How Development Stands Apart across Regions: Evidence from Asia, Africa, and Latin America
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63410/jds2025/01საკვანძო სიტყვები:
Regional Inequality, Trade Openness, Human Capital, Institutional Quality, Economic Convergenceანოტაცია
This study investigates the persistence of regional inequalities in global economic development by comparing Asia, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa over the period 1995–2020. While globalization theory predicts income convergence across countries, empirical patterns reveal sharply divergent regional trajectories. Using an unbalanced panel of 31 countries and drawing on data from the World Bank, Penn World Table, Barro-Lee, and Worldwide Governance Indicators, the paper examines how trade openness, human capital, and institutional quality shape per capita income dynamics. The empirical strategy combines descriptive analysis,
panel unit-root and cointegration tests, regional inequality measures (coefficient of variation and Theil index), fixed-effects regressions, and a panel error-correction framework.
The results show evidence of convergence in Asia, stagnation in Latin America, and increasing divergence in Sub-Saharan Africa. Regression estimates indicate that trade openness contributes positively to income growth only when supported by adequate human capital and strong institutions, highlighting the conditional nature of globalization’s benefits. Inequality regressions further suggest that improvements in education and governance reduce regional disparities, while openness alone does not.
Overall, the findings emphasize that reducing global and regional inequalities requires a coordinated development strategy that links external economic integration with sustained investments in human capital and institutional capacity.
Downloads
წყაროები
Abbasov, N. (2022). The nature of innovative economic growth and development directions of its formation. The Journal of Economic Sciences: Theory and Practice, 79(1), 50–68.
Agosin, M. R., Alvarez, R., & Bravo-Ortega, C. (2012). Determinants of export diversification around the world: 1962–2000. The World
Economy, 33(9), 1095–1118. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9701.2011.01395.x
Alliance for Rural Electrification, REN21, & Power for All. (2023). Africa’s energy future is renewable: Flagship report 2023. https://sun-connect.org/wpcont/uploads/Africas-Energy-Future-is-Renewables-Flagship2023.pdf
Bunje, D., Abendin, S., & Wang, M. (2022). The effects of trade openness on economic growth in Africa. Open Journal of Business and Management, 10(3), 1382–1400. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojbm.2022.102035
Bunjo, D. D. (2021). Estimating the relationship between governance, economic growth, inequality and poverty: Evidence from a panel of 81
countries (2000–2016). Theoretical and Practical Research in Economic Fields, 12(1), 33–45. https://doi.org/10.14505/tpref.v12.1(25).03
Fosu, A. K. (2013). Growth of African economies: Productivity, policy syndromes, and the importance of institutions. Journal of African
Economies, 22(4), 523–551. https://doi.org/10.1093/jae/ejs034
Hanushek, E. A., & Woessmann, L. (2012). Schooling, educational achievement, and the Latin American growth puzzle. Journal of Development Economics, 99(2), 497–512. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2012.03.002
Kargbo, J. M. (2017). Institutions and economic performance in sub-Saharan Africa: A comparative analysis. African Development Review,
(1), 49–61. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8268.12232
Kim, Y. E., & Loayza, N. V. (2019). Productivity growth: Patterns and determinants across the world (World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 8852). World Bank. https://doi.org/10.18800/ECONOMIA.201902.003
Mbonigaba, J., & Wilfred, A. G. (2019). Productivity effects of human capital: An empirical investigation of health and higher education in South Africa. Zbornik radova Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci / Proceedings of Rijeka Faculty of Economics: Journal of Economics and Business,
(1), 277–302. https://doi.org/10.18045/zbefri.2019.1.277
Morrell, J. (2006). Why has Asia succeeded while Africa has not? A comparative analysis of economic growth: What factors have driven the
divergence of economic performance between East/SE Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa? Public
Policy & Policy Management. http://hdl.handle.net/10822/555859
Nguyen, C. P., & Su, T. D. (2021). Economic integration and complexity: The role of absorptive capacity in 40 developing countries. Economic
Analysis and Policy, 71, 609–625. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eap.2021.07.001
Onafowora, O. A., & Owoye, O. (2024). Trade openness, governance quality, and economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean. International Economics, 179, 123–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inteco.2024.100527
Onalo, A. E., Obasuyi, E. O., & Ugbodaga, S. U. (2021). Does human capital contribute to economic growth? Evidence from selected African countries. Theoretical Economics Letters, 11(9), 2673–2689. https://doi.org/10.4236/tel.2021.119170
Patel, D. (2021). The new era of unconditional convergence: global evidence and regional divergence. Center for Global Development
Working Paper. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2021.102687
Rivera, B., Leon, M., Cornejo, G., & Florez, H. (2023). Analysis of the effect of human capital, institutionality and globalization on economic
Complexity: Comparison between Latin America and countries with greater economic diversification. Economies, 11(8), 204. https://doi.
org/10.3390/economies11080204
Sawyer, W. (2011). Institutional quality and economic growth in Latin America. Global Economy Journal, 10(4). https://doi.org/
2202/1524-5861.1710
Tinta, A. A. (2022). Financial development, ecological transition, and economic growth in Sub-Saharan African countries: The performing role of the quality of institutions and human capital. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 29(27), 37617–7632.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-18104-y UN-OHRLLS. (2018). Achieving the sustainable development goals in landlocked developing countries: A roadmap for international cooperation. United Nations. https://unohrlls.org/custom-content/uploads/2018/02/LLDCs-Globl-Report-31_01_2018_FINAL.pdf
Vianna, A. C., & Mollick, A. V. (2018). Institutions: Key variable for economic development in Latin America. Journal of Economics and Business,
, 42–58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeconbus.2017.12.002
World Bank. (1997). World Development Report 1997: The state in a changing world. Oxford University Press. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/0e6ee45c-95bf-5467-9796-de44b097fa8d/content
World Bank. (2023). World Development Indicators. https://data.worldbank.org
Yang, Y., Zhang, Y., & Rudnák, I. (2021). China-Hungary trade relations under the Belt and Road Initiative. The Journal of Economic Sciences:
Theory and Practice, 78(2), 89–104.
ჩამოტვირთვები
გამოქვეყნებული
როგორ უნდა ციტირება
გამოცემა
სექცია
ლიცენზია
საავტორო უფლებები (c) 2026 Emil Baghirli
ეს ნამუშევარი ლიცენზირებულია Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 საერთაშორისო ლიცენზიით .
