Examine the Economic and Social Effects on Lao People's Perceived Benefit Attitudes towards BRI

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) plays a vital role in mobilizing economic and social development and improving national and international connectivity. This research proposes to examine residents' perceptions of economic and social effects of BRI in Lao PDR. Moreover, it attempts to test the moderating effect of location. A total of 412 survey responses were collected across the country via online survey, and structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis were used to estimate a research model and moderation. The findings reveal that both economic and social determinants have a positive influence on perceived benefit attitudes towards BRI. Specifically, education, tourism, and foreign direct investment (FDI) are the main drivers of the socio-economic benefits, whereas employment and living standards are not. The result confirms the nonexistence of the moderating effect of the location. Our study sheds light on the knowledge of BRI in the Lao PDR context by examining the socio-economic determinants on the perceptions of the local citizens and the moderating effect of location. The government and BRI authority are informed about the factors that explain the benefit of BRI; this information will be useful for future studies.