Kiran Yadav

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
This study examines the configurational causality among the shadow economy, corruption perception index, trade levels, population dynamics, urbanization, economic size and renewable energy use, and their impact on overall ecological footprints across the Digital Nations member countries and the seven emerging economies. To analyze the relationship, the study used annual data from 2012 to 2020, and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was used. While both groups show the absence of a necessary condition for high ecological footprints, there are instances of sufficient pathways across the Digital Nations groups. Based on the intermediate solution, digital grouping reveals a single pathway at a consistency threshold of 80% (consistency = 0.858, coverage = 0.2995), combining low shadow economy, high CPI, high GDP, low trade, high population, high urbanization, and low renewables. However, at the 70% threshold, there are two pathways, and the solution coverage increases to 0.423. Emerging economies yield no valid configurations via the intermediate solution, confirming heterogeneity. The results show how multiple factors, such as governance, demographics, and renewable energy adoption, can shape ecological footprints across economies with different digital, structural, and development statuses. These findings advance beyond traditional variance-based approaches by identifying precise causal recipes rather than net effects. The results offer policymakers targeted interventions prioritizing renewable energy deployment alongside strategic governance reforms to disrupt ecological footprint pathways across developmental contexts.

Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank Modern College of Business and Science, Oman, for providing the financial support required to cover the article processing charges.