Albania has experienced a rapid transition from a centrally planned economy to a mixed economy since the fall of communism in 1989. Policy changes, trade liberalization, and privatization have come about at a rapid pace, allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) and international trade to become key components of Albania’s economy. Against this backdrop, this study investigates the relationships among FDI, trade, and economic growth in Albania. Annual time-series data were obtained from the World Bank. Then, the following econometric tests were performed on the variables representing FDI inflows, exports, and GDP as proxies for FDI, trade, and economic growth: the unit root test; the unit root test with a structural break; Johansen cointegration analysis; the error correction model; and the Granger causality test. The results revealed a long-term relationship between FDI, trade, and economic growth. The Granger causality tests found unidirectional causality. Economic growth brought about exports and FDI in the short term but not vice versa. In conclusion, policymakers need to design policies that promote technology-based, export-promoting FDI to meet the needs of the economy and develop specialized sectors that are competitive in the global market. Furthermore, the salient takeaway is that the penetration of export markets should be promoted as much as the furtherance of FDI.

Purpose: This study aims to better understand the phenomenon of corruption in Tunisia in relation to its impact on economic development. The period of study is 1995 to 2014. The auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) model is adopted to examine the existence of a long-term relationship between the above-mentioned variables and also the direct and indirect consequences of corruption on economic development in Tunisia.Design/methodology/approach: The study uses a modern econometric technique to estimating the long-term relationship (e.g. the co-integration) between corruption and economic development; using this technique also allows us to investigate the impact of corruption on economic growth.Findings: The empirical results show that corruption has a negative effect on per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in Tunisia for the period under review. This effect is described as a direct effect of corruption in the long term; specifically, declines are observed in per capita GDP, over the long run, by almost 1 per cent, following a 1 per cent increase in the level of corruption. The results also show that corruption has indirect effects via transmission channels, such as investment in physical capital, which is positively significant in the presence of corruption. The same observation is made at the level of government expenditure during the previous year, while for those of the current year, the coefficient becomes negative but not significant. With respect to human capital, the impact of corruption on education expenditures is insignificant.Originality/value: The paper begins with an overview of previous literature in this area. Given the nature of corruption and the differences in the meanings attributed to it, from one country to another and from one culture to another, the paper moves on to study the impact of corruption in Tunisia as a case study for one country with one socio-cultural environment. The authors then propose several methods and possible solutions, which could be implemented to deal with this problem.

This paper investigates the sources of Egypt's economic growth over the course of four generations of reforms from 1991 to 2019. To examine the contribution of input factors to economic growth, we used the augmented Solow model, which includes both human and physical capital accumulation. Variables employed in the analysis are Gross Domestic Product, capital, productivity, human capital, and employment. The study uses quantile regression econometric modeling to examine the sources of growth in the Egyptian economy at various stages of reform and the convergence of income segmentations. Quantile Regression (QR) estimates for quantiles 0.1 through 0.9 showed varied results. Productivity's coefficient increased from 0.27 in Q1 to 0.60 in Q8 which means that productivity has clearly had a large impact on the higher stages of economic growth. In addition, the higher income segmentations we go, the higher impact of productivity it gets. However, Capital and Human Capital go in the opposite direction where coefficients of capital deteriorated gradually from 0.3 in Q1 to 0.1 in Q9, and coefficients of human capital decreased from 0.15 for Q1 to reach 0.04 for Q9. Therefore, the main culprit behind this phenomenon is the deficiency in the savings rate and the increase in the population growth rate. For labor, its coefficient is negative all the time. It declined from -1.03 for Q1 to -1.46 for Q9. It indicates that the Egyptian economy is filled with disguised unemployment and exhausts all its potential for job creation. Moreover, this evidence indicates that productivity and human capital accumulation have become the most important sources of growth. The weak growth performance is attributed to the deficiency of investment in both physical and human capitals. Furthermore, the findings show that economic growth is closely linked to trends in human capital, productivity, and capital, all of which are heavily influenced by savings volatility and population growth rates. Therefore, the Egyptian economy's economic growth cycle is determined by savings and population growth rates. When these rates become in the trends enabling human capital, productivity, and capital to boom, strong capital accumulation appears and boosts economic growth and vice versa.

This study examines and evaluates the dynamic causality relationship between immigration, unemployment, wages and GDP per capita in host countries with a focus on Australia. Previous research has indicated that the economic impact of immigration is significant; nonetheless, its effect on the labour market being positive or negative is inconclusive. This study uses a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) to examine the dynamic short- and long-run nexus between these variables in Australia over the period 1980–2016. The paper provides clear evidence to policy makers on the positive spillover effect of immigration policies developed by the Australian government.

This empirical study undertakes a rigorous examination of the environmental sustainability impact of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on its member countries. Employing a robust difference-in-difference quasi-natural experimental technique, our analysis spans a panel of 69 countries, covering the years from 1990 to 2022. Our primary metric for assessing ecological strain is the total Ecological Footprint consumption (EFP), measured in global hectares, which encapsulates the ecological exhaustion resulting from economic activities. This study not only contributes to the growing body of literature on the BRI’s economic, social, and environmental impacts but also distinguishes itself by providing experimental evidence of its environmental repercussions 10 years post-initiative commencement for member countries and 4 years for African countries in which the majority joined in 2018. Our findings reveal a significant increase in ecological footprint consumption among the BRI member countries after 2014, implying that participation in the BRI has contributed to heightened ecological depletion in these nations. Additionally, our analysis highlights the same impact for African countries, where ecological footprint consumption substantially escalated after joining the BRI in 2018. This pivotal discovery calls for the attention of not only the Chinese government, a driving force behind the BRI, but also all member countries partaking in this international collaboration. It signals a potential ecological deficit and future productivity impairment, urging stakeholders to reconsider and address the environmental ramifications of their endeavors.