Does the “Belt and Road Initiative” Promote the Economic Growth of Participating Countries?

Qipeng Sun, Xiaodong Zhang, Xiaoqing Xu, Qi Yang and Sijie Wang
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Qipeng Sun: School of Economics and Management, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Xiaodong Zhang: School of Economics and Management, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Xiaoqing Xu: School of Economics and Management, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Qi Yang: Integrated Transportation Economics and Management Research Center, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Sijie Wang: School of Economics and Management, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 19, 1-14

Abstract: With the slowdown of global economic growth, how to stimulate economic growth has become a hot topic in recent years. The “Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative,” as a newly proposed global economic stimulus plan, has attracted widespread attention from scholars. In this study, the research used the propensity score matching difference in difference (PSM-DID) method to evaluate whether the “B&R” Initiative has promoted the economic growth of the countries along the route. Objectively assessing the effect of its implementation is not only important for its completion and improvement in the future but also to verify whether the “B&R” Initiative promotes economic growth in participating countries. A logistic regression is constructed using the statistical data obtained by the World Bank on 110 countries from 2011 to 2016. The results show that the “B&R” Initiative has effectively promoted the rapid growth of the GDP of participating countries but the improvement of per capita GDP growth is not significant. Through the analysis of the selected variables, corresponding policy recommendations are proposed. Moreover, objective proofs are provided to encourage all the countries in the world to participate in the “B&R” Initiative.

Keywords: belt and road initiative; economic growth; double difference; propensity matching score (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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