Macroeconomics

The nexus between the agricultural sector, manufacturing sector, and FDI has been a topic of debate over the years. While the fundamental role of FDI in the growth of the overall economy has been widely recognized, findings of existing literature have remained unclear and inconclusive on how the impact of FDI varies across these distinct sectors, especially within the context of developing countries like Nigeria. This study aims to provide a comprehensive comparative analysis of the impact of FDI and other capital inflows on Nigeria’s agricultural and manufacturing sectors between 1980 and 2021. Using annual time-series data from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the study employs the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) modelling approach. Four sector-specific ARDL models were specified, each subjected to extensive diagnostic and robustness checks to ensure the reliability of the estimates. The findings reveal a contrasting effect: while FDI exerts no statistically significant influence on manufacturing output, it has a strong and transformative impact on agricultural performance. In addition, other capital inflows, including official development assistance, development finance, and remittances, were found to significantly influence both sectors. The study concludes that FDI is not a universal driver of growth, and its effectiveness depends on sectoral characteristics, investment type, and policy environment. It contributes to the literature by offering one of the first sector-specific comparative analyses of capital flows in Nigeria, providing evidence to guide policies aimed at shifting the economy from consumption-driven patterns toward sustainable, production-oriented growth.

This research aims to demonstrate for the first time how the Pakistani cement sector's financial health is impacted by sustainable working capital. The cement Industry uses sustainable working capital techniques and practices for magnificent financial outcomes. Considering the importance of these profitable techniques, we practice these in cement firms with a sample size of 25 cement firms listed in the Pakistan stock market (PSX) from 1997-2022. The data is collected from annual reports available on the financial statements. The current ratio and Quick ratio are measured for liquidity. Ordinary Least Square & correlation analysis indicates that the cash conversion cycle (?1= -0.564, p= 0.00), Current ratio (?2= -0.20, p= 0.040), Quick ratio (?3= -0.585, p= 0.000) and Inventory Turnover ratio (?4= -0.244, p= 0.004) have a negative effect on financial performance (Tobin's Q). This study helps policymakers that can handle liquidity Sustainable working capital for the cement industry.

Africa continues to face persistent development challenges, including poverty, income inequality, limited access to healthcare services, and disparities in education. These challenges contradict the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which emphasize the importance of innovation, infrastructure development, and strong institutions. Technological innovation has increasingly been recognized as a key channel for promoting infrastructure development, improving economic complexity, and strengthening institutional performance. Motivated by these considerations, this study examines the combined effects of technological innovation, governance institutions, human capital development, infrastructure, and foreign direct investment on economic complexity in Africa. In addition, the study investigates how technological innovation, governance institutions, remittances, foreign direct investment, and economic complexity influence infrastructure development across African economies. The analysis employs the system generalized method of moments (system GMM) estimator using panel data for 31 African countries covering the period from 2011 to 2020. The results reveal that technological innovation has a positive and statistically significant effect on both economic complexity and infrastructure development in Africa. However, the indicators of governance institutions are largely negative and statistically insignificant in their influence on economic complexity and infrastructure. Furthermore, governance institutions do not significantly moderate the relationship between technological innovation and these development outcomes. These findings highlight the importance of strengthening technological innovation systems while addressing institutional weaknesses to promote sustainable economic development across the African continent.

This study examines the asymmetric associations of foreign aid and remittances with real GDP per capita in 68 developing countries, comprising 17 low-income countries (LICs) and 51 middle-income countries (MICs), over 1980–2023. It employs a Cross-Sectionally Augmented Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-NARDL) approach, controlling for financial development and foreign direct investment. The methodology captures asymmetric short- and long-run responses to positive and negative changes in foreign aid and remittances while accounting for cross-sectional dependence. The findings show positive coefficients on positive changes in both inflows, while the reported negative coefficients on signed decline components imply a positive predicted income response to declines in these inflows. The estimated aid associations vary more substantially across income groups, with LICs showing greater sensitivity to changes in aid flows. In the short-run, the effects are generally weaker and more heterogeneous, with growth responses to positive changes in foreign aid and remittances varying across model specifications. The expansion and contraction specifications yield different associations; their signs do not establish that external inflows cushion downturns. A supplementary Dynamic Common Correlated Effects (DCCE) specification reports broadly similar coefficient patterns. Overall, the findings underscore the importance of accounting for asymmetric responses when examining the relationship between foreign aid, remittances, and economic growth in developing countries. The findings warrant cautious policy interpretation because several estimated associations differ from the proposed economic mechanisms.

Productive capacity has emerged as a critical indicator of long-term economic development, particularly for regions undergoing rapid structural transformation, such as Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Despite increasing global interest, the key drivers of productive capacity in SSA remain insufficiently explored, especially within the context of tourism and migration. Existing studies predominantly rely on GDP-based growth models and often examine tourism and migration separately, overlooking their combined influence on structural development. Moreover, the role of institutional quality in shaping productive capacity is under-investigated. This study examines how international tourism and migration affect productive capacity growth in SSA, while also considering the contributions of urbanization, trade openness, and institutional quality. Using panel data from 38 SSA countries between 2011 and 2021, the analysis employs a dynamic System Generalized Method of Moments (System GMM) estimator to address endogeneity, unobserved heterogeneity, and simultaneity among variables. The results indicate that international tourism and migration exert positive and statistically significant effects on productive capacity. Institutional quality emerges as the most influential driver, followed by urbanization and trade openness. These findings underscore the importance of structural and governance-related factors in enhancing the region’s productive capacity. Tourism and migration contribute meaningfully to productive capacity growth; however, their impact is substantially conditioned by the quality of governance and structural enablers. Policymakers should adopt sustainable tourism strategies, strengthen security and infrastructure, develop migration-friendly frameworks, enhance human capital, and prioritize institutional reforms to maximize long-term productive capacity in SSA.