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]

There is significant academic evidence that growth in one country has a positive impact on growth in neighbouring countries. This paper contributes to this literature by analysing the heterogeneous strength of growth spillovers across world regions and by investigating the contribution of transport and communication infrastructure to explain this heterogeneity and promote neighbourhood effects. By defining neighbourhood on the basis of membership of regional trade agreements, we focus on spillovers that work through regional integration and trade. The analysis finds significant evidence for heterogeneity in growth spillovers, which are strong between OECD countries and essentially absent in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We further find strong interaction between infrastructure and being a landlocked country. This suggests that growth spillovers from regional 'success stories' in SSA and other lagging world regions will depend on first strengthening the channels through which such spillovers can spread - most importantly connective infrastructure such as transport and telecommunication links. [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 measures the extent to which South African economic growth is an engine of growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Results based on panel data estimation for 47 African countries over four decades suggest that South African growth has a substantial positive impact on growth in the rest of Africa, even after controlling for other growth determinants. The estimates are robust to the effects of global and regional shocks, changes in model specification, and sample period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses an instrumental variables approach to estimate the relationship between trade openness and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. Instrumental variables estimates show that economic growth has a significant negative contemporaneous effect on trade openness, while trade openness has a significant positive effect on economic growth. A 1 percentage point increase in the ratio of trade over GDP is associated with a short-run increase in growth of approximately 0.5% in a given year; the cumulative long-run effect on the level of GDP per capita is larger, reaching about 2%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The establishment of a successful stock market in a developing economy can be a major source of economic growth if it provides development finance by channelling domestic savings and attracting foreign investment. However, this objective is not always met, particularly in very small markets where there are barriers to efficient market operations. A case study of Swaziland and Mozambique illustrates that any potential gains to the domestic investment community are limited if there is insufficient liquidity and the political economy is such that ownership is not truly dispersed but rather remains in the hands of social elites. This paper finds that potential growth of small developing markets is further severely constrained by poverty and wealth inequality and consequently the impact on development is minimal. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes how the forces of globalization influence poverty in general. Six case studies from Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are discussed to examine the impact of globalization in the country. It was noted that although globalization has made some contribution to economic growth in SSA, it has not yet facilitated the process of structural transformation required for countries in SSA to reach the take-off stage and accelerate economic development and poverty reduction. The case studies illustrated that globalization instead has increased intra-country inequality and done very little to reduce poverty.

Copyright of Politics & Policy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

(1248) Andrea Goldstein, Nicolas Pinaud, Helmut Reisen and Dorothy McCormick When the OECD Development Centre launched research in 2005 to document the economic, political and social impacts of China’s and India’s economic growth on sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, the arrival (or resurgence) of new important players had triggered concerns among traditional donors. Accusations ran from free riding on Western debt relief over violation of governance standards and unfair company competition to fragmentation of aid delivery. At the same time, there was a tendency to neglect the diversity of SSA in terms of resource endowments, trade links and industrial development. It was time then to promote African voices from various backgrounds to reflect Africa’s heterogeneity. The introductory section presents a summary of findings about the economic impact of the two Asian giants in SSA countries by Africa-based economists, with three practical conclusions. First, African countries should favour strategies that minimise areas of direct competition with the Asian giants. Second, industrialisation strategies are required to exploit opportunities complementary to the Asian development path. Third, sectors of mutual interest should be identified in order to develop long-term views on how to cooperate with China and India and these views should be mainstreamed into national development plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]