This study used the novel cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) model and the Juodis–Karavias–Sarafidis (JKS) causality test to investigate the intricate nexus between inflation, shrinkflation, and economic growth in 20 countries from 1990 to 2022. The results validated the detrimental effects of inflation and shrinkflation on economic growth, underlining price stability, and reverse or positive shrinkflation as crucial for sustained expansion. Causality analysis further revealed feedback causality between inflation and economic growth. Finally, our findings solidify the quantity-led growth or value-driven growth hypothesis. Reverse shrinkflation, or growth driven by value, drives economic growth unidirectionally. Consumption expenditure increases as the value or quantity of goods and services increase, which boosts consumption, aggregate demand, and economic growth. Hence, to stimulate sustainable economic growth, policymakers should implement prudent monetary policies to control high inflation, a major contributor to shrinkflation. Additionally, industries should be encouraged to enhance productivity and reduce manufacturing costs without sacrificing product size or quality. Lastly, it is essential to monitor pricing changes in critical industries and intervene if unjustified shrinkflation trends emerge. JEL Classification C13, E31, F43

This study investigates how the quality of economic governance impacts corporate research and development (R&D) investment in Vietnam. We use the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) to gauge economic governance quality. Our findings indicate that improved economic governance encourages firms to invest more in R&D. This conclusion remains consistent when using two different measures of R&D investment and employing propensity score matching to address the endogeneity issue. Moreover, the effect of the business environment on innovation is moderated by the size of the firm and the stock exchange on which it is listed. Our findings hold significance as governments in developing countries strive to boost firm innovation, a crucial driver of economic advancement. JEL Classification H00, O10, O30

This research study aims to explain why the higher-growth phase in India, witnessed in the post-reform period of 1991–2011, failed to have the impact of significant increases in formal, modern sector employment or a transition toward the Lewis turning point. The article illustrates that it is more realistic to view a transition toward the Lewis turning point as involving increases in capital intensity. A desired increase in demand for labor will follow if the increases in capital intensity are associated with productivity growth in terms of increases in the share of intermediate goods specializations as output is increased. Autoregressive distributed lagged regression has been used to analyze whether investment behavior captures Young–Kaldor investments that can indicate growth in intermediate goods specialization. This is key to a higher pace of investment and specialized employment outcomes. The findings support existing literature, highlighting that increases in capital intensity constitute a significant factor explaining the lack of proper employment growth and the Lewis turning point. However, they also show that the problem is not with increases in capital intensity per se. Rather, the increases do not indicate dynamism regarding investments associated with intermediate goods specializations. JEL Classification O11, O14, O31

The primary objective of this study was to examine the impact of various dimensions of globalization on employment outcomes in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) countries. A novel panel econometric approach was used, accounting for structural breaks, cross-sectional dependence, and heterogeneous slopes through cross-sectionally augmented panel-autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and dynamic common correlated effect (DCCE) estimation. The findings revealed that globalization, mainly through its economic and social dimensions, has induced additional employment capacity for the customs union. The prominence of de jure and de facto factors within this nexus was also confirmed. The results showed the benefits of foreign financial flows, tourism, technological knowledge spillovers, and trade facilitation in improving SACU labor market processes. Although the evidence here sheds light on the positive inducing effects, the presence of both adverse incorporation and skill-biased consequences was not discounted. Based on this, several recommendations are suggested. This includes the promotion of regional trade and greater integration within the wider sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), an industrial policy shift that promotes a more information and communication technology (ICT)-driven economy, developing industries without smokestacks (IWOSS), establishing sound regional institutions, and prioritizing export diversification, especially among the smaller states in the customs union. JEL Classification F63, F66, J2, R1

BRICS countries comprise 41.87% of the world’s population and generate over 42% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. As the largest political cluster in global climate governance, their positions and alignment in the post-Paris Agreement era would determine the future trajectory of climate governance for the international communities. This article aims to ascertain the respective positions of BRICS nations by examining their nationally determined contributions and targets for carbon peak and neutrality. Through this analysis, the article endeavors to consolidate a comprehensive BRICS decarbonization roadmap, providing stakeholders and policymakers with greater clarity. In addition, in-depth case studies from China and India, the two biggest emitters, offer valuable insights into their climate mitigation paths. This would inspire unity among the BRICS countries and encourage them to uphold the stability of their partnership in climate governance collectively.

The launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area at the beginning of 2021 provides new opportunities for North African countries to boost their economies. To conquer this vast market, innovation has become an ineluctable need. Although competition policy may serve as a salient lever for enhancing innovation, it is still not well harnessed by North African economies, even though they have one of the oldest competition law regimes on the African continent. For this purpose, this article attempts to explore the relationship between competition and innovation in four North African countries from 1995 to 2019. The second generation of panel unit root and cointegration tests have been used in our study. Based on the estimations of the panel autoregressive distributed lag model, our findings show that competition positively impacts innovation in the long run. Furthermore, our empirical results demonstrate that innovation is positively affected by economic growth and financial development while negatively affected by human capital and trade openness in the long run. The causality analysis reveals a unidirectional causal relationship running from competition to innovation. JEL Classification C32, C33, K21, O30

E-commerce has experienced significant growth and is becoming more relevant to economies. The exchange rate can have notable implications on e-commerce prices, and this relationship is of great interest to consumers and retailers transacting online. Brazil is prominent among other emerging countries in issues relating to e-commerce. This article analyzes the relationships between the exchange rate and e-commerce prices in Brazil. The results reveal that: (a) there is an incomplete exchange rate pass-through to Brazilian e-commerce prices; (b) there is temporal precedence of the exchange rate in relation to these prices; (c) there is the possibility of arbitraging online purchases based on exchange rate variations. This article contributes to understanding the e-commerce price behavior in an emerging country. The evidence can support buyers interested in arbitrage. JEL Classification F31, F41, L81

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aims to increase connectivity between regions and countries that market forces excluded from the previous wave of economic globalization. Foreign direct investment (FDI) can create the conditions for the economic takeoff of least-developed countries (LDCs) and developing countries. Although Chinese FDI has nearly doubled since the launch of the BRI in 2013 compared to 2005–2013, it does not seem to be directed toward BRI member countries more than the non-member countries. One exception is South American BRI member countries, which have significantly increased their FDI inflows from China. This is not the case, however, for West Asian countries, where FDI growth has been lower for BRI countries than for the West Asian countries as a whole, and especially for sub-Saharan BRI countries, for which the amount of FDI has even decreased compared to the 2005–2013 period. The BRI’s slow start and the countries’ gradual entry may explain the delay in seeing the positive results expected from it reflected in the data.

The development of trade is an essential element of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and a significant effort by China to promote inter-regional economic development. Using Chinese trade data from 190 countries and regions worldwide from 1993 to 2021, this article quantitatively analyzes (a) if and to what extent the BRI has promoted bilateral trade development, (b) how trade with China has contributed to the country’s economic growth and (c) what commodity and regional heterogeneity exist in these effects. The empirical results show that the BRI significantly increases China’s trade with the countries of the Belt and Road Initiative and countries along the Belt and Road route and significantly increases imports and exports in all five commodity categories—primary goods, resource-intensive manufactured goods, low-tech, medium-tech, and high-tech manufactured goods. Meanwhile, the trade volume with China substantially contributes to the economic development of the trading countries. However, Asia, Europe, and Africa show different characteristics in all three aspects mentioned above. These results show that the BRI not only benefits China’s international trade but also promotes the trade development of the involved countries. It clarifies the crucial role this open, inclusive inter-regional economic cooperation plays in global trade growth when facing the escalating anti-globalization sentiment.

This article investigates the relationship between institutional quality and foreign direct investment (FDI) in Morocco using a large set of institutional quality variables over the period 1970–2016. The study uses ARDL bounds testing approach with structural breaks and Granger causality. The analysis is then extended to the disaggregated sub-components to discern the inherent dynamics of institutional quality. The study finds several relationships between FDI and various aspects of institutional quality. Results from both models conclude with policy recommendations.