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on Africa |
| By: | George, Emmanuel; Ojeaga, Paul; Adekola, Adetunji; Matthews, Oluwatoyin |
| Abstract: | Can foreign direct investment (FDI) promote growth in Africa? What does the inflow of investment hold for African emerging economies? Are the determinants of FDI different for different regional blocs in Africa? This study reviews the implication of FDI for different regional blocs in Africa. FDI was found to have a significant effect on growth in North Africa but had no significant effect in East, Southern and West Africa. FDI was also found not to be driving growth in the whole of Africa in a significant manner. The implications of the findings are that even though trade openness seems to be a major factor driving FDI. Poor domestic markets were still preventing many African economies from taking full advantage of the gains from foreign direct investment. The study results could be useful to scholars who study the dynamics surrounding FDI disbursement and strategies on how FDI can drive growth in developing countries. |
| Keywords: | Africa, Political Economy, FDI, Regional Policy and Markets |
| JEL: | C23 C7 C70 E61 F42 G28 H5 L16 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:62195&r=afr |
| By: | George, Emmanuel; Odejimi, Deborah; Matthews, Oluwatoyin; Ojeaga, Paul |
| Abstract: | Has macroeconomic management succeeded in making privatization promote growth in Africa? What are the probable strategies that should accompany the privatization reform process to promote growth in Africa? To what extent has the privatization process succeeded in attracting foreign direct investment to Africa? The study investigates the relationship between macroeconomic management and privatization. Many African countries have embarked on one form of privatization reform or the other since 1980 as one of the stringent conditions for accessing capital from the IMF and the World Bank. Secondly globalization and the gradually integration of the African economy into the global economy also means that Africa has to strategically develop its domestic market to cushion itself from fluctuations and probable contagion associated with global economic crisis that are always inevitable Stiglitz (2000) and Ojeaga P. (2012). The methods of estimation used are the OLS, linear mixed effects (LME), 2SLS and the GMM method of estimation. It was found that macroeconomic management has the capacity to affect the success of the privatization reform process. It was also found that privatization was not promoting growth in Africa; privatization could promote growth if long run growth strategies are implemented together with the privatization reform process. Privatization was also found not to have the capacity to attract foreign investment to many African countries. |
| Keywords: | Africa, Political Economy, Game Theory, Macroeconomic Management and Privatization |
| JEL: | C23 C72 E61 E62 F42 G22 H5 O11 O23 |
| Date: | 2013–08–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:62211&r=afr |
| By: | Mason, Nicole M.; Tembo, Solomon T. |
| Abstract: | Many of the agricultural input subsidy programs (ISPs) currently being implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa include among their objectives raising farm incomes and reducing rural poverty. However, there is a dearth of empirical evidence on the extent to which ISPs are achieving these objectives. Moreover, results from previous studies on ISPs in Zambia and Malawi, and stubbornly high rural poverty rates in both countries despite many years of large-scale ISPs, have raised doubts that ISPs are effectively reducing poverty. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:midcwp:198702&r=afr |
| By: | Backiny-Yetna, Prospere; McGee, Kevin |
| Abstract: | Most of the poor in Sub-Saharan Africa live in rural areas where agriculture is the main income source. This agriculture is characterized by low performance and its productivity growth has been identified as a key driver of poverty reduction. In Niger, as in many other African countries, productivity is even lower among female peasants. To build policy interventions to improve agricultural productivity among women, it is important to measure the potential gap between men and women and understand the determinants that explain the gap. This paper uses the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition methodology at the aggregate and detailed levels to identify the factors that explain the productivity gap. The analysis finds that in Niger on average plots managed by women produce 19 percent less per hectare than plots managed by men. It also finds that the gender gap tends to be widest among Niger's most productive farmers. The primary factors that contribute to the gender productivity gap in Niger are: (i) farm labor, with women facing significant challenges in accessing, using, and supervising male farm labor; (ii) the quantity and quality of fertilizer use, with men using more inorganic fertilizer per hectare than women; and (iii) land ownership and characteristics, with men owning more land and enjoying higher returns to ownership than women. |
| Keywords: | Gender and Health,Housing&Human Habitats,Labor Policies,Gender and Law,Gender and Development |
| Date: | 2015–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7199&r=afr |
| By: | Jouini, Nizar; Oulmane, Nassim; Peridy, Nicolas |
| Abstract: | The North African countries (NACs) production and export structure is suffering from double constraints: insufficient diversification along with excessively weak sophistication. This study establish a deeper link between diversification/sophistication on and growth in the NACs. The study assesses the impact of these variables on the growth of these countries so as to verify whether the current export structure is indeed a constraint to the economic development. The approach used consists in estimating a growth model as a Barro's regression (conditional -convergence model) using panel data. The paper identify the factors determining diversification and sophistication of exports so as to find the various levers and actions which would firstly allow NACs to diversify their exports to higher added value products and secondly to take the existing products to a higher level of sophistication. The last part of this study proposes recommendations in terms of economic policies based on obtained results, highlighting the role of various stakeholders, and different policies. |
| Keywords: | Export diversification, sophistication, North Africa. |
| JEL: | F15 F43 O14 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:62476&r=afr |
| By: | Messenger, Jon C; Vidal, Patricia |
| Abstract: | This study of the organization of working time and its effects in the health services sector was managed by Jon Messenger, ILO Inclusive Labour Markets, Labour Relations and Working Conditions Branch (INWORK), in collaboration with Christiane Wiskow, ILO Sectoral Activities Department (SECTOR). Research assistance for the preparation of this report synthesizing the findings of the country case studies conducted in Brazil, the Republic of Korea, and South Africa was provided by Patricia Vidal, including a desk review and qualitative analysis of the effects of working time arrangements on workers' well-being and individual and organizational performance. |
| Keywords: | arrangement of working time, health service, medical personnel, hours of work, work life balance, comparative study, Brazil, Korea R, South Africa, aménagement du temps de travail, service de santé, personnel médical, durée du travail, conciliation travail-vie personnelle, étude comparative, Brésil, Corée R, Afrique du Sud, ordenamiento del tiempo de trabajo, servicio de salud, personal médico, horas de trabajo, conciliación vida familiar y laboral, estudio comparativo, Brasil, Corea R, Sudáfrica |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ilo:ilowps:486945&r=afr |
| By: | Mario Joao Gomes |
| Keywords: | Finance and Financial Sector Development - Microfinance Private Sector Development - Business Environment Private Sector Development - Competitiveness and Competition Policy Private Sector Development - Business in Development Private Sector Development - E-Business |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:21468&r=afr |
| By: | Ekow Asmah, Emmanuel; Orkoh, Emmanuel |
| Abstract: | Utilization of health care services - both preventive and curative, is among the myriad of important determinants of health and remains an issue of significant policy concern and focus in developing countries. Despite the importance of health care utilization, there is evidence to confirm that many people in Ghana go without health care from which they could benefit greatly. This disturbing, yet preventable, state of affairs causes’ untold suffering and, given its wide scale, presents a major obstacle to the development process. A range of socioeconomic, demographic, and public health related factors work together to influence household health utilization but the extent to which access to formal and informal credit plays in the Ghanaian context has not been addressed in the empirical literature. Using recently released Ghana Household Living Standard Survey round six (GLSS, 6) in 2012/2013, this study examines the extent to which an individual’s relative control over household resources, gauged by loan amounts influence health care utilization. The results, based on logistic and multinomial regression model estimation, demonstrate that a one percent increase in the amount of credit accessed from a financial institution is associated with 0.611 probability that an individual will consult a health practitioner when ill. Other variables that significantly predict the tendency that a respondent will consult a health practitioner when suffering any infirmity include income of the household, insurance status of the individual, place of residence and household size. We also find that Individuals in different socio-economic strata (region, rural/urban) face different risks with health care utilization. Policies aimed at making credit available to individuals and households can make an important contribution to health care utilization in Ghana. Moving forward, health programs and interventions should be embedded in financial services and they need to be tailored to particular socio-economic groups. |
| Keywords: | Loan amount, Health care utilization, Multinomial logit |
| JEL: | I12 |
| Date: | 2015–02–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:62514&r=afr |
| By: | Mehmet Balcilar (Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, Eastern Mediterranean University); Nico Katzke (Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University, South Africa); Rangan Gupta (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we test whether the key metals prices of gold and platinum significantly improve infl ation forecasts for the South African economy. We also test whether controlling for conditional correlations in a dynamic setup, using bivariate Bayesian-Dynamic Conditional Correlation (B-DCC) models, improves infl ation forecasts. To achieve this we compare out-of-sample forecast estimates of the B-DCC model to RandomWalk, Autoregressive and Bayesian VAR models. We find that for both the BVAR and BDCC models, improving point forecasts of the Autoregressive model of in flation remains an elusive exercise. This, we argue, is of less importance relative to the more informative density forecasts. For this we find improved forecasts of infl ation for the B-DCC models at all forecasting horizons tested. We thus conclude that including metals price series as inputs to infl ation models leads to improved density forecasts, while controlling for the dynamic relationship between the included price series and in flation similarly leads to significantly improved density forecasts. |
| Keywords: | Bayesian VAR, Dynamic Conditional Correlation, Density forecasting, Random Walk, Autoregressive model |
| JEL: | C11 C15 E17 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201510&r=afr |
| By: | Diane Zovighian |
| Keywords: | Governance - E-Government International Economics and Trade - Government Procurement Private Sector Development - E-Business Governance - Governance Indicators Public Sector Development Law and Development - Corruption & Anticorruption Law |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:21116&r=afr |
| By: | Casey, Katherine E. (Stanford University); Glennerster, Rachel (?); Bidwell, Kelly (?) |
| Abstract: | This project explores whether giving voters information about candidates and policy facilitates more informed voting and greater electoral accountability. In the information poor environment of Sierra Leone, we use a set of randomized experiments to estimate the impacts of structured debates between Parliamentary candidates on voter knowledge and behavior. We find evidence for strong positive impacts on general political knowledge, knowledge of candidate qualifications and policy stances; improved alignment between the policy preferences of voters and their selected candidate; greater voter openness to candidates from all parties; and increased vote shares for the candidate who performed the best during the debates. We further document an endogenous response by candidates, who increased their campaign effort in communities where videotapes of the debates were screened in public gatherings. A complementary series of treatment arms administered at the individual level unpacks the different types of information delivered by the debates, and finds evidence that voters respond to both candidate charisma and "hard facts" about policy stances and professional qualification. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:3066&r=afr |