IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v95y2013i1d10.1007_s11192-012-0817-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The influence of scientific research output of academics on economic growth in South Africa: an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) application

Author

Listed:
  • R. Inglesi-Lotz

    (University of Pretoria)

  • A. Pouris

    (University of Pretoria)

Abstract

An increasing number of researchers have recently shown interest in the relationship between economic growth of a country and its research output, measured in scientometric indicators. The answer is not only of theoretical interest but it can also influence the specific policies aimed at the improvement of a country’s research performance. Our paper focuses on this relationship. We argue that research output is a manifestation of the improvement of human capital in the economy. We examine this relationship specifically in South Africa for the period 1980–2008. Using the autoregressive distributed lag method, we investigate the relationship between GDP and the comparative research performance of the country in relation to the rest of the world (the share of South African papers compared to the rest of the world). The relationship is confirmed for individual fields of science (biology and biochemistry, chemistry, material sciences, physics, psychiatry and psychology). The results of this study indicate that in South Africa for the period 1980–2008 the comparative performance of the research output can be considered as a factor affecting the economic growth of the country. Similarly, the results confirm the results of Vinkler (2008) and Lee et al. (2011). In contrast, economic growth did not influence the research output of the country for the same period. Policy implications are also discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • R. Inglesi-Lotz & A. Pouris, 2013. "The influence of scientific research output of academics on economic growth in South Africa: an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) application," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 95(1), pages 129-139, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:95:y:2013:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-012-0817-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-012-0817-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-012-0817-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-012-0817-3?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. Ling-Chu Lee & Pin-Hua Lin & Yun-Wen Chuang & Yi-Yang Lee, 2011. "Research output and economic productivity: a Granger causality test," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 89(2), pages 465-478, November.
    3. Strøm,Steinar (ed.), 1999. "Econometrics and Economic Theory in the 20th Century," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521633659.
    4. M. Hashem Pesaran & Yongcheol Shin & Richard J. Smith, 2001. "Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 289-326.
    5. Peter Vinkler, 2008. "Correlation between the structure of scientific research, scientometric indicators and GDP in EU and non-EU countries," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 74(2), pages 237-254, February.
    6. Ziramba, Emmanuel, 2008. "The demand for residential electricity in South Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 3460-3466, September.
    7. F. Moya-Anegón & V. Herrero-Solana, 1999. "Science in america latina: A comparison of bibliometric and scientific-technical indicators," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 46(2), pages 299-320, October.
    8. Engle, Robert & Granger, Clive, 2015. "Co-integration and error correction: Representation, estimation, and testing," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 39(3), pages 106-135.
    9. Amusa, Hammed & Amusa, Kafayat & Mabugu, Ramos, 2009. "Aggregate demand for electricity in South Africa: An analysis using the bounds testing approach to cointegration," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 4167-4175, October.
    10. Anastassios Pouris, 2012. "Scientometric research in South Africa and successful policy instruments," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 91(2), pages 317-325, May.
    11. Paresh Kumar Narayan, 2005. "The saving and investment nexus for China: evidence from cointegration tests," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(17), pages 1979-1990.
    12. Johansen, Soren, 1991. "Estimation and Hypothesis Testing of Cointegration Vectors in Gaussian Vector Autoregressive Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(6), pages 1551-1580, November.
    13. Strøm,Steinar (ed.), 1999. "Econometrics and Economic Theory in the 20th Century," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521633239.
    14. Roula Inglesi-Lotz & Anastassios Pouris, 2011. "Scientometric impact assessment of a research policy instrument: the case of rating researchers on scientific outputs in South Africa," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 88(3), pages 747-760, September.
    15. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1988. "On the mechanics of economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 3-42, July.
    16. Anastassios Pouris & Anthipi Pouris, 2009. "The state of science and technology in Africa (2000–2004): A scientometric assessment," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 79(2), pages 297-309, May.
    17. David A. King, 2004. "The scientific impact of nations," Nature, Nature, vol. 430(6997), pages 311-316, July.
    18. Andreas Wörgötter & Christopher Loewald & Konstantin Makrelov, 2021. "Addressing low labour utilisation in South Africa," Working Papers 27, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    19. Butler, Linda, 2003. "Explaining Australia's increased share of ISI publications--the effects of a funding formula based on publication counts," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 143-155, January.
    20. Narayan, Paresh Kumar & Narayan, Seema, 2005. "Estimating income and price elasticities of imports for Fiji in a cointegration framework," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 423-438, May.
    21. Johannes Fedderke & Stefan Schirmer, 2006. "The R&D performance of the South African manufacturing sector, 1970–1993," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 125-151, June.
    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. Roula Inglesi-Lotz & Mehmet Balcilar & Rangan Gupta, 2014. "Time-varying causality between research output and economic growth in US," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 100(1), pages 203-216, July.
    2. M. Gouveia & R. Inglesi-Lotz, 2021. "Examining the relationship between climate change-related research output and CO2 emissions," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(11), pages 9069-9111, November.
    3. Chadi Azmeh, 2022. "Quantity and quality of research output and economic growth: empirical investigation for all research areas in the MENA countries," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(11), pages 6147-6163, November.
    4. Sakiru Adebola Solarin & Yuen Yee Yen, 2016. "A global analysis of the impact of research output on economic growth," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(2), pages 855-874, August.
    5. Jin, Wei & Shi, Xunpeng & Zhang, Lin, 2021. "Energy transition without dirty capital stranding," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    6. Roula Inglesi-Lotz & Tsangyao Chang & Rangan Gupta, 2015. "Causality between research output and economic growth in BRICS," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 167-176, January.
    7. Adedoyin Isola Lawal & Tony I. Nwanji & Abiola Asaleye & Victor Ahmed, 2016. "Economic growth, financial development and trade openness in Nigeria: An application of the ARDL bound testing approach," Cogent Economics & Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 1258810-125, December.
    8. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2019. "Stock Market And Economic Growth In Vietnam," OSF Preprints de8zq, Center for Open Science.
    9. Campbell, Alrick, 2018. "Price and income elasticities of electricity demand: Evidence from Jamaica," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 19-32.
    10. Daniel Morais de Souza & Rogerio Silva de Mattos & Alexandre Zanini, 2022. "Estimating Elasticities for the Residential Demand of Electricity in Brazil Using Cointegration Models," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(2), pages 315-324, March.
    11. , Aisdl, 2019. "Stock Market And Economic Growth In Vietnam," OSF Preprints ucbhp, Center for Open Science.
    12. Dakpogan, Arnaud & Smit, Eon, 2018. "The effect of electricity losses on GDP in Benin," MPRA Paper 89545, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. De Vita, G. & Endresen, K. & Hunt, L.C., 2006. "An empirical analysis of energy demand in Namibia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(18), pages 3447-3463, December.
    14. Chen, George S. & Yao, Yao & Malizard, Julien, 2017. "Does foreign direct investment crowd in or crowd out private domestic investment in China? The effect of entry mode," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 409-419.
    15. Shahiduzzaman, Md. & Alam, Khorshed, 2014. "The long-run impact of Information and Communication Technology on economic output: The case of Australia," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 623-633.
    16. Ali, Amjad & Ur Rehman, Hafeez, 2015. "Macroeconomic Instability and Its Impact on Gross Domestic Product: An Empirical Analysis of Pakistan," MPRA Paper 71037, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Yaya Keho, 2011. "Long‐Run Determinants Of Savings Rates In Waemu Countries: An Empirical Assessment From Ardl Bounds Testing Approach," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 79(3), pages 312-329, September.
    18. Philip Michael Kargbo, 2012. "Impact of Foreign Aid on Economic Growth in Sierra Leone: Empirical Analysis," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2012-007, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    19. Ikegami, Masako & Wang, Zijian, 2016. "The long-run causal relationship between electricity consumption and real GDP: Evidence from Japan and Germany," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 767-784.
    20. Fumitaka Furuoka, 2018. "Is population beneficial to economic growth? An empirical study of China," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 209-225, January.

    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:spr:scient:v:95:y:2013:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-012-0817-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.