ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Duration of High School Education and Youth Labour Market Outcomes: Evidence from a Policy Experiment in Ghana

This paper estimates the effects of an additional year in senior high school (SHS) on early labour market outcomes in Ghana. Using data from a nationally representative household survey, we find that an additional year in SHS increases the likelihood of being employed and being employed in the formal sector but has no effect on the likelihood of being in paid employment. Additionally, we find that the effects are concentrated in female samples. Although the results constitute an important contribution to the debate on duration of SHS in Ghana, we caution that policy interventions should be based on more extensive evidence.

Source: UG
Duration of high school education on early fertility and marriage: evidence from a policy change in Ghana

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to examine the effect of spending one extra year in high school on early marriage and childbirth. Design/methodology/approach – The study takes advantage of the education reform in 2007 that extended the years of high school education by one to conduct a quasi experiment. The marriage and fertility outcomes of women who completed a four-year senior high school education are compared to those who completed a threeyear senior high school education. Findings – The findings from the study indicate that the one-year extension in high school education led to a 4.75 percentage point reduction in the probability of ever marrying by age 27 and a 6.7 percentage point reduction in the probability of ever given birth. The authors demonstrate that the extension of the duration of high school education by one year has a heterogeneous effect, as it reduced the fertility and marriage outcomes of rural girls more than urban girls. The study reveals opportunity costs and confinement effects as possible mechanisms through which the policy affected early marriage and birth. Originality/value – This study is one of the few studies that examine the impact of the duration of secondary school education on fertility and marriage. For Africa in particular, there is no such study. Thus, this study provides a unique contribution to the literature since available studies on this subject matter can only be found in advanced economies. Unlike other studies in Africa that use a design that provides the combined effect of duration of schooling and school enrolment on fertility and marriage, this design enables the authors to only look at the effect of duration of schooling on fertility and marriage.

Source: UG
Duration of naturally acquired antibody responses to blood-stage Plasmodium falciparum is age dependent and antigen specific

The Epidemiology Department contributes to the mission of the institute through basic and applied epidemiological research on, but not limited to, malaria and other diseases of public health importance. It is also home to the Social Science Unit of the Institute, including the Health Support Centre for HIV/AIDS and other communicable and noncommunicable health problems.

Source: UG
Duration Of Pre‐University Education And Labour Market Outcomes: Evidence From A Quasi‐Experiment In Ghana

Review books or articles provide a critical and constructive analysis of existing published literature in a field, through summary, analysis, and comparison, often identifying specific gaps or problems and providing recommendations for future research. These are considered as secondary literature since they generally do not present new data from the author's experimental work. Review articles can be of three types, broadly speaking: literature reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. It also the researcher to stay abreast of new literature in the field.

Source: UG
Dwindling water supply and its socio-economic impact in Sekyere Kumawu District in Ashanti Region of Ghana: public opinion on the role of climate change

Water remains a vital natural resource necessary for sustaining life and development. Globally there has been increasing demand for water due to increasing population. Water demand has worsened in certain regions where in lieu of climate change water resources are declining. This has created livelihood impacts. Using in-depth interviews and household surveys of household heads and opinion leaders in the district, the study ascertained public opinion on the role of climate change on dwindling domestic water provision and how inadequate water supply affects the socio-economic lives of people at household level in Sekyere-Kumawu District in Ghana. Rising temperature, declining rainfall amounts and stormy weather were some of the perceived changing climatic elements explaining the reduction in the water resource base of the district. Shortage in water supply has great impacts on socio-economic livelihood and health of residents with greater impact on women and children. Households attributed low crop yields, the prevalence of water borne diseases and poverty as some consequences of low water supply owing to bad climatic conditions. The study recommends the development of district level climate change strategies, incorporating them into the overall national climate change policy to ensure a comprehensive climatic resilient economy to promote sustainable growth and development.

Source: UG
Dynamic Connectedness between Indicators of the Ghana Stock Exchange Returns and Macroeconomic Fundamentals

The performance of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) over the years has been susceptible to both crises and country-specific factors reflected in its macroeconomic fundamentals. Accordingly, the GSE composite index (GSECI) has experienced rapid fluctuations across time, coupled with a declining market capitalisation from a reduction in the number of existing firms. The plunge in the number of firms is partly linked to the banking sector clean-up in 2017, which induced the collapse and consolidation of some financial institutions as well as weaknesses in other macroeconomic variables. This ignites an investigation into whether the synergistic impact of listed firms that represent the financial sector and the soundness of banking sector measures are dominant factors that could drive or respond to shocks. Hence, the study investigates the lead-lag relationships and degree of integration among two indicators of the GSE—GSECI and GSE financial index (GSEFI), seven banking financial soundness indicators and eight interest rate measures. The wavelet approaches (biwavelet and wavelet multiple) are utilised to address the research problem. The DCC-GARCH connectedness approach is then employed as a robustness check. We found high interconnectedness between the indicators of the GSE and banking sector financial soundness, relative to the interest rates. Notwithstanding, the Treasury bill measures drive the GSE indicators in the short- and medium-terms. In comparison with the two indicators of the GSE, significant changes are dominant between the GSEFI and the two forms of selected macroeconomic variables. We advocate that the comovements among the indicators of the GSE, banking sector financial soundness, and interest rate measures are heterogeneous and adaptive, especially during crises, but more significant comovements are germane to the GSEFI. The study provides further implications for policy, practice, and and theory

Source: UG
Dynamic Connectedness, Hedge And Safe-Haven Effects: Cryptocurrencies, Precious Metals And African Stock Markets.

Purpose – This study seeks to: (1) examine the extent of interconnectedness prevailing between the cryptocurrency market, the stock market and the precious metals market. (2) Conduct thorough assessment of hedge and safe-haven qualities of broad range of precious metals and cryptocurrencies against returns on the African stock market. Design/methodology/approach – This study applied two novel approaches that is Cross-quantilogram, an advanced statistical technique used to examine the relationship between quantiles of response variable and the quantiles of predictor variables, and TVP-VAR, a technique that captures the dynamic connectedness of variables under consideration. Findings – It was found that the three markets are highly interconnected, particularly among assets under the respective financial markets. It was further revealed that the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) was the most resilient stock market, whereas Bitcoin, BNB, Silver (XAG) and Platinum (XPT) also exhibited notable resistance to shocks. Finally, the study found that cryptocurrencies and precious metals portrayed varying hedge and safe haven qualities under the various stock markets. Practical implications – The high interdependency between the African stock market, cryptocurrencies and precious metals suggests that none of the markets is immune to shocks form the other market. The finding that cryptocurrencies and precious metals exhibit some degree of safe-haven and hedge potentials, albeit limited in certain stock markets, provides investors with alternative investment options during market downturns. Since most African stock markets, except the JSE, are net receivers of shocks, investors in these markets should exercise caution during periods of global financial uncertainty. Originality/value – To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to explore the dynamic interconnectedness between seven carefully selected African stock markets, three distinct cryptocurrencies and four precious metals, while also assessing the hedge and safe-haven potential of the cryptocurrencies and precious metals againststock market returns. Additionally, the study stands out in recent literature by employing two novel approaches: the TVP-VAR model, which captures the dynamic connectedness among variables, and the Cross-Quantilogram, an advanced statistical method that analyzes the relationship between the quantiles of the response and predictor variables, all within a single study.

Source: UG
Dynamic Connectedness, Hedge And Safe-Haven Effects: Cryptocurrencies, Precious Metals And African Stock Markets.

Purpose – This study seeks to: (1) examine the extent of interconnectedness prevailing between the cryptocurrency market, the stock market and the precious metals market. (2) Conduct thorough assessment of hedge and safe-haven qualities of broad range of precious metals and cryptocurrencies against returns on the African stock market. Design/methodology/approach – This study applied two novel approaches that is Cross-quantilogram, an advanced statistical technique used to examine the relationship between quantiles of response variable and the quantiles of predictor variables, and TVP-VAR, a technique that captures the dynamic connectedness of variables under consideration. Findings – It was found that the three markets are highly interconnected, particularly among assets under the respective financial markets. It was further revealed that the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) was the most resilient stock market, whereas Bitcoin, BNB, Silver (XAG) and Platinum (XPT) also exhibited notable resistance to shocks. Finally, the study found that cryptocurrencies and precious metals portrayed varying hedge and safe haven qualities under the various stock markets. Practical implications – The high interdependency between the African stock market, cryptocurrencies and precious metals suggests that none of the markets is immune to shocks form the other market. The finding that cryptocurrencies and precious metals exhibit some degree of safe-haven and hedge potentials, albeit limited in certain stock markets, provides investors with alternative investment options during market downturns. Since most African stock markets, except the JSE, are net receivers of shocks, investors in these markets should exercise caution during periods of global financial uncertainty. Originality/value – To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to explore the dynamic interconnectedness between seven carefully selected African stock markets, three distinct cryptocurrencies and four precious metals, while also assessing the hedge and safe-haven potential of the cryptocurrencies and precious metals against stock market returns. Additionally, the study stands out in recent literature by employing two novel approaches: the TVP-VAR model, which captures the dynamic connectedness among variables, and the Cross-Quantilogram, an advanced statistical method that analyzes the relationship between the quantiles of the response and predictor variables, all within a single study.

Source: UG
Dynamic cost productivity and economies of scale of Ghanaian insurers

Previous insurance efficiency studies have focused on cost efficiency or static and dynamic technical productivity and therefore ignored dynamic cost productivity. Previous studies have also failed to consider economies of scale at the firm level. This study employs a panel data of insurers to assess the dynamic cost productivity growth in Ghana from 2005 to 2014. We also explore the determinants of cost productivity growth in the Ghanaian insurance industry. We find that the introduction of the Insurance Act of 2006 saw some large cost productivity growths; however, since 2012 the industry has been facing some marginal cost productivity decline. The cost improving policies in the Act that encouraged cost efficiency must be revisited by regulators, as it seems that the industry is going back to the pre-regulation cost environment. Additionally, not many insurers have been operating at the optimal production scale over the period.

Source: UG
Dynamic interaction in tropical Africa: IGCP-616Y and IGCP 646 projects and events

The scientific objectives and research program of the IGCP-646 project (2015–2018) cuts across many disciplines and includes various aspects of continental basement geology, resource exploration (mineral, water and hydrocarbons), geohazard mitigation, and climate change, all of which are of critical importance to developing countries, particularly in parts of West Africa where population pressures are on the rise. Considerable emphasis was placed on capacity building, creation of opportunities for young scientists to undertake higher degrees programs, knowledge transfer and training. The SIDA-funded “pilot project” IGCP-616Y (started in 2012), focused on three objects (i) crustal architecture, tectonic evolution and regional geology of Central Africa and the connection with NE Brazil; (ii) the Mesozoic continental rifting and breakup leading to a better integration of the onshore and offshore geology; (iii) clarification and quantification of the links between basement structures, neotectonics, climate change and landscape evolution. The IGCP-616Y and IGCP-646 projects consisted of over 250 researchers, from different countries. In the course of the projects, six annual meetings, four field trips/workshops, as well as several training sessions were organized. Here we provide a summary of the scientific targets of the projects and a summary of the organized activities.

Source: UG
Dynamic Nuclear Polarization with Electron Decoupling in Intact Human Cells and Cell Lysates

Most research activities involve the use of molecular methods such as regular PCR (PCR), quantitative PCR (Q-PCR), genomic sequence and analysis using different software, genetic engineering, probe hybridization techniques, biological and molecular cloning, evaluation of immune markers for laboratory diagnosis of infections, serological assays involving the use of rapid tests, ELISA-based evaluations and immunofluorescent assay techniques.

Source: UG
The Dynamic Relationship Between Economic Globalisation, Institutional Quality, And Ecological Footprint: Evidence From Ghana

Research on the relationship between globalisation and the environment tends to focus on on the direct effect of globalisation, rarely considering the role of institutions. This paper introduces insights from political economy, which suggests that environmental sustainability models would be greatly improved if institutions are considered. We tested this hypothesis by estimating the relationship between economic globalisation, bureaucratic quality, and ecological footprint in Ghana for the period 1984–2016. The long-run analysis is based on the autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) bound testing approach to cointegration. The result supports the hypothesis that expansion in economic globalization has a reducing effect on environmental quality. Bureaucratic quality appears to exert a significant positive effect on ecological footprint. Furthermore, the estimation shows that the quality of institutions is critical for environmental quality. Based on the results, the paper presents some policy recommendations.

Source: UG
Dynamic spillover effects among green bond, renewable energy stocks and carbon markets during COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for hedging and investments strategies

This study has been inspired by the emergence of socially responsible investment practices in mainstream investment activity as it examines the transmission of return patterns between green bonds, carbon prices, and renewable energy stocks, using daily data spanning from 4th January 2015 to September 22, 2020. In this study, our dataset comprises the price indices of S&P Green Bond, Solactive Global Solar, Solactive Global Wind, S&P Global Clean Energy and Carbon. We employ the TVP-VAR approach to investigate return spillovers and connectedness, and various portfolio techniques, including minimum variance portfolio, minimum correlation portfolio, and the recently developed minimum connectedness portfolio, to test portfolio performance. Additionally, a LASSO dynamic connectedness model is used for robustness purposes. The empirical results from the TVP-VAR indicate that the dynamic total connectedness across the assets is heterogeneous over time and economic event-dependent. Moreover, our findings suggest that clean energy dominates all other markets and is seen to be the main net transmitter of shocks in the entire network, with Green Bonds and Solactive Global Wind emerging to be the major recipients of shocks in the system. Based on the hedging effectiveness, we show that bivariate and multivariate portfolios significantly reduce the risk of investing in a single asset, except for Green Bonds. Finally, the minimum connectedness portfolio reaches the highest Sharpe ratio, implying that information concerning the return transmission process is helpful for portfolio creation. The same pattern has been observed during the COVID-19 pandemic period.

Source: UG
Dynamical correlation effects in a weakly correlated material: Inelastic x-ray scattering and photoemission spectra of beryllium

Beryllium is a weakly correlated simple metal. Still we find that dynamical correlation effects, beyond the independent-particle picture, are necessary to successfully interpret the electronic spectra measured by inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS) and photoemission spectroscopies (PES). By combining ab initio time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) and many-body Green's function theory in the GW approximation (GWA), we calculate the dynamic structure factor, the quasiparticle (QP) properties and PES spectra of bulk Be. We show that band-structure effects (i.e., due to interaction with the crystal potential) and QP lifetimes (LT) are both needed in order to explain the origin of the measured double-peak features in the IXS spectra. A quantitative agreement with experiment is obtained only when LT are supplemented to the adiabatic local-density approximation (ALDA) of TDDFT. Besides the valence band, PES spectra display a satellite, a signature of dynamical correlation due to the coupling of QPs and plasmons, which we are able to reproduce thanks to the combination of the GWA for the self-energy with the cumulant expansion of the Green's function.

Source: UG
Dynamics and trends in social trust in Ghana

The problem of lack of social trust (or interpersonal trust) in Africa remains a concern. This article describes and analyses why Ghana faces a challenge of low social trust in spite of the progress made in both political and economic development, especially in the past two decades. Building on the existing body of knowledge, which often points to either economic or non-economic factors as major determinants of social trust, the article argues that the problem of low levels of social trust is anchored to a hybrid of both economic and non-economic factors. The failure of the government to reduce socio-economic inequalities and unemployment along with lack of strong institutions to enforce contracts explains the deficit in social trust in Ghana. The article brings to the fore the importance of structural and historical factors, notably the legacies of the slave trade and colonial rule, and social exclusion as critical to understanding the problem of low social trust. It concludes by highlighting how Ghana could develop social trust among its citizens.

Source: UG
Dynamics of anti-MSP3 and Pfs230 antibody responses and multiplicity of infection in asymptomatic children from southern Ghana

The Department of Parasitology conducts research into parasitic diseases of public health importance with the overall goal of reducing their transmission and the heavy disease burden that they impose on affected populations. The Department maintains focus on parasitic diseases in general. These include major diseases such as malaria, and others listed under the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) control initiative such as, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis.

Source: UG
The dynamics of civil society-government interface in Ghana: 1980-2010.

This article provides a historical overview of the interface between civil society and government in Ghana over the last three decades: Specifically, it deals with some civil society organizations (CSOs) that have distinguished themselves and with the political and legal environment in which civil society operates, and which may or not promote a good relationship between the State. It concludes that change has occurred in the relationship between the government and CSOs. The study found a shift in civil society-government interface from one of restriction and co-optation in the 1980s and during the period of democratic transition to one of increasing maturity in the 2000s when a number of rights were recognised to CSOs in terms of the 1992 constitution. In addition, civil society is respected as a developmental partner both in policy-making and implementation.

Source: UG
Dynamics of genotype-specific HPV clearance and reinfection in rural Ghana may compromise HPV screening approaches

Persistent Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a prerequisite for cervical cancer development. Few studies investigated clearance of high-risk HPV in low-and-middle-income countries. Our study investigated HPV clearance and persistence over four years in women from North Tongu District, Ghana. In 2010/2011, cervical swabs of 500 patients were collected and HPV genotyped (nested multiplex PCR) in Accra, Ghana. In 2014, 104 women who previously tested positive for high-risk HPV and remained untreated were re-tested for HPV. Cytobrush samples were genotyped (GP5+/6+ PCR & Luminex-MPG readout) in Berlin, Germany. Positively tested patients underwent colposcopy and treatment if indicated. Of 104 women, who tested high-risk HPV+ in 2010/2011, seven (6,7%; 95%CI: 2.7–13.4%) had ≥1 persistent high-risk‐infection after ~4 years (mean age 39 years). Ninety-seven (93,3%; 95%CI: 86.6–97.3%) had cleared the original infection, while 22 (21.2%; 95%CI: 13.8–30.3%) had acquired new high-risk infections with other genotypes. Persistent types found were HPV 16, 18, 35, 39, 51, 52, 58, and 68. Among those patients, one case of CIN2 (HPV 68) and one micro-invasive cervical cancer (HPV 16) were detected. This longitudinal observational data suggest that single HPV screening rounds may lead to over-referral. Including type-specific HPV re-testing or additional triage methods could help reduce follow-up rates.

Source: UG