Abstract

This study examines the impacts of the stock market development on economic growth using Botswana as a case study. The study uses times series data covering a decade from 2006 to 2016. The method of analysis used is the Auto regressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds model. The stock market capitalization ratio (MCR) was used as a proxy for market size while value of shares traded ratio (ST) and Turnover ratio (TR) were used as a proxy for liquidity, collectively representing stock market development. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate was used to represent economic growth .The results show that market capitalization and turnover ratio have a negative correlation with economic growth, while the value of shares traded has a strong positive correlation with economic growth. This result implies that liquidity has propensity to stimulate economic growth in Botswana. The results of this study also found that there exists no causality relationship between stock market development and economic growth. The government should make policies that boost the interest of domestic investors in Botswana as this might spur investors’ interest and boost stock market activity which will improve liquidity and therefore stimulate economic growth.

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