Determinants of Economic Growth
There are a number of factors that contribute significant roles in economic growth of a
country. For the purpose of this research, the four main determinants of the growth will be used as
control variables, namely rate of inflation, government spending, capital formation, and labor
productivity.
1. Rate of Inflation
According to a research conducted by Barro in 1960-1990 on 100 countries (countries’
characteristics held constant), the estimated effects of inflation on economic growth were
significantly negative. He found out that an increase in average inflation by 10 percentage points
per year led to a reduction in the growth rate of real GDP per capita by 0.2-0.3 percentage point
per year (Barro). Inflation and economic performance are negatively correlated because higher
price level makes people to have less purchasing power. Because of this, consumers will demand
fewer goods, because they can only afford fewer goods with the same amount of money they have.
A decrease in demand of goods will lead to fewer goods produced and will result in lower GDP
level. Therefore, the higher inflation rate is, the lower GDP growth is expected.