The Franc Zone: good or bad institution for economic convergence and growth?

Summary The objective of this thesis is to further analyze the convergence process and the drivers of economic growth in the Franc Zone (FTZ). First, the use of the panel unit root test with structural shocks by Carrion-I-Silvestre et al. (2005) revealed a stochastic convergence only in the WAEMU. The complementary analysis in terms of β-convergence in the latter showed a process of catching up by Burkina Faso and Mali, a convergence of Togo towards the community average and divergences of Niger and Senegal from this average. Next, we estimated the impact of the FTA by comparing member countries to other similar developing countries. The random-effects panel estimation showed that, on average, ZF countries had lower growth than their counterfactuals. This inferiority was also helped by inflation, government spending, and bank lending policies but mitigated by investment policies. Finally, the use of iterative Bayesian estimation and comparison of these estimators revealed that the FTA and African economic and/or monetary groupings did not introduce specificities in convergence and economic growth drivers. Beyond the FTA, this approach highlighted the preponderance of natural endowments in the convergence and economic growth processes of African countries. Ultimately, the results of this thesis suggest further reflections on how the FTA works.