Motivated by trade and financial liberalisation policies have become
increasingly important in developing countries over the past two decades and the
existing gaps in the literature regarding financial development, economic growth, and
environmental quality research need to be addressed. Therefore, this thesis aims to
provide new evidence on the impacts of trade and financial openness on financial
development, the impact of financial development on economic growth, and the
impact of trade openness on environmental quality in 64 developing countries over
the period 2003-2017. One major contribution of this thesis for three objectives is the
adoption of the regression model based on Bayesian model averaging approach to
consider model uncertainty (Raftery et al., 1997; Hoeting et, al., 1999; Chipman et
al., 2001; Fragoso et al., 2018).
Regarding the impacts of openness on financial development, the thesis
demonstrates that the contribution of trade openness to financial development is
important in developing economies with better institutions. However, financial
openness has an insignificant positive effect on financial development. There is no
evidence to support the Rajan and Zingales hypothesis that the simultaneous openness
to both trade and capital flows promotes financial development. The findings also
indicate that a better institutions environment allows a developing economy to exploit
the benefits of openness to financial development.
Regarding the impact of financial development on economic growth, the
main findings indicate that financial development has a significant U-shaped effect
on economic growth, providing new insight concerning the relationship between
financial development and economic growth in developing countries. The results also
demonstrate that investment to gross domestic product ratio and foreign direct
investment have significant positive effects on economic growth, whereas population
growth has a significant negative impact on economic growth.
With regard to the impact of trade openness on environmental quality, the
empirical results reveal that trade openness in developing countries does not cause
environmental degradation. Besides trade openness, the findings provide strong
evidence in favour of financial openness and renewable energy consumption as two
of the most important determinants of environmental quality by reducing carbon
dioxide emissions. Meanwhile, inward FDI stock to domestic capital stock and
income have harmful effects on environmental quality in the context of developing
countries.
                
              
                                            
                                
            
 
            
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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING 
UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY 
--------------- 
Pham Thi Thuy Diem 
OPENNESS, FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT, 
ECONOMIC GROWTH, AND 
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY: EVIDENCE 
FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY THESIS IN ECONOMICS 
Ho Chi Minh City, 2022
 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING 
UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY 
--------------- 
Pham Thi Thuy Diem 
OPENNESS, FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT, 
ECONOMIC GROWTH, AND 
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY: EVIDENCE 
FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 
Major: Development Economics 
Code: 9310105 
ACADEMIC ADVISOR: 
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Trong Hoai 
Ho Chi Minh City, 2022
i 
COMMITMENTS 
I declare that the thesis has been composed by myself and that the thesis has 
not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. I confirm that 
the thesis submitted is my own, except where thesis which has formed part of jointly 
authored publications has been included. My contribution and those of the other 
authors to this thesis have been explicitly indicated below. I confirm that appropriate 
credit has been given within this thesis where reference has been made to the work 
of others. 
Some works demonstrated in Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, and 
Chapter 5 were previously published in an international journal, Cogent Economics 
& Finance, 9(1) as “Impacts of openness on financial development in developing 
countries: Using a Bayesian model averaging approach” by Pham Thi Thuy Diem 
(the first and corresponding author) & Nguyen Trong Hoai (co-author) (2021). The 
rest of works demonstrated in Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, and Chapter 
5 can be combined into two papers for further publications. 
The work presented in Chapter 2 was previously published in three national 
publications including: (i) Tạp chí Phát triển & Hội Nhập, 55(65), 109-116 as 
“Financial development and economic growth: A review of the literature” by Pham 
Thi Thuy Diem (the first and corresponding author) & Nguyen Trong Hoai (co-
author) (2020); (ii) Tạp chí Công Thương, Số 1-Tháng 1/2021, 72-80 as “Trade 
openness and environmental quality: A review of the literature” by Pham Thi Thuy 
Diem (the first and corresponding author) & Nguyen Trong Hoai (co-author) (2021); 
(iii) Review of Finance, 4(1), 9-12 as “Impacts of openness 
on financial development: A review of the literature” by Pham Thi Thuy Diem (the 
first and corresponding author) & Nguyen Trong Hoai (co-author) (2021). 
ii 
The thesis has been done under the supervision of Professor. Nguyen Trong 
Hoai, the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City. 
Pham Thi Thuy Diem 
10 July 2022 
iii 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
COVER PAGE 
COMMITMENTS 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
ABBREVIATIONS 
LIST OF TABLES 
LIST OF FIGURES 
ABSTRACT 
CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION ........................................................................... 1 
1.1. Research problems ........................................................................................... 1 
 The impacts of openness on financial development .................................. 2 
 The impact of financial development on economic growth ...................... 6 
 The impact of trade openness on environmental quality ........................... 9 
1.2. Research objectives ........................................................................................ 11 
1.3. Research contributions ................................................................................... 13 
1.4. Structure of the thesis ..................................................................................... 14 
CHAPTER 2 - LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................. 16 
2.1. Openness and financial development ............................................................. 16 
2.1.1. Impacts of openness on financial development: A theoretical review .... 16 
2.1.2. Impacts of openness on financial development: An empirical review .... 21 
2.1.3. Impacts of openness on financial development: Research hypotheses and 
a conceptual framework ..................................................................................... 30 
2.2. Financial development and economic growth................................................ 32 
iv 
2.2.1. Impact of financial development on economic growth: A theoretical 
review ................................................................................................................. 32 
2.2.2. Impact of financial development on economic growth: An empirical 
review ................................................................................................................. 35 
2.2.3. Impact of financial development on economic growth: Research 
hypothesis and a conceptual framework ............................................................ 42 
2.3. Trade openness and environmental quality .................................................... 45 
2.3.1. Impact of trade openness on environmental quality: A theoretical review . 
 ................................................................................................................. 45 
2.3.2. Impact of trade openness on environmental quality: An empirical review . 
 ................................................................................................................. 49 
2.3.3. Impact of trade openness on environmental quality: Research hypothesis 
and a conceptual framework............................................................................... 55 
2.2. An integrated conceptual framework for the links between openness, financial 
development, economic growth, and environmental quality in developing countries
 ........................................................................................................................ 58 
CHAPTER 3 - RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................ 60 
3.1. Methodology .................................................................................................. 60 
 The issue of model uncertainty ................................................................ 60 
 Bayesian model averaging methodology and model uncertainty ............ 60 
3.2. Construction of variables ............................................................................... 66 
3.2.1. Openness, financial development, economic growth, and environmental 
quality ................................................................................................................. 66 
3.2.2. Controlled variables ................................................................................. 69 
3.3. Data sources ................................................................................................... 99 
v 
CHAPTER 4 - OPENNESS, FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC 
GROWTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY - EVIDENCE FROM 
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ............................................................................. 102 
4.1. The impacts of openness on financial development: Evidence from developing 
countries ............................................................................................................... 102 
4.1.1. Descriptive statistics results ................................................................... 102 
4.1.2. Estimation results and discussions ........................................................ 107 
4.2. The impact of financial development on economic growth: Evidence from 
developing countries ............................................................................................ 115 
4.2.1. Descriptive statistics results ................................................................... 115 
4.2.2. Estimation results and discussions ........................................................ 120 
4.3. The impact of trade openness on environmental quality: Evidence from 
developing countries ............................................................................................ 126 
4.3.1. Descriptive statistics results ................................................................... 126 
4.3.2. Estimation results and discussions ........................................................ 131 
CHAPTER 5 - CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................... 140 
5.1. Main findings ............................................................................................... 140 
 The impacts of openness on financial development: Evidence from 
developing countries ......................................................................................... 140 
 The impact of financial development on economic growth: Evidence from 
developing countries ......................................................................................... 141 
5.1.3. The impact of trade openness on environmental quality: Evidence from 
developing countries ......................................................................................... 143 
5.2. Policy implications ....................................................................................... 144 
5.3. Overall conclusions, limitations, and further research of the thesis ............ 148 
vi 
5.3.1. Overall conclusions ............................................................................... 148 
5.3.2. Contributions ......................................................................................... 149 
5.3.3. Limitations and further research ............................................................ 151 
REFERENCE ........................................................................................................ 154 
APPENDICES ....................................................................................................... 181 
vii 
ABBREVIATIONS 
AREAER Annual report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions 
BMA Bayesian model averaging 
BRIC Benchmark prior 
CO2 Carbon dioxide 
EG Economic growth 
FD Financial development 
FDI Foreign direct investment 
FO Financial openness 
GDP Gross Domestic Product 
GFDD Global Financial Development Database 
IEA International Energy Agency 
KAOPEN Capital account openness index 
LEB Local empirical Bayes approach 
PWT Penn World Table 
SO2 Sulfur dioxide 
TradeOpen Trade openness 
UIP Unit Information Prior 
UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 
WDI World Development Indicators 
WGI Worldwide Governance Indicators 
viii 
LIST OF TABLES 
Table 3.1. Information on variables for Objective 1 72 
Table 3.2. Information on variables for Objective 2 81 
Table 3.3. Information on variables for Objective 3 92 
Table 3.4. The list of developing countries 100 
Table 4.1. Summary statistics of the variables for Objective 1, whole sample, 64 
economies, 2003-2017 
104 
Table 4.2. Correlations between of the variables for Objective 1, whole sample, 
2003-2017 
105 
Table 4.3. The impacts of openness on financial development: posterior 
estimates under uniform model priors 
109 
Table 4.4. Summary statistics of the variables for Objective 2, whole sample, 64 
economies, 2003-2017 
117 
Table 4.5. Correlations between of the variables for Objective 2, whole sample, 
2003-2017 
118 
Table 4.6. The impacts of financial development on economic growth: posterior 
estimates under uniform model priors 
122 
Table 4.7. Summary statistics of the variables for Objective 3, whole sample, 64 
economies, 2003-2017 
126 
Table 4.8. Correlations between of the variables for Objective 3, whole sample, 
2003-2017 
130 
ix 
Table 4.9. The impacts of trade openness on environmental quality: posterior 
estimates under uniform model priors 
133 
x 
LIST OF FIGURES 
Figure 1.1. Financial development in developing countries over the period 
2003-2017 
4 
Figure 1.2. Openness in developing countries over the period 2003-2017 5 
Figure 1.3. Economic growth in developing countries over the period 2003-
2017 
7 
Figure 1.4. Environmental quality in developing countries over the period 
2003-2017 
10 
Figure 2.1. The McKinnon–Shaw model 16 
Figure 2.2. A theoretical approach to openness and financial development 21 
Figure 2.3. A conceptual framework for the impacts of openness on financial 
development 
31 
Figure 2.4. A theoretical approach to financial development and economic 
growth 
35 
Figure 2.5. A conceptual framework for the impact of financial development 
on economic growth 
44 
Figure 2.6. A theoretical approach to trade openness and environmental quality 47 
Figure 2.7. A conceptual framework for the impact of trade openness on 
environmental quality 
57 
Figure 2.8. An integrated conceptual framework for three objectives 59 
Figure 3.1. Legal origins of developing countries 101 
xi 
Figure 4.1. Scatter plots of openness and financial development in developing 
countries, 2003 – 2017 
106 
Figure 4.2. Marginal densities of trade openness, financial openness, and the 
interaction between trade openness and financial openness from BRIC 
111 
Figure 4.3. Cumulative model probabilities from BRIC for Object 1 114 
Figure 4.4. Scatter plots of financial development and economic growth in 
developing countries, 2003 - 2017 
119 
Figure 4.5. Marginal densities of financial development from BRIC 124 
Figure 4.6. Cumulative model probabilities from BRIC for Object 2 121 
Figure 4.7. Scatter plots of trade openness and environmental quality in 
developing countries, 2003 – 2017 
131 
Figure 4.8. Marginal densities of openness from BRIC 135 
Figure 4.9. Cumulative model probabilities from BRIC for Object 3 136 
xii 
ABSTRACT 
Motivated by trade and financial liberalisation policies have become 
increasingly important in developing countries over the past two decades and the 
existing gaps in the literature regarding financial development, economic growth, and 
environmental quality research need to be addressed. Therefore, this thesis aims to 
provide new evidence on the impacts of trade and financial openness on financial 
development, the impact of financial development on economic growth, and the 
impact of trade openness on environmental quality in 64 developing countries over 
the period 2003-2017. One major contribution of this thesis for three objectives is the 
adoption of the regression model based on Bayesian model averaging approach to 
consider model uncertainty (Raftery et al., 1997; Hoeting et, al., 1999; Chipman et 
al., 2001; Fragoso et al., 2018). 
Regarding the impacts of openness on financial development, the thesis 
demonstrates that the contribution of trade openness to financial development is 
important in developing economies with better institutions. However, financial 
openness has an insignificant positive effect on financial development. There is no 
evidence to support the Rajan and Zingales hypothesis that the simultaneous openness 
to both trade and capital flows promotes financial development. The findings also 
indicate that a better institutions environment allows a developing economy to exploit 
the benefits of openness to financial development. 
Regarding the impact of financial development on economic growth, the 
main findings indicate that financial development has a significant U-shaped effect 
on economic growth, providing new insight concerning the relationship between 
financial development and economic growth in developing countries. The results also 
demonstrate that investment to gross domestic product ratio and foreign direct 
investment have significant positive effects on economic growth, whereas population 
growth has a significant negative impact on economic growth. 
xiii 
With regard to the impact of trade openness on environmental quality, the 
empirical results reveal that trade openness in developing countries does not cause 
environmental degradation. Besides trade openness, the findings provide strong 
evidence in favour of financial openness and renewable energy consumption as two 
of the most important determinants of environmental quality by reducing carbon 
dioxide emissions. Meanwhile, inward FDI stock to domestic capital stock and 
income have harmful effects on environmental quality in the context of developing 
countries. 
Keywords: Openness, financial development, economic growth, 
environmental quality, developing countries, Bayesian model averaging. 
1 
CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION 
1.1. Research problems 
 It is now widely accepted that trade and financial openness constitute 
potentially important mechanisms for financial development (Rajan and Zingales, 
2003; Baltagi et al., 2007, 2009; Chinn and Ito, 2002, 2006; Law and Demetriades, 
2006; David et al., 2014; Svaleryd and Vlachos, 2002, 2005; etc.) which in turn can 
influence economic growth, especially in developing countries (Caporale et al., 2014; 
Estrada et al., 2010, 2015; Menyah et al., 2014; Calderón and Liu, 2003; Bittencourt, 
2012; Law and Singh, 2014; Rioja and Valev, 2004a, b). Regarding trade openness, 
it could be one of the most crucial factors explaining environmental quality 
(Antweiler et al., 2001; Cole and Elliott, 2003; Managi et al., 2009; Atici, 2009, 2012; 
Baek et al., 2009; Nasir and Rehman, 2011; Shahbaz et al., 2016; Mutascu, 2018). 
Although there have been numerous investigations attempting to understand 
financial development, growth and environmental quality research, the majority of 
studies only utilised methodologies for panel data basing on traditional statistical 
inference (Gries et al., 2009; Chinn & Ito, 2002; Cecchetti & Kharroubi, 2012; 
Estrada et al., 2015; Zhang et al., 2012; Ergungor, 2008; Adu et al., 2013; Frankel & 
Rose, 2005; Antweiler et al., 2001; Cole & Elliott, 2003; Le et al., 2016). The standard 
statistical approaches ignore model uncertainty, leading to over-confident inferences, 
“all-or-nothing” constraint, and omitted variable bias that generalize poorly (Raftery, 
1993; Raftery et al., 1997, 2005; Hoeting et al., 1999; Chipman et al., 2001; Fragoso 
et al., 2018, Hinne et al., 2020). Moreover, the competitive theories and empirical 
studies have remarkably emerged from the literature on financial development, 
growth and environmental quality determinants, which poses a significant challenge 
for development economics. Therefore, Bayesian model averaging (BMA) is a tailor-
made approach to deal with the model uncertainty that surrounds the large set of 
candidate regressors. In this thesis, the adoption of BMA proposed by several seminal 
2 
works, such as Raftery (1993), Raftery et al. (2005), Raftery et al. (1997), and Hoeting 
et al. (1999), can make significant contributions at bridge the methodology. Besides, 
previous findings are not conclusive; hence financial development, economic growth, 
and environmental quality studies have been highly controversial in development 
economics. 
 The impacts of openness on financial development 
Regarding the impacts of openness on financial development, the seminal 
work of Rajan and Zingales (2003) argue that, for genuine financial development, a 
combined liberalisation of both trade and capital accounts are a necessary condition 
(the simultaneous openness henceforth); this is the simultaneous openness hypothesis 
on financial development. According to Rajan and Zingales (2003), interest groups 
(incumbents) are often against financial development because it generates stronger 
competition that erodes their rents. They argue that contemporaneous opening of both 
the trade and capital flows will reduce incumbents’ powers, hence enhancing 
financial development. Moreover, through new opportunities, trade and financial 
openness might bring sufficient new profi