Exports and growth: Granger causality analysis on OECD countries with a panel data approach

This paper investigates the possibility of Granger causality between the logarithms of real exports and real GDP in twenty-four OECD countries from 1960 to 1997. A new panel data approach is applied which is based on SUR systems and Wald tests with country specific bootstrap critical values. Two different models are used. A bivariate (GDP–exports) model and a trivariate (GDP–exports–openness) model, both without and with a linear time trend. In each case the analysis focusses on direct, one-period-ahead causality between exports and GDP. The results indicate one-way causality from exports to GDP in Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Spain and Sweden, one-way causality from GDP to exports in Austria, France, Greece, Japan, Mexico, Norway and Portugal, two-way causality between exports and growth in Canada, Finland and the Netherlands, while in the case of Australia, Korea, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the UK and the USA there is no evidence of causality in either direction.     

The export-output growth nexus in Japan: a bootstrap rolling window approach

The purpose of this article is to examine the export–output nexus in Japan by taking into account the time variation in the causal link with bootstrap Granger non-causality test and rolling estimation. The data used cover the seasonally adjusted real export and real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the 1957:1–2009:1 period. Standard Granger causality tests indicate no causality between export and real GDP series. On the contrary, full sample-modified Granger causality tests based on bootstrap, which are applicable irrespective of integration–cointegration properties of the data, indicate a bi-directional causal link between exports and real GDP. Accordingly, export growth should be an important factor behind Japan’s high-economic growth in the last three decades. Using parameter stability tests, we show that these results are not uniform for different sample periods and results vary due to structural changes. Using bootstrap rolling window estimation, we find that there is a positive bi-directional predictive power from the mid 1970s to the late-1980s between the series, while from the late 1990s to 2009 there is a positive predictive power only from export growth to output growth.     

Openness in the Canadian economy: 1870–1988

The causal relation between openness and GDP and between exports and imports are examined. Causality test carried out in growth rates showed that over the period 1870–1988 openness, both narrowly and broadly defined, Granger-causes GDP growth; tests for the inverse causality produced mixed results, validating causality from GDP growth to export plus import growth, but rejecting causlaity from GDP growth to export growth; it was also found that export growth causes import growth, but not the opposite. Causality tests over four subperiods indicated the importance of openness for only the earliest phase of Canadian economic development. While the absence of causality in the later subperiods is largely compatible with the experience of the industrial countries, no meaningful comparison can be made between the experience of Canada and that of developing countries owing to causality variations of openness and to large differences in resource endowments.     

中国对外贸易对经济增长作用的实证分析

采用协整检验和格兰杰因果检验的方法,分析了中国对外贸易与经济增长之间的关系。研究表明,对外贸易与经济增长存在长期的稳定关系,且进口的产出弹性相对较大,出口与经济增长之间存在单项的因果关系。因此,中国经济增长还是处于出口导向型的经济增长,同时在加大出口的同时,要重视进口的作用。     

湖南省对外贸易与经济增长关系的实证研究

以湖南省为研究对象,着重探讨对外贸易与经济增长的实证关系。通过运用计量经济学中协整检验分析技术和格兰杰因果关系检验方法,对湖南省对外贸易与经济增长的关系进行实证检验,得出结论:对外贸易与经济增长之间存在长期稳定的关系,但出口与经济增长,进口与经济增长之间仅存在单向因果关系,即进、出口增长是经济增长的原因,而经济增长并不是进、出口增长的原因。     

Balance-of-payments constrained growth model for the Turkish economy

Economists have investigated the relationship between output and export in order to explain economic growth for long years. Numerous studies have found very close correspondence between the growth of output and export. It is commonly known that Thirlwall's papers indicate very tight relationship between the growth of output and the ratio of the growth of exports to the income elasticity of demand for imports. This paper aims to apply Thirlwall's balance-of-payments-constrained (BPC) model for the Turkish economy for 1968–2011 period. This research also evaluates the procedures of testing Thirlwall's principle by estimation of the income elasticity of demand for imports using the test of stationarity and cointegration methods. The findings are in accordance with the Harrod–Thirlwall growth model. The test results of Johansen cointegration procedure and the comments on these results are presented as well.     

The dynamic causality between commodity prices,inflation and output in China: a bootstrap rolling window approach

In this article, we empirically study the time-varying bilateral causality between commodity prices, inflation and output in China. We first perform a series of parameter stability tests and find strong evidence of instability in the parameters estimated for Granger causality tests. We then use the bootstrap rolling window approach to test the causality and find that the causality from commodity prices to both inflation and output is time-varying in the entire sample period and asymmetric in different phases of the business cycle. We also find evidence of the causality from both inflation and output to commodity prices in certain sub-periods. Further discussion on the cost-price mechanism through which the economy fluctuates cyclically suggests that the dynamic causality between commodity prices and inflation contributes to understanding the nature of economic fluctuations and to forecasting economic crises. Overall, our results provide a new perspective to disentangle economic fluctuations.     

重庆FDI、国际贸易及经济增长相关性研究——基于VAR模型的经验实证

本文利用重庆1987—2008年的经济数据进行实证检验,根据VAR模型建立向量误差修正模型。实证结果表明重庆FDI、国际贸易与经济增长间具有长期均衡关系,且FDI和出口对经济增长影响明显,重庆市经济是典型的出口导向型经济模式,出口是导致进口增长的原因,FDI和出口之间存在双向因果关系。     

Measuring comparative advantages in the Euro Area

A core principle in international economics is that the specialization of an economy on the basis of its comparative advantages leads to gains from trade. However, there is no empirical work directly linking comparative advantages and export specialization. This paper investigates whether the comparative advantages of countries have driven their export specialization. Panel unit root tests, panel cointegration tests, and panel causality tests are used to examine this relationship. We also use panel estimation methods that mitigate heterogeneity, cross-sectional dependence and endogeneity. The empirical analysis is based on annual Euro Area data for the period 1995–2016. Empirical results indicate that comparative advantages positively affect export specialization. Heterogeneous panel causality analysis results support that there is unidirectional panel causality running from comparative advantages to export specialization in most countries; and a reverse causal relation in Greece, Italy, and Portugal. Finally, we detect bidirectional causality in Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, and Slovakia.     

Productivity growth and inflation in Europe: Evidence from panel cointegration tests

In this paper we investigate the productivity growth – inflation nexus in fifteen European countries over the period 1961–1999 using panel unit root and panel cointegration tests. Emphasis is placed on the distinction between long-run and short-run causality using recently developed tests appropriate for heterogeneous panel. The empirical results are relevant for the role of the EMU and the Treaty of Maastricht in catching up, real convergence, and the future growth prospects of Europe. The policy implications of the findings are discussed in detail.     

A multivariate time series analysis of energy consumption,real output and pollutant emissions in a developing economy: New evidence from Nepal

Mountain economies will have to play a central role in attaining the global pursuit of green economic growth as crucial bearers of ecosystems goods and services. However, these economies are not adequately represented in the development policy debates in spite of their fundamental importance towards global sustainable development. This study examines the inter relationships between energy consumption, output and carbon emissions in a developing mountainous economy using an augmented Vector Autoregression model. Time-series data over the period 1975–2013 is studied applying a multivariate framework using population and gross fixed capital formation as additional variables for Nepal. Testing for Granger causality between integrated variables based on asymptotic theory reveals a long-run unidirectional Granger causality running from GDP to energy consumption, and a unidirectional Granger causality running from carbon emissions to GDP. We suggest that the government of Nepal can address energy poverty by accelerating the adoption energy conservation policies such as rationing energy consumption and energy efficiency improvements to narrow the energy supply-demand gap. The opportunity to promote the uptake of decentralised off-grid renewable technologies in remote areas and the large scale development of hydropower at the national level also needs to be prioritized. Our results remain robust across different estimators and contributes to an emerging literature on the nexus relationships between energy consumption, income and carbon emissions in mountainous developing economies.     

FDI, services trade and economic growth in India: empirical evidence on causal links

This article examines the linkages between inward FDI, services trade (export and import) and economic output using co-integration and VECM causality test. These linkages have been explored both at the aggregate and at the sectoral levels (manufacturing and services). The empirical findings confirm the long-run relationship among these variables. Causality results indicate the presence of bi-directional causal relationship between FDI and economic output as well as between services exports and economic output. The results also bring out feedback relationship between services export and FDI, reconfirming the presence of complementary relationship between the two. At the sectoral level, we find at least a unidirectional causality from FDI and services exports to both manufacturing and services output and also cross-sectoral spillover effects from manufacturing output to services output and vice versa.     

外向型经济对郑州市经济增长影响的计量分析

文章基于外资、外贸的角度分析了外向型经济与郑州市经济增长的因果关系,并研究了外向型经济所产生经济效果的区域差异性。结果发现:出口贸易与经济增长之间存在双向因果关系,外商直接投资和经济增长之间存在单项因果关系;中心城区的外向型经济指数高于远郊区,工业发展程度高的区域外向型经济指数高于其他区域;外向型经济能够推动工业基础较完善区域的经济发展。     

Re-examining the financial development and economic growth nexus in Kenya

This paper re-examines the causal relationship between financial development and economic growth in Kenya for the period 1966–2005 within a quadvariate vector autoregressive (VAR) framework by including exports and imports as additional variables to the finance–economic growth nexus. We use four conventionally accepted proxies for financial development, namely money supply (M2), liquid liabilities (M3), domestic bank credit to the private sector and total domestic credit provided by the banking sector (all percent of GDP). Applying a modified version of the Granger causality test due to Toda and Yamamoto [Toda, H.Y. and Yamamoto, T., Statistical inference in vector autoregressions with possibly integrated process. Journal of Econometrics 1995; 66; 225–250], our empirical results suggest that in three out of the four measures of financial development we found evidence of a two-way Granger causality: (1) between domestic credit provided by the banking sector and economic growth; (2) between total domestic credit provided by the banking sector and economic growth, and (3) between liquid liabilities and economic growth. This implies that neither the supply-leading nor the demand-following hypotheses are supported in Kenya and that economic growth and financial development are jointly determined, or they complement each other. A major implication of our finding is that financial development promotes economic growth in Kenya and that policies at enhancing the development of the financial sector can help to spur economic growth.     

Causal relationship between stock returns and real economic growth in the pre- and post-crisis period: evidence from China

This article empirically examines the causality in mean and variance between stock returns and real economic growth in China before and after the outbreak of US subprime crisis. Using a nonuniform weighting cross-correlation approach and the multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity model, we found no causality in mean or variance between China’s stock returns and real economic growth for the period before the subprime crisis. Interestingly, however, in the period after the crisis, we detected unidirectional causality in mean from real economic growth to stock returns and unidirectional causality in variance from stock returns to real economic growth. These new findings imply that the linkage between China’s stock market and its real economy has become stronger in the post-crisis period. The implication of our results is that Chinese policymakers should continue the deregulation and improve the efficiency of the stock market to sustain high economic growth rate in the future.     

On the Causality between Export Growth and GDP Growth: An Empirical Reinvestigation

Although conventional wisdom suggests that export growth contributes positively to economic growth, empirical studies on the causal links between exports and output have provided little support for the exportled growth hypothesis. This paper reexamines the direction of causation by handling properly two important issues in causality tests: the characteristics of the data, and the choice of optimal lags. The results of this study show that in a sample of 32 economies, the export-led hypothesis is supported by 17 economies and is strongly supported by 9 economies.     

The effects of oil shocks on government expenditures and government revenues nexus (with an application to Iran's sanctions)

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the dynamic relationship between government revenues and government expenditures in Iran as a developing oil export based economy. Moreover, I want to know how oil price (revenue) shocks can affect this relationship. The results of the impulse response functions and variance decomposition analysis indicate that the contribution of oil revenue shocks in explaining the government expenditures is stronger than the contribution of oil price shocks. Moreover the results of the vector autoregression (VAR) and vector error correction (VEC) models show that the strong causality is running from government revenues to government expenditures (both current and capital) in Iranian economy while the evidence for the reverse causality is very weak. Overall the results support the revenue–spending hypothesis for Iran. My results imply that those sanctions aiming to restrict the Iranian government's oil export revenues, potentially can affect the government total expenditures as an important engine for developing the Iranian economy.     

Causal analyses between exports and economic growth in developing countries

This study investigates the prima facie causal relationship between the exports and output growth in 30 developing countries over the period from 1960 to 1988 in a multivariate framework. The information set considered for the output and exports models are ω = (domestic output, exports, labour and capital), and ω = (exports, domestic output, exchange rate and foreign output) respectively. This study indentities a feedback prima facie causal relationship between exports and output growth in five countries, export growth prima facie causes output growth in another six countries; output growth prima facie causes export growth in a further eight countries; and no causal relationship was observed between export growth and output growth in the remaining 11 countries. We also found that in 15 countries the foreign exchange rate prima facie caused export growth, and that in 12 countries world output caused export growth.     

Energy consumption,employment, output,and temporal causality: evidence from Taiwan based on cointegration and error-correction modelling techniques

In this study, a cointegration analysis and a vector autoregressive model (VAR) are used to examine the causal relationships among energy consumption, employment, and output for Taiwan over the period January 1982 to November 1997. Johansen (1988) and Johansen and Juselius (1990) cointegration test result indicates these three variables are cointegrated with one cointegrating vector. The results from Granger causality tests based on vector error-correction models (VECM) suggest bidirectional Grange causality for employment-output and employment-energy consumption, but only unidirectional causality running from energy consumption to output. Furthermore, the impulse responses and variance decompositions are also incorporated into the analysis. The results from impulsive response and variance decomposition analysis tell similar stories. Energy consumption appears to have led to output growth in Taiwan over this period. The policy implication of this finding is that energy conservation will restrain the output growth in Taiwan.     

我国金融结构与二元经济关系分析——基于协整检验、脉冲响应函数和方差分解的研究

本文构建了我国金融结构与二元经济的协整方程,并通过格兰杰因果关系检验、脉冲响应函数及方差分解来考察它们之间的因果关系及动态变化特征.结果表明:我国金融结构与二元经济存在长期稳定的正相关关系；金融结构是二元经济的收入和消费因子的Granger原因；二元经济的收入和消费因子对金融结构的脉冲响应是正向响应,而产出因子是负向响应；金融结构受自身影响最大,二元经济在滞后3期受金融结构的影响比较显著.最后根据研究结论提出促进金融结构完善和二元经济转换的建议.