Content Type: Working Paper / Publishing Institution: United Nations University / Political Geography: Africa / Topic: Markets

Author:: Matteo Fiorini and Marco Sanfilippo
Publication Date:: 12-2019
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: We look at how improving roads can affect jobs and structural transformation. We use a novel geocoded dataset covering the universe of Ethiopian roads and match this information with individual data to identify the effects of improvements in road infrastructure on the creation, quality, and sectoral distribution of jobs over the period 1994–2013. We find that, at the district level, higher market potential due to better roads contributes to the creation of new jobs, reduces the share of agricultural workers, and increases that of workers in the services sector but not in manufacturing. The latter experiences a relative increase in the share of informal workers. Finally, investigating the underlying mechanisms, we show that patterns of internal migration and changes in economic opportunities can help to rationalize our findings.
Topic:: Markets, Infrastructure, Transportation, and Roads
Political Geography:: Africa and Ethiopia

Author:: Samuel Kobina Annim
Publication Date:: 01-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper examines the combined effect of interest rates and poverty levels of microfinance clients on loan size. Cross section data on 2,691 clients and non-clients households from Ghana is used to test the hypothesis of loan price inelasticity. Quantile regression and variants of least squares methods that explore endogeneity are employed. We find the expected inverse relationship only for the 20th to 40th quantile range. The semi-elasticity of loan amount responsiveness to a unit change in interest rate is more than proportionate and significant for the poorest group only. Market segmentation based on poverty level is suggested in targeting and sustaining microfinance clients.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Markets, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa

Author:: A.J.E. Charman and J. Hodge
Publication Date:: 09-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This study aims to help identify how the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) could potentially constrain government action to achieve food security in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The paper considers the proposed tariff and subsidy reduction modalities of the current round of WTO negotiations. The main focus is on the potential direct effects of the AoA, in terms of proposed reductions to domestic subsidies and tariffs, on food security policy in SADC countries. The study examines the argument that subsidy reductions and further liberalizing market access may pose constraints on the food security policy options of governments within the region.
Topic:: International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:: Africa

Author:: Machiko Nissanke and Ernest Aryeetey
Publication Date:: 08-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: The paper examines the source of financial market fragmentation in sub-Saharan Africa in the framework of institutional economics. Based on fieldwork data from Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, and Tanzania, it analyses financial risk management, the transaction costs for loan screening and monitoring, and contract enforcement. It shows how, faced with various institutional constraints, the range of clientele selected by formal and informal lenders becomes both narrow and at the extreme market-ends. It evaluates the prevailing state of managing risks for market structure, and binding institutional constraints for market transformation and deepening in sub-Saharan Africa.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Markets
Political Geography:: Africa, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, and Malawi

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