Environmental Sustainability, Growth Trajectory and Gender: Contemporary Issues of Developing Economies

This chapter investigates how international trade affects pollution using annual data from 34 Asian countries for the period 1970–2019. Following the work of Antweiler, Copeland, and Taylor (2001), the authors divide the impact into three effects – scale, technique, and composition effects. The scale of economic activity drives pollution demand. The technique effect reflects increased willingness to bear the costs of abating pollution as a country gets more prosperous because of increased international trade. International trade changes the composition of output in a country and therefore the level of pollution as different goods are produced with different pollution intensities. This is called the composition effect. This chapter measures pollution using carbon dioxide emissions (metric tons per capita) obtained from the United States Energy Information Administration. This study estimates a regression model that provides estimates of the magnitudes of trade’s impact on pollution as per the aforesaid three effects. The authors find that the scale and the composition effects of pollution are positive, but the technique effect is negative, and that the net effect is negative (international trade leads to a lower level of emission) when the underlying model is linear, but it is positive (international trade leads to a higher level of emission when non-linearities are considered).

Sustainable energy like renewable energy plays a critical role in achieving sustainable development goals including energy security in emerging economics. BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) constitutes about 23% of the world’s GDP, 40% of the world’s population and 36% share of the supply of primary energy in the world. Obviously the Bloc has tremendous potential in influencing the global sustainable clean energy transition with the advantages like lowering the costs of renewable, boosting employment in the sector of green energy, enhancement of energy security and improvement of local air quality. Despite the existence of varieties of renewable energy resources in the BRICS economies, renewable energy resources are found underdeveloped. The major objectives of this chapter are to assess progress of different forms of energy especially renewable energy, impact of development of renewable energy on carbon emission and policy issues in renewable energy development in the context of sustainable energy development of BRICS countries.

While environmental sustainability may have been intensified by different occurrences such as global warming, increased carbon emission, loss of biodiversity and natural resource depletion, there are concerns that rising population combined with the quality of institutions have serious implications on the attainment of environmental sustainability. While this may seem factual, tackling environmental problems by adopting population reduction policies might not necessarily guarantee a sustainable environment without addressing the quality of institutions. This chapter examines the effect of population growth on environmental sustainability as well as the interactive effect of population growth and institutional quality on environmental sustainability in West Africa region, using data from 2006 to 2019. Adopting the System Generalized Method of Moment method, findings indicate that population growth has a positive but insignificant effect on environmental sustainability. Population growth when interacted with institutional quality had negative and significant effect on environmental sustainability. The result demonstrates that environmental problems cannot be effectively addressed through population policy alone, hence the additional need for strong and institutional quality to ensure environmental sustainability in the region.

This chapter aims to analyze the interrelationships between the elements of sustainability, socio-interculturalism, and governance. This analysis advances from the assumption that the sustainable socio-intercultural governance requires to be supported by the development of systems that enable the economic growth, the social development and environmental socio-ecosystems of communities, institutions, organizations, and individual levels. The method employed is the reflective-analytical based on the review of literature. It is concluded that the new geographies of sustainable socio-intercultural governance are affected by the coexistence that have solutions to the capacity deficits and dysfunctionalities of processes, institutions, and knowledge systems which have many systemic failures on the capacities of the natural resource management systems. This analysis proposes a new model of socio-intercultural sustainable governance.

The aim of this study is to examine the significant factors to improve the green nuclear energy investments in the emerging economies. For this purpose, balanced scorecard-based criteria are weighted with DEMATEL methodology. The findings demonstrate that technological improvement and financial issues are the most important issues for the improvement of the green nuclear energy investments in these countries. Nuclear energy working with thorium can also be obtained with proton accelerator technology that is currently quite expensive. Because of this problem, the investors are not willing to make investments for green nuclear energy projects. Hence, emerging countries should make the necessary technological investments to have proton accelerator technologies. With the help of this condition, it will be possible to reduce the cost of green nuclear energy projects which attracts the attention of the investors. This situation has a powerful contribution for the sustainable economic development of these countries.

The goal of sustainable economic growth is achievable only when economic growth and development occur without environmental degradation. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis explains the inverted U-shaped association between economic activity and environmental degradation. The primary objective of this study is to empirically test the truth behind the EKC hypothesis. In addition to that, the study is intended to analyze the variation in the shape of the EKC; that is, cross-country variation, as well as variation over time. In order to achieve the stated objectives, the study analyzed a long list of countries (75 countries) for a fairly long period of time (1960–2016, i.e., 57 years). The empirical literature in this area estimated the EKC using some form of a polynomial regression equation. This study also used a similar kind of modeling structure to understand cross-country as well as dynamic variation in the shape of the EKC. In this study, firstly the selected countries are grouped on the basis of the shape of the EKC. Secondly, the dynamic behavior of each parameter in the polynomial equation is analyzed to understand the degree of association between economic activity and environmental degradation. This study suggests a decline in degree of association between the two over time.

This study focuses on examining the impact of energy consumption, economic structure, population, and manufacturing output on the CO₂ emissions of selected emerging countries by utilizing the Structural Time Series Model (STSM). Based on the annual data ranging from 1970 to 2019, the model is built up using total primary energy consumption, GDP per capita, population and manufacturing value-added, and, finally, a stochastic Underlying Emission Trend as explanatory variables. STSM is extended by the introduction of the notion of Underlying Energy Demand Trend (UEDT) as a factor for exogenous effects, including development in technical progress, energy efficiency improvements, changes in human behaviors, economy, and environmental regulations. In this context, STSM and the notion of UEDT are implemented to form a forecasting model for CO₂ emissions of the selected emerging countries. The model discovers the significant influences of all selected variables of CO₂ emissions. The results suggest that the most forceful factor in CO₂ emissions is the total primary energy supply. Furthermore, while the long-term impact of economic growth on CO₂ emissions is negative for some emerging economies, it is positive for several others. The model also measures the long-term manufacturing value-added elasticity of CO₂ emissions in these emerging economies.

This study attempts to analyze energy intensity, capacity utilization (CU), output and productivity growth of aggregate manufacturing sector in India during the period 1980–1981 to 2016–2017. A decadal analysis as well as a comparison between pre- and post-liberalization period of productivity growth is also made. Total factor productivity growth (TFPG) is also adjusted with CU to obtain adjusted TFPG. The trend in energy intensity is also analyzed to answer the question of sustainability. Results shows that TFPG declined in the post-reform period, highlighting the fact that liberalization process has its adverse impact on productivity growth. From the study it is observed that a declining trend in adjusted TFPG in the post-reform period, but the rate of decline is higher. Energy intensity and CU of the Indian manufacturing industries is found to be increasing over the study period. Increasing energy intensity, quite significantly, would increase the level of pollution generated by the manufacturing industries. So, interestingly enough, this may lead to conclude that the growth of the manufacturing industries is not in line with the basic essence of sustainable development.

The literature on growth economics mostly covers the studies on growth trajectory, convergence, issues of sustainability, etc., which are related to the so-called developed economies of the world. But the emergence of a few economies such as the members of the BRICS group in the recent past has provoked the theoreticians to shift their focus from the developed economies to these highly emerging economies as they are now chasing the countries of the developed world at least in terms of gross domestic products. But there may be differences in the roles of different factors in explaining the growth trajectories of the so-called developed economies vis-á-vis the highly emerging economies. This chapter thus aims to investigate the factors responsible for economic growth in the BRICS nations under the neoclassical growth framework for 1991–2020. The study finds that savings rate identified as the driving force behind the huge growth trends of the member countries in the group with a major contribution by China and India in the entire period, however, the results differ across sub-periods.

There is a long-lasting debate on the relationship between democracy and economic growth, though it remained inconclusive. On the other hand, corruption is one of the greatest challenges of the contemporary world that lessens the efficiency of a good government, distorts public policy, leads to the misallocation of resources, harms the private sector and particularly hurts the poor. Moreover, the corruption–growth relationship has been shown to be contingent upon the political regime. This chapter has chosen a set of emerging market economies (EMEs), which consists of democratic as well as authoritarian countries, to throw light on democracy–growth relationship through the channel of corruption using a system generalized method of moments estimation of a panel of 27 countries for a period of 2006–2018. Results show that democracy is growth-enhancing but corruption dampens its positive impact to some extent. However, for authoritarian countries corruption can enhance growth.

This chapter examines the relationship between the gender gap in labor force participation, intensive growth and economic welfare in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) from 1981 to 2020 under the framework of the classical production function. The generalized method of moment (GMM) technique was employed in analyzing the data. The empirical result showed a negative and significant effect of the gender gap in labor force participation on intensive growth. It was also found that the gender gap in labor force participation had a negative and insignificant effect on economic welfare in SSA. Other findings showed that male labor force participation had a positive and insignificant effect on both intensive growth and economic welfare, while female labor force participation had a negative and significant effect on intensive growth and a negative and insignificant effect on economic welfare. Trade openness had a positive and significant effect on both intensive growth and economic welfare. Based on the findings, narrowing the gender gap in labor force participation has to be given more considerable attention in the SSA region.

For the prosperity of both gender and for social justice, independence and empowerment of women is essential. Empowerment of women not only ensures her personal or household welfare but also spreads positivity throughout the community. This generation of positive externality by empowering women has actually attracted attention worldwide toward exploring the concept of women empowerment as well as analyzing their status. The present research focuses on comparative analysis of the status of women empowerment among the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries and side by side explores its relationship with the various macro-indicators related to growth and development. This study reveals that Maldives and Sri Lanka had a relatively better status of women empowerment as compared to other SAARC countries. Further, based on the panel data analysis, the authors have found that urbanization and globalization have a significant impact on women empowerment. Thus, this holistic approach of measuring women empowerment from a multidimensional perspective and detecting the influencing factors is inevitable for enhancing the status of women at the global level.

Exploration of District Level Household Survey 4 data show that among the selected states, Karnataka, West Bengal, Meghalaya, Tripura, Telengana, Arunachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh show higher rates of school dropout of girls compared to the all India level. Using multilevel probit technique, the study shows that the incidence of school dropout of girls decreases if the first born of the parents is male and mother is more educated than father while it increases with lower asset endowment, land-holding and high spousal age-gap between parents. Further it is high among the Muslim religion and schedule caste category.

Women empowerment is an aid against discrimination and exploitation. Empowerment to women helps minimize the gender gap, achieve equality and promote self-worth to make independent choices and to influence social change. It is seen that women empowerment and economic development are two sides of the same coin. According to sustainable development goals by World Development Indicator, by 2030 their aim is to empower all women and girls by achieving gender equality. Being the first teacher of a child and to ably run a household from front females are the pillars of a strong and thriving society. Educating and empowering women will usher us in a society where each member is contributing to the betterment of society; which gradually will uplift the economic condition. As stated by Mahatma Gandhi “If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate an entire family.” Therefore, this study aims to investigate the status of women in the field of health, education, labor force participation and socioeconomic empowerment in selected South Asian countries, namely, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Secondary data has been used which are collected from the website and data center of United Nations Development Programme and World Bank. The research focuses on the comparative study on the South Asian countries, namely Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka regarding gender equality and women empowerment in the sectors like education, health, political and economic involvement and opportunity.

In contrast to the available literature which uses common frontier for efficiency measurement of Indian secondary education (ISE) with state level data, output-oriented technical efficiency (OUTTE) of Indian states and union territories (UT) is estimated to find whether maximum possible output of ISE given the resources are being generated, by creating two separate frontiers for (i) General Category States (GCS) and (ii) Special Category States (SCS) and UT, as two groups operate under different economic and fiscal conditions, for 2010–2011 to 2015–2016 under variable returns to scale and using non-parametric Data Envelopment Approach. Not all GCS and SCS&UT are perfectly technically efficient, implying GCS/SCS can increase output of ISE given the existing inputs. OUTTE of ISE varies within and between GCS/SCS. A second step determinant analysis suggests both for GCS and SCS, OUTTE is related positively to (i) percentage of girls to boy’s enrollment in ISE, supporting the positive role of gender equality in education regarding enrollment; and (ii) ratio of government education expenditure to aggregate government expenditure and negatively to poor infrastructural variables. OUTTE is also positively related to per capita net state domestic product at factor cost (constant prices), proportion of para-teachers for GCS and percentage of ST enrollment for SCS.

This study aims to empirically verify that gender equality, one of the indicators of equitable development in countries, has a positive effect on reducing CO₂ emissions per capita in emerging markets economies. It also aims to determine and rank the countries that are inefficient in terms of CO₂ emissions per capita (metric tons). For this purpose, the panel data stochastic frontier model is estimated. The Global Gender Gap Index, which measures gender equality, primary energy consumption per capita (gigajoule), and GDP per capita (constant 2010 US$) are used as independent variables of 24 countries from 2006 to 2018. The authors test the negative impact of gender equity on CO₂ emissions. The results of the model support this hypothesis. This study indicates that gender equity can be suggested both as a driving force for economic development and sustainable environmental efficiency in which growth can be linked to lower emissions of CO₂.

The world economy has developed significantly causing increase in greenhouse gases emissions level resulting in the global warming and related natural disasters. Women are more vulnerable to these disasters and global warming compared to men especially with respect to mortality rate and increase in the workload. For example, especially in developing countries women’s workload increased due to the global warming and water scarcity, as they spend more time to carry water to their homes as they get water from longer distances. This example reveals opportunity cost of climate change for females as their increased workload can obstacle their education affecting their entire life and their contribution to their countries’ sustainable development. Women are underrepresented in the workforce and politics all over the world. This situation prevents humanity to get benefit from their potential in and contribution to the climate change fight. Women encouragement in economics and political life can support their participation in the climate change fight. Empowerment of women and enabling them to take more active role in decision-making process especially in the climate change fight can contribute to mitigate the climate change’s effects and support sustainable growth. Based on literature review, this chapter aims to investigate women’s role in the climate change fight and ways for empowering women to mitigate climate change’s adverse consequences. This chapter is expected to be beneficial to politicians, academics, and economists as well as to all stakeholders of nature.

In this Chapter, cerium (III) oxide nanoparticles were prepared by co-precipitation method using hydrogen peroxide as the precipitant in slightly alkaline medium which is greener and environmentally suitable, cheap and best as compared to other conventional methods. Here, hydrogen peroxide acts as precipitating, reducing and stabilizing agents. Since studies worldwide reveal a very strong, significant positive association between air pollution and COVID-19 cases, hence, this environment-friendly synthesis process will prove to be most economically effective one to combat the COVID situation. The synthesized cerium (III) oxide nanoparticles were initially noted through visual color change from colorless pale yellow cerium (III) to light yellow cerium (IV). Moreover, the formation and size of cerium (III) oxide nanoparticles were evidenced by the X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and UV-VIS spectroscopy studies. The very high surface area and very small average crystallite sizes of these prepared cerium (III) oxide nanoparticles (5–20) nm in size is mainly responsible for their catalytic properties and hence can be effectively used for the removal of hazardous toxic pollutant gases such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide from the environment with a view to combat the pollution within the environment to increase sustainability and also ensure a better, healthy and safe environment, particularly, in context of COVID in globalized world. This chapter, as its main objective, mainly focuses on utility of the nanotechnology and its beneficiary in creating a sustainable environment in economic world, particularly for gender development. Since the gas sensors will detect and reduce gaseous toxic pollutants from the environment, so lower the pollution greater will be sustainable environment development in terms of human development index and hence higher will be overall economic development in favor of Gender Development Index across world. However, as major findings, developing countries have been successful in maintaining a sustainable human development, in spite of higher Per Capita Income (PCI) growth, as compared to the role of least developing countries, with lower PCI in this global world, in favor of their respective gender development.

The gender gap in the employment in industries differs based on the industries. Even if construction industry (CI) is a labor-intensive industry, women employment rate is significantly low in the CI. CI is one of the significant labor-intensive industries having environmental footprint. As reduction in its environmental footprint can contribute to environmental sustainability, investments in CI and in reduction in its environmental footprint can have multiplier effect on the countries’ development as well as on the sustainable development (SD). Increase in the women employment in the CI can support achievement of sustainable development goals as it can support reduction in the gender gap in this industry. Furthermore, it can support sustainability performance of the CI as women have potential to prioritize sustainability criterion in their decision-making processes. Especially, women at the top management levels can foster their companies’ sustainability performance. Based on an in-depth literature review, this chapter investigates roles of empowerment of women and increasing women employment in supporting environmental sustainability and SD. This chapter identifies causes of the low employment rate of women in the CI. Furthermore, this chapter examines ways for empowering women and increasing their employment rate in the CI to support environmental sustainability and SD. Additionally, recommendations on future policies and strategies at the CI level to support reduction in the gender gap to enhance CI’s role in the environmental sustainability are provided. This chapter can be useful to policy-makers, researchers and professionals.

The contributions of this chapter are to establish (a) simultaneous dependence between female labor force participation rate (FLFPR) and their health status measured by the life expectancy; (b) the roles of (i) air pollutants in explaining female life expectancy (FLE); and (ii) joint interactions of different explanatory variables in determining both FLFPR and FLE, by estimating a simultaneous panel model comprising equations of FLFPR and FLE, using Baltagi’s Instrumental-Variable EC2SLS method and 13 major Indian state-level data for urban sector, over 2004–2005 to 2011–2012. The air pollutants (measured by prevalence of SO₂ and NO₂) have significant negative impacts on FLE. The interaction effect of air pollutants with economic growth on FLE is negative implying that the partial effect of a change in growth depends on air pollution level. FLFPR can be improved by reducing air pollution through health, as FLE significantly affects FLFPR positively. The roles of other socioeconomic variables affecting FLFPR and FLE are also evident.