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on Africa |
| By: | Emilio Depetris-Chauvin; David N. Weil |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of malaria on economic development in Africa over the very long run. Using data on the prevalence of the mutation that causes sickle cell disease we measure the impact of malaria on mortality in Africa prior to the period in which formal data were collected. Our estimate is that in the more afflicted regions, malaria lowered the probability of surviving to adulthood by about ten percentage points, which is roughly twice the current burden of the disease. The reduction in malaria mortality has been roughly equal to the reduction in other causes of mortality. We then ask whether the estimated burden of malaria had an effect on economic development in the period before European contact. Examining both mortality and morbidity, we do not find evidence that the impact of malaria would have been very significant. These model-based findings are corroborated by a more statistically-based approach, which shows little evidence of a relationship between malaria ecology and population density or other measures of development, using data measured at the level of ethnic groups. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ioe:doctra:472&r=afr |
| By: | Broich, Tobias (UNU-MERIT, and Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | This study is part of an emerging literature that aims to shed light on China's development finance activities in Africa using quantitative estimation techniques. This paper empirically investigates whether African authoritarian regimes receive more Chinese development assistance than democratic ones, both in absolute and relative terms. I use three different measures of democracy/autocracy which allows me to check whether my results depend on the specific indicator chosen. The OLS results suggest that Chinese development finance does not systematically flow to more authoritarian countries, controlling for strategic, economic, political, institutional and geographic confounding factors. The results are not driven by the specific democracy indicator used in the analysis. The findings remain virtually unchanged if I reduce the sample to Sub-Saharan Africa only. Furthermore, the results stand up to several robustness checks, including FE, RE and instrumental variable estimation. |
| Keywords: | Development Finance, Foreign Aid, China, Africa, Autocracy, Democracy |
| JEL: | F35 H10 O11 O55 |
| Date: | 2017–02–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2017011&r=afr |
| By: | Alexandra ZINS (LaRGE Research Center, Université de Strasbourg); Laurent WEILL (LaRGE Research Center, Université de Strasbourg) |
| Abstract: | There has been a large expansion of foreign banks in Africa over the two decades with Pan-African banks playing a key role in this phenomenon. This paper questions if this development is beneficial for bank efficiency in African countries by investigating if Pan-African banks are more efficient than other types of foreign banks and domestic banks. We analyze the relation between ownership type and bank efficiency on a large sample of African banks covering 39 African countries over the period 2002-2015. We find that Pan-African banks are the most efficient banks in African banking industries. We explain this finding by the fact that these banks combine the best of both worlds: they have the global advantages of foreign banks and the home field advantages of domestic banks. They are then able to be more efficient than foreign banks from developed countries but also than domestic banks. This suggests that favoring entry of Pan-African banks would be beneficial to bank efficiency in Africa. |
| Keywords: | Africa, bank, efficiency, ownership. |
| JEL: | G21 G32 N27 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lar:wpaper:2017-05&r=afr |
| By: | Asche, Helmut; Grimm, Michael |
| Abstract: | Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced substantial growth and poverty reduction in the past two decades, yet as this process has not been based on industrialisation it is unlikely that it is sustainable in the longer term. Governments in Sub-Saharan Africa should consider structuralist industrial policies, yet these policies should avoid a top-down approach and rather rely on a structured and inclusive public-private dialogue. As mature light industries, such as textiles, can be good for mass employment, but allow little technological learning, reliance on a dual core of industries, that is labour-intensive industries alongside a smaller knowledge-intensive core, appears as the best developmental fit. |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:pegnpb:82017&r=afr |
| By: | Gourène, Grakolet Arnold Zamereith; Mendy, Pierre; Ake N'gbo, Gilbert Marie |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the time and frequency interdependence relationship between seven African stock markets, emerging stock markets, developed stock markets and Japan) and oil prices. The spillovers are examined from 2005 to 2016 taking into account the recent financial crisis and the recent oil prices fall. We combine the generalized VAR framework proposed by Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) and the Maximal Overlap Discrete Wavelet Transform (MODWT) to obtain the spillovers at different time scales. Result show that African financial markets integration with themselves and the outside depends on the time scales, the economic relations, the world financial markets state. Relationships with global financial markets are generally weak in the short run but tend to grow in the long run. The interdependence with oil prices is strong in short and medium run but weak in long run. African stock markets could be an opportunity of capital diversification in short run. |
| Keywords: | African Stock Markets, Interdependence, Time Scales, Generalized VAR, Financial Crisis |
| JEL: | C02 F02 F3 |
| Date: | 2017–03–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:77632&r=afr |