Support for China–Pakistan Economic Corridor development in Pakistan: A local community perspective using the social exchange theory

Abstract

China and Pakistan have initiated a mega project with the name of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). This study examines how local residence support of CPEC is shaped in Pakistan. This study employs a social exchange theory to explain how perceived impacts affect an individual's level of support for CPEC development. Findings reveal that social exchange theory fits the data well by confirming that the more residents perceive impacts positively, the more they are likely to support CPEC. Data were collected online using the Google platform from 280 citizens, residing in all provinces of Pakistan. Findings of this study validate most of the hypothesis. Positive impact shows significant effect on personal benefit and support for CPEC development. Similarly, personal benefit also shows significant effect on support for CPEC development. However, negative impact shows insignificant effect on personal benefit and support for CPEC development. Findings of this study will guide the government officials and policymakers of CPEC about the perception of local people residence, both positive and negative impact. Policymakers can use the findings of this study to gain local citizen's support for the CPEC development projects and designs policies accordingly for the future projects.

China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) development projects and entrepreneurial potential of locals

“…Future scholars can investigate the negative impact of CPEC for the local and business community or rather the environment consequences while developing this mega project. As some scholars already pointed out some negative impact of CPEC for the local community (Kanwal et al, ; Nabi, Ullah, Khan, Ahmad, & Kumar, ). For example, Kanwal et al () investigated the relationship between perceived impact (positive, negative) and support for CPEC development project.…”

“…Future scholars can investigate the negative impact of CPEC for the local and business community or rather the environment consequences while developing this mega project. As some scholars already pointed out some negative impact of CPEC for the local community (Kanwal et al, 2019;Nabi, Ullah, Khan, Ahmad, & Kumar, 2018).…”

“…Energy projects will solve the power outages and blackout problems of the country, increase the economic activities, and attract foreign investment (Shaikh, Ji, & Fan, ). Several scholars highlighted the benefits of CPEC for Pakistan and China (Ali et al, ; Kanwal, Chong, & Pitafi, ; Raza, Mohiuddin, Zaidi, & Osama, ). Specifically, Ali et al () discussed the local community benefits related to CPEC in terms of education, income, and employment opportunities.…”

“…Specifically, Ali et al () discussed the local community benefits related to CPEC in terms of education, income, and employment opportunities. Kanwal et al () investigated the local community support towards the development of the CPEC project and found that local community support is associated with the benefits. Raza et al () highlighted the economic benefits of Pakistan with the development of the CPEC projects.…”

Understanding the academic learning of university students using smartphone: Evidence from Pakistan

“…The instrument was analyzed using a 5-point Likert scale, as past researcher proposed that 5-point and 7-point scales have no dissimilarities in the results (Cheng & Chen, 2015). In addition, 5-point scale was used by prior several studies (Kanwal, Chong, & Pitafi, 2019;Pitafi, Kanwal, Ali, Khan, & Ameen, 2018;Pitafi, Liu, & Cai, 2018). Research model of the study consists a total of six variables, namely, relative advantages of a smartphone, hedonic motivation, PEOU, intention to use the smartphone for learning, and actual usage of smartphone for learning, and Self-efficacy, which were already tested in different studies in different contexts.…”