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Digital Labour Platforms as Shock Absorbers: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mozambique J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2024-03-02 Sam Jones, Ivan Manhique
Digital labour platforms have grown five-fold over the past decade, enabling significant expansion of gig work worldwide. We interrogate the critique that these platforms tend to amplify aggregate shocks for registered workers. Based on the universe of records from a matching platform for manual freelancers in Mozambique, we analyse how task supply and demand altered with the onset of COVID-19. Treating
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Moral Hazard Incentives under Formal Insurance and Informal Insurance: Evidence from a Framed Field Experiment J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2024-02-17 Aisha Nanyiti, Haki Pamuk
This paper explores moral hazard incentives associated with formal and informal insurance. We develop a theoretical model of risky effort that incorporates formal insurance and informal risk sharing, and test model predictions through a real-effort experiment with smallholder farmers in rural Uganda. Consistent with the theory, we find evidence of moral hazard under informal insurance. We, however
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Does Youth Resentment Matter in Understanding the Surge of Extremist Violence in Burkina Faso? J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2024-01-24 Alexandra T Tapsoba, Jean-Louis Combes, Pascal Combes Motel
The year 2019 marked an unprecedented step in violence in Burkina Faso. Before 2018, attacks targeted central government officials and expatriates. In 2019, the victims of sexual assaults, attacks, abductions or forced disappearances and assassinations were mostly local civilians. The surge in these violent attacks against civilians generates population movements. As of 2023, internally displaced people
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The Inflationary Impact of a Large Devaluation across the Income Distribution: The Case of Egypt in 2016 J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2024-01-24 Shireen Alazzawi, Vladimir Hlasny
Large-scale currency devaluations often result in rapid inflation, disproportionately affecting households with lower incomes, as they typically allocate a higher portion of their expenses to tradable goods. In this study, we examine cost-of-living changes of households across the income distribution in a relatively highly regulated, modest-inequality economy—Egypt—following the November 2016 devaluation
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Labour Mobility and Innovation in Africa J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-11-12 Linguère Mously Mbaye, Assi Okara, Massimiliano Tani
We investigate whether short-term mobility differentially affects innovation in product or process through the help of a theoretical model, and carry out an empirical analysis with a focus on African countries using firm-level data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey. We find that labour mobility positively affects innovation, especially for products and services, supporting its use as an effective
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Conditional Political Cycles in Africa: Myth or Reality? J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-11-07 Christine O Strong
This study tests for the presence of political cycles in Africa. Through an analysis encompassing data from 30 African nations over the period 1980–2020, we ask whether political incumbents in Africa rely on monetary and fiscal policy variables to improve their reelection prospects. In particular, we test for the existence of ‘conditional political cycles’, namely, we show that both government consumption
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Nutritional and Schooling Impact of a Social Protection Program in Ethiopia: A Retrospective Analysis of Childhood Exposure J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-09-06 Mariapia Mendola, Mengesha Yayo Negasi
This paper investigates the impact of a large-scale Ethiopian government social protection program on long-term anthropometric measures of nutrition status, education attainment and enrollment delay. Our research design uses unique administrative data on the program's regional coverage and combines differences in the intensity of the program across regions with differences across cohorts induced by
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Cash Transfers and Social Capital: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Malawi J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-08-15 Hiwot Mesfin, Francesco Cecchi
We examine the social capital implications of conditional and unconditional cash transfer (CCT) programs in Malawi, randomly assigning adolescent women and their households to either program or to a control group. Our results show that cash transfers have a positive aggregate effect on social capital, proxied by trust and gift giving. They also show positive intention-to-treat effects on both trust
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‘You Should Vote because I Say So!’ Influence towards Voting within Mozambican Households J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-07-30 Ana Vaz
How are the effects of voter education campaigns transmitted within the household? During the 2009 Mozambican elections, a field experiment implemented three voter education interventions: the distribution of a free newspaper, the creation of an SMS hotline to report electoral problems and a civic education campaign. Based on a relatively small sample of untreated individuals living with experimental
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Earning Structure and Heterogeneity of the Labor Market: Evidence from DR Congo J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-07-08 Douglas Amuli Ibale
Using 1.2.3 survey data on the Democratic Republic of Congo, we highlight different sectors in the labor market, with ‘higher paid’ sectors that are largely formal and ‘lower paid’ sectors that are largely informal. Based on a linear regression model, we report significant heterogeneity in earnings across sectors, which remain after controlling for aspects of human capital. We use a multinomial logit
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Rainfall Shocks, Livelihood Diversification and Welfare: Evidence from Rural Togo J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-06-13 Alirah E Weyori, Sabine Liebenehm
Theory suggests that rural farm households exposed to greater risk should diversify their income portfolios to reduce variation in welfare caused by adverse events such as rainfall shocks. Rainfall shocks, however, can also degrade asset stocks and make diversification more costly. Using a panel dataset of small-scale cattle farmers from rural Togo and long-term historical rainfall data, we first examine
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The Impact of Ethiopian Productive Safety Net Program on Children's Educational Aspirations and Attainments J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-05-21 Aregawi G Gebremariam, Elisabetta Lodigiani, Giacomo Pasini
The Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) was launched by the government of Ethiopia in 2005 to support food-insecure rural households. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of PSNP on children's educational aspirations and actual attainments. We use longitudinal data from the Ethiopian sample of the Young Lives' survey and by means of a differences-in-differences, individual fixed-effects estimator
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A Crossed Analysis of Participations in Labor and Grain Markets: Evidence from Malawi J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-05-03 Alhassane Camara, Luc Savard
This study contributes to the literature on the identification of factors shaping the decision to participate in the grain market in Africa. Unlike previous studies, we introduce labor market participation into the farm household model to highlight heterogeneities in decision making. Empirically, we rely on an extension of Heckman's approach and introduce control functions to mitigate endogeneity issues
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From Food Subsidies to Cash Transfers: Assessing Economy-Wide Benefits and Trade-Offs in Egypt J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-05-01 Clemens Breisinger, Yumna Kassim, Sikandra Kurdi, Josee Randriamamonjy, James Thurlow
Food is a vital part of poor households' budgets and so subsidizing staple foods would appear to be an obvious pro-poor policy. Indeed, most countries in North Africa have prioritized large national subsidy programs for staple foods and fuels as their main social safety net. However, these programs account for significant shares of government spending and often drive fiscal deficits, especially when
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Minimum Wages and Labour Supply in an Emerging Market: The Case of Mauritius J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-27 Zaakhir Asmal, Haroon Bhorat, Ravi Kanbur, Marco Ranzani, Pierella Paci
This paper investigates the effect of multiple minimum wages, known as remuneration orders, on employment and working hours in Mauritius. Using data between 2005 and 2014, the analysis finds no effect on overall employment and different effects in sign for men and women. The minimum wage has a positive long-term effect on women's employment (0.141) and a negative effect on male employment (−0.097)
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Emigration and External Imbalances in Sub-Saharan Africa: Do Migrants' Skills Matter? J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-27 Dramane Coulibaly, Blaise Gnimassoun
The external deficits in SSA countries are a major concern and may be connected to emigration from these countries to advanced economies. According to the life cycle theory, by decreasing labour force, emigration induces a fall in savings and a deterioration in the external balance in the countries of origin. Migrants' remittances may dampen or even counterbalance this effect, depending on migrants'
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The Nexus between Poverty, Inequality and Growth: A Case Study of Cameroon and Kenya J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-17 Boniface Ngah Epo, Francis Menjo Baye, Germano Mwabu, Martin N Etyang, Paul M Gachanja
We conduct an in-depth analysis of the nexus between inequality of opportunity and inclusive growth in Cameroon and Kenya employing cross-sectional data collected over two time periods in each country. Empirical results show that changes in education, health and labour market endowments have large effects on household economic well-being, as proxied by total expenditures per adult equivalent. Employing
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Does the Poverty Level Minimum Basket Adequately Inform the Scope of Governments' Poverty Reduction Strategies? J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-17 Rose W Ngugi, Boaz O Munga, Phares P Kirii, Eldah N Onsomu
Appropriately guided and implemented government interventions help in achieving the desired outcome. They complement the household budget in meeting their basic needs, allowing them to move to a higher satisfaction level. The study looks at the nexus between household poverty and government strategies to stem it. The analysis uses various approaches including the binary and polychotomous logit models
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Intergenerational Mobility and the Growth–Inequality–Poverty Nexus in Africa J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-17 Christian H Ebeke
This paper examines to what extent intergenerational mobility shapes both the impact of income inequality on growth as well as the effect that growth has on poverty and on income inequality in Africa. Thanks to newly available and internationally comparable data on intergenerational elasticities of income and education, we confirm the detrimental role played by higher inequality of opportunity as measured
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Revisiting Poverty Trends and the Role of Social Protection Systems in Africa during the COVID-19 Pandemic J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-17 Kibrom A Abay, Nishant Yonzan, Sikandra Kurdi, Kibrom Tafere
Quantifying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on poverty in Africa has been as difficult as predicting the path of the pandemic, mainly due to data limitations. The advent of new data sources, including national accounts and phone survey data, provides an opportunity for a thorough reassessment of the impact of the pandemic and the subsequent expansion of social protection systems on the evolution
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Is Africa on Track to Ending Poverty by 2030? J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-17 Ismael Fofana, Margaret Chitiga-Mabugu, Ramos Emmanuel Mabugu
Progress in poverty reduction has been slow for the Sub-Saharan Africa region which faces serious challenges in addressing inclusive growth. This study assesses the income growth requirements to achieve the sustainable development goals on poverty for given income inequality performances in African countries. The assessment is based on a microeconomic approach and survey data for the countries. Results
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Structural Change and Inequality in Africa J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-17 Hanan Morsy, Abebe Shimeles, Tiguene Nabassaga
This paper examines how inequality could be tackled through structural transformation using unit record data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for Africa. Results suggest inequality between countries tends to be higher when the share of labour employed or value-added in the agriculture sector is higher, while no association is observed for industry and services sectors contributions to
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Typology Construction for Comparative Country Case Study Analysis of Patterns of Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-17 Paul Shaffer
This study has been motivated by the limitations of cross-country regressions and unstructured comparative case studies in providing policy-relevant findings on the determinants of patterns of growth. It presents a methodology to improve upon existing comparative case study research by situating cases withing a typological framework and subsequently using cluster analysis to improve the matching of
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Alleviating Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Inclusive Business Models J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-17 Bernadette Dia Kamgnia, Alban A E Ahouré
The study aimed to analyze the ability of inclusive business (IB) models to sustainably contribute to efforts made in alleviating poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an emphasis on the cases of Côte d'Ivoire and Kenya. Data collected on these two countries revealed a clear opposite stream in the integration pattern of the populations at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) in IB models. In Côte d'Ivoire
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Income Inequality and Redistribution in Sub-Saharan Africa J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-17 Miguel Niño-Zarazúa, Francesca Scaturro, Vanesa Jordá, Finn Tarp
A strand of the political economy literature emphasizes the effect of income inequality on growth and poverty, which materialises through redistribution. The theoretical expectation postulated by standard economic theory is that high inequality would lead to higher redistribution via the collective action of the median voter. The empirical literature testing the median voter theorem has been conducted
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Progress on Poverty in Africa: The Importance of Growth and Inequality J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-17 Augustin Kwasi Fosu
Employing World Bank data, this paper, first, historically examines Africa's record on poverty incidence, spread and severity, as compared with other regions of the world, at the US$1.90 and US$3.20 per day (2011 PPP) poverty standards. Second, it evaluates country-specific progress on growth, poverty and inequality, and compares the ‘poverty transformation efficiency vector’ (PTEV) among African countries
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The Labour Market Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns: Evidence from Ghana J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-17 Simone Schotte, Michael Danquah, Robert Darko Osei, Kunal Sen
In this paper, we provide causal evidence of the immediate and near-term impact of stringent COVID-19 lockdown policies on employment outcomes, using Ghana as a case study. We take advantage of a specific policy setting, in which strict stay-at-home orders were issued and enforced in two spatially delimited areas, bringing Ghana's major metropolitan centres to a standstill, while in the rest of the
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The Growth–Employment–Poverty Nexus in Africa J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-17 Gary S Fields
This paper focuses on employment and the labour market as a key mechanism leading from growth to poverty reduction in Africa. Given that the development goals are economy-wide outcomes—less poverty, shared prosperity, more and better job opportunities, etc.—the required analysis must be at the market level. Individual-level analysis is not enough. The paper brings together insights from labour economics
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Are Budget Neutral Income Floors Fiscally Viable in Sub-Saharan Africa? J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-17 Nora Lustig, Jon Jellema, Valentina Martinez Pabon
We use microsimulations to assess whether budget-neutral universal income floors are fiscally viable in twelve Sub-Saharan African countries. We consider three universal basic income scenarios of decreasing levels of generosity: poverty line, average poverty gap and current spending on transfers and subsidies per person. The first two may not be viable because the required increase in taxes to fulfil
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Informality and Inequality: The African Case J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-17 Anda David, Yoro Diallo, Björn Nilsson
Despite the importance of labour markets in shaping inequalities, the literature linking the informal sector to income inequalities is scarce. In this article, we examine this linkage on the African continent, where informality has both been deemed a development curse, and lauded as a potential engine for growth. Recognising a multitude of mechanisms affecting both concepts, we investigate the link
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Poverty Reduction through Growth, Redistribution and Social Inclusion in Times of COVID-19: Kenyan Evidence on the Underlying Mechanisms J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-17 Germano Mwabu
The paper looks at the nexus between growth, poverty, inequality and redistribution in Africa, using Kenya as a case study. The existing literature shows a strong causal link from growth to poverty reduction. This link is the basis for the pro-poor poverty reduction strategy. There is evidence from the AERC studies that, poverty reduction in a given period is associated with higher growth rates in
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Quantifying Vulnerability to Poverty in the Drought-prone Lowlands of Ethiopia J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-04-05 Emmanuel Skoufias, Katja Vinha, Berhe Mekonnen Beyene
A forward-looking measure of ‘vulnerability to poverty’ is estimated and a concerted effort is made to understand the sources of vulnerability in the drought-prone lowlands of Ethiopia. Using the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey and the Welfare Monitoring Survey of 2015–16, which include additional zones in the Afar and Somali regions increasing the representativeness of the survey in pastoral
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What Explains the Firm Size Distribution in Sub-Saharan Africa and Why Does It Matter? J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-03-04 Francis Teal
In this issue of the Journal of African Economies we publish two papers concerned with the firm size distribution of manufacturing firms in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). One paper examines the changes in the firm size distribution for Ghana, Teal (this issue), the other for Ethiopia, Azmete et al. (this issue). This note is intended to introduce, and compare, the findings of these two papers and to place
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Increasing Tax Collection in African Countries: The Role of Information Technology J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-03-02 Oyebola Okunogbe, Fabrizio Santoro
Many African countries struggle to collect an adequate amount of tax revenue to support needed investments in public services. This paper examines how African countries may take advantage of recent advances in technology to improve tax administration. It provides an overview of the potential and challenges of different tax categories in Africa: consumption taxes, real estate taxes, trade taxes and
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Africa's Latent Assets J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-03-02 Soeren J Henn, James A Robinson
Despite the past centuries' economic setbacks and challenges, are there reasons for optimism about Africa's economic prospects? We provide a conceptual framework and empirical evidence that show how the nature of African society has led to three sets of unrecognised ‘latent assets.’ First, success in African society is talent driven and Africa has experienced high levels of perceived and actual social
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Tax Aversion and the Social Contract in Africa J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-03-02 James A Robinson
Despite the low levels of taxation and public good provision in Africa, I provide evidence that a large proportion of Africans prefer lower taxation and fewer public goods. This cannot be explained by standard arguments about problems of accountability, governance or state capacity. Instead, I argue that it reflects deeply seated ideas about the nature of the state and its potential threats to the
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Rising Gold Prices but Lower Incomes for Gold Miners: Evidence on Market Imperfections from Burkina Faso during COVID-19 J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2023-01-14 Antoinette van der Merwe, Fritz Brugger, Isabel Günther
Although artisanal gold mining is known for human rights violations and environmental degradation, it is an increasingly important economic activity in many African countries, with a high potential to alleviate poverty. Due to increased demand for gold investment during the COVID-19 pandemic, the monthly international gold price has increased by 20% from January to May 2020. To understand how the COVID-19
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Are You Being Asked? Impacts of Respondent Selection on Measuring Employment in Malawi J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2022-09-29 Talip Kilic, Goedele Van den Broeck, Gayatri Koolwal, Heather Moylan
Accurate estimates of men's and women's employment are necessary for understanding sources of productivity and growth and designing well-targeted, gender-sensitive labour policies. This paper aims to address a key question—how respondent selection in household and labour force surveys affects these estimates—by leveraging two concurrent national surveys in Malawi that relied on the same questionnaire
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Who Is Employed? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa on Redefining Employment J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2022-09-08 Isis Gaddis, Gbemisola Oseni, Amparo Palacios-Lopez, Janneke Pieters
The 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (in 2013) redefined thelabour statistics standards, and most National Statistical Offices are currently transitioning to the revised standards. A major change, of which few academics seem to be aware, is that the concept of employment has been narrowed to work for pay or profit. By the revised standards, farming, which is mainly intended for
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Labor Market Discrimination and Sorting: Evidence From South Africa J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2022-08-23 Martin Abel
This paper collects a unique data set of classified ads and exploits quasi-random variation in the applicant pool composition to show that there exists hiring discrimination against immigrants in South Africa’s informal sector. Consistent with a tournament models in which immigrants are penalised, I find that both immigrant and native job seekers receive more employer clicks on their profile when being
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Statistical Capacity Matters: The Long-Term Effects of Africa’s Slave Trade on Development Reflected by Nighttime Light Intensity J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2022-08-22 Erkan Gören, Adalbert Winkler
Empirical research depends on reliable data. Yet, in many countries, statistical agencies do not have the capacity to collect high-quality data on economic development. This is especially the case in Africa, where the capacity to collect such data is affected by the same historical factors that explain economic development—in particular, the slave trade. We hypothesise that the impact of the slave
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The Boko Haram Conflict and Food Insecurity: Does Resilience Capacity Matter? J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2022-07-22 George Abuchi Agwu
Drawing from a robust identification strategy and household panel data collected before and after households were exposed to the Boko Haram conflict, this paper addresses the question of whether resilience capacity is an important factor in mitigating household risks of food insecurity due to conflict shocks. Using the non-parametric difference-in-differences framework, the paper identifies that the
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Tying One’s Hand: The Effect of Fiscal Rules on the Political Business Cycle in Africa J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2022-07-08 Christine Olivia Strong
In this paper, we test whether fiscal rules can act as a constraint on the ability of incumbent politicians to generate political business cycles using fiscal and monetary expansions, to improve their re-election prospects. Using data on fiscal rules for a sample of thirty-two African countries, fourteen of which have a budget balanced rule, our results show that stringent fiscal rules can indeed dampen
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The Economic Impact of the Pandemic in Rwanda: An Analysis of Firm-Level VAT Data J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2022-04-20 Giulia Mascagni,Adrienne Lees
Abstract There are substantial differences in the spread of the covid-19 pandemic and policy responses to it between high- and low-income countries. While evidence on the former is growing, there remain more unanswered questions on the latter. This paper addresses this gap by providing insights on the impact of the pandemic in Rwanda, based on firm-level administrative data from Value Added Tax (VAT)
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Multidimensional Impact Evaluation: The Impact of the Women’s Income Generating Support Program in Northern Uganda J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2022-04-19 Bilal Malaeb,Eustace Uzor
Abstract This paper assesses the impact of a human capital and cash transfer intervention on individual disempowerment. Using a randomised controlled trial across 120 villages in Northern Uganda, we take a multidimensional measurement approach to evaluate the impact of Women’s Income Generating Support Program on the empowerment of ultra-poor and conflict-affected women. Building on the findings of
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The Role of Skills and Gender Norms in Sector Switches: Experimental Evidence from a Job Training Program in Nigeria J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2022-04-15 Kevin Croke, Markus Goldstein, Alaka Holla
Industrialisation and structural change entails shifting workers from low-skill to high-skill occupations. In emerging economies, multiple constraints may impede sectoral switches among workers, including skill and spatial mismatches, and social norms related to gender in the workplace. This study uses a job training experiment across five cities in Nigeria to estimate the overall effect of training
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The Imperium of the Colonial Tongue? Evidence on Language Policy Preferences in Zambia J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2022-03-16 Rajesh Ramachandran,Christopher Rauh
Abstract Sub-Saharan Africa stands out as a part of the world that primarily uses, as its official languages, former colonial languages that are neither spoken at home nor in the community. In this paper, we elicit preferences for colonial versus local languages and analyse the role of perceived costs and returns to different languages. In order to do so, we elicit beliefs about the effects of hypothetical
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Can Urbanisation Improve Household Welfare? Evidence From Ethiopia J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2022-03-08 Kibrom A Abay,Luca Tiberti,Andinet Woldemichael,Tsega G Mezgebo,Meron Endale
Abstract Despite evolving evidence that Africa is experiencing urbanisation in a different way, empirical evaluations of the welfare implications of urban-development programs in Africa remain scant. We investigate the welfare implications of recent urbanisation processes in Ethiopia using household-level longitudinal data and satellite-based nightlight intensity. We also examine the impact of urban
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Response to ‘Polarization and Poverty Reduction in Africa: The Devil Is in the Choice of Equivalence Relation’ J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2022-02-22 Fabio Clementi,Michele Fabiani,Vasco Molini,Francesco Schettino
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Editor’s Note: Polarisation and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2022-02-22 Teal F.
In this issue of the Journal of African Economies (JAE) we are publishing two papers concerned with the role of polarisation in explaining the link between poverty reduction and growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. The first paper, by Fabio Clementi (and co-authors), claims there has been an increase in polarisation in most Sub-Saharan African countries and this increase in polarisation is linked to why poverty
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Partisanship in a Young Democracy: Evidence from Ghana J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2022-01-27 Stoecker A.
German Research Foundation10.13039/501100001659423358188
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Bombs and Babies: Exposure to Terrorism and Fertility Choices in Nigeria J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2021-11-12 Valentina Rotondi, Michele Rocca
The aim of terrorism all over the world is to have fear rule over people’s lives. The consequences of terrorist attacks, however, are substantially different across contexts. In this paper we study the association between exposure to Boko Haram’s attacks and households’ fertility choices in Nigeria. We hypothesise that households exposed to terrorism increase their number of children as a way to insure
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Preface J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2021-11-08 Njuguna Ndung’u
The African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) is a capacity building network in Africa through research, graduate training and policy outreach programmes. AERC’s mission is to strengthen local capacity for conducting independent, rigorous inquiry into the problems facing economies in sub-Saharan Africa, and to promote evidence-based economic policy. Its pillars – research, collaborative graduate
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Growing with Debt in African Economies: Options, Challenges and Pitfalls J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2021-11-08 Njuguna Ndung’u, Abebe Shimeles, Damiano K Manda
The public debt in Africa started to increase sharply again after 2013 in the wake of the commodity price boom, reversing the gains from the heavily indebted poor countries (HIPCs) initiative. Almost all African countries experienced both an increase and change in the composition of public debt. The shift away from concessionary to market-based loans from private institutions further aggravated the
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Cash Transfers, Negative Rainfall Shocks and Child Welfare in Ethiopia J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2021-10-21 Kaleab Haile
This study examines the role of cash transfers in mitigating the welfare impact of negative rainfall shocks on children in rural households. Household-level panel data, obtained from areas where Ethiopia’s Social Cash Transfer Pilot Programme operated, are merged with available climate data. The results from a two-way fixed effects model reveal that cash transfers significantly reduce the negative
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Public Debt Accumulation in SSA: A Looming Debt Crisis J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2021-10-19 Michael Atingi-Ego, Sayed Timuno, Tiviniton Makuve
This paper discusses recent debt trends and evaluates performance of debt sustainability analysis (DSA) conducted in a sample of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries over the period 2008–16. Based on qualitative and quantitative analyses, the findings suggest the existence of systematic optimism bias in past DSA vintages resulting from optimistic macro-economic projections that underpin the DSAs. As
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Child Labour and the Arrival of Refugees: Evidence from Tanzania J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2021-09-08 Chiara Kofol, Maryam Naghsh Nejad
Despite efforts to reduce the incidence of child labour, about one in three children in Sub-Saharan Africa works. Using data for the Kagera region of Tanzania, we estimate how rates of child labour were impacted by a large influx of refugees fleeing from genocide in both Rwanda and Burundi. We find that the areas most affected by this population shock initially had a lower incidence of child labour
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African Countries’ Debt: A Tale of Acceleration at Multiple Speeds and Shades J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2021-08-19 Vera Songwe, Christine Awiti
Over 50% of African countries had debt to GDP ratios above 50% in 2019 with at least 48% of countries having debt to GDP ratios above 70%. The rise in debt levels is a recent phenomenon, with most countries’ debt increasing between 2014 and 2019. In this paper, we propose a new approach to debt monitoring. We argue that the speed of debt accumulation matters and that monitoring the speed of debt could
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Debt, Growth and Stability in Africa: Speculative Calculations and Policy Responses J. Afr. Econ. (IF 1.174) Pub Date : 2021-08-04 Shantayanan Devarajan, Indermit S Gill, Kenan Karakülah
Since 2014, almost all African countries have experienced an increase in public debt and a change in its nature. The ratio of public debt to GDP has doubled, and sovereign debt is changing from concessional credit provided by official agencies to market-based loans from private institutions. This paper attempts to answer three questions that are being asked with increasing urgency in this setting.