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Health trends and digital technologies are of great significance for the health and wellness food market and its development in the future. This study examines whether health trends, digital technology, and market concentration influence health and wellness food consumption in the Asian market. Our analysis uses a panel dataset covering 14 Asian economies from the period 2006–2020 and a panel quantile regression technique with non-additive fixed effects. The results reveal that health trends and digital technology have positive and significant impacts on health and wellness food consumption, whereas the concentration of distribution channels has a negative and significant impact. These results also offer insights into each type of health and wellness food consumption, thereby contributing to the health and wellness food market development. Finally, this study suggests the health and wellness food business development through a consumer-driven open innovation strategy.

Stumbling blocks to regional integration continue to pose a serious threat to the World Trade Organization (WTO), particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to examine the effect of regional economic integration on trade in COVID-19 products for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries using quarterly data for 2010-2020. A panel data model is estimated using the Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood approach to address zero trade values, cross-sectional dependence, and heterogeneity problems. The findings of a case study on bilateral trade in COVID-19 products reveal that the ASEAN regional trade agreement is a stumbling block to the WTO's rules-based multilateral trading system. The results indicate that the home country's productive capacity, the host country's absorptive capacity, the countries' similarity in size and per capita income, and the countries' remoteness have positive and significant relationships with trade in COVID-19 products in ASEAN economies. This study provides several policy implications for Southeast Asian countries.

The international investment agreements (IIAs) are a strategic policy instrument that member countries could use to achieve win-win cooperation. Meanwhile, the extension of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) membership toward the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) membership has induced the rich and deep investment agreement that challenges the ASEAN countries to take advantage. This study demonstrates the effects of investment provisions in international investment agreements on the bilateral foreign direct investment (FDI) in the RCEP economies. It also investigates the effect of ASEAN membership on investment creation and investment diversion toward the RCEP region. Using panel data on RCEP countries during the period 2009 to 2018 and a Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood estimator, the results show that the relationship between inward FDI and investment provisions in IIAs are positive and significant. Likewise, the investment protection, facilitation, and promotion provisions in bilateral investment treaties have positive and significant effects on the inward FDI. Moreover, the findings indicate that the ASEAN membership tends to cause the investment creation toward the RCEP region; and it is a stepping stone on the road to the investment policy framework for sustainable development.

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