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In this paper, we have explored the relationship between three key indicators of the health of any economy, namely, human development index (HDI), foreign direct investment (FDI) and gross domestic product (GDP). Three alternative models were assessed in the study to investigate the dynamics of the cause and effect relationship between the three variables. Thirty countries were selected for the purpose of the study on the basis of a positive change in their HDI ranks from 2012 to 2017. Further, the countries were categorized into countries with very high, high, medium and low HDI ranks. Annual FDI, HDI and GDP data for the period from 1990 through 2016 were used to investigate the nature of the relationship among the selected variables. The proposed models testing the outcome-explanatory variable relationship between FDI, HDI, and GDP were tested using cointegrating regression with panel dynamic least square model (DOLS) and panel fully modified least square model (FMOLS). The findings of the study show that HDI and FDI are the statistically significant variables that positively impact the changes in GDP. Further, the impact of HDI is of larger magnitude than FDI. However, GDP and FDI were not found to exert any statistically significant impact on HDI for the period under the study. Similarly, HDI and GDP were also not found to exert any significant impact on FDI. Before applying DOLS and FMOLS, stationarity was confirmed using five panel unit root tests, namely, LLC, IPS, Fisher-type tests using ADF and PP and Hadri. Thereafter, Pedroni residual cointegration test and Kao residual cointegration test were used to confirm the existence of cointegration among the variables, which is a necessary condition for applying DOLS and FMOLS. The study has key implications for the policymakers in search of models and plans to boost GDPs of their respective countries. Since HDI exerts more than proportionate positive impact on GDP, governments can focus on improving the three components of HDI, namely, life expectancy, adult literacy and education enrolment to promote economic growth. Further, since FDI exerts a positive impact on GDP, policymakers can strategize to make more friendly policies to attract foreign investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the economic situation of Romania's West Region for a period of five years, based on some specific indicators. The most relevant indicators which are part of the analysis of the regional economic evolution are as following: gross domestic product per capita; the turnover; the number of employees in active local units; gross and net investments. Within this scientific paper there was presented a prognosis of gross domestic product per capita, from 2015 to 2017. This macroeconomic indicator gives wide information over the economy in a region. The indicators analyzed in this study recorded oscillations from an year to another which demonstrates that the economy in the West Region is able to develop, but recording different growth rates. In comparison with other regions in Romania, the West Region will distinguish by an industrial branch that gathers almost all the areas. The development of this area is both due to direct foreign investments and qualified employees. An economic leader of the region is Timis country, followed by Arad country. West Region has a big potential of development given to the existent resources, geographic settlement and an entrepreneurial environment that is capable to transform the opportunities in profitable business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any economy goes through a cyclical evolution, the analysis of which makes the object of study of many specialists in the field, be they part of the macroeconomic decision organisms or simple researchers. Given both the existence of atypical economic cyclicities and the difficulties in correctly forecasting the impact force or even the influence direction, at macroeconomic level, of some key internal and external factors, the questions related to the expected evolution, from a macroeconomic perspective, are a continuous source of thorough analysis. The trend of the gross domestic product, the identification of the main elements determining such pattern, the trade balance, the budgetary deficit or the public debt are just some of the most important topics of research approached in order to anticipate the way an economy might evolve in the near or far future. This is also the intention of the authors of the current paper, who, based on the well-grounded pieces of information provided by the National Bank of Romania, via its financial stability reports, observed in the last five years, undertake to reveal the evolution registered in Romania during this period, as well as to forecast the direction in which the target country is going. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between economic growth and energy is a widely researched topic in the world of economics and there are quite many studies on the relationship between energy and sectoral output; however, to the best of our knowledge there have been none in the context of Bangladesh. This paper examines the causal relationship between energy consumption and output growth of Bangladesh both at aggregate and sectoral level using the annual data from 1980 to 2014. For the purpose of our study we have used the GDP at constant local currency as an indicator of economic growth while energy use has been used as a proxy for energy consumption. These variables have been taken from World Development Indicator (WDI) 2015 published by World Bank and EViews 7.0 has been used to run the tests in this study. To test our data for stationarity, we have run two tests which are the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test and the Phillips-Perron (PP) test. Then to test for cointegration and causality between the variables, we used the Johansen cointegration method and the Granger Causality tests respectively. We find the variables to be stationary after running both the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test and Phillips-Perron (PP) test. Using the Johansen cointegration method, we find that all the variables are cointegrated. Granger Causality tests reveal that at the aggregate level there is unidirectional causality running from GDP to energy consumption. Similarly, at the sectoral levels, there is unidirectional causality running from agricultural, industrial and services sector output to energy consumption. However, Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) test observes no causality between energy consumption and output at the macro level and at the sectoral level in the short run. Thus we can conclude that GDP or sectoral output is not energy dependent in Bangladesh and our findings are also consistent with the conservation hypothesis. Moreover, our short run results are consistent with the neutrality hypothesis. This further strengthens our conclusion that the economic growth of Bangladesh is not energy dependent. These results have important implications for policy as energy conservation policies can be applied in Bangladesh without hurting growth. Furthermore, it is evident that implementing subsidies in the energy sector will not contribute in achieving growth and cost reflective pricing policy would be more effective in Bangladesh. Nevertheless, the government of Bangladesh should invest in efficient energy production and utilize the various energy sources available to Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents models of economic growth for all states of the European Union (EU), since either 1970 or the year of accession to the EU. Both integer and fractional order models are obtained, where the gross domestic product (GDP) is a function of the country's land area, gross capital formation (GCF), exports of goods and services, and average years of school attendance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of trade in fruits in Romania, what share does it have in the European and global trade, to show what is its contribution to the development of national economy and how does it affect the GDP of agriculture in Romania. Trade represents a form of human activity hat achieved along time the strongest connection between peoples, contributed to the development of economies and societies. The analysis methods used in order to highlight the changes occurred on the fruit market in Romania are as follows: the grouping method, the degree for covering the import by exports, correlation method. Analysing the correlation in Romania between fruit production, the value of agriculture GDP, and fruit import, a significant correlation is noticed, and the increase of fruit production has a positive impact on GDP and helps diminishing the imports. For the situation to be improved, fruit production increase is advisable, by increasing productivity as a result of using more efficient technologies, setting up associations of producers, building storage facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper shows the economic development of the South-East Region of Romania, since 2007 until present. The research questions are the following: which are the main indicators that can determine the economic development on the level of Region and, also, which are the predictions about economic development of the Region? In this order were identified and analyzed significant economic indicators, such as gross domestic product at regional level; gross domestic product by category of resources; GDP per capita; number of private entrepreneurs; the number of active local units; staff of active local units; gross and net investments. Economic development of the South-East Region is possible because of foreign investments that contributed to replace old technologies with new technologies, to create jobs and increase productivity. For this study data were taken from the National Institute of Statistics and the National Forecast Commission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) was designed to reveal the economic, social, and environmental trade-offs associated with conventional economic growth as traditionally measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Although originally designed for use at the national scale, an interest has developed in the United States in a state-level uptake of the GPI to inform and guide policy. This study presents the first fifty-state estimate for U.S. GPI in order to address questions over its design, implementation, and ultimate potential as a tool to guide state-level economic policy. Following a review of the current state of analysis and critique of GPI, we provide an overview of methodology and database development. Results are then presented, including discussion of lessons learned through a fifty-state application. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research and next steps to consolidating a consistent methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper outlines a simple, aggregate, descriptive model of what is here termed a “whole economy”, covering all human involvement in the economy, from ultimate means or ecological sacrifices, to the ultimate ends of human satisfaction. The model embraces not only the formal “professional economy” driven by money, but also the parallel non-paid, voluntary economy, here termed “amateur economy”, driven by peoples’ affective motivations. The input of work to the economy plays an essential role in the paper’s analysis of options for reducing ecological sacrifices. Hence, part of the paper is devoted to a brief historical overview of the role of work, including turning points in the 1930s in the United States, when work sharing was displaced by work creation through consumerism, and, in the post-war economy when GDP became the dominant economic indicator. The paper proposes the aim of a happy and sustainable degrowth for affluent countries, implying the transfer of some activities from the professional economy to the less ‘labor’ productive amateur economy. This will tend to reduce overall labor productivity and hence resource throughput, but increase satisfaction and happiness. A key element in the analysis is combining a reduction in consumption with a reduction in production, which is obtainable through lowering either working time or work productivity and turning some of the leisure time into voluntary activities. Economic growth is not a law of nature but the consequence of explicit political decisions taken. Hence growth is also open to new political decisions in recognition of physical limits to growth and the human quest for replacing economic growth with life satisfaction, including increased free time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Globalisation has led to a rapid increase in the growth of foreign direct investment (FDI) globally. Over the last decade China has become the largest recipient of FDI whilst simultaneously increasing its outward FDI dramatically. The growth in China''s outward FDI has attracted little attention from scholars in mainstream research publications. The motivation behind this paper is to investigate the factors driving this growth from both economic and strategic backgrounds. The paper employs panel data analysis covering the period 2003–2009 where we quantify the main drivers of China''s outward FDI across a range of variables including bi lateral and multi lateral trade, market size, GDP growth, openness and resource endowment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, in the context of a spatial model we generalize two indices. One is a dynamic generalization of the emanating effect that was introduced by Kelejian and colleagues. This index describes how events in one unit spill over time to other units due to spatial interactions. As an analogy, it corresponds to the effect that the smoking habits of a given teenager might have on the smoking habits of each of his/her friends. In a sense, our second index, termed the vulnerability index, is the reverse of the first one in that it describes the response of a given unit over time to events in neighbouring units. The analogy here would be how the smoking habits of a given teenager is affected by the smoking habits of all of his/her friends. Second, we empirically implement our indices in the context of a model explaining GDP per capita growth in various countries. In this context the vulnerability index describes the sensitivity of GDP growth in one country with respect to events in other countries; the emanating effect describes how events in one country effect the GDP growth in other countries. Resumen Este artículo tiene un doble objetivo. En primer lugar, y dentro del contexto de un modelo espacial, generalizamos dos índices. El primero es una generalización dinámica del efecto de emanación introducido por Kelejian y colaboradores. Este índice describe cómo lo que sucede en una unidad se extiende con el paso del tiempo a otras unidades por motivos de interacciones espaciales. A modo de analogía, se corresponde con el efecto que podría tener el hábito de fumar de un adolescente en el hábito de fumar de cada una de sus amistades. En cierto sentido, nuestro segundo índice, denominado índice de vulnerabilidad, es lo contrario del primero ya que describe la respuesta de una unidad a lo que sucede en unidades vecinas con el paso del tiempo. La analogía en este caso sería el efecto que podrían tener los hábitos de fumar del conjunto de amistades de un adolescente en particular en su consumo de tabaco. En segundo lugar, realizamos una implementación empírica de nuestros índices dentro del contexto de un modelo que explica el crecimiento per cápita del PIB en varios países. Dentro de este contexto, el índice de vulnerabilidad describe la sensibilidad del crecimiento del PIB de un país en relación con lo que sucede en otros países, mientras que el efecto de emanación describe como lo que sucede en un país afecta al crecimiento del PIB de otros países. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public debt, government current account saving and primary surplus: analysis of sustainability. On this paper, we propose a change in the primary surplus' target by the government current account saving. That concept excludes public investment from primary surplus. However, of that change has raised a question about if government current account saving represents a sustainable fiscal policy. Thus, this paper analyses if the change in the primary surplus' target by the government current account saving implies a meaning modification on the debt-to-GDP ratio path. The empirical analysis, which is based on Brazilian monthly data for the period 1999-2005, suggests that the change in fiscal target does not mean a lack of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The empirical relationship between trade protection and economic growth is surprisingly fragile, as shown in a number of other papers. We address one possible explanation for these findings: that the relationship is contingent on the pattern of comparative advantage, following the endogenous growth literature. Our findings suggest that such contingencies do in fact exist-in particular, the correlation between tariffs and growth is strong and positive for skill-abundant countries-and are robust to the choice of control variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite plausible theoretical grounds for presuming a positive relationship between foreign direct investment inflows (FDI) and economic growth, existing empirical evidence on this nexus is inconclusive. In an effort to add to the empirical literature, this paper estimates the relationship between FDI and the rate of growth of GDP using a stochastic frontier model and employing panel data covering 45 countries over the period 1997 to 2004. We find that FDI inflows exert a positive impact on economic growth only in the presence of a highly skilled labour; corruption has a negative impact on economic growth; and trade openness increases economic growth by means of efficiency gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to investigate the main factors behind Argentina's relative economic decline by comparing its evolution with that of Australia and Canada. For this purpose a ' reduced index of economic freedom' has been constructed in order to capture and summarise the principal macroeconomic trends in Argentina compared with the other regions of recent settlement during the period between 1875 and 2000. The results, obtained using cointegration and causality techniques, show how the macroeconomic policies that were implemented are able to explain the relative evolution of Argentina's economy, in terms of GDP per capita, over the long term. The results revise some of the interpretations prevalent in Argentine historiography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents evidence of a non-linear relationship between real GDP growth and oil price changes for the US economy. We also argue that this non-linearity is not merely due to the use of data from the mid-1980s onwards, as most authors, so far, seem to believe. In fact, we find the existence of non-linearity with the use of data earlier than 1984, and even before 1977. Furthermore, we question that the non-linear transformations of oil prices proposed in the literature are the most appropriate ones for reflecting such non-linearity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capital account liberalization and economic growth: evidences from data in Latin-American panel. The aim of this paper is to carry out an empirical analysis about the relation between Capital Account Liberalization and Economic Growth having as object of study the experience of 16 countries of Latin America with annual data for the period 1986-2000. The econometrical calculations do not corroborate the hypothesis that the liberalization of Capital Account would stimulate the economic growth. The results suggest an adverse effect of the liberalization of the Capital Account on the real growth gross domestic product per capita of the countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic environment must be parsed because of the multitude of phenomena that determine developments which generate effects and show sinuous ridges that can be interpreted differed depending on the context. Tourism is an important sector of the economy, and the evolution must be analyzed through the signification of a set of specific indicators. However, there are common indicators for all the areas of activity which are relevant both for industry and for the country's economic level. Thus, the analysis of the achieved turnover by the most successful travel agencies in conjunction with the evolution of gross domestic product per capita is important and highlights significant elements for the future forecasts, and analysis of the business environment in this area. The time period under analysis should be long enough so that the valuable judgments are issued from the normal not random trend of the indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]