Abstract
Despite the importance of the insurance business for financial and economic development, few studies have looked at the factors that influence its growth. This research adds to the body of knowledge by empirically examining the impact of numerous factors on the development of the insurance business in 15 Middle East and North African (MENA) countries from 2000 to 2017. The study looks at macroeconomic, demographic, and institutional factors as potential drivers of the insurance industry's growth, with the insurance premium as a percentage of GDP as the dependent variable. All variables are stationary at the first difference, according to the IPS panel unit root test. The Pedroni residual cointegration test, Kao residual cointegration test, and Johansen-Fisher panel cointegration tests are then used to look for long-run associations. The cointegration tests strongly suggest that the insurance premium and the various variables have long-run correlations. Findings from the Fully-Modified OLS imply that GDP per capita, gross capital formation, and the KOF economic globalization index have a positive long-term impact on the insurance business. The insurance business is also driven by combating corruption and the rule of law. The population and regulatory quality, on the other hand, have no significant impact.