Do Internet and Human Capital Matter for Economic Growth in Developing Countries? Empirical Evidence from WAEMU Countries - Modern Economy

ME > Vol.7 No.11, October 2016

Volume 7, Issue 11 (October 2016)

ISSN Print: 2152-7245 ISSN Online: 2152-7261

Google-based Impact Factor: 0.74 Citations h5-index & Ranking

Do Internet and Human Capital Matter for Economic Growth in Developing Countries? Empirical Evidence from WAEMU Countries ()

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DOI: 10.4236/me.2016.711116 1,820 Downloads 4,410 Views Citations

Author(s)

Kuawo-Assan Johnson

Affiliation(s)

Enseignant-Chercheur à la Faculté des Sciences Economiques et de Gestion de l’Université de Kara, Kara, Togo.

ABSTRACT

In the attempt to establish new sources of economic growth in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries except Gunea Bissau for sustainable growth of the region, this study aims to empirically assess the role of internet and revisit the impact of human capital in these countries based on panel data from 2009 to 2014. We firstly use the principal component analysis technique to build the internet network development index and the human capital index. Then we estimate a Cobb-Douglas function under the neoclassical Solow model to establish the relationship between gross domestic product and internet and human capital by using the fixed effects estimation technique. The findings indicate that internet network development constitutes an important pillar for economic growth in WAEMU countries at the current prevailing economic environment. In addition, they reveal that the performance of human capital in terms of economic growth is weak, a result which can be attributed to the poor quality of educational systems of the union. Physical capital is another source of economic growth of the WAEMU countries established by this study. Policy message drawn from this study encourages strategies aiming to strengthen internet network development in WAEMU countries.

KEYWORDS

Economic Growth, Human Capital, Internet, Togo

Share and Cite:

Johnson, K. (2016) Do Internet and Human Capital Matter for Economic Growth in Developing Countries? Empirical Evidence from WAEMU Countries. Modern Economy, 7, 1186-1197. doi: 10.4236/me.2016.711116.

Cited by

[1]	Impact of institutions and ICT services in avoiding resource curse: lessons from the successful economies
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[2]	Effects of telecommunications investment and ICTs diffusion on economic growth in the West African Economic and Monetary Union
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[3]	Does the digital gap matter? Estimating the impact of ICT on productivity in developing countries
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[4]	The Relation between Internet Use and Societal Development in Indonesia
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[5]	Impact of Media Technology on Wage Changes: the Case of Thailand
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