Is Per Capita Real GDP Stationary? Evidence from OPEC Countries
Seyyed Ali Paytakhti Oskooe, Laleh Tabaghchi Akbari

Abstract
This paper examines the stationarity of per capita GDP of a panel of OPEC countries during the period 2000 to 2012. By considering the subsequent power advantages of panel data unit root tests, we employ Im, Pesaran and Shin (2003) test. The empirical results indicate that real GDP per capita series among OPEC countries are nonstationary. The nonstationarity properties of OPEC countries were strongly inconsistent with the idea that business cycles have stationary fluctuations around a deterministic trend. This means that oil price shocks would possibly permanently affect the real output levels of OPEC countries.

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