Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science最新文献

{"title":"Inverted N-shape relationships: revisiting the dynamic effect of natural resources on poverty in Indonesia","authors":"Annisaa Rizky Dwi Brintanti,&nbsp;Iqram Ramadhan Jamil,&nbsp;Usman Alhassan,&nbsp;Brama Yudha Kusmara,&nbsp;Yessi Rahmawati","doi":"10.1007/s41685-024-00368-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s41685-024-00368-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Indonesia is recognized as one of the countries with abundant natural resources, especially in the mining sector. However, revenue from these natural resources have not significantly improved the population’s well-being or reduced poverty rate. Notably, some regions with high natural resource revenue still experience high poverty level. Therefore, this study delved into the intricate relationships between natural resource abundance and poverty dynamics in Indonesia. Utilizing panel data spanning from 2015 to 2022 across 444 regencies/cities, we employed advanced econometric techniques, Method of Moment Quantile Regression (MMQR), to unravel the nuanced effects of natural resource revenue on poverty rates. Moreover, our study challenged conventional linear analyses of the natural resource curse hypothesis, emphasizing the need for non-linear modeling approaches to capture the intricate dynamics at play. Our findings reveal a non-linear relationship between natural resource revenue and poverty, characterized by an inverted-N-shape, with significant impacts observed in lower and medium quantile groups. Surprisingly, the linkage between natural resource revenue–poverty does not appear in the high quantile group, suggesting that natural resource revenue is insufficient to benefit the region with severe/extreme poverty rate. Our research underscores the importance of considering cross-sectional dependence and employing robust estimation methods like MMQR to address complex interactions within panel datasets. These findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on natural resource management and poverty alleviation strategies, providing valuable insights for policymakers and researchers alike.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36164,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science","volume":"9 1","pages":"83 - 105"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143513290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Driving force behind the investment location choice of Chinese enterprises in ASEAN countries","authors":"Xinyu Wang,&nbsp;Bingqing Yu,&nbsp;Shuiying Lan,&nbsp;Li Hong","doi":"10.1007/s41685-024-00360-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s41685-024-00360-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>With deepening cooperation between China and ASEAN countries, the driving force of Chinese enterprises’ location choice for direct investment in ASEAN should not only consider their own competitive advantages but also consider environmental and resource factors such as geography, economy and culture of the host country. Therefore, this paper first expounds on the location choice of Chinese enterprises’ investment in ASEAN and then presents research hypotheses based on the enterprises’ own experiences and the three proximities of geography, economy and social culture. A Probit regression analysis model is adopted to analyze the evolutionary driving force of Chinese enterprises’ investment locations in ASEAN. The study reveals the following findings: First, Chinese enterprises’ investments in ASEAN countries exhibit a “clustering-dispersal” pattern in industries such as energy, transportation and real estate forming industrial clusters of various ASEAN cities. Second, the attributes of multinational corporations, including corporate characteristics, geographical factors, economic factors, and cultural factors, significantly influence the expansion of the ASEAN investment network, and heterogeneous investment preferences exist across different regions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36164,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science","volume":"9 1","pages":"189 - 222"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143513250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Measuring the financial stability sentiments and evaluating their impacts on financial soundness, financial stability, and the macroeconomy of Pakistan","authors":"Ateeb Akhter Shah Syed,&nbsp;Kevin Haeseung Lee,&nbsp;Mohsin Waheed,&nbsp;Sarah Saleh","doi":"10.1007/s41685-024-00362-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s41685-024-00362-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper measures the Financial Stability Sentiments Index (FSSI) for the economy of Pakistan, an interesting country case due to its resilient banking sector. We used a Natural Language Processing technique to quantify these sentiments from annual financial stability review reports published by the State Bank of Pakistan, central bank of Pakistan. The index captured events of high and low financial stress in Pakistan, such as the Global Financial Crisis and recent tightening by the Federal Reserve. Regarding the information content of our index, it serves as a leading indicator for selected indicators of financial soundness in Pakistan. Further, asymmetric analysis of the impact of financial stability sentiments on financial stability showed that improvements in the FSSI lead to a higher distance-to-default for two sets of diverse banking institutions in Pakistan, indicating improved financial stability as bank assets far outweigh their obligations. Finally, the index shows an intuitive and significant impact on selected financial soundness indicators as well as the real macroeconomic variables in Pakistan.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36164,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science","volume":"9 1","pages":"27 - 56"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143513179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How vulnerable are India’s North-Eastern hills to climate change? Understanding environmental and socio-economic drivers of climate vulnerability in the state of Manipur","authors":"Goutam Elangbam,&nbsp;Abujam Manglem Singh","doi":"10.1007/s41685-024-00363-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s41685-024-00363-5","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Climate change threatens the environmental and socio-economic sustainability of people living in the ecologically fragile hills of Northeast India. To respond effectively to these challenges, there is a need for an integrated vulnerability assessment to guide the formulation of adaptation strategies. Climate vulnerability refers to an area's susceptibility or inability to cope with the adverse impacts of climate change, including variability and extremes, highlighting the need to assess both environmental and socioeconomic factors. This study conducted a district-level assessment of climate vulnerability in Manipur using a Composite Vulnerability Index (CVI) that combined environmental (8 indicators) and socioeconomic (6 indicators) factors with an unequal weighting scheme. GIS techniques were employed to map the CVI, Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI), and Socioeconomic Vulnerability Index (SVI), revealing spatial variations in climate vulnerability and its driving factors. The results of the CVI indicated that Imphal West District(CVI = 0.234) was the least climate-vulnerable, due to its low social vulnerability (SVI = 0.196) and intermediate EVI score (0.323). On the other hand, Thoubal emerged as the most climate-vulnerable district in the state because of its high social vulnerability. Districts such as Churachandpur (EVI = 0.742) exhibited high environmental vulnerability, whereas the Senapati District (0.227) experienced minimum vulnerability according to the EVI. Grouping of districts into low, medium and high climate vulnerability categories was validated using hierarchical cluster analysis. This underscored the significance of targeted interventions for districts experiencing different levels of climate vulnerability. The findings of this study may be relevant for similar contexts within the Indian Himalayan states, especially in tropical and subtropical regions where urgent climate adaptation measures are essential. Moreover, the methods show significant flexibility, enabling comparisons of vulnerability across districts of the region and elsewhere. Importantly, it can adjust indicators to anticipate future changes in socioeconomic conditions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36164,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science","volume":"9 1","pages":"265 - 295"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143513332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Economic vulnerability amidst COVID-19: a district-level analysis of Bangladesh using satellite nightlight data","authors":"Syed Rafsan Ali,&nbsp;Syed Abul Basher,&nbsp;Zaeem-Al Ehsan","doi":"10.1007/s41685-024-00364-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s41685-024-00364-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper investigated the heterogeneous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on economic activities across Bangladesh’s 64 districts. Using satellite nightlight data as a proxy for economic activity, we analyzed how infection and mortality rates affected local economies. We found that, while residential mobility remained relatively stable, mobility patterns in retail and workplaces declined significantly. Nightlight intensity decreased sharply during the initial lockdown period, though the impact varied across districts. Despite a gradual post-2020 recovery, disparities between districts became evident. Primary industrial zones, especially those involved in the ready-made garment (RMG) industry, were substantially impacted. Regression results revealed a negative correlation between COVID-19 infections and nightlight intensity, indicating that areas with higher infection rates experienced greater declines in economic activity. Although some regions began to recover, major hubs, particularly those affected by the Delta variant, faced ongoing challenges. Our analysis highlights the importance of district-specific policies to address local disparities and support regional development.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36164,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science","volume":"9 1","pages":"297 - 326"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143513331","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Synergy of government, religion, culture in urban development: approach from the case of Pariaman City","authors":"Bima Jon Nanda,&nbsp;Inda Mustika Permata","doi":"10.1007/s41685-024-00365-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s41685-024-00365-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This article argues new approaches in socio-political aspects of urban development that are not solely motivated by space or economic gain. In addition, it emphasizes the strong contribution of religion and culture to urban development policies. Religion and culture may become obstacles to urban development. The influence and importance of religion and cultural values in Pariaman urban development can be seen in a city’s vision and mission for urban development and the importance of cultural and religious leader roles in urban development. This article presents an alternative concept for urban development in which religious and cultural values remain respected and urban policies are still beneficial and effective. This alternative is presented in a conceptual framework called government, religion and expert synergy. A perspective of a non-Western city is offered in this article, which highlights the importance of religion and cultural appropriateness in non-Western city urban development policies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36164,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science","volume":"9 1","pages":"107 - 128"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143513329","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Does environmental, social, and governance disclosure affect financial performance? An empirical study of Southeast and East Asia commercial banks","authors":"Hung Manh Pham,&nbsp;Nham Linh Vuong,&nbsp;Dung Viet Tran,&nbsp;Minh Thi Hai Ngo,&nbsp;Trung Tien Le","doi":"10.1007/s41685-024-00361-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s41685-024-00361-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This research aims to investigate the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure on the financial performance of commercial banks operating in Southeast and East Asia. Specifically, this study examines a sample of 40 Southeast and East Asian banks from 2009 to 2021 to verify the influence of ESG initiatives and each environmental, social, and governance dimension on their performance. The results indicate that ESG disclosure has an adverse impact on financial performance within the banking industry. However, upon closer examination, the associations between ESG dimensions present a mixture of favorable and unfavorable consequences. The positive effect of the governance pillar on bank performance is demonstrated by the findings. Conversely, the social and environmental aspects of ESG are inversely proportional to the banks’ performance.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36164,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science","volume":"9 1","pages":"1 - 26"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143513387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Five-dimensional unequally weighted mapping methodology for measuring the level of human development: an application in Bagmati Province, Nepal","authors":"Ishwari Prasad Banjade,&nbsp;Srijan Lal Shrestha","doi":"10.1007/s41685-024-00359-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s41685-024-00359-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Human development index (HDI) was estimated based on an alternative and modified methodology. We considered five components to be relatively more rational and representative of the HDI: <i>income</i>, <i>education</i>, <i>health</i>, <i>social governance,</i> and <i>technological adaptation.</i> Reviews suggested for the formulation of hypotheses that the present HDI fails to address many factors included in SDGs and hence is insufficient in its representativeness. In addition, the components need not necessarily be equally weighted. The validity of HDI was improved by inclusion of social governance and technological adaptation. The method of mapping between SDGs and HDI components was used along with the Laplace rule of probability to determine the component weights, and HDI was estimated by weighted geometric mean. The modified methodology was applied by conducting a sample household survey in Bagmati Province, Nepal, in 2023, based on three-stage stratified random sampling that covered mountain to Terai regions of the province including 17 rural and urban municipalities with a sample size of 569 households. The estimated weights of the components differed notably (0.16–0.26), which implied varied levels of importance and could be crucial in development planning. Survey results quantified sub-indices of HDI as income = 0.341 (95% CI 0.337, 0.345), education = 0.650 (95% CI 0.645, 0.655), health = 0.807 (95% CI 0.806, 0.807), social governance = 0.678 (95% CI 0.674, 0.681), and technological adaptation = 0.462 (95% CI 0.454, 0.469). These figures suggest a high priority for economic progress and technological support for the people of Bagmati Province. Finally, the estimated HDI of the province was found to be 0.559 (95% CI 0.555, 0.564), which is substantially lower than the current UNDP-estimated HDI value (0.661) and warrants more focused development policies than those based on the UNDP HDI value. Moreover, the inequality adjusted HDI was found to be substantially lower by 13.4% compared to HDI and demonstrates the existence of considerable inequalities in the province. Overall, the comprehensively modified HDI is useful to enhance policy implications, particularly in developing countries like Nepal and results suggested that Bagmati Province would suffer from inappropriate development policies due to overestimated UNDP-adopted HDI.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36164,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science","volume":"8 4","pages":"1135 - 1161"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142691973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of regional network economies on industrial productivity in Japan: dynamic total factor productivity function approach","authors":"Akihiro Otsuka","doi":"10.1007/s41685-024-00358-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s41685-024-00358-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Improving productivity performance is essential for achieving regional economic sustainability. With the advent of the network society, regional economic agents have benefited not only from local within-region interactions but also from external out-of-region economies. However, it remains unclear whether localized external economies or spillovers of externalities through inter-regional networks are more significant in improving productivity performance. Therefore, this study examined the relationships between productivity performance and geographical externalities from an industry perspective using regional economic data for Japan and employed a dynamic total factor productivity function approach. It also assessed the impact of high-quality transportation infrastructure improvements on productivity catch-up. The results revealed the long-run effects of inter-regional networks on the productivity performance of industries. Furthermore, it revealed that, as a geographical externality, the “borrowed size” effect contributed significantly to productivity improvements in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries. These findings suggest that enhancing both high-quality transportation infrastructure and inter-regional transportation networks is likely to improve industry productivity performance.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36164,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science","volume":"8 4","pages":"1111 - 1134"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s41685-024-00358-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142691923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impacts of financial globalization on CO2 emissions in Asian countries and implications for Vietnam","authors":"Hanh Nguyen Thi My,&nbsp;Linh Nguyen Thi Khanh,&nbsp;Truong Pham Xuan","doi":"10.1007/s41685-024-00357-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s41685-024-00357-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Currently, economies around the world are striving for sustainable development with commitments to ensure environmental quality, while simultaneously experiencing rapid growth in the global financial market. The primary objective of this study was to investigate how financial globalization has influenced CO2 emissions in Asian countries. We utilized secondary data from 39 Asian countries spanning the years 2000 to 2020. Through cross-dependence tests, unit root tests, and panel cointegration analysis, we found that the variables exhibited a random pattern rather than a direct interconnection. Therefore, regression techniques such as POLS (Pooled Ordinary Least Squares), FEM (Fixed Effects Model), and REM (Random Effects Model) were utilized for analysis. The findings revealed an inverted U-shaped relationship between financial globalization and CO2 emissions, suggesting an initial increase in emissions followed by a decline as financial globalization progresses beyond a certain threshold. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis was confirmed, and positive correlations were found between trade openness, urbanization, energy intensity and CO2 emissions. These findings underscore the importance of sustainable financial globalization policies, emphasizing the need for Asian countries, including Vietnam, to balance economic growth with environmental protection by promoting green investments, adopting cleaner technologies and transitioning to renewable energy sources.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":36164,"journal":{"name":"Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science","volume":"8 4","pages":"993 - 1015"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142691902","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}