nep-isf New Economics Papers
on Islamic Finance
Issue of 2021‒04‒26
three papers chosen by
Muhammad Mustafa Rashid
University of Detroit Mercy

  1. Finance, inequality and inclusive education in Sub-Saharan Africa By Asongu, Simplice; Nnanna, Joseph; Acha-Anyi, Paul
  2. The Effects of Mobile Phone Technology, Knowledge Creation and Diffusion on Inclusive Human Development in Sub-Saharan Africa By Asongu, Simplice
  3. Understanding the greater diffusion of mobile money innovations in Africa By Asongu, Simplice; Biekpe, Nicholas; Cassimon, Danny

  1. By: Asongu, Simplice; Nnanna, Joseph; Acha-Anyi, Paul
    Abstract: This research complements the extant literature by establishing inequality critical masses that should not be exceeded in order for financial access to promote gender parity inclusive education in Sub-Saharan Africa. The focus is on 42 countries in the sub-region and the data is for the period 2004-2014. The estimation approach is the Generalized Method of Moments. When remittances are involved in the conditioning information set, the Palma ratio should not exceed 6.000 in order for financial access to promote gender parity inclusive “primary and secondary education” and the Atkinson index should not exceed 0.695 in order for financial access to promote inclusive tertiary education. However, when the internet is involved in the conditioning information set, it is established that in order for financial access to promote inclusive primary and secondary education, the: (i) Gini coefficient should not exceed 0.571; (ii) Atkinson index should not be above 0.750 and (iii) Palma ratio should be maintained below 8.000. Irrespective of variable in the conditioning information set, what is apparent is that inequality decreases the incidence of financial access on inclusive education. Hence, a common policy measure is to reduce inequality in order to promote inclusive education using the financial access mechanism. Policy implications are discussed in the light of Sustainable Development Goals.
    Keywords: Africa; Finance; Gender; Inclusive development
    JEL: G20 I10 I32 O40 O55
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:107105&r=all
  2. By: Asongu, Simplice
    Abstract: This paper examines the joint effects of mobile phone technology, knowledge creation and diffusion on inclusive human development in 49 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. The empirical evidence is based on Tobit regressions for the period 2000-2012. The net effects of interactions between the mobile phone, knowledge creation and diffusion variables are positive indicating that the combined effects of these variables improve inclusive human development in SSA countries. Further analysis dividing the dataset into a number of fundamental characteristics based on economic, legal, religion and political stability associated with African economies show that mobile phone penetration and associated innovation in SSA improve inclusive human development irrespective of the country’s level of income, legal origins, religious orientation and the state of the nation. The pupil-teacher ratio exerts a negative influence on the outcome variable which is favourable for inclusive human development because higher ratios denote lower education quality since more pupils are accommodated by fewer teachers. The study contributes to innovation diffusion theory and economic development literature.
    Keywords: Mobile phones; Innovation, Knowledge diffusion; Inclusive human development; Africa
    JEL: G20 I10 I32 O40 O55
    Date: 2020–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:107087&r=all
  3. By: Asongu, Simplice; Biekpe, Nicholas; Cassimon, Danny
    Abstract: The present research extends Lashitew, van Tulder and Liasse (2019, RP) in order to understand the greater diffusion of mobile money innovations in Africa. To make this assessment, a comparative analysis is engaged between sampled African countries and the corresponding sampled developing countries. Three main types of predictor groups are used for the study, namely: demand, supply and macro-level factors. The empirical evidence is based on Tobit regressions. The tested hypothesis is confirmed because from a comparative analysis between African-specific estimates and those of the sampled countries, not all factors driving mobile money innovations in Africa are apparent in the findings of Lashitew et al. (2019). An extended analysis is also performed to take on board the concern of multicollinearity from which, the best estimators from the study are derived. Comparative findings from correlation analysis show that an African specificity is largely traceable to the ‘unique mobile subscription rate’ variable. An in-depth empirical analysis further confirms an African specificity in the outcome variables (especially in the mobile used to send/receive money) which, may be traceable to informal sector variables not documented in Lashitew et al. (2019). Scholarly and policy implications are discussed.
    Keywords: Mobile money; technology diffusion; financial inclusion; inclusive innovation
    JEL: D10 D14 D31 D60 O30
    Date: 2020–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:107086&r=all

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