Import substitution industrialisation and economic growth – Evidence from the group of BRICS countries

Abstract

Governments in various countries, irrespective of the country׳s level of economic growth, seek to initiate macroeconomic policies towards achieving better economic performance in order to advance level of business activities and ultimately, ensure better quality of life for the people. To achieve this, various approaches and interventions are applied in the process, but the outcomes are always different. While some of these policy interventions have culminated in the desired outcomes, quite a few have faltered on the platter of ineptness. This article investigates the importance of import substitution industrialisation (ISI) on the economic performance of the countries in the group of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). Using data from the World Bank Development Indicators from 1960 to 2016 in econometric estimations, this article argues that ISI policy helped to catalyse the industrialisation process of these five countries, with the effects being more convergent in the short run as shown by the GMM, SGMM and impulse response techniques. It is thus recommended that less developed countries should adopt this form of economic integration and home-grown ISI policy to substitute imports in the short run, and embrace liberalisation as higher level of industrialisation is achieved in the long run.