The asymmetric impact of energy shortages on sustainable development, human development and economic growth in South Asian countries: The moderating role of globalization

Energy shortages remain a critical global issue that adversely impacts income, health, and the environment. Despite growing concerns about energy shortage, not much research has explored their impacts in the South Asian context. To address this gap, we examine the asymmetric impact of energy shortage on sustainable development using the economic growth, sustainable development index, and human development index. The empirical results are estimated through Panel Quantile Regression spanning panel data from 1990 to 2023. The energy shortage is measured through access to electricity, which shows a non-linear association with sustainable development indicators. The quadratic term captures the non-linearity; the empirical results reveal the inverted U-shaped relationship between access to electricity and sustainable development indicators. It suggests the presence of an energy shortage in the South Asian region. To mitigate the energy shortage issue, globalization emerges as a moderating factor. The results reveal that globalization shifts the turning point to the right side of the inverted U-shaped curve, showing that globalization significantly reduces energy shortage. Additionally, Education improves sustainable development, while the labor force declines in sustainable growth, and gross capital shows a mixed effect. This study recommends that South Asian countries prioritize expanding access to electricity to unlock sustainable development. They should also focus on globalization by actively engaging in international trade agreements, clean energy projects, and regional energy grids to boost sustainable development.