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on Africa |
| By: | Jennifer Golan; Jann Lay |
| Abstract: | Focusing on intra-household allocation, we investigate the effects of coffee market liberalisation in Uganda. As coffee has traditionally been a male domain, higher income from this activity might increase gender disparities. In addition, gender-related inefficiency in household production might undermine the positive impact of improved incentives. Using data from three household surveys conducted between 1992 and 2006, we estimate Engel curves, coffee yield and labour input equations incorporating bargaining proxies. We find that income from coffee is increasingly pooled and therefore shared more equally among household members. Yet, we can only detect partial improvements in production efficiency: bargaining still appears to constraint output efficiency and the distribution of household resources continues to follow gendered lines. Moreover, female-headed households are deterred from entry into coffee farming mainly because of discrimination in access to land. |
| Keywords: | Coffee, Market liberalisation, Gender, Bargaining, Intra-household allocation, Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda |
| JEL: | D13 D61 J16 O12 O13 O24 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1402&r=afr |
| By: | Bokosi, Fanwell Kenala |
| Abstract: | The aim of the article is to investigate the impact of commercialisation on household poverty in Malawi using the 1997/98 Integrated Household Survey data. The results indicate that overall those household who were more commercialised were better off than those who did not and thus commercialisation should be encouraged as a means of alleviating poverty. In terms of regional analysis the southern region and the central region results indicate that the more commercialised households were actually worse off. Furthermore, the livelihoods of the most vulnerable households (female headed and poor households) did not benefit from commercialisation. Therefore, in terms of policies, it is important that government should identify groups that are likely losers to commercialisation and hence the need for compensatory or socially protective policy design to socio-economic groups whose incomes have been reduced by commercialisation. |
| Keywords: | Commercialisation; Poverty; Propensity Score Matching; Household Model; Malawi. |
| JEL: | I31 C31 Q12 |
| Date: | 2008–01–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:7087&r=afr |
| By: | Bichaka Fayissa; Badassa Tadasse; Andrew McColley |
| Abstract: | In recent years, development co-operations that seek to promote trade flows between countries have continued to emerge from the notion that trade has a positive impact on economic growth. We evaluate the impact of one such initiative, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), on the eligible Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries’ exports to the U.S. We find that the implementation of the AGOA has contributed to the initiation of new and the intensification of existing SSA countries’ exports to the U.S. across several sectors. Our results imply that the contribution of such development and cooperation efforts to enhance the long-term economic growth of the parties involved through increased trade flows depends on the ability of policy makers in building upon the trade-initiation impetus generated by the policy change. |
| Keywords: | AGOA, Trade liberalization, Development Cooperation |
| JEL: | F13 F14 F15 |
| Date: | 2008–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mts:wpaper:200801&r=afr |
| By: | Yaya Koloma (GED, Université Montesquieu Bordeaux IV) |
| Abstract: | L’objectif de ce papier est d’explorer l’aspect multidimensionnel de la pauvreté non-monétaire au Mali. Les précédentes analyses et mesures de la pauvreté ont été réalisées à travers une approche monétaire. Une récente étude de la pauvreté monétaire montre que l’incidence s’élève à 68,4 pour cent de la population, dont un tiers vivrait dans l’extrême pauvreté, et que l’incidence relative aux femmes et aux hommes est comparable – respectivement, 67,8 et 68,7 pour cent. Un tel résultat relativise l’idée communément admise d’une pauvreté à visage féminin. Dans ce contexte, l’approche monétaire, malgré son importance, demeure rigide pour appréhender l’ensemble des besoins de chaque individu, une situation qui conduit à développer de nouvelles approches et concepts de la pauvreté. A cet égard, le concept multidimensionnel de la pauvreté (non-monétaire) est admis, et permet de capter de nombreuses dimensions de bien-être et de donner d’intéressants résultats proches de la réalité. Ainsi, l’intérêt principal de cette approche, notamment celle de Chakravarty et alii, est la décomposition d’indicateurs multidimensionnels en sous-groupes (dans notre cas en régions, milieu ou genre) et attributs (les dimensions considérées). Dans le cas du Mali, les résultats obtenus tendent à confirmer les statistiques officielles de la pauvreté monétaire, mais relativisent celles qui concernent la problématique du genre. The purpose of this paper is to explore the micro-multidimensionality of the non-monetary poverty in Mali. The previous measure and analysis of poverty are based on a monetary concept. The recent study about the poverty, based on a monetary approach, shows that the poverty’s incidence is 68.3 percent including 1/3 living in extreme poverty. The results illustrate that women (67,8 percent) would be at the same level or less poor than men (68,7 percent) and that carries out to reconsider the admitted idea of the feminisation of poverty. This approach, despite its importance, remains rigid to capture all the needs of each person. It’s the reason which conducts many socio-economists actors to develop some news concepts. Nowadays, the multidimensional concept of the poverty (non- monetary) is admitted and permits to keep many dimensions of welfare and to give interesting results close to the reality. Thus, the main interest of this approach is that the multidimensional index created can be divided in sub-groups (in this case, regions and gender) and attributes (dimensions considered). The results of the data analysis in Mali, give us necessary information which would confirm the official monetary poverty or would contest them, notably concerning the problematic of gender’s situation (male and female).(Full text in french) |
| JEL: | I31 I32 |
| Date: | 2008–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mon:ceddtr:142&r=afr |
| By: | Jane Kabubo-Mariara; Margaret M. Karienyeh; Francis K. Mwangi |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses multidimensional aspects of child poverty in Kenya. We carry out poverty and inequality comparisons for child survival and also use the parametric survival model to explain childhood mortality using DHS data. The results of poverty comparisons show that: children with the lowest probability of survival are from households with the lowest level of assets; and poverty orderings for child survival by assets are robust to the choice of the poverty line and to the measure of wellbeing. Inequality analysis suggests that there is less mortality inequality among children facing mortality than children who are better off. The survival model results show that child and maternal characteristics, and household assets are important correlates of childhood mortality. The results further show that health care services are crucial for child survival. Policy simulations suggest that there is potential for making some progress in reducing mortality, but the ERS and MDG targets cannot be achieved. |
| Keywords: | Child survival, multidimensional poverty, inequality, stochastic dominance, childhood mortality, asset index, Kenya |
| JEL: | J13 I12 I32 I38 D63 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:pmmacr:2008-01&r=afr |
| By: | Willem H. Boshoff (Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University); Johan Fourie (Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University) |
| Abstract: | The only reliable estimate of the number of ships that arrived in the Cape Colony was published by Beyers in 1929. Unfortunately, this data series has a number of restrictions. It only accounts for the number of ships arriving at the Cape during the period 1700–1793. It also does not distinguish between the types of ships used or compensate for the length of their stay. Using a new electronic data source detailing every ship that anchored in Table Bay during the existence of the Dutch East India Company, this paper provides new insights into the pattern of ship traffic fluctuations in the early Cape Colony. Historical evidence from this period supports the empirical results. While many gaps still remain, the new empirical evidence can be used in future research on this neglected period of South Africa’s economic history. |
| Keywords: | Cape Colony, Data, Economic History, Dutch East India Company, Ships, Cliometrics |
| JEL: | N17 E32 N77 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers49&r=afr |
| By: | Balogun, Emmanuel Dele |
| Abstract: | This study gauged the effects of output co-variability, intra-industry intensity of trade and endogenous features of the countries such as common language, border, or colonizer, etc. on bilateral trade. The results confirm that similarities in business cycles influence bilateral trade among the countries. While the positive effects of the real GDP variable coefficient estimate confirms the assertion in the literature that larger countries exert a greater gravitational pull on imports and push to exports (Nigeria accounts for approximately 60 per cent of the GDP, land mass and population of the group), the negative sign of the per capita income variable coefficient estimate is also consistent with expectation that poorer countries (in per capita terms) tend to have lesser trade. Also, the coefficient estimates of the intra-industry trade intensity variables were significant. While the positive sign of the intra-industry trade in agricultural commodities suggest that it can, ceteris paribus, lead to trade creation within the region, the negative sign of the agricultural and mineral commodities is reflective of the Krugman’s specialization effects arising from the fact that Nigeria is a major exporter of crude oil. It was inferred that these results portends that improvements in per capita incomes of WAMZ countries could invariably be associated with greater trade in the absence of trade barriers and if supported with common currency. This was confirmed by the significance of the trade dummies included in the model. |
| Keywords: | Exchange rate policy; export trade; panel data regression model; WAMZ |
| JEL: | F36 |
| Date: | 2008–02–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:7083&r=afr |
| By: | Pietie Horn (Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University); Ada Jansen (Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University) |
| Abstract: | The deteriorating performance of first-year Economics students has become a concern at many South African universities. Addressing the issue requires a thorough understanding of the factors influencing students’ success. Studies analysing academic performance usually use the education production function approach. This approach identifies inputs crucial to learning to achieve certain outputs. Factors that have been investigated in other studies include the impact of lecture attendance on performance, as well as other factors such as matric results (particularly performance in Mathematics), gender and the age of the student. This study adds to existing literature by analysing the impact of the tutorial programme as an input. The case study investigates the tutorial programme for first-year Economics students at Stellenbosch University (SU) using both a quantitative and qualitative analysis. Results confirm what previous studies have found, namely that lecture attendance, gender and matric results contribute positively to performance in first-year Economics. The main finding of the paper is that tutorial attendance also contributes positively to academic performance. |
| Keywords: | Tutor programme, Undergraduate, Academic performance |
| JEL: | A2 A22 A29 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers50&r=afr |
| By: | Fatma El-Hamidi; Fatma EL-Hamidi; Cem Baslevent |
| Abstract: | . . . |
| Date: | 2007–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pit:wpaper:335&r=afr |
| By: | Fatma El-Hamidi; Fatma El-Hamidi |
| Abstract: | . . . |
| Date: | 2004–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pit:wpaper:337&r=afr |
| By: | Fatma El-Hamidi; Fatma El-Hamidi |
| Abstract: | . . . |
| Date: | 2007–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pit:wpaper:341&r=afr |
| By: | Melad, Khaled |
| Abstract: | Despite Egypt’s adoption of an “open-door” policy since the 1970s and a rapid expansion of world trade in recent decades, the openness indicator, nearly halved from 1980 (46%) to 2000 (24%), with the same trend recorded for services. Since 2001, a number of trade liberalization and reform measures, although falling short of opening Egypt’s protected market, contributed to enhancing exports to the global market place. The pace of liberalization received a boost with the new government’s reinforcement of export -oriented policies. |
| Keywords: | EU; TIFA; QIZ; trade; liberalization; partnership agreement |
| JEL: | F15 F13 |
| Date: | 2008–02–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:7084&r=afr |
| By: | Fatma El-Hamidi; Fatma El-Hamidi; Mona Said |
| Abstract: | . . . |
| Date: | 2007–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pit:wpaper:338&r=afr |