Assessing the Impact of the Knowledge Economy on Economic Growth in Selected Arab Countries: A Panel Data Analysis (2010–2020)

This study demonstrates the impact of the knowledge-based economy in economic growth in Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, UAE, Egypt, Lebanon, Algeria, Tunisia, and Mauritania using annual Panel-Data analysis from 2010 to 2020. The knowledge economy is represented by total enrolment rate in secondary school, the total number of articles published in journals and the number of phones per 100 people. The study found a positive statistically significant effect of total capital formation, rate of participation in the labour force (15-64 years) and the total enrolment rate in secondary school on economic growth while also finding a negative statistically significant effect of trade and total number of published articles (a pillar of innovation in Knowledge-Based Economy) on economic growth. There is no statistically significant effect of the number of phones per 100 people (a pillar of information in a knowledge based economy) on economic growth. Only one of the three indicators of knowledge economy positively affects the economic growth. The other two indicators are either negatively affects economic growth or statistically insignificant.