Financial Development and Economic Growth; the Roles of Business Environment Improvement, Trade Facilitation, and Trade and Financial liberalization

Business environment improvement and trade facilitation are proven to have an impact in improving the competitive power of firms and raising the trade index. Also, trade and financial liberalization are proven as significant factors in development and economic growth. Accordingly, this paper aims to explain the effect of business environment improvement, trade facilitation, trade liberalization and financial liberalization on financial development and economic growth of selected member states of Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), using panel data from 2000 to 2011. Results suggest that business environment improvement, trade facilitation and trade liberalization have positive and significant impact on economic growth, while financial liberalization has no effect on economic growth. Moreover, trade facilitation, trade liberalization and financial liberalization are all found to influence positively and significantly on financial development; while business environment improvement is found to have no effect on financial development.