scholarly journals The role of natural resources in economic growth: new evidence from Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (50) ◽  
pp. 221-238
Author(s):  
Aiza Shabbir ◽  
Shazia Kousar ◽  
Farzana Kousar

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of natural resources in economic growth by taking evidence from Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach Total five variables are used in this study, i.e. GDP, population density, water renewable resources, deforestation and the emissions of CO2, based on time series data from 1972 to 2016. The annual data is collected from World Development Indicators, Food and Agriculture Organization and Pakistan Economic Survey. Vector error correction model technique is applied to find out the long-run results. Findings Results depict that all variables have a negative and significant relationship over the long run at 5% level of significance. It is observed that 1% increase in population accordingly will degrade GDP by 0.334496%. Correspondingly, 1% increase of water renewable resources will degrade GDP by 0.450647%. Findings are aligning with the study of. Moreover, 1% increase in deforestation will diminish GDP by 0.127821%. If we increase 1% of CO2, GDP will be reduced by 0.802420%. Research limitations/implications Results depict that all variables have a negative and significant relationship over the long run at 5% level of significance. It is observed that 1% increase in population accordingly will degrade GDP by 0.334496%. Correspondingly, 1% increase of water renewable resources will degrade GDP by 0.450647%. Findings are aligning with the study of. Moreover, 1% increase in deforestation will diminish GDP by 0.127821%. If we increase 1% of CO2, GDP will be reduced by 0.802420%. Practical implications Family planning may be our last hope. Viable and fruitful family planning ought to be introduced. Status of ladies should be brought up in the society by providing education and employment opportunities. Time of marriage ought to be brought up to 25 years in case of males and 23 in case of females; this can help in decreasing the number of births. Having a large population will not automatically translate into economic prosperity. Investment in well-being, education, sound economic policies and good governance will bring about accelerated economic growth. Originality/value In recent years, the issue of worldwide water shortage has attracted increasing consideration within scholarly community, non-administrative organizations and the media. Water shortage is a significant and ever-increasing danger to the environment, human well-being, advancement, energy security and the worldwide food supply. This work will introduce real issues and requirements relating to water, environmental changes and their impact on economic growth of Pakistan.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudeshna Ghosh

Purpose This paper aims to consider the role of geopolitical risk in explaining tourism demand in India, a major tourist destination of the Asian region. Furthermore, the study also considers how in addition to geopolitical risk, economic policy uncertainty, economic growth, exchange rate, inflation and trade openness impact tourism demand. Design/methodology/approach The Bayer and Hanck (2013) method of cointegration is applied to explore the relationship between geopolitical risk and tourism demand. Furthermore, the study has also used the auto distributed lag model to determine whether there is a long-run cointegrating association between tourism demand, geopolitical risk, economic policy uncertainty, economic growth, exchange rate and trade openness. Finally, the vector error correction model confirms the direction of causality across the set of the major variables. Findings This paper finds that geopolitical risk adversely impacts inbound international travel to India. This study also obtains the consistency of the results across different estimation techniques controlling for important macro variables. The Granger causality test confirms the unidirectional causality from geopolitical risk to tourism and further from economic uncertainty to tourism. The findings from the study confirm that geopolitical risks have long-term repercussions on the tourism sector in India. The results indicate that there is an urgent need to develop a pre-crisis management plan to protect the aura of Indian tourism. The tourism business houses should develop skilful marketing strategies in the post-crisis to boost the confidence of the tourists. Research limitations/implications This paper provides valuable practical implications to tourism business houses. The tourism business houses can explore geopolitical risk measure and economic policy uncertainty measure to analyse the demand for international tourism in India. Further, the major stakeholders can establish platforms to help tourists to overcome the fear associated with geopolitical risk. Originality/value This study is the first of its kind to explore the geopolitical risks and their long-run consequences in the context of tourism in India. The study puts emphasis on the role of national policy to maintain peace otherwise it would be detrimental to tourism.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1192-1210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muazu Ibrahim

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the interactive effect of human capital in financial development–economic growth nexus. Relative to the quantity-based measure of enrolment rates, the main aim was to determine how quality of human capital proxied by pupil–teacher ratio influences the relationship between domestic financial sector development and overall economic growth. Design/methodology/approach Data are obtained from the World Development Indicators of the World Bank for 29 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries over the period 1980–2014. The analyses were conducted using the system generalised method of moments within the endogenous growth framework while controlling for country-specific and time effects. The author also follows Papke and Wooldridge procedure in examining the long-run estimates of the variables of interest. Findings The key finding is that, while both human capital and financial development unconditionally promotes growth in both the short and long run, results from the interactive terms suggest that, irrespective of the measure of finance, financial sector development largely spurs growth on the back of quality human capital. This finding is also confirmed by the marginal and net effects where the interactive effect of pupil–teacher ratio and indicators of finance are consistently huge relative to the enrolment. Statistically, the results are robust to model specification. Practical implications While it is laudable for SSA countries to increase access to education, it is equally more crucial to increase the supply of teachers at the same time improving on the limited teaching and learning materials. Indeed, there are efforts to develop rather low levels of the financial sector owing to its unconditional growth effects. Beyond the direct benefit of finance, however, higher growth effect of finance is conditioned on the quality level of human capital. The outcome of this study should therefore reignite the recognition of the complementarity role of human capital and finance in economic growth process. Originality/value The study makes significant contributions to existing finance–growth literature in so many ways: first, the auhor extend the literature by empirically examining how different measures of human capital shape the finance–economic growth nexus. Through this the author is able to bring a different perspective in the literature highlighting the role of countries’ human capital stock in mediating the impact of financial deepening on economic growth. Second, the author makes a more systematic attempt to evaluate the relative importance of finance and human capital in growth process while controlling for several ancillary variables.


Author(s):  
Mariana Imaz ◽  
Claudia Sheinbaum

Purpose In September 2015, the UN member states approved an ambitious agenda toward the end of poverty, the pursuit of equity and the protection of the planet in the form of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets. The purpose of this paper is to raise a concern about the context and framework that science, technology and innovation have in the finalized text for adoption that frames the SDGs especially regarding environmental degradation. The authors argue that emphasizing technology transfer in the agenda has the risk to do not recognize other technological alternatives such as eco-technologies, and endorse a limited vision of the role of science and innovation in the achievement of the SDGs. Science for sustainability has to go further than technology transfer, even questioning the limits of the current patterns of intensive use of natural resources and inequity in consumption. By discussing the historical backgrounds of this paradigm and elaborating on the role of science to achieve sustainability in a broader sense. It is in these terms that inter- and intra-discipline and the roles of researchers in sustainability transitions acquire relevance. Design/methodology/approach Although many theories regarding human development are in place and under discussion, the dominant view, reflected in the UN agreement, is that the progress of a country can be measured by the growth in the per capita gross domestic product. This variable determines if a society is able to reduce poverty and satisfy its basic needs for present and future generations (Article 3: United Nations (UN), 2015). Progress and economic growth in several aspects of human development has been substantial over the past 40 years. However, at the same time, the state of the environment continues to decline (UNEP, 2012). The obvious inquiry of these opposing trends is whether progress irremediably comes at the cost of environmental degradation. In 1972, the Club of Rome’s report entitled “Limits to growth” (Meadows et al. 1972) confronted the viability of perpetual economic growth. The report alerted of the impossibility of endless growth in population and production in a finite planet (Gómez-Baggethun and Naredo, 2015). The essay forecasted future crises of food and energy if the population and economic growth continued to grow at the same rate of the first half of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, the catastrophic projections were not met, mostly because of great advances in agriculture, water and energy technologies. Findings The SDGs constitute a relevant international recognition of the importance of the three edges of sustainable development. However, the pathways toward the achievement of the SDGs need to fully recognize that poverty, inequalities and global environmental problems are expressing a deeper crisis in the shape of economic growth, patterns of production and consumption and, in general, the logic of no limits in the exploitation of natural resources (Sheinbaum-Pardo, 2015). For this reason, the science of sustainability requires a deep understanding of the technological change and that technology is not the only approach toward sustainability. Research limitations/implications The paper reflects a conceptual discussion of the narrow vision of science and technology in the SDGs and their UN framework. The most important objective in the UN documents is technology transfer. This has the risk to do not recognize other technological alternatives such as eco-technologies, and endorse a limited vision of the role of science and innovation in the achievement of the SDGs. Practical implications An important discussion of the key points regarding SDGs is developed. Social implications “Transforming our world: The 2030 agenda for sustainable development (UN, 2015)” presents a narrow vision and a limiting role to the science of sustainability. Moreover, if these issues are not recognized, the achievement of the SDGs will continue to gain only marginal success. Originality/value It brings out a very important discussion of the role of science and technology in the ambitious UN agenda of the SDGs.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Farooq ◽  
Ahsan Anwar ◽  
Muhammad Ahad ◽  
Ghulam Shabbir ◽  
Zulfiqar Ali Imran

PurposeThis research aims to inspect the existence of the “environmental Kuznets curve” (EKC) in the presence of foreign direct investment (FDI), financial development (FD) and urbanization throughout 1972–2018 for Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachFor time series analysis, Phillips and Perron (PP) and Augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF) unit root tests are used to confirm the level of integration. For robustness, Kim and Perron (2009)’s structural break unit root test is employed, which identifies the order of integration in the presence of structural break years. Further, combined cointegration analysis is performed to confirm the existence of a long-run association between underlying variables. Furthermore, autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) analysis is employed for the robustness of the cointegration approach.FindingsThe cointegration analysis confirms the existence of a long-run association among variables. The authors find a positive and significant impact of urbanization, FD and foreign development on environmental degradation in the long run. Similarly, only FDI increases environmental degradation in the short run. In addition, the authors find an inverted U-shape relationship between economic growth and environmental quality which, further, confirms the presence of EKC in Pakistan.Originality/valueThis research contributes to applied economics in many ways: the combined effect of urbanization, FD, FDI and economic growth on carbon dioxide (CO2) emission is checked simultaneously. To avoid ambiguity, this study constructs the FD index through the principal component analysis (PCA). Moreover, the role of structural breaks has been considered through the analysis. Novel Bayer-Hanck combined cointegration analysis is employed to detect the existence of long-run relationships among underlying variables.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mui-Yin Chin ◽  
Sheue-Li Ong ◽  
Chew-Keong Wai ◽  
Yee-Qin Kon

Purpose This study aims to delve deeply into the role of infrastructure on economic growth in 59 belt and road initiative (BRI) participating countries from various regions of the world as the main objective of BRI is to encourage the participating countries to improve investment and trade facilitation via infrastructure. Besides, the development of infrastructure is in line with the United Nations’ 2030 sustainable development goals (SDG). Design/methodology/approach This study encompasses all of the important physical infrastructure factors to compute a composite infrastructure index. Thereafter, this study used both the panel cointegration and the panel Granger causality tests to investigate the impact of the infrastructure index and other essential factors on economic growth. Findings The empirical results signify the importance of infrastructure development on economic growth in both the long-run and short-run. Besides, it is evident that capital, expenditure on health and education, as well as exports, will accelerate economic growth. Originality/value The findings of this study could contribute to the literature regarding BRI in two ways. First, it will provide insight to the policymakers of China and the BRI participating countries on whether infrastructure development is worthy of huge investment so as to enhance the success of the BRI. Second, the outcome of this study will give policymakers a better understanding of the determinants of economic growth, which, in turn, will help them in designing effective policies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-113
Author(s):  
Muhammad Tahir ◽  
Ahmad Ali Jan ◽  
Syed Quaid Ali Shah ◽  
Md Badrul Alam ◽  
Muhammad Asim Afridi ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the contending role of important external inflows on the economic growth of Pakistan economy. The main purpose behind focusing on Pakistan is that it is receiving significant inflows from different international sources such as International Monetary Fund, World Bank and Asian Development Bank. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted the autoregressive distributed lag cointegration approach for the purpose of exploring the long-run cointegrating relationship among the variables. As Pakistan Government had been implementing some major liberalization policies during 1990s, data from 1976 to 2018 is used to estimate the specified models to reflect the impact of the surge of foreign inflows occurring from that time. In addition, error correction model is estimated for examining the short-run relationships. Findings The findings revealed the significant role played by different inflows in accelerating the economic growth. According to results, in the long run, all inflows, for example, Foreign direct investment (FDI), debt, official developdment assistance and remittances, have influenced significantly and positively the economic growth. The two control variables such as inflation and employment level included in the model have also played their expected role in the growth process. In the short run, some of the variables such as remittances, FDI and inflation rate have lost their significance level while for debt, aid and employment level, the signs of their coefficients become reversed. Practical implications Based on the findings, the study suggests the policymakers of Pakistan economy to liberalize the economy and attract more inflows from the external sources to accelerate economic growth. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first comprehensive empirical study on the role of foreign inflows in the process of economic growth in the context of Pakistan economy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-46
Author(s):  
Hammed Agboola Yusuf ◽  
Waliu Olawale Shittu ◽  
Saad Babatunde Akanbi ◽  
Habiba MohammedBello Umar ◽  
Idris Abdulganiyu Abdulrahman

PurposeIn this research, we examine the role of financial development, FDI, democracy and political instability on economic growth in West Africa.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses the dynamic fixed effects technique on the secondary data obtained from 1996 to 2016.FindingsOur empirical findings suggest that even though no significant relationship is established in the short run, the long-run coefficient of FDI is found to be significant and positive; a 1% increase in FDI inflow into the West African sub-region results in a 0.26% increase in economic growth. The coefficient of democracy is significant neither in the short run nor in the long run, but political instability is found to significantly and negatively impact the growth of the countries. Finally, the estimate of financial development–growth nexus follows the supply-leading hypothesis.Research limitations/implicationsThis research affirms the proposition that FDI is a relevant means of technology and knowledge transfers, thus resulting in increasing returns to production as a result of productive spillovers, which drives the growth of the economy. Consequently, an efficient institution – where the rule of law, political stability and economic freedom are top priorities – is a key to accelerate the growth of the West African economy. Similarly, we confirm the validity of the supply-leading hypothesis in West Africa. As such, by deepening the financial system, the growth of the subregion is propelled because an efficient financial system is a basis for sustainable development.Practical implicationThe applicable policies are those that promote growth through FDI, financial development, democracy and political instability. The governments of West African countries are enjoined to promote policies that attract FDI into the subregion and promote financial sector credits so that economic performances may be enhanced. In addition, the governments of West African subregion should fully entrench democratic practices and enhance a stable and sustainable political environment. This will not only restore investor confidence but will also facilitate the inflow of FDI into the West African economy.Originality/valueOur study is the first to jointly examine these important growth determinants, especially in the context of West Africa. This becomes necessary in order to open the eyes of policy makers to the need for entrenched full democracy and to proffer sustainable cures to the frequent unrests in the subregion. The use of Pesaran (2007) technique of unit root is also a deviation from several existing studies. One advantage of this technique over others is that being a second-generation test, it tests variable unit root in the presence of cross-sectional dependence.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan-Ling Tan ◽  
Roslina Mohamad Shafi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of the capital market on economic growth by considering the role of ṣukūk (Islamic investment certificates) and other capital market sub-components in Malaysia between 1998 and 2018. Design/methodology/approach The empirical investigation is based on the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) cointegration bounds test. Findings The results reveal the prevalence of a long-run equilibrium relationship between capital market variables and economic growth. As expected, bond market components (ṣukūk and conventional bonds) have a positive, albeit insignificant influence on economic growth. In contrast, in the long-term, stock market development – regardless of the indicator used on economic growth – is shown to have a significant and positive effect. The study suggests that stock market sub-components affect Malaysia’s economic growth the most. Research limitations/implications The primary limitation of this study is that only corporate ṣukūk were considered, while government ṣukūk were excluded from the estimation due to a lack of requisite information, resources and data. Practical implications A strategic framework should be established, especially in pricing efficiencies. Furthermore, there is a need to create more awareness on the benefits of ṣukūk investment among conventional bond investors, including retail investors. Thus, there will be more players in the ṣukūk market, and this will help to improve market liquidity. Originality/value Apart from conventional capital market sub-components, this study takes into account ṣukūk as a sub-component in the capital market on economic growth using the ARDL framework. Also, this study particularly concentrates on the world’s largest ṣukūk issuer, Malaysia, rather than focusing on other ṣukūk-issuing countries.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gameli Adika

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the role of economic integration and natural resources and foreign direct investment (FDI) complementarity in explaining economic growth in the Southern African Development Community (SADC).Design/methodology/approachThe study employed the ordinary least square-random effects and the generalized two-stage least square instrumental variables (IV) regression to examine the relationship between the variables.FindingsThe authors find that regional economic integration and natural resource abundance are essential for promoting economic growth. The results further show a potential resource curse phenomenon, offset by the complementary effect of FDI in resource-rich countries. The findings are robust after conditioning for different measures of institutional quality.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest the need for deeper regional trade integration and international cooperation, prudent natural resource management and concerted effort toward economic diversification.Originality/valueMany studies have examined the determinants of economic growth in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). However, these studies did not incorporate or assess the potential of economic integration in the region. Moreover, studies that examined the growth effects of FDI did not assess the complementary role of the region's natural resource endowment which potentially drives FDI inflows. This study fills these gaps and provides a robust analysis of economic growth drivers in the region.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 765-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madhu Sehrawat ◽  
A K Giri

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between financial development and economic growth in Indian states using annual data from 1993 to 2012. Design/methodology/approach – The stationarity properties are checked by Levin-Lin-Chu and Im-Pesaran-Shin panel unit root tests. The study employed the Pedroni’s panel co-integration test to examine the existence of long-run relationship and the coefficients of co-integration are examined by fully modified ordinary least squares. The short term and long-run causality is checked by panel granger causality. Findings – The co-integration test confirms a long-run relationship between financial development and economic growth for Indian states. The results support the supply leading hypothesis and highlight the importance of financial development in economic growth in Indian states. The findings also indicate that bank-centric financial sector of India has the potential of economic growth through credit transmission. Research limitations/implications – The present study recommends for appropriate reforms in financial market to attain economic growth in India. The findings will be useful for India’s policymakers in order to maintain the parallel expansion of financial development and economic growth. Originality/value – Till date, there is no study that includes all 28 states in analyzing the role of financial development in economic growth for Indian economy by applying latest econometric techniques. Further, the study uses gross domestic state product instead of net domestic state product as proxy for economic growth because of the presence of different depreciation rates.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document