Economic Development In South Asia Research Articles

Remittances and environment quality: Asymmetric evidence from South Asia

Remittances are the largest sources of foreign funds and are critical for economic development in South Asia. However, they have been found to damage the environment by promoting the production and consumption of energy-intensive products and pose challenges for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Against this backdrop, this study examines the role of remittances in environmental degradation using a sample of five South Asian countries from 1990 to 2021. A non-linear multivariate panel ARDL (NARDL) model is applied to investigate the asymmetric long and short-run relationship between the two. Cointegration results suggest that there is a stable long-run relationship among the variables. Empirical findings indicate that positive remittance shocks impact environmental degradation, and adverse shocks have a favourable effect. The causality results show one-way causality from positive and negative shocks to environmental quality, supporting the asymmetric relationship. The control variables, such as trade, financial development, and energy consumption, exacerbate environmental degradation while FDI improves the environmental quality. For robustness, the study uses Ecological Footprints (EPF) as an alternative proxy for environmental quality and confirms the asymmetric long and short-run link between remittances and environmental quality. Based on the results, an integrated approach combining the development and environmental goals is recommended.

Defining the role of renewable energy, economic growth, globalization, energy consumption, and population growth on PM2.5 concentration: evidence from South Asian countries.

Rapid industrialization and economic development in South Asia (SA) caused serious air pollution-related issues. Air pollutants, particularly fine particulate matter (PM2.5), have negative effects on health, instigating widespread concern. The current study is an attempt to analyze the impact of non-renewable energy (NRE), globalization (GLO), GDP, renewable energy (RE), and population (POP) on PM2.5 concentration in SA from 1998 to 2020. In doing so, this study incorporated advanced and robust econometric techniques, i.e., Pesaran (Economet Rev 34(6-10), 1089-1117, 2015), to check the cross-sectional dependency, and the unit root presence checked through Cross-sectional Im, Pesaran, and Shin (CIPS) and Cross-sectionally Augmented Dickey-Fuller (CADF) unit root tests. Moreover, the long and short-run association among the selected variables was analyzed through Westerlund and Edgerton (Econ Lett 97(3), 185-190, 2007), cointegration test, and cross-sectional augmented ARDL (CS-ARDL). The empirical results indicate that the panel was cross-sectionally correlated, stationary at the first difference, and co-integrated in the long run. Moreover, the CS-ARDL model indicates a positive association between GDP and PM2.5 concentration. Similarly, NRE and POP contribute significantly to increasing the PM2.5 concentration in SA. However, RE and GLO play an important role to decrease the PM2.5 concentration in SA.

Is BRI a Catalyst to Propel Social Transformation and Economic Development in the South Asia ?

South Asia, home to early human civilization, is one of the richest regions with the diversity it holds; diverse in terms of culture, government system, environment, and their belief of statehood. Despite its diversity in South Asia, it faces a common set of problems that can be rooted back to the fracture in acceptance of differences among the South Asian countries that was the consequence of the common history of colonialism. The lingering effect of colonialism, internal conflict post-independence, and the ineffectiveness of democracy continue to hinder the social transformation and economic development of the South Asian region. The failure of SAARC has questioned the interconnectivity inside and outside South Asia for economic development and uplifting the living standard of people in South Asia. China with the principle of policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, close people to people ties and industrial cooperation proposed the concept of One Belt One Road Initiative later renamed to Belt and Road Initiative, is the model of development with the view of making Asia a community or building block transnational connectivity and the idea of connecting this region with infrastructural connectivity. While BRI proposes to integrate various parts of the world including South Asia bringing forth economic and social prosperity, this paper dwells upon the question if BRI can be a potential model to follow to propel social transformation and economic development in South Asia when South Asian countries lack trust within trust themselves. Can it be a catalyst when it is feared that BRI could be a potential foreign strategy to fulfill the aim of Chinese regional hegemony? The paper will be arguing whether it is most significant initiative taken by a state for international cooperation after the establishment of the United Nations, World Bank, or rolling out of Marshall Plan by the USA or is it just a strategy of a rising power to have hegemony. This paper will also assert the idea that political cooperation and social transformation is not possible without achieving economic prosperity.

Nexus between environmental, social and economic development in South Asia: evidence from econometric models

This study investigates the impact of various economic, social and environmental indicators on economic growth in South Asian countries. Using the data throughout 1990–2017, a panel data estimation method is adopted with sophisticated econometric approaches. The obtained results indicate a long-term positive effect of biological capacity, financial development, human development index, income inequality on economic growth while the effect of energy use is the opposite. The findings of the study suggest that governments and associated bodies must promote financial development, human development, and biocapacity to not only attain economic growth in the long-run and but dissuade ecological footprint, and income inequality at the same time while matching the energy consumption with the bio-capacity of each economy.

Building a coordination system of HRD, research and industry for knowledge and technology-driven economic development in South Asia

Using a tripartite framework, this study examines the current level of coordination among human resource development (HRD), research, and industry in four South Asian countries—Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Drawing on prior literature, statistical data, and opinions from local experts, this study found that university education oft lacked labor market relevance, and that collaboration efforts between universities, research institutes, and industries had much room for improvement. To promote coordination among HRD, research, and industry for knowledge and technology-driven economic development in South Asia, this study recommends that inclusive coordination should be given higher priority over bilateral university-industry linkages. This study also argues in favor of a government-led approach in the short term, to complement the current laissez-faire approach. This study ends with policy recommendations to enhance coordination and governance based on the above-mentioned findings.

How Does Remittance Impact on Economic Development in South Asia? A Dynamic Ordinary Least-Square Approach

This paper aims to examine the impacts of remittances on the economic development of four South Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The study considers the World Bank’s balanced panel data (1977–2017). The dynamic ordinary least-square approach finds mixed results, which explain the realisation of the pluralistic approach. Evidence shows that remittances directly increase gross domestic product, household consumption and expenditure and decreases government consumption expenditure, inflation and population growth. However, the flow of remittances is not promoting private bank credit; rather it increases import-dominated trade. Besides, remittances are yet to be significant at gross capital formation. Therefore, we recommend that policymakers should find a way to bring remittance through formal channels for capital formation and investment. Fortunately, remittance inflows indirectly cause population control and sustainability. Decision-makers should also formulate policies that will modify remittance-induced current production and consumption patterns to promote the process of sustainable development further.

Introduction: Institutions and economic development in South Asia

The ‘weak’ and ‘flawed’ nature of South Asian institutions has become axiomatic in development discourse, with the persistence of this view outweighed only by its lack of concreteness. The fascination with institutions is noteworthy precisely because the most fundamental questions about them are still under debate: there is little agreement on the definition of institutions beyond generic statements, let alone an established consensus on which institutions engender development. Instead institutionalist explanations float far and wide, netting the blame for various policy failures, with a striking lack of critical inspection. This special issue is an attempt to bring together various perspectives on institutional change and economic development in South Asia in an attempt to problematize the very concept of institutions and their perceived role in fostering economic development. The geographical focus on South Asia furthers a central aim of this collection: to emphasize the contextual nature of institutions. This translates into a need for disaggregating secular institutional theory into its precise constraints and implications for particular spaces, moments, and contexts.

Environmental Challenges to South Asian Countries

Introduction: Growing environmental pollution and its impact on human beings and other living organisms are the major issue confronting the world economy. There is worldwide movement to control expanding pollution and lessening its negative effects. The economists have made extensive studies to measure the impact of environmental pollution on economic development.
 Objective: The objective of this study to investigate into the causes of environmental pollution and its impact on economic development in South Asia and policy initiatives taken by different stakeholders to reduce its negative effects.
 Research Problem: The research problem of this study is to investigate “Environmental Challenges to South Asian Countries and their impact on their economies and societies”. The author has analyzed socio-economic impact of environmental degradation in South Asian countries.
 Methodology: The methodology of the study is descriptive in nature because it mostly involves the description of environmental issues and suggesting the ways how they can be solved? However, different statistical techniques such as time series and panel data analysis have been used to measure socio-economic impact of environmental degradation.
 Data and Source: The author has used secondary data in this study because it was not possible to collect primary data due to geographical constraints. Most of the data was taken from World Bank, IMF,Asian Development Bank, Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests, United Nations Environment Program, Economic Survey of Pakistan, relevant research journals and books.
 Findings: The findings of the study are robust because the author has found that both developed and developing countries are responsible for environmental degradation. The advanced countries are using excessive recourses to produce surplus goods while the developing countries are exploiting their natural resources under compulsion to feed their growing population. Policy failure has been noted at both ends due to their divergent economic interests. The author suggest that its viable solution is to give market price to environmental resources and impose tax on the industries responsible for producing pollution in order to discourage them to produce environmental hazards and force them to opt environmental clean technologies, besides creating general awareness in the masses.

Characterizations of wet mercury deposition on a remote high-elevation site in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Accurate measurements of wet mercury (Hg) deposition are critically important for the assessment of ecological responses to pollutant loading. The Hg in wet deposition was measured over a 3-year period in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau. The volume-weighted mean (VWM) total Hg (HgT) concentration was somewhat lower than those reported in other regions of the Tibetan Plateau, but the VWM methyl-Hg concentration and deposition flux were among the highest globally reported values. The VWM HgT concentration was higher in non-monsoon season than in monsoon season, and wet HgT deposition was dominated by the precipitation amount rather than the scavenging of atmospheric Hg by precipitation. The dominant Hg species in precipitation was mainly in the form of dissolved Hg, which indicates the pivotal role of reactive gaseous Hg within-cloud scavenging to wet Hg deposition. Moreover, an increasing trend in precipitation Hg concentrations was synchronous with the recent economic development in South Asia.

Regional Integration and Economic Development in South Asia (Jan Martin Vogel)

Regional Integration and Economic Development in South Asia (Jan Martin Vogel)

Historical Trends of Atmospheric Black Carbon on Tibetan Plateau As Reconstructed from a 150-Year Lake Sediment Record

Black carbon (BC) is one of the key components causing global warming. Especially on the Tibetan Plateau (TP), reconstructing BC's historical trend is essential for better understanding its anthropogenic impact. Here, we present results from high altitude lake sediments from the central TP. The results provide a unique history of BC over the past 150 years, from the preindustrial to the modern period. Although BC concentration levels in the Nam Co Lake sediments were lower than those from other high mountain lakes, the temporal trend of BC fluxes clearly showed a recent rise, reflecting increased emissions from anthropogenic activities. The BC records were relatively constant until 1900, then began to gradually increase, with a sharp rise beginning around 1960. Recent decades show about 2.5-fold increase of BC compared to the background level. The emission inventory in conjunction with air mass trajectories further demonstrates that BC in the Nam Co Lake region was most likely transported from South Asia. Rapid economic development in South Asia is expected to continue in the next decades; therefore, the influence of BC over the TP merits further investigations.

South Asia Regional Integration in Global Production Networks as Effective Response to the Economic Crisis

The recent economic downturn in South Asia in the wake of the global financial crisis lowers the economic growth potential and leads to additional economic and social hardship. In response to these challenges, this paper advocates structural change as the inclusive new source of growth. Structural change is reflected in (labor and transaction) productivity growth, which in turn is based on dynamics of product space. A literature based review of prospective dynamics of product space relates to the way forward and how to induce structural change in South Asia. For instance, the role of regional integration is assessed for induced structural change. There exist conceptual representations of change in economic structure that, while being sufficiently simple to be understood, remain sufficiently representative of reality and yield significant power to make a big difference to regional economic development in South Asia when compared to other, less useful representations. This paper compares representations of structural change and argues advantages and disadvantages. For instance, what is important to be explained in dynamic socio-economic systems is the structural change in terms of degree of heterogeneity of agent populations (in conceptual space), the modularity and hierarchy of a system, and similar aspects of composite structural existence. Traditional microeconomic models of regional economic development assume away structural change with the assumption of completeness of network connections among agents in the system, thereby imposing a simplifying homogeneity on economic agents that significantly reduces explanatory power.

Energy for Economic Development in South Asia: Present Status, Future Requirements, and Potential for Regional Cooperation†

South Asia, home to 22 per cent of the global population, consumes only 4 per cent of the total commercial energy produced in the world. Although significant prog ress has been made during the last five decades in increasing energy supply, lack of access to low-cost, clean and reliable sources of energy is still prevalent in South Asia. This has implications for economic development and poverty alleviation efforts. This article reviews the energy market in South Asia taking into account resources, demand conditions, market reforms and potential for regional coopera tion. It argues that regional cooperation can play a limited catalytic role in bringing diverse partners together and creating an environment suitable for negotiations, but it is not a sufficient condition for the optimal utilization of regional energy resources. A necessary precondition is market reforms in individual countries.

Culture and Economic Development in South Asia

The influence of culture on economic development in South Asia has drawn scholarly interest since Max Weber argued that the rise of Protestantism abetted the origination of capitalism. Weber claimed that the spirituality and otherworldliness of Hinduism, along with its associated caste system, were not compatible with this new economic constellation. This sharp dichotomy posited by Weber and others has not been borne out by India's complex post-independence experience. Castes act as interest associations in India's democracy. India's labor force has become increasingly skilled and differentiated. From the Green Revolution onward, India's farmers have consistently raised yields to meet food needs. Large firms governed within joint families have succeeded in the domestic and global realms. South Asian culture and social patternings are best perceived as a multifarious resource out of which the subcontinent's future will be constructed rather than as universally stultifying features.

Culture and Economic Development in South Asia

Culture and Economic Development in South Asia

The Environment and Economic Development in South Asia: An Overview Concentrating on Bangladesh

The Environment and Economic Development in South Asia: An Overview Concentrating on Bangladesh

The Environment and Economic Development in South Asia: An Overview Concentrating on Bangladesh. By Mohammad Alauddin and Clement Allan Tisdell. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998. xxi, 219 pp. $69.95 (cloth).

The Environment and Economic Development in South Asia: An Overview Concentrating on Bangladesh. By Mohammad Alauddin and Clement Allan Tisdell. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998. xxi, 219 pp. $69.95 (cloth).

Hinduism and Economic Development in South Asia

The people of South Asia are deeply religious and all facets of their lives including their endeavours to achieve material advancement are affected greatly by religious beliefs and values. In what ways, and to what extent, non‐economic factors, specifically religious beliefs, affect economic behaviour in any society, is a matter of considerable controversy among economists. The theorists question the advisability of applying non‐economic factors to economic phenomena which presuppose “specialisation”, division of labour and have narrow scope of study. They contend that non‐economic factors lack objectivity for want of rigorous analysis and quantification. Also, cultural factors change but slowly, and thus, in the analysis of the short‐run process of change, these non‐economic factors do not have much relevance. Karl Marx contended that the social and cultural phases of human evolution are the consequence rather than the causes of economic factors. This atomistic conception of social process, is, however, criticised by some social scientists like Schumpeter. They maintain that “economic man” is a myth and that the unity of social life and its inseparable connection with various elements preclude any dissection of concrete reality into political, social, cultural, ethical and economic parts. The indian Planning Commission is cognisant of the inter‐relation between non‐economic factors and economic development. The Planning Commission suggests that:

Development and Poverty Reduction in South Asia—A Review Article

The author reviews a number of books dealing with economic development in South Asia. He discusses the fact that, although there have been three decades of sophisticated approaches to economic growth in South Asia, mass poverty remains entrenched. He attempts to account for the striking difference between the economic growth of East Asia and that of South Asia.

Economic Development in South Asia.

Economic Development in South Asia.