Balance of Payments Constrained Economic Growth in Nigeria

Essay from the year 2014 in the subject Business economics - General, , language: English, abstract: This paper assesses the Thirwall's balance of payment(BOP) constrained model by applying it on the Nigerian economy and employing cointegration method to observe the relationship between economic growth and current account balance equilibrium. While extensive research study on economic growth concentrate on the neoclassical supply-oriented approach based on the production function and full employment, Harrod(1939) emphasized that demand generated growth determine long run economic growth and Thirwall developed a Keynesian perspective of the determinants of growth embedded on a dynamic version of the Harrod's foreign trade multiplier. Thirwall pinpoints the incapability of economic agents to increase aggregate demand indefinitely in open economies as justification for income growth differences across nations. The balance of payment constrained growth model states that a country's economic growth rate is constrained by the desire to generate foreign exchange and reiterate the function of demand as the motivation for domestic growth. This arises because growth in export and investment growth in import substitution are the only aspect of aggregate demand that can increase GDP growth and reduce foreign constraints. This implies that growth rate is constrained by the balance of payment as the economy cannot grow faster than what is consistent with the balance of payment equilibrium. The principle of this Keynesian demand side growth theory is that export capability and import attitude establish long run economic growth. Income derived from external trade constitute the principal medium to finance growing import due to a rise in domestic activities. This model differ from the supply induced growth models which evaluate economic growth by using factor inputs such as savings, human and physical capital, population growth and initial per capital GDP on economic growth. Reservations about the traditional growth models stem from the fact that the factor inputs have inconclusive roles in the growth process in developing countries. Also a lot of the neoclassical assumptions have been observed to be unapplicable in developing or transition economies. The balance of payment constrained model infer that economic growth are stimulated by demand factors and the main constraint on demand is the balance of payment.