Search results

This study aims to analyse the intellectual property rights (INPR), foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and technological exports of 32 developing and developed countries for the period of 2006–2020.

Diagnostic tests were used to confirm the panel least squares, fixed effect, random effect, feasible general least squares, dynamic ordinary least squares and fully modified ordinary least squares estimator results as well as to increase the robustness.

According to the findings for the developing countries, trademark, patent and industrial design applications, each had a significant positive long-run effect on FDI inflows. In addition, there was a significant positive long-run relationship between patent applications and medium- and high-technology exports. Meanwhile, trademark and industrial design applications had a significant negative long-term effect on medium- and high-technology exports. In developed countries, patent and industrial design applications each have a significant negative long-term on medium- and high-technology exports. Furthermore, patent and trademark applications each had a significant negative long-run effect on FDI inflows.

This study contributes significantly to the focus that host countries evaluate the technology gaps between domestic and foreign investors at different industry levels to select the best INPR rules and innovation process by increasing international cooperation. Furthermore, the host countries should follow the structure–conduct–performance paradigm based on analysis of the market structure, strategic firms and industrial dynamics systems.

Energy security has been talked about by governments and policymakers because the global energy market is unstable and greenhouse gas emissions threaten the long-term health of the global environment. One of the most potent ways to cut CO₂ emissions is through the production and consumption of renewable energy. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the drivers that, if ambitious environmental policies are implemented, might improve energy security or prevent its deterioration.

The study uses a balanced panel data set for Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam that covers a period of 30 years (1990–2020). The pooled panel dynamic least squares is used in this study.

The findings show that renewable energy consumption is positively related to gross domestic product per capita, energy intensity per capita and renewable energy installed capacity. Wherein renewable energy use is inversely related to per capita electricity consumption, CO₂ emissions and the use of fossil fuel electricity.

There is a lack of research identifying the factors influencing energy security in the ASEAN region. Therefore, this study focuses on the drivers that influence energy security, which are explained by the proportion of renewable energy in final energy consumption. Without identifying the demand and supply sources of energy, especially electricity production based on renewable energy techniques, it is hard for policymakers to achieve the desired renewable energy-based outcome.

This paper aims to investigate the long-run impact of selected foreign capital inflows, including aid, remittances, foreign direct investment (FDI), trade and debt, on the economic growth of 21 low-income countries in the Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) region, during the period 1990–2018.

To obtain this objective and for robust analysis, a parametric approach, which was dynamic ordinary least squares, and a non-parametric technique, which was fully modified ordinary least squares, were used.

The results of both models confirmed that, in the long run, trade and aid affected the growth rate of the per capita income in these countries in a positive way. However, external debt seemed to have an adverse influence on such growth.

First, this is the initial study that has addressed this matter across a homogenous group of countries in the SSA region. Second, while most of the previous studies regarding capital inflows into the SSA region have focused on the impact of only one or two aspects of such foreign capital inflows on growth, the present study, instead, examined the impact of five types of foreign capital inflows (aid, remittances, FDI, trade and debt).

This paper aims to assess the impact of digital financial innovation on financial system development in Common Market for eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). This paper evaluates the dynamic relationship between digital financial innovation measures and financial system development using time series data from COMESA countries for the period 1997–2019.

A dynamic autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL) was adopted and the mean group (MG), pooled mean group (PMG) and dynamic fixed effect (DFE) of the model were estimated to evaluate the short- and long-run impact. In addition, the dynamic generalized method of moments (DGMM) was adopted for a robustness check. The Hausman test results show PMG to be the most consistent and efficient estimator, while the coefficient of lagged dependent variable of different GMM is less than the fixed effect coefficient, and, as such, suggests system GMM is the most suitable estimator. Data for the study were sourced from World Bank Development Indicator (WDI, 2020), World Governance Indicator (WGI, 2020) and World Bank Global Financial Development Database (GFD, 2020).

The result shows that digital financial innovation significantly impacts financial system development in the long run. As such, the evidence revealed that automated teller machines (ATMs), point of sale (POS), mobile payments (MP) and mobile banking are significant and contribute positively to financial system development in the long run, while mobile money (MM) and Internet banking (INB) are insignificant but exhibit positive and inverse relationship with financial development respectively. Further investigation revealed that institutional quality and a stable macroeconomic environment including their interactive term are significantly imperative in predicting financial system development in the COMESA region.

Researchers recommend a cohesive and conscious policy that would checkmate the divergence in the short run and suggest a common regional innovative financial strategy that could be pursued to incentivize technology transfer needed to promote financial system development in the long run. More so, plausible product and process innovations may be adapted to complement innovative institutions in the different components of the COMESA financial system.

Digital financial innovation services if well managed increase the inherent benefits in financial system development.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper presents new background information on digital financial innovation that may stimulate the development of the financial system, particularly in the COMESA region. It also exposes the relevance of digital financial innovation, institutional quality and stable macroeconomic environment as well as their interactive effect on COMESA financial system development.

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between structural change and economic growth for a panel of four developing countries, namely, Malaysia, Nigeria, Turkey and Indonesia over 1960-2010.

The study extent the growth equation by incorporating degree of openness, labour and investment and construct structural change indices – modified Lilien index and the norm of absolute values. It utilizes the recently developed panel cointegration techniques to test and estimate the long-run equilibrium of the growth equation.

The results confirm that structural change and economic growth are cointegrated at the panel level, indicating the presence of long-run equilibrium relationship. However, the impact of structural change on economic growth seems to be small and evolve slowly.

The findings indicate the need for policymakers to identify the binding constraints that impede growth and the importance of institutionalize policy to encourage investment in productive sectors.

Environmental protection and conservation of resources is a challenge for policymakers to attain sustainable growth and development. The current study uses the variable of inclusive growth instead of the traditional measure of growth.

The link between inclusive growth, renewable energy, industrial production, trade openness and the environment is explored by using panel data from 1995 to 2019 in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) countries. Before applying formal techniques, unit root tests were applied to check the stationarity of each variable. The long-run relationship among factors was found by the Kao cointegration test. The panel dynamic ordinary least squares (DLOS) was employed for regression estimation.

The results verified a decrease in ecological footprint (EF) in response to a potential rise in renewable energy consumption. An upsurge in EFs was explored due to a rise in gross domestic product (GDP) per person employed and trade openness. The EF significantly decreased by 0.671% in response to a 1% rise in renewable energy consumption.

It is highly suggested to enhance renewable energy usage. To achieve this, policymakers should implement and emphasize efficient energy technologies to ensure improving the environment. Efficient use of renewable energy resources will decrease global warming effects and ensure the sustainable use of scarce resources.

It first took into account the variable of inclusive growth instead of traditional growth measures. It explored the impact of GDP per person employed as an indicator of inclusive growth.

This study empirically assessed the influence of foreign direct investment on the manufacturing sector growth in the Middle East and North African region using panel data of 18 countries covering the period of 1975–2017.

The study employed Levin et al. (2002) test (LLC) and Im et al. (2003) panel unit root test. Furthermore, Kao’s cointegration test was applied to examine the long-run relationship between the variables. Both the Dynamic OLS and Fully modified OLS were used in estimating the short-run relationship.

The results of the DOLS and FMOLS indicate that both inward and outward FDI influence the manufacturing sector growth positively. This shows that much of the manufacturing sector growth in the MENA region is driven by both inward and outward FDI. Our findings made a strong new proposition that aside from the negative influence proposed by Stevens and Lipsey (1992), outward FDI could also have a positive influence on the manufacturing sector of a country through effective utilization of domestic raw materials that are produced locally for production of goods in a foreign country.

MENA countries should concentrate more on making policies that will encourage the effective utilization of domestic resources for outward foreign direct investment in other countries of the world as it has the capacity to boost the manufacturing sector growth. Also, policies that will attract more inflows of FDI in the region should be encouraged. Both inward and outward FDI should be considered as an integral part of MENA economic policy in order to spur the manufacturing sector growth.

Previous empirical studies on the relationship between FDI and manufacturing sector growth have focused much on the influence of inward FDI. Thus, very little attention has been paid to the contribution that the outward FDI makes to the growth of the manufacturing sector of the host country. Our empirical study focused on the influence of both inward and outward FDI on the manufacturing sector growth with specific emphasis on the MENA region that remains the center of attraction of inward FDI and a source of inward FDI to most nonoil producing developing and developed countries given the oil-rich nature of the region.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the currency union (CU) effect on aggregate intra-trade in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and on bilateral trade among individual countries using the gravity model.

Using panel dynamic ordinary least square, we examined the short- and long-run CU effect on aggregate intra-ECOWAS trade and bilateral trade among ECOWAS countries from 1995 to 2010. Chow poolability test was conducted for the appropriateness of pooling the cross-section parameters as against individual model. The augmented Dickey–Fuller (ADF) test; the Phillips–Perron (PP) test; and the Kwiatkowski, Phillips, Schmidt and Shin (KPSS) test were conducted on the individual data series, and the Levin, Lin and Chu test; the Im, Pesaran and Shin test; the Breitung test; and the Hadri test were used for testing cross-sectional independent panel unit root tests. Kao panel cointegration test was conducted to identify long-run relationships.

We found evidence of significant positive CU effect on aggregate intra-ECOWAS trade. The estimates also show that Benin, Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal and Togo trade more with countries they share common currency with than what they would have been in both short and long run. We again observed that CU is insignificant in explaining Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and Senegal intra-trade with ECOWAS countries, though their observed intra-trade with ECOWAS is relatively high which is found to be explained by export diversification.

The findings reveal that CU is good for aggregate intra-regional trade though some individual members respond negative to CU. The finding of diversification as a necessary tool to increase intra-regional trade imply that as effort of introducing single currency is being pursued rigorously, effort to diversify export or trade complement should not be overlooked.

There exist panel studies on CU on aggregate intra-regional trade in ECOWAS. However, there is a need to have country level study to identify CU effect on each country, as it is sensitive to country-specific factors which are unobservable in time series analysis of group of countries. Also, our group estimate differs in methodology in the sense that the dynamic generalised least takes care of endogeneity in trade gravity literature.

The purpose of this paper is to identify whether any financial integration exists among ASEAN+5 members and some East Asian countries, including China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, through interest rate, exchange rate, level of prices, and real output.

Therefore, the authors intend to identify any long-term relationship among these variables utilizing the data in the most efficient manner via panel cointegration and panel unit root tests. The study likewise uses a panel-based vector error correction (panel-vec) model for comparison and also short-run relationship analysis. The long-run relationship is estimated using dynamic ordinary least square technique and a panel multi-layer perceptron (MLP) neural network.

For the ten countries under consideration, the empirical result supports the long-run equilibrium relationship among real output, exchange rate, interest rate, and level of prices, and that the cointegration relationship implies unidirectional causality from exchange rate to real output. This result is favorable to a model that contains real output as a dependent variable and exchange rate, interest rate, and level of prices as explanatory variables. Panel-vec results indicate no evidence of short-run causality from exchange rate to real output. Furthermore, the comparison result of long-run equation estimation shows the superiority of neural networks over econometric models.

This paper adds to the literature by examining the financial cointegration using a panel model that contains real exchange rate, interest rate, real output, and inflation rate in ASEAN+5. Additionally this paper applied the MLP neural network to yield a robust estimation of the long-run equation obtained among the variables.