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The broad objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of inequality and other explanatory variables, including inflation, foreign direct investment, human capital, and migrant workers' remittances, on economic growth using a panel of 13 Asia and the Pacific countries between 1996 and 2008. According to the results of the Hausman test, the random-effects model was preferred over the fixed-effects model in most of the equations. Empirical results reveal the significantly negative effect of inequality on economic growth. The empirical findings also suggest that the mitigation of inequality is indispensable for achieving inclusive development in the true sense. For this purpose, however, the implementation of fiscal policy option is a necessity, whereas persistent food security through agribusiness also should not be overlooked to achieve lower levels of inequality and enhance inclusive growth and development in the region.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine the macroeconomic impact of migrant workers' remittances on economic growth in four developing Asian countries namely: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.Design/methodology/approach– This study utilizes annual time series data over the period 1976-2012 and the ordinary least squares as an analytical technique for parameters estimation.Findings– Empirical results support the existence of a significant positive relationship between migrant workers remittances and economic growth. The other control variables such as foreign direct investment, openness to trade and infrastructure are also found to be statistically significant with expected signs.Practical implications– The findings of this study are expected to guide policy makers in formulating the right and relevant policies through which migrant workers' remittances can be made more productive and its benefits for both migrants and the country of origin are maximized. Consequently, it will foster economic growth and development.Originality/value– This paper provides some valuable evidences on the significance of migrant workers remittances as a source of economic growth. Moreover, the study differs from the erstwhile studies in terms of control variables, time period and method of estimation. Finally, the empirical results established are relatively robust.

In this study an attempt has been made to investigate the effects of economic factors on foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into Pakistan, India and Indonesia. Simple loglinear regression model for each country has been used and the method of least squares has been applied. Empirical results show that market size, domestic investment, tradeopenness, and physical infrastructure are the important economic determinants of FDI.Further, this study also found that the empirical results of the economic determinants of India matched with empirical results of Pakistan except two determinates (i.e., tradeopenness and government consumption), while that of Indonesia do not match with Pakistan and India. For attracting more FDI into Pakistan and India, the management authorities' needs to ensure economic and political stability, provision of infrastructure, peace and security, encouraging domestic investment and adoption of appropriate macroeconomic stabilization policy. Furthermore, this study recommend the same measures for Indonesia and suggest that more future research work are required for empirical investigation of determinants of FDI in Indonesia, to enhance the desirable level of FDI into the country.

Achieving sustainable development is the prime objective of every government. Based on Solow's theoretical proposition, this study attempts to explore empirically the linkages between tourism, energy consumption, and economic growth, for the top nine Asian travel and tourism countries including Indonesia between 1995 and 2018. The fully modified ordinary least squares method and Granger's causality approaches are implemented for empirical analysis. The empirical result reveals that tourism has a statistically positive impact on economic growth in Asia's top nine travel and tourist countries. Moreover, energy consumption, exports, and savings have also a positive and statistically significant impact on economic growth. The results of panel Granger causality tests demonstrate that there is a mutual interdependence between tourism, energy consumption, and economic growth in the selected panel country group. The empirical finding indicates the positive influences of tourism on economic growth; therefore, the government must strive to formulate a policy that would help to build infrastructural adequacy and promote tourism development in Asian countries.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to validate the Endogenous Growth Model by examining the impacts of Human Capital (HK) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on economic growth in ten countries from Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).Design/methodology/approach– For empirical investigation, a linear regression model based on growth theory and panel data set covering the time-period from 1993 to 2011 are used. Fixed and random effects models are applied. On the basis of the Hausman test, the fixed effects model has been preferred over the random effects model.Findings– The results support the hypothesis of the study by confirming that HK development is critical for economic growth. Similarly, FDI has been found to have a facilitating role in promoting growth in the former Soviet Republics now comprising Central Asian independent economies. This is despite of the fact that there are country-specific differences across CIS.Practical implications– The findings suggest that investment climate in the host countries must be enriched through suitable policies. Improved domestic conditions not only enhance the performance of multinational corporations but also allow host economies to reap greater benefits of FDI inflows. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that investment in both education and health are indispensable. Therefore, improved levels of education and health should be the primary objective running concurrently with other factors in order to stimulate economic growth.Originality/value– The choice of CIS has been made because very little research has been found for the region particularly in the area of economic growth despite strong evidence of commonality in terms of landlocked geographical layout and economic and political structures of these economies. The region has gained importance gradually after independence of these states; and it has started to attract foreign funds in the shape of FDI only recently. Thus, there is a need to evaluate the future prospects pertaining to the importance of FDI and HK on growth performance of these economies and will insistently contribute to the literature.