scholarly journals Global competitiveness and economic growth: a one-way or two-way relationship?

Equilibrium ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Kordalska Kordalska ◽  
Magdalena Olczyk
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Empirical Relationship ◽  
Annual Data ◽  
Causality Analysis ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Global Competitiveness ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Global Competitiveness Index ◽  
Open Question

The Global Competitiveness Index is treated as a standard to measure the competitiveness of countries. Leaders look at it to make policy and resource allocation decisions, because global competitiveness is expected to be related to economic growth. However, studies which analyze the empirical relationship between these two economic categories are very rare. It is still an open question in the literature whether economic growth can be used to predict future global competitiveness or the other way round. This paper empirically tests the relationship between the GCI and the economic growth rate by using a panel Granger causality analysis based on annual data for 114 countries divided into five groups by income criteria and covering the period 2006-2014. We confirm a strong unidirectional causality among the countries analyzed, i.e. GDP growth causes global competitiveness. Additionally, we find that the GCI is successful in predicting economic growth for the majority low income and OCED high income counties, but among the middle income countries this relationship exists only for large economies such as China and India.

scholarly journals Foreign aid on economic growth in Africa: A comparison of low and middle-income countries

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aye Mengistu Alemu ◽  
Jin-Sang Lee
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Theoretical Hypothesis

Previous empirical studies on the effects of foreign aid on economic growth have generated mixed results that make it difficult to draw policy recommendations. The main reason for such mixed results is the choice of a single aggregate list of countries, regardless of the disparities in levels of development. This study therefore fills the development gap by disaggregating the African data into a panel of 20 middle- income and 19 low- income African countries over a period of 15 years between 1995 and 2010, and employing a dynamic generalized method of moments (GMM) model to address the dynamic nature of economic growth as well as the problems of endogeneity. The results of this study support the theoretical hypothesis that a positive relationship between aid and GDP growth exists, but only for low-income African countries, not middle-income ones. On the other hand, the study reveals that middle- income African countries tend to experience a greater impact on their economic growth from foreign direct investment (FDI) and natural resources revenues, mainly oil exports. This implies that the frequent criticism that foreign aid has not contributed to economic growth is flawed, at least in the case of low-income African countries. In fact, foreign aid has played a critical role in stimulating economic growth in such countries through supplementing domestic sources of finance such as savings, thus increasing the amount of investment and capital stock in them.

scholarly journals Immunisation financing and programme performance in the Middle East and North Africa, 2010 to 2017

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. e001248
Author(s):  
Helen Saxenian ◽  
Nahad Sadr-Azodi ◽  
Miloud Kaddar ◽  
Kamel Senouci
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Life Saving ◽  
Fiscal Space

Immunisation is a cornerstone to primary health care and is an exceptionally good value. The 14 low-income and middle-income countries in the Middle East and North Africa region make up 88% of the region’s population and 92% of its births. Many of these countries have maintained high immunisation coverage even during periods of low or negative economic growth. However, coverage has sharply deteriorated in countries directly impacted by conflict and political unrest. Approximately 1.3 million children were not completely vaccinated in 2017, as measured by third dose of diphtheria–pertussis–tetanus vaccine. Most of the countries have been slow to adopt the newer, more expensive life-saving vaccines mainly because of financial constraints and the socioeconomic context. Apart from the three countries that have had long-standing assistance from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, most countries have not benefited appreciably from donor and partner activities in supporting their health sector and in achieving their national and subnational immunisation targets. Looking forward, development partners will have an important role in helping reconstruct health systems in conflict-affected countries. They can also help with generating evidence and strategic advocacy for high-priority and cost-effective services, including immunisation. Governments and ministries of health would ensure important benefits to their populations by investing further in their immunisation programmes. Where possible, the health system can create and expand fiscal space from efficiency gains in harmonising vaccine procurement mechanisms and service integration; broader revenue generation from economic growth; and reallocation of government budgets to health, and from within health, to immunization.

scholarly journals Is export-led growth hypothesis still valid for sub-Saharan African countries? New evidence from panel data analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas M. Odhiambo
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Granger Causality ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Panel Granger Causality ◽  
Causality Model ◽  
Ssa Countries

PurposeThis study examines the causal relationship between exports and economic growth in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries during the period 1980 to 2017. The study also examines whether the causality between these two macroeconomic variables depends on the countries' stage of development as proxied by their per capita income.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a panel cointegration test and panel Granger-causality model to examine the link between exports and growth. The study also incorporates external debt as an intermittent variable in a bivariate setting between exports and economic growth, thereby creating a dynamic multivariate panel Granger-causality model.FindingsAlthough the study found the existence of a long-run relationship between exports and economic growth, the study failed to find any export-led growth response in both low-income and middle-income countries. Instead, the study found evidence of a bidirectional causality and a neutrality response in middle-income and low-income countries, respectively. The study, therefore, concludes that the benefits of an export-led growth hypothesis may have been oversold, and that the strategy may not be desirable to some low-income developing countries.Practical implicationsThese findings have important policy implications as they indicate that the causality between exports and economic growth in SSA countries varies with the countries' stage of development. Consistent with the contemporary literature, the study cautions low-income SSA countries against over-relying on an export-led growth strategy to achieve a sustained growth path as no causality between exports and economic growth has been found to exist in those countries. Instead, such countries should consider pursuing new growth strategies by building the domestic demand side of their economies alongside their export promotion strategies in order to expand the real sector of their economies. For middle-income countries, the study recommends that both export promotion strategies and pro-growth policies should be intensified as economic growth and exports have been found to reinforce each other in those countries.Originality/valueUnlike the previous studies, the current study disaggregated the full sample of SSA countries into two subsets – one comprising of low-income countries and the other consisting of middle-income countries. In addition, the study uses a multivariate Granger-causality model in order to address the emission-of-variable bias. To our knowledge, this may be the first study of its kind in recent years to examine in detail the causal relationship between exports and economic growth in SSA countries using an ECM-based multivariate panel Granger-causality model.

scholarly journals On the determinants of trade openness in low- and lower–middle-income countries in Africa: how important is economic growth?

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Boahene Osei ◽  
Yakubu Awudu Sare ◽  
Muazu Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Trade Openness ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Real Gdp Per Capita ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe existing literature highlights the determinants of trade openness with disregard to the income classifications of countries in examining whether the determinants differ given their income levels. This study, therefore, re-examines the drivers of trade openness in Africa relying on panel data with special focus on the role of economic growth. More specifically, we perform a comparative analysis of the factors influencing trade openness for low-income and lower–middle-income countries using the system generalized method of moments. Our findings suggest that, while economic growth robustly enhances openness in low-income countries, in the case of lower–middle-income countries, the impact is not robust and largely negative suggesting that higher growth is associated with less openness. We also find that, economic growth–openness nexus for the lower-income countries exhibits non-linearities and inverted U-shaped relationship in particular. Thus, while increases in real GDP per capita enhance openness, beyond an estimated threshold point, any increases in economic growth dampen openness. We discuss key implications for policy.

Does foreign direct investment cause economic growth? A dynamic panel data analysis for SADC countries

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edmore E Mahembe ◽  
Nicholas M Odhiambo
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Causal Relationship ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Panel Data Analysis ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Fdi Inflows ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Middle Income Countries

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the causal relationship between inward foreign direct investment (FDI) and economic growth in Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries over the period 1980-2012. It also investigates whether the causal relationship between FDI inflows and economic growth is dependent on the level of income. Design/methodology/approach – In order to assess whether the causal relationship between FDI inflows and economic growth is dependent on the level of income, the study divided the SADC countries into two groups, namely, the middle-income countries and the low-income countries. The study used the recent panel-data analysis methods to examine this linkage. The Granger causality test for the middle-income countries was conducted within a vector-error correction mechanism framework; while that of the low-income countries was conducted within a vector autoregressions framework. Findings – The results for the middle-income countries’ panel show that there is a uni-directional causal flow from GDP to FDI, and not vice versa. However, for the low-income countries’ panel, there was no evidence of causality in either direction. The study concludes that the FDI-led growth hypothesis does not apply to SADC countries. Research limitations/implications – Methodology applied in this study is a bivariate framework which is likely to suffer from the omission of variable bias (Odhiambo, 2008, 2011). Second, the Granger causality analysis employed in this only investigates the direction of causality and whether each variable can be used to explain another, but does not directly test for the mechanisms through which FDI leads to economic growth and economic growth leads to FDI. Practical implications – Future studies may include a third variable such as domestic savings, exports, or financial development in a trivariate or multivariate panel causality model. A more complete analysis which seeks to explain the channels through which FDI impacts growth is suggested for future studies. Lastly, sector level analysis will help policy makers draft effective industrial policies, which can guide allocation of incentives. Social implications – The results of this study support the Growth-led FDI hypothesis, but not the FDI-led growth hypothesis. In other words, it is economic growth that drives FDI inflows into the SADC region and into Southern Africa, and not vice versa. This implies that the recent high economic growth rates that have been recorded in some of the SADC countries, especially the middle-income countries, have led to a massive inflow of FDI into this region. Originality/value – At the regional level, SADC as a regional bloc has been actively pursuing policies and strategies aimed at attracting FDI into the region. Despite the important role of FDI in economic development, and the increase in FDI inflows into SADC countries in particular, there is a significant dearth of literature on the causal relationship between FDI and economic growth. The study used the recent panel-data analysis methods to examine the causal relationship between FDI and economic growth in SADC countries.

scholarly journals Financial Inclusion and Economic Growth Utilizing Panel Co-Integration

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1131-1139
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Integration Test

This paper attempts to test the co-integration association flanked by financial inclusion and economic growth. The study uses a composite score of financial inclusion and GDP per capita as a proxy of economic growth for its empirical analysis. The panel data covers a large sample of 52 countries for the time period 2005-2015, separated in three groups depending on their income level – low, middle and high. For the analysis, first the study constructed an index of financial inclusion (IFI) utilizing the methodology adopted by Sarma [41]. Then the study applied unit root checks to validate if the variables are non-stationary and co-integrated. Last, the study utilized Pedroni’s panel co-integration analysis to investigate the long-run affiliation. The study also cross checked the results using Fisher’s panel co-integration test. The empirical analysis is based on 11 countries from high income economies, 19 countries from middle income economies and 21 countries from low income economies. The findings confirm a long-run association flanked by economic growth and index of financial inclusion for the middle income countries. This concludes that financial inclusion can contribute substantially to economic growth through better penetration, availability and use of financial services in the middle income countries.

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