The impact of economic complexity, ecological footprint, and green financial development on sustainable development: An analysis on Next-11 country group

Sustainability is a comprehensive approach aimed at addressing economic, environmental, and social issues by ensuring efficient use of resources to meet today's needs without compromising the resources of future generations. The rapid increase in the world population and the acceleration of ecological degradation due to globalization have made sustainability a global priority. In this context, sustainable development indicators are fundamental tools used to evaluate countries' progress toward economic, social, and environmental goals. This study investigates the impact of economic complexity, ecological footprint, and green financial development on the Sustainable Development Index using data from the period 2008-2021, focusing on the Next-11 countries. A balanced panel analysis was performed, employing the fixed-effects model. In the study, the dependent variable is the Sustainable Development Index, while the independent variables include the Economic Complexity Index, Ecological Footprint, Green Financial Development, and Natural Resource Dependence. Panel data analysis was conducted based on the developed model. The results of the analysis revealed a statistically significant and negative relationship between the independent variables and the Sustainable Development Index.