Does export composition matter for economic growth in the United Arab Emirates?

This paper examines the export diversification process and the causality between disaggregated manufactured exports and economic growth in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The study develops a model whereby domestic investments, gross domestic product, as well as disaggregated manufactured exports and imports of goods and services, are considered. The results show that chemicals and related products cause short-run economic growth, while a bi-directional causality exists between machinery and transport equipment exports and economic growth both in the short and long run. Therefore, the shift to machinery and transport equipment exports contributes to long-run, sustainable economic growth in the UAE.