Nabila Asghar

Transportation services play a key role in the operation of the modern economy, but their environmental impacts are also becoming more and more challenging to reconcile with the global decarbonization targets. This paper investigates the trends in the economic growth-carbon emissions relationship from two complementary angles: the conventional Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and a transport-adjusted EKC that separates the moderating effect of the transport sector’s competitiveness. The Westerlund (2007) cointegration test is conducted on 121 countries categorized regionally based on their emissions data, in the panel between 2014 and 2024, and the results validate the existence of a stable long-run relationship in each panel. We use Driscoll-Kraay estimation as the main methodology, and panel quantile regression (PQR) as a robustness check to account for possible cross-sectional dependence and distributional heterogeneity. We find significant regional variation, with the traditional inverted-U relationship between growth and emissions for Africa and the Americas, and the turning points already surmounted by higher-income economies, but a positive growth-emissions relationship throughout for European countries, a reflection, we show, of the omission of the transport channel. The transport-adjusted model corrects this by showing the same inverted-U pattern for Africa, the Americas and Asia and Pacific at broadly similar turning points as the baseline model but showing that the turning point for transport-sector emissions in Europe is not observed, even at the highest incomes. This comparison shows that a region’s total emissions curve can conceal a long-term mismatch between growth and decarbonization rates, particularly in transport, and that transport-sector decoupling lags behind the economy’s apparent progress in advanced economies.

The present study examines the impact of financial development on income inequality in South Asian countries using panel data for the period 2003 to 2025. The study uses Panel Quantile Regression (PQR) technique as a primary estimation strategy and for robustness purpose the Instrumental Variable Two-Stage Least Squares (IV–2SLS) econometric technique has been used. This study investigates whether the impact of Financial Development (FD) on income inequality is heterogeneous across the income distribution. The empirical results revealed that FD exerts positive and statistically significant effect on income inequality, highlighting that profound and more inclusive financial system are associated with the increase in income dispersion. This result remains robust across all quantiles of the income inequality distribution. Furthermore, it appears consistent through IV-2SLS estimation addressing potential endogeneity concerns. Beyond FD, this analysis identifies that globalization is also significant determinant of income inequality which help in reducing income inequality. The consumer price index varies across the estimation. While infrastructure development increase income inequality. The results of the study carry important policy implications, underscoring the critical role of financial sector development as a tool for promoting equitable and inclusive economic growth. The study recommends that the policymakers of South Asia should prioritize financial deepening, broaden access to financial services, and strengthen political frameworks for mitigating income disparities and foster sustainable socioeconomic development.

This study examines the role of financial inclusion in enhancing the social progress of developed and developing economies. Social progress is a key indicator of a country's development. It captures a range of factors that shape the well-being of the economy. Therefore, financial inclusion promotes social progress through financial resources. This study uses a sample of 32 developed and 18 developing countries from 2000 to 2023. The econometric approach Panel Quantile Autoregressive Distributed Lag (PQARDL) model is used to investigate the short and long-term impact among the variables. The results of the study show that financial inclusion and strong institutions positively impact Social Progress (SP) in developed countries while industrialization, population growth and transportation has negative impact on it. On the contrary, in developing countries, financial inclusion, institutions, population growth, and industrialization have a positive impact on SP while transportation harms it. The study suggests that developing countries need to promote financial literacy, strengthen governance, support green industrialization, improve sustainable transport, and control high population growth. While, developed economies should focus on financial product diversification, policy reform in healthcare and education, promote sustainable practices, and managing demographic changes.

The influence of natural resources to achieve sustainable growth has been emphasized by the Sustainable Development Goals. Therefore, it becomes essential to study the socioeconomic transmission mechanism of natural resources by focusing the Resource Curse Hypothesis. Current research investigates the presence or absence of the Resource Curse Hypothesis in developing economies. The study applies Panel Quantile Autoregressive Distributed Lag estimation technique for analyzing data of 57 developing countries covering the time duration of 2000-2021. The empirical outcome of the study confirms the existence of the Resource Curse Hypothesis in developing economies. The impact of the macroeconomic stability index is negative and significant indicating poor macroeconomic conditions. The policies to control macroeconomic volatilities, sufficient food provision, good health, and enhanced well-being may help to improve overall outcomes.

Globalization led to economic integration, which increased the competitiveness of economies through interconnection and interdependence. Financial Development (FD) is considered as an engine of Economic Growth (EG) that significantly contributes in economic productivity and raising prosperity in an economy. This study aims to analyze the relationship between FD and global competitiveness from a global perspective. For this purpose, panel data of 87 developed and 60 developing countries have been used for the period 2000- 2020. The Panel Quantile Regression (PQR) estimation technique has been used for the analysis. The results demonstrate that sustainable FD significantly increases the competitiveness of all countries. However, this impact is non-linear across different quantile groups which suggests evidence of an inverted U-shaped relationship. The linearized marginal effect indicates that all developed economies lie before the maturity of the inverted U-shaped curve. In contrast, except Bolivia, Cabo Verde, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Korea Rep of, Lebanon, Mongolia, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Siri Lanka, Tunisia, and Vietnam, all remaining developing nations also lie before the maturity of an inverted U-shaped curve. This indicates that FD accelerates global competitiveness up to a certain optimal point, and excessive financialization may lead to the misallocation of resources and raising financial risk. The study suggests that developing countries need to implement policies to attain optimal level of sustainable FD, which boosts their competitiveness. The major contribution of the present study is to help the policy makers to formulate proper policies to increase global competitiveness.

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of both internal and external policy ambiguity on aggregate investment in Pakistan and its bilateral trade partners from the fourth quarter of 2010 to the fourth quarter of 2021. To achieve this, study uses economic policy uncertainty index for each country as a proxy for internal policy volatility. External policy volatility is measured by constructing a compound index that accounts for the trade weight of each country's policy uncertainty index. Further to find out the relationship, Panel PMG-ARDL model used and findings indicate that investment decrease with increase in uncertainty. Additionally, the research delves into the nonlinear relationship between investment and uncertainty and results demonstrate a U-shaped relationship between uncertainty and investments. Furthermore, Specific values were calculated to determine whether the effects of policy shocks are positive or negative, showing that internal policy shocks are more harmful than external ones. The study also provides policy implications based on these findings. Since internal policy insecurity has a stronger negative impact on investment than external factors, it is essential for policymakers in Pakistan to prioritize reducing ambiguity in internal policies. Implementing clear, consistent, and stable economic policies can help alleviate the negative effects of uncertainty on investment.

This study scrutinizes both symmetric and asymmetric impact of monetary freedom (MF) on the sustainable stock market development (SMD) in Pakistan, in the presence of political stability and foreign exchange rate. The study uses the time series data for the period of 1992 to 2022, the study applies Non-linear Auto-regressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) and ARDL Bounds Testing for comparative analysis. Monetary freedom with sound political stability and stable foreign exchange rate do Granger Cause and significant correlation with the SMD of Pakistan. The results from ARDL Bound Testing show that MF and exchange rate has highly significant long-run impact on the SMD with coefficient values of 4.64 and 3.32. The Positive asymmetric cumulative dynamic multipliers (ACDMs) of MF have highly significant impact on SMD. Political stability has been a Positive Function of its ACDMs, while exchange rate has been a Negative Function of its respective ACDMs. The impact of exchange rate is highly significant with its Negative ACDMs coefficients of 17.42 and 16.76, denoting a long-lasting impact on the sustainable economic growth of Pakistan by strengthening the pace of stock market development. This comparative study will add revised practical credence to the existing literature on autoregressive models and will facilitate modified and improved policy-making at operational and strategic level to achieve decent economic growth under sustainable development goals (SDG).

To achieve sustainable growth, energy is incumbent because all modern production is based on it. Unfortunately, about 80% of the global population uses polluted energy, adversely damaging the environment. The present study asses the asymmetric role of renewable energy in the mitigation of CO2 emissions in Pakistan. The Non-linear ARDL econometric approach is used to estimate the empirical results of the time series data from 1980 to 2020. The study found that positive change in renewable energy adversely declines CO2 emissions while negative change increases CO2 emissions. Additionally, the HDI and trade openness lessens CO2 emissions, while urbanization increases CO2 emissions. The study recommends that Pakistan should promote eco-friendly consumption patterns. Pakistan should focus on promoting renewable energy resources, which will help combat the upsurge in industrial and housing carbon dioxide emissions.