Striking Study for Africa from BAUN Academics: Good Governance Triggers Regional Development

The study signed by a group of academics—including Prof. Dr. Suat Kara from Balıkesir University (BAUN), Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of International Trade and Logistics, and Dr. Mohammed Alnour from BAUN’s Department of Economics—revealed that institutional quality plays a decisive role in Africa’s sustainable socioeconomic development process not only at the national level but also on a regional scale.

The study titled “Socioeconomic Development in Africa” (The Spatial Spillover Effects of Institutional Quality on the Path to Sustainable Socioeconomic Development in Africa), conducted by BAUN academics Prof. Dr. Suat Kara and Dr. Mohammed Alnour together with Md. Emran Hossain (University of Lefke and Applied Science Private University), Shamsa Kanwal (The University of Lahore), and Sana Fatima (Deemed University), was published in the SSCI Q1 journal “Sustainable Development,” which is ranked in the top quartile of international journal rankings.  

Prof. Dr. Suat Kara: “Strong Institutions Also Influence Neighboring Countries”

Providing information about the study—which covers 42 African countries over the 2012–2022 period and examines the direct and spatial spillover effects of institutional quality (transparency, the rule of law, and political stability) on life expectancy and mean years of schooling—Prof. Dr. Suat Kara stated that spatial panel econometric models were employed, namely the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM), Spatial Autoregressive Model (SAR), and Spatial Error Model (SEM). He noted that GDP per capita and population growth were included as control variables in the analyses, and that sustainability performance was measured using life expectancy and mean years of schooling indicators within the Sustainable Development Index (SDI).

Emphasizing that the findings indicate a statistically significant positive spatial autocorrelation for both indicators, Kara reported that Moran’s I coefficient was calculated as 0.536 for life expectancy and 0.469 for education. He highlighted that, in terms of life expectancy, the rule of law exhibited strong positive direct and spillover effects, and that these effects were further strengthened by regional GDP and population dynamics. This, he noted, suggests that improvements in governance quality within one country can also positively affect neighboring countries’ health indicators through cross-border cooperation and policy diffusion.

With regard to educational attainment, Kara stated that no significant spatial spillover effect was detected; mean years of schooling were shaped primarily by domestic factors such as national GDP, population, and the rule of law. He noted that this points to a more fragmented structure of education systems across Africa.

Kara also stated that population growth increases life expectancy both directly and indirectly through neighboring countries, emphasizing that the rule of law displays both direct effects and strong regional externalities on health outcomes, and that institutional quality therefore has the characteristics of a regional public good. In contrast, he noted that the variables of corruption and political stability did not yield statistically significant results in either model.

Prof. Dr. Suat Kara stated that the findings demonstrate the need to consider spatial interdependence within Africa’s development agenda, emphasizing that strengthening cooperation through regional frameworks such as the African Union’s Agenda 2063 would make a significant contribution to sustainable human development across the continent.

Article link:  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/sd.70726