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on Africa |
| By: | John Serieux (Assistant Professor, Dept. of Economics, University of Manitoba) |
| Abstract: | Since the mid-1980s, sub-Saharan Africa has had the lowest savings and investment rates of any region in the world. It has also been the recipient of the highest levels of Official Development Assistance relative to output. Hence, many analysts have been concerned that ODA might be having a negative impact on domestic savings. |
| Keywords: | Why Aid Does Not Increase Savings Rates in Sub-Saharan Africa? |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:75&r=afr |
| By: | Alexander Stroh (GIGA Institute of African Affairs) |
| Abstract: | Recent publications suggest that exclusively ethnoregional parties are as rare in sub- Saharan Africa as elsewhere. At the same time, the idea that ethnicity is a very special feature of African party politics persists. The paper acknowledges the general relevance of ethnicity in party competition but emphasizes the level on which it becomes important. It develops a microbehavioral approach which pays particular attention to the strategic choices of party elites in order to supplement the dominant structuralist thinking in party research on Africa. An in-depth evaluation of detailed election data from Burkina Faso shows that strategies which rely on personal proximity between the voter and the candidates influence the parties’ success to a great extent. Parties maximize their chances of winning seats if they concentrate their limited resources on the home localities of leading party members. Hence, African party politics are less dependent on ethnic demography than is often implied but more open to change through elite behavior. |
| Keywords: | political parties, Burkina Faso, elections, local mobilization, resource efficiency, son of the soil |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gig:wpaper:96&r=afr |
| By: | Caroline Lesser; Evdokia Moisé-Leeman |
| Abstract: | The informal sector still constitutes an important part of developing country economies. In Africa, it is estimated to represent 43 percent of official gross domestic product (GDP), thus being almost equivalent to the formal sector. While this phenomenon may provide short-term solutions to poor households, in the longer term, it can seriously challenge the economic development of African countries. This study explores one particular aspect of the informal economy, namely informal cross-border trade in selected Sub-Saharan African countries, and identifies which trade facilitation measures (such as those currently negotiated at the World Trade Organisation) have the potential to encourage traders to switch from informal to formal trade. The paper considers measures that help reduce direct and indirect trade transaction costs arising from mandatory import- and export-related procedures; mechanisms that simplify trade-related regulations and requirements for selected low value transactions; and policies that help enhance compliance levels with existing international trade regulations. In addition, the study explores a number of complementary measures (such as the provision of effective business support services to ?formal? traders and enhanced dialogue between traders and border agencies) which can further encourage firms to formalise their cross-border transactions. The paper does however not suggest that trade facilitation reform alone will help reduce informal cross-border trade nor that governments will be able to fully eliminate its incidence in the region. |
| Keywords: | economic development, trade facilitation, customs modernisation, Sub-Sahara Africa, customs procedures, informal trade, simplified trade regime, World Trade Organisation |
| Date: | 2009–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:traaab:86-en&r=afr |
| By: | Robinson, Jonathan; Yeh, Ethan |
| Abstract: | Formal and informal commercial sex work is a way of life for many poor women in developing countries. Though sex workers have long been identified as crucial in affecting the spread of HIV/AIDS, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, the nature of sex-for-money transactions remains poorly understood. Using a unique panel dataset constructed from 192 self-reported sex worker diaries which include detailed information on sexual behavior, labor supply, and health shocks, the authors find that sex workers adjust their supply of risky, better compensated sex to cope with unexpected health shocks, exposing themselves to increased risk of HIV infection. In particular, women are 3.1 percent more likely to see a client, 21.2 percent more likely to have anal sex, and 19.1 percent more likely to have unprotected sex on days in which a household member falls ill. Women also increase their supply of risky sex on days after missing work due to symptoms from a sexually transmitted infection. Given that HIV prevalence has been estimated at 9.8 percent in this part of Kenya, these behavioral responses entail significant health risks for sex workers and their partners, and suggest that sex workers are unable to cope with risk through other formal or informal consumption smoothing mechanisms. |
| Keywords: | Population Policies,Adolescent Health,Gender and Health,Disease Control&Prevention,Health Monitoring&Evaluation |
| Date: | 2009–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4857&r=afr |
| By: | John Serieux (Assistant Professor, Dept. of Economics, University of Manitoba) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of aid on domestic savings in Sub-Saharan Africa. It departs from the previous literature on aid and savings in developing countries by abandoning the pervasive, but untenable, assumption that all aid is used to expand the trade deficit and thus applied wholly to consumption or investment. In fact, for the period 1965-2006, the evidence suggests that 35% of any increase in aid relative to output was used to finance reverse flows (some combination of interest payments, debt amortization, capital flight and reserve increases), 41% was used to increase consumption relative to output (meaning a reduction in the domestic savings rates) and 24% was used to increase the rate of investment. However, during the extended period of increasing aid levels from the early 1970s to mid 1990s, reverse flows were a larger proportion of aid but more aid was invested and less was consumed. Also, concerns about potential aid hangovers, when current high aid levels subside, can be assuaged by the evidence that that effect has been historically uncommon in the region despite many episodes of high aid levels followed by sharp declines. (...) |
| Keywords: | Aid and Savings in Sub-saharan Africa: Should we Worry about Rising Aid Levels? |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:wpaper:50&r=afr |
| By: | Mariotti, Martine |
| Abstract: | Conventional wisdom holds that international political pressure and domestic civil unrest in the mid-1970s and 1980s brought an end to apartheid in South Africa. I show that, prior to these events, labor market pressure in the late 1960s/early 1970s caused a dramatic unraveling of apartheid in the workplace. Increased educational attainment among whites reduced resistance to opening semi-skilled jobs to Africans. This institutional change reflected white economic preferences rather than a relaxation of attitudes toward apartheid. I show that whites benefited from the relaxation of job reservation rules and that this is the primary cause of black occupational advancement. |
| Keywords: | Discrimination; Job Reservation; Education; Labor markets |
| JEL: | N0 N37 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:14127&r=afr |
| By: | Degol Hailu (UNDP SURF); Sonal Singh (International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth) |
| Abstract: | About 33 million people currently live with HIV. The disease has reduced life expectancy by about 20 years. Nearly 12 million children are orphaned. It is now well established that the epidemic demands an immediate increase in resources. The main questions that arise are where the resources will come from, and whether they can be fully spent and absorbed. One major source of financing for HIV and AIDS control is external aid. A recent report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) computed the macroeconomic implications of scaling-up aid as promised by the G-8 at Gleneagles. The assessments for Benin, Niger and Togo indicate that scaling-up aid will put moderate to sizable pressure on inflation and exchange rates (IMF, 2008). |
| Keywords: | The Macro-Micro Nexus in Scaling-Up Aid: The Case of HIV and AIDS Control in Kenya, Malawi and Zambia |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:pbrief:11&r=afr |
| By: | Eduardo Zepeda (International Poverty Centre) |
| Keywords: | Comparaison de l?impact des programmes de création d?emplois et d?aide financière au Kenya |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opfran:41&r=afr |
| By: | Francisco Rossi (International Poverty Centre) |
| Keywords: | Medicamentos Genéricos ou de Marca para o HIV-AIDS? Exemplos da África Austral |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opport:5&r=afr |
| By: | Hyun H. Son (International Poverty Centre); Nanak Kakwani (International Poverty Centre) |
| Keywords: | Pauvreté des personnes âgées et pensions sociales de retraite au Kenya |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opfran:25&r=afr |
| By: | Barbara Barungi (UNDP); Eduardo Zepeda (International Poverty Centre) |
| Keywords: | O Desafio do Crescimento Pró-Pobres em Uganda |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opport:11&r=afr |
| By: | Jens Krüger |
| Abstract: | The literature on firm heterogeneity in international trade posits that only the most productive firms become exporters (Melitz 2003). However, empirical findings suggest that also firms that are not highly productive export. This paper investigates empirically how firms organize their export trade. If selling directly, sunk costs of foreign market entry are arguably very high, so only productive firms can achieve this (Schroeder et al. 2003). Low productivity firms, by contrast, may prefer to export through trading companies, which involves lower sunk costs. Using a firm level panel data set of Ghanaian firms we investigate the relationship between firm productivity and the use of export intermediaries. Our estimation results take simultaneity problems into account and reveal that indeed low productivity firms tend to export through intermediaries |
| Keywords: | export intermediation, firm productivity |
| JEL: | D21 F14 L22 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieasw:449&r=afr |
| By: | Kate Bayliss (Independent Consultant, Brighton, United Kingdom) |
| Keywords: | Les leçons de la crise de l?électricité en Afrique du Sud |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opfran:56&r=afr |
| By: | Barbara Barungi (UNDP); Eduardo Zepeda (International Poverty Centre) |
| Keywords: | El Desafío del Crecimiento Económico Favorable a los Pobres en Uganda |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opespa:11&r=afr |
| By: | Degol Hailu (UNDP SURF) |
| Abstract: | Rich countries have earmarked about $7 trillion to reverse the current global economic slump. The United States allotted $700 million to rescue ailing banks. About $180 billion was used to rescue just one insurer (AIG). A $787 billion stimulus package is also in place. The United Kingdom set aside $692 billion. The Chinese announced a $586 billion fiscal stimulus. Monetary policy has also become expansionary. The US and the UK cut interest rates to zero per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively. Can low-income countries embark on such expansionary fiscal and monetary policies? Unfortunately not, as the case of Ethiopia demonstrates |
| Keywords: | The Rich Expand, the Poor Contract. The Paradox of Macroeconomic Policy in Ethiopia |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opager:78&r=afr |
| By: | Andrew Mold (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa - ECA) |
| Keywords: | L?amélioration des termes de l?échange contribue-t-elle à réduire la pauvreté en Afrique ? |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opfran:24&r=afr |
| By: | Kate Bayliss (Independent Consultant, Brighton, United Kingdom) |
| Keywords: | Lições da Crise de Eletricidade Sul-Africana |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opport:56&r=afr |
| By: | Terry McKinley (International Poverty Centre) |
| Keywords: | La Mise en ?uvre de Politiques de Maîtrise de l?inflation en Afrique Subsaharienne. Pourquoi Maintenant? Pour quoi Faire ? |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opfran:51&r=afr |
| By: | John Serieux (Assistant Professor, Dept. of Economics, University of Manitoba); Terry McKinley (International Poverty Centre) |
| Keywords: | La Libéralisation Financière Est-elle un Échec ? Évaluation en Afrique |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opespa:48&r=afr |
| By: | Pedro M. G. Martins (Visiting IPC Researcher, Institute for Development Studies, Sussex) |
| Keywords: | O Impacto Fiscal dos Fluxos de Ajuda: Evidências da Etiópia |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opport:43&r=afr |
| By: | Costas Lapavitsas (University of London) |
| Keywords: | L?utilisation de l?APD pour accumuler les réserves de change en Afrique subsaharienne |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opfran:37&r=afr |
| By: | Sedat Aybar (Kadir Has University, Turkey); Costas Lapavitsas (University of London) |
| Keywords: | L?urgente nécessité d?une réforme du secteur financier pour mobiliser l?épargne en Afrique subsaharienne |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opfran:50&r=afr |
| By: | John Nellis (International Analytics) |
| Keywords: | Privatisation des services publics fondamentaux en Afrique : réplique |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opfran:31&r=afr |
| By: | John Nellis (International Analytics) |
| Keywords: | A Privatização de Serviços Públicos Básicos na África: uma Tréplica |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opport:31&r=afr |
| By: | Terry McKinley (International Poverty Centre) |
| Keywords: | Fijación de Objetivos de Inflación en África Subsahariana: ¿Por qué Ahora? Simplemente, ¿Por qué Motivo? |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opespa:51&r=afr |
| By: | Costas Lapavitsas (University of London) |
| Keywords: | Utilización de la AOD para Acumular Reservas de Divisas en África Subsahariana |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opespa:37&r=afr |
| By: | Pedro M. G. Martins (Visiting IPC Researcher, Institute for Development Studies, Sussex) |
| Keywords: | L?impact Budgétaire de l?apport d?aide Étrangère : Étude du cas Éthiopien |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opfran:43&r=afr |
| By: | Andrew Mold (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa - ECA) |
| Keywords: | ¿Las Mejores Relaciones de Intercambio Ayudan a Reducir la Pobreza en África? |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opespa:24&r=afr |
| By: | Barbara Barungi (UNDP); Eduardo Zepeda (International Poverty Centre) |
| Keywords: | Le défi de la croissance favorable aux pauvres en Ouganda |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:opfran:11&r=afr |