Examining country development indicators and e-waste under the moderating effect of country development levels and e-waste policy
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| 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. |