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

• Published date: 01 May 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1908
• Date: 01 May 2019

ACADEMIC PAPER

Support for China–Pakistan Economic Corridor development in

Pakistan: A local community perspective using the social

exchange theory

Shamsa Kanwal

1

|Ren Chong

1

|Abdul Hameed Pitafi

2

1

School of Public Affairs, University of

Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

2

School of Management, University of

Science and Technology of China, China

Correspondence

Ren Chong, School of Public Affairs, University

of Science and Technology of China, 96

Jinzhai Road, Hefei, China.

Email: renchong@ustc.edu.cn

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. Find-

ings 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 prov-

inces of Pakistan. Findings of this study validate most of the hypothesis. Positive

impact shows significant effect on personal benefit and support for CPEC develop-

ment. Similarly, personal benefit also shows significant effect on support for CPEC

development. However, negative impact shows insignificant effect on personal bene-

fit and support for CPEC development. Findings of this study will guide the govern-

ment 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.

1|INTRODUCTION

Recently, the economic crises provide a number of reasons to propose

national and international infrastructure projects in South Asia as it

increases productivity and competitiveness. Development projects

also enhance the standard of living and decrease the poverty by

connecting remote areas and local communities with several economic

zones, global markets, and restricting the development gap among an

area (Bhattacharyay, Kawai, & Nag, 2012). In this situation, China–

Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project is critically necessary for

both states such as China and Pakistan. It will not only benefit Paki-

stan and China but also have significant impact on other neighbor

countries including India, Iran, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Middle

East. Currently, Pakistan faces several challenges including economic,

low‐quality education, infrastructure, security, and unemployment.

Officials of both countries argue that with the development of CPEC

projects, Pakistan will overcome its problem whereas China can

increase its periphery of influence, strengthen its global existence,

and have more securing future paths of oil and trade (Small, 2015).

CPEC is a multifaceted development project including road infrastruc-

ture, energy, industries, and other projects planned to promote local

connectivity between China, Pakistan, and Europe (Khwaja, Saeed, &

Urooj, 2018). Specifically, Chinese policymakers placed their attention

on improving their economy, planning new economic objectives, and

examining for global new markets and investment opportunities

around the world (Afzal & Naseem, 2018). For that purpose, Chinese

government started a mega project with the name of One Belt, One

Road (OBOR); CPEC is a part of this project and considered as an eco-

nomic game changer for Pakistan (Abid & Ashfaq, 2015), as it gener-

ates millions of employment and business opportunities for the local

community. Along with positive direction of CPEC project, literature

also highlighted its negative impact. For example, with the develop-

ment of CPEC project, about 7,000 vehicles per day will pass through

northern area of Pakistan, leading to the production of up to 36.5 mil-

lion carbon dioxide ((CO2) Nabi, Ullah, Khan, Ahmad, & Kumar, 2018);

such heavily emission of CO

2

will severely decrease the mass of the

Received: 22 November 2018 Accepted: 23 November 2018

DOI: 10.1002/pa.1908

J Public Affairs. 2019;19:e1908.

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1908

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa 1of12