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on Africa |
| By: | Sedat Aybar (Kadir Has University, Turkey); Costas Lapavitsas (University of London) |
| Keywords: | The Urgent Need for Financial Reform to Mobilise Savings in Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Date: | 2008–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:50&r=afr |
| By: | Morné Oosthuizen (Development Policy Research Unit, University of Cape Town) |
| Abstract: | Abstract: By monitoring the price changes experienced by some representative household, consumer price indices provide an important measure of changing purchasing power within a given economy. Group price indices offer one method of more accurately reflecting the inflation experiences of specific types of households, such as poor households, elderly households or households with children, for example. This study uses expenditure data from the 2000 Income and Expenditure Survey and price indices from Statistics South Africa to calculate inflation rates for expenditure deciles for the period 1998 to 2006. As a result, price indices and inflation rates calculated on the basis of these weights can not accurately reflect the rates of inflation experienced by what would be viewed as the ‘average’ household. |
| Keywords: | South Africa: consumer price index, Income distribution (South Africa), purchasing |
| JEL: | A1 |
| Date: | 2007–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctw:wpaper:96105&r=afr |
| By: | Shane Godfrey; Jan Theron; Margareet Visser (Development Policy Research Unit, University of Cape Town) |
| Abstract: | Abstract: The research examines the current state of collective bargaining, the nature of existing bargaining structures, alternative models that have developed, and the problems being experienced in the current system. The impact of collective bargaining on small business is also an aspect of the research. The aim was to understand how labour policy and regulation can better support collective bargaining. |
| Keywords: | South Africa: collective bargaining, bargaining structure, small business, regulation |
| JEL: | A1 |
| Date: | 2007–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctw:wpaper:96106&r=afr |
| By: | Bora, Saswati; Bouet, Antoine; Roy, Devesh |
| Abstract: | "In recent years, trade in Africa has assumed greater importance as a means of alleviating poverty, especially since the initiation of the Doha Round for development. At the same time, skepticism regarding the effectiveness of foreign aid has grown (Easterly 2006). Trade and aid have often been viewed as interchangeable, but “aid for trade” has recently gained prominence, with the result that the two factors are more often treated as complementary. Proponents of “aid for trade” argue that the capacity of developing countries to take advantage of any gains in market access through the Doha Round is hampered by a plethora of supply-side bottlenecks and costs, administrative constraints, and poor institutions. Aid for trade, thus, refers to additional aid to tackle trade-related constraints and adjustment costs in developing countries (Evenett 2005).1 Views differ as to what this package should entail, but many developing countries are in favor of building supplycapacity and trade-related infrastructure (IATP 2006)." from text |
| Keywords: | Trade policy, Market access, Economic assistance, Poverty alleviation, Doha Developmental Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Trade reform, Protectionism, Trade barriers, exports, International trade, |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:resbrf:7&r=afr |
| By: | Bouet, Antoine; Laborde, David; Mevel, Simon |
| Abstract: | "On January 1, 2008, Economic Partnerships Agreements (EPAs), currently being negotiated between the European Union (EU) and nearly 80 African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries, are expected to replace the Cotonou Agreement, which has governed trade relations between these countries since 2000. The Cotonou Agreement, implemented through a waiver from the World Trade Organization (WTO), expires on December 31, 2007. At the second EU-Africa summit, held in Lisbon on December 8–9, trade issues have been a major bone of contention, with several African heads of state denouncing the way the negotiation had been led by the European Commission. At the end of the summit, the Commission agreed to continue EPA negotiations in 2008." from text |
| Keywords: | International agreements, Trade agreements, |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:resbrf:10&r=afr |
| By: | Dollar, David |
| Abstract: | China has been the most successful developing country in this modern era of globalization. Since initiating economic reform after 1978, its economy has expanded at a steady rate over 8 percent per capita, fueling historically unprecedented poverty reduction (the poverty rate declined from over 60 percent to 7 percent in 2007). Other developing countries struggling to grow and reduce poverty are naturally interested in what has been the source of this impressive growth and what, if any, lessons they can take from China. This paper focuses on four features of modern China that have changed significantly between the pre-reform period and today. The Chinese themselves call their reform program Gai Ge Kai Feng, " change the system, open the door. " " Change the system " means altering incentives and ownership, that is, shifting the economy from near total state ownership to one in which private enterprise is dominant. " Open the door " means exactly what it says, liberalizing trade and direct investment. A third lesson is the development of high-quality infrastructure: China ' s good roads, reliable power, world-class ports, and excellent cell phone coverage throughout the country are apparent to any visitor. Wha t is less well known is that most of this infrastructure has been developed through a policy of " cost recovery " that prices infrastructure services at levels sufficient to finance the capital cost as well as operations and maintenance. A fourth important lesson is China ' s careful attention to agriculture and rural development, complemented by rural-urban migration. |
| Keywords: | Transport Economics Policy & Planning,Environmental Economics & Policies,Emerging Markets,Population Policies,Debt Markets |
| Date: | 2008–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4531&r=afr |
| By: | Tarr, David G.; Rutherford, Thomas F.; Balistreri, Edward J. |
| Abstract: | This paper employs a 55 sector small open economy computable general equilibrium model of the Kenyan economy to assess the impact of the liberalization of regulatory barriers against foreign and domestic business service providers in Kenya. The model incorporates productivity effects in both goods and services markets endogenously, through a Dixit-Stiglitz framework. It estimates the ad valorem equivalent of barriers to foreign direct investment based on detailed questionnaires completed by specialists in Kenya. The authors estimate that Kenya will gain about 11 percent of the value of Kenyan consumption in the medium run (or about 10 percent of gross domestic product) from a full reform package that also includes uniform tariffs. The estimated gains increase to 77 percent of consumption in the long-run steady-state model, where the impact on the accumulation of capital from an improvement in the productivity of capital is taken into account. Decomposition exercises reveal that the largest gains to Kenya will derive from liberalization of costly regulatory barriers that are non-discriminatory in their impacts between Kenyan and multinational service providers. |
| Keywords: | Transport Economics Policy & Planning,Economic Theory & Research,Banks & Banking Reform,Emerging Markets,Debt Markets |
| Date: | 2008–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4544&r=afr |
| By: | Lahiri, Sajal; Kebede, Ephraim; Ezemenari, Kene |
| Abstract: | The inflow of large quantities of foreign aid into Rwanda since 1994 can have potential adverse effects such as aid dependency via a significant negative effect on tax efforts and on public investments. This paper carries out a theoretical and empirical study to examine these issues. The theoretical part develops a model in which the recipient government decides on the optimal level of tax and optimally allocates total government revenue between current expenditure and public investment. The theoretical model makes it possible to empirically test whether an increase in aid is likely to reduce the optimal tax rate and the proportion of public expenditure allocated to public investment. The econometric analysis uses time series data on Rwanda to show, in line with other studies in the literature, a negative relationship between increased aid and the tax rate; but the magnitude of the effects are extremely small. In the case of Rwanda, reforms to the tax administration and expansion of the tax base have had mitigating effects. As far as the effect on public investment, the overall effect was negative in the past; however, since 1995 the direction of this effect has changed. |
| Keywords: | Debt Markets,Economic Theory & Research,Public Sector Economics & Finance,,Access to Finance |
| Date: | 2008–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4541&r=afr |
| By: | Daniel K. Moalusi (Department of Economics, Fordham University) |
| Date: | 2007 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frd:wpaper:dp2007-07&r=afr |