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on Africa |
| By: | Wassie, Mengistu Alamneh; Kornher, Lukas; Zaki, Chahir |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the trade impacts of trade facilitation (TF) and computes ad valorem tariff equivalents of trade facilitation for Africa. Its contribution is threefold. First, a structural gravity model is used to estimate the impact of TF on trade at a disaggregated level. Second, we validate our results by using different indices that measure TF (time to trade, logistic performance index, and trade-enabling index). Third, in a partial equilibrium framework, it simulates the impact of TF in African countries. Our findings indicate that time to trade has a strong and negative impact on trade, whereas logistics performance and the trade-enabling index positively and significantly impact trade. The analysis suggests that African countries benefit most from TF improvements, particularly those with long delays and weak infrastructural and logistics performance. We find that a one-day custom delay has a 0.9% tariff equivalent. At the product level, the agriculture, food, and some manufacturing sectors, which are the leading African imports, benefit the most from implementing TF. In contrast, mining-related products, which are the major export components of Africa, benefit the least. An ambitious and realistic TF implementation of reducing trade delay by half enhances Africa’s exports and imports by 30.2% and 12.7 % respectively. |
| Keywords: | International Relations/Trade |
| Date: | 2024–08–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae24:344296 |
| By: | Jörgen Levin; Emmanuel Orkoh |
| Abstract: | Determining the optimal tax burden that maximizes compliance and revenue remains a major challenge in developing countries, partly due to the literature's focus on linear tax-compliance relationships. Using firm-level data from Ghana and an instrumental variable approach, this paper finds a nonlinear relationship: compliance rises with higher taxes up to a threshold of 45%, beyond which it declines. This threshold, more than double the average tax burden of 21%, varies by firm size and formality—medium-large firms (30%), micro (46%), small (49%), formal (41%), and semi-formal (46%). |
| Keywords: | Taxation, Tax compliance, Tax evasion, Ghana |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2025-91 |
| By: | Betti, Gianni; Crescenzi, Federico; Dang, Hai-Anh; Molini, Vasco; Mori, Lorenzo |
| Abstract: | Measuring inequality in West Africa is a challenging task that is constrained by the limited availability and irregular collection of household consumption data. To address this challenge, we reconstructed the evolution of inequality in the Sahel region using an innovative framework that combines Survey-to-Survey Imputation Techniques (SSITs) with Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape (GAMLSS), based on labour force surveys conducted in eight countries between 2003 and 2021. The findings highlight pronounced regional disparities, persistent levels of inequality, and a clear association between inequality patterns and episodes of conflict or political instability. Our contribution is twofold: methodologically, we introduce a flexible SSIT-GAMLSS model that incorporates two levels of random effects; substantively, we provide new evidence of inequality trends in francophone West Africa, a region largely underrepresented in empirical research. |
| Keywords: | inequality, imputation, labour force surveys, West Africa |
| JEL: | C15 I32 O15 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1695 |
| By: | Stefano Costalli; Irene Costantini; Valerio Vignoli |
| Abstract: | This article examines how local populations in conflict-affected countries perceive foreign military interventions, focusing on Mali. While existing research has largely assessed peacekeeping from a supply-side perspective, this study centres on the preferences and perceptions of local communities. Moreover, we broaden the scope beyond United Nations (UN) missions to include regional organizations and individual states, both Western and non-Western. |
| Keywords: | Armed conflict, Peacekeeping, Mali |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2025-88 |
| By: | Bell, Peter |
| Abstract: | Raputsoane (2025) analyzes governance standards for mining companies worldwide using a cross-sectional regression to estimate differences between South Africa and the rest of the world. The article starts with S&P Global Ratings’ Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) score as a proxy for governance. It compares it to a series of company-specific parameters, including market capitalization, average share price over the prior year, return on equity, return on assets, a variable to reflect required disclosure, and a variable to reflect additional information provided by each company beyond legal requirements. The empirical results show that better governance is correlated with greater disclosure, but other variables do not show a statistically significant correlation with governance. The positive correlation between governance and market cap suggests larger companies are subject to greater scrutiny, but the estimate is not statistically significant. These results lead to valuable discussion about governance outside the mining firm, including government standards. |
| Keywords: | Keywords: Mining, South Africa, Governance, Fiduciary, S&P Global Ratings, Corporate Sustainability Assessment, Market Capitalization, Return on Equity, Return on Assets, Regression, Cross-Section data, Exploratory Data Analysis, GDP, International Law, International Economics |
| JEL: | C1 C13 D2 D22 G3 G32 L7 L72 M13 M14 N50 O13 P11 Q3 Q32 Q33 Y1 Y3 |
| Date: | 2025–11–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126880 |
| By: | Ayoki, Milton |
| Abstract: | After the ECOWAS-backed abolition of Nigeria’s premium-motor-spirit (PMS) subsidy in June 2023, the pump-price gap between Nigeria and Niger widened overnight from 0.23 to 0.71 USD litre⁻¹. Using a difference-in-differences design that exploits (i) 400+ border checkpoints (Clingendael 2022 GIS), (ii) 13 241 ACLED road-block events 2020-24, and (iii) monthly NBS price panels 2010-24, we show that jihadist taxation revenue on the Magaria–Jibia corridor increased by 0.9–1.4 USD million per month (≈ 18 % of IS-Sahel’s estimated budget). A structural gravity model calibrated to OECD-SWAC trade elasticities implies that a 0.10 USD litre⁻¹ price gap raises the probability of an Islamist checkpoint by 6.3% (SE 1.7, p |
| Keywords: | Keywords: Fuel subsidy; smuggling; jihadist taxation; Sahel; border checkpoints; difference-in-differences; ECOWAS |
| JEL: | D74 F14 H22 H25 O17 Q34 R41 |
| Date: | 2025–05–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126590 |