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Structural breaks and twin deficits hypothesis in African countries

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  • Ahmad Ahmad
  • Olalekan Aworinde

Abstract

The study examines the twin deficits hypothesis in a sample of twelve African countries for the period between 1980 and 2009. These countries have experienced both the current account and the fiscal deficits, among others, that prompted an introduction of structural reforms. The paper explores long-run relationship between the series and their short-run dynamics within the context of endogenously determined structural breaks. The identified dates are generally associated with external factors that include commodity price boom and burst cycles that the countries heavily depend on. The estimated results for eight of the countries indicate that there is a positive relationship between the current account and fiscal deficits and therefore, support the twin deficits hypothesis. Results for the remaining four countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda, on the other hand, show that the relationship between the two is negative. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Ahmad Ahmad & Olalekan Aworinde, 2015. "Structural breaks and twin deficits hypothesis in African countries," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 1-35, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:ecopln:v:48:y:2015:i:1:p:1-35
    DOI: 10.1007/s10644-014-9154-2
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    Cited by:

    1. Ergin Akalpler & Yohanna Panshak, 2019. "Dynamic relationship between budget deficit and current account deficit in the light of Nigerian empirical application," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 159-179, June.
    2. Scott W. Hegerty, 2020. "Structural breaks and regional inflation convergence for five new Euro members," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 219-239, May.
    3. Naape, Baneng, 2019. "Is the Co-Movement Between Budget Deficit and Current Account Deficit Applicable to South Africa?," MPRA Paper 97962, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 20 Nov 2019.
    4. Peter Josef Stauvermann & Ronald Ravinesh Kumar & Syed Jawad Hussain Shahzad & Nikeel N. Kumar, 2018. "Effect of tourism on economic growth of Sri Lanka: accounting for capital per worker, exchange rate and structural breaks," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 51(1), pages 49-68, February.
    5. Samia OMRANE BELGUITH, 2016. "Twin deficit in MENA countries: an empirical investigation," Romanian Economic Journal, Department of International Business and Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest, vol. 19(60), pages 123-146, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fiscal deficits; Current account deficits; Structural breaks; African countries; H60; H62; C22;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H60 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - General
    • H62 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Deficit; Surplus
    • C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes

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