Examining country development indicators and e-waste under the moderating effect of country development levels and e-waste policy

Authors

KALIA Prateek ZIA Adil MLADENOVIĆ Dušan

Year of publication 2022
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Economics and Administration

Citation
Web https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJQRM-09-2021-0335/full/html
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-09-2021-0335
Keywords GDP; literacy rate; internet penetration; urban population; country; e-waste policy
Attached files
Description Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate if country development indicators i.e., gross domestic product per capita (GDPPC), literacy rate, internet penetration, and urban population influence the generation of e-waste on a global level. The moderation effect due to differences between countries in terms of absence or presence of e-waste policy and level of development is also checked. Design/methodology/approach - This is an archival study that builds upon data from United Nations (UN), World Bank, and Global E-waste Statistics Partnership. We did a path analysis comprising mediation and multigroup analyses to decipher the proposed research model containing data from 172 countries. Findings - Results indicate that GDPPC, literacy rate, internet penetration, and urban population do not directly influence the generation of e-waste. However, higher internet penetration in developing countries leads to higher e-waste, while higher literacy rates in developed countries suppress e-waste generation. When it comes to e-waste policy, a higher urban population without a regulatory legal framework boosts higher e-waste. We observed that higher internet penetration leads to higher e-waste in the presence of e-waste policy as well. Originality - This is the first study to include economic wellbeing indicators in elaborating e-waste generation, on a global scale. No previous study has observed differences between countries nested in e-waste policy and level of development.

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