Globalization influence on economic growth: The case of West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries

It is a fact that globalization is not a new phenomen, but have increasingly been gaining speed in recent decades. The effect of this globalization especially on developed and some developing countries' economic growth have been developed in several empirical analysis; with less than 2% of world trade and foreign investment, Africa appears to be out of globalization. These observations prompted us to look at the impact of economic globalization on economic growth in West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries. The study aims to determine the effect of globalization on the economic growth in short and long term in WAEMU countries using a panel data framework covering the period 2000-2014. Two methods of estimation are used to capture the effects of economic globalization: a Fixed effects model to study the short run effects and a dynamic panel model to capture the long run effects. The results show that economic globalization has a negative impact on economic growth and is significant at 10% in the short run. In the long run has a positive effect on economic growth and is significant at 5%. Indeed, in the long run, an increase in economic globalization by 1% would, on average, increases economic growth by 0.032%, ceteris paribus. Based on these results we can conclude that opening of the domestic economy towards international markets are more productive in the long run for WAEMU countries. Keywords: Globalization, Economic Growth, Fıxed effects, System GMM, WAEMU, Panel Data.