Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Uganda’S Parish Development Model In Practice: Rationale, Impact And Relevance For Bottom-Up Economic Development In Africa, Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

The Parish Development Model (PDM), launched by the Ugandan authorities in early 2022, is the country’s latest attempt at making devolution work for local development, financial and social inclusion at the national level, and growth-enhancing economic transformation more broadly. The introduction of the PDM in Uganda raises the question of whether state-led local development initiatives, when undertaken in partnership with the private sector and civil society are feasible in a resource-constrained country. To succeed, the PDM will require a “whole-of-government” approach and strong institutions, both are still in the making. The paper looks at four specific challenges of PDM implementation: …

Learning From Zambia's Economic Policy Reversals, Alan Whitworth

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

The economic policies of Zambia’s first independent government, the United National Independence Party (UNIP), had disastrous results - turning Zambia from a middle-income into a least developed country. Following a difficult adjustment period, the Movement for Multiparty Democracy’s reversal of many UNIP policies led to over a decade of rapid growth and falling poverty. Despite their apparent success, policies such as privatisation were unpopular and the Patriotic Front administration from 2011 reverted to many of UNIP’s policies. This led once again to low growth and Zambia defaulting on its debt. As the United Party for National Development administration seeks to …

Elusive Empowerment: Emerald Mining In Ndola Rural Under Kenneth Kaunda’S One-Party State, Alexander Caramento, Agatha Siwale-Mulenga

Zambia Social Science Journal

One of the hallmarks of Kenneth Kaunda’s tenure in office was the nationalisation of Zambia’s large-scale copper mines. Yet after the Matero Reforms of 1969, which purported to empower Zambians through the public ownership and management of the country’s largest export industry, President Kaunda and his colleagues curiously decided to partner with a foreign investor (Hagura Mining) in the 1980s to develop the emerald mining sector in Ndola Rural (now Lufwanyama), while Zambian artisanal and small-scale miners (ASM) were sidelined. Drawing upon archival documents, newspaper coverage, and a select number of interviews, this paper seeks to examine this apparent shift …

Zambia’S Missing Narrative Of Structural Adjustment, Michael Gubser

Zambia Social Science Journal

In 1991, Zambia launched one of the most orthodox structural adjustments programs (SAPs) in Africa. The last and longest chapter of its fitful history with the IMF and World Bank, Zambia’s SAP commenced during the euphoria following the ouster of long-time President Kenneth Kaunda, when it was presented as the only strategy for dealing with the country’s economic collapse. What followed was one of Africa’s most striking experiments with rapid liberalisation, leading to budgetary stabilisation and increased investment but also sudden unemployment and impoverishment. If in retrospect liberalisation seems inescapable, given the ballooning debt of Kaunda’s last years, Zambians at …

Torn Between Two Pandemics: Poverty Pandemic And Coronavirus Pandemic In Nigeria, Tope Shola Akinyetun

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

The wave of coronavirus pandemic that hit the world coincides with Nigeria’s struggles with her newly attained position as the poverty capital of the world. This paper argues that prevalent poverty is a pandemic that the world has learnt to live with, and that Nigeria is struggling to overcome. The agony of poverty in the country coupled with the coronavirus pandemic subjects the country to a quandary of a dual-pandemic scourge. The paper relies on secondary data and adopts a descriptive and analytic approach. It concludes that multidimensional poverty in Nigeria is pervasive and has become deepened by the pandemic …

Law, Lawyers And Sustainable Development: Reflections Of A Fellow Traveler, Muna B. Ndulo

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

At the national level, the rule of law is necessary to create an environment for providing sustainable livelihoods and eradicating poverty. Poverty often stems from disempowerment, exclusion and discrimination. The rule of law fosters development through strengthening the voices of individuals and communities, by providing access to justice, ensuring due process and establishing remedies for the violation of rights. Security of livelihoods, shelter, tenure and contracts can enable and empower the poor to defend themselves against violations of their rights. Legal empowerment goes beyond the provision of legal remedies and supports better economic opportunities. In order for the rule of …

Industrial Policy In Context: Comparative Experiences From Chile And Zambia, Frank Chansa, Ngao Mubanga, Dale Mudenda, Manenga Ndulo

Zambia Social Science Journal

This article tries to draw lessons from Chile for Zambia on innovative industrial policy and strategies that lead to industrial transformation and job creation. The creation of quality jobs for the increasingly skilled youth requires significant efforts. Industrial policy has been argued to have the potential to contribute to the creation of employment through support for new and old initiatives in the economy. In the case of Zambia, the economy has mainly been dominated by the mining sector, where the creation of jobs has been very small, whereas the comparator country Chile developed an institutional framework for industrial policy that …

Does Foreign Direct Investment Matter For Industrialisation In Nigeria?, Obianuju Ogochukwu Nnadozie, Lotanna Ernest Emediegwu, Anthony Monye-Emina

Zambia Social Science Journal

This paper employs cointegration and error correction techniques to provide empirical evidence on the dynamic relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and industrialisation in Nigeria for the period 1981-2015. Our findings show that FDI does not have a significant effect on industrialisation in Nigeria either in the short run or the long run. Also, the empirical results reveal that trade significantly harms industrialisation in Nigeria both in the short run and the long run. Our empirical results are, however, not surprising given that FDI inflows into Nigeria have largely been resource-seeking, that is, mainly targeted at the oil sector with …

An Ethnological Analysis Of The Influence Of Mobile Money On Financial Inclusion: The Case Of Urban Zambia, Edna Kabala, Rosemary Mapoma, Chitimba Nalutongwe, Diana Muyani, John Lungu

Zambia Social Science Journal

The issue of access to financial products has been a public policy issue since 2005 when the first FinScope Zambia study was conducted. The 2015 study indicated that 40.7% of adults were financially excluded. This article investigates the influence of mobile money on financial inclusion using urban Kitwe and Kalulushi as case studies. We employ an ethnographic methodology to understand the extent to which mobile money has encouraged the unbanked population to access financial products and services. The findings indicate that mobile money has a positive influence on financial inclusion. It is easier to open accounts with mobile money kiosks …

Returns To Technical And Vocational Education And Training: Evidence From Zambia, Maka B. Tounkara, Chrispin Mphuka, Oliver Kaonga, Bona Chitah

Zambia Social Science Journal

The study seeks to investigate the returns to technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in Zambia using the 2014 Labour Force Survey (LFS). We adopt the modified Mincerian model and the fixed effects approach. We find that individuals who possessed TVET skills with certification, regardless of their gender or their place of residence, significantly earned more than their counterparts in wage employment without any TVET skills. We also find that males with vocational skills with certification significantly earned more than their female counterparts with the same TVET skills with certification, a sign of labour market discriminatory bias by employers. …

Bottlenecks Or Growth Zones? A Study Of The Chirundu And Beitbridge Border Economies, Anna Ngarachu, Christopher Wood, Heinrich Krogman, Elisha Tshuma, Dale Mudenda

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

Land borders in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region are critical zones for unlocking regional value chains, trade and economic development. The Beitbridge and Chirundu border posts represent important links in the North–South Corridor. They are vital in both regional development and bilateral initiatives. It is at these borders that many issues related to regional integration intersect. Understanding the major complications that prevent competitive trade and undermine trade facilitation initiatives is, therefore, essential. This policy brief examines the causes of standing time – a major contributor to transport costs in sub-Saharan Africa – and discusses the softer issues such …

Transfer Mispricing In Africa: Contextual Issues, Edna Kabala, Manenga Ndulo

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

Transfer pricing is a significant tax issue and lies at the core of international trade and globalisation. This brief raises contextual issues and challenges surrounding the experience of transfer mispricing in Africa. The brief comes at a time when African countries have consistently exhibited high real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rates in the past two decades, and increased FDI inflows and technological upgrades have aided their high participation in global trade. Despite the profitability of MNEs operations in Africa, the investing firms are paying less in terms of tax. This has created a problem for African countries to raise …

The Ethical Challenges Of The Marketplace, Eduardo M. Peñalver

Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Private Wealth And Public Goods: A Case For A National Investment Authority, Robert C. Hockett, Saule T. Omarova

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Much American electoral and policy debate now centers on how best to reignite the nation’s economic dynamism and rebuild its competitive strength. Any such undertaking presents an extraordinary challenge, demanding a correspondingly extraordinary institutional response. This Article proposes precisely such a response. It designs and advocates a new public instrumentality--a National Investment Authority (“NIA”)--charged with the critical task of devising and implementing a comprehensive long-term development strategy for the United States.

Patterned in part after the New Deal-era Reconstruction Finance Corporation, in part after modern sovereign wealth funds, and in part after private equity and venture capital firms, the NIA …

“Give A Man A Fish: Reflections On The New Politics Of Distribution”, By James Ferguson [Book Review], Daniela Atanasova

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

Development policy and discourse have long shied away from the idea of giving money directly to the poor. In his latest book, anthropologist James Ferguson argues that this reluctance is slowly giving way. He documents a veritable ‘cash transfer revolution’ taking place in the Global South, with countries such as South Africa, Brazil and Namibia in the vanguard. Drawing on a rich empirical and ethnographic literature on cash transfers and the livelihoods of the poor, with a focus on southern Africa, Ferguson delivers a thought-provoking analysis of the genesis, limitations and radical potential of these programmes. At its most original, …

Sharing The Prosperity: Why We Still Need Organized Labor, Angela B. Cornell

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Today economic inequality is greater in the United States than in any other advanced nation. Bringing the minimum wage up to a true living wage is a crucial step forward, as are other employment-related benefits like broadening access to overtime and instituting paid sick leave. But employment statutes such as minimum-wage regulations cannot replace the broad-based benefits that come from organized labor. Unionization places the ability to influence what happens in the workplace directly in workers’ own hands, even as it creates institutions that can advocate for working people at the community, state, and national level. Under an effective labor-law …

Public-Private Partnerships For Social And Economic Transformation In Southern Africa: Progress And Emerging Issues, Mzwanele Mfunwa, Anthony Taylor, Zebulun Kreiter

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

Attracted by prospects of overcoming public budget, human skills, technical and other constraints, Southern African countries are increasingly adopting public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements to deliver social and economic goods and services. However, most of these countries have yet to solidify the requisite legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks. This paper argues that PPPs have a potential to transform and improve the lives of the regions’ citizens if these basic frameworks are attended to forthwith.

The Connection Between Education And Sustainable Economic Growth In Nigeria, Lotanna Ernest Emediegwu, Ighodaro Clement

Zambia Social Science Journal

This article considers the nexus between education and economic growth in Nigeria. Education here is seen as portraying one of the major components of human capital formation. Investment in the quantity of education, and more significantly in its quality is pivotal to achieving sustainable economic growth. Time-series data were collected from different sources for the period 1980-2015. Cointegration technique and error correction methodology were employed for the estimation of the chosen model. The empirical results reveal that educational investment impacts on economic growth in Nigeria in a direct and significant manner. Hence, amongst several recommendations, we propose that a forceful …

Causality Between Government Revenue And Expenditure: Empirical Evidence From Zambia, Mutinta Champita

Zambia Social Science Journal

We establish the causality between government revenue and government expenditure using Granger causality tests within the Vector Auto-Regressive (VAR) framework. The estimated VAR model includes gross domestic product, exchange rate and Treasury Bill rates. Granger causality tests found unidirectional causality running from government expenditure to revenue. This work is founded in economic theory of public choice and the underlying causality of budget deficits. Knowledge of the revenue spending nexus will shed more light on the nature of the intertemporal relationship between government revenue and government spending and help shape the political economy of fiscal policies.

The results are augmented by …

Homegrown Or Imported? Frugal Innovation And Local Economic Development In Zambia, Iva Peša

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

Innovation and entrepreneurship have the potential to stimulate economic growth. Yet it remains unclear whether top-down or bottom-up innovations are more likely to lead to local economic development. By looking at three cases of frugal innovation on the Zambian Copperbelt, in the spheres of housing, water and energy, it will be argued that polycentric innovation (which connects local and international actors) is most likely to generate inclusive development. Yet even a polycentric approach does not guarantee desired outcomes, as innovation remains context specific.

The Impact Of Labour Productivity On Economic Growth: The Case Of Mauritius And South Africa, Jack Jones Zulu, Benjamin Mattondo Banda

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

This study explores the impact of labour productivity on economic growth in Mauritius and South Africa. We establish that investments in physical capital have a positive effect on labour productivity and by implication on economic performance. Labour employment in industry is counterproductive, while the cumulative effect of new technologies on labour productivity is negligible in the three-year intervals. It is the initial stock and subsequent accumulation of human capital that stimulates faster output growth in both countries.

Real Arrow-Securities For All: Just And Efficient Insurance Through Macro-Hedging, Robert C. Hockett

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

As a new hurricane season opened in June of 2006, it emerged that a number of online gaming sites were offering bettors the opportunity to wager on whether New Orleans might suffer another Katrina calamity. Commentators condemned the announced practice with howls of disgust, labeling it both tasteless and heartless. Perhaps they were right. All I could think about as one who grew up in New Orleans, however, was how risk pools might hereby be broadened to include all the world’s bettors. We shouldn’t condemn these people; we should use them—while requiring that they maintain margin accounts at their betting …

Review Of The Economic Policy Research Center (Eprc) Repository Hosted By The Southern African Institute For Policy Research, Steve Kayizzi-Mugerwa

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

The EPRC Repository is an online, open access site established in 2014 and hosted by SAIPAR, a new center for policy research and the proprietor of this journal. SAIPAR is quickly establishing its name in the region as dynamic, innovative and not averse to using modern approaches for its outreach to academics and policymakers. The institute brings a new excitement to social research and policy in Africa. Research at SAIPAR is also included in the EPRC. By June 2014, after only six months of existence, the EPRC Repository had accumulated close to 140 quality papers from various institutions in Southern …

Vol. 1, No. 2 Table Of Contents

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

No abstract provided.

Vol. 1, No. 2 Masthead

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

No abstract provided.

Vol. 1, No. 2 Cover

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

No abstract provided.

Seeing The Whole Elephant: A Comprehensive Framework For Analyzing Resource-For-Infrastructure Contracts As Intended By The Parties, Dunia P. Zongwe

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

The current state of scientific knowledge on resource-for-infrastructure (R4I) contracting is unclear and based on inadequate empirical grounds. As a result, it is not easy to tell a R4I contract apart from other forms of international business transactions, let alone describe it in a comprehensive, accurate and meaningful way. Such state of affairs is concerning given the dramatic transformative impact of R4I contracts. This article sheds light on R4I contracts and proposes a broad framework for analyzing these multibillion-dollar deals. It looks to the contracting parties’ intentions – as expressly set out in the texts of contractual and official documents …

Cost-Effectiveness Of Food And Cash Transfers To Patients Under Anti-Retroviral Treatment In Zambia, Chibamba Mwansakilwa, Gelson Tembo

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

This study determines the relative cost-effectiveness of food and cash transfers when administered to Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV) / Acquired Immune-Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients on Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) in Zambia. The results show that cash transfers are not only cheaper but also unambiguously more cost-effective with respect to nutrition and health outcomes such as body-mass index (BMI) and Cluster of Differentiation 4 (CD4) count. This seems to suggest that, whenever market conditions and institutional capacities (banks, personnel, etc.) permit, cash should be given a higher rating by governments and other programming stakeholders than physical food aid as an instrument for …

Determinants Of The Exchange Rate And Policy Implications, Catalina Michelle Tejada

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

No abstract provided.

Explaining And Fixing The 'Weak Governance Curse' In Resource-Rich Least Developed Countries, Patrícia G. Ferreira, Landry Signé

Southern African Journal of Policy and Development

There is a resource boom in the least developed countries, including those in Southern Africa. In order to translate their resource wealth into positive development outcomes in the long run, these countries need to have strong domestic governance systems. Yet, governance indicators in resource-rich LDCs have stagnated or deteriorated in the last decades. We use a new institutional analysis with a focus on path dependence theory to argue that these countries are caught in a “weak governance curse”. Besides having inherited dysfunctional governance paths from past critical junctures, rent-seeking behavior associated with resource rents constitutes a major contemporary political economy …