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on Africa |
| By: | AfDB |
| Date: | 2012–05–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:adb:adbwps:383&r=afr |
| By: | Mapila, Mariam A.T.J.; Njuki, Jemimah M.; Delve, Robert J.; Zingore, Shamie; Matibini, Josephine |
| Abstract: | Farm surveys in Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique were carried out to assess the determinants of fertiliser use given continued low yields, low organic matter and general poor soil health in Southern African soils. Regression modelling showed that fertiliser use was influenced by household and farm characteristics. In addition, it was also influenced by social and human capital and farmers’ perceptions of the effect of fertilisers on soil fertility. Farmers who perceived fertilisers as bad for their soil were less likely to adopt their use. This is a key result, as the emerging discussions on a green revolution for Africa, as well as the continued food crisis discussion, are prompting increased fertiliser use as an immediate intervention for increasing nutrient inputs into agriculture in the developing world. Increased policy efforts should be placed not only on increasing access to fertilisers but also on evolving farmers’ perceptions and attitudes towards fertiliser use. |
| Keywords: | African green revolution, farmer perceptions, fertiliser subsidies, fertiliser use, human capital, social capital, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:123354&r=afr |
| By: | Haroon Bhorat; Ravi Kanbur; Natasha Mayet (Development Policy Research Unit; Director and Professor) |
| Abstract: | Minimum wage legislation is central in South African policy discourse, with both strong support and strong opposition. The validity of either position depends, however, on the effectiveness of minimum wage enforcement. Using detailed matching of occupational, sectoral and locational codes in the 2007 Labour Force Survey to the gazetted minimum wages, this paper presents, we believe for the first time, estimates of minimum wage violation in South Africa. Our results give considerable cause for concern. Minimum wage violation is South Africa is disturbingly high. We find that 44% of covered workers get paid wages below the legislated minimum, whilst the average depth of shortfall is 35% of the minimum wage. Around this average, violation is most prevalent in the Security, Forestry and Farming Sectors. We hope that the quantifications in this paper will provide a more solid basis for discussion of minimum wage levels and their enforcement in South Africa. |
| Keywords: | Minimum Wage Violation, South Africa |
| JEL: | A1 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctw:wpaper:11143&r=afr |
| By: | Carlos P. Barros |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the role of sustainability in promoting tourism development in sub-Saharan Africa using data from a questionnaire undertaken in Inhambane province, Mozambique in 2010, a region that adopted a tourism strategy to promote growth. A mixed logit regression is adopted. Policy implications of the research findings are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Tourism, Sub-Sahara-Africa, Sustainability, mixed logistic |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cav:cavwpp:wp105&r=afr |
| By: | Carlos P. Barros; Vera Barros; Peter U. C. Dieke |
| Abstract: | The importance of tourism for economic and social development in the African continent – in the second half of the 20th century – is well documented in tourism research with a conclusion that only African countries that have adopted a tourism strategy are converging towards the US real product per capita. This paper analyses the role of tourism in promoting human development in sub-Saharan Africa using data from a questionnaire undertaken in Inhambane province, Mozambique in 2010, a region that adopted a tourism strategy. A logistic regression for randomized response data model is used, taking into account the answers bias in the data. Policy implications of the research findings are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Tourism, sub-Sahara-Africa, logistic regression for randomized response data |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cav:cavwpp:wp100&r=afr |
| By: | Haroon Bhorat; Morne Oosthuizen; Carlene Van Der Westhuizen (Development Policy Research Unit; Director and Professor) |
| Abstract: | One of the key interventions aimed at improving the welfare of South African households has been local government’s provision of a package of free basic services (FBS) to poor households. It is, however, not completely clear how different municipalities identify households which are eligible for FBS. Evidence suggests that many municipalities currently provide services to all households with a monthly income of less than R1500 per month. This “FBS poverty line” is, however, low in comparison with a number of unofficial poverty lines utilised by policymakers and researchers in South Africa. This paper considers the impact of increasing the value of the FBS line, both in terms of the additional share and number of households eligible for support as well as the additional financial cost. We find that urban municipalities will face the steepest increases in their FBS budgets with any potential increase in the FBS poverty line. |
| Keywords: | free basic services, poverty line, municipal services, South Africa |
| JEL: | A1 |
| Date: | 2011–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctw:wpaper:11142&r=afr |
| By: | Mapila, Mariam A.T.J.; Anesu, Makina |
| Abstract: | The study evaluates the gendered impacts of Agricultural Innovation Systems driven research on livelihood improvements in Africa. Using a case study from Malawi, the study employs a quasi-experimental research design with propensity score matching to establish a counterfactual and single differencing to measure impact. Results demonstrate that innovation systems driven agricultural research programs impact positively and significantly upon the livelihood outcomes of rural women. However there are differences in benefits accruing to women in rural communities depending on headship of the household with female-headed households benefiting more as compared to women in male-headed households. Policy implications are that; although innovation systems thinking has the potential to improve the livelihood outcomes of the poor in Africa; there is need for deliberate gender facilitation in program implementation to ensure equitable and sustainable livelihood improvements. This requires budgetary support to and capacity building of grassroots agricultural advisory service providers and researchers. |
| Keywords: | Gender equity, Quasi-experimentation, Enabling Rural Innovation, Africa, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:123359&r=afr |
| By: | Vittorio Peretti (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria); Rangan Gupta (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria); Roula Inglesi-Lotz (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the existence of spillovers from the housing sector onto consumption and the interest rate for South Africa using a time-varying vector autoregressive (TVP-VAR) model with stochastic volatility. In this regard, we estimate a three-variable TVP-VAR model comprising of real consumption growth rate, the nominal three-months Treasury bill rate and the growth rate of real house prices. The results suggest that, in general, consumption responded positively to a house price shock over the entire sample, with the effect being stronger post financial liberalization. On the other hand, a positive delayed response of nominal interest rate followed a house price shock, with the effect being weaker post financial liberalization until the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) moved to the official inflation-targeting regime. The effect of house prices on both consumption and interest rate was understandably weak during the financial crisis. |
| Keywords: | Bayesian Inference, Consumption, House Price, Markov Chain Monte Carlo, Monetary Policy, Structural Vector Autoregression; Stochastic Volatility, Time-Varying Paremeter |
| JEL: | C11 C15 C32 E31 E32 E44 E52 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201216&r=afr |
| By: | Paul Cichello; Liberty Mncube; Morne Oosthuizen; Laura Poswell (Haverford College; ) |
| Abstract: | What prevents the unemployed in Khayelitsha, South Africa from trying self-employment? Perceptions of a small group of academic economists are presented and compared to the perceptions of unemployed Khayelitsha residents themselves. The largest differences in view-points are that a) academics believe that the general business skills of residents hold the unemployed back substantially while residents perceive it as a minor issue; and b) compared to academics, residents of Khayelitsha give much more weight to jealousy within the community and to the continual vulnerability to business failure as barriers to trying self-employment. |
| Keywords: | self employment, informal economy, unemployment, perceptions, South Africa, crime, risk |
| JEL: | A1 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctw:wpaper:11144&r=afr |
| By: | Haroon Bhorat; Sumayya Goga; Carlene Van Der Westhuizen (Development Policy Research Unit; Director and Professor) |
| Abstract: | The literature on the union wage gap in South Africa is extensive, spanning a range of datasets and methodologies. There is however little consensus on the appropriate method to correct for the endogeneity of union membership or the size of the union wage gap. Furthermore, there are very few studies on the bargaining council wage premium in South Africa due to lack of data on coverage of employees under these agreements. Our study, using 2005 Labour Force Survey data, firstly reconsiders the union wage gap controlling for both firm-level and job characteristics. When correcting for endogeniety of union status through a two-stage selection model and including firm size, type of employment, and non-wage benefits, we find a much lower union wage premium for African workers in the formal sector than premia reported in some previous studies. Secondly, our study estimates bargaining council wage premia for the private and public sectors. We find that extension procedures are present in both private and public bargaining council systems, but that unions negotiate for additional gains for their members at the plant-level. Furthermore, there is some evidence that unions negotiate for awards for their members in the private sector, irrespective of bargaining council coverage. |
| JEL: | A1 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctw:wpaper:11146&r=afr |
| By: | Kerr, Andrew (University of Cape Town); Teal, Francis J. (University of Oxford) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyse the relative importance of individual ability and labour market institutions, including public sector wage setting and trade unions, in determining earnings differences across different types of employment. To do this we use the KwaZulu-Natal Income Dynamics Study data from South Africa, which show extremely large average earnings differentials across different types of employment. Our results suggest that human capital and individual ability explain much of the earnings differentials within the private sector, including the union premium, but cannot explain the large premiums for public sector workers. We show that a public sector premium exists only for those moving into the public sector. The paper addresses the challenges of non-random attrition and measurement error bias that panel data bring. Our results show that emphasising a simple binary dichotomy between the formal and informal sector can be unhelpful in attempting to explore how the labour market functions. |
| Keywords: | formality, trade unions, public sector, earnings, South Africa |
| JEL: | J31 J51 J45 O12 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6534&r=afr |
| By: | PF Blaauw; WF Krugell |
| Abstract: | The South African labour market is characterised by sharp segmentation, high unemployment and apparently limited informal sector employment. Recent work has focussed on the importance of the quality of education while others have argued that the rigidity of the labour market constrains employment growth. This paper considers the spatial aspects of the day labour market and argues that the size and proximity of economic activity found in agglomerations ensure a thick labour market that allows for better matching between workers and jobs. The results indicate that the day labourers, who were hired by the same employer more often, receive higher earnings and the thicker metropolitan labour market allows workers to become more specialised and receive higher earnings. |
| Keywords: | Day labourers, Labour market, Agglomeration |
| JEL: | J21 J24 J31 R23 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:282&r=afr |
| By: | Duncan Hodge |
| Abstract: | The Dutch disease argument suggests that in commodity exporting countries "overvaluation" of the currency due to increases in commodity prices harms manufacturing even though the economy as a whole benefits, led by the booming natural resources sector. The relationship between the real exchange rate and manufacturing is studied here with regard to South Africa as a minerals-rich export-led economy. Since manufacturing is co-determined within a system of inter-related variables, a Johansen VAR/VEC cointegration approach was used to estimate these relationships. Using quarterly data for the sample period 1980—2010, the main findings are: world growth is the single most important determinant of domestic manufacturing; while the real exchange rate has the predicted negative sign, there is no evidence of a Dutch disease specific effect on manufacturing; large increases in unit labour costs since the early 1980s have dragged down manufacturing in South Africa over the sample period. |
| JEL: | E20 E31 F43 O55 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:281&r=afr |
| By: | Simplice A , Asongu |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces previously missing financial components(efficiency, activity and size) in the assessment of the finance-investment nexus. Using VAR models in the perspectives of VECM and short-run Granger causality, three broad findings are established: (1) while finance led investment elasticities are positive, investment elasticities of finance are negative; (2)but for Guinea Bissau, Mozambique and Togo, finance does not seem to engender portfolio investment; (3)contrary to mainstream literature, financial efficiency appears to impact investment more than financial depth. Four policy implications result: (1)extreme caution is needed in the use of single equation analysis for economic forecasts; (2)financial development leads more to investment flows than the other way round; (3) financial allocation efficiency is more relevant as means to attracting investment flows than financial depth; (4) the somewhat heterogeneous character of the findings also point to shortcomings in blanket policies that are not contingent on country-specific trends in the finance-investment nexus. |
| Keywords: | Financial development; Investment; Causality; Africa |
| JEL: | O55 O10 C50 C40 F21 |
| Date: | 2012–05–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:38719&r=afr |
| By: | Haroon Bhorat; Ravi Kanbur; Natasha Mayet (Development Policy Research Unit; Director and Professor) |
| Abstract: | This paper attempts to estimate the causal effect of government enforcement on compliance with minimum wages in South Africa, a country where considerable non-compliance exists. The number of labour inspectors per capita is used as a proxy for enforcement, whilst non-compliance is measured using an index of violation that measures both the proportion of individuals violated, as well as the average depth of individual violation. Due to the potential simultaneity between enforcement and compliance, the number of labour inspectors is instrumented by the number of non-inspectors. The results suggest that there are a variety of factors impacting on violation, including firm-level, sectoral and spatial characteristics. One of the key determinants of violation is found to be the local unemployment rate. However, the number of labour inspectors is found to be insignificant in determining non-compliance. |
| Keywords: | Minimum Wage, Enforcement, Compliance, Depth of Violation, South Africa |
| JEL: | A1 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctw:wpaper:11145&r=afr |
| By: | Greg Farrell (South African Reserve Bank and Wits University); Shakill Hassan (South African Reserve Bank and University of Cape Town); Nicola Viegi (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria) |
| Abstract: | We examine the high-frequency response of the rand-dollar nominal rate within ten-minute intervals around five minutes before, five minutes after) official inflation announcements, and show that the rand appreciates (respectively, depreciates) on impact when inflation is higher (respectively, lower) than expected. The effect only applies after the adoption of inflation targeting, and is stronger for good news. Our findings are rationalisable by the belief, among market participants, in a credible (though perhaps not particularly aggressive) inflation targeting policy in South Africa; and can be used to monitor changes in currency market perceptions about the monetary policy regime. |
| Keywords: | High-frequency exchange rates, inflation surprises, Taylor rules, inflation targeting, credibility |
| JEL: | E31 E52 F30 F31 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201215&r=afr |
| By: | Luis Mah |
| Abstract: | A recent series of studies have been dealing with the dynamics behind the building of developmental states in Africa. This working paper is a contribution for that debate by looking at the experience of the Korean developmental state and the lessons that Africa can learn from this Asian country’s experience seen as an outstanding model of economic development. Despite poor resource endowment and a large population, a colonial legacy, the devastation following a civil war, persistent political instability, and the lingering military confrontation with her northern neighbour, Korea’s role in the international economic system has rapidly increased in importance since the 1960s. For nearly five decades, Korea has achieved a remarkable economic performance that transformed the country from a typical case of a developing nation trapped in a “vicious circle of underdevelopment”, into one of the largest economies in the late 1990s. Beneath the economic success lied a system of “socialisation of private risk”, a particular mode of organising the market, as the “visible hand” of a strong, bureaucratic and developmental state were able to accelerate the pace of economic growth by identifying strategic industrial sectors, making discretionary allocation of resources to those sectors, and minimising the collective action dilemmas pervasive in most developing countries. But the Korean state, as any other state, is a political realm that encompasses distinct, contending and at times colliding actors. In fact, the Korean developmental state provides us clues about the role that leadership play and what stands at the “heart of a politics of economic growth”. Policy choices and implementation rest on the strategies designed by the rulers to boost their political legitimacy, to strengthen their power, and to guarantee regime survival. Strategies are not only a product of institutional opportunities and constraints, but also of history, context, coalition politics and ideological templates involving the actors at the time of action. This paper will discuss the role played by President Park Chung-Hee (1961-1979) in building a bureaucratic-developmental state and what African countries can learn from these leadership experiences in terms of its own development path. |
| Keywords: | Korea, Africa, Development |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cav:cavwpp:wp97&r=afr |
| By: | Hichaambwa, Munguzwe; Jayne, Thomas S. |
| Abstract: | In spite of vast expanses of the country’s land currently being uncultivated, there is increasing evidence that a surprisingly high share of rural smallholder households face land constraints that adversely affect their productivity and ability to participate in agricultural supply chains. |
| Keywords: | Food Security, Food Policy, Poverty, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:123211&r=afr |
| By: | Hichaambwa, Munguzwe; Jayne, Thomas S. |
| Abstract: | Though Zambia has considerable agricultural potential, the sector’s contribution to growth and poverty reduction has been limited. The sector remains one of the most important employers of labour and remains the main source of livelihood for most rural households in Zambia. Thus key development challenge facing Zambian agriculture over the past two decades has been how it can effectively contribute to poverty reduction and broad-based economic growth. Agricultural commercialisation and surplus production, as revealed by nationally representative farm surveys, in the country has remained concentrated with only about 5% of Zambia’s small- and medium-scale farmers produce half of the marketed surplus. Meanwhile at least half of the smallholder farms sell little or no crops and hence derive virtually no cash income from agriculture. |
| Keywords: | Food Security, Land Economics, food policy, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, Land Economics/Use, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:123219&r=afr |
| By: | Mulenga, Brian P.; Richardson, Robert B.; Tembo, Gelson |
| Abstract: | Forests support rural livelihoods and food security in many developing countries by providing critical sources of food, medicine, shelter, building materials, fuels, and cash income. The increasing demand for forest products has enhanced rural livelihoods and enabled the expansion of domestic markets, particularly in urban areas where woodfuel and other forest resources are scarce. Therefore, non-timber forest products may offer sources of income and opportunities for poverty alleviation in both rural and urban areas. In Zambia, most rural households residing near forests extract a range of forest products for both direct consumption and trade (including food products and wood for cooking fuel and charcoal production), and forest products are among the top sources of household income in some rural areas. Households engage in trade of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) because of low capital requirements and relatively easy entry to markets. NTFPs help bridge seasonal gaps in income for many farmers, and they provide a safety net for many rural households during years with low crop yields. |
| Keywords: | Food security, resource economics, non-timber forest products, poverty, Zambia, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:123220&r=afr |
| By: | Burke, William J.; Jayne, Thomas S.; Sitko, Nicholas J. |
| Abstract: | Despite being framed as a key component of the nation’s poverty reduction strategy, evidence suggests that inputs distributed under Zambia’s Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP) tend to be targeted to the least poor rural households. |
| Keywords: | Food Policy, Poverty, Food Security, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Productivity Analysis, |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:123208&r=afr |
| By: | Carlos P. Barros; Ade Ibiwoye |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes unobserved managerial ability as factors affecting the performance of a representative sample of Nigerian airports by means of frontier models. The Alvarez, Arias and Greene (2004) frontier model is used. These airports are ranked according to their technical efficiency during the period 2003-2010 and homogenous and heterogeneous variables are disentangled in the cost function, which leads us to advise the implementation of common policies as well as policies by segments. Economic implications arising from the study are also considered. |
| Keywords: | Nigeria; airports; stochastic frontier models and unobserved managerial ability |
| JEL: | L50 L33 L33 C23 |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cav:cavwpp:wp106&r=afr |
| By: | Sitko, Nicholas J.; Bwalya, Richard; Kamwanga, Jolly; Wamulume, Mukata |
| Abstract: | A number of problems plague the current Farmer Input Support Programme (FISP), including: late delivery of inputs; distribution of standardized inputs that may not be appropriate for all agro-ecological zones or soil types; crowding out of private sector; poor targeting, and; high cost to the government treasury. |
| Keywords: | Food Security, Food Policy, Poverty, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:123210&r=afr |
| By: | Burke, William J.; Jayne, Thomas S.; Black, J. Roy |
| Abstract: | Input subsidies are the single greatest expenditure under poverty reduction programs in Zambia. Yet maize yields continue to fall well short of international standards. One major reason appears to be the yield limiting effects of acidity, which is highly common on Zambian soils. We suggest a diversification of the input subsidy scheme beyond fertilizer to include inputs that reduce acidity and raise the yield response to fertilizer application. We further discuss specific recommendations for diversifying productivity investments to put more emphasis on extension and agronomic research. |
| Keywords: | Food Security, Food Policy, Marketing, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcpb:123209&r=afr |
| By: | Bedasso, Biniam (UNU-MERIT/MGSoG, Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | The post-independence history of Kenya is characterized by an unusual mix of stability with ever-lingering fragility. The high level of elite persistence in Kenya could be seen both as a cause and a result of this peculiar nature of the political economy of the country. This paper has the objective of studying the effects of historical elite competition and consolidation on political-economic stability and institutional transition in post-independence Kenya. The logic of the natural state is applied to organize the narrative and analyze the key features (North, Wallis and Weingast (2009), Violence and Social Orders: A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History: Cambridge University Press). Most of the existing institutional structures in Kenya are built on elite configurations inherited from the colonial times. The robust growth performance of the first decade after independence was generated by smallholder agriculture, while most of the rent was transferred to the elite via state patronage. The political instability of the later years had a lot to do with dwindling patronage resources and elite fragmentation. For most part of the political economy history of the country, patron-client networks and tribalism have played key role in regulating intra-elite bargains. Land has always been the leverage used by the elite to manipulate the aforementioned structures. Although the Kenyan elite have maintained keen interest in winning via constitutional means, they have kept reverting to extralegal avenues whenever intra-elite negotiations seemed to have failed to be enforced. |
| Keywords: | elites, dominant coalition, economic growth, institutional change, Kenya |
| JEL: | P16 D72 O55 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:unumer:2012042&r=afr |
| By: | Carlos P. Barros; Guglielmo M. Caporale |
| Abstract: | This study examines the Nigerian banking consolidation process using a dynamic panel for the period 2000-2010. The Arellano and Bond (1991) dynamic GMM approach is adopted to estimate a cost function taking into account the possible endogeneity of the covariates. The main finding is that the Nigerian banking sector has benefited from the consolidation process, and specifically that foreign ownership, mergers and acquisitions and bank size decrease costs. Directions for future research are also discussed. |
| Keywords: | Nigeria, banking consolidation, dynamic panels |
| JEL: | G21 C23 O55 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cav:cavwpp:wp99&r=afr |
| By: | Lay, Jann; Ondraczek, Janosch; Stöver, Jana |
| Abstract: | We study the determinants of households' choices of lighting fuels in Kenya including the option of using solar home systems (SHS). Our goal is to add new evidence on the factors that influence the introduction and adoption of decentralized and less carbon-intensive energy sources in developing countries, and, more generally, to the empirical debate on the energy ladder. We capitalize on a unique representative survey on energy use and sources from Kenya, one of the few relatively well-established SHS markets in the world. Our results reveal some very interesting patterns of the fuel transition in the context of lighting fuel choices. While we find clear evidence for a cross-sectional energy ladder, the income threshold for modern fuel use - including solar energy use - to move beyond traditional and transitional fuels is very high. Income and education turn out to be key determinants of SHS adoption, but we also find a very pronounced effect of SHS clustering, i.e. the prevalence of SHS systems in the proximity of a potential user increases the likelihood of adoption. In addition, we do not find a negative correlation between grid access and SHS use. -- |
| Keywords: | renewable energy,household fuel choice,lighting fuel choice,solar power use,solar home systems,Kenya,energy ladder,KIHBS |
| JEL: | D12 O12 Q42 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:hwwirp:121&r=afr |
| By: | Owusu, Victor |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the willingness of consumers to pay a premium for organic food product with a contingent valuation data from urban Kumasi of Ghana. Consumer’s willingness to pay a premium is estimated with a bivariate Tobit model. The empirical findings indicate that apart from socioeconomic characteristics and consumer perceptions, product attributes tend to influence consumer preferences for organic water melon and lettuce. The estimated mean WTP premium for 1 kilogram of water melon is GH¢0.5554 (US$ 0.4575) and that of organic lettuce is GH¢1.2579 (US$1.0361). |
| Keywords: | Consumer Perception, Ghana, Organic Foods, Willingness to Pay, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae12:123394&r=afr |
| By: | Olajide, Victor C. |
| Abstract: | Electronic money has ushered in the cashless banking framework across different countries of the world and this is made possible by the advances in information technology and invention that began in Japan and later the West. However this new introduction into the various economies of the world is not without reaction both favorable and unfavorable. This paper seeks to point out the implications, in a developing economy like Nigeria, of a cashless banking which still permits some cash in the economy that is home to both the formal and informal sector. Theoretical findings supports the view of some economists concerning the need for regulatory agencies to be very wary the possibly retarding effect of the introduction of such a sophisticated payment system, particularly in developing economies like Nigeria, with the coexistence of the formal and informal sectors, that may not be able to muster the wherewithal to bear the burden of electronic payments and hence the cashless banking paradigm. |
| Keywords: | Electronic money; Cashless Banking; demand and time deposits |
| JEL: | E42 E40 |
| Date: | 2012–04–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:38096&r=afr |
| By: | Jean-Baptiste, Nathalie; Kuhlicke, Christian; Kunath, Anna; Kabisch, Sigrun |
| Abstract: | The report provides a first theoretical setting on the concept of vulnerability, vulnerability assessment and indicators in order to identify and evaluate relevant assessment measures for the CLUVA project. It describes a set of identified indicators which serves as a starting point for selecting appropriate indicators for assessing climate related vulnerability. This is a contribution to the process of evolution of vulnerability assessment measures and to ensure a more robust and sustainable results in CLUVA. This report should therefore be seen as an initial conceptual proposition which needs to be tested empirically, peer-reviewed and discussed among experts, PhD candidates and practitioners working in the field of risk and vulnerability assessment. Only then can it be refined and fed back for further conceptual development. -- |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ufzrep:072011&r=afr |
| By: | Pauline Givord (CREST); Lucile Romanello (CREST, Sciences Po) |
| Keywords: | primary health care demand, demand side barriers, vaccination campaign, natural experiment |
| JEL: | I18 H51 O55 C1 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crs:wpaper:2011-21&r=afr |
| By: | Carlos P. Barros |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the resource curse and rent-seeking behaviour, aiming to advance the understanding of chronic poverty and underdevelopment in Angola. The paper presents a profile of Angola in terms of its politics, resources, economy and society. We find a paradox in the way that the country is currently being run. On one hand, it is adhering to sound macroeconomic policies, prescribed and drawn up by the IMF, partly intended to confront a “rentier state” characterised by widespread, high-level corrupt practices, such as nepotism. These are fuelled by the vast revenues that flow into Angola from its chief export, oil. At the same time, the majority of Angola?s population live in various degrees of poverty. On the other hand, political power is concentrated in the possession of a neopatrimonialist regime that is unlikely to change the status quo of its own volition in favour of a greater transparency and efforts to achieve a more equitable distribution of wealth and social inclusion. Policy implications are derived. |
| Keywords: | Angola; rent seeking |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cav:cavwpp:wp102&r=afr |
| By: | Joana Pereira Leite; Nicole Khouri; Maria J. Mascarenhas |
| Abstract: | Interrogés sur leurs relations avec les différents groupes qui constituaient la société coloniale de Mozambique durant les dernières décennies de la colonisation portugaise, les membres de la communauté ismaili ont parlé de leur départ, qui s’est échelonné entre 1973 et 1976, comme faisant partie d’une scansion « naturelle » qui a clos leur installation dans la colonie depuis deux ou trois générations. Parler d’un départ communautaire et organisé s’est avéré une entreprise très délicate, comme si les attributs de cet événement renvoyaient à quelque chose d’interdit ou de difficilement dicible à des étrangers, en l’occurrence à des chercheurs |
| Keywords: | ismailis, Moçambique, século XX |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cav:cavwpp:wp91&r=afr |