Asian Economic Development Research Articles

Income and Jobs from Global Value Chain Participation by Developing Asian Economies

Income and Jobs from Global Value Chain Participation by Developing Asian Economies

The Influence of Domestic Bank Credit and FDI Inflows on Renewable Energy Productivity: An Analysis of Developing Asian Economies

The Influence of Domestic Bank Credit and FDI Inflows on Renewable Energy Productivity: An Analysis of Developing Asian Economies

Digital entrepreneurship landscapes in developing Asia: insights from the Global Index of Digital Entrepreneurship Systems

PurposeDigitalization is changing the way entrepreneurs pursue opportunities. We have elaborated a conceptual framework to gain a better understanding of digital entrepreneurship. Using this framework, we have developed the Global Index of Digital Entrepreneurship Systems (GIDES), an analytical tool designed to measure and comprehend the impact of digitalization on entrepreneurship. This study aims to answer the research question of what specific bottlenecks are hindering the performance of digital entrepreneurial systems in the countries under investigation, with a particular focus on developing Asian economies.Design/methodology/approachGIDES is a composite indicator that evaluates the performance of digital entrepreneurial systems on a national scale. Unlike traditional entrepreneurship or most entrepreneurial ecosystem measures, GIDES adopts a systemic approach using the Penalty for Bottleneck (PFB) algorithm to spot bottlenecks that potentially degrade overall system performance.FindingsGIDES assesses the digital entrepreneurship systems of 113 countries, with a specific focus on 21 developing Asian economies. Singapore is ranked first among developing Asian countries globally. However, most developing Asian economies have significant room for improvement. While developing Asia excels in terms of physical infrastructure, it needs to work on its culture and informal institutions.Originality/valueDigital transformation is not happening in isolation. Instead, it is closely linked to and happens within the context of entrepreneurship. The level of digitalization of the economy, described by digital framework conditions, impacts entrepreneurial activity through their influence on national-level general and systemic framework conditions. Thus, GIDES monitors all the general, structural and digital frameworks that support digital entrepreneurship. Consequently, it offers a deeper understanding of how digitalization impacts entrepreneurship.

Financial Inclusion, Environmental Quality, and Economic Development in Asian Economies: A Panel Data Analysis

The objective of this study is to explore the effect of Financial Inclusion and Environmental Quality on Economic Development of some selected Asian economies. For this purpose, panel data of some Asian economies has been taken from 2004 to 2023 from the World Development Indicators. The results are estimated by using the Fixed Effect Model and Random Effect Model, descriptive statistics, correlation, and causality analysis. The results of Fixed Effect model reveal that GDP is significantly increased by Internet Subscribers & Mobile users (Financial Inclusion variables), FDI, Government expenditure and Carbon dioxide emission while GDP is insignificantly increased by energy use in the Asian economies. The Fixed Effect model suggests policy implications for Asian economies, focusing on digital connectivity, FDI attraction, targeted public expenditure, sustainable growth practices, and energy efficiency.

Examining the Interconnections among ICT, Education, and Unemployment Evidence from Selected Asian Economies

Purpose of the research: This study investigates the influence of education and information communication technology (ICT) on economic growth and development in selected Asian countries, with a focus on reducing unemployment rates. Design/methodology: Using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) technique, the research analyses the relationship between unemployment rates and key independent variables such as secondary education, ICT index, foreign direct investment (FDI), economic growth, and inflation. Results/findings: The findings highlight the significant impact of secondary education, ICT, FDI, economic growth, and inflation on reducing unemployment levels in the selected Asian countries. The study emphasizes the importance of government initiatives to provide free higher education and expand financial debt facilities to boost per capita income and stimulate economic growth. Practical Implications and Conclusions: The research underscores the critical role of education, ICT, and economic policies in addressing unemployment challenges and fostering sustainable development in Asian economies. It recommends prioritizing investments in education and technology infrastructure and implementing measures to enhance financial accessibility and ICT utilization to combat unemployment effectively.

Servicification in Global Value Chains in Emerging and Developing Asian Economies

Servicification in global value chains (GVCs) in emerging and developing Asian economies has become a trend recently. However, there have been no scientific studies to elucidate the mechanism of servicification in GVCs. To fill this gap, this study aims to investigate the involvement of service sectors in GVCs in Asian economies in terms of the quantitative interactions between service inputs and manufacturing exports and inputs and between service inputs and service exports. For this purpose, a panel vector-autoregressive model and the Trade in Value Added database of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) were used for the empirical analysis during 1995–2018. The estimation results find that, first, there exist reciprocal interactions between the business services and manufacturing sectors; foreign business service inputs are induced by manufacturing exports, whereas manufacturing inputs are induced by business service exports. Second, foreign manufacturing inputs facilitate foreign business service inputs. Third, business service inputs are promoted by business service exports. These trends in the involvement of business services’ involvement in GVCs have accelerated since the mid-2000s. To enhance the role of services in GVCs, Asian economies should facilitate the removal of explicit restrictions in service trade and address regulatory divergence across countries.

The role of debt maturity in stock price crash risk: a comparison of developing and developed Asian economies

PurposeThis study examines the impact of debt maturity structure on stock price crash risk (SPCR) in Asian economies and the moderating effect of firm age on this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilized annual data from 432 nonfinancial firms publicly listed in six Asian countries: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Pakistan and India. The observation period covers 14 years, from 2007 to 2020. The sample was categorized into three groups: the entire sample and one group each for developing and developed Asian economies. A generalized least squares panel regression method was employed to test the research hypotheses.FindingsThe results suggest that long-term debt has a significant negative influence on SPCR in Asian economies, indicating that firms with high long-term debt experience lower future SPCR. Moreover, firm age negatively moderates this relationship, implying that older firms may experience a more pronounced reduction in SPCR due to high long-term debt. Finally, firms in developed Asian economies with high long-term debt are more effective in mitigating the risk of a significant drop in their stock prices than firms in developing Asian economies.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature in several ways. To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, this is the first of such efforts to investigate the relationship between debt maturity structure and crash risk in Asia. Additionally, it reveals that long-term debt influences SPCR directly and indirectly in Asia through the moderating role of firm age. Lastly, it is likely one of the first studies by a research team in Asia to compare the nonfinancial markets of developed and developing Asian countries.

Energy efficiency, technological innovation, and financial development-based EKC premise: Fresh asymmetric insights from developing Asian regions

This study analyses the impact of energy efficiency, technological innovation, and financial development on carbon dioxide emissions in developing Asian regions. It considers both positive and negative effects and incorporates the concept of the environmental kuznets curve (EKC). Utilizing data from fifteen developing Asian economies from 1995 to 2021, the study employs a dynamic panel data approach to examine the relationship between the variables. More specifically, the study utilizes econometric techniques, such as the error correction model (ECM), to consider both short-term and long-term dynamics and estimate the size and direction of the effects. In addition, the study incorporates squared-term financial development variables to measure the non-linear effects and examine the existence of an inverted U-shaped EKC pattern. The findings indicate that when financial development experiences positive shocks, it tends to align with the U-shaped premise of the EKC. On the other hand, when financial development experiences negative shocks, it tends to result in environment-friendly outcomes. In addition, the study analyses the varying effects of fossil fuels and renewable energy sources during periods of both positive and negative shocks. Technological innovation is also assessed for its impact on environmental sustainability. In general, the approach integrates econometric modeling and theoretical frameworks to offer insights into the intricate relationship between energy efficiency, financial development, technological innovation, and CO2 emissions in developing Asian economies.

Testing Integrative Models of the Change Behavior in the Intention to Adopt Cryptocurrency

This study explores the adoption of cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin, in the Philippines. The authors argue that current behavioral prediction models, such as TRA, TPB, and TAM, do not adequately account for the affective constructs of decision-making when high monetary stakes are involved. To address this gap, the authors propose an integrative model that accounts for financial decision-making processes, risk constructs, and population-specific behavioral strategies. The study used a quantitative-based research design and involved 684 university students from one of the major state universities in the Philippines. The findings show that perceived usefulness, attitude toward cryptocurrency, self-efficacy, and descriptive norms significantly influenced the intention to adopt cryptocurrency. Overall, the study confirms the direct influence of instrumental attitude, knowledge of cryptocurrency, descriptive norm, risk tolerance, ease and difficulty, and control on an individual’s intention to use cryptocurrency. The study contributes to exploring a less studied Philippine consumer base and provides empirical findings and insights into Bitcoin adoption in developing Asian economies. JEL Classification: G15. G17, G41, P33, G32.

Guava fruit disease identification based on improved convolutional neural network

Guava fruit cultivation is crucial for Asian economic development, with Indonesia producing 449,970 metric tons between 2022 and 2023. However, technology-based approaches can detect disease symptoms, enhancing production and mitigating economic losses by enhancing quality. In this paper, we introduce an accurate guava fruit disease detection (GFDI) system. It contains the generation of appropriate diseased images and the development of a novel improved convolutional neural network (improved-CNN) that is built depending on the principles of AlexNet. Also, several preprocessing techniques have been used, including data augmentation, contrast enhancement, image resizing, and dataset splitting. The proposed improved-CNN model is trained to identify three common guava fruit diseases using a dataset of 612 images. The experimental findings indicate that the proposed improved-CNN model achieve accuracy 98% for trains and 93% for tests using 0.001 learning rate, the model parameters are decreased by 50,106,831 compared with traditional AlexNet model. The findings of the investigation indicate that the deep learning model improves the accuracy and convergence rate for guava fruit disease prevention.

China’s macroeconomic performance affects trading partners: How can their policies respond?

Utilizing expanded data analysis, this study aims to determine how China's macroeconomic performance affects the global economy. Employing the Global Vector Auto Regression (GVAR) model, we investigate the impact of China's macroeconomic variables on the economies of its selected trading partners throughout the world. For 2000Q1–2019Q4, developed countries (the US, Hong Kong), developing Europe countries (Russian Federation and Poland), and two developing Asia countries (Vietnam and India) show that Chinese macroeconomic performance has a greater impact than middle east and central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Western hemisphere. The Chinese GDP shock hits emerging Europe harder because of its extensive Russian production network. Results reveal that Chinese depreciation impacts developing Europe and Asia, while the Chinese stock market shock hits advanced economies more. Advanced and developing Asian economies are greatly affected by TV shock. Chinese FDI affects the Middle East and Central Asia, because of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. China trading partners use macroeconomic statistics to assess their economic priorities, industrial strengths, and weaknesses to create national interest plans. Currency adjustment, trade policies, domestic stimulus, and market diversification can minimize negative effects or capitalize on possibilities from China's macroeconomic conditions.

Tác động môi trường của tăng trưởng kinh tế: Tiếp cận bằng mô hình ngưỡng bảng động

The paper uses the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) theory to study the environmental impact of economic growth in 17 Asian countries in the period 1996-2019 and at the same time search for the income threshold which causes a change in direction of impact. A dynamic panel threshold regression model is used. The findings show that economic growth has an inverted U-shaped nonlinear effect on environmental degradation. Accordingly, economic growth increases the impact on degradation when GDP per capita is low, but when it exceeds the threshold point (12487 USD thousand/person/year), economic growth helps to improve environmental quality. When comparing the difference in impact between the group of developed and developing countries, our results again confirm these findings. This result provided evidence that the EKC hypothesis exists in Asian countries. In addition, energy consumption, foreign direct investment, trade openness, and institutional quality significantly impact CO2 emissions. Some policy implications are suggested to reduce environmental degradation and promote sustainable economic development in Asia based on the research results

Understanding Financial Inclusion in the Philippines

This paper examines financial inclusion in the Philippines, benchmarking it against other developing Asian economies using the latest supply-side and demand-side data. It uses probit regressions on Philippine microdata from the World Bank’s 2021 Global Findex Database, providing a comparative analysis with the country’s regional peers. The study finds the Philippines leading in creating an enabling environment but shows mixed performance in financial outreach and uptake and lagging outcomes in account ownership and usage. Probit regressions reveal positive associations between financial inclusion and individual characteristics like education, income, and employment, and a nonlinear relationship with age. The study uncovers a smaller gender gap in formal account ownership and use and emerging disparities in financial technology access across education and income levels, particularly mobile money. Barriers such as high cost, distance, and lack of trust in financial institutions significantly hinder lower-income households, with Filipinos more affected by these barriers than their Association of Southeast Asian Nations counterparts.

Identifying Threshold Level of Urbanization for Economic Growth in Developing and Developed Asian Economies

This study scrutinized the relationship between urbanization and economic growth in 11 developed and 23 underdeveloped Asian countries from 1998 to 2021. The study formulated dynamic and static models and employed the Fixed Effect Model and Dynamic GMM for estimation. The results of both static and dynamic models illustrated that urbanization augments growth in developed and developing countries, however, the nature of this relationship is non-linear. The study calculated the threshold level of urbanization and established that after this threshold level, the impact of urbanization on growth reverses. In the static model, developed and developing countries have thresholds of 68.08% and 53.8%, respectively. In the dynamic model, developed and developing countries maintained thresholds of 77.6% and 61.5%, respectively. The study concluded that urbanization and growth share a non-linear association in both developed and developing countries, and this relationship is not contingent upon the type of model or technique being used.

Sustainable Development In Southeast Asia: Lessons, Partnerships, and English

The objective of this manuscript is to provide an all-encompassing examination of the Southeast Asia Ministerial Forum and its function in advancing Southeast Asian economic integration, sustainable development, and regional cooperation. The analysis encompasses pivotal subjects deliberated upon during the forum, the consequences of regional collaboration on economic progress, and the function of regional establishments like ASEAN in cultivating cooperation. The critical assessment underscores the importance of collaborative strategies, partnerships, and the exchange of knowledge in furthering the objectives of sustainable development. Moreover, the implications of this analysis for the development of the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) curriculum in 2024 are examined in the paper. It emphasizes the significance of critical thinking, problem-solving, technology integration, cultural competence, awareness of ASEAN and regional institutions, communication skills, and the incorporation of global issues into academic and professional writing. English language learners can make a meaningful contribution to sustainable development in Southeast Asia and engage in active participation in regional cooperation by integrating these components into the curriculum.

How Can East Asia Culture Tradition Foster a Rapidly Growing Economy

The important influence of culture on economy lies not only in its direct influence on the behavior pattern of economic individuals, but also in its influence on the performance of official systems. Culture is the foundation of official systems and one of the basic conditions for their success. Confucianism originated in China and gradually spread to Japan, the Korean Peninsula and Vietnam. Over the course of thousands of years, it has perfected itself and expanded its influence across a vast area of East and Southeast Asia, forming the cultures and traditions of those regions. The rapid and unprecedented economic success of East Asia, including South Korea, has led scholars to tend to study East Asian economic development from a cultural perspective, recognizing that economically successful East Asian countries are all influenced by a common culture of Confucianism. Taking South Korea as an example, this paper selects two characteristics of East Asian culture, big government and emphasis on education, and analyzes that East Asian culture and values not only adapt to modern economy, but also foster a rapid economic growth.

Financial inclusion and carbon emissions in Asia: Implications for environmental sustainability

This study explores how carbon emissions are affected by financial inclusion. Using a balanced panel data set of 26 Asian countries, we compute a composite index, through the principal component analysis (PCA) technique, of financial inclusion based on a set of attributes related to financial inclusion. Our main analysis also delineates the subsamples of developed and developing Asian economies. The results reveal a long (short)-run positive (negative) impact of financial inclusion on carbon emissions across the Asian countries. This finding is also true for the developed country subsample, implying nonlinearity in short- and long-run relationships. For the developing countries, a more pronounced long-run positive impact compared to developed countries is found. Furthermore, the pairwise causality test results indicate the existence of bi-directional causality between financial inclusion and carbon emissions. These findings have important policy implications, especially in the context of the strategic integration of financial inclusion and climate change strategies.

Exploring digital banking adoption in developing Asian economies: Systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis

AbstractConsumers’ comfort and familiarity with digital interactions are helping drive the rise of digital banking. Banks are responding to customers’ demands by introducing cutting‐edge digital services designed to improve customers’ quality of life and cut costs. To better understand the obstacles preventing the widespread adoption of digital banking in developing Asian economies, we conducted a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis for this study. The data is extracted from the Scopus database, which initially contains 4211 articles, from which 152 articles were selected using PRISMA 2020 criteria for bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny software, and 85 papers were subjected to full‐text review. The review, limited to the Scopus database, uncovered essential themes, theories and methodologies used in prior research. We discuss constraints, difficulties and research gaps, illuminating critical regions of the field. Our findings offer helpful information for developing strategies to encourage the use of digital banking. The unexplored areas of crowdfunding, Robo‐advisors, payment apps, neo banks, P2P lending apps and investing apps were highlighted as future research directions.

Unpacking the asymmetric impact of exchange rate volatility on trade flows: A study of selected developed and developing Asian economies.

Maintaining a stable exchange rate is a challenging task for the world, especially for developing economies. This study examines the impact of asymmetric exchange rates on trade flows in selected Asian countries and finds that the effects of increased exchange rate volatility on exports and imports differ among Pakistan, Malaysia, Japan, and Korea. The quarterly data from the period 1980 to 2018 is collected from the International Financial Statistics (IFS) database maintained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). We employ both linear and non-linear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) models for estimation. The non-linear models yielded more significant findings, while the linear models did not indicate any significant effects of exchange rate volatility on trade flows. The results of the study suggest that in the case of Pakistan, both the linear and non-linear models indicate that increased exchange rate volatility adversely affects exports and imports, while decreased volatility enhances both. This implies that stabilizing the exchange rate would be beneficial for Pakistan's trade. In contrast, the linear model applied to Malaysia shows no long-run effects of exchange rate volatility on exports. However, the result suggests that decreased volatility stimulates Malaysia's exports. Therefore, in the case of Malaysia, stabilizing the exchange rate could contribute to boosting exports. We also found that increased exchange rate volatility boosts exports of Japan. On the other hand, decreased volatility hurts exports of Japan. As for the long-run effects of exchange rate volatility on imports, we found that increased volatility boosts imports of Korea. The study provides various policy implications regarding the impact of exchange rate volatility on trade flows in developing economies. The study highlights the importance of country-specific considerations in understanding the impact of exchange rate volatility on trade flows, and has important policy implications for promoting trade and economic growth in these nations. It emphasizes the need to model exchange rate volatility separately for developed and developing countries and to continue research and analysis to identify ways to mitigate its negative effects on the economy.

The role of investor protection in stock price crash risk: a comparison of developing and developed Asian economies

PurposeThis study examines the influence of investor protection on stock price crash risk (SPCR) in Asian economies.Design/methodology/approachThis study used yearly data from 432 nonfinancial companies publicly listed firms in six countries (i.e., China, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore) from 2007 to 2020 to investigate the relationship between investor protection and the risk of stock price crashes. The hypothesis was tested using a generalized least square panel regression.FindingsThe results suggest that investor protection significantly affects SPCR in Asian economies. Furthermore, the findings show that the stocks of firms whose investors received the best protection were less prone to crash in developed Asian economies. However, in developing Asian economies, the stocks of firms whose investors received the best protection were more prone to crashes.Practical implicationsIt provides awareness and understanding of how the level of investor protection affects SPCR, which could be useful for decision-makers and professionals across a spectrum of financial and non-financial institutions, such as portfolio managers and traders in commercial banks, investment banks and mutual funds. This knowledge enables informed decision-making and the formulation of effective policies to manage stock market volatility.Originality/valueThis study appears to be the first of its kind to focus on the link between investor protection and SPCR within the specific context of developed and developing Asian economies.