Relationships between financial development, trade openness, and economic growth: Empirical evidence for Turkey

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to investigate the cointegration and causal relationship between financial development, trade openness, and economic growth in Turkey for the period of 1980-2012. To analyze the data, the bounds testing and Johansen-Juselius approaches to cointegration and Granger causality test based on vector error-correction model are employed. The cointegration tests suggest that there is a long-run relationship between the variables. The Granger causality test reveals long-run bidirectional causality between trade openness and economic growth. The findings also indicate unidirectional causality running from financial development to trade openness and economic growth in the long run as well as a bi-directional causality between financial development and economic growth in the short run. The results support supply-leading and trade-led growth hypotheses. Therefore, it can be suggested that Turkey can accelerate its economic growth by improving its financial systems and encouraging foreign trade. © 2015, IGI Global. All rights reserved.