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Open research questions in Economic Growth and Development

46 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 1,138 Economic Growth and Development papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • First, although the analysis incorporates institutional, eco- nomic, and human capital determinants, it does not account for cultural and behavioural factors such as risk aversion, institutional trust, privacy concerns, or openness to innovation, which can significantly influence digital adoption (Lin et al. These factors often interact with institutional variables, yet comparable cross-country data are limited.

    DETERMINANTS OF THE DIGITAL GAP: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF CENTRAL EUROPE AND SOUTHEAST ASIA, 2002–2024 · 2026 · DOI

  • Abstract How do new technologies influence public attitudes towards redistribution and social protection? This question, already much discussed for the OECD world, is underexplored for many middle-income countries (MICs).

    Jobs or money in times of sectoral change: how do policy attitudes respond to digitalization in Ghana? · 2026 · DOI

  • For policymakers: Implement graduate tracking systems following Rwanda's model. Establish labour market information systems to reduce skills mismatches. Expand digital infrastructure to amplify human capital returns. Prioritize early-grade reading and mathematics interventions. For development partners: Shift focus from education access to learning outcomes. Support labour market information systems as public goods. Coordinate human capital and infrastructure investments. For educational institutions: Strengthen employer linkages through advisory boards and curriculum co-design. Collect and publicize graduate employment data. Develop digital skills programs aligned with labour demand.

    Human Capital, Technological Catch-up, and Growth Divergence in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Moderated-Mediation Analysis of Underemployment and Technology Adoption · 2026 · DOI

  • USE OF CROSS-BORDER DIGITAL PAYMENTS IN THE COMESA REGIONUNDERSTANDING THE TRAINING NEEDS OF MSMES 42 4.1 Cereals trader in Busia Town, Kenya/Uganda Border Innovation in cross-border payments Cash continues to dominate CBTrs’ payments and financial challenge they face in cross-border payments. receipts among micro and small CBTrs and female-owned Additionally, service gaps of ‘FSPs’ websites/apps/USSD MSMEs. This is despite the high average values of these platforms are the most common challenge CBTrs face transactions and the high ownership rates of mobile regarding making CB payments digitally. money and bank accounts among traders. The three regional payment systems have yet to Cash payments are driven by the speed and ease with attain meaningful scale in the markets they operate which such payments are settled, and the perception in. Similarly, even though a growing number of among CBTrs that their payments are too small to be payment solutions are coming to market, many are affected electronically or digitally. This has resulted in closed-loop, severely limiting the size of their actual a strong preference and insistence on cash payments and potential user network. This, therefore, limits by suppliers and traders’ customers. their uptake among CBTrs. Traditional bank and MTO The preference for cash payments is also due to a lack of suitable products that meet the cross-border payment needs of CBTrs. This is confirmed by the solutions are costly, especially relative to the value of payments transacted by CBTrs. Although many traders have mobile money accounts, regional interoperability though growing, remains limited, and transaction 28% of respondent CBTrs that cite the absence of limits remain inhibitive for CBTrs. a designated low-cost digital payment service as a USE OF CROSS-BORDER DIGITAL PAYMENTS IN THE COMESA REGIONUNDERSTANDING THE TRAINING NEEDS OF MSMES Cereals trader in Busia Town, Kenya/Uganda Border 43 The key solution to driving the adoption of digital iii. The digital payment solutions should be interoperable payments for CB transactions is inclusive product between all payment service providers domestically development and innovation in CB payments. and across borders. This is because more than This development of relevant and accessible payment 80% of CBTrs have mobile money accounts, and products is the leading factor to drive digitization of more than 70% of CBTrs have bank accounts. The domestic low-value high-volume payments in subinteroperability of mobile money and bank accounts Saharan Africa.

    Digital Payment Adoption and Cross-Border Trade Efficiency Among Small and Medium Enterprises in East Africa · 2026 · DOI

  • Increased innovation around digital payment solutions that meet the needs of CBTrs is essential to drive increased uptake and usage by MSMEs. To ensure relevance, these solutions will need to consider the higher value of transactions and frequency of trade of CBTrs. They should also be interoperable across all types of financial service providers (FSPs) domestically and across borders; include the ability to share (with permissions) customer transaction records to aid the provision of trade finance solutions. Finally, they should enable the easy identification of payers and payees that use various modes of identification. Once these solutions are available, there will be a need to inform consumers of the solutions and train them on how to use them. FSPs offering payment solutions to consumers should likely conduct this training. Research findings identified the highly sought-after curriculum topics for capacity-building programs: financial education, digital access and usage of financial products, and how to navigate the trade facilitation process. The need for these types of training, however, differs by CBTr segments/profiles (e.g., by gender, business size or sector of focus). The nature of the training, mode and channels of training and implementation partners would therefore need to be tailored to ensure relevance to the segments/profiles. Based on the traders’ preferences, the report recommends that the training curriculum should explore three modes of training. The first involves the use of in-person group training. These involve a lot of coordination and planning and would need to be limited in their duration to not take operators and managers of MSMEs away from their business operations for too long. Next, the programs could explore follow-up one-on-one sessions conducted digitally. These could leverage MSMEs’ high smartphone access to leverage several platforms such USE OF CROSS-BORDER DIGITAL PAYMENTS IN THE COMESA REGIONUNDERSTANDING THE TRAINING NEEDS OF MSMES 11 as WhatsApp or Zoom. Written training content and pre-recorded videos shared on social media can be used to reinforce training received in training sessions and extend the reach of the training to CBTrs. There are several implementation partners to help administer the capacity-building program, including the use of COMESA trade information desks, associations of CBTrs or farmers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and FSPs. These would leverage existing and future relationships with CBTrs and their experience in conducting capacity-building initiatives.

    Digital Payment Adoption and Cross-Border Trade Efficiency Among Small and Medium Enterprises in East Africa · 2026 · DOI

  • 41 4�1 Innovation in cross-border payments �������������������������������������������������������������������� 42 4�2 Training on digital payments usage ����������������������������������������������������������������������� 43 4�3 Recommendations for designing capacity-building programs for MSMEs cross-border traders ����������������������������������������������������������� 44 1 2 3 4 USE OF CROSS-BORDER DIGITAL PAYMENTS IN THE COMESA REGIONUNDERSTANDING THE TRAINING NEEDS OF MSMES 4…

    Digital Payment Adoption and Cross-Border Trade Efficiency Among Small and Medium Enterprises in East Africa · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research could address these limitations by complementing cross-national NEET data with multidimensional indices of youth employment that capture job quality, income security, skill utilization, and working conditions once such data become available.

    Climate Finance and Youth NEET in Africa: Cross-Country Evidence from 46 Nations · 2026 · DOI

  • 1. Technology innovation in Nigeria should be given more attentions in all sector of the economy. 2. Government budgetary allocation in education, ICT and the banking sector should be review to reflect technology innovation progressed in such areas. 3. There should be a replicate of this study with reference to other sectors than ICT, Education and the banking sector in order to ascertain the specific effect of its technology innovation on economic growth in Nigeria.

    The Impact of Technological Advancement on Economic Development of Nigeria · 2026 · DOI

  • Originality/value This paper addresses that gap in the literature by studying the impact of FinTech, instead of the traditional financial inclusion measures, on poverty in the 45 countries in the SSA region, exploring the potential dynamic asymmetry of this poverty-FinTech link, and testing the presence and statistical significance of the threshold level of FinTech.

    Asymmetric and threshold effects of FinTech on poverty in SSA countries · 2022 · DOI

  • Positive and normative claims that artificial intelligence (AI) will or should lead to adoption of a universal basic income policy (UBI) remain insufficiently empirically grounded to merit serious consideration.

    AI: UBI Income Portfolio Adjustment to Technological Transformation · 2021 · DOI

  • This articles analyses a contemporary problem, which has not been thoroughly analysed in scientific literature – Estimation of Digital Shadow Economy through a modified MIMIC model.

    ADOPTION OF MIMIC MODEL FOR ESTIMATION OF DIGITAL SHADOW ECONOMY · 2018 · DOI

  • Sustainable foreign direct investment mitigates credit related emissions when combined with financial growth, but is insufficient on its own, whereas renewable energy consistently reduces carbon intensity, underscoring its role in decoupling growth from emissions.

    Financial development, sustainable FDI, and carbon intensity of growth in Sub-Saharan Africa · 2026 · DOI

  • 55 A limitation of the present study is that informality has been treated in relatively aggregate terms.

    The Role of Informality in Shaping Economic Policy Integration · 2026 · DOI

  • Illicit financial flows (IFFs) are widely regarded as a major constraint on development, yet empirical evidence on their direct impact on economic performance remains inconclusive.

    Analyzing the Influence of Illicit Financial Flows on Economic Growth: A Static Panel Approach · 2026 · DOI

  • It is complex and should be examined more in different country levels taking into considerations different variables such as education level, child care opportunities, informal employment and cultural effects.

    THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND WOMEN EMPLOYMENT ON ECONOMIC GROWTH IN TÜRKİYE: ARDL BOUND TESTING APPROACH · 2026 · DOI

  • Given the findings and limitations of this study, future studies can explore disaggregated sectoral analysis to understand how financial deepening affects inclusive growth across specific industries such as agriculture, manufacturing, or services in West Africa.

    Financial deepening and inclusive growth in West Africa: evidence from dynamic and heterogeneous panel estimators · 2026 · DOI

  • The complementarity observed between institutional quality and financial inclusion implies that governance reforms alone are insufficient unless matched with inclusive financial infrastructure.

    Institutional quality and digital financial Inclusion as complementary drivers of economic growth: A panel analysis of the SADC region · 2026 · DOI

  • In Nigeria, the proliferation of electronic transaction platforms has transformed banking operations and customer engagement, yet their implications for bank stability remain relatively underexplored.

    Electronic Transaction Volume and Banks’ Stability in Nigeria · 2026 · DOI

  • These findings lay the groundwork for the scarce literature on the macroeconomic impact of mobile financial services, a major dimension of the growing drive towards economic digitalisation.

    Informal sector and mobile financial services in emerging and developing countries: Does financial innovation matter? · 2021 · DOI

  • To the authors’ limited knowledge, this is not enough to know the importance of remittance in determining the overall FS status.

    Remittances and food security · 2021 · DOI

  • This leaves an important gap in the literature since the three sectors are interlinked, not mutually exclusive, and hence cannot be analysed in isolation from one another.

    Prioritising interventions for sustainable structural transformation in Africa: a structural equation modelling approach · 2019 · DOI

  • [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]), which by imposing exactly identifying and overidentifying restrictions on the cointegrating vector has taken care of a major limitation of the conventional cointegrating estimates in that they were atheoretical in nature.

    Causality between financial development and economic growth: an application of vector error correction and variance decomposition methods to Saudi Arabia · 2008 · DOI

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46 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 1,138 Economic Growth and Development papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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