Exploring the nexus between mobile phone penetration and economic growth in 13 Asian countries: Evidence from panel cointegration analysis

Abstract

This study endeavours to examine the nexus between mobile phone penetration and economic growth for 13 Asian nations over the period of 1990–2016. To attain this objective, we have initially employed LLC and IPS panel unit root tests to investigate whether the variables are stationary or not. Having found a same order of integration for each of the variables, we applied Pedroni’s panel cointegration method to investigate the cointegrating relationship between the variables. The outcome of the study reveals the presence of a cointegrating relationship between the variables. Accordingly, we applied FMOLS and DOLS estimators to estimate the mobile penetration retention coefficient. The results of both methods confirmed the significant effect of mobile phone penetration on economic growth. Thus, besides investment in human and physical capital, governments of these countries can enhance their economic growth by harnessing the potential of mobile phone penetration.