Determinants of Import Demand in Ghana: 1960-2014

Abstract

This paper assesses the determinants of demand for import in Ghana using variables imports, exports, real gross domestic product, government spending, capital formation and exchange rate. The central aim of the study is to examine the relationship of Ghana's aggregate import demand and its determinants and then analyze the data from the period 1960 to 2014 and based on the above objectives, propose policies based on the results obtained from the analysis. All the data used were obtained from the World Bank database. The Johansen co-integration test suggested that there exists a long-run relationship between the imports (i.e. the dependent variable) and exports, government spending, investment, GDP and exchange rate (i.e. the independent variables). In addition, the Granger-Causality test revealed a unidirectional causality between exports and imports. Overall, exports, real GDP, exchange rate and capital formation exhibited a positive and significant impact on import demand in Ghana.

Date of Award	2017
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	Eastern Illinois University
Supervisor	Noel Brodsky (Supervisor)