Politique d'ouverture commerciale et instabilité de la croissance économique : Le cas des pays du Moyen Orient et d’Afrique du Nord

Abstract

This paper studies the impact of trade openness policy on economic growth volatility in Middle Eastern and North African countries. The observed trade openness is divided into natural openness and trade openness policy. Natural openness is determined by a country’s structural and geographical characteristics while trade openness policy depends on policy makers’ decisions. First, a specific indicator is elaborated for the trade openness policy. Then, the impact of trade openness policy is econometrically tested on 13 countries of the Middle East and North Africa over 1960-1999. The results show that countries with a more open trade policy are less volatile.Middle East and North Africa., economic growth volatility, Trade openness policy