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This study revisits income convergence among Turkish provinces for 1992-2019 and differs from most empirical literature due to its unique structural and methodological framework. Stochastic convergence is tested by employing a battery of panel stationarity tests that allow cross-sectional dependence and structural breaks. Breaks are further analyzed with respect to the nature of breaks as sharp and smooth. Sharp breaks are identified endogenously, while smooth breaks are accounted for using the Fournier approximation. Although due to its unique structural convergence is tested by employing a sectional dependence and respect to the nature of breaks endogenously, while smooth approximation. Although s-of stochastic convergence that at the provincial level, additional dimensions of procedure, outcomes about However, findings at the panel stochastic convergence. At the convergence is detected, there are no shreds of evidence of stochastic convergence at the panel level. Univariate test statistics demonstrate that at the provincial level, there is no single case that applies to all provinces. As additional dimensions of the data-generating process are evaluated in the testing procedure, outcomes about stochastic convergence slightly shift for provinces. However, findings at the panel level remain consistent and do not produce stochastic convergence. At the provincial level, mixed results are obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economies of Sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing significant growth due to increasing populations, rising incomes, and urbanization. However, these factors also bring challenges to trade stability. This study analyses the impact and causality of agricultural raw materials, information and communications technology, and service exports on economic growth in twenty selected countries in the region. The research utilised the Panel Vector Error Correction Model approach and the Canning and Pedroni causality test. The analysis focused on stationarity, longrun and short-term dynamics, and the impact of export variables on economic growth. The results of panel unit root and cointegration tests revealed that all variables are non-stationary at level but became stationary after the first differencing, indicating a long-run relationship. The study conclude and recommend that governments in the region develop and promote efficient policies and institutional frameworks to facilitate technological transformation, which could drive non-oil exports, fuel economic growth, and enhance expertise within Sub-Saharan African economies for greater efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last few decades have been marked by profound changes in international trade, which is increasingly organised around global value chains. Theoretical and empirical research shows the benefits associated with increasing participation in global value chains (GVCs) for both developed and developing countries. However, empirical studies on the effects of backward and forward participation in GVCs for the specific case of a country remain limited. This article seeks to examine whether Morocco’s backward and forward participation in GVCs improves the performance of its exports over the period of 1995 to 2018 using different cointegration techniques in panel data. Our empirical results show that forward and backward participation positively impact exports and domestic value added in Moroccan exports. They also indicate that domestic and foreign service inputs contribute positively to this performance. Based on the obtained results, we propose some recommendations for policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the viability of environmental taxes as a means to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions within the European Union (EU) using the panel threshold model on two balanced panel data comprising countries from the European Union: the Northern and Western countries and Southern and Eastern countries for the period 2000–2020. The study's empirical results support the Pigouvian theory for developed countries, as they indicate an optimal minimum threshold for environmental taxes, where these taxes effectively contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, the results diverge for emerging countries, revealing a maximum threshold for environmental taxes beyond which their impact in curbing emissions diminishes. To achieve the ambitious goal of climate neutrality, policymakers must adopt a comprehensive and diversified approach. This includes a combination of environmental taxes, more stringent regulations, and emission standards for industries. Additionally, the implementation of carbon pricing mechanisms, promotion of investments in sustainable fuels and technologies, and the establishment of low-carbon emission infrastructure are essential components of this strategy. By integrating these various measures, policymakers can better navigate the path toward climate neutrality and effectively combat climate change in the EU and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article suggests new panel unit root tests that allow for multiple structural breaks and control for cross-correlations in the panel. Breaks are modeled with a Fourier function, which allows for smooth or gradual change rather than abrupt breaks. Cross-correlations are corrected by using the PANIC procedure. The simulations show that our tests have good size and power properties and perform reasonably well when the nature of breaks or the factor structure is unknown. The new panel unit root tests support fresh evidence on the persistence of healthcare expenditures in OECD countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article suggests new panel unit root tests that allow for multiple structural breaks and control for cross-correlations in the panel. Breaks are modeled with a Fourier function, which allows for smooth or gradual change rather than abrupt breaks. Cross-correlations are corrected by using the PANIC procedure. The simulations show that our tests have good size and power properties and perform reasonably well when the nature of breaks or the factor structure is unknown. The new panel unit root tests support fresh evidence on the persistence of healthcare expenditures in OECD countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to show the consequences of a restrictive homogeneity assumption of frequency in heterogeneous panel unit root and cointegration testing with Flexible Fourier Form. For this purpose, we use a simple panel unit root and residual based cointegration test with Flexible Fourier Form in a heterogeneous frequency setting using a bootstrap algorithm. The power of the test statistics and empirical analysis results indicate that failing to take into account a heterogeneous frequency may lead to misleading inferences, thereby leading to misspecified tests and erroneous conclusions concerning the stochastic behavior of the data in the panel sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the last three decades, ASEAN has been facing a persistent fiscal deficit. However, the impact of fiscal deficit on the current account deficit in the sub-groups of ASEAN is still unknown. This study aims to investigate the impact of fiscal deficit on current account deficit and their relationship among the three sub-groups of ASEAN which are based on gross national income (GNI), i.e., lower-middle-, upper-middle-, and higher-income countries. The analysis covers the panel data collected over the span of the last three decades (1990–2020) for ten Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN). The analyses incorporate the panel methodology for data analysis such as panel unit root for checking data stationarity, cointegration testing, panel autoregressive distributed lag (PARDL) for short- and long-run analysis, cointegration regression (fully modified and dynamic ordinary least squares) for significance, the panel Dumitrescu and Hurlin Granger causality test for examining causal relationships in tested variables, and stability diagnostics and CUMSUM and CUSUMSQ techniques for structural breaks and coefficient stability in the model. In lower-middle-income economies (LMIE), results indicate the existence of a unidirectional causal relationship from the current account deficit (CAD) to the fiscal deficit (FD), suggesting a reverse causal relationship from CAD to FD. In the long run, FD does not significantly induce CAD, while real interest rate (RIR) and exchange rate (EXC) influence CAD. In upper-middle-income economies (UMIE), results specify that there is no causality between FD and CAD. The RIR, EXC, and FD are significant to CAD in the long run. In higher-income economies (HIE), RIR and FD have an influence on CAD in the long run period. Moreover, from CAD to FD, a unidirectional causal association exists, and likewise for LMIE. This is a reverse causal relationship from CAD to the FD, supporting the current account targeting hypothesis (CATH) in both the LMIE and HIE groups. This study recommends that the LMIE and HIE groups can use the fiscal deficit as a tool to eliminate the unfavorable current account position. Policymakers can target EXC and RIR to stabilize CAD in long run. In UMIE and HIE, policymakers must consider FD alarming, as it can induce CAD in the long run. The RIR can be the targeted factor in the sub-groups of ASEAN. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The carbon hysteresis hypothesis is introduced. • The emissions of the top five emitting countries are modeled. • This study follows three different strategies for panel unit root. • Cross sectional dependence is taken into account. The purpose of the current study is to explain the unstoppable dramatic increases in emissions by proposing a new hypothesis as carbon hysteresis hypothesis. If the emissions have a path dependence or a unit root, a given shock to the emissions will make its equilibrium to a new level in long-run. In this case, the carbon hysteresis hypothesis will be valid. On the other hand, if the emission series is stationary, emissions will resist given shocks in long-run, hence there will be no hysteresis effect. Furthermore, this study reveals the direction of hysteresis. Accordingly, the positive hysteresis indicates continuous increase in emissions while the negative hysteresis indicates continuous decrease in emissions that means carbon reduction. This study achieves robust results by three different structural break panel unit root strategies. In doing so, the panel unit root tests are performed to test carbon hysteresis on the top-five emitting countries: China, India, Japan, Russian Federation and USA over the time period 1965–2020.The main conclusion is that the carbon hysteresis hypothesis is valid for these countries. Moreover, we estimated six different trend models for each regime of sample period for all countries to determine the direction of the hysteresis. In conclusion, this study proposes a new hypothesis to assist countries on their way to the reduction targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research background: Studying the dynamic characteristics of unemployment rate is crucial for both economic theory and macroeconomic policies. Despite numerous research, the empirical evidence about stochastic behaviour of the unemployment rate remains disputable. It has been widely agreed that most economic variables, including unemployment rates, are characterized by both structural breaks and nonlinearities. However, a little work is done to examine both features simultaneously. Purpose of the article: In this paper, we analyse the stationarity properties of unemployment rates of Euro area member countries. Also, we aim to test stochastic convergence of unemployment rates among member countries. Our empirical procedures explicitly allow for simultaneous gradual breaks and nonlinearities in the series. Methods: This paper develops a new unit root test procedure for panel data, allowing for both gradual structural breaks and asymmetric adjustment towards equilibrium. We carry out Monte Carlo simulations to examine small sample performance of the proposed test procedure and compare it to the existing test procedures. We apply the newly proposed test to examine the stochastic properties of the unemployment rates of Euro-member countries as well as relative unemployment rates vis-à-vis the Eurozone unemployment rate. Findings & value added: We find that the newly developed test procedure outperforms existing tests in highly nonlinear settings. Also, these tests reject the null hypothesis of unit root in more cases when compared to the existing tests. We find stationarity in the series only after allowing for structural breaks in the data generating process. Allowing for nonlinear and asymmetric adjustment in addition to gradual breaks provides evidence of stationarity in more cases. Furthermore, our results suggest that relative unemployment rate series are stationary, providing evidence in favour of stochastic convergence in unemployment rates. Overall, our results imply a limited room for coordinated economic policy to fight unemployment in the Eurozone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the dynamic effect of non-renewable energy, renewable energy, economic growth, and foreign direct investment on environmental degradation in twenty selected African countries over the period 2000–2015. We have adopted Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis and the Pollution Haven/Halo hypothesis simultaneously. In the first stage, this paper performs cross-independence test and found cross-sectional dependence in carbon emissions, non-renewable energy, and renewable energy. In the second stage, it applies first generation and second generation unit root tests for panel data and found that all concerning variables are I(1) except for economic growth which is found I(0). Therefore, we used the Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag approach using Pooled Mean Group, Mean Group, and Dynamic Fixed Effect estimators. The results indicate that all independent variables are significant and positive to CO 2 emissions except for renewable energy found significant and negative to CO2 emissions, and foreign direct investment found significant and positive only in the long term. Moreover, the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis did not hold in our sample, while we found strong evidence for the Pollution Haven hypothesis in selected African countries. • non-renewable energy, renewable energy, economic growth, and foreign direct investment-CO 2 emissions relationship is investigated. • Positive effect of non-renewable energy and negative effect of renewable energy are found. • The Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis does not hold. • The Pollution Haven hypothesis is verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Economics Business & Finance Research / Ekonomi İşletme ve Maliye Araştırmaları Dergisi is the property of Irfan Ersin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Research Journal of Politics, Economics & Management / Siyaset, Ekonomi ve Yönetim Araştırmaları Dergisi is the property of Research Journal of Politics, Economics & Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper re-examines the stochastic time series behaviour of the monthly unemployment rate in 50 states of the United States (US) for the period 1976–2017 using a number of state-of-the-art unit root tests. The new developments incorporate structural break, nonlinearity, asymmetry, and cross-sectional correlation within panel-data estimation including the use of a sequential panel selection method. While not previously considered, sequential panel selection enabled us to determine and separate the stationary and nonstationary series in the sample. The empirical findings are in support of the stationarity of unemployment rate in 47 states. The findings confirm a natural rate hypothesis for the labour markets in the most US states, indicating that labour market shocks have solely temporary effects on state-level unemployment. This empirical study provides significant state-specific policy implications.

We investigate the hysteresis hypothesis by proposing a heterogeneous panel unit root test that allows for gradually changing trends and cross-sectional dependence (CSD) among panel members using a flexible Fourier form. Inconclusive results from previous studies are potentially due to using very restrictive specifications with homogenous break structures and/or exogenously determined abrupt breaks. We seek to address these limitations by employing general specifications that are more capable of characterising the true data generation process of unemployment and by allowing for spill-over effects using a bootstrapping procedure to accommodate CSD that must be considered in a globalized world. Extensive simulations suggest that the failure to take structural breaks and CSD into account can lead to misleading conclusions about whether the unemployment rate is stationarity. We apply our test procedure to unemployment data for 23 OECD countries and find conclusive evidence against the hysteresis hypothesis for all these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The weight of globalization has increased since the 1980s, when the mobility of commercial liberalization began, to the present day. In addition to commercial liberalization, with increased financialization, external debt indicators of the country's economies have become much more important. In some developing countries, high external debt, high current account deficit, and the presence of domestic and foreign political risks cause both economic and social problems. In August 2013, the country group that includes Brazil, Indonesia, India, South Africa and Turkey was named as fragile five countries by Morgan Stanley due to the existence of the aforementioned negative situations. In this study, the sustainability of external debt in selected developing countries (Brazil, Indonesia, India, South Africa, Turkey) is investigated. For this purpose, the share of annual external debt services in GNP and the share of external debt services in export revenues for the period 1994-2019 of the mentioned country group are used. As an empirical method, PANICCA panel unit root test developed by Reese and Westerlund (2016) and panel Fourier LM (Nazlioglu and Karul, 2017) unit root test taking into account structural breakages are applied. Empirical findings differ depending on whether structural breaks are taken into account or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Social Sciences Institute / Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi is the property of Bingol University / Rectorate and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

For the last three decades, ASEAN has been facing a persistent fiscal deficit. However, the impact of fiscal deficit on the current account deficit in the sub-groups of ASEAN is still unknown. This study aims to investigate the impact of fiscal deficit on current account deficit and their relationship among the three sub-groups of ASEAN which are based on gross national income (GNI), i.e., lower-middle-, upper-middle-, and higher-income countries. The analysis covers the panel data collected over the span of the last three decades (1990–2020) for ten Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN). The analyses incorporate the panel methodology for data analysis such as panel unit root for checking data stationarity, cointegration testing, panel autoregressive distributed lag (PARDL) for short- and long-run analysis, cointegration regression (fully modified and dynamic ordinary least squares) for significance, the panel Dumitrescu and Hurlin Granger causality test for examining causal relationships in tested variables, and stability diagnostics and CUMSUM and CUSUMSQ techniques for structural breaks and coefficient stability in the model. In lower-middle-income economies (LMIE), results indicate the existence of a unidirectional causal relationship from the current account deficit (CAD) to the fiscal deficit (FD), suggesting a reverse causal relationship from CAD to FD. In the long run, FD does not significantly induce CAD, while real interest rate (RIR) and exchange rate (EXC) influence CAD. In upper-middle-income economies (UMIE), results specify that there is no causality between FD and CAD. The RIR, EXC, and FD are significant to CAD in the long run. In higher-income economies (HIE), RIR and FD have an influence on CAD in the long run period. Moreover, from CAD to FD, a unidirectional causal association exists, and likewise for LMIE. This is a reverse causal relationship from CAD to the FD, supporting the current account targeting hypothesis (CATH) in both the LMIE and HIE groups. This study recommends that the LMIE and HIE groups can use the fiscal deficit as a tool to eliminate the unfavorable current account position. Policymakers can target EXC and RIR to stabilize CAD in long run. In UMIE and HIE, policymakers must consider FD alarming, as it can induce CAD in the long run. The RIR can be the targeted factor in the sub-groups of ASEAN.

This paper explores the relationship between urbanization rate and death incidence by applying panel threshold regression model to the inland provinces of China. The empirical results highlight that there is a nonlinear single threshold effect between urbanization and population health indicators. In China's inland provinces, the negative impact of urbanization on death rate is reduced when per capita GDP exceeds the threshold, that is, the positive impact of urbanization on population health is significantly weakened. Similarly, this result can also be applied to the north provinces, while there is a no threshold effect in south. These asymmetric effects are strongly related to geographical location, historical background, economic development conditions, and health policies. Therefore, in the urbanization process, while promoting the steady development of population urbanization, the government should also increase health investment to improve the system and mechanism, formulate policies to raise health awareness, protect residents' health and reduce the waste of health resources.

Objective --This study examines the relation between stock market capitalization and international financial integration for 23 developing countries during 1996 - 2018. Methodology/Technique --By using recently developed econometric panel techniques. The present paper takes into consideration cross section and structural breaks. Findings--Our findings show several interesting results. First, the existence of a long run relationship between the stock market and financial integration, particularly when private capital flows are included. Second, with the presence of structural breaks the result shows that international financial integration has a negative impact on stock market, which means that financial integration loses its explanatory power over the crisis period. Novelty -- There is no applied study on the verification of the volatility of international capital flows (foreign direct investments and remittances) in the analysis of the relationship between international financial integration and stock markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the convergence hypothesis in productivity of foodgrains in terms of output per unit of cropped area during the period 2000-01 to 2012-13 across the major 18 foodgrains producing states of India using the two standard measures of convergence viz., sigma convergence and beta convergence. This has been done by applying the advanced panel data methodology, namely, panel unit root tests on demeaned series, static panel regression and dynamic panel regression apart from conventional measures based on standard deviation and coefficient of variation. A cross section regression shows irrigated cropped area to be the only significant explanatory variable for explaining productivity variation across the states. All the tests show evidence in favour of sigma and both conditional and unconditional beta convergences. This study with foodgrains productivity shows convergence or divergence in outcome(s) only. But convergence in means ( i.e., sources) is also an important issue in this context. In this paper, we have also examined this in terms of input cost for two principal crops viz., paddy and wheat in the major foodgrains producing states. This has been studied by sigma convergence technique only. Results show convergence in average cost of production of wheat only, and not of paddy. This finding is important in explaining the role of technological spillover on input cost reduction across the states, and its effect in achieving convergence in foodgrains productivity.

This study has sought to determine the effects of working capital management policies on shareholder value creation for six manufacturing firms listed at the Ghana Stock Exchange for the period of 2000-2013. Data were gathered from the annual reports of the firms and the publication of Ghana Stock Exchange. The study employed a longitudinal explanatory non-experimental research design applied to a dynamic panel Autoregressive Distributed Lags methodology framework for analysing the data. The results indicated that conservative current asset investment policies increase economic value added (EVA), whereas aggressive current asset investment policies enhance market-to-book ratio and Tobin’s Q in the long-run. On the other hand, conservative current asset financing policies enhance market-to-book ratio, Tobin’s Q, and EVA in the longrun. Thus, investors discount aggressive current assets’ financing policies. A firm pursuing an aggressive current asset investment policy should balance it with a conservative current asset financing policy to create value for its shareholders.

This paper explores the relationship of real GDP per capita with cancer incidence applying panel threshold regression model in BRICS and ASEAN countries. The empirical results highlight that the business cycle has an inverted-U correlation with population health indicators and a non-linear single threshold effect. In BRICS countries, the health-promoting effect of economic growth is significantly weaker when exceeding the threshold. Similarly, economic growth in ASEAN countries, even worsens population health, after the turning point. These asymmetric effects are strongly related to the response of regional economic globalization health policies. Changes in economic expansion and overheating may have serious adverse effects on health care systems in emerging economies. Governments should adopt more aggressive health care policies during economic overheating, to avoid wasting health care resources.

This paper investigates whether there exists an optimal level of research and development (R&D) intensity, at which defense enterprises are able to maximize their market performance. The Panel Threshold Regression Model was applied to probe the link between R&D intensity and sales growth for defense listed enterprises, in China. The empirical results indicate that the Law of Gibrat does not hold and, unlimited input in R&D, does not guarantee positive paybacks. This may lead to the assumption that there is an optimal R&D intensity level in Chinese defense enterprises. Due to the fact that the defense industry has broken entrance barriers and considering the introduction of social capital into R&D activities, managers and top management should set more specific guidelines and provisional benchmarks to ensure effective R&D resource allocation in order to achieve maximum performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The convergence hypothesis is based on the assumption that the relative poor countries based on the Neoclassical theory based on the Solow growth model will grow faster than the rich countries. Especially after 1980s, diverse perspectives were introduced to the convergence hypothesis types with expansion of studies in this field. One of these is the s-convergence type, which has robust predictability and is based on per capita GDP levels of countries or regions. In the study, whether per capita GDP of fragile five countries converged to each other firstly and then en masse and individual to the leader country within the group was investigated with contemporary panel unit root tests for the 1980-2017 sample period. According to findings, fragile five countries could not converge with each other. South Africa, which is selected as the leader country, has a strong convergence of 5% significance level. In terms of Turkey it took place both individually and collectively convergence. India and South Africa show a weak convergence of 5% significance level to Turkey, while Indonesia and Brazil show a strong convergence of 5% significance level to Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, price instability of natural rubber (NR) in the world market has affected the NR economy severely. It is believed that NR price can no longer be explained solely by the fundamental factors supply-demand, but it is largely driven by external factors. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the determinants of NR prices in 4 major NR producing countries namely Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Annual data from 2008 to 2017 was collected and panel data analysis was performed. Results of Hausman Test suggested that Fixed Effect Model (FEM) was preferable than Random Effect Model (REM) in the study. Results indicated that NR production, consumption, Shanghai NR price, crude oil price and synthetic rubber (SR) price were statistically significant. This study could contribute to government policy implementation in NR producing countries to ensure the stability of NR production and price which will benefit the smallholders and countries' economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The total amount of Japan's local government (LG) expenditures exceeds its central government (CG) expenditures. Japan's LG and CG are responsible for the worst general government's debt situation among the G7 countries. The paper elucidated the fiscal reactions of Japan's prefecture governments (PGs) based on Bohn's (1998a, 2005) method with a panel dataset (44PGs, fiscal years 1974–2016), addressing nonstationary and endogeneity issues. In my model, a positive reaction of the primary surplus/gross regional product (GRP) ratio to the PG debt/GRP ratio (d) constitutes a sufficient condition for sustainability. The results of the study demonstrate the following: (i) the PG in any fiscal condition are assumed to provide sustainable fiscal management; (ii) the PGs in sounder or more dire fiscal conditions probably manage their finances more firmly; (iii) the fiscal transfers from the CG generally ease the PG fiscal conditions; (iv) although primary regressors d and dsq (the square of d) are assumed to be I (1) with some accuracy, they become stationary through cointegration with other regressors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present endeavor measures the extent of the nexus between financial development and economic growth by utilizing annual macroeconomic panel data for selected 14 Asian economies. The study focuses on the link between the indicators of financial development and economic growth. The results of panel cointegration analysis suggest that there is two-way cointegration relationship from GDP to GCF and BM in short-run as well as in long-run however, the relationship is one-way, that is, from GDP to DCPS as well as from GDP to DCBS. The findings of the present study establish strong indications of the positive long-run relationship among all the selected indicators of financial development and economic growth. Moreover, the present attempt also indicates that gross capital formation and broad money are critical for economic growth and suggests that upliftment of economic growth of the economies improves the development of financial sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 re‐examines the stochastic properties of U.S. state real per capita personal income, using new panel unit‐root procedures. The new developments incorporate non‐linearity, asymmetry, and cross‐sectional correlation within panel‐data estimation. Including nonlinearity and asymmetry finds that 43 states exhibit stationary real per capita personal income whereas including only nonlinearity produces 42 states that exhibit stationarity. Stated differently, we find that two states exhibit nonstationary real per capita personal income when considering nonlinearity, asymmetry, and cross‐sectional dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We apply the panel covariate augmented Dickey-Fuller test to test stationarity of the productivity series for the OECD and Big-7 economies. The approach takes cross-sectional dependence into account. Using hours-worked per worker, we find that the series is non-stationary for the 25 OECD countries; but for the Big-7 the results are mixed. So, this paper achieves a battery of panel unit root tests to examine the stationarity properties of the series named hours worked per employee. The study period covers 1960-2012 for the OECD and the Big 7 countries. The tests we use account for cross sectional dependence and those that do not account for such dependence. Our results suggest that an analyst might infer that hours worked fall after a positive technology shock, when it may go up in a true data-generating process. The findings also suggest that although in a true data-generating process, the series may go up from a positive technology shock, analysts may infer a fall. The stationarity of the series is relevant in determining the effect of positive technology shock on productivity.

Background: Economic convergence signifies diminishing income disparities among global or regional economies and their eventual disappearance. It is also linked to economic growth and key health indicators. We aimed to assess the association between economic convergence and key health indicators in developed countries called G7 (USA, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Canada)., Methods: We examined G7 health and economic indicators from 2000 to 2021 using panel data analysis. We compared balanced and unbalanced panel datasets to address missing data and applied suitable methods to handle missing health indicators., Results: Little's MCAR test ( X 2 = 3.2872, P - value = 0.3494) confirmed random missing data in the unbalanced panel, enabling us to impute missing values as missing observations were below 5%. Unit root tests on balanced and unbalanced panel data validated the health convergence hypothesis, showing no unit roots in economic growth rate, current health expenditure, and female and male population indicators ( P <0.05). Interestingly, the hypothesis for hospital bed counts in the unbalanced panel, differing from the balanced panel, offers new insights into addressing incomplete health data., Conclusion: While G7 have economic similarities, their health indicators diverge (excluding hospital bed counts). Variations in health indicators stem from healthcare system structures, funding mechanisms, resource allocation, and health investments, even among economies of similar size. Therefore, G7 member states should develop tailored national health policies based on their specific circumstances and priorities, utilizing economic convergence data for effective health resource planning., (Copyright© 2024 Mutlu et al. Published by Tehran University of Medical Sciences.)

This study aims to explore the causal relationship between fiscal deficit (FD) and current account deficit (CAD) along with policy recommendations based on long-run and short-run dynamics and sensitivities. A panel data span from 1990 to 2019 is analyzed based on panel unit root tests, panel co-integration with auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL), panel co-integration regression with fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), and causal analysis with the Dumitrescu and Hurlin (DH) technique. The results disclosed that all tested variables are stationary at the first difference I(1) except the real interest rate (IR), which is stationary at level I(0). The ARDL estimates suggested that there is a long-run relationship between tested variables and 92% annual convergence is possible for long-run equilibrium. The FMOLS and DOLS estimates indicated that the CAD is sensitive towards the FD and the exchange rate. The DH causality test showed that the CAD is significantly affecting the FD, supporting the current account targeting hypothesis. Furthermore, it is observed that the interest rate is acting as a moderating factor between the FD and the CAD because it causes both the deficits. Thus, reverse causality is concluded from the CAD to the FD. These results have macroeconomic implications for fiscal policy in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN-10).

We examine the government revenue and government expenditure nexus using a panel of 26 Indian states from 1980–1981 to 2014–2015. While most of the previous literature claims that revenue and expenditure series are non-stationary at level, we employ both Narayan and Popp two structural break and cross-sectional augmented Im-Pesaran-Shin (CIPS) panel unit root tests, and found two series are stationary. Further, our results derived from Dumitrescu–Hurlin panel causality test support the 'fiscal synchronization' hypothesis for Indian states. Finally, the revenue and expenditure of Indian state governments are segregated into revenue account and capital account, and again our results support the existence of 'fiscal synchronization' hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volatility break robust panel unit root tests (PURTs) recently proposed by Herwartz and Siedenburg (Computational Statistics & Data Analysis 2008, 53, 137-150) and Demetrescu and Hanck (Econometrics Letters 2012, 117, 10-13) have different performances under both the null and local alternatives. Common practice in empirical research is to apply multiple tests if none is uniformly superior. We show that this approach tends to produce contradictory evidence for the tests considered, making it unclear whether to reject the null. To address this problem, we advocate a combined testing procedure. Simulation evidence shows that the combined test has good size control and closely tracks the more powerful test. An empirical application reinvestigates whether there is a unit root in OECD inflation rates. We find evidence that inflation is stationary for long observation periods, but we cannot reject nonstationarity in most subsets of countries for the last three decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the convergence hypothesis in productivity of foodgrains in terms of output per unit of cropped area during the period 2000-01 to 2012-13 across the major 18 foodgrains producing states of India using the two standard measures of convergence viz., sigma convergence and beta convergence. This has been done by applying the advanced panel data methodology, namely, panel unit root tests on demeaned series, static panel regression and dynamic panel regression apart from conventional measures based on standard deviation and coefficient of variation. A cross section regression shows irrigated cropped area to be the only significant explanatory variable for explaining productivity variation across the states. All the tests show evidence in favour of sigma and both conditional and unconditional beta convergences. This study with foodgrains productivity shows convergence or divergence in outcome(s) only. But convergence in means (i.e., sources) is also an important issue in this context. In this paper, we have also examined this in terms of input cost for two principal crops viz., paddy and wheat in the major foodgrains producing states. This has been studied by sigma convergence technique only. Results show convergence in average cost of production of wheat only, and not of paddy. This finding is important in explaining the role of technological spillover on input cost reduction across the states, and its effect in achieving convergence in foodgrains productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the effect of structural change on the process of labour productivity convergence at different levels of data aggregations (regions, industries, countries), which is also known as hierarchical convergence analysis in the recent literature. Different forms of structural changes have occurred in the European Union, for instance, variations in the share of employment in different industries, variations in the demand pattern and variations in trade patterns and advancement in technology, which may have an influence on the nature of convergence. Earlier studies on convergence have neglected the effect of the structural change, which may have resulted in different conclusion about the convergence. Based on the results, the study found that the nature of convergence changes after considering the effect of the structural change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article re‐examines the persistence in natural gas consumption using an alternative methodology. We compare the results of traditional panel unit root tests with those provided by Bahmani‐Oskooee et al., which allow for both sharp and smooth breaks. Our analysis uses data for the G7 countries over the 1965–2016 years. The empirical findings show that while traditional unit root tests with sharp breaks lean towards the non‐stationarity of the series for all the G7 countries, modeling breaks in our unit root testing methodology can assert that natural gas consumption is non‐stationary only for Canada, France, Italy, and USA. These results imply that, for the majority of our sample, energy demand management policies designed to shrink energy consumption will have temporary effects, as energy consumption will return to its trend path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This study offers a new evidence for the nonstationary behavior of OECD stock prices using the PANICCA test of Reese and Westerlund (2016) which is a combined approach of the Principal Components-based Panel analysis of Nonstationarity in Idiosyncratic and Common components (PANIC) of Bai and Ng (2004, 2010) and the Cross-section Average (CA) of Pesaran et al. (2013). The results suggest that the nonstationarity evident in OECD stock prices is largely driven by idiosyncratic components while the common factors are stationary. More importantly, it is found that ignoring relevant covariates in the common factor model may lead to wrong conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the long-run relationship between financial development and economic growth using panel unit root and panel cointegration analysis in 16 selected low-income countries for the period of 20 years from 1995 to 2014. The long-run relationship has been estimated using fully modified and dynamic OLS techniques. The results show that there exists a cross-sectional dependence across the countries. The Pedroni’s panel cointegration analysis provides clear support for the hypothesis that there exists a long-run cointegrating relationship between financial development and economic growth. The long-run panel estimates indicate that financial development has a positive and significant impact on economic growth. For the robustness of the results, this paper has also performed time-series analysis on a single country basis. The results also show the positive impact of financial development on economic growth in the majority of the countries. Likewise, it is found that flow of credit to the private sector is very low in this region of the world. Thus, one of the important policy implications of this study finding is that policy-makers should give more emphasis on the policies that provide a favourable environment for private sector to grow.

The aim of this paper is to investigate Turkey's largest 500 industrial enterprises and whether capital and customized capital persists to profitability of firms with public capital, private in active 1993-2016. For this purpose, the panel unit root test is applied for all three sample groups, and then the long run competition intensity and the profitability coefficient estimate are analyzed using the panel VAR method. The results indicate that long run profitability is not permanent for all firms under analysis. In addition, the highest long run asset return ratio coefficient belongs to private firms, while the highest return pn equity and profit margins belong to firms with public capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]