Asymmetric openness-growth nexus in 20 highly open OIC countries: Evidence from quantile-on-quantile regression approach

Abstract

This study analyzes the asymmetric association between trade openness and economic growth in 20 highly open Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries. A novel technique, quantile-on-quantile (QQ), is applied by using the data for the period 1991–2018. The results consider the mode of how quantiles of trade openness asymmetrically affect the quantiles of economic growth by giving an appropriate framework to apprehend the overall dependence structure. A positive linkage between trade openness and economic growth is found in United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Suriname, Kuwait, Mauritania, Turkey, Tunisia, Qatar, Brunei, Morocco, Sierra Leone, Bahrain, Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Albania. However, there is a negative association between trade openness and economic growth in Guinea, Guyana and Mozambique. Hence 16 out of 20 OIC countries support the trade-led growth hypothesis. These outcomes intimate that the intensity of asymmetric association in openness-growth nexus varies with countries that require individual attention and caution for governments in postulating the policies related to trade and growth.

KEYWORDS:

• Trade openness
• economic growth
• trade-led growth hypothesis
• Quantile-on-Quantile (QQ) approach

JEL CLASSIFICATIONS:

• F43
• F11
• C12

Acknowledgements

This paper is a part of the first author's thesis for his PhD in Economics from the School of Business and Economics, Universiti Putra, Malaysia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The data for sample OIC countries are missing prior to 1991.

2 The United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Suriname, Mozambique, Mauritania, Turkey, Tunisia, Qatar, Brunei, Morocco, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Albania, Jordan, Bahrain, Guyana and Kuwait.

3 A variety of alternative bandwidth values have also been checked. The outcomes of the estimation, however, remain qualitatively similar.