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Obesity is a rapidly increasing public health concern which is globally associated with chronic diseases, such as type II diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The aim of the current study was to find the association among age, gender, and Body Mass Index (BMI) of obese individuals residing in Lahore, Pakistan. This cross-sectional study was carried out in January 2021. Data was collected through an electronic questionnaire. A total of 868 individuals (84.3% female and 15.7% male) of ages between 18 to 60 years participated in the current study. Convenient sampling method was used. Anthropometrics including weight, height, and age were taken in kilograms (kg), centimeters (cm) and years, respectively. The standard equation to calculate BMI was used (weight in kg/height in m²). WHO BMI cut-points for Asians were used to assess the BMI status of the selected individuals. Statistical analysis was carried out through Microsoft Excel and SPSS. It was found that the prevalence of obesity was 17.2% (12% type I obesity, while 2.6% type II and type III obesity), while 15.1% participants were found to be overweight, 22.7% were underweight, and 44.9% were determined to be normal. It was also determined that the prevalence of underweight, overweight, type I, type II, and type III obesity is more common among women (20.6%, 12.3%, 9.2%, 2.3%, and 2%, respectively) than men (2.1%, 2.8%, 2.8%, 0.3%, and 0.7%, respectively) (p-value

The impact of human activities on environmental degradation has been increasing over time, and ecological footprint measures the impact of human activities on the environment. An increase in ecological footprint has created alarming situations around the globe. This study explores the causes of Pakistan’s high ecological footprint (EFP). The asymmetric analysis of fossil fuels and renewable energy consumption on EFP has been carried out from 1990 to 2020. The results obtained from the NARDL approach revealed that the positive shocks of fossil fuel consumption increase EFP, but its negative shocks decline EFP. Meanwhile, both positive and negative shocks of renewable energy consumption decline EFP in Pakistan. This study suggests that renewable energy consumption can play a significant role in reducing the EFP in Pakistan.

The continuously increasing GHG emissions have created environmental pollution and several challenges to ecosystems and biodiversity. The challenges of climate change are multipronged, resulting in melting glaciers, flash floods, and severe heat waves. In this regard, the adaptive and mitigation strategies to manage the consequences of climate change are highly important. The transport sector creates a quarter of carbon emissions, and this share is continuously increasing. Accordingly, this research study uses transport competitiveness to determine carbon emissions of the transport sector for 121 countries covering the time period from 2008 to 2018. The Panel Quantile Regression (PQR) technique is engaged to analyze the study results. The findings highlight that transport competitiveness tends to increase carbon emissions of the transport sector across quantile groups 1 and 3, while it reduces carbon emissions in quantile group 2. The U-shaped services’ EKC is validated in quantile groups 2 and 4. The moderation engaged, i.e., transportation competitiveness, changes the turning point of the services’ EKC across quantile groups 2 and 4. However, in the high-CO2 quantile group, the moderation impact of transport competitiveness is strongest as it reduces the sensitivity by flattening the services’ EKC. Furthermore, the planned expansion of the population and improved institutional quality tend to mitigate carbon emissions across different quantile groups. The policy relevance/implications that are based on the study results/findings are made part of the research paper.

PurposeThe Financial Action Task Force defines money laundering as “processing of these criminal proceeds to disguise their illegal origin”. This is the major portion of financial crime that has ties across borders and like all financial crimes which are well planned and camouflaged, this crime is difficult to detect and deter. Over the years, on one side, globalization has provided development opportunities, it has also become one reason for the pervasiveness of money laundering. This has led to a disturbance in the global financial system and social unrest as proceeds from money laundering are being used in terrorism. The purpose of this study is to explore the non linear effect of globalization on financial crime in the form of money laundering.Design/methodology/approachAn investigation based on 119 developing countries from the time period of 1985 till 2015 is conducted in this study. The panel quantile regression model was used to estimate antecedents of money laundering.FindingsThe study confirmed that globalization follows an inverted U-shaped relationship with money laundering. Furthermore, indicators such as investment portfolio and socioeconomic conditions have a significant effect on money laundering.Originality/valueThe panel quantile regression model was used to estimate antecedents of money laundering.

The determination in the quality of the environment is the outcome of increasing intensity and complexity of the economic activity. This predicament has gained attention leading to several research studies. This study adds on to the literature in estimating EKC within STIRPAT perspective. An investigation of 198 countries between 1990 and 2018 was assessed using Panel Quantile Regression. This study confirmed robust U-shaped EKC for the case of industry-, agriculture- and service-based affluence effect which denotes that over-reliance reap footprint and there is a need of aligning these real sectors sustainably. The quadratic function specification utilized helped this study to categorize sample countries in terms of sustainable or non-sustainable with respect to average affluence. Policymakers are urged to pursuit sustainable composition of real sector economic activity, which will help in increasing environmental quality.

COVID-19 is a new and contagious disease that has changed human lifestyle and habits globally according to the directions provided by the World Health Organization (WHO). Until some authentic remedy or vaccine becomes available, every country is providing instructions to its public to follow precautionary measures. These measures may include lockdown, social distancing, restricting movement, and educating public about COVID-19. Lockdown is the most applied and successful way to control the virus spread and it remains helpful in curtailing the spike. However, it adversely affects developing countries like Pakistan. All types of lockdown disrupt the life of the poor and the middle class. In this paper, an intelligent-smart approach is suggested for developing countries as against complete lockdown to handle the pandemic. This approach will show the long-term results needed for controlling COVID-19 without creating any major disturbance in the economy. In this paper, evidence based approaches were used to evaluate the short-term and long-term effects of the daily increasing number of cases of COVID-19 in Pakistan. The results showed that Sindh, which has the maximum number of COVID-19 cases, is better in implementing smart lockdown as compared to other administrative regions of Pakistan. As the risk of the second wave of COVID-19 is enhanced, it would be effective to continue the intelligent-smart approach with mild SOPs to avoid the disastrous effects of COVID-19 in the future. Received Date: May 14, 2020, Last Received: December 10, 2020 Acceptance: December 25, 2020

A large number of studies evidenced the role of energy on growth and renewable energy as a cleaner input, which is the need of the hour as because of population and growth, the energy demand is on the rise in South Asia region. This study scrutinizes the quadratic effect of the non-renewable and renewable energy consumption mix and its impact on sustainable development while controlling for trade openness, development expenditures and industrialization. This study resorts to feasible generalized least squared model for the estimation of quadratic function for five SAARC countries between 1990 and 2017. The results show that the non-renewable-to-renewable energy mix ratio follows an inverted U-shaped relationship with HDI. Further renewable energy must be significantly higher than non-renewable energy in order to ensure that it is development promoting.

Background: Environmental deterioration is the alarming situation that results from rapid urbanization and development. The rising temperature and climate volatility are accounted for by the massive carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The research on climate-change mitigation is trying to curtail the situations before they become irreversible and unmanageable. This study explores the role of institutions in mitigating climate change by moderating the impact of environmental quality on climate change risk. Methodology: Global data sets have been collected from world big data depositories like the World Economic Forum (WEF), the World Development Indicators (WDI), and the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG). Countries that are listed in WEF were used as the sample of the study. An analysis was based on 114 countries that are based on the availability of data. For estimation, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, change effects, and a Panel Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) model were used for estimating the results. Results: The global assessment indicates that CO2 emissions increase the climate risk, but its impact can be reduced by increasing the quality of institutions. Additionally, an increase in renewable energy consumption and economic growth reduces the climate risk. Implications: It is an instrumental study that empirically investigated the role of institutions in reducing climate risk by moderating CO2 emissions. The results of this study will help policymakers to formulate policies regarding environmental protection.

Energy is indispensable to bringing off the growing human demand, and it is a challenging global issue to achieve sustainable development goals by using clean energy. The present study evaluates whether access to electricity helps decline poverty in developing countries. For this purpose, the impact of access to electricity on the total population, rural and urban populations on poverty have been analyzed from 1990 to 2020 in 82 developing countries. Empirical results are obtained through the non-linear Panel ARDL approach. The results show that rural and urban population's access to electricity to the total population proposes the inverted U-shaped relationship with poverty. As a result, increased access to electricity initially contributes to poverty but eventually causes it to reduce. Based on these findings, the study suggests that in order to combat poverty, the countries with poor access to electricity should grant everyone easy and affordable access to power.

Background: Political globalization is a crucial and distinct component of strengthening global organizations. Obesity is a global epidemic in a few nations, and it is on the verge of becoming a pandemic that would bring plenty of diseases. The focus of this research is to see how the political globalization index affects worldwide human obesity in relation to global human development levels. Methods: In order to assess any cross-sectional dependence among observed 109 nations, the yearly period from 1990 to 2017 is analyzed using second generation panel data methods. KAO panel cointegration test and Feasible Generalized Least Square model were used to meet our objectives. Results: Low level of political Globalization tends to increase global human obesity because countries cannot sway international decisions and resources towards them. While the high level of political Globalization tends to reduce obesity because they can control and amends the international decisions. For the regression model, a feasible Generalized Least Square model was utilized. The study observed that the R squared values for all models are healthy, with a minimum of 87 percent variables explaining differences in global obesity at the country level. Conclusion: There is a very important to tackle globalization issue to reduce global human obesity. Simplicity of dietary options and the amount of physical labour they undergo in their agricultural duties, an increase in rural population percentage tends to lower the average national obesity value.

Purpose - This study explores the asymmetric effects of FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) on economic growth in Pakistan. Methods - This paper uses an Asymmetric Effects ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) model. Findings - The results show that the effects of increasing and decreasing FDI are not equal. The study concludes that reducing FDI is more beneficial for economic growth, particularly in the longer horizon. It mobilizes domestic investment and promotes financial freedom while reducing the reliance on pollution-intensive multinational corporations and taps indigenous knowledge gains. Implications - This study proves that self-reliance is more beneficial for the case of Pakistan. Originality - The researchers and policymakers are unclear about the merits and demerits of FDI as a substitute for domestic investment. Empirical studies are majorly convinced that an increase in FDI generally merits economic growth but weighs in the Pollution Haven Hypothesis and ignores the indigenous knowledge-based domestic resource.

Purpose: Recent studies in economics showed that humans are bounded rational. This being consumers, they are not perfect judges of what matters for the standard of living. While with a marked increase in economic and social wellbeing, there is a consistent rise in obesity levels, especially in the developed world. Thus, this study intends to explore the empirical and socio-economic antecedents of human obesity across countries using six global indexes. Methods: This study used the data of 40 countries between 1975 to 2018 and used the Panel FGLS Regression with the quadratic specification. Findings: The results showed that health and food indicators increase global human obesity, environment and education indicators decrease global human obesity, and economic and social indicators follow an inverted U-shaped pattern in affecting global human obesity. Originality: Previous studies have used infant mortality and life expectancy as the major health indicator in determining the standard of living while overlooking global human obesity as a major deterrent to welfare. This study has provided a holistic assessment of the causes of obesity in global contexts.

Purpose - Political globalization is a crucial and distinct component of strengthening global organizations. Obesity is a global epidemic in a few nations, and it is on the verge of becoming a pandemic that would bring plenty of diseases. This research aims to see how the political globalization index affects worldwide human obesity concerning global human development levels. Methods- To assess any cross-sectional dependence among observed 109 nations, the yearly period from 1990 to 2017 is analyzed using second generation panel data methods. KAO panel cointegration test and Fully Modified Least Square model were used to meet our objectives. Finding- Low level of political globalization tends to increase global human obesity because countries cannot sway international decisions and resources towards them. While the high level of political globalization tends to reduce obesity because it can control and amends international decisions. For the regression model, a fully modified Least Square model was utilized. The study observed that the R squared values for all models are healthy, with a minimum of 87 percent variables explaining differences in global obesity at the country level. Originality: There is very important to tackle the globalization issue to reduce global human obesity. With the simplicity of dietary options and the amount of physical labour they undergo in their agricultural duties, an increase in rural population percentage tends to lower the average national obesity value.

Purpose- Knowledge creation refers to the ability of firms to create new knowledge that starts from individuals to integrating the firms and then the overall economy. This study suggests that knowledge acquisition in a country has a significant relationship with innovative performance. Design/Methodology- Data from 48 highly HDI countries is taken from World Bank and World Economic Forum. Based on 480 country-year observations in a panel mediator model, it is revealed that the national efforts of boosting knowledge acquisition influence the firms’ innovative performance. Findings- Further, it is found that absorptive capacity in the employability of knowledgeable workers works as a mediator between knowledge acquisition and innovation. Whereby higher knowledge acquisition leads to higher absorptive capacity and higher innovation. Practical Implications- This study builds a quantitative model for the macroeconomic context of knowledge-based view.

Purpose: Present study is based on the impact of Foreign Direct Investment on the Economic Growth of Pakistan. In this paper, a time-series data has been collected for the variables Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Gross Capital Formation (GCF), Inflation rate (IR), and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) since the year 1970-2018 from World Bank Development Indicators. Some tests have been performed regarding the significance of data using regression, correlation analysis, and normality test (Kolmogorov-Smirnov) using SPSS software. In this research, an alternative hypothesis has been built to analyze the significance of this data. Discussions and recommendations have been given in this paper to implicate on the economy for growth and development measures.Design/Methodology/Approach: The data from WDI and other worldwide authentic sources were used from 1970-2018 to perform models using regression analysis and advanced machine learning methods.Findings: Regression and correlation analysis have been used on the variables. Its result indicates a positive relationship among the variables FDI and GDP whereas it shows a negative correlation among the variables GCF, IR concerning GDP.Limitations: Data is predictable based on the variables taken. It has been collected for the recent years up till 2018. It can only predict a certain variation caused by the increase of a particular independent variable that is FDI, GCF, and IR. Future variation in variables cannot be predicted. The results are specifically related to Pakistan and cannot be justified for other countries.Practical implications: Strong industrial network clusters must be formed by the policymakers to gain investor loyalty and will also help companies to form capital and also sustain a strong supply chain management. Higher FDI inflows will aid the ongoing project of Pakistan which is the Diamer Bhasha Dam. Due to the pandemic stated as COVID-19, FDI will actively play a role in maintaining ventilators in hospitals that have become a current need. An increase in inflation shows a negative impact on the economy of Pakistan. Considering the prevailing situation where unemployment level, job opportunities not being available and no productivity level is being achieved due to the current Pandemic i.e. COVID-19, policymakers must take initiative in reducing consumer prices so that all the preceding situations could have positive effects on the economic growth of Pakistan

The consequence of increasing economic activities is observable in the incidence of environmental deterioration. Many studies have explored the precedents of environment quality. In this regard, the proposed stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence, and technology (STIRPAT) and environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) analysis are valuable not only for academic analysts, but also for policymakers. This study has focused on 80 selected countries between 1990 and 2017, which confirms the existence of EKC within the STIRPAT framework. The results are estimated with the help of dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS), which controls for the autocorrelation in long periods. According to the estimated results, this study confirms U-shaped EKC based on industrial-, agricultural-, and services-based economic activities. This means that over-reliance on one specific economic activity may harm the environment and create footprint. In this regard, urbanization is responsible for affecting carbon dioxide emissions. Moreover, governance and technology are protecting the environment. This quadratic function had classified the sample countries in terms of the degree of sustainability of their economic activity sectors. This study proposes that countries should work on a balanced composition of economic activity so that the lowest possible environmental deterioration is caused.

National strategic dynamic capabilities refer to the nations' ability to acquire, develop, and transfer national resources into innovation. This would help provoke firms and individuals’ capabilities to sense and seize to expedite innovative performance transformation. This study suggests that through the dynamic capabilities (DC) framework, the government can increase Innovation by channelizing the economic innovation system indicators. Macroeconomic indicators from 62 countries were taken to assess the significance of indicator-based dynamic capabilities model. The results confirm that sensing and seizing indices motivate Innovation, while the cost of business negatively moderates sensing. This model suggests that governments can motivate Innovation by exploring the indicators which are determining the sensing and seizing environment of decision-makers in businesses.