DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRIES: THE MODERATING ROLE OF GOVERNMENT EFFECTIVENESS
This study examines the impact of digital transformation on the environmental dimension of sustainable development in six Southeast Asian countries over the period 2002–2022. Environmental sustainability is proxied by consumption-based CO₂ emissions per capita, with government effectiveness examined as a moderating factor. Using panel data, the study applies the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) to capture heterogeneous effects across emission levels, while bootstrap quantile regression (BSQ) is employed as a robustness check. The results show that digital transformation significantly reduces emissions across all quantiles, with stronger mitigation effects observed at higher emission levels, indicating greater environmental benefits in carbon-intensive economies. However, government effectiveness weakens this emission-reducing effect. This implies that the environmental impact of digital transformation depends on institutional quality and highlights the need to align digital strategies with environmental governance to achieve sustainable emission reductions.