Digital infrastructure and renewable energy transition: Evidence from ASEAN economies

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Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
As economies become increasingly interconnected through digitalization while facing growing sustainability challenges, understanding the drivers of export competitiveness has become an important policy and research concern. This issue is particularly relevant in ASEAN, where digital infrastructure and renewable energy transition have progressed unevenly across member states. Despite growing interest in these transformations, their implications for export performance remain insufficiently understood. This study examines the relationships among digital infrastructure, the renewable energy transition, and export performance across eight ASEAN economies from 2010 to 2021. Using World Bank World Development Indicators data, a balanced panel of 96 country-year observations is analyzed through a fixed-effects model. Internet penetration and renewable energy consumption are specified as the main explanatory variables, while manufacturing value added and foreign direct investment are included as control variables. The results indicate that internet penetration, manufacturing value added, and foreign direct investment are positively and significantly associated with export performance, whereas renewable energy consumption exhibits a significant negative relationship. The estimated model explains approximately 63.5% of the within-country variation in export performance. These findings suggest that digital infrastructure, industrial capability, and foreign investment can strengthen export competitiveness. At the same time, the short-run effects of the renewable energy transition may reflect structural adjustment costs during the transformation process. The study contributes new evidence from ASEAN and highlights the importance of combining digital development with industrial upgrading and supportive policy frameworks to enhance long-term export performance.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the editors and anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and dedicated guidance throughout the review process.

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    • Table 1. Variable description and measurement
    • Table 2. Descriptive statistics
    • Table 3. Correlation matrix of variables
    • Table 4. Variance Inflation Factor (VIF)
    • Table 5. Fixed effects regression results
    • Table 6. Summary of hypothesis testing
    • Table 7. Hausman test results
    • Table 8. Model diagnostic tests
    • Conceptualization
      Dinh Thi Mung, Tran Hoang Minh
    • Data curation
      Dinh Thi Mung
    • Formal Analysis
      Dinh Thi Mung
    • Investigation
      Dinh Thi Mung, Tran Hoang Minh
    • Methodology
      Dinh Thi Mung, Tran Hoang Minh
    • Project administration
      Dinh Thi Mung
    • Validation
      Dinh Thi Mung, Tran Hoang Minh
    • Visualization
      Dinh Thi Mung
    • Writing – original draft
      Dinh Thi Mung
    • Writing – review & editing
      Dinh Thi Mung, Tran Hoang Minh
    • Supervision
      Tran Hoang Minh