Trade Liberalization and Economic Growth: The Scenario of the MINT Economies

This study investigated the impact of trade liberalization on economic growth for Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey from 1986 to 2020. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag Bounds approach to cointegration and Toda and Yamamoto causality test were utilized for this study. The long-run results revealed that there is no relationship between trade liberalization and real gross domestic product per capita except for Mexico and in this situation, the significance level was at 10%. The results of the causality test showed that no causality was detected between real gross domestic product per capita and trade liberalization for Mexico and Indonesia. A bidirectional causality between real gross domestic product per capita and trade liberalization was found for Nigeria whereas a unidirectional causality from trade liberalization to real gross domestic product per capita was revealed for Turkey. The no causality results for Mexico and Indonesia means that the policy objectives of trade liberalization and economic growth can be pursued independently in both economies. In addition, the bidirectional causality detected for Nigeria suggests that the policy objectives of trade liberalization and economic growth can be pursued together in Nigeria. Furthermore, the unidirectional causality from trade liberalization to real gross domestic product per capita found for Turkey implies that she employs trade liberalization policies effectively for objectives of economic growth, thus trade liberalization causes economic growth.

Does Terms of Trade Matter for Economic Growth? A Focus on Natural Resource-Rich Sub-Saharan African Countries

The contention that deteriorating terms of trade exists in countries that rely heavily on the exploitation and export of natural resources motivated us in this study. We therefore sought to investigate the impact of terms of trade on economic growth in natural resource-rich sub-Saharan African countries. We carried out the study using annual series that span a period of 1990-2019 under the framework of panel Random and Fixed effects. Our findings indicate that a long run relationship exists between GDP and the explanatory variables used in the study. Results also show that, while cross-section random effects indicates that terms of trade positively impacts on GDP, period fixed effects shows that terms of trade negatively impacts on GDP even though it is not significant. Results of our study also show that in all the models, labour force total and FDI have positive impact on GDP, while trade openness impacts on GDP negatively. We therefore recommend that the SSA natural resource-rich countries should diversify their economies away from the traditional natural resources base. Also human capital should be improved through sound education and training, while all the bottlenecks that constrain the inflow of foreign direct investment should be dismantled.

Revisiting the Relationship between Poverty and Environmental Sustainability in Sub-Saharan African Countries using Dynamic Econometric Models

Sustainable development remains an important issue in the quest to achieve a safe and a better world. The expansion of the 8 millennium development goals into the 17 sustainable development goals is a testament of the conscious desire to improve the human environment to ensure better quality of life for its citizens. This study assembles a collection of four sophisticated econometric models to determine the impact of poverty and other variables on two indicators of environmental sustainability. Beside, economic development, the study confirmed the negative impact of poverty on both indicators of sustainable development. The results prove that poverty in sub-Saharan Africa is a threat to environmental quality and its consequential challenges. The call to promote environmentally responsible behaviours should not be focused on developed countries alone. Poverty is also associated with high levels of pollution and poor countries including countries in sub-Saharan Africa contributes must equally restrategise for effective environmental goals. The study further discloses that poverty is one of the strongest factors that affect environmental sustainability. This observation is not a contradiction to the well-established fact that prosperity or economic growth is a major precursor of unsustainable environment. On the contrary the evidence in this paper amplifies a consequence of a social crisis if they fester at both ends. In one breath, whereas economic growth or economic prosperity can compromise the quality of the environment. In conclusion, this result implies that African countries in their pursuit of economic growth, education and effective healthcare to ameliorate poverty must incorporate other aggressive strategies to hasten poverty reduction.

Nutrition for Pre-school Children in Africa and Asia: A Review Analysis on the Economic Impact of Children’s Malnutrition

Nutrition is known to be the key driver in well-being and fitness generally, and as a driving force behind the growth of capital and child food, it is a source and a product of greater health problems, family income and living conditions. The first 1,000 days of maternal and child care concentrate on healthy physical exercise and cognitive improvement, with long-term health and economic consequences for people and economies. The research reviewed Nutrition for Preschool Children in Africa and Asia and illustrated the economic effect of malnutrition in infants. The review indicated that nutrition for pre-school children in Africa and Asia remains insufficient to ensure enhanced economic and human growth and that each nation needs to consider how money is to be invested through the assistance resources that help the least per cent of the population to fix this gap for children and make it the most efficient investment in society. Citizenship and collective efforts, particularly the voice of youth, are important forces of transformation, which must be encouraged to meet SDGs. Democracy campaigns can play a crucial role in the struggle for justice for children and the family.