Search

Abstract: This paper studies the role played by the quality of property rights in the linkages of international capital flows into sub‐Saharan African (SSA) economies. Using panel data of 36 SSA countries over the period 1996–2015 and the ARDL procedure with the Pooled Mean Group regression method appropriate for non‐stationary panel data estimation, we account for the joint effects of property rights quality and openness to foreign capital flows on economic growth. We uncover the existence of a property rights quality threshold beyond which property rights either amplifies the spillovers effects or attenuates the negative effect of capital flows on economic growth. For instance, it takes a level of property rights of at least 60 to have a positive long‐term impact of capital flows on economic growth in natural resource‐poor African countries. The quality of property rights matters more to obtain spillover effects of capital flows on growth in natural resource‐poor countries than in their peer natural resource‐rich countries. Finally, with regard to the countries' income levels, capital flows have significant long‐term spillovers effects on economic growth in advanced African economies than in their low‐income peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa performs poorly in the global economy. The continent lacks investments, jobs, real output, and basic social services. Aggravating the poor performance is poor management. This paper argues that the establishment of the New Partnership for Africa's Development(NEPAD) to grapple with Africa's economic problems makes sense but only if necessary policies are properly implemented. It argues that Africa should pursue interest politics through NEPAD as an economic integration. On the issue of financing the budget, which has in the past been a major constraint to OAU-initiated projects, this paper strongly recommends that it should be made mandatory that all multinational companies operating in all NEPAD member countries pay a certain percentage of their earnings into the NEPAD budget. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to estimate the productivity change of Nigerian insurance companies and to rank the companies analysed in the sample according to their productivity score. This benchmark exercise provides the companies analysed with a view of how their relative productivity can be upgraded. For this purpose, the non-parametric Luenberger productivity model is used. For comparative purposes, the non-parametric Luenberger–Hicks–Moorsteen productivity indicator is also used. The companies are ranked according to their total productivity for the period 1994–2005, using both models, which produce variations in the respective results. Economic implications arising from the study are derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper conducts an empirical investigation into the effects of financial liberalization policies on the growth of 19 countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Two indexes are constructed which measure the gradual progression and institutional changes involved in financial liberalization. Because these indexes track specific financial liberalization policies, they provide better measures of financial liberalization than the indicators of financial development often used in the literature. Panel data estimates show a significant positive relationship between economic growth and financial liberalization policies. Our results are robust to alternative specifications of the model, and also across slow- and fast-growing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to empirically explore the causal link between the level of financial development and economic growth in 13 sub-Saharan African countries. The empirical investigation is carried out in a vector autoregression(VAR) framework based on the theory of cointegration and error-correction representation of cointegrated variables. The results of the cointegration analysis provide evidence of the existence of a long-run relationship between financial development and economic growth in almost all(12 out of 13) of the countries. With respect to the direction of long-term causality, the results show that financial development plays a causal role on economic growth, again in eight of the countries. At the same time, evidence of bidirectional causal relationships is found in six countries. The findings imply that African countries can accelerate their economic growth by improving their financial systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes capacity building in Africa based on the experiences of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF). The ACBF was set up through a collaborative effort of African Governments, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the African Development Bank (ADB). The study develops a conceptual framework of capacity building followed by a review of the major perspectives explaining capacity deficiency in Africa. The empirical analyses show that there is a relationship between capacity building and institutional factors such as non-receptivity of policymakers toward policy analysis, politicization of policymaking and lack of capacity prevailing in Africa. The correlation analyses reveal a statistically significant relationship between capacity building and the availability of human and material resources in the region. However, the weak relationship between capacity building and some of the resource variables such as donor funding and expatriate staff as well as the insignificant number of studies seem to suggest that the relationships should be further explored with a large data set. The study also indicates that gestation period, integration of program elements and institutional setting must be carefully considered in designing capacity building projects in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the various theories and paradigms relating to trade and output in monetary unions. Both descriptive and empirical evidence have been used to analyse the case of African regional economic groupings, especially that of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and other countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). While the descriptive statistics point to greater room for improvement, especially in the areas of price stability, fiscal discipline and greater intra-trade, the empirical evidence shows that monetary union is beneficial to bilateral trade and especially economic growth. The results support the hypothesis that important beneficial effects of monetary union also come through central bank credibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the strong factors reflecting Africa's economic backwardness is the low level of industrial development. Not only does the industrialization process appear to have bypassed the continent, there is evidence of de-industrialization in the case of several countries. This paper seeks to address a set of interrelated questions: To what extent is the growth performance of African economies related to these structural characteristics? More precisely, is there any discernible evidence that GDP growth and overall labour productivity growth of African countries is positively related to how fast their industrial sector is growing? We test out Kaldor's three growth laws: first, that the growth of GDP is positively related to the growth of manufacturing output not simply in a definitional sense (because manufacturing output is a part of GDP) but in a fundamental causal sense related to the production characteristics of manufacturing activity; secondly, that the growth of labour productivity in manufacturing is positively related to manufacturing output growth because of static and dynamic increasing returns to scale (Verdoorn's Law); and thirdly, that there will be a negative relation between labour productivity growth in the economy as a whole and the rate of growth of employment in the non-manufacturing sector because most activity outside the manufacturing sector is subject to diminishing returns, particularly in land-based activities such as agriculture and many service activities. The authors' conclusions are that there is some empirical support for Kaldor's growth laws in respect of the countries of Africa. The growth of GDP seems much more closely associated with the growth of the manufacturing/industrial sector than the agricultural or service sectors. Structural change in favour of industrial activities would almost certainly help to accelerate the growth of GDP and living standards in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper utilizes cointegration and the vector error-correction model (VECM) to explore the causal relationship between economic growth and growth rate of domestic savings for Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia. Specifically, three analyses were undertaken. First, the time series properties of economic growth and domestic savings were ascertained with the help of the augmented Dickey–Fuller unit root procedure. Second, the long-run relationship between economic growth and growth rate of domestic savings was examined in the context of the Johansen and Juselius (1990) framework. Finally, a Granger-causality test was undertaken to determine the direction of causality between economic growth and growth rate of domestic savings. The results indicate one order of integration [I(1)] for each of the series. The results of the cointegration tests suggest that there is a long-run relationship between economic growth and growth rate of savings. The results from the Granger-causality tests indicate that contrary to the conventional wisdom, economic growth prima facie causes growth rate of domestic savings for most of the countries under consideration. Le présent document utilise la co-intégration et le modèle à vecteur de correction des erreurs (VECM) pour étudier les relations de cause à effet entre la croissance économique et les taux de croissance de l’épargne intérieure au Congo, en Côte d’Ivoire, au Ghana, au Kenya, en Afrique du Sud et en Zambie. Plus précisément, trois analyses ont été effectuées. La première a vérifié les propriétés des séries chronologiques de la croissance économique et de l’épargne intérieure à l’aide de la méthode Dickey–Fuller de racine unitaire augmentée. La deuxième a examiné les relations à long terme entre ... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the backdrop of a persistent food insecurity problem in Sudan which has prevailed since the mid 1970s, this paper makes use of the ordinary least squares (OLS) method of analysis to assess the performance of the national development strategies encapsulated in various medium-term plans and programs between 1970/71 and 1992/93 with respect to achieving their objective of national self sufficiency in food production through both vertical and horizontal expansion in food production. An exponential function is used to estimate the trends in area, production, and productivity for three major staple crops, namely sorghum, wheat, and millet using annual time series data covering the period 1970-95. The results provide clear evidence that vertical expansion alone does not pay off in terms of output. Instead, policies should focus more on improving agricultural productivity via the introduction of new varieties and the application of technological packages. These policies must then be reinforced by efforts to improve infrastructure, including health and education, to pave the way for a positive supply response at lower costs. Experience has shown that food security, as a prelude to industrial growth is not likely to be achieved if agricultural productivity is not increased. Face à l'insécurité alimentaire persistante qui a prévalu au Soudan depuis le milieu des années 70, cette étude utilise la méthode des moindres carrés ordinaires pour évaluer la performance des stratégies nationales de développment. Celles-ci sont consacrées par les différents plans et programmes à moyen terme appliqués entre 1970/71 et 1992/93 en vue de réaliser l'objectif d'autosuffisance alimentaire par l'expansion verticale et horizontale de la production alimentaire. Une fonction est utilisée pour estimer, par le biais de séries chronologiques annuelles couvr... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]