Does tourism promote economic growth? A fractionally integrated heterogeneous panel data analysis

In this article, we analyse whether tourism promotes economic growth using a general dynamic panel data model that incorporates individual and interactive fixed effects and allows for contemporaneous correlation in model innovations. The empirical study is based on quarterly series of GDP and tourist arrivals for 14 European countries covering the period from 1995 to 2019. Results indicate that the case for a positive long-run relationship between tourism and economic growth is rather weak, being slightly stronger for the period prior to the global economic and financial crisis from 2007 to 2010. When applying panel fractional cointegration techniques, we find evidence in favour of the tourism-led growth hypothesis (TLGH) for the full sample mainly for North European countries. For the pre-crisis period, on the other hand, we find evidence in favour of the TLGH for the relevant tourist destinations Spain and France.

Do Exports Affect Urbanisation in Sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence From the Baltic Dry Index and Panel Regressions With Cross-Sectional Dependence

Unlike other developing countries, urbanisation in sub-Saharan Africa appears to be unaccompanied by an improvement in economic fundamentals. This paper provides new evidence that exports may increase urbanisation in sub-Saharan Africa. To address the issue of reverse causality, we instrument exports with information linked to the Baltic Dry Index, which reflects the shipping cost of primary commodities that the sub-Saharan Africa countries mainly export. To handle a large class of confounding variables and cross-sectional dependence, we employ panel regressions with interactive fixed effects. We find that exports have a sizable positive effect on urbanisation. Interestingly, we also find that exports will lose their statistical significance if cross-sectional dependence is overlooked, suggesting that the true effect of an economic fundamental on urbanisation could be obscured by cross-sectional dependence.

Panel VAR models with interactive fixed effects

Summary In the literature, a common feature of panel models with interactive fixed effects is that they model a univariate variable. In this regard, they are incapable of addressing dynamic and simultaneous interactions among a set of macroeconomic variables, a problem that falls within the realm of structural analysis. This paper aims to contribute to the existing literature by studying a homogeneous panel vector autoregression (VAR) model with interactive fixed effects. The panel VAR model in question is flexible in that it can accommodate an arbitrary lag length and observable regressors that can be individual-specific or common. For factor VAR models with both a large cross-section (C) and a large time (T) dimension, we derive the limiting distribution of the interactive fixed estimator, allowing structural analysis to be extended to panel VAR models with interactive fixed effects.

The comparative African regional economics of globalization in financial allocation efficiency: the pre-crisis era revisited

This study assesses the role of globalization-fueled regionalization policies on the financial allocation efficiency of four economic and monetary regions in Africa from 1980 to 2008. Banking and financial system efficiency proxies are used as dependent variables and seven bundled and unbundled globalization variables are employed as independent indicators. The bundling is achieved by principal component analysis, while the empirical evidence is based on interactive fixed effects regressions. The findings are as follows. First, financial allocation efficiency is more sensitive to financial openness compared to trade openness and most sensitive to globalization. The relationship between allocation efficiency and globalization-fueled regionalization policies is defined by: (i) a Kuznets or inverted U-shaped curve in the UEMOA and CEMAC zones (evidence of decreasing returns for allocation efficiency from globalization-fueled regionalization) and (ii) a U-shaped relationship overwhelmingly in the COMESA and scantily in the EAC (increasing returns to allocation efficiency due to globalization-fueled regionalization). These relationships are relevant to the specific globalization dynamics within regions. Economic and monetary regions are more prone to surplus liquidity than pure economic regions are. Policy implications and measures for reducing surplus liquidity are also discussed.