Orazaliyev Kanat

Poverty and gender inequality are among the major issues in developing countries that can hinder their economic progress and human development. Hence, this research is designed to investigate the impact of financial development on gender imbalance and poverty in the context of Pakistan controlling a number of other variables using the Bayer and Hanck cointegration method and the ARDL bound test on the data from 1985 to 2022. The results of the study indicated cointegration among the variables. The long-run estimates unfolded that financial development decreases the gender imbalance (gender inequality) in the context of Pakistan; however, it boosts poverty levels in the country. In the context of control variables, we found that education is helpful in decreasing gender inequality in Pakistan while economic growth boosts gender inequality. Moreover, economic growth is a reliable tool to decrease the poverty level in Pakistan, and reducing gender inequality can help to alleviate poverty levels in the country. Surprisingly, education is mounting poverty level in Pakistan indicating that the education system in Pakistan is not providing quality education to poor people. Based on these results, the study suggests that government can focus on developing a strategic plan to decrease gender inequality and poverty by introducing suitable policies in the context of the financial sector, education, and economic growth.

Environmental degradation stemming from the combustion of conventional energy sources is not only a major factor behind climate change but it also poses an adverse impact on human health. Undoubtedly, fossil fuels are major drivers of economic growth; however, their detrimental environmental impacts are of global concern. In the literature, there is no comprehensive empirical evidence on the linkage between the use of different energy sources and carbon dioxide emissions in the context of Russia, a nation that is ranked third in the list of the top carbon dioxide-emitting global countries. Hence, this paper aims to scrutinize the relationships between oil consumption, natural gas consumption, coal consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions controlling economic growth for Russia over the 1990–2016 period. The findings from the econometric analysis indicate that carbon dioxide emissions in Russia have long-run associations with economic growth and consumption of oil, gas, and coal. The long-run elasticity estimates reveal that economic growth is not directly harming Russia’s environmental quality. However, higher oil, gas, and coal consumption degrades environmental quality by boosting the level of carbon dioxide emissions in Russia. In addition, the results from the Granger causality analysis confirm the existence of both long and short-term causal connections among the variables of concern. In line with these findings, several policy recommendations to address the environmental challenges in Russia are put forward.