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The primary objective of this paper is to examine the relationship between finance and economic growth in a cohort of 16 economies within the MENA region spanning a four-decade period from 1980 to 2021. This study employs panel unit root and panel co-integration analyses to investigate this long-term nexus. The fully modified and dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) approaches are utilized to estimate the long-run coefficients. The findings underscore the existence of cross-sectional interdependence among these nations. Furthermore, Pedroni's panel co-integration research robustly supports the idea of a long-term co-integrating relationship between financial development and economic growth. Our long-run panel estimations reveal a positive and statistically significant impact of financial development on GDP per capita income growth. In addition to this broad analysis, this paper conducts a detailed time-series examination focused on a specific country to validate the robustness of the results. These findings further substantiate the favorable influence of financial development on income growth in the majority of MENA nations. Notably, private sector participation in these economies is found to be alarmingly low. As a result, a significant policy implication of this study underscores the urgent need for policymakers to prioritize measures conducive to private sector expansion. Moreover, enhancing financial inclusion, addressing the crowd-out effect, and tackling non-performing loans are critical areas requiring attention within the MENA region. Furthermore, our research highlights the potential benefits of developing stock markets as part of an optimal strategy to enhance both economic and income growth rates. In conclusion, this study contributes valuable insights into the finance–growth nexus in the MENA region, emphasizing the importance of financial development as a driver of economic prosperity and the need for targeted policy initiatives to support private sector growth and financial stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigate the role of public governance in mediating the impact of a country's culture on money laundering. We assess whether interference in the form of public governance can reduce or offset cultural effects with respect to the risks associated with money laundering across 92 countries over a 6‐year period (2012–2017). Design/methodology/approach: This research uses structural modeling to examine the direct path between culture and money laundering, and the indirect path between culture and money laundering that passes through public governance as a mediator. We use Hofstede's cultural variables as a proxy for measuring culture, and Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGIs) to measure public governance in different countries. The Basel anti‐money laundering index is also used as a proxy for measuring money laundering risk. Findings: Our results show that public governance fully mediates the relationship between culture and money laundering. The direct path shows a significant relationship between culture and money laundering, but this relationship becomes insignificant when public governance is introduced as a mediator. Originality/value: This study indicates that governments can reduce money‐laundering risk by paying more attention to the quality of public governance and its potential as a tool in reducing money laundering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the dynamic relationship between the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), the inflation rate, the unemployment rate and economic growth in the context of the UK, for the period 1992: Q1 to 2016: Q4. The study aims to evaluate the impact of the LIBOR on the management of macroeconomic stability in the UK during the period under review. The study employs a vector autoregressive (VAR) model to examine the dynamic relationship between interest rates, unemployment and GDP. A co-integration test evaluates the long-run relationship between these variables, and the VAR Granger-causality tests the direction of causation among the variables. The Augmented Dickey-Fuller test shows that the co-integration conditions are not satisfied, as they do not confirm the existence of a long-run relationship between the LIBOR and the other variables. However, the VAR model indicates that there does exist a dynamic short-run relationship between the LIBOR and the consumer price index (CPI) as a measure of inflation. In contrast, the model suggests that there no short-run relationship exists between either the LIBOR and unemployment rate or the LIBOR and economic growth. Granger-causality Wald tests suggest that there is a directional causality between the LIBOR and the inflation rate. However, the test does not indicate a directional causality between the LIBOR and the other variables, suggesting that the former does not contribute to employment or economic growth in the UK. The findings suggest that while the LIBOR is sufficient for controlling inflation, it is not sufficient for improving economic growth and employment in the UK. Additionally, the study supports the likelihood of the Bank of England using monetary policy instruments that are alternatives to the LIBOR to boost economic growth in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is the second largest intergovernmental organization after the United Nations Organization (UNO) with its 57 members. But until now, the OIC has not focused on economic integration as a whole. Several OIC countries members initiate to build the D-8 which consists of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey and try to develop a more intense economic cooperation. Therefore, this research will explore the possibility of D-8 economic integration as well as to identify the macroeconomics conditions that would support the existence of such economic integration. Several techniques are employed in the analysis. Johansen cointegration technique is used to estimate the G-PPP model. Panel data analysis and Vector Autoregression (VAR) is employed to analysis macroeconomic condition in D-8. The study found several significant findings in the D-8 economic cooperation. The first finding is based on the G-PPP and output correlation suggests that the D-8 has great prospects for continued cooperation is more intensive. Second, countries belonging to the D-8 have a similarity of patterns such as trade openness, financial sector growth and stability of the exchange rate which is the initial condition necessary to build a stronger economic cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]