bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Dysfunctional behavior of external auditors the collision of time budget and time deadline evidence from a developing country
Authors: Nehme Rabih , Mutawa Abdullah Al , Jizi Mohammad
Published: February 2016

The general goal behind this research is to gain a better understanding of factors leading to dysfunctional behavior of auditors. The role of auditors has been a controversial issue especially after the recent accounting scandals (WorldCom, Enron, Paramalat SpA, Waste Management Inc., Xerox Corporation, and Société Générale). In relation to these scandals and lawsuits, a question is frequently asked “where were the auditors?” The survey we offer up for research is made up of 34 questions that are designed to analyse the perception of auditors and the cause of dysfunctional behavior. The object of this research is comprised of auditors positioned and employed at the Big Four audit firms in Kuwait. The selected sample is comprised from auditors at different levels ranging from audit trainees to audit partners. The so-called stakeholder theory talks about the relationship between audit behavior and audit firm practices with time deadlines and time budgets involved. It is generally accepted that the more auditors align their interests with firms’ measures and practices, the more a firm is capable of meeting general goals and objectives. Consequently, this may result in a less dysfunctional workplace conduct. Dysfunctional behavior (DB) is analysed against two signalling proxies of dysfunctional behavior; premature sign-off and under reporting of chargeable time. DB is analysed against time budget and time deadline pressures. The results suggest that the general belief among auditors is that the profession of accountancy predetermines their tendency to commit certain patterns of dysfunctional behavior. The results indicate that auditors understand that dysfunctional behavior is exercised by the majority of auditors. Dysfunctional behaviour is exercised with intention and it is not committed out of ignorance. One of the interesting findings is that auditors, at all levels, are concerned about their reputation. Thus, dysfunctional behavior is exercised, to a certain extent, without harming the quality of the audit work. Having our investigation conducted at the Big Four audit firms, we have come to the conclusion that there is a general difference in behavior patterns among perceptions of dysfunctional behavior and normal skeptic professional behavior. Audit firms should continuously conduct workshop and training events related to dysfunctional behavior. It is revealed that some auditors are not aware that certain practices are considered dysfunctional behavior or not. This research work can be used to aid audit practitioners to mitigate audit dysfunctional behavior. It highlights certain type of practices that is exercised in an improper way.
Analyzing South Africa’s inflation persistence using an ARFIMA model with Markov-switching fractional differencing parameter
Authors: Balcilar Mehmet , Gupta Rangan , Jooste Charl
Published: February 2016

The successful conduct of monetary policy relies on accurately characterising inflation’s data generating properties. Monetary policy errors that allow inflation to transition to a high inflation regime that is very persistent might have costly economic implications as the central bank attempts to bring inflation to a lower regime, say at some target level. This paper studies the duration of inflation persistence over time and across various policy regimes. We test the inertial properties of South African inflation in a Markov-Switching autoregressive fractionally integrated moving average model. We isolate period of high inflation and low inflation and analyse how persistent it is. This is an unique application to South Africa. The use of a fractional differencing ARIMA model allows for the possibility that inflation is close to a unit root, however, still mean reverting. This implies that shocks to inflation is very persistent and take long to dissipate. The inflation persistence is measured using a test by Ng and Perron (2001). We show that inflation is more persistent during high inflation episodes relative to low inflation episodes and more volatile during low inflation periods compared to high inflation periods. We estimate that it takes approximately 70 months for 50 percent of the shocks to dissipate in a high inflation regime compared to 10 months in a low inflation regime. The model identifies three structural breaks - a low inflation regime from 1920 until 1960, a high inflation regime from 1961 until 2003, and another low inflation regime over part of the inflation targeting period, 2003-2014. We also show that inflation persistence in the high inflation regime transitioned to a low inflation regime only much later than the implementation of inflation targeting - hinting that agents take time to adjust expectations. This has an important consequence for monetary policy - monetary policy errors that allow inflation to transition to a high inflation regime may take many months for any corrective policy to become effective.
Human capital and technological catch-up of developing countries: In search of a technological leader
Authors: AtiqurRahman* A.K. M. , Zaman Miethy
Published: February 2016

The role of knowledge accumulation and technological progress is well recognised in the growth literature. However, the developing countries have limited capacity for innovation and they mostly benefit from imitation and knowledge spill-over from the developed countries. Studies emphasized on the role of human capital in imitation and technological catch-up process of the developing countries. For empirical analysis of the catch-up hypothesis, existing literature generally considered USA as the technological leader to which other countries tend to catch up. However, it remains an open question whether USA is the only candidate to be the technology leader. The paper re-examines the human capital based technological catch-up hypothesis exclusively for the developing countries with alternative possibilities of technological leader. Our study investigates for the potential technology leader by estimating a structural growth equation suggested by Benhabib and Spiegel (1994) using panel data from 75 developing countries. Considering the possibility of endogenetiy problem of capital accumulation, the paper used an instrumental variable technique for estimation. Our results show that when USA is used as global technological leader, or different single countries are used as technological leader of the developing countries in different regions, the estimated structural equations fail to find any positive role of technological catch up in economic growth of the developing countries. However, when OECD countries collectively, or major trading partner of developing countries with higher income are considered as technological leader, we find a strong evidence of technological catch up. The findings have few policy implications for developing countries. As group of developed countries can serve better as a technological leader in the catch-up process of the developing countries, the latter should extend economic relations with many developed countries instead of relying on economic ties with one or few countries. Moreover, trading with developed countries may be more beneficial for developing countries in terms of potential dynamic gains of trade as it exposes the country to higher level of technology and creates a scope for imitation.
Gradual or rapid global product rollouts?: A review of concepts, propositions, and future directions
Authors: Hazrul Nik M. , Pandit Ameet
Published: February 2016

Numerous studies in mainstream product commercialization research have focused on the three main aspects; order of entry, relative product advantages, and firm competitiveness. However, the emphasis of the extant research base has not completely found it’s way to investigating the concerns of speed of new product rollouts from a global launch perspective. Specifically, little attention has been given to study the details of the nature of sequential launch and simultaneous launch strategies. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the concepts of sequential and simultaneous international product rollouts through a review of the literature and theory-building endeavours. Although there is evidence of interest pertaining to the launch concepts and their consequences on product success, little research has employed a strong theoretical foundation that integrates both launch strategies in a single framework. Consequently, academics and practitioners are left with limited guidelines for determining the appropriate launch approach when introducing a new product to the global marketplace. To fill the knowledge gap, the authors develop a contextualized model that compares and contrasts the effectiveness of the respective launch strategies along varying degrees of environmental hostility, dynamism, and complexity. The authors highlight conceptual and methodological issues that are imperative for future empirical investigation. We draw on contingency theory and adopt a strategic alignment perspective to develop our conceptual model. Contingency theory has been established as a tool to identify a viable match between organizational strategies and environmental conditions to exploit opportunities and threats. .” There are a number of empirical studies that have used contingency theory and shown that environmental-strategy fit relates positively to performance. Firms, therefore, need to implement different launch strategies according to specific environmental setting (e.g., global customer preference, general competitive reactions, foreign regulation standards, economic conditions) when launching new products beyond national borders. Research propositions are introduced to describe potential contingency effects on the launch strategy–performance link. It is crucial, however, that the decision for employing a specific approach should not be determined solely on the basis of direct advantages (or disadvantages) of launch strategies. This study views that neither sequential nor simultaneous launch strategy, in isolation, is sufficient in explaining the overall outcome of launch strategies. Export managers should therefore take into account the contingency perspective for optimizing launch performance. The selection of a particular launch strategy will be a key determinant of the success of a new product’s introduction into the market.
Does institutional quality in developing countries affect remittances?
Authors: Lartey Emmanuel K.K. , Mengova Evelina
Published: February 2016

There is some empirical evidence showing that remittances, on average, were about 0.5 percent of GDP in countries with a corruption index higher than the median level, compared to 1.9 percent in countries with a level of corruption lower than the median. It is also arguable, that an improvement in economic institutions would facilitate economic freedom and in turn, reduce the costs of transactions associated with remittances in recipient countries. The quality of institutions in developing countries therefore, could be an important determinant of remittances, which are now considered an essential source of external finance in these countries. Thus, this paper explores the role of institutions in driving the flow of remittances to developing countries. The study uses a sample of 90 countries, and data from the World development Indicators (WDI) and Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) indicators databases. The paper estimates both static and dynamic representations of a reduced form model for the determinants of remittances. The static panel models are estimated using the fixed effects estimator, whereas the dynamic models, represented by autoregressive-distributed lag models, are estimated using a generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator. The results show that an improvement in the quality of institutions in charge of the conduct of monetary policy has a positive impact on remittances, and that this impact increases with the quality of such institutions. The estimates also show that an improvement in the operations of institutions of government leads to an increase in the inflow of remittances, which suggests that a decrease in direct government control or participation in the private sector has positive impact on remittances. Sound monetary policy and an effective government are critical to economic freedom, and these results seem to suggest that migrants tend to send remittances in order take advantage of macroeconomic environments that are favorable to better economic performance. Furthermore, the findings provide evidence, albeit a weak one, which suggests that an improvement in the legal system and property rights may be associated with an increase in remittances, but that the effect is lower for countries with an index value greater than the median level. Ergo, to the extent that remittances have become an important source of external finance, policies promoting sound and accountable local institutions should be a priority for policy makers in developing countries.
The economics of small-scale private pump irrigation and agricultural productivity in Ghana
Authors: Owusu Victor
Published: February 2016

A key policy strategy towards poverty reduction and ensuring food security in sub-Saharan Africa is to assist poor farmers who over-depend on rainfall to reduce variability in production and increase productivity through small-scale private pump irrigation. Despite the fact that the performances of large scale irrigation schemes have not been efficient and optimal in terms of anticipated economic benefits, not much evidence exist on small-scale private pump irrigation as an alternative investment option in smallholder agricultural production in Africa. Not much emphasis also has been put on the opportunity costs of family labor time in small-scale private pump irrigation, which happens to be one of the key ingredients in the decision making of smallholder farmers who engage in irrigation agriculture. This paper examines the economics of small-scale private pump irrigation and agricultural productivity using a survey data collected in four administrative regions of Ghana, including, the Northern, Upper East, Eastern, and Volta. Mixed method approach that combines both qualitative and quantitative analytical tools are employed in the study. The empirical approach involves estimating a production function in order to derive the shadow wages of family labor directly from the marginal agricultural productivity. Notably, the production functions of small-scale private motor pump irrigators using groundwater and surface water and small-scale private manual pump irrigators are estimated and compared with that of rainfed farmers and gravity flow irrigators after which, the implicit wages of family labor is computed for each irrigation farmer. The paper finds that among the entire small-scale private pumps irrigators, groundwater motor pump irrigators have significantly higher value-added output and tend to do better in terms of financial returns to small-scale private pumps irrigation. The empirical results indicate that small-scale private motor pump irrigators who use groundwater or surface water are able to generate the highest implicit wage rate of family labor, and concludes that small-scale private pump irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa would be successful if it is combined with the efficient use of inputs of production, including seeds, fertilizer, and chemical inputs. The paper contributes to expanding the existing debate on irrigation development in sub-Saharan Africa by highlighting on the potential of small-scale private pump irrigation in Ghana. Governments in sub-Saharan Africa should consider irrigation as part of a wider agricultural policy strategy by promoting farmer education and developing market infrastructure to enhance the returns to small-scale private irrigation and attract private sector investors into the irrigation sub-sector.
Dependence between stock market and foreign exchange market in South Asia: A Copula-Garch approach
Authors: Kamal* Javed Bin , Haque A.K. Enamul
Published: February 2016

The paper studies the dependence pattern between stock market and foreign exchange market of three South Asian countries; namely Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka by using five copula functions, to reveal asymmetric dependence structure. This paper focuses South Asia because of its promise as portfolio investment destination. The dependence structure between stock market and foreign exchange market assists MNCs, private equity firms, international portfolio managers and policy makers in international investment decision making. The paper also studies tail dependence (upper and lower). Markets crash together rather boom together, which can be traced by tail dependence parameter. Correlation, Kendall’s tau and Spearman’s rho reveal linear dependence. However, Copulas reveal non-linear dependence between non-normal distributions. In this paper, Copula functions are applied between marginal distributions of stationary uni-variate return series. Using daily return series for the period of July 31, 2009 to July 31, 2013, ARMA-GARCH type model are applied to obtain marginal distributions of return series. The results from marginal models indicate that volatility dies immediately after a crisis; meanwhile positive news creates more volatility than negatives. The results from copula models indicate existence of asymmetric dependence, with upper tail dependence for all pairs, implying dependence increases in bull market situation (price increase in financial instruments). Both Bangladeshi and Indian pairs provide some diversification possibility, against no diversification for investing in Sri Lankan market. Moreover, Bangladesh and India demonstrated as promising investment destination in terms of risk –return criteria. Foreign investors are recommended to employ proper risk and investment management strategy in order to earn capital gain, by following diversification strategy. Conversely, investment recipient countries are recommended to establish a stable, well regulated stock market, with high stock market capitalization to GDP. Besides, monetary policy should stabilize the exchange rate of currency to attract foreign investors. Copula based dependence measures assist foreign investors and investment recipient countries to change their related strategies and policies; subsequently they will be able to maximize their utility functions.
The BRIC grouping’s mutually beneficial policies: A macro-modeling test
Authors: Boye François
Published: February 2016

The BRIC grouping’s outstanding growth before the 2008 crisis, coupled with China’s ascension to becoming the second largest economy in the world, has been hailed as the evidence that the developing world could counterpoise the West’s economic and political clout. Even so, the business press in the West has always dismissed the BRIC grouping as a composite entity of dissimilar economies. Hence its conclusion that Brazil, Russia, India, and China could not complement one another, let alone result in a whole bigger than its parts through collective actions beneficial to each of them. This claim regarding the BRIC grouping is what this paper puts to the test. The test consists of evaluating the impact on each BRIC country of the following collective policies: 1) trade diversion from G7 countries, 2) policy alignment with China’s interest and exchange rates, and 3) creation of a common reserve arrangement. The impact on each BRIC country is determined through simulating the aforementioned policies within an econometric model (OEF model) of the global economy from 2000 to 2009. The OEF model has the features of a new Keynesian model in its modeling of OECD countries. Its modeling of developing countries captures the fact that those countries must minimize their country risk to attract external financing and lessen the cost of servicing their external debts. This paper’s main finding is that there is a collective action benefiting all BRIC countries. This collective action is the creation of a common reserve arrangement predicated on the idea that BRIC countries should stop accumulating foreign reserves and spend a fraction of their future reserves to boost their public consumptions, enlarge their public investments, and pay down their public debts. The other collective actions fail the test of being beneficial to all BRIC countries. Trade diversion from G7 countries is suicidal: it would depress the level of activity in each and every BRIC country. Alignment with China’s interest and exchange rates is incompatible with the interests of Brazil, Russia, and India due to its depressive effects. In March 2013, the BRIC heads of State decided to create a $100 billion contingency reserve arrangement (CRA). This CRA should be used as much as possible, if not ramped up, to address the current problems (slowing GDP growth in China and recession in Brazil) of BRIC countries.
A bilateral monopsony approach to lending, and the hidden economy in LDCs
Authors: Soldatos* Gerasimos T.
Published: February 2016

Under developing-economy circumstances of small and mainly informal firms and a few official corporate conglomerates, an investigation of the developmental role of banking in such economies might be pursued analytically within the context of a bilateral monopsony for loans. Assuming away wage differences and trade between formal and informal sectors, a model is presented in which one firm borrows from one bank with a positive supply curve of loans. The bank monitors firm’s output, which firm produces output underground too, in order to avoid this monitoring and minimize its marginal expenditure on loans by defaulting. The model incorporates also a laborer-consumer who allocates labor between the formal and informal sectors in a way preserving full employment. In this model, the following results obtain: There cannot be underground only economy even in the absence of government national-accounting induced output monitoring once part at least of the output has to be monitored by the bank. The capital employed officially is always more than that underground. Bank monopoly power induces lexicographic preferences towards underground economy income. The stability of the system depends on the relative size of the official to total capital ratio and the response of loan demand to the interest rate. The introduction of government and indirect taxation alter the optimal official to total capital ratio. Yet, the steady-state and stability of the system remain unchanged under a tax financed balanced budget. Government borrowing by a rent-seeking government or to cope with tax-evasion induced budget deficits lowers lending to the firm and leads thereby the system to equilibrium away from steady-state; but tax evasion increases such lending towards steady-state restoration. It is clear that the approach to development leading to these conclusions focuses not on development per se but on how it is shaped based on overt and covert resources and capabilities financed by concentrated banking. The mentality underlying such an approach abides by Hirschman’s (1965) view of development rather than macroeconomic growth. Policy-wise, international trade and foreign direct investment should be encouraging the official economy at the expense of the unofficial one. Also, government borrowing from abroad is expected to be sooner or later recessionary if the money is not channeled to public investment. Special attention should be paid to the design of trade liberalization towards (i) the implementation of non-inflationary government finance means compensating for the subsequent loss of tariffs, and (ii) discouraging the profit shifting by multinationals abroad.
Assessment of sustainable land management and food security among climatic shocks’ exposed to African farmers
Authors: Oyekale Abayomi Samuel
Published: February 2016

Climate change is one of the major challenges of agricultural production in many developing countries. It complements some other development challenges like civil unrests, environmental degradation and HIV&AIDS as one of the major obstacles to Africa’s socioeconomic development. African policy makers have now realized the enormity of economic consequences of climate change, and are coming up with mechanisms for reducing vulnerability through adaptive mechanisms. These would reduce the problem of food insecurity since agriculture is the dominant sector in many African countries. Similarly, these efforts are justifiable given that high proportion of the labor force is found in agriculture and other related activities. This paper analysed the impact of sustainable land use on monthly food shortages among farmers in selected African countries. Data used for this study were collected by the CGIAR’s Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) as baseline survey between late 2010 to early 2011. Five sites were randomly selected from East Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda), while in West Africa, five sites were each selected from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger and Senegal. A total of 1398 farm households were sampled from the two sub-regions using structured questionnaire. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics and Negative Binomial (NB) regression model. The results showed that majority of the farmers from Senegal had no formal education, while average numbers of months when farm households were unable to meet households’ food needs were highest in Ethiopia (6.55), Tanzania (5.36) and Ghana (4.44). The results from Negative binomial regression showed that monthly food shortages significantly increased (p<0.05) with exposure to climatic shocks, introduction of new crops, late planting, use of mulching and stopping irrigation. It however reduced significantly (p<0.05) with food cropland owned, vegetable cultivation, fish production, remittance income, access to formal and informal loans, income from renting land, stop planting a variety, improved irrigation and use of integrated crop management. It was concluded that the farmers were adjusting their farming systems in response to climate change and efforts at promoting sustainable farming system will enhance their adaptive capacity and food security given the current climatic changes.
Income inequality and social capital, are they negatively related?: European cross-country analyses 2006-2012
Authors: Ioakimidis Marilou , Heijke Hans
Published: February 2016

Theoretical notions in the literature suggest the existence of a negative relationship between earnings inequality and social capital as measured by interpersonal trust. In a number of crosscountry studies this negative relationship has been confirmed. However, in later cross country-studies that control for per capita wealth and several characteristics of the population and analyse one year or shifts over longer periods find no relationship between inequality and trust. In our study we take into account that socio-cultural factors may obscure this relationship. Our main focus is on the role of a country’s welfare regime. Four regimes are distinguished: social democratic regime, conservative regime, liberal regime and transition country. We further examine the impact on interpersonal trust of per capita GDP and the societal indicators percent of residents with tertiary education, percent urbanization, government spending as a percent of GDP. We use data over four points of time from 17 European countries. Besides cross-section OLS regression models using averaged data, fixed-effects models are estimated to control for unobserved time-invariant factors. We find the hypothesised negative relationship between earnings inequality and interpersonal trust not confirmed by our data. Our findings do suggest associations between interpersonal trust and welfare regime. With regard to the welfare regime, we found in particular that a conservative regime, a liberal regime and a transition regime are all associated with a much lower level of interpersonal trust than a social democratic regime. The difference in the level of interpersonal trust from countries with a social democratic regime is largest in countries in transition and smallest in countries with a liberal regime. For the development of institutions that can raise the transition countries to higher levels of social capital and economic development, those from the social democratic welfare regime appear to offer the best perspective. The social democratic welfare regime not only pays more attention to the socially vulnerable in society by paying their benefits, but – in addition to that – by investing in strengthening their productive capabilities to improve their chances on the labour market.
The high cost of low quality infrastructure when natural disasters strike
Authors: Escaleras Monica , Register Charles
Published: February 2016

There is clear evidence embedded in the geological record of natural disasters such as volcanic activity, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and the like striking earth for many millennia. Interestingly and for as yet unknown reasons, there has been a fourfold increase in such disasters over the last four decades. While the reason or reasons for this spike is yet to be understand (randomness, long-term trends or perhaps global warming), it has led to a great deal of research into the relationships between natural disasters and socio-economic factors. While many could be listed, research into whether disasters spawn public sector corruption, how effective mitigation actions such as tidal buoys and seismographs can prove to be, whether institutions such as property rights play a role in determining a disaster’s devastation and the impact of disasters on differing country’s economic growth serve as good examples. We add to this literature by considering the seemingly obvious relationship between the quality of a country’s infrastructure and deaths due to disasters which to date has not been tested as there has been no consistent, cross-country measure of infrastructure quality. To be sure, our expectation is that quality infrastructure mitigates disasters but it is this missing link in the research that we seek to fill. To provide a direct test of the importance of infrastructure, we consider 126 countries that experienced at least one natural disaster during the period 2005-2012. The data on disasters is taken from the EM-DAT archive, collected and maintained by the non-profit institution Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED). The uniqueness of the analysis is made possible by the use of the only consistent, cross-country measure of infrastructure quality recently made available by the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Competitiveness Report . Given that the key dependent variable throughout is a count of deaths, the empirical analyses are based on a series of Negative Binomial panel models. As expected, we find consistent, negative and strong statistically significant relationships between a country’s infrastructure quality and deaths due to disasters. Thus, the results suggest that when decision-making takes place within a country with respect to how its resources will be spent, investments in high-quality infrastructure will certainly yield positive returns when disasters strike. Similarly, governmental and non-governmental agencies that provide development assistance would well serve developing countries through loans and grants designed to provide funding for the development of high-quality infrastructure.
Oil prices and macroeconomic dynamics of the Oman economy
Authors: Hakro Ahmed Nawaz , Omezzine Abdallah Mohammed
Published: February 2016

Recent oil price changes have significantly influenced the macroeconomic activities of both oil importing and exporting economies. It has shifted the external balances of many economies. This study investigates the short and long run effects of oil price changes on macroeconomic activities of small open economy of Oman. The short-run changes in oil prices affect the economy via exchange rate and terms of trade channels, which in turn, affect the aggregate demand and supply aspects. While in long run, if the shocks remain persistent, the economy experiences the significant revenue windfalls and positive external balances. However, the degree of external shocks to domestic economy depends on the domestic response to external shocks. Vector Auto Regression (VAR) model is used to trace out those dynamics. VAR model is considered suitable methodological option in identifying the structural shocks through generalized innovations of impulse response functions and variance decompositions. The vector of six key macroeconomic variables is expressed in VAR framework. The framework establishes the joint behaviour of key variables through time and determines the structural dynamics of Oman economy. The variance decompositions are generated from a moving average representation of the VAR system and show the forecast error variance for each variable in the system attributable to both of its own innovations and those comes from other variables. Results suggest that changes in oil prices significantly affect the real exchange rate, output and external balances. Impulse response functions and variance decompositions results confirm positive effect of oil price changes on real effective exchange rates, real - output and consumer prices. To contain the inflationary expectations both in short and long run, the governments are usually resorting towards expansionary policies. The long run changes in oil prices is the key determining factor of output growth and subsequent changes in fiscal and monetary policy adaptations. The results further indicate that innovations in real output largely influenced by changes in prices. Innovations in money supply induce by changes in real output. Real output innovations positively affect by crude oil prices. Money supply is positively influenced by real output. In short run, the expansionary policies are consistent and have served well in containing the inflationary expectations and by maintaining the positive external balances. However, in long run, over reliance on stabilization policies in pegged exchange rate economies like of Oman economy may provide fewer options to contain the external shocks.
How sustainable is the use of different savings devices?: A study of formal and informal finance in Benin
Authors: Elven Sarah , LeMay-Boucher* Philippe
Published: February 2016

There are several types of savings device, both formal and informal, available for households in Cotonou, Benin. Different savings mechanisms have very different features; some are more flexible whilst others act as commitment devices to ensure sufficient saving. There is evidence in the literature for a demand for both such devices, though each have their shortcomings. For example, a high degree of device flexibility may result in low overall saving whilst membership of commitment savings products may be difficult to sustain in the face of shocks. In this paper we consider the membership sustainability of savings devices with different levels of flexibility. The devices chosen are those most widely used in Benin’s largest city, Cotonou. Our sample covers both formal and informal saving: the formal device considered is a bank account whilst tontiniers and roscas are the informal savings products studied. Using survey data for the years 2004 and 2006, we analyze the stability over time of the use of each device in the face of health and funeral shocks. We estimate the impact of these shocks on the probability of membership in the second wave of the survey given use of this particular device in the first wave, controlling for individual and device-specific characteristics. Our analysis helps us to isolate threats to the sustainability of membership rather than using panel regressions to simply measure the determinants of membership over time. We conclude that devices that offer flexibility to their clients are more resilient in the face of unexpected shocks. Rosca membership appears to be the most affected by negative income shocks for this reason. Furthermore, shocks that can be anticipated may increase the membership sustainability of more flexible devices since members may seek to put more money aside to prepare for such occurrences. Our results indicate that device flexibility can aid the sustained use of savings mechanisms in developing country contexts. A move from informal to more flexible formal devices could benefit individuals with a very varied income stream by allowing them to smooth their income in the face of shocks and to accumulate more savings in the long term through sustained membership.
Are religious minorities deprived of public good provisions?: Regional evidence from India
Authors: Das Pranab Kumar , Kar* Saibal
Published: February 2016

Religious and ethnic minorities often face partisan treatment with regard to provision of public goods. This may be due to discriminatory practices or historical antecedents, like caste divides in India. We measure access to public goods in eleven districts of West Bengal in India where rural concentration of religious minorities, namely Muslims is higher than the state and country-level averages. We look at the contemporary socio-economic conditions of religious minorities in the state and the outcome regarding access to public good. The evidence as presented in this paper is based on cross-section data collected between Censuses of India. This is unavailable in the extant literature. Our unit of analysis for the econometric exercise is the village. We calculated average values of the relevant variables for each village from household responses, and the aggregate village level information from the village survey data. To this end, we adopted a stratified multistage sampling design in which households are the targeted sampling units chosen from rural areas only. The first stage units are the 2001 Census villages constituting the primary sampling units. The development blocks as comprising of Census villages have been classified into three strata on the basis of the percentage of Muslim population. Subsequently, using Generalized Linear Models we find evidence of strong horizontal inequality against Muslims in terms of access to public goods. We estimated the access to targeted and non-targeted public goods such as drinking water, distance to hospitals, distance and quality of educational facilities, transport, condition of roads, etc, based on the level of concentration of Muslim population. We use percentage of Muslim population at the village level and the highest concentration dummy as key explanatory variables. Provision of public goods seems to have a negative relation with the rise in concentration of minority population. Further, to decompose the outcome variables in terms of explained (viz. education and occupation) and unexplained (viz. discrimination) variations, we use Blinder-Oaxaca technique. In particular, the minority population in concentrated districts face poorer access to infrastructure, health and transport facilities. As policy, the district level plans need to address deficits in identifiable pockets of underdevelopment with respect to some of the variables discussed here. Moreover, the persistence of information gaps and poor implementation of policies in several parts, including the region under study, despite elaborate decentralization of governance in the country needs to be addressed from institutional perspectives in future analyses.
Beyond Authenticity: The US Occupation of Haiti and the Politics of Folk Culture
Authors: Owens Imani D.
Published: February 2016

This essay turns to a seminal ethnography, Jean Price-Mars’s So Spoke the Uncle (Ainsi parla l’oncle ), considering this text’s engagement with the politics and poetics of Black folk culture during the US occupation of Haiti. It is well established that So Spoke the Uncle (1928) is a foundational text in indigéniste and noiriste movements, which offered ideological responses to the problem of US imperialism by turning to the beliefs and cultural practices of the masses. However, a full understanding of Price-Mars’s legacy must include his participation in transnational conversations on folk culture that invigorated Black literary production in the interwar period. While Price-Mars is often read as a purveyor of authentic folk culture, I argue that he turned to the folk not merely to reinforce their authenticity, but to demonstrate their historicity. Given the intellectual climate, this understanding of the folk was a strategic epistemological intervention. On one hand Price-Mars challenged an ongoing imperial narrative that cast Haitian culture as not only barbaric, but also ahistorical : fundamentally detached from (yet paradoxically a threat to) civilized modernity. On the other hand, his work also revised celebrations of folk culture that nostalgically relegated this group to a space of premodern myth, even as the folk served as passive inspiration for the modern artist. Price-Mars’s comparative method and his emphasis on the subversive potential of Vodou and folklore help to emphasize the folk’s active participation in the historical processes that had shaped Haiti since before the revolution. Neither primitive threat nor nostalgic anecdote to modernity, the folk themselves are modern. By highlighting the historicity of the folk, Price-Mars is able to emphasize the material circumstances of their lives and argue for their role in strategies of resistance.
Garveyism in Haiti during the US Occupation
Authors: Plummer Brenda Gayle
Published: February 2016

The circumstances of the US intervention created space for the Garvey movement to emerge in Haiti. Global criticism of the occupation regime brought Haiti into the global spotlight and encouraged participation in the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) by members of an emerging middle class. Haitian Garveyites linked the plight of Haiti under US control to the worldwide prevalence of colonialism and racism during the epoch. UNIA philosophy fed a mainstream of nationalist thought already developed in Haiti but departed from it in harboring a transcendent belief in the potential of Africa and the diaspora. Like the conventional activism of the Union Patriotique, Haitian Garveyism was an urban phenomenon, with little penetration in rural society. As a consequence, it never became a major force in the country but proved a significant, if subtle, influence on the subsequent development of Haitian politics and culture.
Then and Now: Haitian Journalism as Resistance to US Occupation and US-Led Reconstruction
Authors: Roberts Shearon
Published: February 2016

During the US occupation of Haiti from 1915 to 1934, Haiti’s Fourth Estate, the Haitian press, stood in solidarity with ordinary Haitians and became a fixed feature of the resistance in Haiti to foreign occupation for nineteen years. The alliance featured conservative publications like Le Matin , traditional commercial papers like Le Nouvelliste , and radical antioccupation ones like Haïti-Intégrale and La Presse . Despite their differing political persuasions, owners of the dozens of newspapers in Haiti challenged the Haitian state and the United States for the loss of Haitian sovereignty, and many went to jail for it. In 2015, an alliance between Haiti’s leading media organizations, the ANMH and AMIH, has emerged in the face of a new US-led interference, this time in the country’s reconstruction. The threat to the country’s sovereignty by the international aid community has come at a time when political and economic institutions remain weak. Haiti’s press stands out as an institution willing to hold an open debate about Haiti’s recovery and development. This role is significant given the country’s fledgling democracy and persistent socioeconomic crises brought on by two decades of political upheavals and natural disasters culminating with the 2010 earthquake. The narrative in Haitian newsrooms and radio programs on the ground echoes the narratives of 1915. The strategies employed by Haiti’s alliance of media organizations today, both mainstream and alternative, harkens back to the solidarity on display between Haiti’s radical and conservative press when Haiti faced occupation in 1915. The censorship and repression of the Haitian press is evident today, but when faced with an external threat to national self-determination, Haiti’s media continues to act as an advocate for the Haitian people.
Des Leaders protestants haïtiens dans la vague anticléricale et nationaliste (1927–1929)
Authors: Clorméus Lewis Ampidu
Published: February 2016

La situation des religions durant l’occupation américaine d’Haïti (1915–1934) est très peu étudiée. Certains chercheurs n’accordent pas assez d’importance aux sources primaires et, de ce fait, expriment des préjugés à l’égard de certaines religions. Ainsi il est courant d’entendre que le protestantisme, dans son ensemble, a été instrumentalisé par les missions religieuses nord-américaines en vue de légitimer la tutelle étrangère en échange d’un appui symbolique et financier destiné à croître ses effectifs et le placer en position hégémonique dans la société haïtienne. Une telle thèse présente de nombreuses lacunes. D’abord, elle ne repose sur aucune statistique officielle sur la prolifération des églises, leur distribution spatiale et l’évolution de leurs effectifs (croissance et désaffiliation selon des dénominations religieuses) avant et durant cette période qui nous intéresse. Des auteurs comme Catts Pressoir et Charles-Poisset Romain, tous deux des leaders protestants, s’appuient essentiellement sur des sources officieuses et contestables autant que sur des données non vérifiables fournies par les missions religieuses elles-mêmes. Mais il faut admettre également que les contingents militaires américains étaient largement composés de protestants et que ceux-ci pourraient avoir des préférences pour certaines dénominations religieuses déjà établies en Haïti. Ce serait peut-être l’origine même de cette thèse selon laquelle l’occupant aurait affiché, pour des raisons stratégiques, une affinité particulière à l’égard du protestantisme et concouru à son expansion. Par ailleurs, le pentecôtisme est le seul courant important établi en Haïti durant cette tranche historique. Il s’implante dans le pays en 1929 grâce au zèle de leaders locaux dont l’un avait émigré à Memphis aux États-Unis d’Amérique. Ces acteurs ont contribué à la fondation de plusieurs églises à Port-au-Prince qu’ils ont associées aussitôt à des missions pentecôtistes américaines. Il faudrait se pencher davantage sur ces dernières et leurs ramifications en Haïti, notamment à partir de leurs archives, pour mesurer éventuellement leur croissance et vérifier dans quelle mesure elles auraient contribué à légitimer l’occupation américaine d’Haïti. Cet article revient, de manière spécifique, sur un épisode méconnu dans l’histoire du nationalisme haïtien des années 1920. Il s’agit de l’émergence d’un contexte anticlérical entretenu par le journal Le Petit impartial , dans lequel s’illustrent notamment Georges J. Petit et Jacques Roumain, et par deux journaux protestants : Le Lien et L’Haïtien .
Mwen Pas Connait as Resistance: Haitians’ Silence against a Violent State
Authors: Alexis Yveline
Published: February 2016

During the US military presence in Haiti from 1915 to 1934, insurgent Haitians and US forces fought each other. As US troops’ violence escalated on armed Haitian guerrilla fighters, unarmed citizens devised new systems of protest—silence and the ruse of obliviousness. This article analyzes both acts as unique and effective tools. Haitians brandished them as weapons against the violence they experienced under US imperialism.