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on Africa |
| By: | Ben Jebli, Mehdi; Ben Youssef, Slim |
| Abstract: | We use the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach for cointegration with structural breaks and the vector error correction model (VECM) Granger causality approach in order to investigate relationships between per capita CO2 emissions, GDP, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and international trade (exports or imports) for Tunisia during the period 1980-2009. We show the existence of a short-run unidirectional causality running from trade, GDP, CO2 emission and non-renewable energy to renewable energy. Our long-run estimates show that non-renewable energy and trade have a positive impact on CO2 emissions, whereas renewable energy impacts weakly and negatively CO2 emission when using the model with exports and this impact is statistically insignificant when using the model with imports. The inverted U-shaped environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis is not supported graphically and analytically in the long-run. This means that Tunisia has not yet reached the required level of per capita GDP to get an inverted U-shaped EKC. Our main policy recommendations for Tunisia are the following: (i) to radically reform the subsidies system granted by the Tunisian government for fossil fuels consumption; (ii) to encourage the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency by reinforcing actual projects and regulatory framework; (iii) to locate ports near exporting industrial zones (or vice versa) to reduce emission of pollution caused by the transport of merchandise; (iv) to elaborate a strategy for maximizing its benefit from renewable energy technology transfer occurring when importing capital goods; (v) to encourage the creation of renewable energy projects for export to the EU with a proportion of production for national consumption. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Kuznets curve; Renewable and non-renewable energy; International trade; Autoregressive distributed lag; Tunisia. |
| JEL: | C22 F14 Q42 Q43 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015–01–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61282&r=afr |
| By: | Bernard, Tanguy; Torero, Maximo |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the importance of social interactions in determining an individual’s choice to connect to an electrical grid, using an original dataset on a new rural electrification program in Ethiopia. Combining GPS information with random allocation of discount vouchers for connection to the grid, we show that neighbors’ connection behaviors have large effects on a household’s connection decision. This effect is also shown to decrease by distance: no peer effect is found for neighbors living farther than 100 meters away. Evidence also suggests that expectation interactions (through social learning of the benefits of electricity) or constraint interactions (through direct externalities of one’s connection on others’ wellbeing) are unlikely to fully account for these effects, and that preference interactions (through a ‘keeping up with neighbors’ type of mechanism) appear to be a plausible explanation. We discuss implications for further research and the design of development interventions. |
| Keywords: | Ethiopia, Rural Electrification, Social Interactions |
| JEL: | C9 C93 O12 O33 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61303&r=afr |
| By: | Wainaina, Priscilla Wairimu; Tongruksawattana, Songporne; Qaim, Matin |
| Abstract: | There is consensus that adoption of technological improvements is crucial to increasing agricultural productivity and reducing poverty, while sustaining the agro-ecosystems. There is however disagreement as to which type of technologies are well suited in developing countries; external input intensive technologies or low external input/ natural resource management (NRM) technologies. This paper uses plot level survey data collected from all maize growing areas in Kenya and employs a multivariate probit to assess conditions under which different technologies are adopted. We find that indeed the technologies that farmers adopt vary with different conditions ranging from plot level to climatic conditions. |
| Keywords: | Technologies, adoption, Multivariate probit, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae14:182644&r=afr |
| By: | Vigani, Mauro; Magrini, Emiliano |
| Abstract: | The paper analyses the impact of adopting new agricultural technologies on the multiple dimensions of food security for maize farmers in Tanzania. Relying on matching techniques, we use a nationally representative dataset to estimate the causal effects of improved seeds and inorganic fertilizers on four dimensions: availability, access, utilization, and stability. We find an overall positive and significant impact on all the dimensions of food security even if substantial differences are observed. In particular, improved seeds show a stronger effect on food availability and access while inorganic fertilizers guarantee higher stability. In terms of utilization, both technologies increase the diet diversity while only improved seeds reduce the dependence on staple food. The study supports the idea that the relationship between new agricultural technologies and food security is a complex phenomenon which requires a deeper and more thorough investigation. |
| Keywords: | Technology adoption, food security, tanzania, propensity score matching, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae14:182646&r=afr |
| By: | Desiere, Sam; Vellema, Wytse; D’Haese, Marijke |
| Abstract: | Development organisations need easy-to-use and quick-to-implement indicators to quantify poverty when requested to measure program impact. In this paper we assess the validity of the Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI)TM, a country-specific indicator based on ten closed questions on directly observable household characteristics, by its compliance to the SMART criteria. Each response receives a pre-determined score, such that the sum of these scores can be converted into the likelihood the household is living below the poverty line. We focus on the PPI scorecard for Rwanda, which was validated using two national household surveys conducted in 2005/06 and 2010/11. The PPI is Specific, Measurable, Available cost effectively, and Timely available. Yet, its Relevance depends on the way it is used. Although it accurately distinguishes poor from non-poor households, making it a useful reporting tool, its limited sensitivity to changes in poverty status restricts its usefulness for evaluating the impact of development projects. |
| Keywords: | Progress out of Poverty Index (PPI), expenditure poverty, poverty measurement, impact evaluation, Rwanda, Food Security and Poverty, |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae14:182727&r=afr |
| By: | Lovo, Stefania; Veronesi, Marcella |
| Abstract: | Malnutrition is a major issue in developing countries with long-term implications for economic development. Agricultural diversification has been recognized as a strategy to improve nutrition and human health, and a risk coping strategy in the face of climate change. We use the 2008-2010 Tanzania National Panel Survey, which includes about 3,700 children, to investigate the effect of crop diversification on child health. We use an instrumental variable approach and estimate the effect of crop diversification on child growth by controlling for unobserved heterogeneity. We show that crop diversification has a positive and significant impact on long-term child nutritional status. |
| Keywords: | crop diversification, food security, health, nutrition, development, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, I12, I15, Q18, |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae14:182735&r=afr |
| By: | Verhofstadt, Ellen; Maertens, Miet |
| Abstract: | We study the inclusiveness and effectiveness of land and marketing cooperatives in Rwanda. We use cross-sectional household survey data and apply propensity-score-matching techniques to estimate the effect of cooperative membership on household income and poverty. Unlike most impact studies, we look beyond mean income and poverty effects and evaluate impact heterogeneity. We find that cooperatives are exclusive to some extent but effective in increasing income and reducing poverty. Effects vary with farm size and distance to the market; which calls for strategies to promote cooperative formation in remote areas but not for increasing the inclusiveness of cooperatives towards land-poor households. |
| Keywords: | cooperatives, agriculture, poverty, impact evaluation, Rwanda, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae14:182775&r=afr |
| By: | Staelens, Lotte; Louche, Céline; D’Haese, Marijke |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the determinants of job satisfaction in the cut flower industry in Ethiopia. Using primary survey data of 358 workers and focus groups conducted in 5 similar farms, we find that organizational extrinsic rewards are the main determinants of job satisfaction. Intrinsic and social extrinsic rewards however, appear to have little predictive power. Moreover our findings suggest that there are no gender differences in levels and predictors of job satisfaction, however we do find educational differences and explain why. To end, we discuss the implications of this study along with limitations and suggestions for future research. |
| Keywords: | job satisfaction, labor, cut flower industry, Ethiopia, Africa, Labor and Human Capital, |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae14:182815&r=afr |
| By: | Aboah, Joshua; Meuwissen, Miranda; Gebrezgabher, Solomie |
| Abstract: | This study seeks to analyse the financial feasibility of upscaling the fortifer business model in Ghana. DataoriginatefromthepilotprojectinAccra,extendedwithexpertelicitation. TheNPVandIRRwere used as decision criteria for Public Private Partnership (PPP) and Private Scenarios. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used to identify input parameters which had most impact on NPV. Economic and simulation results reveal higher probability of financial feasibility in the PPP Scenario. Outcomes are useful for policy makers to jointly steer urban waste management and farmers’ needs in the area of sustainable soil management. |
| Keywords: | Faecal sludge, Excreta pellets, Waste, Agriculture, Financial Economics, |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaae14:182980&r=afr |
| By: | Tsiboe, Francis; Nalley, Lawton Lanier; Dixon, Bruce L.; Popp, Jennie S.; Luckstead, Jeff |
| Abstract: | Billions of dollars flow into low-income countries each year to help alleviate poverty. Assessing the effectiveness of these dollars is necessary to measure program success and to allocate such funds among competing projects. This study measures the impact of the first phase of the Cocoa Livelihood Program (CLPI), a current World Cocoa Foundation project sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The project seeks to improve the livelihood of over 200,000 small cocoa producers in Sub-Saharan Africa via training, crop diversification and farmer based organizations. Using data collected from 2,048 pre and post CLPI interviews of cocoa producers in Ghana, Cote d’ivoire, Nigeria and Cameroon, the economic impact of the CLPI program can be estimated. The results show that yield enhancements attributable to CLPI are 36%, 38%, 49% and 24% in Ghana, Côte D’Ivoire, Nigeria and Cameroon, respectively. Using a total program cost of $158-$200 per beneficiary and estimated annual benefits of $86-$152 per beneficiary over 25 years, the benefit- cost ratios were estimated to range from $13 to $22 for every dollar spent on human capital development. |
| Keywords: | Cocoa, Cost-Benefit-Analysis, Farmer Training, Cocoa Livelihoods Program, Sub-Saharan Africa, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Food Security and Poverty, International Development, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, O220, Q120, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea15:195775&r=afr |
| By: | Sene, Seydina; Mishra, Dr. Ashok |
| Keywords: | OIL Consumption, US dollars EXCHANGE RATE SUB SAHARAN AFRICA, NET-OIL IMPORTING COUNTRIES, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Demand and Price Analysis, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, Risk and Uncertainty, |
| Date: | 2015–01–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:saea15:196993&r=afr |
| By: | Ali, Hoda Abd El Hamid |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the role of industrial clusters in the development of the Egyptian universities & research institutes (URIs), and economic performance. The study hypothesizes that the large industrial clusters in Egypt are old and traditional, and have weak impact on URIs, and economic performance. To this end, we examine Egypt regions where that contain long-existing and traditional industrial clusters are compared to all other regions. The analysis is conducted separately for seven industries, and by using a Mann-Whitney U test and a spearman correlation we find that the more recent and technical industrial clusters in Egypt have a positive and significant impact on URIs , but they have a weak impact on economic performance. The Egyptian experience suggests that the most important contribution of clusters to URIS is one in which corporations contribute money to universities, or enter in to informal consulting arrangements with a professor, neither of which typically of professional patent applications or even through the mobility of university graduates. |
| Keywords: | Egypt, universities and research institutes, clusters, National innovation system, and development |
| JEL: | O1 O12 O14 O3 |
| Date: | 2100 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:60111&r=afr |
| By: | Nyasha Mahonye and Kalu Ojah |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the relationship between economic development and financial structure: that is, whether the degree of financial system structure matter for pace and character of economic development in 15 African countries for the period of 1995 to 2011. The paper utilizes the fixed effect instrument variable technique for econometric estimation. None of the financial structure indicators enters any of the economic development regressions significantly at the conventional 10% level, which is inconsistent with bank-based and market-based system view of financial system. Therefore, financial structure does not matter for economic development in these African countries. Rather, financial services are a significant determinant of economic development for our sample of 15 African countries. The overarching policy implication therefore is that relevant authorities should invest in accumulating both quantity and quality financial services in order to impact economic development in Africa. |
| Keywords: | 15 African countries, financial structure, fixed effect instrument variable technique and economic development |
| JEL: | G15 O11 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:482&r=afr |
| By: | Thobeka Ncanywa |
| Abstract: | This paper explore the state of the Eastern Cape schools by employing an education production function approach using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and quantile regression techniques in 2013, a period almost twenty years into democracy in South Africa. The study benefited from the availability of Annual National Assessment (ANA) results from the examination directorate as a measure of schooling outcomes. In the education production function, scores from ANA were estimated against educator characteristics, school characteristics and community characteristics. The results of this study indicated that in the Eastern Cape learner performance is strongly influenced by educator quality, school and community characteristics. |
| Keywords: | education production function, Quantile regressions, annual national assessments |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rza:wpaper:486&r=afr |
| By: | Brockmeyer, Anne; Khatrouch, Maha; Raballand, Gael |
| Abstract: | This paper examines public sector size and performance management in post-revolution Tunisia, drawing on macro-empirical, legal, and qualitative analyses. The paper first shows that public sector employment figures and the wage bill have increased significantly since the 2011 revolution, but that this represents merely an acceleration of the previous trend. The paper then examines de jure and de facto performance management in Tunisia's public sector, covering incentives through recruitment, evaluation, compensation, and promotion. The examination shows that Tunisia's legal framework is well-designed for recruiting the most skilled candidates into the public sector and promoting the most high-performing employees. De facto, the link between an employee's performance and evaluation, compensation, and promotion is weak. Performance evaluation is virtually nonexistent and promotions are automatic or awarded through a process that emphasizes seniority over performance. This is particularly true during the post-revolution period, in which a number of ad-hoc arrangements multiplied divergences between the legal basis for performance management and its application. These ad-hoc changes allowed the state to act as employer of last resort, significantly increasing direct (noncompetitive) recruitment and regularizing temporary staff. The increase in and proliferation of allowances have added to the complexity of the compensation system. In a qualitative review of past reform attempts, the paper demonstrates that reformers had identified the weaknesses of Tunisia's public sector performance system as early as 1989, but failed to achieve major change. |
| Keywords: | Labor Markets,Public Sector Economics,Labor Management and Relations,Public Sector Management and Reform,Tertiary Education |
| Date: | 2015–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7159&r=afr |
| By: | Douzounet MALLAYE; Urbain Thierry YOGO |
| Abstract: | Since 2000, Official Development Assistance has played a crucial role in efforts related to the achievement of MDGs. This is especially the case in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) which is the world’s largest recipient of foreign aid. This paper assesses the effectiveness of aid and its efficient use in achieving universal primary education in Sub-Saharan Africa. The impact of aid is assessed for a sample of 35 SSA countries over the decade 2000-2010. The results suggest that higher aid to education significantly increases primary completion rate. This result is robust to the use of various methods of estimation, the inclusion of instrument to account for the endogeneity of aid and the set of control variables included in regressions. In addition, this paper shows that there is strong heterogeneity in the efficient use of aid across countries in SSA. |
| Keywords: | Sub-Saharan Africa, Primary Education |
| JEL: | I22 H55 O11 F35 |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdi:wpaper:1643&r=afr |
| By: | Jensen, Nathaniel; Barrett, Christopher B.; Mude, Andrew |
| Abstract: | Cash transfers and index insurance have become popular interventions by development agencies worldwide. But they operate in radically different ways. In principle, these could offer complementary or substitute means of improving households’ well-being, both through direct payments and through induced behavioral change. Surprisingly, little is known about these programs’ comparative impacts on participant behavior or well-being, nor about their prospective interactions. This paper exploits four years of household panel data from northern Kenya, where the government launched a Hunger Safety Net Program (HSNP) offering cash transfers just prior to the commercial launch of an index-based livestock insurance (IBLI) product. By exploiting the known selection mechanism behind HSNP participation and the randomization of IBLI extension education and premium discounts, we are able to make novel comparisons of the causal impacts of each type of program among the same population at the same time, which spans a catastrophic drought. We find that both programs benefit participants, but there is no evidence of positive synergies between the two programs. HSNP participation increases the likelihood that a household maintains mobility, an important pastoral production strategy, and improves child health, as indicated by a mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC). IBLI coverage increases expenditures on livestock health services, milk production, MUAC, and income per adult equivalent. Standardizing the estimated benefits by total program costs reveals that the two programs perform comparably, while from a marginal cost perspective the IBLI program has impacts per unit of expenditure at least an order of magnitude greater than HSNP. |
| Keywords: | HSNP, IBLI, pastoralism, social protection, safety nets |
| JEL: | D60 I38 O22 |
| Date: | 2014–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:61372&r=afr |