K‐economy in the SAARC integration: a comparative study among the member countries

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine and compare the indicators of k‐economy to assess whether their status of development helps to improve such indicators in the SAARC. Furthermore, the study also aims to create linkage among the indicators of k‐economy, economic integration process in the SAARC, and the knowledge conversion model.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts comparative analyses of the indicators of k‐economy. Indicators are considered under three tracks such as: socio‐economic, economic and ICT infrastructure. Socio‐economic indicators – poverty index, literacy rate, public expenditure on education, R&D expenditure, enrolment of tertiary education, number of researchers in R&D, participation in international agency. Economic indicators – per‐capita real GDP, real GDP growth rate, share of GDP by sector, structure of trade, inflation and unemployment rate. ICT infrastructure indicators – telephone main lines per 100 people, cellular users per 100 people, broadband per 100 people, and internet users per 100 people. The data are obtained from publications, existing reports and web sites of international organizations.

Findings

The indicators of k‐economy demonstrate deprived developmental status with increasing trends in the SAARC member countries. As a result, SAARC demonstrates poor growth in terms of knowledge development as compared to other economic integrations in Asia such as APT. There is a considerable variation in most of the indicators among the member states as measured by CV (coefficient of variation) although they lay in low‐income county status. The people of the SAARC countries like to adopt with the ICT easily if the opportunity is provided. The study revealed that the countries in the SAARC should carefully follow the knowledge creation, conversion, implementation and reverse follow‐up process to meet specific indicator based needs of the specific sector of particular members considering their social and financial affordability in the local context.

Research limitations/implications

The study does not use the same year's data for all the indicators applied in this paper due to lack of data availability.

Practical implications

The findings of this paper will be useful to formulate effective policies to improve the indicators of k‐economy in the SAARC. This will be influential for the SAARC to be a competitive integration.

Originality/value

This study provides comparative empirical evidence of variation in the indicators of k‐economy among the SAARC member countries contribute to improve such indicators. The paper also creates linkage among the indicators of k‐economy, economic integration process in the SAARC, and the knowledge conversion model.

Citation

Hossain, A. (2012), "K‐economy in the SAARC integration: a comparative study among the member countries", Competitiveness Review, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 28-47. https://doi.org/10.1108/10595421211200160