The finance-growth nexus in the Middle East and Africa: A comparative meta-analysis

By taking 1417 estimates from 96 studies and applying advanced meta-analysis techniques, this study compares the effect size of financial development (FD) and liberalization on economic growth in the Middle East and Africa. We find that the overall finance-growth nexus is positive, yet its effect size differs across regions. Indeed, finance has a larger growth-enhancing effect in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region than in the Middle East and North Africa region. This finding is supported by meta-regression analysis that controls for various study conditions simultaneously. Moreover, we uncovered that the extracted estimates contain evidence of the true effect size of FD and liberalization on growth in the extant literature and SSA studies.