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This study investigates the impact of international remittances on the economic growth of remittance-receiving countries, using data from 113 developing countries between 1990 and 2015.

The authors used a novel approach to address the potential endogeneity of remittances. The authors estimated bilateral remittances and use them to create weighted indicators of remittance-sending countries, which the authors then use as instruments for remittance inflows to remittance-receiving countries.

The results indicate that while remittances have a positive impact on economic growth in developing countries with high human capital, they do not contribute to growth in developing countries with low human capital. The authors also examined the channels through which remittances affect growth. The findings suggested that remittances do not impact labor supply in developing countries with high human capital, but they reduce labor supply in countries with low human capital. Additionally, remittances increase investment in physical capital in developing countries with high human capital, but they do not have an effect on investment in developing countries with low human capital.

The authors investigated the impact of remittances on economic growth using a novel approach to address the endogeneity of remittances. Additionally, the authors examined the different indirect channels through which remittances can impact economic growth, such as their effect on labor supply and investment.

The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate how external debt vulnerability has affected the economy of emerging countries over time, with particular reference to Sub-Saharan African countries. It also deals with the policy issues associated with the economic effects.

The techniques of dynamic ordinary least squares and fully modified ordinary least squares are used in this investigation, covering the period 1990–2022. A panel of 43 Sub-Saharan African countries is used in the study.

The estimation results reveal that external debt vulnerability impacted negatively on economic growth, thus validating the concerns raised about the debt problem in Sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, the results revealed that domestic credit and openness of economy played a passive role and were therefore unable to cushion the adverse effect of debt vulnerability. Capital stock, however, stands out as the only variable that played a significant positive role in facilitating economic growth. The results are considered to be highly reliable for short-term forecast of economic growth and formulation of relevant policies.

Over the years, economic analysts and stakeholders have expressed concern about the inadequate ratio of foreign reserves to external debt in developing countries. The effect of this external debt vulnerability on the economy of these countries has yet to be given sufficient attention by researchers. In view of this perceived void, this current study is carried out to determine the economic and policy consequences of the problem.

This paper empirically examines the impact of terrorism on the insurance–growth relationship in the context of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, thereby attempting to address the unexplored area in the relevant literature.

The study considered MENA as it has been one of the terribly affected zones in the world during the study period. Panel data for the period (2002–2017) are sourced from reliable sources for 14 member economies of the MENA region.

After employing the suitable econometric procedures on the panel data, the results indicate that terrorism appears to have detrimental impact on the observed positive relationship between insurance and economic growth. In addition, trade openness seems to be the main driving force behind economic growth of the selected MENA countries. Surprisingly, the study suggests a negative association between the growth of physical capital and economic growth. Human capital has played a positive but insignificant role in improving economic growth as it is insignificant in majority of the specifications. The growth of labor force has although positively but insignificantly influenced economic growth. Finally, the results demonstrate that government expenditures and high inflation are harmful for growth.

The study investigated the impact of terrorism on the insurance–growth relationship for the first time, and hence policymakers of the MENA region are expected to be benefited enormously from the findings of the study.

The purpose of this study is to use the structural model to determine the influence of mobile telecommunication on Egypt’s economic growth from 2000 to 2009. By focusing on mobile unique subscribers and mobile broadband-capable device penetration as indicators of telecommunications adoption, the authors seek to understand their overarching effects on the nation’s economic landscape.

The paper uses quarterly time-series data set over the period 2000–2019 and uses a structural econometric model based on an aggregate production function, a demand function, a supply function and an infrastructure function to detect causality and examine long-run relationships between variables.

The findings of the structural model reveal that both mobile unique subscribers and mobile broadband-capable device penetration significantly contributed to Egypt’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth from 2000 to 2019. Specifically, a 1% increase in mobile unique subscriber penetration and mobile broadband-capable device adoption is estimated to result in an average annual contribution to GDP growth of 0.172% and 0.016%, respectively.

The scarcity of panel data is the main research limitation for comparative study with other Middle East and North African Region (MENA) countries. Research extensions would include testing the significance of complementarities such as improving governance measures and building human capacity for both households and firms, which are necessary to boost the impact of telecommunication on economic growth in the MENA region.

Based on these findings, the study puts forth policy recommendations aimed at maximizing investment in network utilization, including mobile and internet services, as well as fixed broadband subscriptions. It highlights the crucial role of these investments in promoting social and economic development, not only in Egypt but also across the MENA region as a whole.

The findings of this research emphasize the importance of strategic investments in network utilization, encompassing mobile, internet services and fixed broadband subscriptions. Such investments are pivotal for fostering social and financial inclusion. The study underscores the potential of these investments to drive social and economic progress, not just within Egypt but throughout the entire MENA region.

Overall, existing literature generally supports the notion that the telecommunications sector has a positive economic impact. However, there is a gap in the literature when it comes to understanding the specific effects of the Egyptian telecommunications sector on the country’s economy, particularly in relation to the Egypt Vision 2030. The study aims to fill this gap by focusing specifically on Egypt and providing additional insights into the direct and indirect effects of the Egyptian telecommunications sector on the economy. By conducting a thorough analysis of the sector’s role, the authors aim to contribute to the existing literature by providing context-specific findings and recommendations.

This study aims to revisit the empirical debate about the asymmetric relationship between oil prices, energy consumption, CO₂ emissions and economic growth in a panel of 184 countries from 1981 to 2020.

A relatively new research method, the PVAR system GMM, is applied.

The outcome of the PVAR system GMM model at the group level in the study suggests that oil prices exert a positive but statistically insignificant effect on economic growth. Energy consumption is inversely related to economic growth but statistically significant, and the correlation between CO₂ emissions and economic growth is negative but statistically insignificant. The Granger causality test indicates that oil prices, CO₂ emissions, oil rents, energy consumption and savings jointly Granger-cause economic growth. A unidirectional causality runs from energy consumption, savings and economic growth to oil prices. At countries’ income grouping levels, oil prices, oil rent, CO₂ emissions, energy consumption and savings jointly Granger-cause economic growth for the high-income and upper-middle-income countries groups only, while those variables did not jointly Granger-cause economic growth for the low-income and lower-middle-income countries groups. The modulus emanating from the eigenvalue stability condition with the roots of the companion matrix indicates that the model is stable. The results support the asymmetric impacts of oil prices on economic growth and aid policy formulation, particularly the cross-country disparities regarding the nexus between oil prices and growth.

From a methodological perspective, to the best of the author’s knowledge, the study is the first attempt to use the PVAR system GMM and such a large sample group of 184 economies in the post-COVID-19 era to examine the impacts of oil prices on countries’ growth while controlling for other crucial variables, which is noteworthy. Two, using the World Bank categorisation of countries according to income groups, the study adds another layer of contribution to the literature by decomposing the 184 sample economies into four income groups: high-income, low-income, upper-middle-income and lower-middle-income groups to investigate the potential for asymmetric effects of oil prices on growth, the first of its kind in the post-COVID-19 period.

This study examines the impact of China's trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) on Africa's global value chain (GVC) participation and economic upgrading.

The study covered 48 African countries, cutting across the western, eastern, central, southern and northern subregions to cover the heterogeneity of the continent. The study adopted feasible generalized least squares panel VAR-Granger causality Wald test and system generalized methods of moments techniques for estimation.

Overall, China's FDI to Africa and US-Africa trade have a linear relationship with Africa's GVC involvement and economic upgrading. The findings suggest that although China-Africa trade has a positive impact on GVC engagement and upgrading, the marginal effect decreases in the face of US-Africa and EU-Africa trade.

This study provides new evidence on the impact of China's FDI and trade on African economies' GVC participation and economic upgrading. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to empirically explore the effects of China's FDI and trade on Africa's GVC integration and economic upgrading as well as from the perspectives of backward and forward GVC participation. Furthermore, the study empirically examines whether the effects of Africa's economic cooperation with China relative to its GVC engagement differ from those of Europe (EU) and the US via a comparative regression.

The purpose of this study is to analyze how sentiment affects economic activity in Brazil.

Based on a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model, this study examines in detail the short-term and long-term asymmetric impacts between the variables during the period from January 2007 to December 2020.

There are three main results of this study. First, sentiment is an important factor for economic activity in Brazil, and its effect possibly occurs through the channels of consumption and investment, which are the two main components of economic growth. Second, sentiment affects economic activity in different ways in the short and the long term: in Brazil, although in the short-term, immediate shocks of sentiment may be confusing, the negative shocks from previous periods have a negative impact on economic activity. Third, the effect of shocks of optimism and pessimism on economic activity is asymmetric, and in the long run, only shocks of optimism have a significant and positive impact.

The relationship between sentiment and economic activity is still a controversial issue in the literature and this study seeks to advance its understanding in Brazil.

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 outlines sustainability as associated with peace, good governance and justice. The perception of international tourists about security measures and risks is a key factor affecting destination choices, tourist flow and overall satisfaction. Thus, we investigate the impact of armed forces personnel, prices, economic stability, financial development and infrastructure on tourism.

This research used data from 130 countries from 1995 to 2019, which were divided into four income groups. This study employs a two-step generalized method of moments (GMM) technique and a novel tourism index comprising five relevant indicators of tourism.

A 1% increase in armed forces personnel expands tourism in all income groups – 0.369% High Income Countries (HICs), 0.348% Upper Middle Income Countries (UMICs), 0.247% Lower Middle Income Countries (LMICs) and 0.139% Low Income Countries (LICs). The size of the tourism-safety coefficient decreases from high to low-income groups. The impact of inflation is significantly negative in all panels, excluding LICs. The reduction in tourism was 0.033% in HICs, 0.049% in UMICs and 0.029% in LMICs for a 1% increase in prices. The increase in the global tourism index is more in LICs (0.055%), followed by LMICs (0.024%), UMICs (0.009%) and HICs (0.004%) for a 1% expansion in the gross domestic product (GDP)/capita growth. However, the magnitude of the growth-led tourism impact is greater in developing countries. A positive impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow was found in all panels like 0.016% in HICs, 0.050% in UMICs and 0.119% in LMICs for a 1% increase in FDI inflow. The rise in the global tourism index is 0.097% (HICs), 0.124% (UMICs) and 0.310% (LMICs) for a 1% rise in the financial development index. The increase in the global tourism index is 0.487% (HICs), 0.420% (UMICs) and 0.136% (LICs) for a 1% rise in the infrastructure index.

Empirical analysis infers important policy implications such as (a) establishment of a peaceful environment via recruitment of security personnel, use of safe city cameras, modern technology and law enforcement; (b) provision of basic facilities to tourists like sanitation, drinking water, electricity, accommodation, quality food, fuel and communication network and (c) price stability through different tools of monetary and fiscal policy.

First, it explains the effect of security personnel on a comprehensive index of tourism instead of a single variable of tourism. Second, it captures the importance of economic stability (i.e., economic growth, financial development and FDI inflow) in the tourism–peace nexus.

The purpose of this study is to provide a timely synthesis of the empirical literature focusing on the economic consequences of money laundering, as this topic has been gaining momentum among policymakers and academic researchers due to its adverse effects.

Empirical studies are collected by consulting accounting and finance journals in diverse digital sources (e.g. Science Direct, Blackwell, Taylor and Francis, Springer, Sage and Emerald). Key words used to identify relevant papers include “money laundering” and “anti-money laundering regulations,” with specific focus on the economic consequences. Our search strategy includes 24 published papers over the period of 2018–2023.

Findings show that most studies represent cross-country investigations; the main topics investigated focus on accounting field (e.g. audit fees, real and accrual earnings management), tax evasion, financial stability, sustainability, economic indicators (inflation, economic growth, foreign direct investment) and financial inclusion; and the economic consequences of money laundering have been also examined within banking industry (e.g. banking profitability, banking stability). Reported findings of reviewed studies suggest that money laundering has diverse adverse impacts at the country level (e.g. increased tax evasion, higher inflation rate, less sustainability and foreign direct investments), at the firm level (e.g. increased audit risk and aggressive real and accrual earnings management) and within banking industry through negative impact of money laundering on bank’s loan portfolio quality, stability and profitability.

With respect to policymakers, strengthening anti-money laundering regulations may play a critical role in reducing money laundering activities. Furthermore, financial institutions should implement specific rules dealing with anti-money regulations to ensure adequate compliance and disclosure. Finally, policymakers should be aware about the importance of digital transformation to combat money laundering activities since it facilitates the detection of financial crimes due to their traceability.

The summary of the empirical literature focusing on the economic consequence of money laundering represents a historical record and an introduction for accounting researchers. It also urges them to further explore the economic implications of anti-money laundering disclosure within banking industry.

The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of economic factors on foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into Asian region before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study used the generalized method of moments (GMM) technique to examine the impact of economic growth, domestic investment and trade openness on FDI in the Asian region, in two periods from 1996 to 2018 and from 2019 to 2020.

In the pre-COVID-19 period, the estimated result shows that the economic growth, domestic investment, imports and exports positively impact FDI. In the post-COVID-19 period, the FDI is influenced by the strength of the economic characteristics of the region. The main findings indicate that economic growth has a positive and significant effect on FDI inflows into Asia. The findings also show that the economic resilience to attract FDI in Asia is significantly affected by economic growth and positively affected by trade openness and government responses during the pandemic.

The study suggests the Asian governments increasing the domestic investment and improving the quality of trade openness.