|
on Africa |
| By: | Stephen Kingah |
| Abstract: | The year 2014 is a milestone for South Africa. It marks twenty years of the end of apartheid. The moment is right to reflect on how far the country has come. This article focuses on South Africa’s external influence in Africa. Based on the variables of compellence, assurance, prevention and protection, it is argued that the country has been punching well below its weight. Examples are drawn from its actions in the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Libya and even Zimbabwe to show that the country is underperforming in the realm of ensuring African security governance. To meet the expectations ascribed to it as an anchor state in Africa the country’s leaders will first need to confront the mammoth domestic problems bedevilling South Africa. |
| Keywords: | Security, governance, corruption, leadership |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsc:rsceui:2014/47&r=afr |
| By: | Manoel Bittencourt |
| Abstract: | In this paper I investigate whether democracy in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has had any effect on education during the 1980-2009 period. The results, based on panel time-series analysis (I use the Pooled OLS and Fixed Effects estimators in order to deal with heterogeneity and statistical endogeneity and Fixed Effects with Instrumental Variables, eg the end of the cold war is one of the contemporaneous external sources of variation to democracy, to deal with reverse causality in thin panels), suggest that democracy, and the better governance that tends to be associated with it, has played an important role in terms of widening access to education in the community. All in all, the results are significant because democracy is in its infancy in the continent and to make it work is an aim in itself in Africa, and also because education is an important determinant of growth and development. |
| Keywords: | Democracy, Education, Africa |
| JEL: | H52 I25 O11 O55 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:433&r=afr |
| By: | Mohajan, Haradhan |
| Abstract: | Republic of Kenya is the fourth largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa. More than 60% people of Kenya live below the poverty line. Rapid increases in inflation could reduce economic growth and worsen the poverty levels of the citizens of Kenya. The agricultural sector is still the backbone of Kenya’s economy and economic development is dependent on agricultural improvement. Main staple food of Kenya is maize, which accounted about 65% of total staple food caloric intake and 36% of total food caloric intake. Kenya is the largest food and agricultural products importer in the eastern Africa. At present the Government of the country is trying to reduce poverty. The country is developing in food security and nutrition since the last decade. To make the country in a medium develop Government should stress on food security, poverty reduction, transformation of agriculture from survival to commercial farming and agribusiness, markets, efficient use of agricultural products. The objective of this paper is to increase food production of Kenya to reduce food insecurity and malnutrition. An attempt has been taken here to discuss the food and nutrition situation of Kenya to build a healthy nation. |
| Keywords: | Agriculture, Food aid, Food security, Inflation, Nutrition. |
| JEL: | Q18 |
| Date: | 2014–05–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:56218&r=afr |
| By: | Piraino, Patrizio (School of Economics, University of Cape Town) |
| Abstract: | The paper estimates the degree of intergenerational earnings persistence in South Africa. It explores the link between this measure of social mobility and an index of inequality of opportunity. Using microdata from the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS), the paper finds that intergenerational earnings mobility in South Africa is low. In addition, a limited set of inherited circumstances explains a significant fraction of earnings inequality among male adults. Adding South Africa to the existing international literature supports the hypothesis that low levels of intergenerational mobility and equality of opportunity are emblematic of high-inequality emerging economies. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational earnings mobility, inequality of opportunity |
| JEL: | J62 D63 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ldr:wpaper:131&r=afr |
| By: | Manoel Bittencourt |
| Abstract: | In this paper I investigate whether secondary school enrollment has played any role on total fertility rates in all …fifteen countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) between 1980 and 2009. The evidence, based on panel time-series analysis (I make use of the Pooled OLS, Fixed Effects, Common Correlated Effects and Fixed Effects with Instrumental Variables estimators), robustly suggest that education has reduced fertility rates in the community, or that the community is already trading-o¤ quantity for quality of children. The results are important because lower fertility, caused by education, implies more capital per worker, higher productivity and therefore higher growth rates, and also because— in accordance to the uni…ed growth theory— they suggest that southern Africa is experiencing its own transition from the Malthusian regime into sustained modern growth. |
| Keywords: | Education, Fertility, Africa |
| JEL: | I20 J13 O55 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:431&r=afr |
| By: | Asongu Simplice (Yaoundé/Cameroun) |
| Abstract: | This chapter complements exiting African liberalization literature by providing fresh patterns of two main areas. First, it assesses whether African banking institutions have benefited from liberalization policies in terms of bank returns. Second, it models bank return and return uncertainty in the context of openness policies to examine fresh patterns for the feasibility of common policy initiatives. The empirical evidence is based on 28 African countries for the period 1999-2010. Varying non-overlapping intervals and autoregressive orders are employed for robustness purposes. The findings show that, while trade openness has increased bank returns and return uncertainties, financial openness and institutional liberalization have decreased bank returns and reduced return uncertainty respectively. But for some scanty evidence of convergence in return on equity, there is overwhelming absence of catch-up among sampled countries. Implications for regional integration and portfolio diversification are discussed. |
| Keywords: | Liberalization policies; Capital return; Africa |
| JEL: | D6 F30 F41 F50 O55 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:14/004&r=afr |
| By: | Sugen Chetty and John M. Luiz |
| Abstract: | South Africa is a water-stressed country that over a protracted period has suffered from poor water service delivery. The major problems are inefficient operations, lack of capacity in spending allocated budgets, unclear management structures, and a long term decline in capital expenditure. Economists have long argued that private investment will bring good fiscal control and efficient structures and improve service delivery. However, there may be trade-offs between this improved economic efficiency and the necessity to pursue more egalitarian social outcomes. The purpose of this research is to explore the experience of private sector investment on operational efficiencies and social objectives in the South African water sector in the Mbombela concession. The study concludes that in this case private investment has enhanced service delivery by improving efficiency, technical skills and the capacity to spend allocated budgets without any significant negative impacts on equitable water distribution. |
| Keywords: | Water, South Africa, privatisation, social, economic trade-offs |
| JEL: | H41 H54 H83 L95 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:429&r=afr |
| By: | Busse, Matthias; Erdogan, Ceren; Muehlen, Henning |
| Abstract: | We investigate the impact of Chinese activities in sub-Saharan African countries with respect to the growth performance of economies in that region. Using a Solow-type growth model and panel data for the period 1991 to 2011, we find that African economies that export natural resources have benefited from positive terms-of-trade effects. In addition, there is evidence for displacement effects of African firms due to competition from China. Chinese foreign investment and aid in Africa does not have an impact on growth. |
| Keywords: | China; Sub-Saharan Africa; Trade; FDI; Foreign aid; Economic growth; South-south cooperation |
| JEL: | F14 F23 F35 O47 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bom:ieewps:206&r=afr |
| By: | Kodongo, Odongo; Ojah, Kalu |
| Abstract: | Globalization of financial markets has increased correlation among developed economy markets and made developing economy markets attractive for diversification purposes. Among the developing economy markets are African equity markets, which appear to be the most promising and yet the least studied. Taking the perspective of foreign investors, we estimate the stochastic discount factor (SDF) model for a cross-section of major equity markets in Africa over the period 1997-2009, using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). Our findings suggest that real exchange rate risk constitutes a significant time-invariant component of returns in Africa’s equity markets. We also find that inflation and nominal exchange rates are separately priced, with time-varying risk premia. Given these findings, international equity investors interested in Africa should hedge their positions against currency risk. Accordingly, African governments should prioritize the development of hedging instruments to increase their equity markets’ investability. |
| Keywords: | Currency risk; inflation risk; stochastic discount factor; Africa’s equity markets |
| JEL: | F21 F31 G12 G15 |
| Date: | 2014–05–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:56100&r=afr |
| By: | Asongu Simplice (Yaoundé/Cameroun) |
| Abstract: | The contribution of this paper to complement theoretical and qualitative mobile penetration literature with empirical evidence is twofold: firstly, we assess the income-redistributive effect of mobile phone penetration and; secondly, the instrumentality of financial development dynamics in this nexus. Main findings suggest an equalizing income-redistributive effect of ‘mobile phone penetration’ and ‘mobile banking’, with a higher income-equalizing effect in the latter than in the former. Poverty alleviation channels explaining this difference in inequality mitigating propensity are discussed. The empirical evidence is based on 52 African countries and deviates from mainstream country-specific and microeconomic survey-based approaches. |
| Keywords: | Banking; Mobile Phones; Shadow Economy; Financial Development; Africa |
| JEL: | E00 G20 L96 O17 O33 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:13/033&r=afr |
| By: | Anna S. Brink and Steven F. Koch |
| Abstract: | South Africa waived user fees for primary health care, first in 1994, and again, in 1996. Since the 1994 plan focused on young children and older adults, as well as pregnant and nursing mothers, the 1996 change, which waived fees for the remainder of the population, subject to means tests, can be examined via differences-in-differences (DD). DD is applied to a subsample of children, underpinned by a multinomial logit regression of health-seeking behavior amongst ill and injured children. Although the policy provided free primary care to all at public clinics, the results of the analysis do not support the hypothesis that free primary care significantly increased public clinic visits amongst ill and injured children. However, there is strong evidence that ill and injured children were more likely (by 6%) to seek at least some sort of treatment following the change in policy, implying that the policy was indirectly successful. |
| Keywords: | Abolition, South Africa |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:430&r=afr |
| By: | Manoel Bittencourt |
| Abstract: | I investigate whether primary school completion has played any role on total fertility rates in all fifteen countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) between 1980 and 2009. The evidence, based on panel time-series analysis (I use the Pooled OLS, Fixed Effects and Fixed Effects with Instrumental Variables estimators in order to deal with heterogeneity and endogeneity in thin panels), suggests that primary education has indeed reduced fertility rates in the SADC, or that the community is already trading-off quantity for quality of children. The results are important because lower fertility, caused by education, implies more capital per worker, higher productivity and therefore higher growth rates, and also because - in accordance to the unified growth theory - they suggest that the SADC, like other regions in the past, is experiencing its own transition from the Malthusian regime into sustained growth. |
| Keywords: | Education, Fertility, Africa, panel time-series |
| JEL: | I20 J13 O55 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:432&r=afr |
| By: | Asongu Simplice (Yaoundé/Cameroun) |
| Abstract: | The Kangoye (2013, TDE) findings on the negative nexus between foreign aid unpredictability and governance could seriously affect debates in academic and policy making circles. Using the theoretical underpinnings of the celebrated Eubank (2012, JDS) literature, we first confirm Kangoye’s findings. Then extend the concept of governance from corruption to political, economic, institutional and general versions of the phenomenon. Findings from the extension run counter to those of Kangoye. It follows that in the presence of foreign aid uncertainty, governments could be constrained to improve governance standards in exchange for or anticipation of more dependence on local tax revenues. The empirical evidence is based on 53 African countries for the period 1996-2010. Two direct policy implications result. First, the Kangoye findings for developing countries are relevant for Africa. Second, when the concept of governance is not restricted to corruption, the findings become irrelevant for the continent. |
| Keywords: | Uncertainty; Foreign aid; Governance; Development; Africa |
| JEL: | C53 F35 F47 O11 O55 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:14/003&r=afr |
| By: | Tobias Lechtenfeld (World Bank); Asmus Zoch (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch) |
| Abstract: | This paper asks whether income mobility in South Africa over the last decade has indeed been as impressive as currently thought. Using new national panel data (NIDS), substantial measurement error in reported income data is found, which is further corroborated by a provincial income data panel (KIDS). By employing an instrumental variables approach using two different instruments, measurement error can be quantified. Specifically, self-reported income in the survey data is shown to suffer from mean-reverting measurement bias, leading to sizable overestimations of income convergence in both panel data sets. The preferred estimates indicate that previously published income dynamics may have been largely overestimated by as much as 77% for the national NIDS panel and 39% for the provincial KIDS panel. Overall, income mobility appears much smaller than previously thought, while chronic poverty remains substantial and transitory poverty is still very limited in South Africa. |
| Keywords: | Measurement Error, Income Dynamics, Consumption Dynamics, South Africa |
| JEL: | C81 I32 O15 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers215&r=afr |
| By: | van Walbeek, Corne (School of Economics, University of Cape Town); Shai, Lerato (School of Economics, University of Cape Town) |
| Abstract: | Background The tobacco industry claims that illicit cigarette trade in South Africa is high and rising. This is often used as an argument not to increase the tobacco excise tax. Objectives To determine how the industry's estimates of the size of the illicit market have changed over time. Methods Published media articles on illicit trade were obtained from South African Press Cuttings, and published and unpublished articles and statements were sourced from the internet. Results 419 relevant articles and media statements were found. Of these, 80 emphasised the industry's perspective, 40 emanated primarily from the tobacco control community, and 299 reported on action taken against illicit activity. For each for the years between 2006 and early 2011, the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa reported that South Africa's illicit market share was 20%, increasing to 25% in late 2011 and to 30% in 2012. In a 2012 presentation to Treasury the illicit market share in 2008 was shown as 7.9%, compared to claims in 2008 that the illicit market share was 20%. There was a large spike in reported seizures of illicit cigarettes in 2010 and 2011, but a 60% decrease in 2012. Conclusions The tobacco industry has adjusted previous estimates of the illicit trade share downwards in order to create the impression that illicit trade is high and rising. If previous estimates by the tobacco industry were incorrect by their own admission, the credibility of current estimates should be questioned, especially by government officials. |
| Keywords: | Illicit trade; cigarettes; South Africa; industry rhetoric |
| JEL: | H26 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ldr:wpaper:129&r=afr |
| By: | Susanne Fricke (Chair of Economic Policy, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena); Bianka Dettmer (Chair of Economic Policy, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena) |
| Abstract: | While previous studies highlight the importance of the manufacturing sector in the economy, we argue that rather backbone services play a key role for economic growth. We perform an Input-Output analysis to determine the linkages between backbone services and manufacturing in South Africa. We find high and evenly spread forward linkages of backbone services to the rest of the economy which indicate strong growth- inducing downstream effects. Moreover, the interconnectedness between backbone services and manufacturing is twofold and depends on the level of technology intensity of industries. Especially the production of high technology goods requires a relatively higher share of inputs from backbone services. Thus, an efficient provision of backbone services is essential to induce manufacturing production and enable economic growth in South Africa. |
| Keywords: | Backbone Services, Growth, Input-Output Analysis, South Africa |
| JEL: | L8 L9 O1 O4 R15 |
| Date: | 2014–05–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2014-016&r=afr |
| By: | Asongu Simplice (Yaoundé/Cameroun) |
| Abstract: | The Ali (2013, EB) findings on the nexuses among institutions, finance and investment could have an important influence on policy and academic debates. This paper relaxes his hypotheses on the conception, definition and measurement of finance and institutions because they are less realistic to developing countries to which the resulting policy implications are destined. We dissect with great acuteness the contextual underpinnings of financial development dynamics and elucidate why the Acemoglu & Johnson (2005) justification provided for the measurement of property rights institutions (PRI) is lacking in substance. Using updated data (1996-2010) from 53 African countries, we provide more robust evidence on the substitution of institutions and finance in investment. Results under many baseline and augmented scenarios are not consistent with the underlying paper. Justifications for the differences in findings are discussed. As a policy implication, the Ali (2013, EB) findings for countries with poor financial systems may not be relevant for Africa. |
| Keywords: | Finance; Institutions; Investment: Property Rights; Africa |
| JEL: | G20 G24 E02 P14 O55 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:14/005&r=afr |
| By: | Vellios, Nicole (SALDRU, School of Economics, University of Cape Town); van Walbeek, Corne (School of Economics, University of Cape Town) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the individual and household variables that influence the decision to start smoking. The data was drawn from wave 1 of the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) of 2008 and the analysis was performed using survival analysis. Based on the international literature and the constraints of the NIDS survey, the following potential determinants of smoking onset were investigated: age, gender, population group, price of cigarettes, geographic location (urban/rural), socio-economic status of parents, whether the respondent's mother was alive when the respondent was aged 15 or not, literacy, parents' smoking behaviour, respondent's alcohol consumption and tobacco control legislation. Smoking initiation in South Africa typically takes place in the late teenage years and early twenties. Smoking initiation amongst males is much higher than amongst females. For both males and females, the probability of starting smoking is highest amongst the Coloured population. African females have a very low uptake of smoking. Males are more responsive to price changes than females. Depending on the specification, a R1 increase in the price of cigarettes reduces the risk of smoking onset by between 1.1% and 2.8% for males. For females the impact of price on smoking initiation is insignificant. Males and females who have a parent who smokes are more likely to initiate smoking. Females whose mother died before the respondent was aged 15 are more likely to start smoking. The same effect was not found for males. Male and female respondents who currently drink alcohol one or more times a week were more likely to start smoking. The policy impact of this study is that an increase in the price of cigarettes will decrease smoking initiation, especially amongst males. |
| Keywords: | smoking initiation; survival analysis; South Africa |
| JEL: | C41 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ldr:wpaper:128&r=afr |
| By: | Asongu Simplice (Yaoundé/Cameroun) |
| Abstract: | Economic theory traditionally suggests that monetary policy can influence the business cycle, but not the long-run potential output. Despite well documented theoretical and empirical consensus on money neutrality in the literature, the role of money as an informational variable for monetary policy decision has remained opened to debate with empirical works providing mixed outcomes. This paper addresses two substantial challenges to this debate: the neglect of developing countries in the literature and the use of new financial dynamic fundamentals that broadly reflect monetary policy. The empirics are based on annual data from 34 African countries for the period 1980 to 2010. Using a battery of tests for integration and long-run equilibrium properties, results offer overall support for the traditional economic theory. |
| Keywords: | Monetary policy; Credit; Empirics; Africa |
| JEL: | E51 E52 E58 E59 O55 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:13/032&r=afr |
| By: | Allen, Franklin; Carletti, Elena; Cull, Robert; Qian, Jun; Senbet, Lemma W; Valenzuela, Patricio |
| Abstract: | Using household surveys and bank penetration data at the district-level in 2006 and 2009, this paper examines the impact of Equity Bank—a leading private commercial bank focusing on microfinance—on the access to banking in Kenya. Unlike other commercial banks in Kenya, Equity Bank pursues distinct branching strategies that target underserved areas and less privileged households. Equity Bank presence has a positive and significant impact on households’ use of bank accounts and bank credit, especially for Kenyans with low income, no salaried job and less education, and those that do not own their own home. The findings are robust to using the district-level proportion of people speaking a minority language as an instrument for Equity Bank presence. It appears that Equity Bank’s business model—providing financial services to population segments typically ignored by traditional commercial banks and generating sustainable profits in the process—can be a solution to the financial access problem that has hindered the development of inclusive financial sectors in many African countries. |
| Keywords: | bank account; bank penetration; Equity Bank; microfinance; minority language |
| JEL: | G2 O1 R2 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9840&r=afr |
| By: | Gebreeyesus M. (UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | Global trade in agriculture and food products is increasingly governed by an array of standards. A survey conducted in 2010 covering all operational firms in the nascent floriculture industry in Ethiopia revealed that only 36 per cent have managed to acquire certification for international private standards. This study uses a census-based panel dataset from Ethiopian floriculture to empirically examine the determinants of firms adoption of international private standards. It also analyses overall industry level efforts and public-private partnership to launch and implement a national scheme for Good Agricultural Practice and build firms capacity to comply with the standards. Key words standards, certification, floriculture exports, estate farms, Ethiopia, Africa |
| Keywords: | Information and Product Quality; Standardization and Compatibility; International Linkages to Development; Role of International Organizations; Agriculture in International Trade; |
| JEL: | L15 O19 Q17 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2014007&r=afr |
| By: | Dinkelman, Taryn |
| Abstract: | Drought is Africa’s primary natural disaster and a pervasive source of income risk for poor households. This paper documents the long-run health effects of early life exposure to drought and investigates an important source of heterogeneity in these effects. Combining birth cohort variation in South African Census data with cross-sectional and temporal drought variation, I estimate long-run health impacts of drought exposure among Africans confined to homelands during apartheid. Drought exposure in early childhood significantly raises later life male disability rates by 4% and reduces cohort size. Among a subset of homelands – the TBVC areas – disability effects are double and negative cohort effects are significantly larger. I show that differences in spatial mobility restrictions that influence the extent of migrant networks across TBVC and non-TBVC areas contribute to this heterogeneity. Placebo checks show no differential disability impacts of drought exposure across TBVC and non-TBVC areas after the repeal of migration restrictions. The results show that although drought has significant long-run effects on health human capital, migrant networks in poor economies provide one channel through which families mitigate these negative impacts of local environmental shock |
| Keywords: | disability and early life health; drought; local shocks; migration; South Africa |
| JEL: | I15 J61 N37 O15 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9801&r=afr |
| By: | Milazzo, Annamaria |
| Abstract: | Strong boy-bias and its consequences for young and unborn girls have been widely documented for Asia. This paper considers a country in Sub-Saharan Africa and finds that parental gender preferences do affect fertility behavior and shape traditional social institutions with negative effects on adult women's health and well-being. Using individual-level data for Nigeria, the paper shows that, compared to women with first-born sons, women with first-born daughters have (and desire) more children and are less likely to use contraceptives. Women with daughters among earlier-born children are also more likely to have shorter birth intervals, a behavior medically known to increase the risk of child and maternal mortality. Moreover, they are more likely to end up in a polygynous union, to be divorced, and to be head of the household. The preference for sons is also supported by child fostering patterns in which daughters are substitutes for foster girls, while the same does not hold for sons and foster boys. These results can partly explain excess female mortality among adult women in Sub-Saharan Africa. |
| Keywords: | Population Policies,Gender and Law,Gender and Health,Adolescent Health,Population&Development |
| Date: | 2014–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6869&r=afr |
| By: | Asongu Simplice (Yaoundé/Cameroun) |
| Abstract: | Purpose – How do economic prosperity, health expenditure, savings, price-stability, demographic change, democracy, corruption-control, press-freedom, government effectiveness, human development, foreign-aid, physical security, trade openness and financial liberalization play-out in the fight against health-worker crisis when existing emigration levels matter? Despite the acute concern of health-worker crisis in Africa owing to emigration, lack of relevant data has made the subject matter empirically void over the last decades. Design/methodology/approach – A quantile regression approach is used to assess the determinants of health-worker emigration throughout the conditional distributions of health-worker emigration. This provides an assessment of the determinants when existing emigrations levels matter. Findings – Findings provide a broad range of tools for the fight against health-worker brain-drain. As a policy implication, blanket emigration-control policies are unlikely to succeed equally across countries with different levels of emigration. Thus to be effective, immigration policies should be contingent on the prevailing levels of the crisis and tailored differently across countries with the best and worst records on fighting health worker emigration. Originality/value – This paper has examined the theoretical postulations of a WHO report on determinants of health-worker migration. |
| Keywords: | Welfare; Health; Human Capital; Migration; Africa |
| JEL: | D60 F22 I10 J24 O15 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:13/034&r=afr |
| By: | Judith Beatrice Auma Oduol (World Agrofestry Centre, Nairobi, Kenya); Dagmar Mithöfer (Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, Kleve, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Well-functioning factor and product markets can provide the poor, particularly smallholder farmers, with avenues for wealth creation. Yet in sub-Saharan Africa, markets for agricultural inputs and outputs are often thin or disorganized. Challenges to smallholder women farmers are particularly high, because they potentially face higher entry barriers than men in modern market chains. This study aims to examine bottlenecks to and opportunities for different categories of women to participate in the stages of the value chains for high value agricultural commodities, with a view to identifying interventions that can promote women’s participation in markets for high value agricultural commodities. The study focuses on two categories of women namely those in male and female -headed households. The findings are based on a case study of avocado value chain in Kenya, which depicts export and domestic market orientation. The data were collected through focus group discussions, key informant interviews and household surveys. The results show that where the chain is well developed and the returns are high as in the export avocado chain, women dominate the production stage while men tend to own the fields, make decisions on sales of fruits of premium quality and control revenues. Nevertheless, women in female headed households appear to be fully integrated in most of the stages of the export value chain, although they face greater challenges than men in performing tasks that are physically demanding like harvesting and those that require specialised skills such as grading and spraying. Consequently, integrating such women into the export market will require alleviating constraints that limit their participation in such markets like provision of interlinked services for spraying, harvesting, and grading coupled with prompt payment of the proceeds. Nevertheless, integrating women in male headed households in the export market will require involving them in the trainings on certification standards. |
| Keywords: | Women; agricultural value chains; Avocado; sub-Saharan Africa |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:msm:wpaper:2014/11&r=afr |
| By: | Kalemli-Ozcan, Sebnem; Sørensen, Bent E |
| Abstract: | We study capital misallocation within and across 10 African countries using the World Bank Enterprise Surveys. First, we compare the extent of misallocation among firms within countries. We document high variation in firms' marginal product of capital (MPK), implying that countries could produce significantly more with the same aggregate capital stock if capital were allocated optimally. Such variation differs from country to country with some African countries (success stories) closer to developed country benchmarks. Small firms and non-exporters have less access to finance and have higher returns to capital in general. Self reported measures of obstacles to firms' operations suggest access to finance is the most important obstacle: A firm with the worst access to finance has MPK 45 percent higher than a firm with the worst access to finance as a result of low capital per worker. We compare average levels of the MPK across countries, finding evidence that the strength of property rights and the quality of the legal system help explain country-level differences in capital misallocation. |
| Keywords: | Financing Obstacles; Firms; Investor Rights; Marginal Product of Capital; Misallocation |
| JEL: | D24 O14 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9859&r=afr |
| By: | Konte M. (UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | Little investigation has been made to explain why women are less likely than are men to support democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa. This gender difference in politics has been found in numerous studies and may hinder the much needed legitimation of democracy in this region. This paper addresses the question of whether this observed gender gap is due to the omission of social institutions related to gender inequality, something that affects womens daily life and deprives them of autonomy at home. We hypothesize that women who live under autocracy at home are less likely to support democracy outside, because it does not affect their private life; this follows the idea that the way women are treated in a society might have major implications for the economic, social, and political functioning of that society. We find that the gender difference in support for democracy is no longer significant after we control for gender discrimination in the Family Code, in physical integrity or in civil liberties. This study also provides evidence that women living in countries with favorable laws toward women are more supportive of democracy than women who do not, suggesting that democratic regimes may be more willing than are authoritarian regimes to protect laws friendly to women. Key words Support for democracy, gender difference, social institutions |
| Keywords: | Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination; Technological Change: Government Policy; Economywide Country Studies: Africa; |
| JEL: | J16 O38 O55 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2014009&r=afr |
| By: | Aron, Janine; Creamer, Kenneth; Muellbauer, John; Rankin, Neil |
| Abstract: | A sizeable literature examines exchange rate pass-through to disaggregated import prices but very few micro-studies focus on consumer prices. This paper explores exchange rate pass-through to consumer prices in South Africa during 2002-2007, using a unique data set of highly disaggregated data at the product and outlet level. The paper adopts an empirical approach that allows pass-through to be calculated over various horizons, including controls for domestic and foreign costs. It studies how pass-through differs across types of consumption goods and services and draws some aggregate implications about pass-through, using actual weights from the CPI basket. The heterogeneity of pass-through for different food sub-components and the role of switches between import and export parity pricing of maize is investigated and found significant for five out of ten food sub-components. Overall pass-through to the almost 63 percent of the CPI covered is estimated at about 30 percent after two years, but is higher for food. |
| Keywords: | consumer prices; CPI; exchange rate pass-through; exchange rate volatility; food prices; goods prices; monetary policy; services prices |
| JEL: | C23 C51 C52 E3 E31 E52 E58 F31 F39 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9735&r=afr |
| By: | Brixiova, Zuzana (African Development Bank); Ncube, Mthuli (African Development Bank); Bicaba, Zorobabel (African Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | The shortages of entrepreneurial skills have lowered search effectiveness of potential young entrepreneurs and the rate of youth start-ups. Our paper contributes to closing a gap in the entrepreneurship and development literature with a model of costly firm creation and skill differences between young and adult entrepreneurs. The model shows that for young entrepreneurs facing high costs of searching for business opportunities, support for training is more effective in stimulating productive start-ups than subsidies. The case for interventions targeted at youth rises in societies with high costs of youth unemployment. We test the role of skills and training for productive youth entrepreneurship on data from a recent survey of entrepreneurs in Swaziland. |
| Keywords: | youth entrepreneurship, model of skills and structural transformation, policies, Africa |
| JEL: | J11 J08 L26 O11 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8192&r=afr |
| By: | Collier, Paul; Venables, Anthony J. |
| Abstract: | The accumulation of decent housing matters both because of the difference it makes to living standards and because of its centrality to economic development. The consequences for living standards are far-reaching. In addition to directly conferring utility, decent housing improves health and enables children to do homework. It frees up women's time and enables them to participate in the labor market. More subtly, a home and its environs affect identity and self-respect. Commentary on the emergence of an African middle class has become common, but it is being defined in terms of discretionary spending and potential for consumer markets. A politically more salient definition of a middle class will be in terms of home ownership and the consequent stake in economic stability. This paper examines why such a process has not happened in Africa. The hypothesis is that the peculiarity of housing exposes it to multiple points of vulnerability not found together either in private consumer goods or in other capital goods. Each point of vulnerability can be addressed by appropriate government policies, but addressing only one or two of them has little payoff if the others remain unresolved. Further, the vulnerabilities faced by housing are the responsibility of distinct branches of government, with little natural collaboration. Unblocking multiple impediments to housing therefore requires coordination that can come only from the head of government: ministries of housing have neither the political weight nor the analytic capacity to play this role effectively. Yet in Africa, housing has never received such high political priority. This in turn is because the centrality of housing in well-being and of housing investment in development has not been sufficiently appreciated. |
| Keywords: | Housing&Human Habitats,Public Sector Economics,Debt Markets,Access to Finance,Urban Housing |
| Date: | 2014–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6871&r=afr |
| By: | Merima Ali; Adnan Seric |
| Abstract: | This study empirically examines diffusion of labor standards from origin to host countries by investigating whether better labor standards of MNCs’ origin countries are correlated with higher wages of workers in host countries in Africa. MNCs originating from countries with more rights of association and collective bargain and those coming from countries with unions that have strong wage bargaining power are found to pay significantly higher wages to their workers in host countries. These findings highlight that, although domestic policies and institutions may be important determinants of labor-related standards, they don’t operate in isolation from external influences coming from origin countries. |
| Keywords: | : Labor standards, Multinational companies, origin country, host country, wages, Africa |
| JEL: | F23 J80 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsc:rsceui:2014/22&r=afr |
| By: | Batista, Catia (Universidade Nova de Lisboa); McIndoe Calder, Tara (Central Bank of Ireland); Vicente, Pedro C. (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) |
| Abstract: | Does return migration affect entrepreneurship? This question has important implications for the debate on the economic development effects of migration for origin countries. The existing literature has, however, not addressed how the estimation of the impact of return migration on entrepreneurship is affected by double unobservable migrant self-selection, both at the initial outward migration and at the final inward return migration stages. This paper uses a representative household survey conducted in Mozambique in order to address this research question. We exploit variation provided by displacement caused by civil war in Mozambique, as well as social unrest and other shocks in migrant destination countries. The results lend support to negative unobservable self-selection at both and each of the initial and return stages of migration, which results in an under-estimation of the effects of return migration on entrepreneurial outcomes when using a 'naïve' estimator not controlling for self-selection. Indeed, 'naïve' estimates point to a 13 pp increase in the probability of owning a business when there is a return migrant in the household relative to non-migrants only, whereas excluding the double effect of unobservable self-selection, this effect becomes significantly larger – between 24 pp and 29 pp, depending on the method of estimation and source of variation used. |
| Keywords: | international migration, return migration, entrepreneurship, self-selection, business ownership, migration effects in origin countries, household survey, Mozambique, sub-Saharan Africa |
| JEL: | F22 L26 O15 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8195&r=afr |
| By: | Sigei, Geoffrey; Bett, Hillary; Kibet, Lawrence |
| Abstract: | Marketing agricultural produce is important amongst smallholder farmers because they derive benefits such as income and rural employment. In developing countries like Kenya, most smallholder farmers are characterized by poor market participation because they lack market information on pineapple marketing. In Bureti district; pineapples have been perceived to have high market value, resulting in trade-offs with staple food. Despite pineapples market value, its market participation has not been fully studied and quantified results in poor prices among small-scale farmers. The objectives of the study were: to describe socio-economic characteristics of small-scale pineapple farmers, institutional and market characteristics in Bureti district; to determine the factors influencing market participation and its extent, and; to determine the factors influencing the choice of pineapple marketing outlet in Bureti district. The study was conducted in five locations (Kapkisiara, Kisiara, Tulwet, Getarwet and Tebesonik). Multistage sampling procedure was employed to contact 150 respondents. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data from small-scale pineapple farmers through face to face interview. The data was analyzed using the descriptive statistics, Heckman two-stage selection model and Multinomial Logit model. SPSS and STATA computer programs were used to process the data. The results showed that age, gender, education level and pineapple yields significantly influenced the decision to participate in pineapple marketing. Gender, price information, group marketing, marketing experience, vehicle ownership and marketing under contract significantly influenced the extent of market participation. Further, gender, group marketing, pineapple yield, price information, marketing under contract and vehicle ownership significantly influenced the choice of pineapple marketing outlets. The study recommends that, for holistic market participation among pineapple farmers, proper market infrastructure like pineapple hub must be put in place. The government and other policy makers should increase the marketing information and ability of pineapple farmers through avenues like mass media, extension service, and other means of capacity building. |
| Keywords: | Heckman two-stage model, market participation, small-scale pineapple farmers |
| JEL: | M2 |
| Date: | 2014–05–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:56149&r=afr |
| By: | Christophe Muller (Aix-Marseille University (Aix-Marseille School of Economics), CNRS & EHESS) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we test and reject the separability of production and consumption decisions of agricultural households in Ethiopia, using data from a rural household survey conducted in 1994 and an estimated labour demand equation. We also elicit socio-demographic and asset variables that are positively linked with agricultural labour demands. These results reflect the limited development of fully organised labour markets in rural Ethiopia. They also imply that purely market-driven agricultural policies, e.g., price subsidies or taxes, may have only limited or perverse impacts, and should be complemented by policies directly affecting household decisions, such as food aid, technology transfer, free supply of fertilizers, etc. |
| Keywords: | agricultural household, separability, Ethiopia |
| JEL: | O13 Q12 D13 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:1418&r=afr |
| By: | García-Peñalosa C.; Konte M. (UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | A substantial literature has examined the determinants of support for democracy and although existing work has found a gender gap in democratic attitudes, there have been no attempts to explain it. In this paper we try to understand why females are less supportive of democracy than males in a number of countries. Using data for 20 Sub-Saharan African countries, we test whether the gap is due to individual differences in policy priorities or to country-wide characteristics. We find that controlling for individual policy priorities does not offset the gender gap, but those women who are interested in politics are more democratic than men. Furthermore, our results indicate that the gap disappears in countries with high levels of human development and political rights. Keywords Support for democracy, gender gap, policy priorities, institutions |
| Keywords: | Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles; Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination; Technological Change: Government Policy; |
| JEL: | D01 J16 O38 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2014010&r=afr |
| By: | Asongu Simplice (Yaoundé/Cameroun) |
| Abstract: | The employment of financial development indicators without due consideration to country/regional specific financial development realities remains an issue of substantial policy relevance. Financial depth in the perspective of money supply is not equal to liquid liabilities in every development context. This paper introduces complementary indicators to the existing Financial Development and Structure Database (FDSD). Dynamic panel system GMM estimations are applied. Different specifications, non-overlapping intervals and control variables are used to check the consistency of estimated coefficients. Our results suggest that from an absolute standpoint (GDP base measures), all financial sectors are pro-poor. However, three interesting findings are drawn from measures of sector importance. (1) The expansion of the formal financial sector to the detriment of other financial sectors has a disequalizing income effect. (2) Growth of informal and semi-formal financial sectors at the expense of the formal financial sector has an income equalizing effect. (3) The positive income redistributive effect of semi-formal finance in financial sector competition is higher than the corresponding impact of informal finance. It unites two streams of research by contributing at the same time to the macroeconomic literature on measuring financial development and responding to the growing field of economic development by means of informal financial sector promotion and microfinance. The paper suggests a practicable way to disentangle the effects of the various financial sectors on economic development. The equation of financial depth in the perspective of money supply to liquid liabilities has put on the margin the burgeoning informal financial sector in developing countries. The phenomenon of mobile banking is such an example. |
| Keywords: | Financial Development; Shadow Economy; Poverty; Inequality; Africa |
| JEL: | E00 G20 I30 O17 O55 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:13/036&r=afr |
| By: | Berman, Nicolas; Couttenier, Mathieu |
| Abstract: | This paper uses detailed information on the latitude and longitude of conflict events in Sub-Saharan African countries to study the impact of external income shocks on the likelihood of violence. We consider a number of external demand shocks faced by the countries or the regions within countries - temporary shocks such as changes in the world demand for agricultural commodities, and longer-lasting events such as financial crises in the partner countries - and combine these with information reflecting the natural level of trade openness of the location. We find that (i) the incidence, intensity and onset of conflicts are generally negatively and significantly correlated with income variations at the local level; (ii) this relationship is significantly weaker for the most remote locations, i.e those located away from the main seaports, (iii) at the country-level, these shocks have an insignificant impact on the overall probability of conflict outbreak, but do affect the probability that conflicts start in the most opened regions. Altogether, our results therefore suggest that external income shocks are important determinants of the intensity and geography of conflicts, and provide support in favor of the opportunity cost theories of war. |
| Keywords: | civil war; conflict; income shocks |
| JEL: | D74 F15 O13 Q17 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9895&r=afr |
| By: | Adel Bosch (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria); Steven F. Koch (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria) |
| Abstract: | We take advantage of a tobacco tax hike that occurred during the collection of the South African Income and Expenditure Survey to examine the regressivity of tobacco taxes. We are also able to examine the relative change in regressivity following the tax increase. Like previous research into commodity taxes, we find that tobacco taxes are regressive. However, we find that tobacco tax increases reduce the tax burden at the lower end of the income distribution, such that after the cigarette tax increase, cigarette taxes are less regressive than before the increase. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201424&r=afr |
| By: | Brückner, Markus; Gradstein, Mark |
| Abstract: | This paper provides instrumental variables estimates of the response of aggregate private consumption to transitory output shocks in poor countries. To identify exogenous, unanticipated, idiosyncratic and transitory variations in national output we use year-to-year variations in rainfall as an instrumental variable in a panel of 39 sub-Saharan African countries during the period 1980-2009. Our estimates yield a marginal propensity to consume out of transitory output of around 0.2. To explain this result we show, using instrumental variables techniques, that there is a significant negative effect of transitory output shocks on net current transfers and a significant positive and quantitatively large effect on the trade balance. An important implication is that frictions to private financial flows do not necessarily imply large effects of transitory shocks to aggregate output on private consumption in poor countries. |
| Keywords: | Consumption; International Capital Flows; Net Current Transfers; Permanent Income Hypothesis; Risk Sharing; Transitory Output Shocks |
| JEL: | E21 F32 F35 F41 O55 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9658&r=afr |
| By: | Prof dr Erik Stam; Felix Meier zu Selhausen, MSc MA (PhD Candidate, Utrecht University) |
| Abstract: | Participation in microfinance and in production cooperatives has been identified as a means to improve income and empower female entrepreneurs in developing economies. This study on female entrepreneurs in Western Uganda tests how participation of the husband in the same microfinance cooperative affects gender empowerment. Participation by female entrepreneurs in a microfinance cooperative turns out not to be an unconditional blessing: even though it does deliver higher household incomes, it also deteriorates the female’s household decision-making power when her husband participates in the same self-help group of the microfinance cooperative. This offers new insights for development policy and for entrepreneurship scholars to study the bright and dark sides of microfinance. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:msm:wpaper:2014/20&r=afr |
| By: | Atsede Tesfaye Hailemariam (Tilburg University, The Netherlands and Addis Ababa University – School of Commerce, Ethiopia); Brigitte Kroon (Tilburg University, The Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | This paper describes how women entrepreneurs in Ethiopia define success in their own terms. Semi structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 24 women entrepreneurs from various sectors in Addis Ababa. The interview formats allowed the women to tell their life history and define success in their own terms. A common stereotype is that women entrepreneurs in Ethiopia operate businesses out of necessity and therefore women measure success in terms of financial rewards than personal rewards. Despite this stereotype, the findings of this study show that differences in definition of success exist among group of women entrepreneurs. Differences are in background characteristics, socialization experiences, learning experiences and reasons for starting business. The results of the study show women entrepreneurs define their success in various ways including, financial gains, growth, personal fulfillment, helping others, social contribution among others play a role here. Further, based on the findings an attempt has been made to identify different groups of women entrepreneurs in Ethiopia suggesting women entrepreneurs in Ethiopia are not a homogeneous group. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:msm:wpaper:2014/09&r=afr |
| By: | Greg Fischer (London School of Economics); Dean Karlan (Economic Growth Center, Yale University); Margaret McConnell (Harvard University); Pia Raffler (Yale University) |
| Abstract: | Pricing policy for any experience good faces a key tradeoff. On the one hand, a price reduction increases immediate demand and hence more people learn about the product. On the other hand, lower prices may serve as price anchors and, through a comparison effect, decrease subsequent demand. This tension is particularly important for the distribution of health products in low-income countries, where free or heavily subsidized distribution is a common but controversial practice. Based on a model combining the learning aspect of experience goods with reference-dependent preferences, we set up a field experiment in Northern Uganda in which three health products differing in their scope for learning were initially offered either for free or for sale at market prices. In line with prior studies, when the product has potential for positive learning, we do not find an effect of free distribution on future demand. However, for products without scope for positive learning, we find evidence of price anchors: future demand is lower after a free distribution than after a distribution at market prices. |
| Keywords: | subsidies, health, pricing, learning |
| JEL: | D11 D12 D83 I11 I18 O12 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egc:wpaper:1041&r=afr |
| By: | Posen, Jodie (WESGRO); van Walbeek, Corne (School of Economics, University of Cape Town) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a model that can be used to predict the likely impacts of tobacco tax increases and harmonisation in the East African Community. The model has five sections, one for each EAC country. These sections consider different cigarette market segments based on tax or price differentials. The model can therefore calculate the likely effects of excise tax increases and harmonisation on the retail selling price of cigarettes, cigarette consumption, government revenue and industry revenue for each individual country and for the EAC as a whole. Two Scenarios are presented in this paper. Scenario 1 explores an increase in the current excise tax rates and a harmonisation across the EAC of a uniform specific tax of UDS 0.60. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to assess the robustness of the assumptions in this scenario. Scenario 2 discusses the use of a mixed tax structure with a specific excise tax of USD 0.60 or an ad valorem excise tax of 40% of the retail selling price, whichever is higher. The advantages and disadvantages of a uniform specific excise tax and other tax structures such as tiered specific taxes, ad valorem taxes and mixed tax structures are explored. Factors such as administrative ease, predictability of revenue flows, inflation and income growth are discussed. A uniform specific tax is shown to be the most preferable excise tax structure, even over a mixed tax structure. The results show that, with an assumed price elasticity of demand of -0.6, as excise tax is increased in the region, consumption decreases and government revenue increases. Scenario 1 shows a decrease in consumption by around 2.3 billlion cigarettes, or 18%, compared to current consumption levels across the EAC of around 12.9 billion cigarettes. Scenario 2 shows a slightly higher decline in consumption of 2.7 billion cigarettes or 21%. In terms of government excise revenue, Scenario 1 shows an increase of around USD 140 million or 80% from the current government revenue of around USD 176 million across the EAC. The second scenario reveals an even greater increase of USD 173 million or 98%. These results show that excise tax increases and harmonisation will contribute to public health and financial objectives of governments in the region. |
| Keywords: | East African Community; excise tax; tax harmonisation |
| JEL: | H21 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ldr:wpaper:130&r=afr |
| By: | Asongu Simplice (Yaoundé/Cameroun); Nguena Christian |
| Abstract: | Large-scale agricultural land acquisitions have been covered substantially in recent literature. Despite the wealth of theoretical and empirical studies on this subject, there is no study that has reviewed existing literature in light of concerns over sustainable and equitable management. This study fills the gap by analyzing and synthesizing available literature to put some structure on existing knowledge. The paper has a threefold contribution to the literature. First, it takes stock of what we know so far about the determinants of land grab. Second, it presents a picture of sustainable and equitable development of the foreign land acquisitions. Third, policy syndromes are examined and policy implications discussed. Based on the accounts, the issues are not about whether agricultural investments are needed, but on how they can be sustainably and equitably managed to make positive contributions to food security and domestic development. |
| Keywords: | Governance; Equity; Sustainable Development; Land Grab |
| JEL: | F21 O13 O55 Q15 Q34 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:14/001&r=afr |
| By: | Karlan, Dean S.; Linden, Leigh |
| Abstract: | Commitment devices offer an opportunity to restrict future choices. However, if severe restrictions deter participation, weaker restrictions may be a more effective means of changing behavior. We test this using a school-based commitment savings device for educational expenses in Uganda. We compare an account fully-committed to educational expenses to an account in which savings are available for cash withdrawal but intended for educational expenses. The weaker commitment generates increased savings in the program accounts and when combined with a parent outreach program, higher expenditures on educational supplies. It also increases scores on an exam covering language and math skills by 0.14 standard deviations. We find no effect for the fully-committed account, and we find no effect for either account on attendance, enrollment, or non-cognitive skills. |
| Keywords: | Commitment Savings; Educational Resources; Micro-Savings; School Participation |
| JEL: | D12 D91 I21 O12 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9832&r=afr |
| By: | Maria Laura Alzua (CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata and Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia); Juan Camilo Cardenas (Universidad de Los Andes); Habiba Djebbari (Aix-Marseille University and Laval University) |
| Abstract: | Community mobilization is a key feature of community-based development projects. Community mobilization requires facilitating communication between village members and between leaders and the rest of the community. Is communication an effective device through which mobilization may foster collective action? Does informing the community on how to reach a better social outcome key? Should we expect the effectiveness of community-based programs to depend on the quality of leadership in the community? In rural communities of Mali, we find evidence of high levels of cooperation as measured by a standard public good game. Communication between players increases contributions to the public good. Passing of information through a random community member also improves cooperation, and leadership skills matter. We also find suggestive evidence that changes in behavior are mediated through changes in beliefs. The experiments are embedded in a larger randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate the impact of a community-based sanitation intervention. As such, our results are relevant for a large population. Finally, we find that the program help strengthen the capacity for collective action. |
| JEL: | D78 C93 H41 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dls:wpaper:0160&r=afr |
| By: | Nour S. (UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the structure of the labour market and unemployment in Sudan. One advantage of our analysis is that we explain several stylized facts on the labour market using new secondary data on population, employment and unemployment based on Sudan Central Bureau of Statistics 2010 the Fifth Sudan Population and Housing Census 2008. We explain several stylized facts on the relation between the structure of the labour market and demographic structure, labour force, participation rates, economic activities, low skill level and high unemployment rate defined by gender and mode of living in Sudan. Different from the findings in the empirical literature in support of the Phillips curve on the negative correlation between inflation and unemployment rates, we find a positive and significant correlation between unemployment and inflation rates in Sudan during the period 2000-2008. Moreover, different from the analysis in Sudanese literature, we present a more comprehensive analysis of four stylized facts on the unemployment problem in Sudan, including identifying several types of unemployment; interpretation of unemployment problems from due to endogenous and exogenous causes; analysis of the high incidence of unemployment among youth population and a high mismatch between educational qualifications supply and labour market requirements demand. The major policy implication from our findings is that the unemployment problem is related to endogenous and exogenous causes; therefore policy interventions for reducing unemployment should deal with these endogenous and exogenous causes. Notably, improvement of job creation and quality of educational policies and consistency between educational qualifications output and labour market requirements. Another major policy implication from our results on the significant positive correlation between increase in unemployment and inflation rates 2000-2008, implies that macroeconomic policies aimed at or targeting reducing inflation rates would also help to reduce unemployment rates in Sudan. Keywords Labour market; employment; unemployment; Sudan. |
| Keywords: | Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Demographic Economics: General; Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts; Demand and Supply of Labor: General; Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure; Labor Demand; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity; Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search; |
| JEL: | E24 J10 J11 J20 J21 J23 J24 J64 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2014016&r=afr |