Predictors of Economic Growth: An Evidence From SAARC Region

Abstract

The review of the prior relevant literature evidenced that the association of stock market development or institutional factors, as index or separately, examined in relation with economic growth in the context of a single or seperate country or group of countries or regions and produced mixed findings. Thus, this study enquires the association of stock market development, political stability, controlling corruption and good governance with the economic growth of some selected countries like Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka from the SAARC region from 2002 to 2018. The application of Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) with robust options unveiled that stock market development, political stability, and institutional index have a significant positive while controlling corruption and ensuring the good governance have an insignificant positive effect on economic growth. These findings not only contributes to the existing knowledge but also provide sustenance to all key stakeholders for further improvement in practice and decsions.