Empirical Economic Review

Good Governance, Public Health Expenditure and Economic Growth in Africa Nations: A Panel Data Approach

TOPE JOSHUA OJO — Sat, 15 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The study investigates the good governance, public health expenditure and economic growth in eight countries (Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa) in Africa, using panel data which spans between 1996-2020. The study data gathered are real gross domestic product which is dependent variable while, export, import, total health expenditure, education and governance proxied government effectiveness which were sourced from WDI and WGI database, 2021. The study adopted Hausman and Wald, Pedroni residual cointegration, fixed and random effects and Dumitrescu Hurlin panel causality tests as an estimating technique. It was revealed from outcome that cointegration test indicates long run nexus among the variables during the periods under review. Also, Hausman and Wald findings that fixed effects as an estimating technique proved to be appropriate for the analysis. Thus, the result revealed from fixed effects findings that public health expenditure is inversely significant affect economic growth in each country. While it was revealed that both public health expenditure and government effectiveness exert negative significant effect on economic growth. Meanwhile lagged of public health expenditure, government effectiveness and population exert positive effect on economic growth. From panel causality findings revealed that there is bidirectional causal nexus among the variables. In light of this, the study ends with policy suggestions that will undoubtedly, go beyond the sustainable development objectives, which are not even close to being realistic in the chosen nations. Furthermore, the health sector has to be improved immediately, particularly in the areas of timely delivery and high-quality investment. Low performance is a result of insufficient transparency and unproductive targets for total health spending. Thus, in order to enhance health condition via investing in health care, investments in the health sector, particularly those related to healthcare quality, should be closely scrutinised and managed.

Potential Impact of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on Pakistan’s National Integration

Irshad Muhammad Saqib, Hamza Arshad, Muhammad Ayaz, Mahtab Zahra — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a comprehensive strategy aimed at fostering socioeconomic progress and facilitating global regional integration. Within South Asia, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a key component of BRI, with the potential to enhance regional integration and bolster national unity within Pakistan. However, the implementation of CPEC has led to various tensions between the central and provincial governments of Pakistan. Therefore, the current study attempted to examine the impact of CPEC on addressing inter-provincial and federal-provincial disparities through compromises and dialogues. By analyzing the relationship between economic development and national integration, insights from the theory of nation-building shed light on the key factors driving this discourse. The study concluded that when economic development is equitable and inclusive, it may help to create a sense of shared identity and belongingness among the citizens of a country. It is important to ensure that the benefits of economic development are shared equitably among all provinces of Pakistan.

Foreign Aid and Economic Development: The Case of Pakistan

Ihtsham Ul Haq Padda, Naeem Akram, Talah Numan Khan — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Foreign aid plays an important role in the development of developing countries. However, loans and grants can have opposite impacts. This study evaluates the role of foreign aid on the development of Pakistan. The Autoregressive Distributed Lags Model (ARDL) is used for the empirical analysis. The results depicted that foreign aid has adverse effect on the development of Pakistan both in short run and long run. It is also
found that in the short run the role of IMF is positive but insignificant. However, in the long run the role of IMF is positive and significant at 10% level for the economic development of the country. The research also proposes few alternative policy measures in order to minimize the dependency on the foreign economic assistance and encourages reliance on the internal resource generation.

Bilateral Trade Potential Between Pakistan and North African Countries

Muneeb Ur Rahman, Aadersh Hamza — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

North Africa is an economically prosperous region of Africa. It is considered to be one of the wealthiest regions of the African continent both due to its natural resources and closeness to the European market and its proximity to international trade routes. Although, Pakistan has been regularly interacting with African countries on a broad range of regional and global challenges, yet a vast potential of mutual trade remains mostly untapped. Particularly the bilateral trade and economic potential on both sides has not been fully explored. The level of trade and economic cooperation is far below the potential. The diverse economies of North African countries and Pakistan with particular strengths in textile, agriculture, services, infrastructure development,manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, defense equipment and tourism provide promising prospects for cooperation and its expansion can boost the economic growth on each side. Given the economic and growing strategic significance of North African countries, this study aims to explore Bilateral Trade Potential between Pakistan and North African Countries. Secondary data for this study was gathered from reliable sources such as government reports, academic journals and international trade databases including trade volumes and economic indicators for both North African countries and Pakistan. Descriptive and analytical approach was used to identify barriers, patterns and potential trade areas between Pakistan and North African Countries. The study conclude that it is the era of geo-economics and Pakistan must synchronize with evolving international trends. The current level of trade and economic cooperation is far below the potential and lacks the requisite vigor. Pakistan and the North African region must take full
advantage of economic trade, and economic potential on both sides. Therefore, it is suggested to strengthen institutional frameworks by reducing tariffs, simplifying customs procedures, and harmonizing regulatory frameworks which can create a favorable environment for long-term trade and cooperation.

Profitability of Reversals in Emerging Asian Economies: Role of Industries as Drivers

Ali Fayyaz Munir — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 10:22:59 +0000

The current study attempted to examine the predictive ability of industry-specific factors for contrarian strategy payoffs in the Asian emerging markets, that is, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. By employing portfolio formation and subsequent rebalancing methodology, the empirical findings provided evidence for short-term industry contrarian effect. Using the data spanning different market states, the study determined that industry contrarian effect was stronger during the Asian and global financial crisis. On the other hand, industry momentum effect was evident after the global financial crisis and during the COVID-19 epidemic. The overall findings imply that industrial aspect cannot be neglected while interpreting the returns
of trading strategies in emerging markets. A market timing-based contrarian strategy incorporating industrial factors may create the possibilities of higher strategy returns. The findings imply that the emerging markets in South Asia are not weak-form efficient because various industry-related factors offer higher return opportunities to investors and fund managers.