Economic Growth in Ghana: Determinants and Prospect

26 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Anna Katharina Raggl

Anna Katharina Raggl

Vienna University of Economics and Business; Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital

Date Written: January 1, 2014

Abstract

This paper employs a simple cross-country panel framework to assess the determinants of growth in Ghana's gross domestic product over the past four decades. A set of standard covariates is used to explain growth rates. Natural resource variables are included because the effects of natural resource rents in gross domestic products are of particular interest for Ghana. Using the preferred specification, Ghana's growth potential is predicted for the upcoming decades under different scenarios. The results indicate that under the most pessimistic scenario of no improvements in the determinants of growth compared with the period 2005-09, Ghana's gross domestic product per capita growth rates will stagnate at approximately 4.5 percent during the next decade and decrease thereafter. If the policy measures and country characteristics improve in the way they did in the past three decades, average per capita growth rates of roughly 5.5 percent could be reached during 2015-34. Taking into account the expected oil production until 2034 adds 0.6 percentage points to projected gross domestic product growth rates on average.

Keywords: Achieving Shared Growth, Economic Theory & Research, Labor Policies, Environmental Economics & Policies, Inequality

Suggested Citation

Raggl, Anna Katharina, Economic Growth in Ghana: Determinants and Prospect (January 1, 2014). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 6750, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2383629

Anna Katharina Raggl (Contact Author)

Vienna University of Economics and Business ( email )

Welthandelsplatz 1
Vienna, 1020
Austria

Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital ( email )

Nordbergstraße 15/A/6
Vienna, 1090
Austria

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