This study examines the influence of economic growth, energy consumption, a shadow economy, and foreign direct investment (FDI) on the ecological footprint in ASEAN countries. The analysis covers a panel of nine member states—Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam—over the period from 1993 to 2017 due to data availability. To ensure robustness, various panel econometric techniques were employed, including cross-sectional dependence, panel unit root, and cointegration tests, as well as estimation methods such as Driscoll–Kraay standard errors, feasible generalized least squares (FGLS), and panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE). The results do not support an inverted U-shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) between economic growth and ecological footprint in the ASEAN countries. Moreover, the findings consistently show that energy consumption, the size of the shadow economy, and FDI exert a statistically significant and positive impact on the ecological footprint towards the Driscoll–Kraay standard errors, FGLSs, and PCSE estimators. For policy recommendations, a country’s pursuit of economic growth should be aligned with a higher degree of environmental sustainability by strategically reducing energy consumption, curbing the shadow economy, and managing foreign direct investment responsibly.

Political shocks and the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly increased risks, decreasing economic development and threatening the stability of many countries worldwide. This study evaluates and predicts Myanmar’s economic situation to give guidance for future development. It emphasizes two distinct periods: before the political shocks and pandemic, and during the political shocks and pandemic. Panel Bayesian VAR and Bayesian VAR models are used due to limited time-series data to estimate and predict under uncertain conditions. It considers key economic indicators—such as exports, imports, exchange rates, GDP, inflation, and tourism arrivals—to measure economic performance and guide policy recommendations for Myanmar’s post-crisis development. It proves that the combined effects of political instability and the global health crisis created double shock and exposed structural weaknesses in Myanmar’s economy, ultimately affecting long-term development. Based on these results, the study recommends adaptive trade policies to reduce vulnerability, including trade diversification, exchange rate stabilization, and simplified border procedures. In addition, tourism growth exhibits a strong positive influence on GDP; expanding tourism alongside economic stability can create the necessary conditions for a sustainable recovery.

This book explores one of the world’s most dynamic and rapidly evolving tourism regions, the Greater Mekong Subregion, spanning Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar,