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The present study aims to determine the existence of simultaneous relationship between economic growth, income inequality, fiscal policy, and total trade of the 13 emerging market economies as a group for the period 1980–2010. After establishing the existence of simultaneity between the above relationships, a simultaneous panel model has been formulated and estimated incorporating the nonlinearity among the variables as suggested by the existing literature. An inverted U-shape relationship is evident between (1) economic growth, income inequality, and total trade in economic growth equation, (2) income inequality, economic growth, and per capita income in income inequality equation, and (3) total trade and economic growth in total trade equation. Thus, the existence of a two-way nonlinear relationship is highlighted between economic growth, income inequality, and total trade. Apart from these nonlinear relationships, positive and significant effect of (1) gross capital formation, inflation, population growth, human capital, fiscal policy, monetary policy, and domestic credit to private sector on economic growth; (2) civil liabilities on income inequality; (3) gross capital formation and inflation on total trade; (4) total trade, population growth of those aged 65 years and above, political system on fiscal policy is highlighted. Also, negative and significant effect of (1) fiscal policy on income inequality and (2) income inequality on fiscal policy is revealed.

Education had proven to be one of the main determinants of economic growth, and it is a reason of the variations in economic growth levels between developed and developing countries. One of the main dimensions in studding the relationship between economic growth and education is the gender dimension or the importance of gender equality or female education in achieving economic growth. This chapter aims to test the hypothesis of the existence of a positive relationship between female education and economic growth in Egypt since 1990.

To address this question, Auto Regression Distributed Lag (ARDL) Bound test approach is conducted to analyze the co-integration between female education and economic growth using Egyptian Data for the period 1990–2022. The Empirical analysis for Egypt suggests the existence of positive significant relationship both in the short run and long run and that the impact of female education on economic growth is larger than the impact of education in general on growth. This could be explained by the existence of gender gap in Egypt, labor market, and thus, more educated girls able to enter the labor market will affect the economic growth more than the education of both sexes, in other words, there is still a room for improvement in the female labor market opportunities than for both sexes. The chapter also confirms the existence of a direct link between education in general and economic growth and thus confirms the hypothesis of the positive impact of education economic growth.

This paper presents new evidence of the relationship between financial market development (banking sector) and economic growth for a set of seven Middle East and North African economies over the period 1965–2002. We find evidence that in six of the seven countries, banking-sector development Granger causes increases in economic growth. However, in three of those six countries, economic growth also Granger causes banking development. Our co-integration analysis reveals that there is a stable long-run equilibrium relationship between banking-sector development and economic growth for all our countries. However, based on vector error-correction models, there is limited evidence that banking-sector development boosts economic growth in the short run.

The purpose of this chapter is to determine the essence of stagnating socio-economic systems through the prism of the theory of economic conflicts.

Comparative analysis of conceptual approaches to treatment of stagnation of socio-economic systems – the theory of cycles, the theory of economic growth, and the theory of economic conflicts – is performed. According to the theory of economic conflicts, signs of stagnation of socio-economic systems are determined with the help of methods of horizontal and trend analysis. The research objects are leading developed countries (major advanced economies – G7), which, according to the existing scientific and economic paradigm, should not stagnate, and countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), which, in the contrary, may show signs of stagnation. The analyzed indicators are growth rate of GDP in constant prices, growth rate of GDP per capita in constant prices, and the level of unemployment rate. The research is performed in the period of post-crisis restoration of modern socio-economic systems, including the forecast period (2010–2022) based on the data of the International Monetary Fund.

As a result of the research, the essence of stagnation of socio-economic systems is determined, and the following characteristics are given: emergence after crisis, negative influence on economy, universal nature, and manageability.

The obtained conclusions show opposition of stagnation and sustainable development. Stagnation is absence of economic growth and development, regardless of social and ecological costs of economic activities. Contrary to it, sustainable development means stable economic growth with low social and ecological costs of economic activities. That’s why stagnation of economy is a negative phenomenon. Unlike crises, stagnation could and should be avoided with the help of the corresponding (anti-stagnation) measures of crisis management.

This chapter examines the influence of external public borrowing resources on economic progress in Tunisia. The study focuses on two stages: First, the influence is studied in a direct sense and then in an indirect sense, i.e., through a transmission channel of this influence. By applying the autoregressive distributed technique with staggered lags (ARDL), over a period ranging from 1986 to 2019, the results showed that the influence of external borrowing resources on growth seems to be unfavorable in the short term but positive in the long term, hence the importance of the empirical technique chosen. Second, three interaction variables were tested, namely total government expenditure, government investment expenditure, and the real effective exchange rate. The results obtained call for better attention to the channels identified to maximize the positive influence of external public debt on the country's economic progress.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between banking sector efficiency and economic growth in Africa.

Methodology/approach – The paper used the stochastic frontier approach stating the banking sector cost function as a Fourier flexible to estimate bank efficiency. We then used the Arellano–Bond GMM estimator to investigate the relationship between banking sector efficiency and economic growth. Annual data for banking sector financial statements were used in estimating efficiency scores.

Findings – The study found banking sector efficiency in the sample to be 69%. We also found a positive relationship between banking sector efficiency and economic growth, confirming the critical role banks play in the economy.

Practical implications – Banking sector efficiency score of 69% implies banks in Africa could save up to 31% of their total cost if they were to operate efficiently. Policy direction should therefore focus on policies and incentives that will improve the efficiency of the banking sector and hence economic growth. The study brings to the fore the importance of the qualitative aspect of the banking sector in allocating financial resources in the real economy. Focus in the real economy should not be only on the size of the banking system but also on the quality with which resources are allocated.

Originality/value of paper – This study is among the first dedicated solely to African countries. It does set the pace for future research in the area and also confirms in Africa the Schumpeterian hypothesis that the banking sector is key in allocating resources in the real economy.