doi: 10.18178/joebm.2026.14.3.925
The ESG-Development Paradox in Asian Economies: When Sustainability and Growth Collide
Wittawat Kadthan 1
,
Itthirit Wongchai 1
,
Sirat Sonchai 2
,
Suwit Nirotnun 1
,
Kittipat Santaveesuk 2,*
- 1 1 School of Economics and Investment, Bangkok University, Thailand
- 2 2 Faculty of Business Economics and Communications, Naresuan University, Thailand
- Manuscript received December 30, 2025
- accepted March 30, 2026
- published July 11, 2026
Abstract
This study examines the relationship between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance and economic development across five major Asian economies to determine whether sustainability and growth represent competing or complementary objectives at different development stages. Using 65 years of panel data (1960–2024) from Thailand, China, Japan, India, and Singapore, we employ advanced econometric techniques including fixed effects panel regression, dynamic panel GMM, threshold analysis, and Monte Carlo simulation. Our findings reveal a development-stage-dependent ESG-growth paradox: ESG performance correlates positively with income levels (r = 0.814) but negatively with growth rates (r = −0.267). Japan achieves the highest ESG performance (0.710) with moderate growth (3.453%), while China sustains the highest growth (7.380%) despite lower ESG scores (−0.375). Threshold analysis identifies $6,039 per capita as the critical development level where ESG-growth dynamics shift from potentially competitive to complementary relationships. These findings challenge universal assumptions about ESG-development synergies and suggest that sustainability strategies should be calibrated to countries’ development stages.
Keywords
- ESG
- economic development
- Asian economies
- sustainability
- economic growth
How to Cite
Wittawat Kadthan, Itthirit Wongchai, Sirat Sonchai, Suwit Nirotnun, and Kittipat Santaveesuk, "The ESG-Development Paradox in Asian Economies: When Sustainability and Growth Collide," Journal of Economics, Business and Management, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 141-145, 2026. https://doi.org/10.18178/joebm.2026.14.3.925
Copyright & License
Copyright © 2026 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).