International Journal of Business and Economics Volume 24, No. 2 September, 2025

Financial Development, Economic Freedom, and Economic Growth in Selected ASEAN Plus Three Countries: A Panel ARDL Model Analysis

Yuan-Hong Ho

Department of Public Finance, Feng Chia University, Taiwan

Chiung-Ju Huang

Department of Public Finance, Feng Chia University, Taiwan

Xin-Yu Liao

Department of Public Finance, Feng Chia University, Taiwan

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between financial development and economic growth in ten selected member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Plus Three (ASEAN+3), namely China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam, over the period from 2000 to 2020. Brunei, Cambodia, and Laos are excluded from the analysis due to data limitations. Utilizing the panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model, the empirical findings reveal that financial sector development exerts a significant positive impact on the long-run growth of per capita GDP. Additionally, economic freedom is recognized as a crucial determinant of short-run economic growth. The Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality test further reveals evidence of unidirectional causality, suggesting that economic freedom and financial development jointly influence the dynamics of economic growth across the sampled countries.

Keywords：Economic Freedom, Economic Growth, Financial Development, Panel ARDL

JEL Classifications：C33, O16

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