Can foreign aid contribute to sustained growth? A comparison of selected African and Asian countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 249-270
Author(s):  
John Adams ◽  
Ola Elassal
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Foreign Aid ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Literature Analysis ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Two Samples ◽  
Growth Divergence ◽  
Different Characteristics ◽  
The Impact

PurposeIdentifying if aid flows have contributed to economic growth or growth divergence between a sample of Asian and African countries is the purpose of this paper. Using data over the period of 1980–2015, the paper attempts to establish whether aid, in any of its forms, has played a role in economic growth in these countries.Design/methodology/approachA comprehensive literature analysis over the past 70 years sets the scene for the paper. A panel data fixed-effects model is applied for each sample (Africa and Asia) between 1980 and 2015. Both theoretical predictions and empirical studies are used to derive the independent variables selected for modelling.FindingsThe findings strongly suggest that aid flows in both the Asian and African samples have no relation at all to either long-run growth paths or growth divergence. However, there is a suggestion in the case of the Africa sample that governance decline may well be the primary source of growth divergence.Research limitations/implicationsThis result cannot be generalised because it only focuses on six countries but as demonstrated in the paper, other possible samples (from both regions) actually make no difference to the results. It could also be argued (given the comprehensive literature analysis presented here) that it is not essential to have a theoretical relationship between aid and growth because aid is given to different countries with very different characteristics, needs, governance and policy environments.Practical implicationsDonor countries must play a more supervisory role to ensure aid flows are directed to the right channels in recipient countries. Aid should be given to countries which have a certain degree of macroeconomic stability and “good” policy to ensure effectiveness. They also need to pay attention to the sectoral distribution of aid as do recipient countries to better allocate aid flows to productive sectors that contribute to both short- and long-term growth.Social implicationsThese are not given much emphasis in this paper.Originality/valueMost aid–growth studies are based on a large number of countries from different regions with different characteristics or on a single country case. This paper compares between two samples of countries sharing the same characteristics to overcome the heterogeneity problem. This paper is based on a more protracted time series from 1980 to 2015 to capture more accurately the impact of foreign aid on economic growth.

What precipitates growth in CO2 emissions?

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abimelech Paye Gbatu ◽  
Zhen Wang ◽  
Presley K. Wesseh ◽  
Vamuyan A. Sesay
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Pollutant Emissions ◽  
Real Output ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The degradation of the natural habitat at the expense of economic development is a harmful growth that warrants environmental policy actions. For instance, the economic impacts of environmental pollution are quite visible in developed and developing economies, where human health is compromised by rapid economic growth and energy induced pollution. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of CO2 emissions on economic development. Design/methodology/approach This paper investigates the correlation between pollutant emissions and key economic variables within the economic community of West African states (ECOWAS) region by applying fixed effects model to unbalanced time-series panel data for the period 1980-2014. This paper examines the full ECOWAS panel and sub-panels with export-and-import-dependent countries. Findings The authors argue that energy consumption (EC) and real output exert causal influences on CO2 emissions for the full ECOWAS panel and the sub-panels with export-and-import-dependent countries. Practical implications The results imply that increase in EC is the main factor that promotes economic growth in the region. Additionally, growth in EC and real output stimulates CO2 emissions growth. Originality/value Therefore, it is argued that technological innovations that increase energy efficiency through new carbon-free technologies that minimize CO2 emissions growth without impairing economic growth and development must be introduced in the region.

The elephant in the room of mutual forbearance

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burak Cem Konduk
Keyword(s):  
Airline Industry ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
High Performing ◽  
The Us ◽  
Mutual Forbearance ◽  
Low Performance ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain how a multi-market firm develops the motivation to forbear from competition.Design/methodology/approachA two-way fixed effects model with Driscoll and Kraay standard errors investigates the research question with panel data collected from the US scheduled passenger airline industry.FindingsThe results demonstrate that although the interaction of multi-market contact with strategic similarity impairs a firm’s forbearance from competition, the same interaction promotes it as firm performance deteriorates, supporting the hypotheses.Research limitations/implicationsPerformance explains not only how forbearance emerges out of coincidental multi-market contact but also reconciles the mixed evidence for the impact of the two-way interaction between multi-market contact and strategic similarity on forbearance.Practical implicationsAntitrust authorities should pay more attention to low performing firms than to high performing firms in their investigations. Also, managers of multi-market firms should identify multi-market rivals with low performance as targets for the initiation of forbearance.Originality/valueThis study revises the mutual forbearance theory to align it with the accumulating empirical evidence that otherwise refutes its assumption and thereby improves theory’s descriptive and predictive power.

Evaluating the impact of changes in human capital structure on Russia's economic growth dynamics

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-222
Author(s):  
Roman M. MEL'NIKOV ◽  
Valentina A. TESLENKO
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Economic Growth ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Growth Dynamics ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Academic Degree ◽  
The Impact

Subject. The article explores the impact of changes in the educational structure of the employed population on the dynamics of economic growth. Objectives. The purpose is to evaluate the impact of changes in the share of employed persons, having secondary vocational and higher education, and researchers with academic degree on the growth rates of the Russian economy. Methods. The study employs the regression analysis of panel data of Russian regions, the specification with a quadratic dependence of economic growth rates on the share of employed persons, having the higher education and secondary vocational education. A fixed-effects model is used to analyze the short-term effects, the sustainability of results, and long-term effects, using the pool models and random effects models. Results. The increase in the share of researchers with academic degree has a positive and significant effect on economic growth, but only if adequate R&D funding is provided. The increase in the share of employed persons with higher education up to thirty percent is accompanied by an increase in the growth rate of real GRP in the long run, however, further expansion of higher education has no positive effect on economic growth. Conclusions. A powerful form of personnel training for Russian high-tech companies is a special model of ‘industrial postgraduate training’, which involves the collaboration of universities with industrial partners.

scholarly journals The relationship between debt and a firm’s performance: the impact of institutional factors

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (9) ◽  
pp. 1272-1291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosa Forte ◽  
José Miguel Tavares
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Institutional Framework ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Macroeconomic Variables ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the existing literature on the relationship between debt and firms’ performance, by focusing on the influence of the institutional framework on this relationship and on the role of macroeconomic variables in explaining performance. Design/methodology/approach The present work is based on a large sample of 48,840 manufacturing firms from nine European countries covering the 2008–2013 period and uses a fixed effects model. Findings Results show that the impact of debt on a firm’s performance depends on the measure of debt (short-term debt positively affects a firm’s performance, whereas long-term debt presents a negative relationship) and that the institutional framework is indeed affecting the relationship between debt and a firm’s performance: the positive effect of debt on a firm’s performance tends to be higher the greater the “efficiency of the legal system” and the greater the “credit market regulation.” Macroeconomic variables also play a key role in explaining performance. Originality/value Unlike most of the existing studies, which focus only on the relationship between debt and firms’ performance in a single country, the present work uses a sample of firms from nine countries with the purpose of filling a research gap and bringing new empirical evidence to this research area.

The impact of foreign direct investment on urban-rural income inequality

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 480-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunlai Chen
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
International Trade ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Knowledge Spillovers ◽  
Employment Creation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rural Income ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on urban-rural income inequality in China. Design/methodology/approach This study uses the provincial-level panel data and employs the fixed-effects instrumental variable regression technique to investigate empirically the impact of FDI on urban-rural income inequality in China. Findings The study finds that while FDI has directly contributed to reducing urban-rural income inequality through employment creation, knowledge spillovers and contribution to economic growth, FDI has also contributed to increasing urban-rural income inequality through international trade. Practical implications The study has some policy implications. First, as the study finds that FDI not only contributes to reducing urban-rural income inequality through employment creation, knowledge spillovers and contribution to economic growth, but also contributes to increasing urban-rural income inequality through international trade, therefore, apart from improving local economic and technological conditions to attract more FDI inflows, China should re-design FDI policies by shifting away from encouraging export-oriented FDI to encouraging FDI flows into the industries and sectors in line with China’s overall economic structural adjustments and industrial upgrading. Second, policies should focus on increasing investment in infrastructure development and in public education, which not only can reduce urban-rural income inequality but also can attract more FDI inflows. And finally policies should be designed to accelerate urbanisation development by focusing on urban-rural integrated development, household registration system reform and proper settlement of rural migrants in urban areas, thus reducing urban-rural income inequality. Originality/value The paper makes two major contributions to the literature. First, the paper adopts the fixed-effects instrumental variable regression technique to deal with the endogeneity issues in estimating the impact of FDI on urban-rural income inequality, producing more consistent estimates. Second, the paper investigates not only the direct impact of FDI on urban-rural income inequality through the effects of employment creation, knowledge spillovers and contribution to economic growth, but also the indirect impact of FDI on urban-rural income inequality through its activities in international trade, adding new empirical evidence to the sparse literature on the impact of FDI on income inequality in China.

Product diversification, business structure, and firm performance in Taiwanese property and liability insurance sector

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 486-499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen-Ying Lee
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Product Diversification ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Business Structure

Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze product diversification, business structure and insurer performance with a comprehensive look at the property-liability (P/L) insurance operations. Design/methodology/approach Using a panel data, this study employs an ordinary least squares regression model, fixed effects model and random effects model to examine the impact of product diversification and business structure on the performance of P/L insurers. The study assesses insurer performance using both risk-adjusted return on assets and risk-adjusted return on equity. Findings The study finds that product diversification is significantly negatively related to the performance of P/L insurers. The results are consistent with the diversification discount theory. The empirical results reveal that business lines have significant impacts on firm performance, particularly on the lines of fire and marine insurances. Furthermore, the interaction between product diversification and firm size implies that product diversification significantly increases the performance of large-sized insurance firms. Originality/value The study provides some valuable insights into the effects of diversification and business structure on the performance of P/L insurers in a developing country. The study’s findings suggest that management of P/L insurers should clarify their objectives and carefully assess the company’s resources when dealing with product diversification and business structure. The results have practical implications for the financial services industry in Taiwan.

Which food prices were more vulnerable to the COVID-19 blockade regulations in China? Comparison between perishable and storable vegetables

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yupeng Wang ◽  
Satoru Shimokawa
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Dependence ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Panel Var ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Dynamic Panel ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate how differently the COVID-19 blockade regulations influence the prices of perishable and storable foods. The authors focus on the cases of the 2020 blockade at Hubei province and the 2021 blockade at Shijiazhuang city in China, and the authors examine how the blockade influenced the prices of Chinese cabbages (perishable) and potatoes (storable) within and around the blockade area.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs the fixed effects model, the panel VAR (PVAR) model, and the spatial dynamic panel (SPD) model to estimate the impacts of the blockade on the food prices. It constructs the unique data set of 3-day average prices of Chinese cabbages and potatoes at main wholesale markets in China during the two urban blockade periods from January 1 to April 8 in 2020 and from January 1 to March 1 in 2021.FindingsThe results from the SPD models indicate that the price of Chinese cabbages was more vulnerable and increased by 7.1–9.8% due to the two blockades while the price of potatoes increased by 1.2–6.1%. The blockades also significantly influenced the prices in the areas adjacent to the blockade area. The SPD results demonstrate that the impacts of the blockades would be overestimated if the spatial dependence is not controlled for in the fixed effects model and the PVAR model.Research limitations/implicationsBecause the research focuses on the cases in China, the results may lack generalizability. Further research for other countries is encouraged.Originality/valueThis paper demonstrates the importance of considering food types and spatial dependence in examining the impact of the COVID-19 blockades on food prices.

Accounting conservatism, capital structure, and global diversification

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feras M Salama ◽  
Karl Putnam
Keyword(s):  
Capital Structure ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Reporting Quality ◽  
Accounting Conservatism ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Financial Leverage ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Global Diversification

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of accounting conservatism (as a proxy for financial reporting quality) on the degree of financial leverage. In addition, this paper examines the impact of global diversification (as a proxy for operational complexity) on the relationship between conservatism and financial leverage. Design/methodology/approach – A panel data regression analysis is conducted for the period 2000-2006. The authors utilized a two-way fixed-effects model to control for unobservable firm characteristics and time effects that may influence the firm’s decision to report conservatively. Findings – This paper provides empirical evidence that conservatism is positively associated with the degree of financial leverage, and the influence of conservatism on financial leverage is enhanced by the degree of global diversification. Originality/value – A major issue in corporate finance is the identification of variables that influence corporate capital structure choices. The evidence presented in this paper reveals that more conservative financial reporting is associated with a higher degree of financial leverage in the firm’s capital structure. This effect increases with the extent of global diversification, indicating that bondholders place a higher value on conservatism when there is more information asymmetry between stakeholders and managers caused by global diversification.

Audit committee effectiveness and family firms: impact on performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 1021-1034
Author(s):  
Jihad Al-Okaily ◽  
Salma Naueihed
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
Family Firms ◽  
Family Firm ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Minority Shareholders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship between audit committee characteristics and firm performance, and whether family ownership and involvement moderate the latter relationship. Design/methodology/approach Following Anderson and Reeb (2003), this paper estimates a two-way fixed effects model. A sub-sample analysis is used by first examining the impact of audit committee effectiveness on firm performance only in non-family firms and then only in family firms. A fully interacted model was also analyzed in the robustness tests. Findings This paper finds that the audit committee characteristics of size, expertise and meeting frequency are positively and significantly related to non-family firm performance, while insignificantly related to family firm performance. Research limitations/implications The evidence reported in this paper may be of use for regulators and policy makers pondering corporate governance reforms, as well as for investors, managers and minority shareholders concerned with firm performance and valuation. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to examine the moderating effect of family control and involvement on the relationship between firm performance and audit committee effectiveness in terms of size, expertise and meeting frequency.

scholarly journals The Consequences of Corruption on Economic Growth in Mediterranean Countries: Evidence from Panel Data Analysis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hicham Boussalham
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Panel Data Analysis ◽  
Suitable Model ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Mediterranean Countries ◽  
Individual Effects ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

This study attempts to assess the impact of corruption on economic growth in the Mediterranean countries, during the period from 1998 to 2007. Econometric analysis using panel regression has been adopted to test this effect. Individual effects models such as random effects model and fixed effects model were applied to the study sample of 160 observations, and to choose the suitable model, we implemented several tests. For our analysis, we used a basic model that includes the dependent variable GDP per capita as a factor of economic growth and the corruption perception index as the independent variable concerned. Then we completed the model with several standardized macroeconomic control variables mentioned above and applied the individual effects models. The outcomes illustrate that corruption has a negative impact on the selected Mediterranean countries’ economic growth.

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