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on Africa |
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Issue of 2006‒09‒11
five papers chosen by Suzanne McCoskey Foreign Service Institute, US Department of State |
| By: | Patricia Alvarez-Plata; Tilman Brück |
| Abstract: | In the development literature, there exists no systematic study of external borrowing in post-conflict countries. We address this gap by analyzing statistical and case study evidence from three African countries. We find that many war-affected countries face rising debt arrears and deteriorating relations with creditors. Rebuilding trust between lenders and borrowers is hence a crucial but often slow process. Furthermore, donors to war-affected African countries have been slow to grant exceptional debt relief based odious debt or on financial requirements. Debt relief for post-conflict reconstruction should embrace a more forward-looking and more generous conditionality. |
| Keywords: | Post-conflict reconstruction, debt, HIPC, aid, institutions, Africa |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp613&r=afr |
| By: | Brenton, Paul; Hoppe, Mombert |
| Abstract: | The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is the flagship of U.S. commercial and development policy with Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper looks at the impact of the trade preferences that are the central element of AGOA on African countries ' exports to the U.S. and puts them in the perspective of the development of the region. The paper finds that, while stimulating export diversification in a few countries, AGOA has fallen short of the potential impetus that preferences could otherwise provide African exporters. The impact of AGOA would be enhanced if preferences were extended to all products. This means removing tariff barriers to a range of agricultural products and to textiles and a number of other manufactured goods. There also needs to be a fundamental change in approach to the rules of origin. Given the stage of development and economic size of Sub-Saharan Africa, nonrestrictive rules of origin are crucial. For all countries in Africa, those that have and those that have not benefited from preferences, there are enormous infrastructure weaknesses and often extremely poor policy environments that raise trade costs and push African producers further away from international markets. Effective trade preferences (those with nonrestrictive rules of origin) can provide a limited window of opportunity to exports while these key barriers to trade are addressed. But dealing with the barriers is the priority. |
| Keywords: | Free Trade,Economic Theory & Research,Trade Policy,Agribusiness & Markets,Markets and Market Access |
| Date: | 2006–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:3996&r=afr |
| By: | Visser, Martine (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Burns, Justine (University of Cape Town, Private Bag,) |
| Abstract: | We explore the effect of income inequality and peer punishment on voluntary provision of public goods in an experimental context. Our sample draws from nine fishing communities in South-Africa where high levels of inequality prevail. We find that aggregate cooperation is higher in both the voluntary contribution mechanism (VCM) and punishment treatments for unequal groups. Once peer sanctioning is introduced over-contribution by low relative to high endowment players observed in the VCM treatment is significantly enhanced. Demand for punishment by low and high endowment players are similar, irrespective of differences in relative costs, and in unequal groups free-riding is punished more, specifically by low endowment players. We observe inequality aversion both in endowments and with respect to the interaction of endowments and contributions: high endowment players receive more punishment, but also receive more punishment for negative deviation from the group mean share. <p> |
| Keywords: | Inequality; cooperation; punishment; public goods experiments |
| JEL: | C90 D63 H41 Q20 |
| Date: | 2006–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0219&r=afr |
| By: | Chauvin, Nicolas Depetris; Kraay, Aart |
| Abstract: | The authors use preliminary results from an ongoing effort to construct estimates of debt relief to study its allocation across a sample of 62 low-income countries. They find some evidence that debt relief, particularly from multilateral creditors, has been allocated to countries with better policies in recent years. Somewhat surprisingly, conditional on per capita incomes and policy, more indebted countries are not much more likely to receive debt relief. But countries that have large debts especially to multilateral creditors are more likely to receive debt relief. The authors do not find much evidence that debt relief responds to shocks to GDP growth. Finally, most of the persistence in debt relief is driven by slowly changing country characteristics, indicating that it may be difficult for countries to " exit " from cycles of repeated debt relief. |
| Keywords: | External Debt,Banks & Banking Reform,Strategic Debt Management,Foreign Direct Investment,Economic Theory & Research |
| Date: | 2006–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4000&r=afr |
| By: | Ouarda Merrouche |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the economic returns to improved households access to infrastructure, public services and land in the context of a large landmineclearance program in post-war Mozambique. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines production and use estimates that there are more than 80 billion landmines in the ground in more than 80 countries. Despite the scale of the problem and large investments by OECD countries to clear mines in low income countries, the economic consequences of landmine contamination have been so far unexamined by economists working on the economics of wars, perhaps due to the lack of data thus far. The evaluation uses a unique dataset on landmine contamination intensity covering 126 Mozambican districts to evaluate the causal impact of landmine contamination on income and welfare. The method uses a difference-in-difference estimator to correct for selection in landmine placement. I find large and statistically significant effects of landmine contamination on poverty (in level and depth) and consumption per capita. Hence, the cost-benefit analysis indicates that despite the high cost to clear a mine under reasonable assumptions the program generates a positive return. |
| Keywords: | war, poverty, landmines, difference-in-difference estimator, cost-benefit analysis |
| JEL: | O1 O55 |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eui:euiwps:eco2006/22&r=afr |