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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Notes On The Seminar On African Economic Outlook 2015, Held On The 8th Of October 2015 At The House Of The Estates Of Finland, J. G. A. Saviranta Oct 2015

Notes On The Seminar On African Economic Outlook 2015, Held On The 8th Of October 2015 At The House Of The Estates Of Finland, J. G. A. Saviranta

Akseli Saviranta

The following document presents summarised key notes from the United Nations University – World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) seminar titled “African Economic Outlook 2015 – Unlocking the potential of local economies for inclusive growth”. The seminar presented the 2015 report titled “African Economic Outlook 2015 – Regional Development and Spatial Inclusion”, produced by the African Development Bank, the OECD Development Centre, and the United Nations Development Programme. The African Development Bank, UNU-WIDER, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland were the co-organisers of the Seminar.


Are Large Informal Firms More Productive Than The Small Informal Firms? Evidence From Firm-Level Surveys In Africa, Mohammad Amin, Asif Islam May 2015

Are Large Informal Firms More Productive Than The Small Informal Firms? Evidence From Firm-Level Surveys In Africa, Mohammad Amin, Asif Islam

Mohammad Amin

Using data for over 500 informal or unregistered firms in seven countries in Africa, this study explores how labor productivity varies between small and large informal firms. We find robust evidence that small informal firms have higher labor productivity than large informal firms. Thus, even though poor performance of informal firms is typically attributed to their small size vis-à-vis registered or formal sector firms, incremental increases in the size of informal firms does not necessarily imply a narrowing of the formal-informal firm productivity gap.


App Newsletter 2, Riccardo Pelizzo Apr 2015

App Newsletter 2, Riccardo Pelizzo

riccardo pelizzo

This is the second issue of the newsletter of African Politics and Policy. In this issue our collaborators discuss the uneasy relationship between democracy and development, Tourism in Tanzania, elections in Togo, and Chinese Investments in Africa.


Newsletter, Riccardo Pelizzo Mar 2015

Newsletter, Riccardo Pelizzo

riccardo pelizzo

first issue of the African Politics and Policy Newsletter


The Relevance Of Firm-Size In The Informal Sector: Evidence From Developing Countries, Mohammad Amin May 2014

The Relevance Of Firm-Size In The Informal Sector: Evidence From Developing Countries, Mohammad Amin

Mohammad Amin

Using newly collected on informal firms in 11 countries in Africa, we explore whether firm-size matters at all for the structure, conduct and performance of the firms. While firm-size is known to be an important attribute of the firms in the formal sector, it is not obvious what the relevance of firm-size is for the informal sector. Informal firms are small, many of them run alone by the owner, and have limited variation in size. Notwithstanding the limited variation in firm-size, our results show that firm-size is highly correlated with a number of firm characteristics such as job growth, labor …


The Relevance Of Firm-Size For The Informal Sector, Mohammad Amin Jun 2013

The Relevance Of Firm-Size For The Informal Sector, Mohammad Amin

Mohammad Amin

Using newly collected on informal firms in 11 countries in Africa, we explore whether firm-size matters at all for the structure, conduct and performance of the firms. While firm-size is known to be an important attribute of the firms in the formal sector, it is not obvious what the relevance of firm-size is for the informal sector. Informal firms are small, many of them run alone by the owner, and have limited variation in size. Notwithstanding the limited variation in firm-size, our results show that firm-size is highly correlated with a number of firm characteristics such as job growth, labor …


A Critical Examination Of The Relationship Between The Use Of Gatekeepers, Trust, And Organisation Knowledge-Sharing, Deogratias Harorimana Dr Oct 2012

A Critical Examination Of The Relationship Between The Use Of Gatekeepers, Trust, And Organisation Knowledge-Sharing, Deogratias Harorimana Dr

Dr Deogratias Harorimana

This thesis critically examines the relationship between gatekeepers, trust, and an organisation’s knowledge sharing. The research applied mixed methods with the case study approach. In this research the concept ‘gatekeeper’ is widely used to represent a class of those who are part of a knowledge management strategy; they collect information and knowledge and contextualise this before they can share it with the rest of the members of the organisation’s knowledge networks - within the formal and informal organisation. In this study, it was found that there was a strong relationship between the openness of a given firm, as regards its …


African Economic Blocs And Trade: Case Study Of Comesa And Sudan, Issam A.W. Mohamed Professor Aug 2011

African Economic Blocs And Trade: Case Study Of Comesa And Sudan, Issam A.W. Mohamed Professor

Professor Issam A.W. Mohamed

Comprehensively, Economic Trade Partnerships and Blocs are important to a member country. However, with the continuing global financial distresses it is useful to evaluate them to maximize possible benefit. The question of joining, continue membership with the Comesa is vital to the Sudanese economy that presently stands in a very decisive time. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa is a free trade area with nineteen member states stretching from Libya to Zimbabwe. COMESA formed in December 1994, replacing a Preferential Trade Area which had existed since 1981. Nine of the member states formed a free trade area in …


Foreign Debt And Domestic Savings In Developing Countries, Luke Okafor, Joanna Tyrowicz Jan 2009

Foreign Debt And Domestic Savings In Developing Countries, Luke Okafor, Joanna Tyrowicz

Joanna Tyrowicz

This paper approaches the question of potential causality between foreign debt and domestic savings in the context of developing countries. Literature provides evidence in as far as foreign debt and development is concerned, but little attention was given so far to internal potential for capital formation. We provide a theoretical framework and test its relevance using 1975-2004 data for two groups of countries: sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America with the Caribbean. With the use of instrumental variables we find negative impact of foreign debt on domestic savings especially in the long run. The results are not susceptible to the choice …


The Eu–Acp Economic Partnership Agreements And The ‘Development Question’: Constraints And Opportunities Posed By Article Xxiv And Special And Differential Treatment Provisions Of The Wto, Cosmas Milton Obote Obote Ochieng Ochieng Jan 2007

The Eu–Acp Economic Partnership Agreements And The ‘Development Question’: Constraints And Opportunities Posed By Article Xxiv And Special And Differential Treatment Provisions Of The Wto, Cosmas Milton Obote Obote Ochieng Ochieng

Cosmas Milton Obote Ochieng Ochieng

This article argues that Article XXIV and special and differential treatment (SDT) provisions of the WTO present a number of constraints and opportunities to the design and scope of the proposed economic partnership agreements between the European Union (EU) and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. It examines the negotiating positions of both sides to argue that were the EU's position to prevail, ACP and other developing countries would likely suffer an ‘erosion of the development principles’ embedded within the WTO. It is shown that the differences between the two groups over the desirability and/or applicability of negotiating free trade …


Timbuktu: A Lesson In Underdevelopment, Riccardo Pelizzo Jan 2001

Timbuktu: A Lesson In Underdevelopment, Riccardo Pelizzo

riccardo pelizzo

Th e purpose of the present paper is to investigate Timbuktu’s economic decline in the three centuries elapsed between 1526, when Leo Africanus reached the Mysterious City, and 1830, when the fi rst European explorers arrived in Timbuktu. It is argued that Timbuktu’s decline was neither an accident nor the result of inevitable natural conditions. Timbuktu’s decay was the product of historical and social forces. Specifi cally, it is argued that Timbuktu lost power and prestige because its market decayed. However, it is also suggested that no single factor can account individually for this event. Th e crisis of Timbuktu’s …