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The paper conducts an empirical investigation into the effects of financial liberalization policies on the growth of 19 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Two indexes are constructed which measure the gradual progression and institutional changes involved in financial liberalization. Because these indexes track specific financial liberalization policies, they provide better measures of financial liberalization than the indicators of financial development often used in the literature. Panel data estimates show a significant positive relationship between economic growth and financial liberalization policies. Our results are robust to alternative specifications of the model, and also across slow- and fast-growing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study uses Johansen cointegration and the vector error correction model to examine the long-term and causal relationship between public debt and economic growth in Ghana. Annual time series data were gathered from the World Bank Development Indicators and IMF Economic outlook data from 1970 to 2012. The findings from the study reveal a positive and statistically significant long-run relationship between public debt and economic growth. Also, in the short run a bidirectional Granger causality link exists between public debt and economic growth. The study recommends that Ghana should acquire public debt for very high priority projects and programs that are well appraised and self-sustained that could contribute positively to economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effects of monetary and fiscal policies on the real output growth in a small open economy. It is a country-specific, time series study that verifies the implication of increasing economic openness on the efficacy of monetary and fiscal policy. A modified GARCH model was used to estimate the anticipated and unanticipated shocks. Two measures of fiscal and monetary shocks were combined with openness and real oil price shocks in a VECM model to assess the effects of anticipated and unanticipated policy shocks on the output equations. The empirical results showed that anticipated and unanticipated fiscal and monetary shocks had no significant positive effects on real output. This suggests that the open macroeconomic version of the policy ineffectiveness proposition was valid for both monetary and fiscal policy shocks in Nigeria. This is in consonance with earlier works in this area. Furthermore, the degree of openness and oil price shocks had a negative implication on the efficacy of macroeconomic policy in Nigeria; also in agreement with the Dutch Disease Syndrome. Finally, the policy implication of this study therefore is that trade liberalization policy should be implemented cautiously. The Nigerian economy is weak to withstand the unwholesome consequences of full economic integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]