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Western Michigan University

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2015

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Articles 1 - 30 of 107

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Partners Diversification And Exposure Of African Countries To International Crises: The Case Of Kenya, Giscard Assoumou Ella Dec 2015

Partners Diversification And Exposure Of African Countries To International Crises: The Case Of Kenya, Giscard Assoumou Ella

International Journal of African Development

The objective of this paper is to characterize the exposure of Kenyan's income to international income, monetary and price shocks. The results suggest that the partners’ diversification permits them to resist to international shocks. In fact, Chinese conjuncture tends to be less exposed to OECD countries' income and inflation shocks. Also, income in this country more depends on domestic investment and household consumption, in comparison to the exposure to OECD country shocks. In this context, we observe that the exposure of Kenyan income to OECD shocks regresses when the dependence to Chinese conjuncture progresses.

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Examining Human Capital Capacity’S Influence On Human Development And Poverty Reduction In Sub-Saharan Africa, Theodore J. Davis Jr. Dec 2015

Examining Human Capital Capacity’S Influence On Human Development And Poverty Reduction In Sub-Saharan Africa, Theodore J. Davis Jr.

International Journal of African Development

The aim of this paper is to examine and expand our focus on human capital capacity building as a foundation for poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa. The data showed significant differences in the human capital capacity building characteristics as measured by demographic, education and gender equality characteristics. In analyzing select human capital capacity building markers, the findings suggest that the educational indicators were among the strongest in explaining the variation in human development in Sub-Saharan Africa. The findings showed that gender inequality was a serious inhibitor of human development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Overall, the Sub-Saharan nations with the lowest level …

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Deindustrialization In Africa, Richard Grabowski Dec 2015

Deindustrialization In Africa, Richard Grabowski

International Journal of African Development

Economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa has been characterized by deindustrialization. Conventional economists argue that this is due to a bad environment for business decision making. This paper provides a classical explanation for deindustrialization, the failure to solve the food problem. That is, food staple prices have risen rapidly resulting in labor becoming costly, although physically abundant. This has prevented the evolution of a comparative advantage in labor intensive manufacturing. Structural change is an important element of the process of economic development, especially in the early stages. Productivity grows by shifting labor out of agriculture where productivity is low, and into …

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Does Farmer Field School Training Improve Technical Efficiency? Evidence From Smallholder Maize Farmers In Oromia, Ethiopia, Admassu Tesso, Workneh Negatu, Sisay Asefa, Adugna Lemi, Bamlaku Alemirew Dec 2015

Does Farmer Field School Training Improve Technical Efficiency? Evidence From Smallholder Maize Farmers In Oromia, Ethiopia, Admassu Tesso, Workneh Negatu, Sisay Asefa, Adugna Lemi, Bamlaku Alemirew

International Journal of African Development

This study carries out the impact evaluation of Farmer Field School (FFS) training program on the technical efficiency of smallholder farmers. The FFS program was sponsored by the Ethiopian government and launched in 2010 to scale-up best agricultural practices in the country. The study aims to compare changes in the technical efficiency of those FFS graduate and non-FFS graduate maize producing farmers in Ethiopia, Oromia. For this, panel data were collected in two rounds from 446 randomly selected households from three districts consisting of 218 FFS graduate farmers and 228 non-FFS graduate farmers. The analytical procedure has involved three stages: …

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Inflation, External Market Performance And Government Policy: An Empirical Investigation Using Var-Vecm Approach In The Context Of Ethiopia, Nardos M. Beyene Dec 2015

Inflation, External Market Performance And Government Policy: An Empirical Investigation Using Var-Vecm Approach In The Context Of Ethiopia, Nardos M. Beyene

International Journal of African Development

This study aims at determining the effectiveness of demand management policies in stabilizing the macroeconomic environment of Ethiopian economy. Inflation and Balance of Payments are used as the two indicators of stability. The researcher made use of Co-integrated VAR approach and estimates inflation and balance of payments equations. All together the researcher used data for the period 1976-2011. The findings of the study imply the existence of two-way relationship between inflation and balance of payments. Excess balance of payment surplus leads to inflationary pressures in the economy while inflation booming deteriorates the country’s external balance.

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International Journal Of African Development, Vol. 3, Issue 1 Dec 2015

International Journal Of African Development, Vol. 3, Issue 1

International Journal of African Development

Complete issue of International Journal of African Development, Volume 3, Issue 1 - Fall 2015.

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Federal Advances To Support Grandfamilies, Ana Beltran Sep 2015

Federal Advances To Support Grandfamilies, Ana Beltran

GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy

It is the year of grandfamilies in our nation’s capital. Not since the mid-1990s has there been so much activity among federal lawmakers and policymakers to try to help all grandfamilies, both those within and outside the foster care system. In August 2015, a major piece of legislation was introduced in Congress, which would make holistic reforms to our nation’s child welfare financing system. For the first time, child welfare funds could be used to provide supportive services to parents and grandfamilies outside the system, so children do not have to enter it. For those children who are removed from …

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Experiences With Grandparents And Attitudes Toward Custodial Grandparenting, Julie Hicks Patrick, Allyson Stella Graf, Danielle K. Nadorff, Bert Hayslip Jr. Sep 2015

Experiences With Grandparents And Attitudes Toward Custodial Grandparenting, Julie Hicks Patrick, Allyson Stella Graf, Danielle K. Nadorff, Bert Hayslip Jr.

GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy

The goals of the current study were to examine attitudes about custodial grandparents and to examine whether personal experiences with grandparents influenced those attitudes. Data were provided by 730 younger adults (mean age about 20 years) who completed surveys regarding their experiences with their own grandparents, attitudes toward custodial grandparenting, and openness to becoming a custodial grandparent in the future. Mean differences in attitudes as a function of experience did emerge. In addition, a mixed structural model showed that young adults who felt their grandparents helped to raise them perceived custodial grandparenting as less distressing, and it was these perceptions …

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Bullying And Victimization Among Children Raised By Grandparents, Oliver W. Edwards Sep 2015

Bullying And Victimization Among Children Raised By Grandparents, Oliver W. Edwards

GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy

Increasing numbers of school-age children are being raised by their grandparents. Yet, a dearth of research investigates the children in these families. The few studies suggest the children experience higher levels of academic, behavioral, and emotional difficulties than their peers. These behaviors are often associated with involvement in bullying, but no empirical research investigates bullying among children raised by their grandparents. This current study helps to fill the noted lack of research in this area and the gap in the literature by investigating the intersection of these two important phenomena – bullying and children raised by their grandparents. This study …

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Group Leaders’ Perceptions Of Interventions With Grandparent Caregivers: Content And Process, Bert Hayslip Jr., Julian Montoro-Rodriguez, Gregory C. Smith, Frederick Strieder Sep 2015

Group Leaders’ Perceptions Of Interventions With Grandparent Caregivers: Content And Process, Bert Hayslip Jr., Julian Montoro-Rodriguez, Gregory C. Smith, Frederick Strieder

GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy

Nineteen (Mage = 45, SD = 12.8) professionally trained group leaders were surveyed regarding their experiences in leading a 10-week program with one of three RCT conditions (cognitive behavior training, parenting skills training, information only support). While a high percentage indicated that the intervention led by them was beneficial, leaders nevertheless felt that some participants benefited more so than others. Perceived program benefits were seen as being linked to regular attendance and the completion of weekly homework. The major benefits to participants were gaining personal insight, receiving and providing support to others, successfully applying learned skills and knowledge …

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Challenges And Resilience In African American Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Review Of The Literature With Practice Implications, Fengyan Tang, Heejung Jang, Valire Carr Copeland Sep 2015

Challenges And Resilience In African American Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Review Of The Literature With Practice Implications, Fengyan Tang, Heejung Jang, Valire Carr Copeland

GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy

This paper reviews literature on grandparents raising grandchildren, focusing on caregiving challenges and resilience in African American grandparent caregivers within a socio-cultural context. A strengths perspective that emphasizes capacities and competencies at the individual, family, and community levels is applied in understanding how African American grandparents rely on their strengths to overcome caregiving challenges. Building on the review of social programs and intervention services that targeted empowerment practice, the authors propose an empowerment model of working with African American grandparents, that is, building capacities through an empowerment process to address caregiving challenges and to achieve positive caregiving outcomes. Finally, the …

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Examining The Outcomes Of The Balanced Scorecard (Bsc) As An Integral Tool Of Public Sector: Reform In Selected Sectors Of The Oromia Regional Government, Tolla Berrisso Geda, Daniel Beyera Jul 2015

Examining The Outcomes Of The Balanced Scorecard (Bsc) As An Integral Tool Of Public Sector: Reform In Selected Sectors Of The Oromia Regional Government, Tolla Berrisso Geda, Daniel Beyera

International Journal of African Development

Over the last two decades Ethiopia has been actively engaged in reforming its public sector in an attempt to make it more responsive, transparent, flexible, and compatible with the demand of its public and its constituencies to ensure good governance. Nevertheless, despite repeated comprehensive reform programs applied and acclaimed success stories by public authorities, the public outcry for responsive public service remains an outstanding challenge. Accordingly, this study aimed to examine the application of the Balanced Score Card (BSC) using a blend of survey and case study methods in 12 organizations selected from three major sectors in four major cities. …

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Convalescent Serum Therapy As Rapid Advance Treatment For Ebola In West Africa, J Bankole Thompson Md, Phd, Patricia F. Mejabi Msc., Olugbenga O. Mejabi Phd, S Ahmed Tejan-Sie Md Jul 2015

Convalescent Serum Therapy As Rapid Advance Treatment For Ebola In West Africa, J Bankole Thompson Md, Phd, Patricia F. Mejabi Msc., Olugbenga O. Mejabi Phd, S Ahmed Tejan-Sie Md

International Journal of African Development

The 2014 public health crisis in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone has brought Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) to everyone’s attention. Discovered in 1976, this deadly disease infrequently struck in remote areas of Africa. This article will critically review the literature and describe the pathobiology, transmission, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of EVDwhich, was predicted by the Centers for Disease Control to potentially infect 1.4 million persons in Liberia and Sierra Leone by January 2015 (“Questions and Answers”, 2014). Thankfully this worst case scenario did not occur and we may be experiencing natural burn out of the outbreak along …

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Determinants Of Farm And Non-Farm Family-Controlled Child Labor, Kofi Acheampong Jul 2015

Determinants Of Farm And Non-Farm Family-Controlled Child Labor, Kofi Acheampong

International Journal of African Development

Ninety five percent of the child labor in Africa takes place in private households where children are controlled by their relatives. While this is a major problem, the literature provides little discussion on the determinants of this form of child labor. To fill this gap, I examine the determinants of farm and non-farm family-controlled child labor using data from the 2009 Ghana Time Use Survey. The findings indicate that school networks, the education level of the head of household, and religion play important roles in determining children’s activities in both farm and non-farm work.

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Ethnographic Study To Understand The Culture Of Technology Manufacturing In Ghana, Yao-Martin Donani Jul 2015

Ethnographic Study To Understand The Culture Of Technology Manufacturing In Ghana, Yao-Martin Donani

International Journal of African Development

Sub-Saharan African countries are characterized by low or absent technological growth. Scholars and the international community have endeavored to solve the long-standing problem, but none of these have produced the expected growth. While the rest of the world is advancing rapidly, Africa is noticeably lagging, even in comparison to other developing regions. It is apparent that previous international strategies cannot solve Africa’s technological underdevelopment This study argues that a solution to the problem depends on Africans, who must choose to want a solution and work towards it. An ethnographic study was therefore conducted to investigate the attitudes and worldview of …

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Icts And Regional Economic Integration: An Anticipatory Scenario For The Horn Of Africa, Ali Noor Mohamed Jul 2015

Icts And Regional Economic Integration: An Anticipatory Scenario For The Horn Of Africa, Ali Noor Mohamed

International Journal of African Development

Development experts are telling increasingly fascinating stories about how human development indices (HDI) among the poor in Africa, Asia, and Latin America have been buoyed by the diffusion of ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) over the last two decades. According to data compiled by the World Economic Forum, ICTs have facilitated faster and more reliable communication with regard to almost all important spheres of life including healthcare, education, agriculture, commerce, e-banking, the environment, etc. Perhaps the greatest impact of ICTs has been in their democratizing effect and their role in promoting gender equity, especially with regard to access to information …

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False Consciousness As A Major Hindrance To Control Of Corruption In Africa, John O. Ouko Jul 2015

False Consciousness As A Major Hindrance To Control Of Corruption In Africa, John O. Ouko

International Journal of African Development

Corruption is rampant in Africa despite the effort to fight it. An effective fight against corruption requires a clear and firm understanding of the factors that cause and conduce it. Using Kenya as an example, I will examine some of the social, economic, political, and legal factors that have been given as causal explanations of corruption. By focusing primarily on political corruption, I will argue that false consciousness among the masses and leaders has to be overcome for the fight against corruption to be effective, and, by extension, for meaningful development to take place in Kenya and many other African …

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Challenges Facing Female Leaders Of Color In U.S. Higher Education, Fredah Mainah, Vernita Perkins Jul 2015

Challenges Facing Female Leaders Of Color In U.S. Higher Education, Fredah Mainah, Vernita Perkins

International Journal of African Development

Despite a myriad of challenges including the slow pace of rising to the top and the low compositional diversity in most university leadership, women of color are becoming increasingly visible in higher education leadership. This paper investigates the phenomena of the growing numbers of women of color in top positions, with the aim of debunking the myth of the invisibility of black women in leadership positions in higher education. The findings indicate that although women in the U.S. earn the majority of postsecondary degrees and 26.4% of college presidents are women, with 4.5% of them being women of color, women …

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Editorial Note, Sisay Asefa Jul 2015

Editorial Note, Sisay Asefa

International Journal of African Development

No abstract provided.

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International Journal Of African Development, Vol. 2, Issue 2 Jul 2015

International Journal Of African Development, Vol. 2, Issue 2

International Journal of African Development

Complete issue of International Journal of African Development, Volume 2, Issue 2 - Spring 2015.

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The Human Ecology Dialectic: Culture As A Behavioral Adaptation, Marcia S. Taylor May 2015

The Human Ecology Dialectic: Culture As A Behavioral Adaptation, Marcia S. Taylor

The Hilltop Review

Contrary to popular thought, which implicated the disengagement of Marx from anthropological theory, his dialectical concept will be applied to explain human ecology in a Boasian historical particularism milieu. Environmental conditions will be the common denominator for the Darwinian biogeography theory, intertwined with the cultural adaptation theory of Boas within the Human Ecology Dialectic (Taylor, 2014). Anthropologically, in a biological context the theories will explain the behavioral adaptation process demonstrated culturally by the prehistoric ancestors of the Inuit of the Canadian Central Arctic in their development and essential engagement in the creation of art; a pursuit that became a cultural …

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Reproductive Genetics: Desired Genes, Gendered Ethics, And Eugenic Echoes, Marykate K. Bodnar May 2015

Reproductive Genetics: Desired Genes, Gendered Ethics, And Eugenic Echoes, Marykate K. Bodnar

The Hilltop Review

Present knowledge of genetics and assisted reproduction make fertile ground for a new type of eugenics: reproductive genetics. Proponents of reproductive genetics aim to separate these techniques from the problematic and negative connotations associated with historical eugenic policies by claiming them as part of the liberal eugenic movement. In-vitro fertilization (IVF), the market for sperm and eggs, and prenatal genetic testing allow conscious decision-making regarding the potential genetic make-up of children. Decisions are made in a gendered and politicized environment, shaping understandings of genes, eggs, and sperm around stereotypes and ideal social norms. In choosing “desirable” characteristics, whatever they may …

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The History Of Punishment: What Works For State Crime?, Jennifer Marson May 2015

The History Of Punishment: What Works For State Crime?, Jennifer Marson

The Hilltop Review

The punishment of criminal acts is usually justified utilizing retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation and incapacitation (societal protection). These justifications are often utilized for traditional street crimes such as burglary, assault, and theft. However, state crimes require that punishment be looked at through a different lens, and it is advocated the restorative justice apparatuses potentially offer the best solutions at administering punishment for those who commit state crime.

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The Effects Of Humorous Facebook Posts On Messenger Credibility And Social Attractiveness, Brett A. Stoll May 2015

The Effects Of Humorous Facebook Posts On Messenger Credibility And Social Attractiveness, Brett A. Stoll

The Hilltop Review

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect that humorous Facebook messages have on perceived source credibility and social attractiveness. Social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook continue to rise in popularity, solidifying their ongoing presence and influence for the foreseeable future. As users continue to look for ways to manage interpersonal impressions online, many turn to humor in public wall posts and message feeds. With humor proliferating the content of nearly 20% of Facebook posts, it begs the question of what effect its use has on impression management. To address this question, the researcher asked 283 participants …

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Rural Land Rights And Security In Cultivated Highland Ethiopia: Incremental Reform But Persistent Uncertainty, Tesfaye Teklu Mar 2015

Rural Land Rights And Security In Cultivated Highland Ethiopia: Incremental Reform But Persistent Uncertainty, Tesfaye Teklu

International Journal of African Development

There are important improvements in tenure stability and security of land rights over the years in administratively allocated land. These gains are due to the private efforts of individual landholders, and incremental policy and legal measures. However, there are still unmet demands for certainty in land rights because of inherent instability in tenure associated with rising excess demand pressure for land, temporal decay in value of use rights certificate, deficiency in design and practice of land expropriation and compensation laws, and weakness in land governance and rural of law.

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Governance Of Land And Natural Resource For Sustainable Development In Botswana: Possible Lessons For The Agricultural And Tourism Sectors, David Sebudubudu, Patricia M. Makepe, Kgomotso Montsi, Keratilwe Bodilenyane Mar 2015

Governance Of Land And Natural Resource For Sustainable Development In Botswana: Possible Lessons For The Agricultural And Tourism Sectors, David Sebudubudu, Patricia M. Makepe, Kgomotso Montsi, Keratilwe Bodilenyane

International Journal of African Development

Realizing sustainable development is a major challenge for most African countries. Economic growth in most African countries is largely centered on the extraction of natural resources, particularly minerals. Rather than facilitate development, the extraction of natural resources in most countries, has been a source of adverse outcomes. That is, natural resources led to ‘the resource curse’, partly because of bad governance and leadership. Through governance and leadership, Botswana emerged differently. The country transformed itself to a middle income status through the prudent utilization and management of mineral (non-renewable) resources; making Botswana one of the few resource rich countries that have …

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Good Governance For Achieving Food Security In Ethiopia: Challenges And Issues, Mussie Ybabe, Sisay Asefa Mar 2015

Good Governance For Achieving Food Security In Ethiopia: Challenges And Issues, Mussie Ybabe, Sisay Asefa

International Journal of African Development

Although rice technologies have been introduced in Fogera district over the last two decades, farm household’s food demand was not met as expected. Sustained, intensified and coordinated rice research is the key to curb the problem but impaired due to lack of good governance coupled with weak institutional capacity. This has resulted snowballing effects like little or no discussion among/with farmers on good practices, successes/failures of technology adoption and input delivery; poor linkage of small farmers to market and knowledge gap in Development Agents. Therefore, this study identified and evaluated potential determinants of household food security with basic emphasis to …

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The Significance Of Whole Grain Teff For Improving Nutrition: From Injera To Ready To Eat Porridge By Using Extrusion Cooking Technology, Helen T. Zewdie, Mammo Muchie Mar 2015

The Significance Of Whole Grain Teff For Improving Nutrition: From Injera To Ready To Eat Porridge By Using Extrusion Cooking Technology, Helen T. Zewdie, Mammo Muchie

International Journal of African Development

Teff (EragrostisTef) is a fascinating grain, ancient, minute in size, packed with nutrition and used for centuries as the principal ingredient of the Ethiopian population diet. The micro- and macronutrients level of teff grainis apparently higher than that of barley, wheat and sorghum and the amino acid composition comparable to that of egg protein, except for its lower lysine content. In Ethiopia, it has been using as a staple food by making flat bread called Injera. Teff can be diversified from its current provision of Injera to other forms like instant porridge to improve the nutritional quality and it may …

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The Impact Of Agriculture On African Civilization In The 21st Century, Andrew S. Targowski Mar 2015

The Impact Of Agriculture On African Civilization In The 21st Century, Andrew S. Targowski

International Journal of African Development

The purpose of this paper is to define the impact of agriculture on African Civilization in the 21st century. The methodology is based on an interdisciplinary big-picture view of the African Civilizations. The multifaceted layers of civilizations will be analyzed as interdependent with the agricultural development of African societies. Among the findings are: Sub-Saharan Africa falls short of meeting its agricultural needs. Only one of two individual Africans has access to clean and enough water. Energy and supply of electricity are woefully inadequate and unreliable. Agriculture as a foundation for development and modernization for Africa is too limited. Environmental …

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Governance And Private Investment In Sub-Saharan Africa, Idrissa Mohamed Ouedraogo, Pascal T. Kouman Mar 2015

Governance And Private Investment In Sub-Saharan Africa, Idrissa Mohamed Ouedraogo, Pascal T. Kouman

International Journal of African Development

Africa is one of the world regions whose development potentials are particularly important. But despite this situation, Africa is one of the continents where poverty exists on a large scale. More than 44 % of the African population lives below the poverty line. Yet, various forms of development strategies have been designed and implemented in the African countries. In 1992, in its publication Governance and Development, the World Bank refers to the quality of government as the cause of the failure of several of these strategies. Attention is henceforth focused on how governments organize the management of state and …

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