Croatian Review of Economic, Business and Social Statistics

Foreign direct investment, foreign aid and economic growth nexus in Kenya: A cointegration and causality analysis

Mercy T. Musakwa — 2024-03-01

The increasing role of foreign capital inflows in reducing the disparity between government revenues and costs as well as impellent economic growth has motivated this study to establish the direction of causality between foreign direct investment (FDI), foreign aid, and economic growth in Kenya. By using annual time series data from 1970 to 2020 within bounds testing approach to cointegration and the error correction model ECM-based Granger-causality, the study found a bidirectional causality between foreign aid and economic growth in the short run and a unidirectional causal flow from foreign aid to economic growth in the long run. The results also support evidences of bidirectional causality between FDI and foreign aid in the short run and a unidirectional causal flow from foreign aid to FDI in the long run. However, the study found no causal relationship between FDI and economic growth, irrespective of whether the causality test is conducted in the short run or in the long run. These empirical findings are encouragement to policy makers in Kenya to carefully channel foreign aid in productive sectors to positively influence economic growth and foreign direct investment, as most relevant targets in achieving Vision 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The role of labour productivity within Algeria's sustainable economic development: Findings from agricultural sector

Bouazza Elamine Zemri — 2024-03-01

Despite Algeria's abundant natural resources, achieving sustainable growth and prosperity remains challenging. Amid this, labour productivity within the agricultural sector stands as a silent warrior, holding within its grasp the secrets to propel the Algerian economy forward. Therefore, this study tries to uncover the pivotal role of labour productivity in Algeria's agricultural sector as a beacon for sustainable economic development. Using an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model from 1990-2021, the results reveal that agricultural gross production value, inflation, and population growth are significant determinants of GDP per capita in the short-run, while agricultural value added per worker also emerges as an essential long-run driver. However, agricultural employment is shown to have an insignificant impact, indicating declines in the sector's workforce and neglect in recent years. Overall, the analysis confirms the hypotheses of either short-term or long-term connections between labour productivity and sustainable economic development within Algeria's agricultural sector. These findings illuminate a pathway that suggests revitalising the labour productivity within Algeria's agricultural sector could be a key lever in transforming Algeria's economic landscape towards a more prosperous and sustainable future.

The safe haven feature of gold in the recent crisis: Rolling regression approach

Josip Arnerić — 2024-03-01

The global repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial adverse impact on the overall economy, resulting in equity markets decline worldwide. Amidst this turbulent environment, plagued with uncertainty, investors have redirected their attention towards secure assets to protect their capital. In that context the main objective is to reevaluate whether gold still demonstrates the qualities of a safe haven investment during unprecedented events like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukrainian war, events distinct from past crisis we have experienced for example 2008 and 1987. For the same reason, a rolling regression between gold and the S&P500 index was employed, taking into account the time-varying properties of daily returns and opting for an optimal window size. The findings indicate that significant neg[1]ative slope coefficients coincide with the COVID-19 pandemic and the initiation of the Ukrainian war. These results offer empirical evidence that gold continues to maintain a robust position as a safe haven in the perception of investors. Nevertheless, it is essential to emphasize that there is no universally applicable safe haven; the safety features of different assets fluctuate over time, depending on the specific market conditions and the nature of financial turmoil.

Effects of women decision making power on rural children nutritional status in Ogun State of Nigeria

Kazeem Oriyomi Aboaba — 2024-03-01

Women's authority over specific family decisions tends to increase their financial security and power, which has an impact on their children's general health and well-being. A multistage sampling process was employed to choose 120 households. Primary data on the children's nutritional status, the household's socioeconomic characteristics, and women decision making were gathered using a well-structured questionnaire. The children's mean body mass index was 9.62 kg/m², indicating underweight. It was also demonstrated that women had little influence over the quantity of farm produce consumed or sold, nor the number and spacing of their children. On the other hand, rural women make decisions about the daily diet of the home, the education of the children, the kind of medical assistance the child receives while ill, and the amount of parental guidance the youngster receives. However, the women decision making index (WDMI) which measures the negotiating power of women was 0.537. With the age of the mother, gender of child, women decision making index, farm size, farmers association, and farming experience influencing the children nutritional status. Therefore, as it tends to improve the nutritional outcomes for children, it is advised that women be given more control.

Uloga produktivnosti ustanova rehabilitacije u hrvatskom zdravstvenom turizmu: primjena Malmquist indeksa

Lana Kordić — 2024-03-01

Razvoj zdravstvenog turizma ponajviše je definiran globalnim zdravstvenim trendovima, koji osim promjena odnosa potrošača prema zdravlju, uključuju personalizaciju zdravstvenih usluga, implementaciju novih tehnologija i inovacija te održive medicinske prakse. Dodatno, ponuda zdravstvenog turizma se intenzivirala uslijed COVID-19 pandemije i stoga zdravstveni turizam ima veliki potencijal postati jedan od vodećih turističkih proizvoda. Sukladno navedenim razvojnim potencijalom, ali i trendovima na koje pružatelji usluga moraju odgovoriti, cilj rada je istražiti ukupnu faktorsku produktivnost lječilišta i specijalnih bolnica za medicinsku rehabilitaciju u Hrvatskoj tijekom razdoblja 2016. - 2021. Time će se utvrditi je li se u promatranom periodu promijenila produktivnost navedenih zdravstvenih ustanova, koje pružaju pretežito lječilišne usluge i na međunarodnom tržištu te koji su uzroci mogućih promjena. U tu je svrhu korištena analiza omeđivanja podataka (AOMP) i Malmquist indeks produktivnosti (MI). U promatranom je razdoblju ukupna faktorska produktivnost rasla za 1,63% godišnje kao rezultat pozitivnih tehnoloških promjena u prosjeku od 0,55%, dok je tehnička djelotvornosti porasla za 0,42%. Stoga se zaključuje kako su ustanove zdravstvenog turizma, inovacijama poboljšale usluge u skladu s navedenim trendovima, uz istodoban rast relativne tehničke djelotvornosti, koji pak ukazuje na poboljšanje djelotvornosti upravljačkih tijela u istim tim ustanovama.