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Full-Text Articles in Growth and Development

Breaking The Poverty Trap In Africa: A Comparative Perspective On Poverty Alleviation, Abu Girma Moges Oct 2018

Breaking The Poverty Trap In Africa: A Comparative Perspective On Poverty Alleviation, Abu Girma Moges

International Journal of African Development

An increasing number of African countries have recently registered improved rates of economic growth. Translating economic growth into poverty reduction, however, requires putting into place policies and institutions that promote a sustainable and shared economic growth process. The degree of success in poverty reduction depends largely on balancing the process of economic growth and the judicious pattern of income distribution so that an increasing share of the population benefits from the growth process and engages in more productive endeavors. Building the necessary policy and institutional framework to promote sustainable and shared economic growth is central in breaking the poverty trap …

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Indigenous Knowledge And The Development Debate In Africa, Fidelis Ewane, Samson Ajagbe Oct 2018

Indigenous Knowledge And The Development Debate In Africa, Fidelis Ewane, Samson Ajagbe

International Journal of African Development

This research employs Bourdieu’s theory of habitus to explain the disposition of the donor community to integrate indigenous knowledge systems and practices into development projects. The theory’s objectivist perspective specifies the mechanism that links structural conditioning to social practice and regularities. It holds that power is culturally and symbolically created, and it is constantly re-legitimized through the interplay of agency and structure. This facilitates an analysis of the development field as social space characterized by indigenous and donor power relations. It argues that the reinforcement of indigenous knowledge as the main channel for development will generate transferable local capacities and …

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Does Inclusive Growth Matter For Regional Integration In Africa? An Empirical Assessment, Mohammed Shuaibu, Mamello Nchake Oct 2018

Does Inclusive Growth Matter For Regional Integration In Africa? An Empirical Assessment, Mohammed Shuaibu, Mamello Nchake

International Journal of African Development

Inclusive growth is an important channel through which African countries can foster higher regional integration especially through trade. This is because many African countries are characterized by exclusive growth, small and fragmented domestic markets that are landlocked and often prone to external shocks. Using an augmented gravity specification, this paper conducts an empirical investigation of the relationship between regional integration and inclusive growth in Africa. The adapted model is estimated using ordinary least squares, Pseudo Poisson maximum likelihood estimator and the Blundell-Bond system generalized method of moment estimator. The empirical results reveal that inclusive growth plays a vital role towards …

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What Factors Drive Individual Misperceptions Of The Returns To Schooling In Tanzania? Some Lessons For Education Policy, Plamen Nikolov, Nursat Jimi Apr 2018

What Factors Drive Individual Misperceptions Of The Returns To Schooling In Tanzania? Some Lessons For Education Policy, Plamen Nikolov, Nursat Jimi

Economics Faculty Scholarship

Evidence on educational returns and the factors that determine the demand for schooling in developing countries is extremely scarce. Building on previous studies that show individuals underestimating the returns to schooling, we use two surveys from Tanzania to estimate both the actual and perceived schooling returns and subsequently examine what factors drive individual misperceptions regarding actual returns. Using ordinary least squares and instrumental variable methods, we find that each additional year of schooling in Tanzania increases earnings, on average, by 9 to 11 percent. We find that on average individuals underestimate returns to schooling by 74 to 79 percent and …

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Drivers Of Agricultural Productivity In Agriculture-Based Economy, Olatokunbo H. Osinowo, Rahman A. Sanusi Jan 2018

Drivers Of Agricultural Productivity In Agriculture-Based Economy, Olatokunbo H. Osinowo, Rahman A. Sanusi

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

Stagnation in agricultural productivity, especially in an economy with fast and persistently growing population, would compromise food security. This study examined the factors influencing agricultural productivity in an agriculture-based economy. The study used a 35-year period (1980 – 2014) panel data focusing on Agricultural Productivity (AP), Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Government Agricultural Expenditure (EXP), Agricultural Trade Barrier (ATB), Consumer Price Index (CPI), Farm Machinery (MACH), Fertilizer Consumption (FERT), Human Capital (HCAP) and Irrigation (IRRG). Data were analyzed using Impulse Response Function (IRF) and Panel Least Squares (PLS) regression technique. The IRF revealed that there was a positive and stable …

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Oil Prices And African Stock Markets Co-Movement: A Time And Frequency Analysis, Grakolet Arnold Zamereith Gourène, Pierre Mendy Jan 2018

Oil Prices And African Stock Markets Co-Movement: A Time And Frequency Analysis, Grakolet Arnold Zamereith Gourène, Pierre Mendy

Journal of African Trade

This paper examines the co-movement between OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) oil prices and the six largest African stock markets. We used wavelet coherence to analyze the evolution of this relationship both in time and by frequency. Our results show that the co-movement between African stock markets and oil prices is relatively low, with the exception of emerging stock markets such as South Africa and Egypt. For most of the African stock markets, the co-movement takes place over large time scales and both during and after the U.S. financial crisis. At small scales, African stock markets could represent a …

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How Well Does Observable Trade Data Measure Trade Friction Costs? Evidence From Member Countries Within The Economic Community Of West African States (Ecowas), Festus Ebo Turkson Jan 2018

How Well Does Observable Trade Data Measure Trade Friction Costs? Evidence From Member Countries Within The Economic Community Of West African States (Ecowas), Festus Ebo Turkson

Journal of African Trade

This paper is an empirical application of the micro-founded measure of trade costs by Head and Mayer (2004) and Novy (2013). The derived micro-founded measure, consistent with the Ricardian and heterogeneous firm's models of trade, captures all trade costs components that hitherto have been impossible to include in the gravity framework because of severe data limitations and the impracticability of measuring some of the trade cost components. Based on bilateral trade and production data from the Trade, Production, and Protection database by Nicita and Olarreaga (2007) over the period 1980–2003, the micro-founded estimate of relative bilateral trade cost measure computed …

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Foreign Direct Investment, Productivity And The Technology Gap In African Economies, Christopher Malikane, Prosper Chitambara Jan 2018

Foreign Direct Investment, Productivity And The Technology Gap In African Economies, Christopher Malikane, Prosper Chitambara

Journal of African Trade

This paper investigates the impact of foreign direct investment on total factor productivity conditional on relative backwardness in a panel of 45 African countries over the period 1980–2012. We use two measures of relative backwardness, namely: the distance from technological frontier and the income gap. We apply the fixed-effects and two-step system GMM methods. We find a generally positive but weak effect of FDI on productivity growth. Meanwhile, the results do not support the convergence theory of Findlay (1978) and Wang and Blomstrom (1992), that relative backwardness would result in higher productivity growth via the adoption of foreign technologies.

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Trade Dependence, Liberalization, And Exports Diversification In Developing Countries☆, Patrick N. Osakwe, Amelia U. Santos-Paulino, Berna Dogan Jan 2018

Trade Dependence, Liberalization, And Exports Diversification In Developing Countries☆, Patrick N. Osakwe, Amelia U. Santos-Paulino, Berna Dogan

Journal of African Trade

This paper explores the relationship between trade, trade liberalization, and exports diversification in developing and Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The non-parametric analyses indicate that developing countries that are more open to trade (based on trade intensity) tend to have more diversified exports structures than those that are classified as less open. However, for SSA countries the non-parametric test shows that countries that are more open to trade have less diversified exports structures. Regarding the parametric analysis, the findings provide further evidence that trade liberalization, in the form of lower tariffs, contributes to exports diversification in developing countries, and the results …

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The Role Of Conflict In Sub-Saharan Africa, Samy Lemos Jan 2018

The Role Of Conflict In Sub-Saharan Africa, Samy Lemos

CMC Senior Theses

Sub-Saharan Africa is the provider of many critical natural resources. With such resources, one would expect these countries to have thriving economies. Why is the opposite case true? To answer such a question, this paper examines a few critical causes that may justify the current economic situation these African countries are experiencing. Specifically, the paper observes the economic impact of civil war and terrorist conflict in sub-Saharan Africa from 1971 to 2016. To explore the changes in GDP per capita for all these years, this thesis sheds light on three independent variables: year of conflict, education level, and foreign direct …

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A Framework Towards Technology Creation In Africa: Focusing On Ghana, Martin Yao Donani, Hannatu Abue Kugblenu, Azindow Bawa Fuseini Dec 2017

A Framework Towards Technology Creation In Africa: Focusing On Ghana, Martin Yao Donani, Hannatu Abue Kugblenu, Azindow Bawa Fuseini

International Journal of African Development

Underdevelopment in Africa has been historical and a global concern coupled with the quest for good governance. Several efforts have been made in academia, national governments, the international community, and other institutional arrangements to reverse the trend. These efforts however are yet to produce a lasting result as Africa is still characterized by low productivity output, poverty and a widening technology gap when compared to other developing regions of the world. Conventional approaches used to address the African problem have consistently been devoid of indigenous technology development. Technology is here seen as paramount to every form of production on which …

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Agricultural Input Intensification, Productivity Growth, And The Transformation Of African Agriculture, Didier Y. Alia Jan 2017

Agricultural Input Intensification, Productivity Growth, And The Transformation Of African Agriculture, Didier Y. Alia

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

This dissertation studies agricultural input intensification, defined as the increased use of modern inputs such as hybrid seeds, mineral fertilizer, herbicide, and pesticide in African agriculture. It also analyses the potential of this intensification to accelerate productivity growth and tests the effectiveness of two policies, input subsidies and land reforms, in promoting it and consequently in increasing crop yield. In the first essay, we argue that to create the conditions for the emergence of a green revolution in Africa, modern agricultural technologies have to be adopted as a package, not in a piecemeal fashion. This argument is consistent with a …

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Trade And Economic Growth In Developing Countries: Evidence From Sub-Saharan Africa, Pam Zahonogo Jan 2017

Trade And Economic Growth In Developing Countries: Evidence From Sub-Saharan Africa, Pam Zahonogo

Journal of African Trade

This study investigates how trade openness affects economic growth in developing countries, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We use a dynamic growth model with data from 42 SSA countries covering 1980 to 2012. We employ the Pooled Mean Group estimation technique, which is appropriate for drawing conclusions from dynamic heterogeneous panels by considering long-run equilibrium relations. The empirical evidence indicates that a trade threshold exists below which greater trade openness has beneficial effects on economic growth and above which the trade effect on growth declines. The evidence also indicates an inverted U-curve (Laffer Curve of Trade) response, robust …

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Religious Response To Sexual Violence: A Black Theology Perspective, Siyabulela Tonono Oct 2016

Religious Response To Sexual Violence: A Black Theology Perspective, Siyabulela Tonono

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

This paper looks at why it is necessary for churches to take part in the response to sexual and gender-based violence within the African context. As a starting point, it is necessary to discuss the nature of influence that religion has on the society. The discussion focuses on understanding religion as a coping mechanism for stress. Attention is then turned to the context of the Christian faith and available theological frameworks that can be a basis for response to sexual violence. The last part of this paper looks at the ability of the Christian church to mobilise communities and harness …

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Radio Micah: A Communication Tool To Serve Agriculture In Africa, Akoueteh Charles, Okey Ogbonin Attivi Oct 2016

Radio Micah: A Communication Tool To Serve Agriculture In Africa, Akoueteh Charles, Okey Ogbonin Attivi

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

Radio Micah was launched in Lomé on May 1, 2015 by its founder, Mr. Attivi, Okey to broadcast programmes to listeners online with the goal of transmitting content about Togolese agriculture on the airwaves and thereby increasing the visibility of the work performed by the community, various supervisory authorities, national and international organisations. The company MICAH FARM S.A.S recognized and responded to the need for a suitable communication medium, resulting in the birth of Radio Micah.

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Social Innovation And Social Enterprise: Integrating Mental Health Interventions, Jacob Waisawa Buganga, Dembe Annet Oct 2016

Social Innovation And Social Enterprise: Integrating Mental Health Interventions, Jacob Waisawa Buganga, Dembe Annet

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

An estimated 450 million people suffer from a mental or behavioural disorder. According to WHO’s Global Burden of Disease 2001, 3% of the years lived with disability (YLD) are due to neuropsychiatric disorders, a further 2.1% to intentional injuries (WHO, 2013). Only 1% of the medical doctors and 4% of the nurses were specialized in psychiatry. The last revision of the mental health legislation was in 1964. The legislation basically focused on the custodial care of the mentally ill persons and is an antiquated kind of law that has been overtaken by events. One percent (1%) of health care expenditures …

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Ethnicity As A Synopsis Of Africa's Under-Development: Way Forward, Pwakim Jacob Choji Oct 2016

Ethnicity As A Synopsis Of Africa's Under-Development: Way Forward, Pwakim Jacob Choji

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

Ethnicity has been differently defined but for the sake of our focus, it is a situation of internal instability of a person in which he/she manifests his/her inability to have a good relationship internally with himself/herself, others and God, which develops and snowballs into ethnic pandemonium. Invariably, one of the ways of exhibiting this internal uncertainty is in common differences exhibited due to ethnic diversities; and because we so want to move into our safety zone, we begin to see our ethnic group as not just being superior but longing for protection and advancement of territory. It is at this …

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African Inter-City Railway Connection System, Ntende Edward K. Oct 2016

African Inter-City Railway Connection System, Ntende Edward K.

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

African countries are limited in unifying themselves due to the boundaries and various requirements which hinder their free and perfect mobility, manifested in visa requirement, multi-currencies, different leadership, insecurity, unemployment, poor resource utilisation and poor production. Leadership, perfect mobility and industrialisation are the major sectors to Africa’s unification and prosperity. There is always the thinking that perhaps the means used by the imperialists to exploit Africa’s minerals and partitioning, that in return led to Europe’s industrialisation, could be the very means to Africa’s unification, industrialisation and becoming a first world continent. The effort to find a possible means of providing …

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Women's Role In Enhancing Innovation In Livestock Farming: A Gender Perspective, Amailuk Joseph R., Nasubo Fred E., Njeri Njoroge E. Oct 2016

Women's Role In Enhancing Innovation In Livestock Farming: A Gender Perspective, Amailuk Joseph R., Nasubo Fred E., Njeri Njoroge E.

Young African Leaders Journal of Development

Livestock accrues benefits to women that include food, income and insurance against crop failure. This gives rise to the need for gender-friendly policies that promote and encourage women to own livestock. Women remain in the ranks of poor livestock keepers, although they make up two-thirds of the population of livestock keepers. Factors that influence livestock productivity among women range from rights to land, access to high yield breeds, application of new technologies and practices, access to education and extension services, and rigid cultural systems among others. These factors handled in a gender sensitive manner would go a long way to …

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Current Situation Of Agricultural Trade: What Effects Does It Have On Food Security In Africa?, Ismaelline Eba Nguema Jul 2016

Current Situation Of Agricultural Trade: What Effects Does It Have On Food Security In Africa?, Ismaelline Eba Nguema

International Journal of African Development

The history of food policy in Africa started with the beginning of independence with the adoption of the strategy based on the planned development model. However, the financial and administrative planning requirements were felt quickly. By the early 80s, the debt crisis led African economies to abandon the policy of self-sufficiency and to adopt a so-called liberal agro-food strategy. In this context, food security based on external trade and its requirements became integral parts of structural adjustment programs. Thus, Africa took a stand before the rest of the world in the controlling of extraversion. Despite mixed results, in January 1995, …

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Let There Be Light: Social Enterprise, Solar Power, And Sustainable Development, Tonia Warnecke May 2016

Let There Be Light: Social Enterprise, Solar Power, And Sustainable Development, Tonia Warnecke

Faculty Publications

Energy poverty is a major problem in the developing world, with nearly 1.3 billion people lacking household electricity. Strikingly, the electrification rate is not only low, but is falling in many countries as population growth outpaces efforts to give more people access to electricity. Seizing the opportunities presented by rapid changes in technology and the availability of renewable energy at continually falling costs, social enterprises have begun to light the darkness and fill in the gap between the public and private provision of electricity. We review the extent of energy poverty and explain why neither the public, nor the private …

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Introduction: Sustainable Livelihoods, Conflicts, And Transformation, Brandon D. Lundy, Akanmu G. Adebayo Mar 2016

Introduction: Sustainable Livelihoods, Conflicts, And Transformation, Brandon D. Lundy, Akanmu G. Adebayo

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

Introduction to the Journal of Global Initiatives Volume 10, Number 2 "Sustainable Livelihoods and Conflict."

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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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Groundings Volume Two, Issue Two Nov 2015

Groundings Volume Two, Issue Two

Groundings

This is the full issue of Groundings Vol. 2, Iss. 2. It includes a wrap of both the 12th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium and the 3rd Annual Walter Rodney Speakers Series; a piece by Jesus Chucho Garcia that honors the late Norman Girvan; the official Save the Date for the 13th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium; information on the republication of The Groundings with My Brothers; a photo-narrative by Julian Plowden on the student protests at the Atlanta CNN Center; we then have 3 pieces surrounding the Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry by Wazir Mohamed, Anne Braithwaite, and Rohit Kanhai, …

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2nd Annual Walter Rodney Speakers Series (2014) Mar 2015

2nd Annual Walter Rodney Speakers Series (2014)

Groundings

We take a look at the semester-long project to bring together intellectuals from all backgrounds and educations. Included: A brief synopsis of the Series and a photo narrative

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11th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium Wrap Up Mar 2015

11th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium Wrap Up

Groundings

We take a look at the monumental occasion that was the 11th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium, held on March 21st and 22nd. Included: A brief synopsis of events and a photo narrative.

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Introduction Mar 2015

Introduction

Groundings

This is the Introduction for Groundings Vol. 1, Iss. 1

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Cover And Table Of Contents Mar 2015

Cover And Table Of Contents

Groundings

This is the Cover and Table of Contents for Groundings Vol. 2, Iss. 1

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State Failure And Political Instability: The Impact Of Educational Attainment In Africa, Jesse D. Neugarten Jan 2015

State Failure And Political Instability: The Impact Of Educational Attainment In Africa, Jesse D. Neugarten

Undergraduate Economic Review

I investigate the role of educational attainment on state failure and political stability across the African continent. For the empirical analysis, I estimate a Linear Probability Model (LPM) for State Failure by Ordinary Least Squares (OLS). I hypothesize that differences in educational attainment in Africa can explain differences in political stability and state failure. Furthermore, I believe that this effect has persisted over time and that early educational attainment in the late colonial and early independence era is a significant determinant of state affairs in more recent times. I find that early secondary educational attainment explains higher state stability, while …

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Differential Effects Of Trade On Economic Growth And Investment: A Cross-Country Empirical Investigation☆, Maureen Were Jan 2015

Differential Effects Of Trade On Economic Growth And Investment: A Cross-Country Empirical Investigation☆, Maureen Were

Journal of African Trade

The paper empirically examines the differential effects of trade on economic growth and investment based on cross-country data. In general, the results are largely consistent with the positive impact of trade on economic growth as found in the literature. However, the empirical results based on different categories of countries show that whereas trade has positively impacted economic growth in developed and developing countries, its effect is insignificant for least developed countries (LDCs), which largely include African countries. Nonetheless, additional results suggest that trade is a key determinant of foreign direct investment (FDI) across all country groups including LDCs, as well …

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