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Summary This paper examines the role that multinational enterprises (MNEs) and foreign direct investments (FDI) can have in enhancing the access to electricity for local communities in developing countries based on the quality of home and host institutions. Access to electricity is a marker for development but it is far from being universal in developing countries. The shortage of electricity is mainly the consequence of inability of governments in planning, financing, and developing necessary electricity infrastructure. In this context, investments from other actors can be essential. Particularly, we focus on the role of FDI and MNEs. We claim that when MNEs invest in developing countries, they are incentivized to solve the lack of electricity infrastructure mainly for two reasons: to guarantee their business activities and to gain legitimacy with their local stakeholders. In addition, we argue that MNEs and FDI from institutionally underdeveloped countries will be more prone to develop infrastructure for the provision of electricity to local population, as generally they suffer from a negative stereotype. For this study, we rely on 1,547 observations composed of pairs of 83 home countries and 15 host countries in sub-Saharan Africa, observed from 2005 to 2011. Due to the nature of the database, we adopt panel data techniques, i.e., system-GMM and corrected Least Square Dummy Variable estimators. We find that FDI promotes access to electricity in developing countries with weak institutions and this is more likely true when FDI come from institutionally underdeveloped countries. These results are far from obvious, as they controvert common idea among institutional scholars that a regulatory authority is essential in the provision of infrastructure. In conclusion, with this paper we partially rehabilitate the image of MNEs investing in developing countries, by demonstrating that—under certain conditions—they could contribute to energy poverty alleviation of local population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper assesses the effect of the steadily growing remittance flows to sub-Saharan Africa. Though the region receives only a small portion of the total recorded remittances to developing countries, and the volume of aid flows to sub-Saharan Africa swamps remittances, this paper finds that remittances, which are a stable, private transfer, have a direct poverty-mitigating effect, and promote financial development. These findings hold even after factoring in the reverse causality between remittances, poverty, and financial development. The paper posits that formalizing such flows can serve as an effective access point for “unbanked” individuals, and households. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary Identifying and selecting poor households with efficient targeting methods is essential for effective poverty alleviation programs. This paper assesses the ex-post performance of two popular targeting mechanisms, Proxy Means Testing (PMT) and Community-Based Targeting (CBT), in a pilot cash transfer program in Cameroon. Several indicators and metrics to measure each method’s performance in terms of inclusion of poor households and exclusion of non-poor households are employed. Results consistently show that CBT performs poorly in terms of selecting households with low per capita consumption when compared to PMT. CBT appears to select households with low physical and human capital, regardless of actual consumption level. However, CBT also shows more variability in the selection decision than PMT even when alternative poverty definitions are used as robustness tests. The PMT method used in the pilot slightly outperforms other targeting methods (hybrid, alternative PMT, and universal targeting with equal budget), but errors remain high when selecting 35% of the population for program participation. The results suggest caution is needed in employing CBT methods to select households with low per capita consumption in an environment where poverty levels are high and administrative capacities are limited. CBT performance may be improved through more uniform and consistent guidance on program selection criteria and process, including explicit criteria that enable CBT monitoring, as well as a better integration between PMT and CBT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary In Nigeria, the most populated African country, rural electrification is a critical issue because of the low household electrification rate and the poor quality of the grid. This energy poverty has harmful economic and social consequences in rural areas, such as low productivity, lack of income-generating opportunities and poor housing conditions. In this paper, we consider electrification as a technical shock that may affect household time allocation. Using the 2010–11 General Household Survey, we investigate how electrification affects female and male labor supply decisions within rural households in Nigeria. Focusing on husband–wife data, we consider potential dependence in spouses’ labor supply decisions and address the challenge of zero hours of work using a recent copula-based bivariate hurdle model (Deb et al. , 2013). In addition, an instrumental variable strategy helps identify the causal effect of electrification. Our results underline that this dependence in spouses’ labor supply decisions is critical to consider when assessing the impact of electrification on these outcomes. Electrification increases the working time of both spouses in the separate assessments, but the joint analysis emphasizes only a positive effect of electrification on husbands’ working time. In line with the household labor supply approach, our findings highlight that, within the household, the labor supply decisions of one spouse significantly affect those of the other spouse. Thus, if we neglect the effect of electrification on the spouse of the individual examined, we may fail to assess how this individual has been actually affected by this common shock on both spouses. Our results suggest that these within–household relationships promote husbands’ working time at the expense of wives’ working time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper explores the role of remittances and foreign aid inflows during food price shocks. The results yield four findings. First, low income countries and the Sub-Saharan African region are the most vulnerable to food price shocks. Second, remittance and aid inflows dampen the effect of positive food price shock and food price instability on household consumption in vulnerable countries. Third, negative food price shock episodes are associated with a significant increase in household consumption in vulnerable countries. Fourth, a lower remittance-to-GDP ratio is required in order to fully absorb the effects of food price shocks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• We investigate the link from poverty to growth using data from 129 developing countries, including 44 in Sub Saharan Africa, during 1981–2018. • Faster poverty reduction leads to faster growth in the developing world as a whole (LDCs); but especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). • Initial poverty has no direct impact on growth in both regions. But it weakens the effectiveness of growth in reducing poverty; more in LDCs than in SSA. • Faster growth brings about faster poverty reduction in the developing world as a whole; but not so much within SSA. • For faster poverty reduction, LDCs especially SSA need pro-growth reduction strategies besides the conventional pro-poor growth strategies. The positive impact of growth on poverty reduction has been well documented and confirmed. In contrast, the impact of poverty reduction on subsequent growth has not been systematically investigated. The main objective of this paper is to explore empirically the reverse causality between poverty and growth. Using data from 129 developing countries (44 in SSA) during 1981–2018, this study finds that faster poverty reduction is linked to faster growth in the developing world and especially the SSA region; while faster growth contributes to faster poverty reduction more in the developing world outside of SSA than within SSA. These findings suggest that for faster poverty reduction in the entire developing world but especially in SSA, we need a pro-growth poverty reduction strategy, where interventions directly target poverty reduction, and through that also contribute to faster growth; as a complement to the more conventional pro-poor growth strategy, where interventions directly target growth and only reduce poverty through growth. The main conclusion is that the combined effects of growth on poverty and of the latter on subsequent growth can lead to a virtuous spiral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper investigates the determinants of backward linkages of foreign manufacturing firms in 19 Sub-Saharan African countries. We shed light on the micro and macro level factors which contribute to a higher degree of interactions between foreign subsidiaries and local firms. Our results indicate that the time since entry of foreign firms, the presence of a local partner in the ownership structure and a finalmarket orientation are associated with higher local linkages. Finally, we lend further support to the idea that good institutions and in particular a reliable legal system are pre-conditions for boosting the linkages generated by foreign firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This paper presents analysis of a survey of fresh produce export firms in 10 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the determinants of GlobalGAP certification and the returns in terms of expansion of export sales revenue. The results suggest that technical and/or financial assistance and being in an established export country are key discriminating factors for being GlobalGAP certified. Using propensity matching, it is shown that firms that have achieved certification have appreciable higher export revenues, suggesting an appreciable return on the required investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: To reduce the burden of health expenditures in developing countries, health-insurance schemes have become popular and now feature prominently in poverty-reduction strategies. There is, however, limited empirical evidence on the effect of such schemes on the livelihoods of clients, especially regarding household strategies to finance medical expenditures. This paper explores the relationship between health insurance and other risk-coping strategies used to finance medical expenditures in Uganda. Insurance is associated with a lower frequency of asset sales but not with lower incidences of borrowing. The amount of money borrowed or generated through the sales of assets is lower for insured households. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]