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The Stock Market Development and Economic Growth Puzzle: Empirical Evidence from Africa

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Development Finance

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Impact Finance ((SIF))

Abstract

This chapter contributes to the unending debate on whether stock market development causes economic growth, or the former is a result of the latter, or the two are mutually causal. By using two measures of stock market development (i.e. turn-over ratios of domestic shares and market capitalizations (%) of domestic listed firms) and four indicators of economic performance (i.e. GDP growth, net FDI flows, gross savings, and capital formation), we find that the relationship between stock market development and economic growth in Africa is rather mute. Implicitly, the supply-leading and demand-following hypothesis, as well as the mutually causal theories, is not supported by these results. It stands to reason therefore that the effect of either stock market development on economic growth or the reverse in Africa may occur through some other economic and/or financial channels.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    It is worth noting that the Egyptian Stock Market also has intraday, online, and margin trading mechanism.

  2. 2.

    For example, the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) initiated the process of market demutualization in 2015 though implementation has stalled.

  3. 3.

    See the cited references for details.

  4. 4.

    Unless stated otherwise, figures are gleaned largely from World Development Indicators Database (2015) – http://wdi.worldbank.org/table/5.4

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of the Witwatersrand Business School, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Gideon Boako & Paul Alagidede

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  1. Gideon Boako
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  2. Paul Alagidede
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Correspondence to Gideon Boako .

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  1. The University of Liverpool , Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Gianluigi Giorgioni

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Boako, G., Alagidede, P. (2017). The Stock Market Development and Economic Growth Puzzle: Empirical Evidence from Africa. In: Giorgioni, G. (eds) Development Finance. Palgrave Studies in Impact Finance. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58032-0_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58032-0_8

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