This paper models and forecasts volatility (conditional variance) on the Ghana Stock Exchange using a random walk (RW), GARCH(1,1), EGARCH(1,1), and TGARCH(1,1) models. The unique 'three days a week' Databank Stock Index (DSI) was used to study the dynamics of the Ghana stock market volatility over a 10-year period. The competing volatility models were estimated and their specification and forecast performance compared with each other, using AIC and LL information criteria and BDS nonlinearity diagnostic checks. The DSI exhibits the stylized characteristics such as volatility clustering, leptokurtosis and asymmetry effects associated with stock market returns on more advanced stock markets. The random walk hypothesis is rejected for the DSI. Overall, the GARCH (1,1) model outperformed the other models under the assumption that the innovations follow a normal distribution.

This study examines the long-run impact of foreign direct investment and trade on economic growth in Ghana. Using an augmented aggregate production function (APF) growth model, we apply the bounds testing (ARDL) approach to cointegration which is more appropriate for estimation in small sample studies. The data span for the study is from 1970 to 2002. We found cointegration relations between growth and its determinants in the APF model. The results indicated the impact of FDI on growth to be negative which is consistent with other past studies. Trade however was found to have significant positive impact on growth.

The behaviour of Ghana’s imports during the period 1970-2002 was studied using disaggregated expenditure components of total national income. We used newly developed bounds testing approach to cointegration and estimated an error correction model to separate the short- and long-run elements of the import demand relationship. The study revealed inelastic import demand for all the expenditure components and relative price. In the long-run, investment and exports were the major determinant of movements in imports in Ghana. In the short run household and government consumption expenditures was the major determinant of import demand. Import demand was not very sensitive to price changes