European Journal of Economics

A Confirmatory Study of the Knowledge Economy in the Context of Moroccan Economic Growth: Analysis, Comparison and Solutions

2024-02-12T06:56:27+00:00

The knowledge economy drives growth. It increases overall productivity, affecting competitiveness, market share and, most importantly, economic growth. The objective of this research is to study the impact of the knowledge economy on economic growth in Morocco. It will also study and present the causes of the bottlenecks currently facing the Moroccan economy. Our starting point for this study is a literature review, which will constitute the anchor point of our project and will allow us to position ourselves in relation to these studies and to define the different concepts used in this research work. This part is necessary to present the contours of models of endogenous growth which constitutes an improvement of the first models developed by neoclassical theorists and will allow us to identify indicators and to present their impact on economic growth. The realisation of this study was based on neoclassical orthodoxy founded on a positivist approach employing hypothetical-deductive methods. From a methodological point of view, the approach employed will be a quantitative approach based on inferential statistics and particularly econometric studies of panel data. Our empirical findings indicate that the impact of human capital variable is not significant. Furthermore, the innovation variable shows a positive and insignificant impact on economic growth. In addition, information and communication technology has insignificant effect on Morocco’s economic growth. Finally, governance quality has a positive impact on economic growth. Our results explain the weak impact of the knowledge-based economy on Morocco's economic growth, and this weakness does not change regardless of the country's wealth level. This allows us to conclude that despite the multiple reforms and the enormous investment made by Morocco, they benefit little from the competitive advantage and the effects on growth that this economy make it possible to create.

Foreign Direct Investment and Nigerian Macroeconomy

2024-03-10T04:37:52+00:00

The study examines the effects of macroeconomic variables on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow from 1981 to 2022. Different from existing studies, this study also captures the effect of regime shift on FDI inflow to Nigeria, which enabled us to capture the role of political system in crowding-in FDI. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model was adopted to show the long-run relationships and dynamic interactions between FDI and the macroeconomic variables. The estimated long-run and short-run coefficients for FDI models revealed that inflation rate and the degree of openness of the economy are significant factors inducing FDI inflow to Nigeria. The GDP growth rate and non-oil export also positively affect FDI inflows in the long run. However, they are not statistically significant. The key policy variables, exchange rate and monetary policy rate, have significant effect on FDI inflows to Nigeria. The estimated results show that exchange rate depreciation causes an increase in foreign direct investment inflows. This is in accord with the real wage channel theory which states that currency depreciation reduces the country’s wages and production costs relative to those of its foreign counterparts. The study recommended that exchange rate stability is very crucial for attracting FDI flows to Nigeria; Government should reduce the monetary policy rate which is presently considered too high and adversely impinging on FDI inflows; while intensifying the war against corruption in all forms and at all levels.

Analysis of Women’s Empowerment through Microcredit: Case Study of Samurdhi Program in Sri Lanka

2024-03-20T06:40:22+00:00

Does microcredit have the potential to empower women? Many factors facilitate female empowerment through microcredit. The Department of Samurdhi Development in Sri Lanka provides microcredit programs to enhance the business environment of unemployed women. The Samurdhu microcredit program is designed with training facilities, market facilities, loan cycles, group lending, exposure to credit, and business support facilities. This study will determine the factors for women's empowerment through microcredit facilities in Samurdhi banks for self-employment activities. In this study, women's empowerment at the household level through the microcredit facility of Samurai Bank has been taken into account to analyze the problem identified in this research. This paper illustrates the most significant factors of the microcredit facility granted by the Samurdhi community-based banks for empowering women. The method used to select women beneficiaries is a simple random sampling from the lists of loan applicants in the bank based on 13 Grama Niladhari Divisions, Madame divisional secretariat, Puttalam District, Sri Lanka.241 cross-sectional data was gathered by the questionnaire survey in the Madampe divisional secretariat, Puttalam District in Sri Lanka. The data analysis in this paper revealed that training facilities and market access are the two most significant factors, followed by group lending and exposure to credit components to facilitate women’s empowerment in rural areas. Finally, this paper proposed policy recommendations for policymakers to improve their microcredit policies with several different components.

Economic Value Added Analysis of Portfolio Alignment in the Primary Energy Business of PLN Group and its Impact on PLN Energi Primer Indonesia

2024-04-30T13:32:20+00:00

In 2022, PT PLN (Persero) holding was established as part of a strategic initiative led by the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to streamline core businesses within SOEs. This involved the creation of four subholdings: PLN Indonesia Power, PLN Nusantara Power, PLN Energi Primer Indonesia, and PLN Icon Plus. PLN Energi Primer Indonesia (EPI) specializes in providing primary energy and biomass and innovating during the energy transition. However, two subsidiaries, PT Artha Daya Coalindo and PT Pertadaya Gas, are not yet integrated into the PLN Group. To address this, PT PLN (Persero) has tasked PT PLN Energi Primer Indonesia with conducting an alignment study. In parallel, the present study aims to evaluate whether the proposed strategy contributes to Economic Value Added (EVA) within the PLN Group. It employs analytical techniques such as core competency analysis, financial analysis, and heartland matrices. The findings suggest that a strong core competency analysis and stable financial ratios position the company favorably within the heartland matrix, resulting in positive EVA values. Conversely, weak core competency analysis and unstable financial ratios lead to the opposite outcome. In conclusion, the alignment efforts led by PLN EPI should prioritize future business and income generation to strengthen core competency analysis and maintain strong financial ratios, thus ensuring the generation of robust EVA values.