Stock market development and economic growth in African frontier markets
Date
2017
Authors
Njomo, Chelsie Wambui
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Strathmore University
Abstract
There are three perspectives that have been used to explain the relationship between financial development and economic growth: the finance-led growth hypothesis, the growth driven finance hypothesis and the bi-directional relationship. As such, the casual relationship between stock market development and economic growth is still the subject of debate in research. This paper aims to address this topic in the context of African frontier markets. The Granger Causality test is applied to determine the direction of causality between stock market development and economic growth in African frontier markets using annual data from 1993-2014. These markets include: South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Mauritius and Morocco. The regression model is estimated using a panel Vector Error Correction Model. The Im, Pesaran and Shin test is conducted to determine the stationarity of the data while the Johansen Fisher test is used to determine the presence of co-integration among the variables. Based on the findings, there exists a long-run causal relationship running from stock market development to economic growth in the African frontier markets. This implies that stock market development promotes economic growth in these countries.
Description
A Research project Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Business Science in Financial Economics at Strathmore University
Keywords
Bi-directional relationship, Finance-led growth hypothesis, Growth driven finance hypothesis, African frontier markets