IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/soueco/v26y2025i1p7-31.html

Financial Flows and Economic Growth: A Comparative Analysis Between South Asia and Developing Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Syed Ali Abbas
  • Eliyathamby A. Selvanathan
  • Saroja Selvanathan

Abstract

This study undertakes a comparative analysis of the impact of international financial flows—specifically foreign aid, foreign direct investment (FDI) and remittances—on economic growth in South Asia (SA) and 45 other developing countries, using panel data for the period 1980–2016. The study also analyses the indirect influences of financial flows on growth mediated through key transmission channels, including political stability, trade openness and human capital (HC) for both groups. On controlling endogeneity, the results indicate that foreign aid discourages growth both in developing countries and SA. However, FDI and remittances promote growth in the two groups of countries, while their impact is higher in SA. Investigation of transmission channels reveals multiple significant roles of financial flows in impacting economic growth. Exploring the dynamic roles of international financial flows, the findings of the study offer a deeper understanding and insights to policymakers in the developing world. JEL Codes: O4, F35, F21, F24

Suggested Citation

  • Syed Ali Abbas & Eliyathamby A. Selvanathan & Saroja Selvanathan, 2025. "Financial Flows and Economic Growth: A Comparative Analysis Between South Asia and Developing Countries," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 26(1), pages 7-31, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:soueco:v:26:y:2025:i:1:p:7-31
    DOI: 10.1177/13915614251337553
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13915614251337553
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/13915614251337553?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arusha Cooray, 2012. "The Impact of Migrant Remittances on Economic Growth: Evidence from South Asia," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(5), pages 985-998, November.
    2. Maruta, Admasu Asfaw & Banerjee, Rajabrata & Cavoli, Tony, 2020. "Foreign aid, institutional quality and economic growth: Evidence from the developing world," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 444-463.
    3. Kosack, Stephen, 2003. "Effective Aid: How Democracy Allows Development Aid to Improve the Quality of Life," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 1-22, January.
    4. Arusha Cooray & Nabamita Dutta & Sushanta Mallick, 2016. "Does female human capital formation matter for the income effect of remittances? Evidence from developing countries," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 458-478, October.
    5. Chang, Roberto & Kaltani, Linda & Loayza, Norman V., 2009. "Openness can be good for growth: The role of policy complementarities," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 33-49, September.
    6. Combes, Jean-Louis & Kinda, Tidiane & Ouedraogo, Rasmané & Plane, Patrick, 2019. "Financial flows and economic growth in developing countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 195-209.
    7. Alguacil, M. & Cuadros, A. & Orts, V., 2011. "Inward FDI and growth: The role of macroeconomic and institutional environment," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 481-496, May.
    8. Miao Wang, 2009. "Manufacturing FDI and economic growth: evidence from Asian economies," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(8), pages 991-1002.
    9. Oliver Morrissey, 2012. "Aid and Government Fiscal Behaviour: What Does the Evidence Say?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2012-001, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Young, Andrew T. & Sheehan, Kathleen M., 2014. "Foreign aid, institutional quality, and growth," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 195-208.
    11. Abbas, Syed Ali & Selvanathan, Eliyathamby A. & Selvanathan, Saroja & Bandaralage, Jayatilleke S., 2021. "Are remittances and foreign aid interlinked? Evidence from least developed and developing countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 265-275.
    12. Salas, Vania B., 2014. "International Remittances and Human Capital Formation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 224-237.
    13. Morrissey, Oliver, 2012. "Aid and Government Fiscal Behaviour: What Does the Evidence Say?," WIDER Working Paper Series 001, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Jude Eggoh & Chrysost Bangake & Gervasio Semedo, 2019. "Do remittances spur economic growth? Evidence from developing countries," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(4), pages 391-418, May.
    15. Gomanee, Karuna & Morrissey, Oliver & Mosley, Paul & Verschoor, Arjan, 2005. "Aid, Government Expenditure, and Aggregate Welfare," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 355-370, March.
    16. Chakra P. Acharya & Roberto Leon-Gonzalez, 2014. "How do Migration and Remittances Affect Human Capital Investment? The Effects of Relaxing Information and Liquidity Constraints," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(3), pages 444-460, March.
    17. J. Svensson, 1999. "Aid, Growth and Democracy," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(3), pages 275-297, November.
    18. Hansen, Henrik & Tarp, Finn, 2001. "Aid and growth regressions," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 547-570, April.
    19. Mamoun Benmamoun & Kevin Lehnert, 2013. "Financing Growth: Comparing The Effects Of Fdi, Oda, And International Remittances," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 38(2), pages 43-65, June.
    20. Kottaridi, Constantina & Stengos, Thanasis, 2010. "Foreign direct investment, human capital and non-linearities in economic growth," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 858-871, September.
    21. Kevin Williams, 2018. "Are remittances good for economic growth? The role of political institutions," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 56-60, January.
    22. Shiva S. Makki & Agapi Somwaru, 2004. "Impact of Foreign Direct Investment and Trade on Economic Growth: Evidence from Developing Countries," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(3), pages 795-801.
    23. Azizi, SeyedSoroosh, 2018. "The impacts of workers' remittances on human capital and labor supply in developing countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 377-396.
    24. Syed Ali Abbas & Eliyathamby A. Selvanathan & Saroja Selvanathan, 2023. "The foreign aid and remittance nexus: Evidence from South Asia," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(7), pages 2032-2053, July.
    25. David Dollar & Craig Burnside, 2000. "Aid, Policies, and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 847-868, September.
    26. Murshed Chowdhury, 2016. "Financial Development, Remittances and Economic Growth: Evidence Using a Dynamic Panel Estimation," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 10(1), pages 35-54, February.
    27. Mubinzhon Abduvaliev & Ricardo Bustillo, 2020. "Impact of remittances on economic growth and poverty reduction amongst CIS countries," Post-Communist Economies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(4), pages 525-546, May.
    28. Carl-Johan Dalgaard & Henrik Hansen & Finn Tarp, 2004. "On The Empirics of Foreign Aid and Growth," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(496), pages 191-216, June.
    29. Asteriou, Dimitrios, 2009. "Foreign aid and economic growth: New evidence from a panel data approach for five South Asian countries," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 155-161.
    30. Arellano, Cristina & Bulír, Ales & Lane, Timothy & Lipschitz, Leslie, 2009. "The dynamic implications of foreign aid and its variability," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 87-102, January.
    31. repec:hal:journl:hal-04629542 is not listed on IDEAS
    32. Völlmecke, Dominik & Jindra, Björn & Marek, Philipp, 2016. "FDI, human capital and income convergence—Evidence for European regions," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 288-307.
    33. Wilson, Sven E., 2011. "Chasing Success: Health Sector Aid and Mortality," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 2032-2043.
    34. Mastromarco, Camilla & Ghosh, Sucharita, 2009. "Foreign Capital, Human Capital, and Efficiency: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis for Developing Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 489-502, February.
    35. Matsuyama, Kiminori, 1992. "Agricultural productivity, comparative advantage, and economic growth," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 317-334, December.
    36. Christopher Malikane & Prosper Chitambara, 2017. "Foreign Direct Investment, Democracy and Economic Growth in Southern Africa," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 29(1), pages 92-102, March.
    37. Thanh Le, 2009. "Trade, Remittances, Institutions, and Economic Growth," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(3), pages 391-408.
    38. repec:fth:stanho:e-92-3 is not listed on IDEAS
    39. Birchler, Kassandra & Michaelowa, Katharina, 2016. "Making aid work for education in developing countries: An analysis of aid effectiveness for primary education coverage and quality," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 37-52.
    40. repec:unu:wpaper:wp2012-01 is not listed on IDEAS
    41. Balavac, Merima & Pugh, Geoff, 2016. "The link between trade openness, export diversification, institutions and output volatility in transition countries," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 273-287.
    42. David Dollar & Aart Kraay, 2004. "Trade, Growth, and Poverty," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(493), pages 22-49, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Abbas, Syed Ali & Selvanathan, Eliyathamby A. & Selvanathan, Saroja & Bandaralage, Jayatilleke S., 2021. "Are remittances and foreign aid interlinked? Evidence from least developed and developing countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 265-275.
    2. Abbas, Syed Ali & Selvanathan, Saroja & Selvanathan, Eliyathamby A., 2023. "Structural transformation, urbanization, and remittances in developing countries: A panel VAR analysis," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 55-69.
    3. Syed Ali Abbas & Eliyathamby A. Selvanathan & Saroja Selvanathan, 2023. "The foreign aid and remittance nexus: Evidence from South Asia," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(7), pages 2032-2053, July.
    4. Temple, Jonathan R.W., 2010. "Aid and Conditionality," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4415-4523, Elsevier.
    5. Maruta, Admasu Asfaw & Banerjee, Rajabrata & Cavoli, Tony, 2020. "Foreign aid, institutional quality and economic growth: Evidence from the developing world," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 444-463.
    6. Williams, Kevin, 2024. "Remittances and government expenditures on human capital in developing countries," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    7. Ziyoda Asatullaeva & Reza Fathollah Zadeh Aghdam & Nisar Ahmad & Laylo Tashpulatova, 2021. "The impact of foreign aid on economic development: A systematic literature review and content analysis of the top 50 most influential papers," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(4), pages 717-751, May.
    8. Mullings, Robert & Mahabir, Aruneema, 2018. "Growth by Destination: The Role of Trade in Africa’s Recent Growth Episode," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 243-261.
    9. Moheddine Younsi & Marwa Bechtini & Hasna Khemili, 2021. "The effects of foreign aid, foreign direct investment and domestic investment on economic growth in African countries: Nonlinearities and complementarities," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 33(1), pages 55-66, March.
    10. Thanh Dinh Su & Canh Phuc Nguyen, 2022. "Foreign financial flows, human capital and economic growth in African developing countries," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 3010-3031, July.
    11. Mark McGillivray, 2003. "Efficacité de l'aide et sélectivité : vers un concept élargi," Revue d’économie du développement, De Boeck Université, vol. 11(4), pages 43-62.
    12. Kafayat Amusa & Nara Monkam & Nicola Viegi, 2016. "The Political and Economic Dynamics of Foreign Aid: A Case Study of United States and Chinese Aid to Sub-Sahara Africa," Working Papers 201628, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    13. Mark McGillivray, 2006. "Aid Allocation and Fragile States," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2006-01, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    14. Admasu Asfaw Maruta & Rajabrata Banerjee, 2024. "Socioeconomic inequalities and the role of sectoral foreign aid in developing countries," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 71(3), pages 457-491, July.
    15. Jinyang Cai & Zuting Zheng & Ruifa Hu & Carl E. Pray & Qianqian Shao, 2018. "Has International Aid Promoted Economic Growth in Africa?," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 30(3), pages 239-251, September.
    16. Patrick GUILLAUMONT, 2009. "Aid effectiveness for poverty reduction: macroeconomic overview and emerging issues," Working Papers P05, FERDI.
    17. Nagae, Akira & Katayama, Hajime & Takase, Koichi, 2022. "Donor aid allocation and accounting standards of recipients," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    18. Lee, Kye Woo & Hong, Minji, 2018. "Relative Effectiveness of Various Development Finance Flows: A Comparative Study," KDI Journal of Economic Policy, Korea Development Institute (KDI), vol. 40(3), pages 91-115.
    19. Alassa Mfouapon & Cyrille Bergaly Kamdem & Nourou Mohammadou & Yannick Fosso Djoumessi, 2024. "Democracy, natural resources, and agricultural aid in Africa: Exploring the complex nexus of aid effectiveness and resource rent dependency," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 48(4), pages 1048-1087, November.
    20. Nuruddeen USMAN & Martins.O. APINRAN, 2019. "The Impact of Aid and Macroeconomic Policy on Growth in Nigeria: A Bounds Testing Approach," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 9(5), pages 581-603, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • O4 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity
    • F35 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Aid
    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F24 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Remittances

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:soueco:v:26:y:2025:i:1:p:7-31. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ips.lk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.