Examining the asymmetric effects of globalization and tourism on pollution emissions in South Asia

The asymmetrical impacts of globalization and tourism on pollution emissions of 5 South Asian countries for the period from 1980 to 2018 are examined through a non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) technique, which shows that both short and long-run coefficients are asymmetric. The findings suggest that positive and negative shocks in globalization affect carbon emissions differently in the case of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, while similar results are found in the case of Nepal and Sri Lanka in the long run. Furthermore, positive tourism shock, in the long run, ameliorates the environmental quality by reducing carbon emissions in Nepal and Sri Lanka, however, increases the carbon emissions in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. While negative tourism shock has an adverse effect on positive shock on carbon emissions in South Asia. The phenomena of globalization and tourism can exert a severe impact in aggravating the pollution emissions that policymakers should forecast and oppose. Based on these findings, some policy suggestions are proposed for South Asian economies.