Institutional quality and economic growth: Evidence from South-Asian countries

The current study investigates the relationship between institutional quality and economic growth, focusing on South-Asian countries entailing Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, from 2002 to 2018. The data are analysed using the dynamic heterogeneous panel (panel autoregressive distributed lag [ARDL] model) approach, specifically the dynamic fixed effect (DFE), mean group (MG), and pooled mean group (PMG). Based on the findings, the three governance indicators, namely corruption control, accountability, and the rule of law, positively and significantly affect economic growth. All the nations have consistent long-run estimates but varied short-run estimates and adjustment speed for the long-term equilibrium. This is due to governance volatility that is evident in all the nations. This article offers both practical and theoretical contributions. This article contributes to the institutional quality and economic growth literature from a theoretical perspective from the South-Asian perspective. From a practical perspective, the study findings are significant for policymakers, particularly those from the countries that demonstrate major fiscal and external imbalance due to war and terrorism, low oil prices and weak trade. Hence, there is a pressing need to address economic growth issues instigated by the policymakers' negligence to ensure appropriate governance and macroeconomic management. Regulators can improve economic growth through national and regional image building by developing a stable economic and political landscape and maintaining macroeconomic stability by improving the institutional quality indicators. There is evidence that institutional quality improvement leads to better economic growth.     

Modern slavery: A literature review using bibliometric analysis and the nexus of governance

This article reviews and analyses the empirical and theoretical literature on modern slavery, a topic that has received substantial attention in recent years. A qualitative and quantitative meta-literature review was carried out on modern slavery literature published between 1999 and 2021. A total of 280 works on the topic were analysed using citation analysis (Harzing's Publish or Perish and VOSviewer software) and content analysis. Several noteworthy aspects in the literature were identified, specifically the topics, articles, authors, journals, institutions, countries, co-authorship networks, and research streams. The research streams fall into three categories: 1) an overview and growth of modern slavery, 2) modern slavery and theories, and 3) modern slavery and country behaviour. The review and analyses led to the development of 15 research questions for future research. In addition, two views about current research on modern slavery were established: 1) the assertion that modern slavery is not exclusive to specific nations, jurisdictions, or periods, and 2) despite the numerous areas of accounting research on modern slavery, there is still a lack of studies on the topic. This study is the first to use inclusive mapping to empirically evaluate modern slavery.