahead.
More importantly, Vietnam has vowed to contribute to the global
achievement of the Paris Agreement's sustainable development goals
agenda. As a result, Vietnam must establish the most appropriate
pathways to achieve long-term success. In this regard, the findings of
this article are likely to reveal important policy implications that will
help Vietnam attain economic sustainability.
As a result, the current study attempts to answer the question of
whether Vietnam's digital innovation, green investment, and financial
development policies have been successful attempts at enhancing eco­
nomic growth, resulting in improved economic sustainability. Addi­
tionally, it is reasonable to assume that the greater the degree of
financial development, digitization, and green investment, the more
economically sustainable Vietnam will be. Both the research questions
and the hypotheses compel us to look into the influences of digitization,
financial development, and green investment on economic sustainability
in Vietnam. This country is emerging and growing, reaching increasing
economic growth rates while simultaneously consuming less renewable
energy, putting pressure on environmental degradation (Nguyen et al.,
2021). This demonstrates that policies are aligned in favor of improving
sustainable development through increased economic growth.
This paper contributes to the existing literature in several ways.
Given that Vietnam is making progress toward attaining the objectives
of SDGs 13, demand for conventional energy is dwindling, even though
it is a primary engine of the country's economic growth. On the other
hand, renewable energy options are gaining much traction. As a result,
this work aims to analyze the complexities and asymmetric relationships
between financial development, green investment, digitalization, and
economic sustainability in Vietnam from 1995 to 2020. First, to the best
of our knowledge, research into the relationship between these variables
is still limited, particularly in Vietnam. We consider that the rate of
economic growth in this country has continued to rise over time and that
this research area is continuously developing. To put it another way, as
far as we know, no studies on the green investment, financial develop­
ment, digitization, and economic sustainability nexus have been
implemented in Vietnam. For this purpose, we adopt a novel three-stage
methodology consisting of Quantile-on-Quantile regression, Granger
causality in quantiles, and Wavelet coherence models to highlight the
dependence structure of the examined indicators and measure the
asymmetry in the correlation structure and discover the lead-lag
N.T. Hung
relationship between the variables, respectively. The proposed frame­
works ensure robustness. These approaches also accommodate the
problems of heterogeneity, non-normality, and asymmetry of the vari­
ables. Our analysis reveals that digitalization, green investment, and
financial development positively impact economic sustainability in
Vietnam, which will contribute to the related literature in terms of of­
fering investment, technology innovation, and financial development
policy implications at the country level.
The article is organized into five sections. Section 2 represents the
literature review. Sections 3 and 4 explain the data and describes the
methodology. Section 5 presents empirical findings and discussion.
Section 7 provides a conclusion and policy implications.
2. Theoretical background and related literature
The Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations (SDGs)
have fully recognized the importance of green investment in achieving a
low-carbon economy (Balsalobre-Lorente et al., 2021). Furthermore,
green investment funds access to contemporary and sustainable energy,
which dramatically aids in SDG achievement, whereas SDG encourages
spending on initiatives that promote long-term economic prosperity.
More importantly, it aids in achieving SDGs by fostering green in­
novations and sustainable industry (Vyshnevskyi et al., 2020). SDG
pushes for activities that promote sustainable cities and communities,
while SDG calls for investments in activities that support sustainable
production and consumption patterns. The SDGs call for investments in
activities that mitigate climate change's effects. It should be underlined,
however, that investments in green energy cannot be made in Vietnam
without a strong financial system. Financial development (FIN) is a
crucial determinant influencing energy and the environment, which
offers important investment for economic development and identifies
the size of the national economy. More so, the financial sector also gives
considerable funds for innovation, further supporting new-energy
development and technologies for emission reduction. Recently, some
scholars have conducted studies to analyze the impact of financial
development on energy and the environment in Vietnam but have mixed
results (Nguyen et al., 2021; Hung et al., 2022). Several studies
concluded that financial development enhances investment activities
and economic development, thereby stimulating a rise in energy usage
and carbon dioxide emissions. Hung et al. (2022) reveal that FIN has a
negative influence on CO2 emissions in Vietnam. Anwar and Nguyen
(2011) indicate that financial development has a great contribution to
economic development in this country. However, Ali et al. (2021) report
that there is a negative relationship between CO2 emissions and finan­
cial development.
One of the mechanisms via which digital technologies affect growth
is how ICT transforms business models for online and electronic trade,
promoting flexibility in banking operations and improved communica­
tions, ultimately fostering productivity and GDP (Shibata, 2021). In
Vietnam, a developing country, digitization has significantly cut
communication costs since the early 2000s (Habibi and Zabardast,
2020), benefiting the poor in rural areas with limited access to nearly all
critical services. Digitalization has significantly enhanced resource
allocation efficiency, dramatically decreased manufacturing costs, and
stimulated increased demand and investment considerably across all
economic sectors (Filipiak et al., 2020). Most countries have created
digitalization strategies and seen them as essential to boosting their core
competitiveness and achieving Sustainable Development Goals due to
the rapid progress of information technology (Aleksandrova et al.,
2022). With digitization affecting practically every element of the
economy, the emergence of the new techno-economic paradigm has
been a turning point for the global economy (Maiti and Kayal, 2017).
This section we divide into three parts. The first section reviews
related literature on the relationship between digitalization and eco­
nomic growth, while the second part represents literature on the asso­
ciation between green investment and economic development. The
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Technological Forecasting & Social Change 186 (2023) 122185
causal associations between financial progress and economic sustain­
ability were documented in the last section.
2.1. Digitalization and economic development
According to the Solow model, the rising standard of life can only be
explained by advances in technology. Recent growth models identify
technical improvement as a critical determinant in economic growth
(Mentsiev et al., 2020). In contrast to the Solow growth model, which
considers technology to be exogenous, a new growth model has arisen
that considers technological advancement to be endogenous. Further­
more, it is said that modern technology rates affect not just expansion
and development of the economy but also results like the average life­
span, democratic levels, health-related consequences, rates of poverty,
and literacy. Many economists and scholars have concentrated on
examining the influence of digitalization on the outputs of advanced and
emerging nations as a result of the tremendous global advancement of
technology in the previous three decades (Aleksandrova et al., 2022).
According to the literature on technological innovation, it plays a crit­
ical role in fostering economic development in both developed and
developing countries. Technological advancements contribute to eco­
nomic development through meeting demand for digital items,
including communication tools, software, and computers, and
increasing productivity and investment in hi-tech industries. The rela­
tive pricing of high-tech equipment in rich countries may be falling more
quickly than in underdeveloped countries, as the more hi-tech invest­
ment may lead to learning economies. Developed countries profit more
economically from investment in technological innovation than
emerging countries. In OECD countries, internet use promotes financial
development and trade openness (Habibi and Zabardast, 2020).
Although digitization is a fast-evolving field of national inter­
est—particularly in emerging economies—with both benefits and
drawbacks, scientists disagree on the direction of their perspectives
(Filipiak et al., 2020). The appearance of new technology is the first sign
of a shift in economic systems. The evolution of tourism research trends
has revealed that the search for economic development determinants in
the tourism sector has shifted. There is a pressing need to investigate the
influence of a variety of factors on economic growth in emerging
countries, together with the advent of industrialization and the devel­
opment of society, environmental degradation, and macroeconomic
determinants that swiftly impact sustainable economic development
(Maiti and Kayal, 2017; Vyshnevskyi et al., 2020).
Habibi and Zabardast (2020) explore the influence of ICT and edu­
cation on economic development in the Middle East countries and the
OECD economies. The results imply that information and communica­
tion technology is positively related to economic growth in both coun­
tries. Aleksandrova et al. (2022) use a three-pronged approach to
examine the effect of digitalization on economic development. They find
that the macroenvironment and population preparation for digital
transformation does not allow digital technologies to impact economic
growth rates significantly. According to Maiti and Kayal (2017), the
services industry and MSME divisions, two of India's most vibrant and
high-potential growth segments, are both significantly impacted by
digitization, because digitization improves MSMEs' performance and
helps them overcome financial barriers by providing alternative
financing options.
Shibata (2021) argues that digitization can enhance working envi­
ronments and contribute to more stable growth in Japan because it has
resulted in deskilling, dispersion of labor responsibilities, a digital gap,
labor intensification, and increased workplace surveillance. Brodny and
Tutak (2022) demonstrate an approach introduced to investigate the
degree of digitalization and use of innovative technologies among EU
firms. The authors show how the EU countries differ greatly in terms of
digitalization. Boikova et al. (2021) confirm that the most important
factors are macroeconomic stability, R&D, digitalization, foreign direct
investment, and trade openness, which are the significant contributions
N.T. Hung
of competitiveness indicators to economic development in EU countries.
Nevertheless, Vyshnevskyi et al. (2020) indicate that the level of eco­
nomic digitalization in the EU countries at the current stage of techno­
logical and institutional development has no significant impact on
economic growth. Therefore, we formulate the following hypothesis:
H1. : Digitalization has a significant role in enhancing sustainability.
2.2. Green investment and economic growth
Green investment (GRE) is defined by Musah et al. (2022) as activity
involving investment focused on projects or businesses that are dedi­
cated to the conservation of natural resources, the generation and
enhancement of alternative energy, the protection of air and water, and
other environmentally friendly practices. GRE might also be considered
a socially conscious investment since it prioritizes environmental rules,
social duty, and substantial benefits. As per Porter and Van der Linde
(1995), GRE include all initiatives that improve environmental quality.
This conclusion is in line with Xu et al. (2017), who state that GRE can
help minimize the use of harmful energy sources such as coal and other
fossil fuels. As a result, any expenditure that improves the overall
manufacturing process efficiency qualifies as a GRE. Such investments
go beyond energy efficiency and renewable energy to encompass the
processing and recycling of trash, the sanitation of water, the control of
pollution from industry, the preservation of biodiversity, and the
reduction of climate change. The amount of literature available on the
role of GRE is limited (Shen et al., 2021). Nevertheless, several prior
publications are available that highlight the importance of GRE in pro­
moting green growth, reducing environmental degradation, and
achieving sustainable development (Sun et al., 2021; Gao and Zheng,
2017).
Contradictory discoveries have extensively studied the lead-lag
nexus between green investment and GDP. For example, Luukkanen
et al. (2019) look at sustainable development policy through the Sus­
tainability Window and find that water and sanitation issues have been
handled more sustainably than energy and GHG emission issues. Saunila
et al. (2018) investigate what motivates sustainability-related green
innovation investment and utilization, concluding that the higher a
company's value for economics, institutions, and society. Their findings
imply that economic and institutional incentives promote green inno­
vation and that such innovation can provide value in terms of social
sustainability. In a similar fashion, for China, the same results can be
established. According to Wang et al. (2018), GRE benefits from the
presence of a politically connected board chairperson. Furthermore, the
association between political connection and green investment is
negatively moderated by marketization degrees, which supports an
institutional logic approach. During the same decade, Sun et al. (2021)
investigated the time-varying and causal connection between green in­
vestment, clean energy, economic expansion, and environmental sus­
tainability, concluding that while both clean energy and green
investment are significant pollution mitigants, their emissions-cutting
effects differ depending on emissions quantile (low, middle, and high).
Indriastuti and Chariri (2021) research the relationship between GRE
and corporate social responsibility (CSR) investment, demonstrating
that GRE and CSR investment have a positive impact on financial and
sustainable development. At the same time, the impact of financial
performance on long-term performance is negligible.
According to Gao and Zheng (2017), high levels of environmental
concerns from regulators don not always lead to a company's decision to
use green technology. Instead, the level of GRE depends on how market
and operational factors work together for a given level of environmental
concerns from regulators. The finding also demonstrates that raising
customer environmental awareness is a powerful strategy for motivating
a company's GRE. According to Azam (2019), the use of energy, the
accumulation of physical capital, the cultivation of human capital, and
the expansion of financial development all contribute to economic
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Technological Forecasting & Social Change 186 (2023) 122185
development. However, environmental degradation slows it down.
Furthermore, energy use, pollution, investment, human capital, and the
expansion and growth of the financial industry all have bidirectional
and unidirectional causality. Similarly, GDP and energy use are posi­
tively correlated, with a 1 % rise in renewable energy use resulting in a
0.193 % reduction in carbon emissions (Mohsin et al., 2021). Recently,
Rokhmawati (2021) analyzed the direct effects of GRE, ownership from
other countries, and exports on competitiveness and found that while
green investment can reduce GHG emissions, it cannot improve
competitiveness in Indonesia. Ning et al. (2022) explore the impact that
green bond financing has on the growth of the economy as well as in­
vestment in energy efficiency, finding that green banks invest both
public and private capital in energy efficiency to stimulate economic
growth, and bank loans are now the most popular source of finance for
energy efficiency projects. In the Chinese context, Zahoor et al. (2022)
discovered that clean energy investment reduces CO2 emissions, and
ecological footprint while positively related to economic expansion in
China. Shen et al. (2021) investigate the impact of natural resource rent,
GRE, financial development, and energy use on lowering carbon emis­
sions and meeting the sustainable development goal of a clean envi­
ronment. They show that energy consumption and financial
development have a positive influence on CO2 emissions, although
green investment has a negative impact on CO2, whereas national nat­
ural resource rent has a positive impact on carbon emissions. Despite the
fact that GRE increased in all provinces from 2002 to 2017, Sheng et al.
(2021) documented GDP, GRE structure, homothetic regional rivalry,
and regional allocation all had different regional and temporal effects.
Based on the discussion above, we test the following hypothesis:
H2. : Green investment is positively associated with sustainability.
2.3. Financial development and economic growth
There has been a debate on the finance-growth relationship since
Schumpeter (1911) introduced the concept of the requirement for
financial sector expansion for economic growth. Economic success ne­
cessitates the expansion of the financial sector. Through technical ad­
vancements, it helps with economic prosperity. His idea is that financial
development (FIN) influences GDP by supplying adequate funds to en­
terprises with the most productive use of capital. Furthermore, Patrick
(1966) established two significant assumptions about the interplay be­
tween finance and economic growth, including the supply‑leading and
demand-following hypotheses. He claims that the financial system
drives GDP in the early stages of a country's development. By contrast,
the demand for a sophisticated financial sector develops as the country
moves closer to being a developed country. Fetai (2018) discovers a
positive association between FIN indices and economic growth, con­
firming the hypothesis that FIN drives GDP in transitional European
countries like Russia and Turkey.
The scope, stability, effectiveness of financial institutions, and
increased access to such institutions, were outlined by Musah et al.
(2022), Levine (1997), and Arestis and Demetriades (1997), with the
primary purpose of boosting economic sustainability. Bist (2018) ex­
amines the long-run nexus between FIN and GDP in 16 low-income
African and non-African nations, finding that FIN has a positive and
dramatic effect on GDP. In the long term, renewable energy consump­
tion and GDP are driven by FIN, and there is a bidirectional correlation
between renewable energy consumption and GDP in India, according to
Eren et al. (2019). Interestingly, in a different study, Ibrahim and Ala­
gidede (2018) report that FIN supports GDP in 29 SSA countries from
1980 to 2014.
Asteriou and Spanos (2019) explore the nexus between GDP and FIN
during the financial crisis for 26 European Union countries and docu­
ment that FIN enhanced GDP before the crisis whilst it slowed down the
economy after the crisis. In the same vein, Mtar and Belazreg (2021) use
a panel VAR approach to look at the lead-lag nexus between innovation,
N.T. Hung
FIN, and GDP for 27 OECD nations from 2001 to 2016. The data shows a
one-way causal association between economic expansion and FIN. The
neutrality theory is confirmed in the following ways: from FIN to GDP,
between innovation and GDP, and between FIN and innovation. From
1985–to 2016, Zeraibi et al. (2021) investigated the ecological foot­
prints of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam as
a result of renewable electricity generation capability, technical inno­
vation, FIN, and economic expansion. The authors reveal that more
renewable electricity generation and technological innovation reduce
ecological footprints, while more FIN and economic growth increase
them. Similarly, according to Malarvizhi et al. (2019), higher levels of
FIN are strongly and remarkably connected with quicker present and
future growth, capital accumulation, and efficiency. Gazdar et al. (2019)
conclude that the impact of oil prices on trade volatility on growth is
increased by the expansion of the Islamic finance system, based on a
sample of five GCC nations from 1996 to 2016.
Several empirical studies have concluded that the expansion of
businesses within the financial sector contributes favorably to economic
expansion (Wu et al., 2020; Mohieldin et al., 2019; Chen et al., 2020;
Belazreg and Mtar, 2020; Sharma and Kautish, 2020; Lenka and Sharma,
2020; Mohanty and Bhanumurthy, 2019). Mohieldin et al. (2019) study
the interplay between financial sector development and GDP in Egypt
between 1980 and 2016, concluding that there is a substantial correla­
tion between GDP and FIN as measured by the ratio of money supply to
economic growth. Chen et al. (2020) investigate the asymmetric effects
of FIN on Kenyan economic growth. They demonstrate that short-term
positive shocks to FIN and long-term negative shocks to FIN both
boost or slow economic growth. Wang et al. (2019) have the same
findings as Mohieldin et al. (2019) and Chen et al. (2020), who indicate
that FIN has a positive effect on regional GDP in China. Consequently,
we develop the following hypothesis:
H3. : Financial development has a positive impact on sustainability.
Against this background, past studies have used traditional econo­
metric methodologies such as Causality, VAR, ARDL, NARDL, and OLS
to investigate the impact of green investment, FIN, and digitalization on
economic sustainability in a variety of economies. To our knowledge, no
published study has looked at the effects of green investment, FIN, and
digitalization on economic sustainability in the context of Vietnam using
QQR and Granger causality in quantile frameworks. Our research is
motivated to expand the existing literature by exploring the causal re­
lationships between green investment, FIN, digitalization, and economic
sustainability for the proposed dataset 1995–2020 using cutting-edge
nonlinear and nonparametric econometric frameworks beyond the
well-known linear benchmarking techniques. In the final section, the
outcomes, as well as their policy consequences, are discussed.
2.4. Literature gaps
It is clear that, despite substantial research on the subject of green
investment, there remains a literature shortage in this field. Some
studies investigate the effects of green investment and financial devel­
opment on environmental degradation. Still, research on the impacts of
green investment, financial development, and digitalization on sus­
tainable development is limited. It is worth emphasizing that because
Vietnam places a high value on accelerating energy structure adjust­
ment, developing national innovation potential, and attaining green
growth, there is a need for greater research on these links in order to
achieve sustainability. More importantly, investigating the lead-lag and
asymmetric effects of green investment, financial development, and
digitalization on economic sustainability can aid in formulating distinct
green development plans. The majority of extant literature, however,
ignores their themes. In addition, the current study adds to the existing
literature in various ways. It will provide academics with a full under­
standing of the asymmetric relationship between these variables in the
case of top-polluting economies.
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Technological Forecasting & Social Change 186 (2023) 122185
3. Data
The central purpose of this paper aims to identify the asymmetric
influences of digitalization, green investment, and financial develop­
ment on Vietnam's economic sustainability. Annual data from 1995 to
2020 is collected because the data on these indicators for this country is
only available until 2020. Vietnam, known as an emerging economy, is
experiencing rapid financial development, concentrating on green
development and rampant sustainable development too. The indicators
employed in this study include digitalization (DI), which is measured
using the principal components analysis (PCA) score based on mobile
cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) and individuals using the
internet (% of the total population). Just like Musah et al. (2022), who
measured green investment by an index, a PCA approach is adopted to
calculate a green investment index (GRE) for the analysis, which dis­
tinguishes our research from previous studies that calculated GRE solely
through investments in alternative forms of energy as well as energy
conservation. The GRE was created by combining three indicators:
renewable energy usage, technological innovation, and energy effi­
ciency. To be sustainable, economic growth must be in line with the
socioeconomic and environmental objectives which are necessary for
development over the long run. Agriculture, forestry, and fishing; value-
added as a percentage of GDP; trade as a percentage of GDP; inflation in
consumer prices (annual%); population growth measured by annual
percentage; exports of goods and services (% of GDP); and final con­
sumption expenditure (constant 2015 US dollars) were used to create an
economic sustainability index, according to Hosan et al. (2022). We
analyze these six socio-economic components for exploring the eco­
nomic sustainability (SD) score using the PCA technique to evaluate its
effect on economic growth in Vietnam rather than independently eval­
uating these six parameters under socio-economic sustainability. In the
analysis, the economic sustainability (SD) indicator is employed to es­
timate the impact on economic growth. Finally, domestic credit to the
private sector, domestic credit to the private sector by banks, broad
money, and broad money growth were utilized to produce the financial
development index (FIN). Similarly, the FIN index is calculated as a
linear combination of the selected factors, just like the GRE, DI, and SD.
The eigenvalues of the PCA estimates on DI, SD, GRE, and FIN are
described in Fig. 1.
It is clear from Fig. 1 that all the variables utilized for measuring the
GRE, DI, FIN, and SD have significant eigenvalues, which means the
whole variables are quantified to be employed in calculating the in­
dexes. The World Development Indicators (2021) is used to collect all
variables for the GRE, FIN, DI, and SD constructions. The selection of the
examined series focuses on sustainable economic growth, modern and
sustainable energy access, sustainable cities and societies, sustainable
production, consumption patterns, green innovations, and sustainable
industrialization (SDGs-13). Table 1 outlines all of the information on
the indicators and their sources in detail.
The consequences of the descriptive statistics of the selected vari­
ables are reported in Table 2. It is clear that all analyzed data have
positive meaning except for economic sustainability. GRE has the
highest standard deviation, while the rest of the indicators have similar
volatility. In addition, the statistical significance of the Jarque-Bera
statistic for the selected indicators confirms that the issue of normal
distribution exists. The results from the pair-wise correlation analysis in
Fig. 2 indicate a strong correlation between digitalization, green in­
vestment, FIN, and economic sustainability during the sample period.
4. Methodology
In this article, we disclose the influence of digitalization, green in­
vestment, and financial development on economic sustainability in
Vietnam by incorporating a system of approaches. First, quantile on
quantile regression (QQR) introduced by Sim and Zhou (2015) has been
employed to investigate the influence of the selected variables on
N.T. Hung Technological Forecasting & Social Change 186 (2023) 122185

Fig. 1. Plot of eigenvalues of the PCA.

Table 1 Table 2
Data description and sources. Descriptive statistics.
Variable Symbol Measurement Data Variables Mean Minimum Maximum Std. Dev Jarque-Bera
source
SD -2.67E-17 − 0.537419 0.451696 0.246713 3.387014*
Digitalization (PCA DI Individual using internet as % of WDI FIN 1.07E-17 − 0.428895 0.347065 0.246613 8.383857**
score) the total population. WDI DI 9.62E-08 − 0.608091 0.208314 0.246636 22.33911***
Mobile cellular subscription as % GRE 1.92E-07 − 0.435545 0.414948 0.246876 9.563407**
of the total population
Green investment index GRE Renewable energy consumption WDI Note: *** Statistical significance at 10 % level.
(Percentage of total final energy) WDI
Technological innovations WDI quantile regression with nonparametric estimation analysis, which
(Percentage of GDP)
makes it unique. The QQR can provide a useful insight into empirical
Energy efficiency (Ratio of
energy consumption to GDP) findings compared to those produced from standard quantile regression
Economic sustainability SD Trade as a % of GDP WDI and the OLS approach considering the diversity of structural change and
index (PCA score) Agriculture, forestry, and WDI economic growth (Abdulmagid Basheer Agila et al., 2022). Second, after
fishing, value-added as a % of WDI investigating the dynamic correlation structure, it is crucial to take into
GDP WDI
Population growth as annual % WDI
account the causal association between the selected indicators across
Inflation, consumer price WDI different quantiles. In doing so, we employ the nonparametric causality
measured in annual % in quantiles proposed by Troster (2018) to explore the causal relation­
Final consumption expenditure ship between the exogenous and endogenous indicators. Unlike other
measured in constant 2010 US $
causality tests, the nonparametric causality test can capture causality at
Exports of goods and services as
% of GDP different quantiles (0.05–0.95) in the examined series in each quantile of
Financial development FIN Domestic credit to private sector WDI the distribution. Studying and knowing the causality's direction between
index (percentage of GDP) WDI digitalization, green investment, financial development, and economic
Domestic credit to private sector WDI sustainability has great value because of its practical and policy impli­
by banks (percentage of GDP) WDI
Broad money (percentage of
cations. Third, after capturing the causal association, the outcomes can
GDP) be triangulated based on their co-movement patterns over the short-,
Broad money growth (annual medium-, and long-run, which explore the lead-lag nexus between the
percentage) interested variables.
To assess if the quantiles of the distribution follow a unit root pro­
economic sustainability in Vietnam. Hung et al. (2022) contend that cess, we apply the quantile autoregression unit root test devised by
Koenker and Xiao (2004). We employ the cointegration test introduced
econometric procedures are critical for generating unbiased outcomes
and suggest that effective and creative econometric methods be used. by Xiao (2009) to test the null hypothesis of constant cointegrating co­
efficients after the null hypothesis of a unit root is not rejected.
The QQR approach has the advantage of combining the principles of

6
N.T. Hung
Fig. 2. Plots of distribution and the pair-wise correlations of the FIN, GRE, DI and SD.
Subsequently, QQR is employed to investigate the relationship between
the indicators under consideration. Finally, we utilize a test developed
by Troster (2018) for Granger-causality in quantiles.
4.1. The quantile-on-quantile approach (QQR)
The influence of distinct quantiles of X on different quantiles of Y was
investigated using a nonparametric quantile regression model. The
following is how the model is expressed:
Yt = βθ (Xt ) + εθt
where Yt denotes the dependent indicator in period t and Xt presents the
independent indicators in time t. θ is the θth quantile on the distribution
of X. In addition, εθt presents quantile error term, where estimated θth
quantile is equal to zero. βθ(.) is an unknown parameter we do not have
past information in connection with the connection between Y and X.
Hence, we employ a first-order Taylor expansion of βθ(.) around a
quantile of Xθ to linearize the function βθ(.), which can be rewritten as
follows:
βθ (X) ≈ βθ (X τ ) + βθ' (X τ )(Xt − X τ )
where βθ' is the partial derivative of βθ(Xt).
Besides, as pointed out by Sim and Zhou (2015), Eq. (1) can be
rewritten as:
Yt = β0 (θ, τ) + β1 (θ, τ)(Xt − X τ ) + εθt
Specifically, when performing a nonparametric analysis, bandwidth
selection is significant since it helps to simplify the goal point and shifts
the speed of the outcome. When the bandwidth h is set to a large value,
the variance decreases while the estimate deviation decreases, and vice
Technological Forecasting & Social Change 186 (2023) 122185
versa. As a result, the bandwidth value of h = 0.05 was used in this
investigation, as advised by Sim and Zhou (2015).
4.2. Granger-causality in quantiles
To evaluate the causal effect of digitization, green investment, and
financial development on economic sustainability, we use the Granger
causality in quantiles introduced by Troster (2018). This method not
only delineates the causal directional relationships between predictor
and outcome variables in quantiles but also serves as a robustness check
(1) for the primary estimates. The main benefit of this method is that it
captures tail dependency in the series by highlighting causal relation­
ships at different locations of the outcome variable in the vector
autoregression (VAR) framework, which is overlooked by the traditional
Granger causality technique. Because linear Granger causality estimates
are based on the median, they may be incorrect because they do not
account for causal links that may occur among different quantiles. As a
result, this method is more useful than a regular causality test since it has
the ability to detect non-linear causality between the variables of in­
terest. It can also detect non-linear time-varying interaction in general
and is unaffected by large data volumes.
(2)
4.3. Wavelet coherence transform
When decomposing our time series in the time-frequency space, we
applied the continuous wavelet transform. The wavelet coherence
(3) technique (WTC) is effective at capturing localized dependency in time
and frequency domains through series. The cross-wavelet of two series x
(t) and y(t) can be written as:
WnXY (u, s) = WnX (s, τ)WnY* (s, τ) (4)
7
N.T. Hung Technological Forecasting & Social Change 186 (2023) 122185

where u denotes the position, s is the scale, and * denotes the complex investment on economic sustainability in Vietnam, which suggests that
conjugate. The WTC can be calculated as follows: the three independent variables will always be a significant determinant
⃒ ( for achieving economic development in Vietnam under different eco­
) ⃒2 )
⃒ − 1 XY
⃒S s Wn (s, τ) ⃒ nomic conditions. In each pair, a marked variation in the slope coeffi­
2
Rn (s, τ) = ( ) ( ) (5) cient is observed across the various quantiles of the selected indicators
S s− 1 |WX (s, τ) |2 S s− 1 |WY (s, τ) |2
and sustainable development, which reveals that the interlinkages be­
tween the two indicators are asymmetric across the quantiles.
where S connotes smoothing process for both time and frequency at the
Fig. 3a shows the impact of different digitalization quantiles on
same time. R2n(s, τ) is in the range 0 ≤ R2(s, τ) ≤ 1.
divergent economic sustainability quantiles. The quantile estimation
outcomes indicate a negative interaction between DI and SD at lower
5. Empirical results
quantiles of digitalization and economic sustainability. The association
between both indicators is consistent over the middle quantile of eco­
Prior to implementing the QQR technique, the quantile unit root test
nomic sustainability. In addition, there is a strong positive nexus be­
is used to exclude potentially biased results and provide a more robust
tween digitalization and economic development over the middle to high
inference to examine the stationarity qualities of the indicators in
quantiles of both indicators. The results uncover that increasing digi­
question (Çıtak et al., 2021). The results of the quantile unit root test are
talization is raising the economic development in Vietnam. The fact that
depicted in Table 3. We employ 19 sub-quantiles spanning from 0.05 to
a modern digital economy is founded on digital technology has been
0.95. The critical values are compared with the estimated t-statistics
recognized in many countries for many years (Brodny and Tutak, 2022).
value to determine the existence of the quantile unit root. If the critical
For many years, it has been advocated that businesses grow through
value is greater than the estimated t-statistics value, we cannot reject the
implementing and utilizing current technologies and solutions,
null hypothesis of α(τ) = 1 at the 5 % significance level for each quantile.
including those based on the Internet. However, in Vietnam, the pro­
The outcomes of the quantile unit root test confirm that all selected
cesses linked to this do not move simultaneously. These findings support
indicators are not stationary at different quantiles at the 5 % significance
the prior studies of Mentsiev et al. (2020), Habibi and Zabardast (2020),
level.
Shibata (2021), and Vyshnevskyi et al. (2020).
Next, we employ the quantile cointegration test developed by Xiao
In the pair of GRE-SD, we find some interesting outcomes. In general,
(2009) to scrutinize the existence of cointegration between the exam­
green investment was positively linked with economic sustainability
ined indicators, and Table 4 reports these findings. The coefficients of β
over the sample period. The positive association between both in­
and γ suggest supremum norm values, and critical values are referred to
dicators is substantial at the quantiles of SD (0.3–0.95) and all quantiles
as CV1, CV2, and CV10 at the significance levels of 1 %, 5 % and 10 %,
of GRE (0.05–0.95). Nevertheless, a negative nexus exists between lower
respectively. The findings of quantile cointegration highlight that the
quantiles of SD (0.05–0.3) and lower to higher quantiles of GRE. Green
supremum norm values, the β and γ coefficients are greater than all
investment has an overall positive impact on economic sustainability,
critical values at 1 % significance level, which uncovers the existence of
which is crucial in the middle to higher quantiles of SD and middle to
the cointegration between the interested indicators. Put differently,
high quantiles of GRE. These outcomes suggest that increasing green
these outcomes show the persistence of a non-linear long-term associa­
investment has a more significant impact on sustainable development in
tion between digitalization, financial development, green investment,
Vietnam than previously thought. Furthermore, there has been an
and economic sustainability in Vietnam.
overall trend toward this influence over the years. The findings of
In this section, we empirically look into the asymmetric interplay
Vietnam are in line with prior studies by Saunila et al. (2018), Wang
between digitalization, FIN, green investment, and economic sustain­
et al. (2018), Indriastuti and Chariri (2021), Zahoor et al. (2022), and
ability using data from 1995 to 2020 in Vietnam. Figs. 3a, 3b, and 3c
Sheng et al. (2021), who report that a higher level of green investment
demonstrate the coefficients of slope β1(σ , τ), suggesting the τthinfluence
results in more economic growth.
of the selected indicators on the σthquantile of economic sustainability.
Fig. 3c documents the influence of FIN on economic development.
The pairwise graphs provide several exciting results. More specifically,
The slope coefficient of this impact is positive across all quantiles of SD
we find an overall positive effect of digitalization, FIN, and green
(0.1–0.95) for all the quantiles of FIN. Nevertheless, the influence of FIN

Table 3
Quantile autoregression unit root analysis.
τ SD DI FIN GRE

α
̂ t-Statistic α
̂ t-Statistic α
̂ t-Statistic α
̂ t-Statistic

0.05 − 2.9703 2.1332 − 2.3307 − 1.2605 − 2.9883 2.6146 − 2.6948 1.8162

0.10 − 3.4100 − 1.9796 − 2.6440 0.7773 − 3.3149 − 0.7400 − 2.9955 − 1.7245
0.15 − 3.4100 − 1.8994 − 2.6725 0.4442 − 3.3888 − 0.7174 − 3.4100 − 0.9221
0.20 − 3.4100 − 2.2619 − 2.8022 − 0.4657 − 3.4100 − 0.9553 − 3.4100 − 1.5204
0.25 − 3.4100 − 2.5277 − 2.7818 − 0.6370 − 3.4100 − 1.6960 − 3.4100 − 1.3399
0.30 − 3.4100 − 1.9404 − 2.8819 − 1.9562 − 3.4100 0.3337 − 3.4100 − 1.3022
0.35 − 3.4100 − 2.3941 − 2.8928 − 2.5364 − 3.4100 0.3312 − 3.4100 − 0.8443
0.40 − 3.4100 − 1.8059 − 2.8813 − 3.6844 − 3.4100 0.0773 − 3.4100 − 0.7988
0.45 − 3.4100 − 1.5686 − 2.9409 − 4.8474 − 3.4100 0.0553 − 3.4100 − 0.3424
0.50 − 3.4100 − 1.2435 − 2.8587 − 4.5375 − 3.4100 0.3017 − 3.4100 0.2120
0.55 − 3.4100 − 1.6834 − 2.9174 − 4.7186 − 3.4100 0.4416 − 3.4100 − 0.2649
0.60 − 3.4100 − 1.2357 − 3.0146 − 4.7505 − 3.4100 0.4409 − 3.4100 − 0.3605
0.65 − 3.4100 − 0.7027 − 2.7693 − 4.9966 − 3.4100 0.3100 − 3.4100 − 0.1843
0.70 − 3.4100 − 0.3687 − 2.6453 − 5.8560 − 3.4100 0.7660 − 3.4100 − 0.0307
0.75 − 3.4100 − 0.4865 − 2.7679 − 3.5778 − 3.4100 − 0.2022 − 3.4100 − 0.1984
0.80 − 3.4100 − 0.3314 − 2.7524 − 4.0705 − 3.4100 − 0.5257 − 3.4100 0.0511
0.85 − 3.4100 − 0.4173 − 2.8114 − 1.8867 − 3.3267 − 0.3547 − 3.1644 0.2285
0.90 − 3.4100 − 0.5621 − 2.4345 − 1.7301 − 3.1364 − 0.3110 − 2.9282 0.1651
0.95 − 3.4100 0.0953 − 2.3100 6.1876 − 2.7107 0.6206 − 2.5589 − 0.2142

Notes: The table shows point estimates and t-statistics values for the 5 % significance level.

8
N.T. Hung Technological Forecasting & Social Change 186 (2023) 122185

Table 4
Quantile cointegration test.
Model Coefficient Supτ | Vn(τ) | CV1 CV5 CV10

SD-DI β 12.862501 12.735687 9.9308376 8.4763126

γ 16.935524 11.953369 8.7044334 7.5350122
SD-FIN β 32.272028 28.474953 16.271631 11.855581
γ 43.7171 26.213665 15.667746 11.779469
SD-GRE β 115.264821 101.60819 44.720299 33.398689
γ 87.803768 80.379791 49.251408 37.110924

Note: This table presents the results of the quantile cointegration test of Xiao (2009) for the logarithm of the selected variables and economic sustainability. We test the
stability of the coefficients β and γ in the quantile cointegration model, and CV1, CV5, and CV10 are the critical values of statistical significance at 1 %, 5 %, and 10 %,
respectively.

Fig. 3a. The impact of digitalization on economic sustainability.

Fig. 3b. The impact of green investment on economic sustainability.

9
N.T. Hung Technological Forecasting & Social Change 186 (2023) 122185

Fig. 3c. The impact of financial development on economic sustainability.

becomes negatively weak with a decline in the degree of steepness of the
slope parameters for lower quantiles of FIN across all scattering of SD.
Generally, FIN has a positive impact on SD, suggesting that a high level
of FIN creates economic growth at higher rates compared with a lower
level of FIN. Our results support the past studies that have also uncov­
ered the considerable influence of FIN on economic growth (Asteriou
and Spanos, 2019; Zeraibi et al., 2021; Malarvizhi et al., 2019; Gazdar
et al., 2019; Wu et al., 2020; Mohieldin et al., 2019; Chen et al., 2020;
Belazreg and Mtar, 2020; Sharma and Kautish, 2020; Lenka and Sharma,
2020).
We now use the Granger causality test in different quantiles proposed
by Troster (2018) to examine the bidirectional relationship between
digitalization, green investment, financial development, and sustainable
development in Vietnam from 1995 to 2020. Table 5 summarizes the p-
value for the log difference between digitalization, green investment,
financial development, and sustainable development index series. The
results uncover divergences in their significance. In Table 5, we observe
that digitalization, green investment, and financial development on
economic sustainability are heterogeneous, indicating that they do not
uniformly impact economic development. Strong Granger causality is
found for the top, median, and bottom quantiles. In other words, the
outcomes from the quantile-based Granger causality approach illustrate
that digitalization, green investment, financial development, and eco­
nomic sustainability follow a bidirectional relationship in most of the
quantiles of the interested indicators. These findings remain unchanged
in the quantile-on-quantile regression model. As a result, greater vari­
ations (either positive or negative) in digitalization, green investment,
or financial development cause changes in economic sustainability in
Vietnam.
5.1. Validity analysis of the QQR model
The QQR technique has been utilized in the present article to shed
light on the impact of the quantile of the selected indicators on economic
sustainability in Vietnam. As a result, this model is more comprehensive
in exploring the asymmetric influence of DI, GRE, and FIN on economic

Table 5
Granger causality in quantile test results.
Quantiles SD → DI DI → SD SD → FIN FIN → SD SD → GRE GRE → SD

0.05 0.0142** 0.2428 0.0285** 0.2428 1 0.2428

0.10 0.0142** 0.0714* 0.0142** 0.0714* 0.6 0.0714*
0.15 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0428** 0.0142**
0.20 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142**
0.25 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142**
0.30 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.1714 0.0142**
0.35 0.0142** 0.1142** 0.0142** 0.1142** 0.0571** 0.1142
0.40 0.0142** 0.1142** 0.0142** 0.1142** 0.0142** 0.1142
0.45 0.0428** 0.5857 0.4142 0.5857 0.0285** 0.5857
0.50 0.0142** 0.4571 0.1 0.4571 0.3 0.4571
0.55 0.0142** 1 0.0142** 1 0.4285 1
0.60 0.0142** 0.1 0.0285** 0.1 0.0142** 0.1
0.65 0.0142** 0.1285 0.0142** 0.1285 0.07142** 0.1285
0.70 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142**
0.75 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142**
0.80 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142**
0.85 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142** 0.0142**
0.90 0.0142** 0.1 0.0142** 0.1 0.0142** 0.1
0.95 0.3714 0.4571 0.7428 0.4571 0.0714* 0.4571

Notes: *, ** presents the significant level of null hypothesis rejected at 10 %, and 5 %, respectively.

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N.T. Hung Technological Forecasting & Social Change 186 (2023) 122185

development across different quantiles of τ and θ. Nevertheless, average
values of the slope coefficients of the QQR should be approximately
similar to those of conventional quantile regression to validate the
findings of the QQR model in the above results. The comparative eval­
uation of QQR with the standard quantile regression is demonstrated in
Fig. 4, which validates the above results and follows the same trends.
The plots of the three pairs show that the average values of QQR co­
efficients are nearly parallel to the average values of QR coefficients and
move in lockstep. These empirical results back up our previous findings
using the Granger causality and QQR techniques.
negative nexus at high and medium frequencies. Nevertheless, in the
periods 1995–2000 and 2012–2018, the arrows are rightward-up,
illustrating a positive connection between these variables across
different frequencies, and GRE can be a predictor of SD. Overall, it is
evident that digitalization, green investment, and financial development
indicators are significant predictors of economic development in Viet­
nam. Our results, in the short, medium, and long run, are in line with
those of Habibi and Zabardast (2020) and Boikova et al. (2021), who
investigate the relationship between technology innovation and eco­
nomic growth.

5.2. Further analysis 5.3. Robustness check

This subsection further examines the time-frequency co-movement
and causal relationship between digitalization, green investment,
financial development, and economic sustainability. By doing so, we use
the wavelet coherence approach (WTC) to systematically understand the
time-frequency co-movements for the causal impact of DI, FIN, and GRE
on sustainable development in Vietnam. Fig. 5 represents the wavelet
coherence findings. In the case of SD-DI, we find that from 2010 to 2020,
the arrows are rightward-up, suggesting the positive relationship be­
tween digitalization and sustainable development in the high and me­
dium frequencies. However, between 2000 and 2005, there was a
negative nexus between the two indicators. Overall, digitalization has a
positive effect on economic sustainability across different time and
frequency scales. Therefore, this infers an increase in the level of digi­
talization accompanied by economic growth in this country. Put
differently, DI causes SD, which signifies that digitalization can foretell
changes in economic development. Similarly, Fig. 5 demonstrates the
WTC between SD and FIN between 1995 and 2020 in Vietnam. The
majority of the arrows are also rightward-up, indicating a strong nexus
at various frequencies from 2000 to 2005 and from 2010 to 2020. As a
result, positive evidence was found in the relationship between FIN and
SD. In addition, FIN causes SD over the sample period, which means that
FIN can reasonably forecast economic sustainability. In a similar
fashion, the WTC between SD and GRE is documented in Fig. 5. From
2005 to 2010, the majority of the arrows are leftward-up, suggesting a
The robustness check is conducted by utilizing the transfer entropy
model, which captures the causal interplay between economic in­
dicators. In other words, we use the transfer entropy technique devel­
oped by Shannon (1948) to analyze the causal nexus between FIN, GRE,
DI, and SD, which estimate the information flows with regard to the
direction of an indicator with respect to time (Huynh, 2020; Hung,
2021). Several recent studies have employed the model (Huynh et al.,
2020; Huynh, 2020; Hung, 2021). The findings are reported in Table 6.
Interestingly, financial development, digitalization, and green invest­
ment have a significant impact on economic sustainability in Vietnam.
More importantly, information flows run from FIN to SD and from SD to
GRE, while there is a bidirectional relationship between digitalization
and economic sustainability in this country. These findings support the
sustainability hypothesis and validate the results of the general QQR and
wavelet coherence approaches.
6. Discussion
The digital transformation of the economy is a transition from the
Third to the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the modern sense. The term
“digitalization” encompasses more than just the use of a computer in
everyday life or the simple automation of ordinary tasks. It is a brand-
new way of doing business. The move to a new level of doing business
and altering the economy requires the development of ICT

SD-DI SD-GRE
1.5 1.5

1
1
0.5

0.5 0
0.05 0.15 0.25 0.35 0.45 0.55 0.65 0.75 0.85 0.95
0.5
0
0.05 0.15 0.25 0.35 0.45 0.55 0.65 0.75 0.85 0.95 1

QQR QR QQR QR

SD-GRE
1.5

0.5

0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
0.4
0.45
0.5
0.55
0.6
0.65
0.7
0.75
0.8
0.85
0.9
0.95

QQR QR

Fig. 4. Validity evaluation graphs of QR and QQR.

11
N.T. Hung Technological Forecasting & Social Change 186 (2023) 122185

Fig. 5. Wavele coherence effect of analyzed regressors on economic sustainability.

individuals use technology differently based on a country's degree of

Table 6
development (Habibi and Zabardast, 2020). As a result, in order for the
Transfer entropy estimation.
leaders in Vietnam to design a successful digitalization plan, three fac­
Causal association Estimator Causal association Estimator tors should be considered: the rate of economic growth, the status of
SD → FIN 0.0010 FIN → SD 0.0102* digital life, and environmental resilience. By doing so, digitalization has
(0.0059) (0.0027) become a catalyst for economic development in Vietnam.
SD → GRE 0.0620* GRE → SD 0.0008 This study found that green investment has a positive impact on
(0.0057) (0.6800)
SD → DI 0.0365** DI → SD 0.0521***
economic sustainability. “Green investment” is a form of financing for
(0.0039) (0.0185) environmentally friendly projects, with the ultimate goal of the collec­
tive being to create a green economy. Green investing entails picking
The null hypothesis is no information flow. Standard errors are represented in
initiatives that enhance the foundations for long-term development,
parentheses. The statistical significance is based on the bootstrapped Markov
chain of transfer estimates with 300 bootstrap replications. *, **,*** present the lowering the danger of environmental degradation. Sustainable devel­
significance at the 10 %, 5 % and 1 % level, respectively. opment necessitates efficient management of nonrenewable resources to
extend their useful lives and protection of renewable resources from
polluters and other negative human actors. Companies appear to be
infrastructure, increased internet access, and increased educational
responding to customer pressure through investment, and green in­
attainment, all of which lead to economic growth (Habibi and Zabar­
vestment has also been viewed as a strategic need for businesses that
dast, 2020; Maiti and Kayal, 2017; Boikova et al., 2021; Vyshnevskyi
provide a wonderful opportunity to meet client expectations while
et al., 2020).
avoiding environmental degradation. Furthermore, the outcomes sup­
The contribution of digitalization to economic growth was observed
port the findings of Musah et al. (2022), Saunila et al. (2018), Gao and
to be positive, according to the findings of the study. Digitalization
Zheng (2017), Mohsin et al. (2021), Ning et al. (2022), Zahoor et al.
procedures lead to the opening of borders and the development of
(2022), and Sheng et al. (2021), indicating that in green investment,
company transparency and transparency principles. The readiness of
economic sustainability can be emphasized through businesses' eco­
enterprises and the general public to accept new technology is a sig­
nomic productivity–competitiveness, environmental stewardship, and
nificant factor influencing the efficiency of digitalization processes.
socioeconomic processes, with a focus on human capital development,
Furthermore, fixed-line internet deployment appears to play a signifi­
job creation, and the advancement of health and safety concerns.
cant role as a key infrastructure that influences practically all sectors of
In addition, the findings show that FIN has a positive impact on
the Vietnamese economy, not just communication. This could show how
economic sustainability. Therefore, we can confirm that FIN in Vietnam

12
N.T. Hung
contributes to economic growth. The findings of this study are consistent
with those of most previous studies (Fetai, 2018; Eren et al., 2019;
Ibrahim and Alagidede, 2018; Asteriou and Spanos, 2019; Mtar and
Belazreg, 2021; Wu et al., 2020; Mohieldin et al., 2019; Chen et al.,
2020; Belazreg and Mtar, 2020; Sharma and Kautish, 2020; Lenka and
Sharma, 2020). This outcome is in line with monetary theory, which
states that the money supply promotes economic growth. Put differ­
ently, this means that there is no impact on economic growth, which, in
turn, has no impact on financial development and innovation.
7. Conclusion and policy recommendations
This study analyzes the impact of digitalization, green investment,
and financial development on economic sustainability in Vietnam using
a dataset spanning from 1995 to 2020. We employ nonparametric ap­
proaches such as quantile-on-quantile regression developed by Sim and
Zhou (2015), Granger causality in different quantiles proposed by
Troster (2018) and wavelet analysis to unravel the impact of various
quantiles of digitalization, green investment, and financial development
on different quantiles of economic sustainability. Our main contribution
is to combine three lines of research to look at the relationship between
all three factors at the same time, all in the context of one of the most
important emerging economies. More so, our findings contribute to the
literature in terms of policymaking by highlighting implementation
pathways for achieving SDG targets and how green investment, digiti­
zation, and financial development can be used as catalysts in the pro­
cess. The primary conclusions that emerged can be described as follows.
The key outcomes shed light on the asymmetric influence of digita­
lization, green investment, and financial development on economic
sustainability. More importantly, the findings evidence a strong positive
effect of digitalization, green investment, and financial development on
economic sustainability in Vietnam across most of the quantiles and
frequencies, which indicates that investment in green resources, tech­
nology innovation, and financial development supports the country's
transition to sustainable development. Lastly, we employ Granger cau­
sality in quantiles, and their results show that in all quantiles, economic
sustainability can be predicted by digitalization, green investment, and
financial development. Overall, the empirical findings show that digi­
talization, green investment, and financial development can all play a
significant role in significantly increasing the sustainability of Vietnam's
current high economic growth trajectories. The findings could be uti­
lized to create a roadmap for developing countries to use technology
innovation, green investment, and financial development in productive
sectors to accomplish sustainable development goals.
The following set of policies is recommended based on our empirical
findings to help address the challenge of reaching the SDGs. Firstly,
there is a positive influence of digitalization on economic sustainability.
Importantly, the outcomes indicate a bi-directional causal nexus be­
tween DI and SD, which implies that the Vietnamese economy should
concentrate more on enhancing digitalization in all productive sectors to
keep the growth of the economy going. Vietnam needs to improve its
digital infrastructure and introduce new technology. Businesses in
Vietnam should make it a top priority to create innovative organiza­
tional practices in order to make it easier for their companies to incor­
porate innovative digital technology. The workforce has to be educated
in digital skills in order to have a chance at the occupations of the future.
Bridging the digital divide should be prioritized because digital inclu­
sion drives economic development and growth.
Secondly, green investment is positively and remarkably related to
economic sustainability. In this regard, the government should
encourage more investment in green projects as well as the use of clean
energy so that more positive outcomes are possible in the future. This
means that increasing or decreasing green investment has an impact on
financial sustainability performance. “Green investment” refers to
volunteer initiatives undertaken by businesses in order to achieve social
and ethical objectives. Based on these outcomes, this paper argues that
13
Technological Forecasting & Social Change 186 (2023) 122185
renewable energy, energy efficiency, agricultural growth, the insurance
market, and SMEs' productivity are financially viable but confront
inadequate supply and demand constraints. Policymakers should un­
leash these investment opportunities. They are also advised to promote
green finance strategies for the financial sector in order to achieve
broader sustainable development goals.
Thirdly, the findings suggest that FIN is connected positively to
economic sustainability, which implies that the level of FIN and eco­
nomic growth are mutually influenced and that an increase in FIN will
result in a rise in economic development and vice versa. These outcomes
suggest that FIN and economic growth are endogenous processes. As a
result, in order to encourage financial development, the Vietnamese
government would continue to engage in financial integration, reduce
government meddling in financial systems, and elevate the stature of
financial institutions, among other things. Furthermore, the government
must maintain high economic growth in order to increase demand for
financial services, which will eventually lead to financial development
in Vietnam.
In summary, these empirical findings suggest that, in order to boost
growth and development, Vietnam's policymakers should formulate
policies that favor the provision of energy and international investment
and improve the health sector through increased investment, developing
the financial sector, and limiting uncontrolled pollution in the envi­
ronment. To promote long-term economic development, the Vietnamese
government should maintain checks and balances on the actions of
multinational corporations in other nations in order to address envi­
ronmental degradation issues and enhance long-term economic
development.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship
and/or publication of this article.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
NTH conceived of the study, carried out drafting the manuscript.
Declaration of competing interest
The author declares no competing interests.
Data availability
Please contact author for data and program codes requests.
Acknowledgements
The author is grateful to the anonymous referees of the journal for
their extremely useful suggestions to improve the quality of the article.
Usual disclaimers apply.
This research is funded by University of Finance-Marketing, Ho Chi
Minh City, Vietnam.
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N.T. Hung Technological Forecasting & Social Change 186 (2023) 122185

Ngo Thai Hung, He graduated PhD in Finance at Corvinus University of Budapest, His interest research is primarily concentrated on the market integration and the non-
Hungary. Currently, he works as a lecturer in Finance at University of Finance-Marketing, linear dynamics of financial prices. He also concerns about macroeconomics, economic
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, where he delivers different finance and economic-related courses. and sustainable development. He has published many research papers in refereed journals.

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