Trade in goods and services and its effect on economic growth: the case of
International trade is steadily increasing and one of its recent trends is the
increase in the volume of trade in services. Nevertheless, the growth effects of trade in
services have been insufficiently explored. Therefore, the aim of this study is to
investigate empirically the specific growth contribution of the trade in goods and
services in Jordan for the period 1980-2014. The model is estimated using the Fully
Modified Ordinary Least Squares approach, which corrects for endogeneity of data and
serial correlation. The results of the estimated regression are in tune with the economic
theory. In particular, it emerges that trade in goods has a negative effect on GDP in
Jordan, whereas trade in services positively affects economic performance.
Keywords: Trade in services, international trade, Jordan, economic growth, Fully
Modified OLS