Abstract
The economic stability of a country, such as Pakistan is dependent on the construction of mega-projects, such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). However, certain external factors and project characteristics may delay the construction of infrastructure projects; scholars have not investigated the development of CPEC from this perspective. In addition, the COVID-19 outbreak has hindered CPEC initiatives. This analysis will examine the effect of external environment factors on CPEC, and benchmark the project’s effects on economic stability through CPEC’s development by incorporating 523 samples obtained from employees of various CPEC projects. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze all hypotheses proposed here on AMOS 21.0 tools. According to the findings of this study, the CPEC external environment and project benchmark characteristics have a negative effect on the construction of CPEC development. Furthermore, the development of CPEC is found to have a significant effect on economic stability. However, fear of COVID-19 has weakened the relationship between CPEC development and economic stability. Finally, we also discuss the implications and limitations of the study.
Highlights
The recent coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic has had a disproportionate impact on underdeveloped and emerging countries, such as Pakistan, causing public health problems and a debilitating economic crisis (Waris et al, 2020)
The results show that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) external environment and CPEC project benchmark characteristics have a negative effect on CPEC development, validating H1a and H1b
This study’s findings have confirmed the proposed H2, that CPEC development has a significant impact on economic stability
Summary
The recent coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic has had a disproportionate impact on underdeveloped and emerging countries, such as Pakistan, causing public health problems and a debilitating economic crisis (Waris et al, 2020). The rapid dissemination of the COVID-19 virus throughout Pakistan since February 2020 has nearly halted economic development (Salik and Rafique, 2020) This is because the infection spreads rapidly and employees become sick or self-quarantine and lockdowns disturbing the market. CPEC promises hope and stability for Pakistan’s struggling economy (Ashraf et al, 2017; Khan et al, 2019; Kanwal et al, 2020b; Xiaolong et al, 2021). It will benefit Pakistan’s infrastructure, as well as its trade, education, and information technology sectors (Boni and Adeney, 2020): several contributions have been identified as a result of the development of CPEC. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of CPEC development on economic stability in the context of COVID-19
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