Technical Progress and Endogenous Growth: An Econometric Analysis Using Panel Data on the MENA Region

From the dawn of the Christian era until the Industrial Revolution, the standard of living saw little to no change and remained relatively stable during this period. However, since the Industrial Revolution, living standards have experienced sustained growth up to the present day. The Solow model attributes this growth to technical progress, but where does this progress come from? To truly understand economic growth, we must therefore go beyond the Solow model and attempt to explain technical progress itself. The objective of this work is to identify and specify the factors that may explain technical progress (in other words, what causes growth in A (PGF)?). To this end, initially, we relied on a set of theoretical works ( (Romer, 1990; Lucas, 1988; Barro, 1990; Aghion, Blundell, Griffith, Howitt, & Prantl, 2009), among others) which led us to a set of recommendations. Therefore, in a second step, we proceed to an empirical analysis using panel data to test the significance of the impact of this set of recommendations on technical progress in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Our econometric results show that there is still much to be done in the MENA region to catch up with the United States, Sweeden, Switzerland, Japan, Germany or France: the establishment of a research and innovation system based on the needs of economic and social development, an increase in the budget allocated to research, massive investment by the private sector in universities, the strengthening and creation of institutions, etc

Technical progress and endogenous growth: an econometric analysis using panel data on the MENA región

From the dawn of the Christian era until the industrial revolution, the standard of living saw little to no change and remained relatively stable during this period. However, since the industrial revolution, living standards have experienced sustained growth up to the present day. The Solow model attributes this growth to technical progress, but where does this progress come from? To truly understand economic growth, we must therefore go beyond the Solow model and attempt to explain technical progress itself. The objective of this work is to identify and specify the factors that may explain technical progress (in other words, what causes growth in A?). To this end, initially, we relied on a set of theoretical works ( (Romer, 1990; Lucas, 1988; Barro, 1990; Aghion, Blundell, Griffith, Howitt, & Prantl, 2009), among others) which led us to a set of recommendations. Therefore, in a second step, we proceed to an empirical analysis using panel data to test the significance of the impact of this set of recommendations on technical progress in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Our econometric results show that there is still much to be done in the MENA region to catch up with the United States, Germany, France, or Japan: the establishment of a research and innovation system based on the needs of economic and social development, an increase in the budget allocated to research, massive investment by the private sector in universities, the strengthening and creation of institutions, etc

Impact of AfCFTA implementation on the Moroccan economy: A CGE modeling assessment

The main objective of this research is to try to make an ex ante assessment of trade liberalization between Morocco and African Countries, within the framework of the AfCFTA, on production and value added by industry and on foreign trade, distinguishing between African and non-African partners. Therefore, this work addresses the effects of creation and/or diversion of trade with the two regions. It is also a question of analyzing the impact of this agreement on the well-being of households, on the use and remuneration of factors, employment (skilled, medium-skilled, and unskilled labor) and on the variation of relative prices. This issue represents a growing interest for public decision-makers for many reasons. The industrial sector in Morocco has become, over the past five years, the leading exporting sector ahead of phosphate products and represents a major stake in terms of industrialization and employment. Other reason relates to the fact that the country’s ambition is to integrate further into GVCs and improve its integration rate to reap the benefits of AfCFTA and avoid problems related to rules of origin. The implementation of this agreement would allow, a priori, the Moroccan industry to benefit from the entry of inputs at lower costs from the Africa zone and to gain access to a large market. This intuition is supported by statistical data on intra-African trade which shows an increasingly important dynamic in terms of trade in manufactured goods. To do this, a national and static CGE Model has been implemented to simulate the impact of the cancellation of customs duties between African countries and Morocco on its economy. This model is based on the standard PEP1-1 model, adapted to the Moroccan case with ad hoc modeling of foreign trade inspired by Boûet (2020). The model is calibrated on a SAM of the year 2018 with a disaggregation of the rest of the world account into two regions: Africa and the rest of the world excluding Africa

Impact of AfCFTA implementation on the Moroccan economy: A CGE modeling assessment

The main objective of this research is to try to make an ex ante assessment of trade liberalization between Morocco and African Countries, within the framework of the AfCFTA, on production and value added by industry and on foreign trade, distinguishing between African and non-African partners. Therefore, this work addresses the effects of creation and/or diversion of trade with the two regions. It is also a question of analyzing the impact of this agreement on the well-being of households, on the use and remuneration of factors, employment (skilled, medium-skilled, and unskilled labor) and on the variation of relative prices. This issue represents a growing interest for public decision-makers for many reasons. The industrial sector in Morocco has become, over the past five years, the leading exporting sector ahead of phosphate products and represents a major stake in terms of industrialization and employment. Other reason relates to the fact that the country’s ambition is to integrate further into GVCs and improve its integration rate to reap the benefits of AfCFTA and avoid problems related to rules of origin. The implementation of this agreement would allow, a priori, the Moroccan industry to benefit from the entry of inputs at lower costs from the Africa zone and to gain access to a large market. This intuition is supported by statistical data on intra-African trade which shows an increasingly important dynamic in terms of trade in manufactured goods. To do this, a national and static CGE Model has been implemented to simulate the impact of the cancellation of customs duties between African countries and Morocco on its economy. This model is based on the standard PEP1-1 model, adapted to the Moroccan case with ad hoc modeling of foreign trade inspired by Boûet (2020). The model is calibrated on a SAM of the year 2018 with a disaggregation of the rest of the world account into two regions: Africa and the rest of the world excluding Africa