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1 – 10 of over 10000“It should also be noted that the objective of convergence and equal distribution, including across under-performing areas, can hinder efforts to generate growth. Contrariwise…
Abstract
“It should also be noted that the objective of convergence and equal distribution, including across under-performing areas, can hinder efforts to generate growth. Contrariwise, the objective of competitiveness can exacerbate regional and social inequalities, by targeting efforts on zones of excellence where projects achieve greater returns (dynamic major cities, higher levels of general education, the most advanced projects, infrastructures with the heaviest traffic, and so on). If cohesion policy and the Lisbon Strategy come into conflict, it must be borne in mind that the former, for the moment, is founded on a rather more solid legal foundation than the latter” European Commission (2005, p. 9)Adaptation of Cohesion Policy to the Enlarged Europe and the Lisbon and Gothenburg Objectives.
The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence that the U‐shaped relationship between intellectual property rights (IPRs) and per capita gross domestic product (GDP) observed in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide evidence that the U‐shaped relationship between intellectual property rights (IPRs) and per capita gross domestic product (GDP) observed in the past literature using a panel of data is not a consequence of longitudinal forces, as has been previously postulated, but instead a consequence of cross‐sectional influences.
Design/methodology/approach
Differences in the longitudinal and cross‐sectional relationship between IPRs and per capita GDP are analyzed through a variety of methods, including pooled regression analysis that isolates the regional differences that are critical in making an accurate longitudinal analysis from the panel data.
Findings
Analyzing the country data reveals that a longitudinal U‐shaped relationship is counterfactual, as countries generally do not weaken their IPRs once they are in place, barring a regime change or other alteration in their political economy. The significant U‐shape link between IPRs and per capita GDP empirically observed in preliminary analysis of the panel data is instead a result of cross‐sectional influences.
Originality/value
Making the distinction between the cross‐sectional and longitudinal relationship between IPRs and per capita GDP provides a more accurate insight about how IPRs change in a country as it develops.
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The purpose of this paper is to empirically test a more comprehensive model of economic growth using a sample of 28 lower middle-income developing countries.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test a more comprehensive model of economic growth using a sample of 28 lower middle-income developing countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors modify the conventional neoclassical growth model to account for the impact of the increase in the number of people working relative to the total population and that of the increase in the value added per worker over time. The authors then extend this model by incorporating the role of trade, government consumption, and human capital in output growth.
Findings
Regression results show that over three quarters of cross-lower middle-income country variations in per capita GDP growth rate can be explained by per capita growth in the share of public expenditures on education in the GDP, per capita growth in the share of government consumption in the GDP, per capita growth in the share of imports in the GDP, per capita growth in the share of manufactured exports in the GDP (not of that of total exports in the GDP), and the growth of the working population relative to the total population.
Practical implications
Statistical results of such empirical examination will assist governments in these countries identify policy fundamentals that are essential for economic growth.
Originality/value
To address the simultaneity bias, the authors develop a simultaneous equations model and are able to show that such model is more robust and helps explains cross-country variations in per capita GDP growth over the 2000-2014 period.
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Yasmeen Bader and Subhadra Ganguli
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) between gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and environmental indicators in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) between gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and environmental indicators in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Additionally, this paper also explores the relationship between health and income levels in the GCC to identify whether higher incomes necessarily affect overall health metrics.
Design/methodology/approach
The first part of this paper studies the relationship between GDP per capita and the greenhouse gases (GHGs) – carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) (all per capita data). The second part of this paper explores the relationship between GDP per capita and the following health variables: life expectancy, infant mortality and child mortality – for GCC countries during 1980–2012. Unit root tests were conducted, followed by cointegration analysis, leading to Granger causality test and vector error correction model.
Findings
GCC states are highly dependent on fossil fuel production and hence depend on hydrocarbons for GDP growth. Most of the GCC states demonstrate lack of the EKC curve. However, there is evidence of U-shaped relationship between environmental pollutants and GDP per capita in kingdoms like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia (KSA). United Arab Emirates (UAE), on the other hand, demonstrates EKC, though not significantly. The study then explores the existence of potential relationship between health and GDP in the GCC, where it has been found that higher incomes have driven a better standard of living resulting in improved health metrics and higher life expectancy rates. Thus, growing incomes have played a positive role by improving health parameters and by offsetting some of the negative impacts from lack of environmental improvement as demonstrated by the absence of EKC in general in GCC.
Originality/value
GHG emissions data are individually and empirically examined for each country in the GCC. Furthermore, the study delves into the environmental problems that lead to health issues, which were initially caused by pollution. The results of the empirical analysis provide strong evidence that GCC countries need to rely less on fossil fuels, as lower productivity due to higher pollution reduces income and economic growth in most countries.
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William R. Dipietro and Emmanuel Anoruo
The paper attempts to empirically assess whether GDP per capita or the human capital index is a better measure of happiness.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper attempts to empirically assess whether GDP per capita or the human capital index is a better measure of happiness.
Design/methodology/approach
Cross‐country regressions are run to see how GDP per capita fairs in comparison to the human capital index in explaining happiness based on survey questionnaires.
Findings
The paper finds that GDP per capita accounts for a far greater share of the cross country variation in happiness based on survey data than the human capita index and assorted other measures of human welfare.
Practical implications
The important implication is that the often heard criticism that GDP per capita is inappropriate for use in economic analysis, especially in the area of economic development and other international fields, because it is not specifically designed as a measure of welfare, may be unfounded.
Originality/value
The paper shows that GDP per capita is a better measure of happiness defined in surveys than the human capital index.
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With the growth of income at the global level, the World Bank data show that there are rising levels of income disparity across countries, groups, regions and within the…
Abstract
With the growth of income at the global level, the World Bank data show that there are rising levels of income disparity across countries, groups, regions and within the countries. This fact otherwise hints at the inter-country divergence in incomes, particularly between the developed and developing countries of the world. This chapter, therefore, attempts to examine the convergence or divergence in credit, GDP and HDI across the 10 selected countries for the period of 1990–2019 applying the neoclassical growth approach and the time series approach. The results of the exercise in line with the neoclassical theories on absolute convergence and sigma convergence show that the countries are unquestionably converging in GDP and HDI with mixed results in case of credit. The results of convergence in GDP and HDI in all the countries and their developed and developing counterparts provide a possible explanation as to why the cross countries’ income inequalities as well as world inequality in income and development are reducing over time. On the other hand, the results of the time series approach display that credit and HDI are converging in both absolute and conditional terms but the countries are converging in conditional terms only for GDP. Thus, the claims of the World Bank are not valid for the selected countries in the chapter, rather, they can be verified by taking other countries and groups into consideration.
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Matloub Hussain, Muhammad Irfan Javaid and Paul R. Drake
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship among environmental pollution, economic growth and energy consumption per capita in the case of Pakistan. The per capital…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship among environmental pollution, economic growth and energy consumption per capita in the case of Pakistan. The per capital carbon dioxide (CO2) emission is used as the environmental indicator, the commercial energy use per capita as the energy consumption indicator, and the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) as the economic indicator.
Design/methodology/approach
The investigation is made on the basis of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), using time series data from 1971 to 2006, by applying different econometric tools like ADF Unit Root Johansen Co‐integration VECM and Granger causality tests.
Findings
The Granger causality test shows that there is a long term relationship between these three indicators, with bidirectional causality between per capita CO2 emission and per capita energy consumption. A monotonically increasing curve between GDP and CO2 emission has been found for the sample period, rejecting the EKC relationship, implying that as per capita GDP increases a linear increase will be observed in per capita CO2 emission.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should replace the economic growth variable, i.e. GDP by industrial growth variable because industrial sector is major contributor of pollution by emitting CO2.
Practical implications
The empirical findings will help the policy makers of Pakistan in understanding the severity of the CO2 emissions issue and in developing new standards and monitoring networks for reducing CO2 emissions.
Originality/value
Energy consumption is the major cause of environmental pollution in Pakistan but no substantial work has been done in this regard with reference to Pakistan.
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The per capita GDP of the countries of Southeast Asia (SEA) varies from less than $5,000 to over $97,000. This paper aims to analyze the political factors behind such variation…
Abstract
Purpose
The per capita GDP of the countries of Southeast Asia (SEA) varies from less than $5,000 to over $97,000. This paper aims to analyze the political factors behind such variation, such as wars, extreme politics, political instability, and kleptocratic governments and leaders, and how they affect the development experience within the region.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses the comparative political economy analysis approach to make a comparison among SEA countries using knowledge from well-known political–economic history and development data from World Development Indicators provided by World Bank.
Findings
A long period of political stability creates a favorable environment for investment that, in return, stimulates sustained economic growth in SEA. The countries have all grown rapidly, but their experience of development varies. The four countries that avoided political extremes (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei) have the highest per capita incomes today. Those that have had long periods of war and political instability, but which have also had substantial periods of stability (Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines), come next. Cambodia and Laos have suffered long periods of war and are the least developed. Myanmar’s military rulers, through civil wars and kleptocratic mismanagement of the economy, have prevented growth much of the time.
Originality/value
Most studies of Southeast Asian growth have analyzed the experience of single countries and missed the central role played by extreme politics, including wars, to explain why some countries have much higher per capita incomes than others. This paper is expected to fill this gap.
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Biplob Kumar Nandi, Gazi Quamrul Hasan and Md. Humayun Kabir
This study aims to examine the impact of financial inclusion on per capita gross domestic product (GDP) at varying degrees of financial inclusion for a sample of 76 developing…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the impact of financial inclusion on per capita gross domestic product (GDP) at varying degrees of financial inclusion for a sample of 76 developing countries between 2011 and 2017. To evaluate the heterogeneous impact, this paper constructs the multi-dimension index of financial inclusion to classify sample countries into two sub-samples in terms of the value of FIID, taking account of three dimensions of financial inclusion: access, usage and availability.
Design/methodology/approach
This study attempts to identify the presence of reverse causality and long-run relationship between financial inclusion and economic growth by using the Granger causality test (Wald test) and three alternative panel cointegration tests (Kao Test, Pedroni Test, Westerlund Test) respectively. Because of the existence of the bi-directional causality between financial inclusion and per capita GDP, this study uses a fixed effect instrumental variable model with lagged dependent variable to get unbiased estimators from the panel regressions for sample countries.
Findings
This paper finds a strong positive impact of financial inclusion on per capita GDP growth in sample developing countries, controlling for labor market structure, financial institutions’ efficacy, infrastructural and governance issues. This study suggests that economic growth will be high in developing economies with a higher level of financial inclusion; however, the positive impact for two sub-samples countries (low and medium level of inclusion and high level of inclusion) are heterogeneous. The estimated result explains that a 1% increase in the financial inclusion index leads to a 0.0153% point increase in the per capita GDP for the countries with a low and medium level of financial inclusion, while this positive impact is significantly higher, 0.0794% point for countries with the high level of financial inclusion. This study also suggests that the higher concentration in the financial market by few agents and the lower level of governance may have an adverse impact on economic growth for the economies with a low and medium level of financial inclusion.
Originality/value
This study is an original study that contributes to the research gap by explaining the heterogeneous impact of financial inclusion on economic growth at varying degrees of inclusion in the two sub-sample countries. Moreover, this study posits greater appeal as it explores the issue using the sample of only developing economies.
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Michael Asiedu, Nana Adwoa Anokye Effah and Emmanuel Mensah Aboagye
This study provides the critical masses (thresholds) at which the positive incidence of finance and economic growth will be dampened by the negative effects of income inequality…
Abstract
Purpose
This study provides the critical masses (thresholds) at which the positive incidence of finance and economic growth will be dampened by the negative effects of income inequality and poverty on energy consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa for policy direction.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed the two steps systems GMM estimator for 41 countries in Africa from 2005–2020.
Findings
The study found that for finance to maintain a positive effect on energy consumption per capita, the critical thresholds for the income inequality indicators (Atkinson coefficient, Gini index and the Palma ratio) should not exceed 0.681, 0.582 and 5.991, respectively. Similarly, for economic growth (GDP per capita growth) to maintain a positive effect on energy consumption per capita, the critical thresholds for the income inequality indicators (Atkinson coefficient, Gini index and the Palma ratio) should not exceed 0.669, 0.568 and 6.110, respectively. On the poverty level in Sub-Saharan Africa, the study reports that the poverty headcount ratios (hc$144ppp2011, hc$186ppp2011 and hc$250ppp2005) should not exceed 7.342, 28.278 and 129.332, respectively for financial development to maintain a positive effect on energy consumption per capita. The study also confirms the positive nexus between access to finance (financial development) and energy consumption per capita, with the attending adverse effect on CO2 emissions inescapable. The findings of this study make it evidently clear, for policy recommendation that finance is at the micro-foundation of economic growth, income inequality and poverty alleviation. However, a maximum threshold of income inequality and poverty headcount ratios as indicated in this study must be maintained to attain the full positive ramifications of financial development and economic growth on energy consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Originality/value
The originality of this study is found in the computation of the threshold and net effects of poverty and income inequality in economic growth through the conditional and unconditional effects of finance.
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