The Effect of Education, R&D, and ICT on Economic Growth of Middle-Income Countries

  • Rabia Batool International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan
  • Hamid Hasan International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan
Keywords: Education, ICT, R&D, Economic growth, Digitalization, Middle income countries

Abstract

This manuscript examines the impact of education, Research & Development (R&D) and Information and Communications Technology (ICT), on economic growth of middle-income countries using panel data set from1995 to 2019. We employ panel data set using few tests such as panel unit root test and Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS). The main findings indicate mobile subscriptions (proxy of ICT) has positive effect on economic growth of these countries. Education also positively influences economic growth. R&D has been observed to affect economic growth positively. This study concludes with some policy recommendations and suggestions that may be helpful for future studies. It has been found that an increase of the most educated labor force does not lead to a higher growth rate. Therefore, this study concludes that people with tertiary education must be occupied with strong human capital and cognitive skills

 

References

Abbas, Q. (2001). Endogenous growth and human capital: A comparative study of Pakistan And Sri Lanka. The Pakistan Development Review, 40(4), 987-1007. https://doi.org/10.30541/v40i4IIpp.987-1007

Aghion, P. & Howitt, P. 1992. A model of growth through creative destruction. Econometrica, 60, 323-51. https://doi.org/10.2307/2951599

Aghion, P., Boustan, L., Hoxby, C., & Vandenbussche, J. (2009). The causal impact of education on economic growth: evidence from US. Brookings papers on economic activity, 1(1), 1-73.

Altinok, N. (2007). Human capital quality and economic growth (working paper). Institut de Recherche sur l’Education

Alvarez-Pelaez, M. J., & Groth, C. (2005). Too little or too much R&D?. European Economic Review, 49(2), 437-456. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0014-2921(03)00045-X

Andrés, J., & Hernando, I. (1999). Does inflation harm economic growth? Evidence from the OECD. In The costs and benefits of price stability (pp. 315-348). University of Chicago Press.

Andrés, J., Hernando, I. & Lopez-Salido, J.D. (2004). The role of the financial system in the growth-inflation link: The OECD experience. European Journal of Political Economy, 20(4), 941-961.

Arnold, L., G. (2002). On the effectiveness of growth-enhancing policies in a model of growth without scale effects. German Economic Review, 3(3), 339-346. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0475.00063

Barro, R. (2001). Economic Growth in East Asia Before and After the Financial Crisis (Working paper 8330). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w8330

Barro, R.J. (1991). Economic growth in a cross section of countries. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 106(2), 407-443. https://doi.org/10.2307/2937943

Bashir, M., Iqbal, M. & Khalid Zaman, K. (2011). Estimating private rate of return on higher education in Pakistan. Review of Economic and Business Studies, 4(1), 179-197.

Blanco L., Gu, J. & Prieger, J., (2016). The impact of research and development on economic growth and productivity in the U.S. States. Southern Economic Journal, 82(3), 914-934. https://doi.org/10.1002/soej.12107

Bouaissa, M. (2009). Human capital theory, returns to education and on the job learning: evidence from the Canadian data, preliminary and incomplete version. CEA, 43rd Annual Conference, University of Toronto, Ontario.

Bronzini, R., & Piselli, P. (2009). Determinants of long-run regional productivity with geographical spillovers: The role of R&D, human capital and public infrastructure. Regional science and urban economics, 39(2), 187-199.

Brynjolfsson, E., & Hitt, L. M. (2003). Computing productivity: Firm-level evidence. Review of economics and statistics, 85(4), 793-808. https://doi.org/10.1162/003465303772815736

Bucci, A. (2008). Population growth in a model of economic growth with human capital accumulation and horizontal R&D. Journal of Macroeconomics, 30(3), 1124-1147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmacro.2007.07.011

Cardona, M., Kretschmer, T., Strobel, T., 2013. ICT and productivity: Causality. International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, 3(2), 133-139.

Chi, W. (2008). The role of human capital in China's economic development: Review and new evidence. China Economic Review, 19(3), 421-436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chieco.2007.12.001

Coe, D. T. (1995). Elhanan Helpman and Alexander W. Hoffmaister. North-South R&D Spillovers (Working Paper No WP/94/144) International Monetary Fund. https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451856385.001

Cohen, W., & Levinthal, D. (1989). Innovation and Learning: The two faces of R&D. Economic Journal, 99, 569-96. https://doi.org/10.2307/2233763

Jorgenson, D. W., & Stiroh, K. J. (1999). Information technology and growth. American Economic Review, 89(2), 109-115. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.89.2.109

Draca, M., Sadun, R., & Van Reenen, J. (2007). Productivity and ICT: A Review of the Evidence, In Mansell, R., C. Avgerou, D. Quah and R.Silverstone The Oxford Handbook of Information and Communication Technologies. Oxford, UK.

Eggoh, J. C., & Muhammad, K. (2014). On the nonlinear relationship between inflation and economic growth. Research in Economics, 68(2014), 133-143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rie.2014.01.001

Fischer, S. (1993). The role of macroeconomic factors in growth. Journal of Monetary Economics, 32(3), 485-511. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3932(93)90027-D

Frantzen, D. (2000). R&D, human capital and international technology spillovers: A cross-country analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 102(1), 57-75. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9442.00184

Grossman, G. M., & Helpman, E. (1993). Innovation and growth in the global economy. MIT press.

Mankiw, N. G., Romer, D., & Weil, D. N. (1992). A contribution to the empirics of economic growth. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 107(2), 407-437. https://doi.org/10.2307/2118477

Myovella, G., Karacuka, M., & Haucap, J. (2020). Digitalization and economic growth: A comparative analysis of Sub-Saharan Africa and OECD economies. Telecommunications Policy, 44(2), 101856. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2018.08.005

Gemmell, N. (1996). Evaluating the impacts of human capital stock and accumulation on economic growth: some new evidence. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 58, 9-28. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0084.1996.mp58001002.x

Ghosh, A., & Phillips, S. (1998). Warning: Inflation may be harmful to your growth. Staff Papers, 45(4), 672-710. https://doi.org/10.2307/3867589

Griffith, R., Redding, S., & Reenen, J. V. (2004). Mapping the two faces of R&D: Productivity growth in a panel of OECD industries. Review of economics and statistics, 86(4), 883-895. https://doi.org/10.1162/0034653043125194

Grossman, G. M., & Helpman, E. (1991). Trade, knowledge spillovers, and growth. European economic review, 35(2-3), 517-526. https:// doi.org/10.1016/0014-2921(91)90153-A

Gyimah-Brempong, K., Paddison, O. and Mitiku, W. (2006). Higher education and economic growth in Africa. Journal of Development Studies, 42(3), 509-529. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220380600576490

Hall, B. H., Mairesse, J., & Mohnen, P. (2010). Measuring the Returns to R&D. In Handbook of the Economics of Innovation. North-Holland. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-7218(10)02008-3

Hanif, N., & Arshed, N., (2016). Relationship between School Education and Economic Growth: SAARC Countries. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 6(1), 294-300.

Iqbal, N., & Nawaz, S. (2009). Investment, inflation and economic growth nexus. The Pakistan Development Review, 863-874. https:// doi.org/10.30541/v48i4IIpp.863-874

ITU, (2018). Measuring the Information Society Report 2018. Retrieved from https://rb.gy/maywi

Benhabib, J., & Spiegel, M. M. (1994). The role of human capital in economic development evidence from aggregate cross-country data. Journal of Monetary economics, 34(2), 143-173. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3932(94)90047-7

Jones, C. I., & Williams, J. C., (1998). Measuring the social return to R&D. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 113, https://doi.org/10.1162/003355398555856

Jones, C. I., & Williams, J. C. (2000). Too much of a good thing? The economics of investment in R&D. Journal of economic growth, 5, 65-85. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009826304308

Keller, K. R. (2006). Investment in primary, secondary, and higher education and the effects on economic growth. Contemporary Economic Policy, 24(1), 18-34. https://doi.org/10.1093/cep/byj012

Khan, J., & Rehman, K. N. (2014). The Significance of Research and Development for Economic Growth: The Case of Pakistan (MPRA paper no. 56005). MPRA

Krueger, A. B., & Lindahl, M. (2001). Education for growth: Why and for whom?. Journal of economic literature, 39(4), 1101-1136. https://doi.org/10.3386/w7591

Lee, J., Cerreto, F., & Lee, J., 2009. Teachers' intentions toward technology usage: Do different uses lead to different determinants? In C. D. Maddux (Ed.), Research highlights in technology and teacher education (pp. 179-187). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

Levine, R.(1997).Financial development and economic growth: Views and agenda. Journal of Economic Literature, 35(2), 688-726. https:// doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000004425

Lichtenberg, F.R. (1992). R&D investment and international productivity differences (NBER Working Paper N. 4161). https://doi.org/10.3386/w4161

Lin, T., C. (2006). Alternative measure for education variable in an empirical economic growth model: Is primary education less important?. Economics Bulletin, 15, 1-6.

Liu, C., & Armer, M. (1993). Education's effect on economic growth in Taiwan. Comparative Education Review, 37(3), 304-321. https:// doi.org/10.1086/447192

Loening, J., Bhaskara R. and Singh, R. (2010). Effects of education on economic growth: Evidence from Guatemala (MPRA Paper 23665). University Library of Munich, Germany.

Lucas, R. (1973). Some international evidence on output-inflation trade-offs. American Economic Review, 63(3), 326-334.

Lucas, R. (1988). On the Mechanics of Economic Development. Journal of Monetary Economics, 22, 3-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3932(88)90168-7

Luintel, K. B., & Khan, M. (2016). R&D, scale effects and spillovers: New insights from emerging countries (Vol. 32). WIPO.

M.R. Ward, Z. Shilin, Mobile telecommunications service and economic growth: evidence from China, Telecommun. Pol. 40 (2016) 89-101, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2015.06.005

Mallik, G. & Chowdhury, A. (2001). Inflation and economic growth: Evidence from South Asian countries. Asian Pacific Development Journal, 8(1), 123-135.

Mankiw, G., Romer, D., & Weil, D. (1992). A contribution to the empirics of economic growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 107, 407-437. https://doi.org/10.2307/2118477

Mc Mahon, W. (1998). Education and growth in East Asia. Economics of Education Review, 17(2), 159-172. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7757(97)00050-2

Mehrara, M. (2007). Energy consumption and economic growth: the case of oil exporting countries. Energy policy, 35(5), 2939-2945.

Mingat, A. & Tan, J. (1996). The full social returns to education: Estimates based on countries economic growth performance. World Bank, Washington, DC.

Mankiw, N. (2003). Macroeconomics. New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Nelson, R. R., & Phelps, E. S. (1966). Investment in humans, technological diffusion, and economic growth. The American economic review, 56(1/2), 69-75.

Niebel, T. (2018). ICT and economic growth-Comparing developing, emerging and developed countries. World Development, 104, 197-211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.11.024

Odit, M. P., Dookhan, K., & Fauzel, S., (2010). The impact of education on economic growth: The case of Mauritius. International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER), 9(8). https://doi.org/10.19030/iber.v9i8.620

Oliner, S. D. & D. E. Sichel (2000). The Resurgence of Growth in the Late 1990s: Is Information Technology the Story? Journal of Economic Perspectives 14(4), 3-22. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.14.4.3

Oliner, S. D., Sichel, D. E., Triplett, J. E., & Gordon, R. J. (1994). Computers and output growth revisited: how big is the puzzle?. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 1994(2), 273-334. https://doi.org/10.2307/2534658

Park, J. (2004). International and intersectoral R&D spillovers in the OECD and East Asian economies. Economic Inquiry, 42(4), 739-757. https://doi.org/10.1093/ei/cbh093

Pegkas, P., & Tsamadias, C. (2015). Does formal education at all levels cause economic growth? Evidence from Greece. Review of Economic and Business Studies,(15), 9-32. https://doi.org/10.1515/rebs-2016-0013

Pereira, J. and Aubyn, M. (2009). What level of education matters most for growth?: Evidence from Portugal. Economics of Education Review, 28(1), 67-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2007.12.001

Petrakis, P. E., & Stamatakis, D. (2002). Growth and educational levels: A comparative analysis. Economics of Education Review, 21(5), 513-521. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7757(01)00050-4

Phillips, P. C., & Hansen, B. E. (1990). Statistical inference in instrumental variables regression with I (1) processes. The Review of Economic Studies, 57(1), 99-125. https://doi.org/10.2307/2297545

Pradhan, R. P. (2009). Education and economic growth in India: Using error correction modelling. International research journal of finance and economics, 25(1), 139-147.

Psacharopoulos, G. (1995). The profitability of investment in education: Concepts and methods, human capital development and operations policy (Working paper No.76). World Bank, Washington, D.C.

Qiang, C. Z. W., (2009). Telecommunications and Economic Growth. Banque mondiale, Washington D.C.

Quah, D. (2002). Technology dissemination and economic growth: Some lessons for the new economy. Technology and the new economy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Romer, P. M. (1990). Endogenous technological change. Journal of political Economy, 98(5, Part 2), S71-S102. https://doi.org/10.1086/261725

Romer, P. M. (1986). Increasing returns and long-run growth. Journal of Political Economy, 94(5), 1002-1037. https://doi.org/10.1086/261420

Saidi, K., & Mongi, C. (2018). The effect of education, R&D and ICT on economic growth in high income countries. Economics Bulletin, 38(2), 810-825.

Saungweme, T. (2021). Inflation and economic growth in Kenya: An empirical examination (Working Paper).

Savvides, A., & Zachariadis, M. (2003). International technology diffusion and TFP growth. forthcoming, Oklahoma: Oklahoma State University, Department of Economics.

Schultz, T. W. (1961), Investment in human capital. The American Economic Review, 51(1), 1-17.

Self, S. & Grabowski, R. (2004). Does education at all levels cause growth? India, a case study. Economics of Education Review, 23(1), 47-55. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7757(03)00045-1

Shah, A. (2011). Pakistan Economic Survey 2010-2011: Manufacturing and Mining. Government of Pakistan.

Shaihani, M., Harisb, A., Ismaila N., & Saida R. (2011). Long run and short run effects on education levels: Case in Malaysia. International Journal of Economic Research, 2(6), 77-87.

Sianesi, B. & Reenen, J. (2003). The returns to education: Mqcroeconomics. Journal of Economic Surveys, 17, 157-200. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6419.00192

Solaki, M. (2013). Relationship between education and GDP growth: A bi-variate causality analysis for Greece. International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, 3(2), 133-139.

Stanley, T. D., Doucouliagos, H., & Steel, P. (2018). Does ICT generate economic growth? A meta-regression analysis. Journal of economic surveys, 32(3), 705-726. https://doi.org/10.1111/joes.12211

Steinmueller, W. E. (2001). ICTs and the Possibilities for Leapfrogging by Developing Countries. International Labour Review, 140(2), 193-210. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1564-913X.2001.tb00220.x

Stiroh, K. J. (2002). Are ICT Spillovers Driving the New Economy? Review of Income and Wealth, 48(1), 33-57. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-4991.00039

Stiroh, K. J. (2005). Reassessing the Impact of IT in the Production Function: A Meta-Analysis and Sensitivity Tests. Annales d'Economie et de Statistique, 79/80, 529-561. https://doi.org/10.2307/20777587

Strulik, H. (2005). The role of human capital and population growth in R&D-based models of economic growth. Review of International Economics, 13(1), 129-145. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9396.2005.00495.x

Niebel, T. (2018). ICT and economic growth–Comparing developing, emerging and developed countries. World development, 104, 197-211.

Tallman, E., &Wang, P. (1994). Human capital and endogenous growth: evidence from Taiwan. Journal of Monetary Economics, 34, 101-124. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3932(94)01152-4

Trajtenberg, M. (1990). Economic analysis of product innovation. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Villa, S. (2005). Determinants of growth in Italy. A time series analysis (Working Paper). University of Foggia, Italy.

Vu, K. M. (2013). Information and communication technology (ICT) and Singapore's economic growth. Information Economics and policy, 25(4), 284-300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoecopol.2013.08.002

Wang, Y., & Liu, S. (2016). Education, Human Capital and Economic Growth: Empirical Research on 55 Countries and Regions (1960-2009). Theoretical Economics Letters, 6, 347-355. https://doi.org/10.4236/tel.2016.62039

World Bank (2012). ICT for Greater Development Impact. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/E

World Bank (2020). World development indicators. Online database

Yousefi, A. (2011). The impact of information and communication technology on economic growth: Evidence from developed and developing countries. Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 20(6), 581-596. https://doi.org/10.1080/10438599.2010.544470

Zachariadis, M. (2003). R&D, innovation, and technological progress: A test of the Schumpeterian framework without scale effects. Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, 36(3), 566-586. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-5982.t01-2-00003

Published
2023-05-31
How to Cite
Rabia Batool, & Hamid Hasan. (2023). The Effect of Education, R&D, and ICT on Economic Growth of Middle-Income Countries. Journal of Management Practices, Humanities and Social Sciences, 7(3), 35-47. https://doi.org/10.33152/jmphss-7.3.5
Section
Articles