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The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of trade openness and human capital on economic growth in 19 Asian countries from 1985 to 2017. We selected two geographically distributed regions (Western and Southern Asia) based on difference in their GDP per capita. We applied the unit root tests to examine the level of stationarity and found that all variables were integrated at first difference. Kao and Fisher cointegration tests were employed and the results revealed the presence of a long-run relationship. We applied fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) models to check the magnitude of the long-run coefficients among trade openness, human capital and economic growth. To investigate the direction of causality, we used a Dumitrescu and Hurlin (DH) causality test. The results indicated that trade openness and human capital have a significant and positive relationship while labor force participation has a negative effect on economic growth in Southern Asia, and in the case of Western Asia, the impact is positive. Foreign direct investment (FDI) has a negative and significant impact on GDP per capita (GDPPC) in Western Asia while it is positive and significant in Southern Asia; Total population (TPOP) has a negative impact on GDPPC in both regions. Furthermore, human capital has a positive and significant impact on trade openness in both panels. Meanwhile, labor force participation (LFP) has a positive and significant impact on trade openness in Southern Asia and a negative impact in the case of Western Asia. Trade openness and economic growth have bidirectional causality in Western Asia and unidirectional causality in Southern Asia. It also shows that human capital and economic growth have unidirectional causality in both regions. promotes growth in several ways. It increases capital formulation and expands markets through an increase in investment [4,5]. It creates enormous benefits to the country's industrial sectors through developing new methods of production and increases the level of employment by creating more job opportunities, and may lead to poverty reduction [6]. There are three tools to measure the ratio of trade openness: one of them is the ratio of total trade volume (import and export) to GDP [7]; the second is the ratio of import and export to total population [8], and finally it can be calculated on the basis of tariff rates. In the current economic scenario, no country can develop successfully without trade openness, investment, and the migration of people. Published literature explored the positive impact of labor productivity on trade openness [9,10]. Trade openness and FDI bring technological transformation in an economy and also help to enhance the human capital of that particular economy [11].Human capital is also observed as a fundamental source of economic growth [12]. It enhances the total productivity level and potential earnings of the labor force [13]. Human capital is also estimated by skills, qualification, ability to create new produ...

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In the recent decade, the investigation of environmental degradation and its drivers has become a burning subject of dispute among the governments and their policymakers. However, various crucial drivers of environmental damages still have not been sufficiently analyzed in the existing literature. Considering this view, the current study investigates the impact of agricultural value‐added, economic growth, non‐renewable energy, renewable energy, and tourism on carbon dioxide emission (CO2) from 1995 to 2017 in South Asian countries. The results found that agricultural value‐added, economic growth, non‐renewable energy, and tourism sector development significantly increase the environmental degradation, depicting that these factors have a harmful contribution to the environmental quality. However, renewable energy consumption has some ability to improve the environmental quality in this region. Additionally, the results of the Dumitrescu and Hurlin casualty test confirm the feedback hypothesis between economic growth and carbon emissions. However, a conservation hypothesis exists between carbon emission, and agriculture and finally, the growth hypothesis is valid between tourism and carbon emissions. Consistent with these empirical findings, this article suggests some vital policy implications for South Asian countries to accomplish their sustainable development goals (SDGs).