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AbstractThis study aims to investigate how Foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade openness influenced economic growth in BRICS countries from 1990 to 2022, using the Pooled Mean Group Autoregressive Distributed Lag (PMG-ARDL) and System Generalized Method of Moments (System-GMM) methods. Our findings show that these two variables boost economic growth by 0.172, 0.021, 0.291, and 0.072%, respectively. Additionally, the results indicate that BRICS countries have demonstrated greater resilience in terms of FDI and trade before and after the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, underscoring the effectiveness of their investment and trade policies in maintaining economic growth amidst global disruptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In this paper, the heterogeneity of the linkages among financial development, productivity and growth across income groups is emphasized. Design/methodology/approach: An empirical analysis is conducted with an illustrative sample of 130 economies over the period 1991–2019 and classified into four subsamples: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), developing, least developed and net food importing developing countries. Forecast error variance decompositions and panel vector auto-regressive estimations are computed, with insightful findings. Findings: Higher levels of output stimulate the economic development in the agricultural sector, mainly via the productivity channel and, in the most developed economies, also through access to credit. Differently, in developing and least developed economies, the role of access to credit is marginal. The findings have practical implications for stakeholders involved in the planning of long-run investments. In less developed economies, priorities should be given to investments in technology and innovation, whereas financial markets are more suited to boost the development of the agricultural sector of developed economies. Originality/value: The authors conclude on the credit–output–productivity nexus and contribute to the literature in (at least) three ways. First, they assess how credit access, agricultural output and agricultural productivity are jointly determined. Second, they use a novel approach, which departs from most of the case studies based on single-country data. Third, they conclude on potential causality links to conclude on policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the impact of economic policy uncertainty, GDP, population and renewable energy consumption on CO2 emissions in BRIC countries from 1991 to 2023. The objective is to understand the long-term relationships among these variables and provide relevant insights. Using fully modified ordinary least squares and dynamic ordinary least squares econometric methods, the findings reveal that GDP and population growth significantly increase CO2 emissions, while renewable energy consumption reduces them. The panel autoregressive distributed lag results highlight the need for policies promoting renewable energy and managing population growth to mitigate environmental impacts. Notably, economic policy uncertainty also contributes to higher emissions, underscoring the importance of stable economic policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the effect of sectarian politics in the presence of weak state capacity on long-term economic growth. To this end, we exploit the 1956 civil uprising between Maronite Christian and Sunni Muslim factions in Lebanon to estimate the impact of sectarian political tensions on long-term growth. To isolate the impact of the uprising, we use synthetic control estimator and match Lebanon's pre-1956 growth and development trajectory with the rest of the world where such uprising did not occur, and estimate the counterfactual growth trajectory in the hypothetical absence of the sectarian conflict. Our evidence indicates large and pervasive negative growth effects of factionalism. Our estimates imply that Lebanon's per capita income down to the present day is on average 57% lower than that of its pre-1956 synthetic control group without sectarian clashes, and does not seem to be driven by preexisting or subsequent trends and shocks. The negative long-term growth effect of sectarian conflict is robust to a battery of spatial and temporal placebo checks, choice of samples and is not sensitive to the composition of control groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the recent past, geopolitical tension has taken center stage in defining macroeconomic dynamics. Given that, this study examines the impact of geopolitical risk on economic growth for 41 countries from 2000 to 2020. Our panel estimations using the feasible generalized least square (FGLS) technique show that geopolitical risk positively and significantly impacts economic growth. The results are consistent even after addressing endogeneity concerns using system GMM and auto-correlated explanatory growth variables using the PCSE estimation. Our results indicate that a percent increase in geopolitical risk increases economic growth to 3.3%. For the cohort of advanced and emerging economies, our result shows that the advanced economies can better mitigate any geopolitical shocks and experience favorable growth rates. On the other hand, emerging economies posit a detrimental impact of geopolitical risk on their economic growth, thereby indicating an asymmetric effect between the two sets of economies. Further, macroeconomic conditions and institutional factors play a significant role in determining the impact of geopolitical risk on the economic growth of 41 countries. In the presence of institutional factors like democracy and economic freedom, the relationship between geopolitical risk and economic growth remains intact. In the context of geopolitical risk, these institutional factors stimulate economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial inclusion and gender equality are the key constituents of the principle of “leaving no one behind” upheld by the Sustainable Development Goals, which emphasise a holistic approach for the sustainable development of all. Financial inclusion and gender equality are interrelated factors that can influence economic growth in complex ways. In addition to their independent impact on economic growth, there is an active interaction between the two which also plays an important role in determining the level of economic growth. This interaction has been neglected by the existing literature. Based on this gap, the paper investigates the existence and type of this interaction between financial inclusion and gender equality in determining economic growth for a group of 48 developing countries for the period 2004–2019 using the Generalised Method of Moments. The study found a complementary interaction between gender equality and financial inclusion, such that improvements in financial inclusion in the presence of better gender parity have a multiplicative effect on economic growth and vice versa. The study concludes that gender equality creates various pull and push factors for better financial inclusion. Similarly, financial inclusion eliminates gender inequality in access to financial products, exacerbating the influence on economic growth both individually and collectively.

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between the level of GDP per capita and social capital provinces and regions in Türkiye in the period of 2007–2018. The social capital index was used as a comprehensive variable to represent social capital. The relationships between the variables were analysed with the use of the panel Granger causality test. It was determined that there is a unilateral causality from GDP per capita to social capital in sixteen provinces, from social capital to GDP per capita in nine provinces and bilateral causality in 45 provinces. On the other hand, no significant relationship was found in eleven provinces. The results reveal that the level of social capital in terms of GDP per capita in 45 provinces in Türkiye and the level of GDP per capita in terms of social capital is a factor that should be considered. Regional causality results for Türkiye support the provincial causality results. These results provide key insights regarding the nexus between social capital and economic growth for policymakers and researchers.

Carbon dioxide emissions (CO2e) which is caused by energy use contributes to the global average surface temperature increase by 1.5 °C as compared to the mid-1800s which is causing a certain change in the climate and becoming an adverse effect on health and economy. The relationship between health status, CO2e, and energy use has yet to be thoroughly investigated in the top 20 highest emitting economies. The data from 2000 to 2019 is analyzed by using advanced techniques of cross-sectional augmented distributed lag (CS-DL) and cross-sectional augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) which take into consideration crucial elements of panel data, namely dynamics, heterogeneity, and cross-sectional dependence. Moreover, cross-sectional augmented error correction method (CS-ECM) and the common dynamic process of the augmented mean group (AMG) are applied for robustness checks. The empirical findings revealed that (i) CO2e weakens the health status only in the short-run, whereas health expenditure improves the health status in the both short- and long-runs, while economic growth is not contributing to the health status in the both short- and long-runs; (ii) health expenditure and economic growth only help to mitigate CO2e in the long-run, whereas energy use causes CO2e in the both short- and long-runs; (iii) energy use causes high economic growth in the both short- and long-runs, whereas CO2e aids economic growth in the short-run but is extremely damaging to economic growth in the long-run, while in the both short- and long-runs health expenditure is not aiding the economic growth. This study provides policy recommendations on improving human health by advocating massive health expenditures, CO2e easing, promoting renewable energy use or low-emission energy, and steering the economy toward green economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to determine the significance of female entrepreneurship for economic growth in Southeast Asian countries. A panel data model was applied, with GDP per employed person serving as the dependent variable and seven key factors in female entrepreneurship serving as independent variables. Empirical panel quantile regression using the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MM-QR) approach found that both the female entrepreneurship indicator and the female workplace indicator have a positive impact on economic growth. However, the Gender Inequality Index, Gender Development Index, female pay indicator, female parenthood indicator, and female marriage indicator all have negative effects.

National income calculations may not include knowledge that directly concerns the socioeconomic stance in an economy. Knowledge plays a significant role in promoting the economic growth of a country; however, its socio-economic role has received little attention in the literature. Total factor productivity, which is the main source of long-term economic prosperity, expresses the increase in productivity in all production factors. This paper attempts to quantify the effects of total factor productivity growth on economic prosperity. The analysis is conducted for the 2007-2020 period and 18 Central Eastern Europe countries. The "Legatum Prosperity Index" is utilized in the econometric analysis, in line with the purpose of the study. Results of the study with panel ordinary least squares, panel fixed-effects, panel random effects, panel-corrected standard errors (robustness check), and system-generalized method of moments (robustness check) confirm that total factor productivity growth positively correlated with economic prosperity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth in a sample of 10 ex-socialist European and Asian countries. While the link between FDI and economic growth has been extensively investigated in empirical literature, this paper contributes to this literature by econometrically investigating the effects of FDI inflows in specific sectors using the panel data estimation techniques. In addition to confirming the positive impact of total FDI inflows on economic growth, using the WiiW (the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies) FDI database, which disentangles the FDI data across different industries, the paper finds significant effects of FDI inflows in manufacturing on growth, whereas FDI inflows in other sectors are only sporadically statistically significant. This finding serves as a basis for further investigation of the specific subsectors (NACE 2-letter classification) within manufacturing, and the empirical investigation finds that not all FDI inflows within manufacturing enhance economic growth.

AbstractThe current study aims to analyze the factors influencing ASEAN economic growth and integration. Specifically, the variables of inter-regional trade, human resource development, and corruption were investigated in six lower-middle-income countries from 1996 to 2019 through Driscoll and Kraay’s, Newey and West’s, and Dumitrescu and Hurlin’s as causal analysis. The study’s results found that capital had an impact of 0.248%, labor had an impact of 0.467%, human development had 3.010%, intra-regional trade had an impact of 0.014%, and corruption control had 0.260%. Statistically, all variables have a significant effect except for inflation. Furthermore, a bidirectional found in economic growth from the capital, corruption control, and intra-trade. A unidirectional was found for economic growth between the labor force and human development. At the same time, a neutral relationship was found between inflation and economic growth. Based on these findings, strengthening the economy in the integration area needs to be done, even if it’s only trading with fellow LMIs. Besides that, there is an increasing need to increase the allocation of education and health, which stimulates productivity. The government also needs to strengthen corruption control, which is detrimental to developing nations and economic growth.

In this article, the author examines the impact of government expenditure on economic growth. A review of empirical studies shows that researchers have found a negative link between government spending and economic growth in most cases. This paper is based on yearly data between 1995 and 2020 in euro area countries, with the application of linear regression on panel data. The main purpose is to determine whether government spending affects economic growth and, if so, how. Based on the econometrics model applied, the author established that in panel data, government expenditure has a negative impact on economic growth, more precisely, if government spending as a share of GDP increases by 1%, economic growth decreases by 0.509%. In addition, there is a significant negative relationship between government expenditure and economic growth for each country as well as the entire panel.

The determination of the equilibrium real exchange rate is one of the most important issues in open economy since the policymakers are concerned about predicting and monitoring misalignments and they are usually associated with current account problems and currency crises. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time a study provides empirical evidence on the impact of deviations from the long-run sustainable real exchange rate equilibrium on real economic growth rate applying panel ARDL model (pooled mean group, mean group and dynamic fixed effect estimators) for the 27 European countries during the 2000–2016 period. This study applies the EQCHANGE database developed by Couharde et al. (2017) to obtain the real effective exchange rate (REER) misalignments according to the behavioral equilibrium exchange rate approach for each country. One of the main objectives is to determine the relationship between REER misalignments and economic growth trying to differentiate between short- and long-run effects. To this purpose, a neoclassical growth model is considered controlling for several economic variables such as gross capital formation, degree of openness, human capital, inflation rate, and population rate.

In recent years, politicians, theorists and academics have debated the impact of gender inequality on economic growth. Some studies show a negative relationship between the two variables, while other studies show a positive relationship. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of gender inequality on economic growth in developing and least developed countries in Asia and Africa. To evaluate the impact of gender equality on economic growth, I use panel vector autoregression analysis for data from 2010 to 2018. Next, the Arellano-Bond model was applied to provide a consistent estimation to support the previous model results. The results indicate a negative and significant relationship between the Gender Inequality Index and economic growth. Finally, through its results, this research aims to be a resource for stakeholders and policymakers to use in decisions regarding the promotion of gender equality and increases in social well-being in Asia and Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to provide empirical evidence in support of the relationship between renewable energy consumption and economic growth in eleven Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries over the period 1995-2015 within a multivariate panel data analysis. Based on World Bank data, the panel cointegration analysis reveals that renewable energy consumption and economic growth are positively associated in the long run in CEE countries. The heterogeneous panel causality test indicates a bi-directional causality relationship in support of the feedback hypothesis between economic growth and renewable energy consumption in Central and Eastern European countries.

Purpose – Some progress have been made over time in improving health conditions in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). There are, however, contradicting reports on the relationship between health outcomes and economic growth in the region. The paper aimed at assessing the effect of health outcome on economic growth in SSA. Design/methodology/approach – Data for 41 countries from 2000 to 2018 were obtained from WDI and WGI and analyzed using system generalized method of moment (sGMM) which is appropriate for the present scenario. AR(1) and AR(2) tests were used to assess the validity of the model while Sargan and Hansen tests were adopted to examine the validity of the instrumental variables. The robustness of the estimation was confirmed using the pooled OLS and fixed effect regression. Findings – Health outcome (proxied by life expectancy), lagged GDP per capita, capital formation, labor force (LF), health expenditure (HE), foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade openness (TOP) significantly affected economic growth emphasizing the importance of health in the process of economic growth in the region. AR(1) and AR(2) tests for serial correlation and Sargan/Hansen tests confirmed the validity of the estimated model and the instrumental variables respectively. Robustness of the GMM results was established from the pooled OLS and the fixed effect model results. Social implications – Improvement in the national health system possibly through the widespread adoption of National Health Insurance, increase government spending on healthcare alongside increased beneficial trade and ease of doing business to facilitate investment were recommended to enhance. Originality/value – The study used up-to-date data with appropriate methodology.