bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Building green supply chain management in pharmaceutical companies in Indonesia
Authors: Ricardianto Prasadja , Kholdun Amrulloh Ibnu , Fachrey Khalil Ridhonudzon , Nofrisel Nofrisel , Agusinta Lira , Setiawan Edhie Budi , Abidin Zaenal , Purba Okin Ringan , Perwitasari Erni Pratiwi , Endri Endri
Published: February 2022

This study aims to analyze the contribution of Green Manufacturing and Green Distribution on improving the performance of Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) through Reverse Logistics. The development of industry and increasing consumer concern for the environment as well as issues regarding the concept of an environmentally sound industry have forced industries to adjust in line with the GSCM concept. To make the program a success, Green Manufacturing, Green Distribution, and Reverse Logistics are assumed to be supporting the implementation process. This study uses quantitative methods, with the number of samples taken randomly as many as 70 people. The analysis was carried out using the Path Analysis method. Hypothesis testing was carried out in two stages, namely Structural Model-1 and Structural Model-2 testing to obtain each path coefficient number. The results of the study conclude that there is the contribution of Green Manufacturing, Green Distribution, and Reverse Logistics on the success of GSM implementation so that companies must always pay attention to the facilities and related policies to improve the performance of those variables.
The role of supply chain management and competitive advantage on the performance of Indonesian SMEs
Authors: Barusman Andala Rama Putra , Habiburrahman Habiburrahman
Published: February 2022

The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of supply chain management on competitive advantage, the effect of supply chain management on performance and the effect of competitive advantage on performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The object of this research includes all SMEs in Tangerang, the population in this study also covers all 680 Small and Medium Enterprises in Tangerang, Indonesia. The research method uses quantitative methods and the technique used for data collection is by using an online questionnaire. Questionnaires are given to 210 owners or managers of Small and Medium Enterprises who were selected using the simple random sampling method. Data analysis used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with data processing tools using SmartPLS software. The results of data analysis show that supply chain management has a positive and significant effect on the performance of SMEs. Supply chain management has a positive and significant effect on competitive advantage. Finally, competitive advantage has a positive and significant effect on performance.
The role of sustainable HRM in supply chain, profitability and resource utilization
Authors: Waiyawuththanapoom Phutthiwat , Jermsittiparsert Kittisak
Published: February 2022

The objective of this study was to examine the role of sustainable human resources management (HRM) in supply chain, profitability and resource utilization. The mediating role of operational accuracy was also examined. Finally, the relationship between sustainable HRM, operational accuracy, supply chain, profitability and resource utilization were also examined. The relationship was investigated among the cement manufacturing companies and cement manufacturing companies of Indonesian were selected for the purpose of this study. Finally, data were collected from the Indonesian companies and employees of these companies were the respondents of the study. Finally, 450 questionnaires were distributed among the cement manufacturing companies. The results of the study show that sustainable HRM has a major role to increase operational accuracy. Sustainable HRM practices had a positive effect on supply chain, profitability and resource utilization. Moreover, operational accuracy maintained a positive role to enhance supply chain, profitability and resource utilization among the cement manufacturing companies. Moreover, sustainable HRM showed positive role in operational accuracy and operational accuracy showed positive role to enhance supply chain, profitability and resource utilization.
Minimization of multiproduct fabrication cost featuring rework, commonality, external provider, and postponement
Authors: Sung Peng-Cheng , Lai Chia-Ming , Wang Yunsen , Chiu Yuan-Shyi P.
Published: February 2022

This study presents a multiproduct fabrication cost-minimization model featuring external providers, commonality, rework, and postponement in the supply chain environment. Customers’ requirements simultaneously emphasize quality, variety, and fast response time in current markets. To satisfy customer needs, most manufacturers in various industries (e.g., clothing, household goods, automotive, etc.) plan their multiproduct fabrication by incorporating a postponement strategy, rework process, and an outsourcing option. Motivated by the viewpoints above, this study offers a decision support system to address customers’ external expectations while optimizing internal operating expenses and machine utilization. We propose a single-machine, two-stage delayed differentiation system under a rotation cycle policy. All needed common parts are made in stage one, and stage two fabricates different end products. An external provider is hired to supply partially needed common parts to shorten uptime. The defective items are inevitably produced in both stages. They are categorized and reworked to maintain the desired product quality. Finally, we derive an optimal cost-minimization rotation cycle for our model and use a numerical example to investigate the collective and individual influences of reworking, postponement, and outsourcing to external providers on the multiproduct fabrication problem. In summary, this study can offer an optimization solution for production planning in various modern industries.
Business performance model of herbal community enterprise in Thailand
Authors: Kerdpitak Chayanan
Published: February 2022

The research study was carried out to investigate the actual business performance model in herbal medicine business in Thailand. The conceptual framework was developed from resource-based theory of herbal medicine community enterprise, and other contemporaneous research in herbal medicine business performance. Accordingly, the study considered the importance of the factors of marketing channel, competitive advantage, logistics integration and innovative management. In this direction, the study employed a quantitative research approach. Questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were collected from 340 entrepreneurs of herbal community enterprise. Finally, data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the actual herbal business performance of the organizations studied through all operational links in the marketing channel, competitive advantage, logistics integration and innovative management. Results of the study found that marketing channels had a positive effect on herbal business performance. Competitive advantage also had a positive effect on herbal business performance. Furthermore, logistics performance had a positive effect on herbal business performance. Finally, similar results were found in case of innovative management which shows the positive effect on herbal business performance.
The influence of tangible resources and operational performance to promote financial performance of electronic industry
Authors: Wongwilai Sasiwimon , Putnuan Sarawut , Banyongpisut Ananya , Choopak Watanyu , Sutikasana Chatchai , Wongcharoensin Kitichai , Oungthong Metha , Trakoonsanti Lamphai , Jermsittiparsert Kittisak
Published: February 2022

The objective of this study is to examine the role of tangible resources and operational performance (OP) in the financial performance (FP). This study examined the relationship between tangible resources, OP, supply chain, profitability and sustainable FP. Furthermore, this study examined the mediation effect of supply chain and profitability. Indonesian electronic companies were selected in the current study for data collection. Therefore, the population is grounded on the Indonesian electronic companies and data were collected from the employees of these companies. 600 questionnaires were used in this study for data collection and 350 questionnaires were returned to analyze the data. Data analysis was carried out through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results of the study highlighted that resources are the major role in FP. Particularly, the tangible resources of the company are vital to enhance the performance in financial terms. Tangible resources have a positive effect on OP, supply chain and profitability. Furthermore, OP has a positive effect on supply chain and profitability which further increases the FP.
“Those blessed structures”: Robert Lowell’s Architectural Aesthetic
Authors: Gill Jo
Published: February 2022

This article reads Robert Lowell’s poetry in terms of its engagement with architecture. It argues that at crucial moments in American history, and in Lowell’s life, the architectural environment of the various places he called home (including Boston, Maine, Ohio, New York, and Kent, England) offered a perspective, a language, and a set of forms through which to negotiate personal, historical, and cultural change. This is a process that he achieved, in part, with reference to the work of other poets including Elizabeth Bishop, Hart Crane, and William Carlos Williams. By moving beyond a general reading of place, and towards a specific and granular reading of architectural figuration, I show that Lowell is able to contemplate and eventually to restructure the relationship between tradition and innovation—a process that is vital to his developing poetics.
Two Meditations On Some Benjaminian Motifs in Elizabeth Bishop
Authors: Foust Graham
Published: February 2022

This essay offers close readings of Elizabeth Bishop’s poems “Cirque d’Hiver” and “Filling Station” aided by selections from various works by Walter Benjamin, whose book One-Way Street [Einbahnstrasse] begins with a thought-image that is also titled “Filling Station” [“Tankstelle”]. Using Benjamin’s interest in Charles Baudelaire, toys, and the miniature, his critiques of domesticity and advertisements, and his theories of collection to illuminate the poems’ formal and narrative elements, these meditations focus on Bishop’s use of rhyme in “Cirque d’Hiver” and her passing mention of “some comic books” in “Filling Station,” while also reflecting on the former poem’s previous titles, the concepts of melancholy and care, the ESSO oil brand, and poetry’s incitement to laughter.
1 Peter 3:1–6: Biblical Authority and Battered Wives
Authors: Reeder Caryn
Published: February 2022

Counsel given to battered women in the church has too often relied on 1 Pet 3:1–6 to encourage women to stay with an abusive husband for the husband's sake. This article argues that, while this teaching may be the message of 1 Pet 3:1–6, its use by the church is an abuse of biblical authority. Historical, literary, and canonical contexts suggest that the surface message of the text — submission to even an abusive husband—is not its complete message.
Anarchy, Racism, Storytelling, and Broken Politics
Authors: Fleming Robert Barry
Published: February 2022

An intersectional exploration of the collision of the two public health crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and the reckoning with systemic racism after the revelations of the Breonna Taylor and George Floyd killings. The role of storytelling and art in a time of a distrust, disease, disinformation. and the ever-growing global movement toward authoritarianism and fascism. How it specifically has rooted in our country through the sowing of the seeds of confusion, chaos and white supremacist nihilism.
When Narrative Becomes Theatrical
Authors: Alatawi Maha
Published: February 2022

Storytelling is an integral component of Irish tradition, folklore, and culture. Ireland's rich narrative tradition can be traced back to the early oral act of storytelling, undertaken by the seanchaí (storyteller or historian). Despite the wide spectrum of studies and broadly ranging arguments on storytelling in general and other specific aspects, in Irish drama narrative and the monologue, as well as narrative levels and types of narrators, have never been analyzed. In narratological terms Irish drama is rich with various degrees of diegetic narrativity employed differently by its various playwrights. This article looks more closely into a subject that until now has not received attention in the context of Irish theatre. In Irish theatre, in which language, narrative, and storytelling are recurrent topics, it is crucial that we understand how narrative is more complicated than the simple telling of a story and that it possesses techniques and levels that are worth reflecting on for their ability to change nuance and the experience of the audience.
Gender Discrimination, Human Capital and Marriage
Authors: Dessy Sylvain E. , Pallage Stéphane
Published: February 2022

We show that the recognition of basic women's rights in developing countries may have important positive spillovers on the whole sphere of labor market transactions, with more women seeking education and an overall lesser wage discrimination against women. A combination of basic women's rights such as marriage consent, access to credit and the right to do business is shown to have important effects on the wage women can earn for their labor. Access to credit/entrepreneurship, in particular, raises the threat point of women in a spousal bargaining and has the interesting effect of making the transfer from husband to wife, otherwise decreasing with discrimination, a positive function of wage discrimination in the society. Our analysis suggests that where women empowerment has taken place, either from within or following women-targeted foreign aid, education for women should be on the rise and political support for a lessening of wage discrimination against women should be gaining ground.
Investment, Financial Factors and Cash Flow from Nigerian Panel Data
Authors: Adelegan Olatundun Janet
Published: February 2022

The study investigates how the incidence and severity of information and agency problems vary across firms and over time in Nigeria, and assesses the differential effects on corporate investment. A reduced form q-cash flow model and interaction approach was adopted to examine the effects of firm size, age and industry specific characteristics on cash flow. The model was estimated using panel data for Nigerian manufacturing firms from 1984-2000. Financial effects are generally important for investment in all firms. However, the extent and impact of financial effects are not uniformly distributed. The study concludes that the effect of size is neutral; however, older firms tend to rely more on internal funds to finance their corporate investment than the newer firms. The effect of financial factors on investment varies across firms according to their industrial characteristics.
Economic Regress and Niger Delta Grievances
Authors: Nafziger E. Wayne
Published: February 2022

The epicenter of Nigeria's deadly political violence is the clash for benefits from petroleum, more than 90 percent of which is produced in the Niger Delta (Ibaba, 2005). The sources of conflict in Nigeria include its ruling coalitions facing pressure from economic stagnation and the high-stakes corruption and rent seeking for the control of oil. Delta grievances derive from the lack of community control and land rights, the little revenue for petroleum's producing region, and the environmental degradation and other diseconomies borne by oil-bearing regions. Grievances also come from the lack of democratic accountability, high inequality, and Delta poverty that, while lower than Nigeria generally, is enough to trigger relative deprivation, the perception of social injustices from discrepancies between expectations and actuality. The only approach out of Nigeria's current impasse in the Niger Delta and other regions is to entrust policy to an economic meritocracy (as in Indonesia) that would elicit the fast economic growth that would create a positive-sum game, in which secure regional elites allow the Niger Delta and other regions to exercise decentralized power and land-use rights.
Polycentric Planning and Community Self-Governance as Panacea to the Niger Delta Crisis
Authors: Akinola S. R.
Published: February 2022

This paper argues that the missing link in the effort to resolve the Niger Delta crisis is the neglect of indigenous organizations. Scholars and policy makers have underplayed the role of self-organized institutions in the governance of community affairs in the Niger Delta. The fact that stakeholders in the development process operate on parallel lines has been the bane of good governance and development in the region. These parties do not communicate with each other and thus have not been able to harness their efforts in the development process. Consequently, the problems in the region have become complex, and hydra-headed. This paper therefore considers imperative a multifaceted strategy that can simultaneously address these problems, and recommends polycentric planning and community self-governance embracing the application of eight African development models that cut across several sectors of the economy in the Niger Delta.
Image and Reality of Arabs in East Africa
Authors: Alpers Edward A.
Published: February 2022

The image of Arabs in East Africa has been forged through economic and social relations dating back many centuries, but particularly since the rise of the Omani Arab Sultanate of Zanzibar in the 19th century and the British decision to replicate that social order along the coastal strip of Kenya. Central to this image is the perceived role of Arabs in driving the slave trade from East Africa. The paper ends by considering how this imagined history might affect recent attempts to build an economic relationship between Gulf states, especially Qatar, and Kenya.
Africa and Arab Gulf States: Divergent Development Paths and Prospects for Convergence
Authors: Fofack Hippolyte
Published: February 2022

In spite of the similarities between Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council states, development policies in these two regions of the world have produced markedly divergent outcomes. The remarkable increase in personal income and large current account surpluses in Arab Gulf states contrast with widespread poverty and balance of payments crises in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper reviews the causes of these divergent development paths and discusses the prospects for economic convergence in the growing trade ties between the two regions. It shows that development models underpinned by institutional continuity and intergenerational accountability could enhance long-run growth in Sub-Saharan Africa and income convergence between the two regions.
Dhows to Planes: Trade Relations between the Arabian Gulf and Africa and their Impacts on Development
Authors: Gĩthĩnji Mwangi wa
Published: February 2022

The relationship between the Arabian Gulf and the African continent is a long standing one. In this paper we will examine the recent history of trade between the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council and African countries and its potential impact on industrialization. We will briefly discuss the relationship between trade and industrialization and the degree to which this relationship has held in the post-independence period of African countries. This will be followed by an examination of the volume and trends in trade between Africa and the Gulf, and a first estimation of how it has changed. After establishing what the volume of trade is, we examine the sophistication of exports from both regions to each other in an attempt to uncover whether the trade of today has the ability not only to affect growth because of its size, but also to impact the process of industrial transformation because of the kind of goods traded. We will examine the sophistication of exports using the ten groups of exports created by Sanjaya Lall (Lall, 2000; Lall et al., 2006). We will end the paper with some suggestions on the lessons that policy makers should take away from our exercise.
African Economic Development: An Overview
Authors: Asiedu Elizabeth , El-Hodiri Mohamed
Published: February 2022

These remarks introduce the special issue of the journal with the core papers selected from the conference on African Trade and Development held at The University of Kansas from October 2 to October 3, 2009.
Trade is Not the Enemy – Nor is it a “Magic Bullet”
Authors: Mshomba Richard E.
Published: February 2022

Trade is an important tool for economic growth. Trade steers countries toward an efficient use of resources, an infusion of new technologies, and greater competition. But economic growth is not automatic. Even when trade leads to economic growth, it does not necessarily translate into real economic development. For that to happen, trade must be fostered in conjunction with other development-enhancing initiatives. This paper focuses on the link between trade and development, the role of domestic policies in agriculture, regional economic integration, and the potential impact of aid.
Civil War, Sexual Violence and HIV Infections: Evidence from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Authors: Kalonda-Kanyama Isaac
Published: February 2022

This paper estimates the effect of sexual violence and economic vulnerability on HIV prevalence rates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We find that HIV prevalence rates are higher in conflict-affected regions than in non-conflict regions, and that sexual violence and economic vulnerability significantly affect HIV prevalence rates. The combined effect of civil war and sexual violence is positive and strongly significant. However, conflict-related economic vulnerability does not explain HIV infections.
East Africa and the End of the Indian Ocean Slave Trade
Authors: Hopper Matthew S.
Published: February 2022

The conventional historiography claims that the East African slave trade came to an end in the 1880s as a result of the British Royal Navy's diligent patrols in the Indian Ocean. This paper argues instead that the slave trade from East Africa to Eastern Arabia endured long after the 1880s, in part because sustained demand for slave labor in Arabia and the Gulf–particularly in the lucrative pearl and date industries–remained high through the early twentieth century. The Royal Navy's celebrated antislavery campaign in the Indian Ocean was largely ineffective and was not the main factor in ending the slave trade. Instead, the East African slave trade came to an end mainly as a result of three factors beyond British control: (1) a raid by Portuguese forces against slave traders in Mozambique in 1902, (2) the development new sources of slave labor from neighboring Baluchistan, and (3) the collapse of Arabian date and pearl markets as a result of globalization and global depression.
Women's Access to Microcredit and Children's Food Security in Rural Malawi
Authors: Hazarika Gautam , Guha-Khasnobis Basudeb
Published: February 2022

Using data from the 1995 Malawi Financial Markets and Food Security Survey, this study seeks to discover if rural Malawian women's relative control over household resources or intra-household bargaining power, gauged by their access to microcredit, plays a role in young children's food security. Access to microcredit is assessed in a novel way as self-reported credit limits at microcredit organizations. Since credit limits, that is, the maximum sums that might be borrowed, hinge upon supply-side factors such as the availability of credit programs and the financial resources of lenders, it is plausible they are more exogenous than demand driven loan uptake or participation in microcredit organizations, the common ways of gauging access to microcredit. It is found that household expenditure on food significantly increases in women's, though not in men's, access to microcredit. Thus, increasing rural Malawian women's relative control over household resources may yield children greater food security. It is also found that women's access to microcredit improves 0–6 year old girls', though not boys', long-term nutrition. Thus, empowering these women may deliver more benefit to girls than boys.
A Co-Integration Analysis of Growth in Government Consumption Expenditure in Ghana
Authors: Ofori-Abebrese Grace
Published: February 2022

Growth in government consumption expenditure in Ghana has been a concern to policy makers since independence. This paper uses the co-integration technique to determine how inflation, real GDP, trade openness, population growth and relative price influence government consumption expenditure. The study revealed that increases in real GDP, trade openness and inflation cause a fall in government consumption expenditure as a share of GDP. Higher relative price levels and larger population size increase government consumption expenditure for the period 1977-2007. The study recommend measures to curb population growth, reduce the price of public goods, manage the over liberalization of the economy, among others.
All Eggs in One Basket: A Critical Reflection on Malawi's Development Strategies
Authors: Dropplemann Klaus , Makuwira Jonathan , Kumwenda Ian
Published: February 2022

This paper analyzes structural transformation in Malawi, a poor landlocked country with very high dependence on agriculture. For many decades, Malawi's development strategies were dominated by the development of the estate sector. In more recent years the focus has rightly shifted to facilitate productivity growth for the dominant smallholder population. Yet despite positive developments on that front, the economy remains precariously dependent on the predominantly rainfed production of just two major crops (maize and tobacco). Urban areas, including small rural towns, remain small and underdeveloped, and transport costs are extremely high. This suggests an urgent need for policymakers to plan for greater economic diversification, including the development of higher value agricultural commodities and agro-processing.
Institutions and Leakage of Public Funds in the Cameroonian Healthcare Delivery Chain
Authors: Njong Aloysius Mom , Ngantcha Joelle Tonda
Published: February 2022

This study attempts to examine the extent of leakage in the Cameroonian health sector and identify its sources. The analyses in the study are based on the Public Expenditure Tracking Survey data collected in Cameroon in 2004. The findings reveal that 18.8% of the actual budget allocations of decentralized health services in the Ministry of Public Health do not reach them. Health centers, which are the frontline healthcare providers, receive only 26.4% of their actual budgets contained in the recurrent expenditures of the decentralized health services. We investigate the institutional factors that correlate with the leakage rates and identified the factors that affect the likelihood of health centers receiving public funds. The study finds weak compact and voice institutional links in the Cameroonian health accountability system. The need to effectively control and monitor public funds, improve the information flow mechanism and improve the wage/allowance scale is highlighted. Finally, spending rules should be strictly respected and extra-budgetary spending restricted.
Institutions and Hospital Efficiency in Cameroon: A Data Envelopment Analysis
Authors: Zamo-Akono Christian , Ndjokou Mondjeli M. , Song-Ntamack Simon
Published: February 2022

One of the objectives of the Cameroon Health Sector Strategy is to improve the efficient use of resources in the health sector. To accomplish this goal, the government implemented a series of reforms to improve accountability among the different stakeholders of the health sector. This paper employs data from 54 peripheral public health centre (PHC) from the Cameroon 2004 PETS to examine the extent to which the observed performances of the health sector are related to the institutional reforms. We find that the average technical efficiency score is around 0.7098 and that urban PHC perform better than rural ones. We also find that compact failures have a deterrent effect on the technical efficiency of these PHC and that client-power is an effective way of overcoming these government failures. As competition between public and private healthcare facilities has a negative effect on PHC performances, this study calls for institutional mechanisms that will reduce sorting, promote equal access to quality healthcare services between rich and poor people, and advocates for the participation of the local population in the management of PHC.
Effect of Institutional Factors on the Quality of Ghana's Healthcare Delivery
Authors: Amporfu Eugenia , Nonvignon Justice , Ampadu Scholastica
Published: February 2022

Quality of care refers to all aspects of treatment that are beneficial to the patient. Process quality is used to mean beneficial aspects that arise during the process of providing healthcare, including the action of health professionals, waiting period, and the clarity of communication. This study uses the principal-agent framework to examine the effect of institutional factors on the quality indicators above in the public health facilities of Ghana. The study utilizes new survey data from malaria outpatients, health workers and administrators from sixty two health facilities in three regions across the country. Ordered logistic regressions and duration estimation were used. The results show that job satisfaction and involvement of health workers in decision making are important for the improvement of process quality. Job satisfaction had a positive effect on all process quality indicators while the involvement of health workers in decision making also had a positive effect on attitude of health workers. Cordial relationship between administration and health workers might have a negative effect on attitude of health workers and waiting period.
Decentralization, Local Government Capacity and Efficiency of Health Service Delivery in Uganda
Authors: Nannyonjo Justine , Okot Nicholas
Published: February 2022

The study investigates the impact of decentralization and local government capacity on efficiency of health service delivery in Uganda applying qualitative analysis, and two stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) on quantitative data covering a sample of 44 districts over the period 2008/09 and 2009/10. The results show that health institutions in about 31 districts out of 44 were technically efficient, while those in about 13 districts were technically inefficient under variable returns to scale (VRS), implying that health resources were not efficiently used in these institutions. Health institutions in 56.8 percent and 45.5 percent of the districts were operating at optimal scale in 2008/09 and 2009/10, respectively. Those in the remaining districts were scale inefficient, with a majority of them operating under decreasing returns to scale (DRS). Effective and accountable decentralized governance in the health sector in Uganda is typically constrained by weak capacity, particularly under-staffing at the districts levels. Policy recommendations include strengthening professional staffing in some districts to improve their capacity to deliver efficient health services; transfers of officials from districts with excess capacity to those with inadequate resources; and districts whose operations are characterized by increasing returns to scale should be considered for future expansion to consolidate their efficiency.
Institutions and the Performance of Services Funded by the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) in Kenya
Authors: Awiti Japheth Osotsi , Mutua John , Nyaga Robert , Muthaka David
Published: February 2022

We investigate the effect of institutions on the delivery of services funded by the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) in meeting constituents' needs in Kenya. Using household survey data collected by the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) in 2006 from a sample of constituencies, we construct indices of voice and client power using principal component analysis. We then estimate ordered probit models regarding the rating of the performance of CDF funded projects in meeting the constituents’ needs. The estimation strategy we adopt controls for potential endogeneity of the institutional measures, potential sample selection-bias and potential unobserved heterogeneity. The results indicate that higher quality institutions are associated with better service delivery outcomes.
Jobless Economic Growth in Africa: Is There a Role for Agriculture?
Authors: Hanson Kobena T. , Leautier Frannie
Published: February 2022

This paper employs data from 48 African countries over the period 1990–2010 to investigate the performance of African economies with respect to job creation and its relation to economic growth. We submit that the main drivers, among others, appear to be the creative use of the agricultural sector and the level of innovation and sophistication in agriculture. The insights provide some lessons for countries seeking to speed up job creation under low growth scenarios as well as those seeking to transform their economies while creating jobs.
Technology Use and Firms with Female Principal Owners in Kenya
Authors: Menon Nidhiya
Published: February 2022

Firm-level data from Kenya indicates that establishments rely on technologies such as computers, generators and cell-phones to conduct operations when regulations and security pose significant hurdles in the business environment. While all firms rely on technology in the face of obstacles, those with female owners experience net effects that are statistically distinct from those experienced by male counterparts. A gender-of-owner disaggregated Oaxaca-Blinder type decomposition of differences in technology use indicates that up to 18 percent of the total gap is unexplained by differences in measurable characteristics, suggesting that female-owned firms use technology to a greater extent than is warranted by the level of observed covariates.
Post-HIPC Growth Dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Application to Ethiopia
Authors: Bayraktar Nihal , Fofack Hippolyte
Published: February 2022

Over the past few years, Completion Point countries under the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative across Sub-Saharan Africa have enjoyed significantly higher investments and growth rates, primarily fueled by the expanding fiscal space of the post-HIPC era. Despite these post-HIPC growth rebounds, the region is not likely to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Long-term growth projections from a simple macroeconomic model, which is applied to Ethiopia, suggest that prospects for reversing the widening income gaps with other regions of the developing world are limited and these gloomy prospects are likely to be even undermined by the risk of another sovereign debt crisis. A rapid expansion of capital accumulation financed by sustained foreign aid is required to increase income considerably.
Institutions and Economic Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Dynamic Panel Data Analysis
Authors: Kilishi A. A. , Mobolaji H. I. , Yaru M. A. , Yakubu A. T.
Published: February 2022

There is growing emphasis on the role of institutions and governance on explaining Africa's economic growth. However, it is not clear which of the institutions matter most. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to answer two separate questions: (i) Do institutions really matter in Sub-Saharan Africa?, (ii) If institutions matter, which of them matters most? Arellano and Bond first difference and Blundell-Bond System Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) estimators were used to estimate the specified models. Our results show that, institutions really matter for Sub-Saharan Africa's economic performance, among which regulatory quality appeared to be the most important. Thus the economic performance of the region could be enhanced by improving regulatory quality.
Does Foreign Aid In Education Promote Economic Growth? Evidence From Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Asiedu Elizabeth
Published: February 2022

This paper examines whether foreign aid in education has a significant effect on growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our analysis covers 38 countries over the period 1990–2004 and we control for initial per capita income, inflation, investment, government consumption, openness to trade and institutional quality. We find that (i) aid in primary education has a positive and significant effect on growth; (ii) aid in post-primary education has an adverse effect or at best no significant impact on growth; and (iii) growth increases as aid in primary education as a share of total education aid rises.
Female Education, HIV/AIDS and the Education Vaccine in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Condom Piece of the Puzzle
Authors: Brent Robert J.
Published: February 2022

There are many recent studies that indicate that female education and HIV are still positively related in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). So education is not a vaccine as claimed and there exists a puzzle that needs to be resolved. In this study, by focusing on the use and non-use of condoms by females, we provide one piece of the puzzle. That is, we identify one transmission mechanism by which female education leads to higher rates of HIV infection. We find that educated females are less likely to use condoms with their spouses and regular partners than less education females.
Credit Bureaus and Registries and Access to Finance: New Evidence from 42 African Countries
Authors: Triki Thouraya , Gajigo Ousman
Published: February 2022

Using new data from 42 African countries, we investigate the effects of public and private credit registries on firms' access to finance as well as the effect of public credit registries’ design on the severity of the financing constraint. Our results show that access to finance is on average higher in countries with private credit bureaus (PCBs), relative to countries with public credit registries (PCRs) or countries with neither institution. However, there is a significant heterogeneity in access to finance among countries with PCRs as well as the design of these institutions. We find that countries with PCRs that collect positive and negative information on borrowers' credit histories are associated with firms reporting smaller obstacles in access to finance. Likewise, we show that provision of online credit information is only beneficial when the internet penetration rate in the country is high and that reducing minimum cut-off for loan coverage by PCRs helps soften the financing constraint only when positive and negative information is provided.
What Brings China to Africa? An Analysis of Market Size, Natural Resource Availability and Macroeconomic Risk
Authors: Dzigbede Komla D.
Published: February 2022

This study applies the fixed effects vector decomposition procedure on a panel of 38 African countries to analyze factors that determine China's trade engagement with African countries. Results show that China's trade engagement with Africa is driven mainly by African countries' market size, natural resource availability, and bilateral trade cooperation with China. Macroeconomic and infrastructural risk factors in African countries do not seem to be major considerations in China's trade engagement with Africa. These findings highlight key factors that should be at the core of regional and international level discussions on China-Africa trade strategy and policy.
Exports, Price Transmission, and Wage Inequality: Evidence Using the Case of the Impact of AGOA in Ghanaian Manufacturing Firms
Authors: Mulangu Francis
Published: February 2022

The paper presents evidence of the relationship between exports and wage inequality using manufacturing firm-level data from Ghana. After contextualizing the Ghanaian manufacture sector a dynamic difference-indifferences model was used to compare exporting firms to matched non-exporting ones before and after the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) was enacted. Robustness tests were used to verify if the estimated export premium is associated with AGOA. After estimating the heterogeneous change in wages associated with the export premium, the paper finds that exporting per se may not necessarily lead to wage inequality, but the mechanism by which export premium is transmitted to workers and this mechanism has primarily benefited unskilled male workers with relatively lower pre-AGOA wages working in smaller firms.
An Empirical Analysis of Integration and Intra-Regional Trade in ECOWAS
Authors: Dada Eme A. , Adeleke Adegoke I.
Published: February 2022

This study examines integration and intra-regional trade in ECOWAS. It focuses on the benefit of common policies within ECOWAS and their implications for intra-regional trade among member countries. The study utilizes a gravity model that is modified to reflect economic features of ECOWAS. Findings of the research show that economic size and common language are the major drivers of intra-regional trade in ECOWAS. Specifically, it indicates that real GDP, population size, openness and language positively influence intra-regional trade while distance was found to be negatively related to intra-ECOWAS trade. Deepening economic and cultural integration is recommended to maximize the enormous gains accruable from increased intra-regional trade.
Export Diversification And Economic Growth In Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Hodey Louis S. , Oduro Abena D. , Senadza Bernardin
Published: February 2022

Most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have been associated with low and volatile growth performance over the years. Export diversification has been identified in the literature as growth-inducing. This study provides evidence on the relationship between export diversification and economic growth using panel data of forty-two (42) SSA countries. Employing the system Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) estimation technique and three different measures of diversification, we find that export diversification has a positive and significant effect on economic growth in SSA. Our results are robust to the measures of export diversification. The results do not however support a hump-shaped (non-linear) relationship between export diversification and economic growth in SSA. The findings have relevant implications for policy.
Do African Countries Get Health from Health Aid?
Authors: Gyimah-Brempong Kwabena
Published: February 2022

This paper uses panel data and a dynamic panel data (DPD) estimator to investigate the effects of health aid on health outcomes and health expenditures in African countries. Health aid is found to have a positive and significant effect on health outcomes in African countries. Moreover, health aid is more effective at improving health outcomes for countries that increase domestic health expenditure and for those with better governance. The results also show that health aid marginally increases domestic health expenditure in African countries, suggesting that the effect of health aid on health outcomes may be larger than the direct effect.
Global Trends in Gender Equality
Authors: Seguino Stephanie
Published: February 2022

This paper assesses country and regional trends in gender inequality since 1990 in three domains: capabilities, livelihoods, and agency. The data offer evidence of substantial improvements in education, a component of the capabilities domain. There has been some modest but uneven progress in the livelihoods domain, particularly with regard to employment. In contrast, there is a reversal in progress towards job integration, as evidenced by a decline in the ratio of the share of women employed in the industrial sector relative to men. Also, global stress in labor markets has reduced men's access to employment in some countries, making the progress to date potentially gender conflictive. Agency, measured as the female share of parliamentary seats, has also made only modest progress. These results suggest the need for an expanded focus beyond just educational equality to livelihoods, where gender gaps are wider than in education and stubbornly persistent.
Neoliberalism, Urbanization and Change in Africa: the Political Economy of Heterotopias
Authors: Carmody Pádraig , Owusu Francis
Published: February 2022

In the much of the popular media, the discourse around Africa has changed. Whereas stories of the “coming anarchy” or the “hopeless continent” abounded a little over a decade ago, it was, until the recent collapse in commodity prices, increasingly seen as the final global investment frontier, with rapid uptake of cellular technology and economic growth. Although much of this growth has been propelled by natural resources, the current conjuncture offers opportunities as well as challenges for African urban areas and raises questions about the role of cities in the continent's future development as they continue to become more deeply informalised. The response of many city authorities to the deepening informalisation of their economies has been to try to connect to the global economy in new ways, through the creation of new financial service, high-tech and elite residential areas. In this paper we explore these developments through the Foucaudian lens of heterotopia. These new developments attempt to erase their associations with the cities from which they originate in favour of new connections outwards. However the creation of these new enclaves is filled with socio-spatial contradictions, which make them unlikely to achieve their ostensible objectives.
Food Prices and Inflation in Tanzania
Authors: Adam Christopher , Kwimbere David , Mbowe Wilfred , O'Connell Stephen
Published: February 2022

We develop an empirical representation of inflation in Tanzania for the decade from 2001, estimating ‘multiple-determinant’ single-equation models for headline inflation and its major components (food, energy and core inflation). Our results suggest that while supply-side factors, including yield variability and international price arbitrage, play a major role in determining domestic food and fuel inflation (which together account for almost 60 percent of the total CPI basket), demand-side factors amenable to policy intervention by the monetary authorities anchor core inflation.
Health Expenditure, Climate Changes and Corruption in the MENA Region: A Granger Causality Approach
Authors: Sileem Hanan Hamed M.
Published: February 2022

The growing literature on studying climate change has increased awareness about health problems, yet the job is far from done. This study contributes to understanding the granger causal links between environmental degradation and public health costs by analyzing the relationship between health costs and environmental degradation for a panel of 19 MENA economies over the period 1996 through 2013. Using panel data specifications, the paper identified a two-way relationship between public health expenditure and CO2 emissions. These empirical results link the contribution of CO2 emissions accumulation to the increase in public health expenditure. Furthermore, using Granger causality test, the empirical results highlight the presence of a two-way relationship between public health expenditure and corruption. Thus, corruption could be considered as a constraint to environmental quality and a channel through which environmental degradation triggers more health costs. Evidence of adverse health effects will strengthen the case for preventative policies and can also guide priorities for planned adaptive strategies.