The Role of Trade Openness in Shaping Economic Growth: A Case Study of Malawi's Development Trajectory
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Date
2025
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International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews
Abstract
It analyzed this study and articulated the effect trade openness had on the economy of Malawi with the aid of annual time series data from 1975 to 2024. Such period contained an instance of history in that independent Malawi would shift into democratic form of governance, which would be characterized by different regimes. One of the objectives of the study was to enlighten how trade openness would affect the economic trajectory of the country within this particular time frame. The study used Error Correction ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lags) method for examining the long-term relationship between trade openness and economic growth. The model was best-suited for mixed and integrated dataset, that is, combining the variables that were stationary and no stationary. This analysis result indicated short and long-run effect of trade on economic growth in Malawi. The impact that trade openness brought about in the course of economic growth resembled the kind of recent topic under debates that had many mixed and opposed views, and sometimes described them as contradictory. Part of the reason might have been the exclusion of other significant variables like labor and capital, which were viewed play a very important role in the nexus of trade and growth. Other elements such as innovation, competition, technology, grants, and equal opportunity were also highlighted, all of which empirically validated themselves to serve
as catalysts for a successful economy. Imports had negative impacts while exports had a boom with positive impacts, especially in terms of Africa. The study was, therefore, in conclusion with that of the Malawi government should have focused on developing and internalizing new structural economic policies purposed for boosting exports to trigger additional economic growth. Investment was also proven to be having a positive and statistically significant effect on output growth in both the short and long run, which further emphasizes the importance of a favorable investment climate. The study found a significant linkage between the economy, trade openness, capital formation, and development, suggesting that trade openness provided a vast opportunity for the economy in the light of increased capital accumulation. The study further recommended that Malawi should intensify efforts towards product diversification and processing as the negative impacts of volatile terms-of-trade would be tackled with lesser dependency on just several primary products for export earnings. The study called for policies that would encourage an increase in domestic investment because this would have an important contribution towards economic growth in both the short and long term. This research envisaged introducing sound policies that would effectively attract FDI into Malawi, as this would promote growth over time through technology transfer,
innovation, and increased productivity.
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Keywords
Economic Growth, Malawi Economic, Trade