Non-Indian aid and growth nexus in Bhutan

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of Non-Indian foreign aid on economic growth. In addition, this paper also investigates the importance of governance, policy and democratic institution in fostering economic growth. Planned development activities in Bhutan are mostly funded through external assistance, particularly from India. Bhutan also receives assistance from other bilateral and multilateral countries besides India. Design/methodology/approach – This study adopts the autoregressive distributed lag approach to cointegration using time-series data from 1982 to 2012. To ensure stationarity of data, the unit root test is conducted. Necessary diagnostic tests are also performed to confirm that the model does not violate regression assumptions. Findings – Findings indicate that Non-Indian foreign aid, governance and democracy are detrimental to economic growth. Policy and investment is found insignificant determinant. However, labour force and technology are found fostering economic growth. Research limitations/implications – Less number of observations restrained detailed analysis like the use of interactive terms between aid and governance, aid and policy to see its actual impact. Data on Indian aid could not be sourced from any documents. Those available were found only for few years restricting time series analysis. Originality/value – This study explored the impact of various determinants on economic growth in Bhutan. These findings provide useful insights for policymakers in Bhutan to make necessary decisions. The analysis also suggests future ground for research to those scholars and researchers.