The potential of macroeconomic forces and ICT in affecting the sectorial growth: ARDL approach in the context of East Asian countries

The current study examines the potential of macroeconomic forces and information and communications technology in affecting sectorial growth. Hereby, the paper employs annual time series data varying from 2000 to 2021 with the regard to East Asia and the Pacific as a focus region. Within this framework, the study considers three different sectors namely manufacturing, services, and agriculture as proxies for sectoral growth. To proceed with the examination Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model and Granger causality test are performed to capture the long-run and short-run dynamic relationship among the variables. As well as to determine the direction of these relationships. In accordance with the findings, the paper uncovered that both in the long and short run fixed telephone subscription, gross capital formation, government expenditure, population growth, and both importation and exportation are decreasing the growth of the manufacturing, agricultural, and service sectors. On the other hand, the general expenditure of the government and the rate of agricultural exportation raise the value produced by the agricultural sector in the long term. The recent findings can be used as evidence particularly for emerging nations and policymakers, on the necessity of utilizing certain macroeconomic elements and technology to support their nation's sectoral growth.