Open AccessTrade Openness, Economic Growth and Convergence: Evidence from Selected Asian Countries
Author(s) -
Mohd Zaini Abdul Karim
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
malaysian management journal/malaysian management journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2289-6651
pISSN - 0128-6226
DOI - 10.32890/mmj.9.1-2.2005.8774
Subject(s) - openness to experience , economics , convergence (economics) , panel data , international economics , comparative advantage , east asia , trade barrier , international trade , development economics , macroeconomics , econometrics , china , geography , psychology , social psychology , archaeology
It is argued that countries, which adopt an open economic policy, enjoy faster economic growth than countries which do not, suggesting that "trade openness" can spur economic growth. However, the issue is whether the positive impact of trade openness to economic growth varies across countries. Hence, the objective of this paper is to determine whether the effect of openness to trade on economic growth varies across the region in Asia. To achieve this objective, panel data regressions were employed to estimate the growth equation. Empirical results indicated that "trade openness" does have a positive effect on economic growth and the marginal benefit from improved openness is somewhat higher for East Asian Economies relative to other Asian economies.