Pathways to environmental sustainability: The asymmetric effects of green technology innovation, policy stringency, and industrialization in the United States

In recent times, the significance of attaining environmental sustainability has been gaining attention on a worldwide scale. However, numerous studies have examined the variables that affect individual ecological footprints and environmental impacts, there is still a lack of asymmetric analyses addressing how these factors specifically contribute to environmental sustainability. This paper thus fills this research gap by providing a comprehensive analysis of the role of green technology innovation, environmental policy stringency, industrialization, and research and development in achieving environmental sustainability in the United States. To achieve this, innovative methodologies (namely, quantile-on-quantile regression, wavelet quantile correlation, and quantile causality) are employed, utilizing data from 1990 to 2022. The findings highlight that (i) an increase in green technology innovation primarily promotes environmental sustainability by decreasing ecological footprint at higher levels of green technology innovation, which is advantageous for the United States; (ii) an increase in environmental policy stringency typically has a beneficial impact on environmental sustainability at lower and medium levels of environmental policy stringency; (iii) The level of industrialization augments the ecological footprint in most quantiles; (iv) research and development positively influences environmental sustainability. The findings emphasize the necessity of targeted policy interventions, emphasizing green innovation, strict environmental policies, and sustainable industrial transformation to achieve long-term environmental sustainability.