Does personal freedom matter for financial development in Africa?

Figures & data

Figure 1. Theoretical framework of personal freedom and financial development. Legal Environment. (Rule of Law and Security & Safety). Authors’ Own Construct.

Table 1. Summary statistics for financial development and personal freedom in Africa.

Summary statistics	FD	PF	TO	GGE	GDPG	FDI	INFL	EF
Mean	24.047	6.480	66.449	14.501	3.877	3.627	8.202	6.069
Median	15.013	6.550	58.402	14.008	4.218	2.169	4.270	6.010
Maximum	142.422	8.990	216.237	43.484	33.629	46.275	557.202	8.260
Minimum	0.000	3.090	9.955	0.952	−36.392	−11.197	−16.860	3.580
Std. Dev.	26.024	1.136	31.143	6.391	4.458	5.421	34.236	0.799
Skewness	2.375	−0.284	1.488	1.412	−1.324	3.714	13.107	0.142
Kurtosis	8.407	2.662	6.277	6.455	19.059	21.763	188.535	2.814
Jarque-Bera	1470	12	556	565	7516	11555	996260	3
Probability	0.000	0.002	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.000	0.197

Note. FD: Financial development; PF: Personal freedom; TO: Trade openness; GGE: General government expenditure; GDPG: Gross domestic product growth; FDI: Foreign direct investment; INFL: Inflation; and EF: Economic freedom.

Table 2. Panel unit root test.

Test	EF	FD	FDI	GDPG	GGE	INFL	PF	TO
Levin, Lin & Chut	−8.157^a	−9.475^a	−8.089^a	−7.201^a	−11.653^a	−40.644^a	−7.137^a	−13.491^a
Im, Pesaran and Shin W-stat	−9.328^a	−9.063^a	−14.41^a	−4.172^a	−11.951^a	−14.525^a	−7.731^a	−13.055^a
ADF - Fisher Chi-square	241.188^a	232.117^a	363.82^a	159.14^a	291.222^a	256.809^a	207.417^a	352.215^a
PP - Fisher Chi-square	459.974^a	412.974^a	161^a	298.399^a	539.82^a	596.762^a	343.87^a	515.23^a

Note. (^a), (^b), and (^c) denote a rejection null hypothesis at 1%, 5%, and 10%, respectively.

Table 3. Test for cross-sectional dependence.

Test	EF	FD	FDI	GDPG	GGE	INFL	PF	TO
Breusch-Pagan LM	3151.92^a	6351.67^a	1509.21^a	1739.99^a	3292.74^a	1871.80^a	3478.00^a	3253.37^a
Pesaran scaled LM	60.05^a	141.07^a	18.46^a	24.31^a	63.62^a	27.64^a	68.31^a	62.62^a
Bias-corrected scaled LM	59.05^a	140.07^a	17.46^a	23.31^a	62.62^a	26.64^a	67.31^a	61.62^a
Pesaran CD	18.93^a	51.55^a	6.47^a	24.84^a	3.47^a	19.24^a	6.92^a	13.96^a

Note. (^a), (^b), and (^c) denote a rejection null hypothesis at 1%, 5%, and 10%, respectively.

Table 4. Slope of heterogeneity test.

$\widehat{\Delta }$	P-Value	${\widehat{\Delta }}_{\mathit{\text{adj}}}$	P-Value
9.123^a	0.000	8.621^a	0.000

Note. (^a), (^b), and (^c) denotes a rejection null hypothesis at 1%, 5%, and 10%, respectively.

Table 5. Panel Quantile Regression (PQR) estimation.

$\mathrm{Q}$	PF	GDPG	FDI	GGE	INFL	TO	EF
0.050	−0.157	−0.764	−0.324	3.219^a	3.688^a	0.915	9.315^a
0.100	−0.520	−1.245	−1.079	4.153^a	2.782^a	1.630^c	11.611^a
0.150	0.111	−1.907^c	−0.999	4.376^a	1.739^c	1.045	10.872^a
0.200	0.175	−1.990^b	−1.332	4.200^a	1.145	1.472	10.854^a
0.250	−0.022	−1.706^c	−1.351	4.897^a	0.885	1.342	10.389^a
0.300	−0.485	−1.849^c	−1.471	6.011^a	0.393	1.444	9.989^a
0.350	−1.141	−1.687^b	−1.982^b	6.582^a	0.057	2.179^b	9.047^a
0.400	−0.854	−1.526	−2.323^b	6.770^a	−0.252	2.521^a	8.364^a
0.450	−0.176	−2.008^b	−2.264^b	6.911^a	−0.533	1.874^c	8.352^a
0.500	−0.721	−2.142^b	−2.121^b	6.391^a	−0.719	1.825^c	8.105^a
0.550	−0.815	−2.406^b	−1.644^c	6.399^a	−0.802	1.960^b	8.127^a
0.600	−0.895	−2.212^b	−0.695	5.857^a	0.411	1.561	7.580^a
0.650	−1.144	−2.047^b	−1.131	3.859^a	0.779	1.690^c	5.497^a
0.700	−1.705^C	−1.846^c	−0.975	2.751^a	0.948	1.134	3.858^a
0.750	−4.538^a	−2.802^a	−3.158^a	3.219^a	2.013^b	3.754^a	8.573^a
0.800	−6.287^a	−3.056^a	−3.886^a	3.250^a	2.318^b	3.781^a	10.174^a
0.850	−5.448^a	−3.340^a	−3.844^a	2.928^a	2.516^b	3.172^a	10.024^a
0.900	−4.429^a	−2.569^a	−4.477^a	3.461^a	1.929^b	1.328	15.419^a
0.950	1.904^c	−1.256	−1.367	6.299^a	0.442	−1.795^c	5.329^a

Note. (^a), (^b), and (^c) represent the significance level at 1% 5% and 10% respectively.

Data availability statement

The data used in the study will be made available on request.