Impact of Globalization on Human Development: A Panel Data Analysis of Selected South Asian Countries

Abstract

This study tends to evaluate the impact of globalization on human development in developing countries. The objective has been achieved by analyzing the data of six SAARC countries (Pakistan, India, Sri-Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Nepal) over 20 years from 2000-2019. Afghanistan and Maldives were removed from the study because of the unavailability of data. The multiple regression model is used for estimation, which includes many economic and demographic variables. The focused independent variables are the trade openness and foreign direct investment (FDI), which are used as a proxy for globalization. Other explanatory variables are GDP growth, percentage of the population using safely managed sanitation services, infant mortality ratio, maternal mortality ratio, birth rate, death rate, and dependency ratio (% of working-age population). Hausman test has indicated that the fixed effect model is appropriate for this study. The results of fixed effect estimation indicated that FDI has positive while trade openness has a negative impact on Human Development in selected South Asian countries.