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This paper aims to unravel the impact of post-pandemic COVID-19 on foreign direct investment (FDI) and its determinants in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Countries.

The study utilized four macroeconomic variables includes growth domestic product growth rate (GDPG), inflation rate (IR), exchange rate (ER), and unemployment rate (UR) to assess their impact on post-pandemic FDI, along with two variables control of corruption (CC) and political stability (PS) to measure the influence of good governance. Random effects, fixed effects, cluster random effects, cluster fixed effects and generalized method of moments (GMM) models were applied to a balanced panel dataset comprising eight SAARC countries over the period 2010–2021. To identify the random trend component in each variable, three renowned unit root tests (Levin, Lin and Chu LLC, Im-Pesaran-Shin IPS and Augmented Dickey-Fuller ADF) were used, and co-integration associations between variables were verified through the Pedroni and Kao approaches. Data analysis was performed using STATA 17 software.

The major findings revealed that the variables have an order of integration at the first difference I (1). Nonetheless, this situation suggests the possibility of a long-term link between the series. And the main results of the findings show that the coefficients of GDPG, CC and PS are positive and significant in the long run, showing that these variables boosted FDI inflows in the SAARC region as they are significantly positively linked to FDI inflows. Similarly, the coefficients of UR, IR, ER and COVID-19 are negative and significant.

By identifying the specific impacts of the post-pandemic FDI and its determinants, governments and policymakers can formulate targeted policies and measures to mitigate the adverse effects and enhance investment attractiveness. Additionally, investors can gain a deeper understanding of the risk factors and adapt their strategies accordingly, ensuring resilience and sustainable growth. Finally, this paper adds value to the literature on the post-pandemic impact on FDI inflows in the SAARC region.

This paper is the first attempt to trace the impact of COVID-19 on Foreign Direct Investment and its determinants in the SAARC Countries. Most of the previous studies were analytical in nature and, if empirical, excluded some countries due to the unviability of the data set. This study includes all the SAARC member countries, and all variables' data are completely available. There is still a lack of empirical studies related to the SAARC region; this study attempts to fill the gap.

In light of Bangladesh’s economy, the goal of this study is to examine the “Twin Deficit Hypothesis (TDH),” which refers to a link between the budget deficit and the current account deficit. This study used yearly time series data from 1980 to 2020 to investigate the phenomena.

A multivariate autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) model has been presented for empirical investigation, with the ARDL bound test investigating the co-integration between the inadequacies. As some of the variables in the bound test lack co-integration, the study adds a multivariate vector autoregressive (VAR) model later on.

With evidence of the result, the study supports the validation of twin deficit hypothesis in Bangladesh economy since both current account deficit and fiscal deficit affects each other significantly whereas Granger causality test confirms that fiscal deficit causes current account deficit but not the other way around.

The government should maintain a restrictive monetary policy in order to stabilize the current account deficit.

The novelty of this study is the incorporation of inflation, real exchange rate and GDP per capital to TDH that together form the basis for a macroeconomic snapshot of the economy.

This study aims to explore the interplay between CO2 emissions, financial development (FD) and foreign direct investment (FDI) in Asia-Pacific and Oceania. It also aims to understand short- and long-term impacts, emphasizing the role of FDI, FD and FD’s moderating effect on the FDI–CO2 relationship.

Using a 21-year panel data set (2000–2020) from 44 countries, the study employs the pooled mean group-autoregressive distributed lag (PMG-ARDL) model supplemented by the Dumitrescu–Hurlin panel causality test. This method assesses the complex dynamics and offers a robust analysis of short- and long-term effects in the Asia-Pacific and Oceanian context.

Long-term results indicate that FDI coupled with FD and FD’s moderating effect on FDI significantly contributes to CO2 emissions. Short-term relationships are more complex and lack statistical significance. FD positively moderates the FDI–CO2 relationship in the long run.

For investors, policymakers and stakeholders in Asia-Pacific and Oceania, the study highlights the importance of considering environmental impacts in investment decisions. The insights into the role of FDI and FD help craft policies and strategies for environmental sustainability.

Socially, this research emphasizes the necessity of a balanced approach to economic development, considering the potential long-term environmental consequences. Policymakers and stakeholders may use these findings to guide discussions and actions to achieve sustainable and socially responsible development in this dynamic region.

The findings contribute original insights into the essential relationships among FDI, FD and CO2 emissions in a diverse region like Asia-Pacific, enhancing the understanding of environmental implications in regions experiencing rapid economic growth.

This paper examines the short- and long-run effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on tax revenue in Ghana.

The paper adopts the autoregressive distributed lag approach to estimate FDI’s long-run and short-run effects on tax revenue. The study uses time-series data from 1983 to 2019 for Ghana, mainly obtained from The Bank of Ghana, the World Bank and the IMF.

The results show that, in the short-run, FDI has no significant effect on direct tax revenue and total tax revenue but significantly hurts indirect tax revenue. In the long run, however, the results show that FDI has significant positive effects on indirect tax revenue and total tax revenue but no significant effect on direct tax revenue.

Empirical studies often fail to analyse the short-run and long-run effects of FDI on tax revenue. This study contributes to the mixed literature by analysing the short-run and long-run effects of FDI on tax revenue in an emerging market context. Additionally, this study employs three tax revenue measures in analysing the nexus.

This paper aims to assess the moderating role of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the effect of economic complexity on carbon emissions, considering other drivers of carbon emissions such as renewable energy use and economic growth, using data set spanning between 1990 and 2018 in BRICS nations.

This research aims to fill the gap in ongoing literature. Cross-sectional IPS and cross-sectional augmented Dickey–Fuller tests, fully modified ordinary least square, dynamic ordinary least square, fixed effect ordinary least square, Westerlund cointegration and method of moments quantile regression (MMQR) econometric approaches are applied.

The Westerlund cointegration outcomes disclosed long-run interconnectedness between carbon emissions and its drivers. Furthermore, MMQR outcomes disclosed that in each tail (0.1–0.90), economic growth and economic complexity contribute to upsurge in carbon emissions while in each quantile (0.1–0.90) renewable energy abate carbon emissions. Furthermore, we affirmed the pollution-haven and environmental Kuznets curve hypotheses across all quantiles (0.1–0.90). Finally, at all quantiles (0.1–0.90), the joint effect of both FDI inflows and economic complexity reduced carbon emissions. Furthermore, the panel causality outcomes disclosed that all the exogenous variables can predict carbon emissions. Based on the findings, BRICS nation’s policymakers should place a greater emphasis on FDI inflows because it aids in abating environmental degradation.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research to test the moderating role of FDI on the effect of economic complexity on carbon emissions. Hence, this research aims to fill the gap in ongoing literature.

This paper aims to investigate whether official development assistance (ODA) inflows to developing countries (lower-middle and low income) can cause the symptoms of Dutch disease or not.

This study applies the methodology of dynamic panel data estimation with a one-step system generalized methods of moment (GMM) for the sample of 59 developing countries from 2001 to 2019.

The results indicate that ODA (as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP)) rises by 1%, the real effective exchange rate (REER) appreciates by 0.252%. This finding reveals that these selected developing countries have faced the symptoms of Dutch disease. The countries with the higher ODA ratio have a higher effect of the Dutch disease, and the managed floating exchange rate regime is the lowest impacted, when compared to the fixed and flexible exchange rate.

The selected countries are recommended to use ODA inflows right and efficiently. These ODA inflows should be invested in productive sectors or support for production rather than in consumption. The managed float exchange rate regime is applied to reduce the symptom of Dutch disease for the selected countries. The good cooperation of monetary and fiscal policies is important to absorb the huge ODA inflow and sterilize the adverse effects of the disease.

The paper contributes to the literature and empirical of the Dutch disease. An adverse effect of the huge ODA inflow to the developing countries appreciated of the real exchange rate and caused the symptom of the dutch disease.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-12-2022-0777

The aim of this study is to explore how financial inclusion can impact healthcare access in developing countries using panel data for the period 2004–2022.

To check the impact of financial inclusion on healthcare access, the estimation techniques used are the fixed-effect model (FEM), two-stage least squares (2SLS) and the system generalized method of moments (GMM). The data were collected from different websites such as the World Development Indicators (WDI), the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

It is found in the study that financial inclusion has a significant positive effect on healthcare access, and it is also confirmed from previous literature results. The study found that if there are high financial services in the countries, healthcare sectors can be improved by timely facilities, care and funds. Proper development of financial services could be possible by conducting awareness initiatives, financial planning and implementing literacy programs to educate individuals, particularly in rural and underdeveloped areas. According to the results, trade openness and foreign direct investment have a positive impact on healthcare access, while urbanization has negatively influenced healthcare access.

The limitations of this study were restricted to only 29 developing countries. The main reason behind the lack of availability of data insurance data for developing countries was the limitation in generalizing the results.

The government and policymakers must check what are the best financial inclusion programs and policies that can be implemented to improve healthcare access. Previous literature does not show visibly the impact of financial inclusion’s dimensions on healthcare access.

This study presents a pioneering examination of financial inclusion and healthcare in 29 lower- and middle-income countries (developing countries). This study has used a comprehensive financial inclusion index of 29 developing countries to cover the overall impact of financial inclusion on healthcare in these countries.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the linkage between stock markets in Middle Eastern countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic by using daily and monthly data sets for the period from 2011 to 2021.

The multivariate BEKK-GARCH model was computed to evaluate the existence of non-linear linkage among Middle Eastern stock markets. A correlation approach was used in this study to determine the type of linear connectivity between Middle Eastern stock markets. The study used monthly and daily data sets covering the years 2011 to 2021 to investigate the linkage between stock returns and the volatility spillover between the stock markets in Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, both before and during COVID-19. To understand the types of relationships between markets before and during COVID-19, the daily data set was split into two periods.

Results from the pre-COVID-19 suggest that the Syria stock market is not related to any stock market in the Middle East markets; the Palestine and Lebanon stock markets exhibit a weak relationship, but Jordan and Palestine stock markets are strongly linked. Conversely, results from COVID-19 evince a very strong bidirectional volatility spillover between Middle East stock markets. Overall, the results indicate the existence of increased linkage during the COVID-19.

The data collection on a daily and monthly basis, both before and during COVID-19, presents certain limitations for the paper. Another limitation is that the data cannot be generalized to all other Middle Eastern countries; rather, the conclusions drawn can only be applied to these four countries. This is especially true if the scholars collected most of the necessary data but were unable to obtain certain data for various reasons.

These findings have implications for risk management, market regulation and the growth of local stock markets. Facilitating the growth of smaller, more specialized markets to improve integration with other Middle Eastern markets is one of the goals of the domestic stock market development policy. To ensure financial stability, Middle Eastern stock market linking policies should consider spillover risk and take steps to minimize it. Enhancing the range of investment opportunities accessible to shareholders and functioning as confidential risk-sharing mechanisms to facilitate improved risk management in Middle Eastern stock markets will not only significantly influence the mobilization of private capital to promote investment and local economic growth but also lay groundwork for integrated market platforms.

This paper adds to the body of literature by demonstrating the nature of the connections between these small markets and the larger markets in the Middle East region. Information from the smaller markets provides institutional insights that enhance the body of existing research, guide the formulation of evidence-based policies and advance financial literacy in these markets. This study contributes by comparing data from different stock markets to better understand the type and strength of the link and relationship between Middle Eastern stock markets, as well as any underlying or reinforcing factors that might have contributed to the relationship and the specific types of links that these markets shared prior and during COVID-19.

Sustainable development is considered a key factor in addressing environmental issues, global inequalities and poverty. This study aims to investigate the impact of stock market indicators on sustainable development across 16 emerging markets from 2003 to 2020.

The research uses causality and cointegration analyses to explore the relationships between stock market indicators and sustainable development.

Univariate causality analysis reveals a bidirectional causal relationship between the stock market turnover ratio and sustainable development, as well as a unidirectional relationship from sustainable development to stock market capitalization and total value traded. Panel-level cointegration analysis suggests that only stock market capitalization has a weak positive influence on sustainable development. However, the impact of stock market indicators on sustainable development varies significantly among countries, as revealed by country-level cointegration analysis.

While this study provides valuable insights, it is not without limitations. The findings are limited to the selected emerging markets and the specified timeframe (2003–2020). The complexity of factors influencing sustainable development suggests the need for further exploration in diverse contexts.

Understanding the nuanced relationships between stock market indicators and sustainable development can offer valuable insights for policymakers, investors and stakeholders.

This research contributes to the existing literature by examining the multifaceted connections between stock market indicators and sustainable development, focusing on country-specific causality relationships. The study highlights the reciprocal nature of this relationship, where financial market development can both influence and be influenced by a country's progress toward sustainability. This approach provides a more nuanced understanding of the complex interaction between stock market maturity and sustainability goals.

This paper aims to examine the relationships among environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices, innovation and economic growth in five Asian countries from 1990 to 2020.

The study innovatively constructed the ESG index at the country level by using frequency statistics on text mining and factor analysis for each country over time. In addition, this study used the autoregressive distributed lag method to establish a long-term relationship.

The authors discovered that ESG practices among corporate entities significantly impact economic growth in Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. Specifically, the environmental component positively affects the growth of Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, while the governance components of ESG contribute to Thailand’s economic growth. The authors also discovered that innovation improves countries’ economic growth, thus offering policy insights into promoting ESG practices and stimulating the ecosystem for innovation.

The paper fills the gap left in previous inconclusive findings on the association between ESG practices and country growth.