The impact of employment in selected sectors on economic growth: The case of Iraq

The aim of the research is to analyses the effect of employment on economic growth and to assess the impact of this effect on agriculture, industry and services. In line with the findings from the related literature, this study applied an ARDL bounds test and Toda Yamamoto causality analysis on the Iraqi case. The study found that, employment increases in agriculture, industry and services sectors have a positive impact on economic growth. Long-run coefficient results reveal that increases in employment in these sectors has a positive relationship with economic growth. In particular, increases in employment in the agricultural sector are found to significantly support economic growth. In accordance with the results of the Toda-Yamamoto causality analysis, there is a unidirectional causality relationship between economic growth and agriculture, industry and services sectors. This can be explained by the interaction of various sectors of the economy with each other and this interaction encourages economic growth. Although agriculture, industry and services sectors have different contributions to economic growth, each of them has a positive effect on growth. Keywords: Economic Growth, Employment in Agricultural Sector, Employment in Industrial Sector, Employment in Service Sector, ARDL Boundary Test.