Do Agricultural Raw Materials Imports Cause Agricultural Growth? Empirical Analysis from North Africa

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study empirically the impact of agricultural raw materials imports on agricultural growth since it is never done before. We have made this study in the context of three Countries from North Africa (Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt) for the period 1965 – 2016. By using cointegration analysis and vector error correction model, empirical analysis proves that agricultural raw materials imports produce a positive effect on agricultural growth in the long run for the three Countries and cause agricultural growth in the short run in the case of Tunisia and Egypt. It is seen that agricultural raw materials imports is a source of economic growth in the agricultural sector. For this reason, countries of North Africa should adopt to integrate foreign technology imports and not technological innovation to stimulate agricultural sector.