This study aimed to scrutinize the impact of financial development, energy consumption, industrialization, and trade openness on economic growth in Indonesia over the period 1984–2018. To do so, the study employed the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to estimate the long-run and short-run nexus among the variables. Furthermore, fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), dynamic least squares (DOLS), and canonical cointegrating regression (CCR) were used for a more robust examination of the empirical findings. The result of cointegration confirms the presence of cointegration among the variables. Findings from the ARDL indicate that industrialization, energy consumption, and financial development (measured by domestic credit) positively influence economic growth in the long run. However, financial development (measured by money supply) and trade openness demonstrate a negative effect on economic growth. The positive nexus among industrialization, financial development, energy consumption, and economic growth explains that these variables were stimulating growth in Indonesia. The error correction term indicates a 68% annual adjustment from any deviation in the previous period’s long-run equilibrium economic growth. These findings provide a strong testimony that industrialization and financial development are key to sustained long-run economic growth in Indonesia.

Access to credit is crucial to improve farm performance as it allows farmers to procure inputs and technology. However, on the empirical front, evidence of the impact of agricultural credit access remains scanty. This study examines how access to credit from formal and informal sources influences the productivity and technical efficiency of maize farming in ten major maize-producing provinces in Indonesia. Secondary Food Crops Survey data by Statistics Indonesia were employed and analyzed using a quasi-experimental approach, i.e., the propensity score matching (PSM). The estimation shows that agricultural credit access improves farm performance. In fact, the ability to obtain credit from institutions increased productivity and technical efficiency more effectively than from informal sources. This study suggests that agricultural credit access remains relevant in Indonesia and needs to be improved continuously.

This study aims to investigate the influence of the volatility of exchange rates on manufacturing commodity exports in the ASEAN-5 (Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines). The study used the ARCH/GARCH, ARDL, and Nonlinear ARDL to determine the symmetrical and asymmetrical influence of the volatility of the exchange rate on manufacturing exports in both the short run and long run. Five leading commodity exports for each of the ASEAN-5 countries were used and analyzed over the period January 2007-March 2019. Our strategy using the ARDL approach revealed that volatility has a significant influence on 13 commodity exports in the short term. While the Nonlinear ARDL approach revealed that volatility influenced 19 commodity exports. Additionally, in the long run, finding from ARDL and Nonlinear ARDL also indicates risk-averse behaviour by exporters. However, in the long run, the nonlinear model demonstrates that volatility asserts an asymmetric influence on nearly all commodity exports. With this, therefore, there is the need for policymakers to uphold steadiness in the exchange rate via the use of adequate foreign reserves and amplified the level of investment.

This study analysed the impact of the volatility of the rupiah exchange rate on four main commodities exported from Indonesia to six member countries of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) (Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and Bangladesh). The study employed monthly data spanning from January 2007 to December 2019 and the EGARCH method to obtain exchange rate volatility, while the ARDL method was used to model both the short-run and long-run impact of exchange rate and its volatility on exports. In the short term, findings revealed that exchange rate volatility has a significant negative effect on five main commodity exports to OIC countries, whereas, in the long-term, volatility of the exchange rate negatively affects twelve main commodity exports to OIC countries. Our results further imply that most of Indonesia’s exporters to six OIC Member countries are risk-averse.

Using a dynamic system GMM estimate, this study analyzed the impact of services trade on the development of infrastructure in 38 African countries over the period 2000–2020. Telecommunications, trade/transport-related, and port infrastructures were modelled as the dependent variables on services trade openness. Other sets of control variables include real GDP, financial development, gross fixed capital formation, external debt, population density, urbanization, exchange rate, and services value-added. Our empirical strategy revealed that regardless of the infrastructure indicator used in the estimate, services trade, GDP, financial development, external debt, and services value-added significantly promote the development of infrastructure in the continent. Capital formation increases trade/transport-related and reduces port infrastructure while population density increases trade/transport-related and port infrastructure. The finding further indicates that urbanization increases telecommunications and reduces trade/transport-related infrastructure. The exchange rate reduces the development of telecommunications and port infrastructure. The findings are therefore vital to present policies related to services trade and infrastructure development in African countries.

In trade-environment literature, increasing concern has been more focused on the goods trade and environment nexus with less focus on services. To this end, within the context of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis, this study explores different channels through which services trade affects environmental pollution (CO2). The study decomposed the effect of trade into the scale, technique, and composition effects in a panel of 47 African countries. Finding from the dynamic GMM estimate revealed that the scale effect increases CO2 emissions and degrades the environment. The technique effectively reduces CO2 emissions which is only temporary as there is evidence of N-shaped nexus between GDP and CO2 emissions. Moreover, trade statistically and significantly increases CO2 emissions and there is no evidence of a turning point in the trade and CO2 emissions nexus. Energy and composition effects were found to increase emissions. Furthermore, the result indicates the existence of the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH) and there is no robust evidence supporting the factor abundance effect. There is also evidence of the harmful mediation effect of trade through energy intensity as it increases CO2 emissions. In line with the study findings, policy recommendations were made to mitigate the harmful environmental effect of growth and services trade in African countries.