Analysis of the Relationship Between Foreign Trade and Economic Growth in D-8 Countries

Economic growth is one of the priority factors for all economies. Identifying the sources of economic growth and developing policies in this concept are of great importance for the welfare of a country's citizens. There are many variables that affect economic growth, and foreign trade is among them. With the acceleration of the globalization process, the impact of foreign trade on economic growth has become an intensively researched and important agenda item. The main purpose of the study is to examine the economic growth and foreign trade relations of the D-8 Economic Cooperation Organization member countries. No research has been found in the literature examining the relationship between economic growth and foreign trade of D-8 countries. The study is original in this aspect. Within the scope of the study, cross-section dependence test, cointegration test, panel unit root test, Panel VECM Granger Causality Test, and Panel FMOLS as regression analysis were applied. Within the scope of the long-term relationship, a strong Granger causality relationship was determined from growth to both imports and exports, a strong Granger causality relationship from imports to growth, and a weak Granger causality relationship from exports to growth. Within the scope of the short-term relationship, it has been determined that the Granger causality relationship between both growth and imports and growth and exports is bidirectional.