THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOVERNANCE INDICATORS AND FOREIGN TRADE: THE CASE OF OECD COUNTRIES

Abstract

In recent years, the concept of governance has gained significant prominence in the economic growth literature and has been regarded as one of the key determinants of economic performance. Since the 1990s, good governance practices have not only been adopted as a development goal but have also become one of the fundamental components forming the institutional foundation of economic and social development. In line with this, the need to render the concept of governance measurable and comparable has emerged in response to this need, the World Bank developed the Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI), which consist of six key components. As one of the essential components of economic growth, foreign trade contributes significantly to development processes by enhancing countries’ production capacities. This study aims to analyze the relationship between foreign trade and governance indicators within the context of OECD countries, with the objective of revealing the impact of institutional structures on trade performance. To this end, the study utilizes governance indicators and foreign trade data from 37 OECD countries covering the period from 2002 to 2022. Using the panel causality test developed by Dumitrescu and Hurlin (2012), two separate models were constructed for each foreign trade indicator based on six governance measures, and these models were analyzed to determine the existence and direction of csusality relationships. The results indicate that each of the six governance dimensions exhibits a bidirectional (two-way) causal relationship with both exports and imports. The findings reveal that while the quality of governance has a direct impact on foreign trade performance, exports and imports also exert a reciprocal and significant influence on governance indicators. These results point to a dynamic interaction between governance and foreign trade, whereby economic activities are not only shaped by governance structures but may also play a transformative role in shaping institutiional structures.

Keywords

• Governance Indicators
• Export
• Import
• Panel Causality

YÖNETİŞİM GÖSTERGELERİYLE DIŞ TİCARET ARASINDAKİ İLİŞKİ: OECD ÜLKELERİ ÖRNEĞİ

Abstract

Yönetişim kavramı son yıllarda, ekonomik büyüme literatüründe önemli bir yer edinmiş, ekonomik performansın belirleyici unsurlarından biri olarak değerlendirilmiştir. 1990’lı yıllardan itibaren iyi yönetişim uygulamaları yalnızca bir kalkınma hedefi olarak benimsenmekle kalmamış, aynı zamanda ekonomik ve sosyal gelişmenin kurumsal altyapısını oluşturan temel unsurlardan biri haline gelmiştir. Bu doğrultuda, yönetişim kavramının ölçülebilir ve karşılaştırılabilir bir yapıya kavuşturulması ihtiyacı doğmuş, bu ihtiyaca yanıt olarak Dünya Bankası tarafından altı temel bileşenden oluşan Dünya Yönetişim Göstergeleri (WGI) geliştirilmiştir. Ekonomik büyümenin temel bileşenlerinden biri olan dış ticaret, ülkelerin üretim kapasitesini artırarak kalkınma süreçlerine önemli katkılar sağlamaktadır. Bu çalışmada, dış ticaret ile yönetişim göstergeleri arasındaki ilişkiyi OECD ülkeleri örneğinde analiz ederek, kurumsal yapıların ticaret performansı üzerindeki etkilerini ortaya koymayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu kapsamda çalışmada 37 OECD ülkesine ait 2002-2022 dönemine ilişkin yönetişim göstergeleri ile dış ticaret verileri kullanılmıştır. Dumitrescu ve Hurlin (2012) panel nedensellik testi aracılığıyla, her bir dış ticaret göstergesi için altı yönetişim ölçütüne dayalı iki ayrı model oluşturulmuş ve bu modeller nedensellik ilişkisi çerçevesinde karşılıklı olarak analiz edilmiştir. Analiz sonuçları, yönetişimin altı bileşeninin her birinin hem ihracat hem de ithalat ile karşılıklı (çift yönlü) nedensellik ilişkisi içinde olduğunu göstermektedir. Elde edilen bulgular, yönetişim kalitesinin ülkelerin dış ticaret performansını doğrudan etkilediğini, aynı zamanda ihracat ve ithalatın da yönetişim göstergeleri üzerinde karşılıklı ve belirleyici bir etkiye sahip olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Bu sonuçlar, yönetişim ve dış ticaret arasında dinamik bir etkileşimin olduğunu, ekonomik faaliyetlerin yalnızca yönetişimden etkilenmekle kalmayıp aynı zamanda kurumsal yapıları da dönüştürebildiğini göstermektedir.

Keywords

• Yönetişim Göstergeleri
• İhracat
• İthalat
• Panel Nedensellik

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