Political Geography: Africa / Topic: Economics

301. Why and how least developed countries can receive more FDI to meet their development goals

Author:: Ken Davies
Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:: The 48 least-developed countries (LDCs), most of them in sub-Saharan Africa and a few in Asia, need foreign direct investment (FDI) to help meet their development targets. The FDI they now receive, although inadequate, is enough to demonstrate that investors see potential in them. It is therefore realistic for LDCs to seek more FDI, but they need to enhance their investment environments to attract it in the much greater quantities required. Donors can help by targeting official development assistance (ODA) on investment in human capital and supporting governance improvements. Meanwhile, LDCs should establish effective investment promotion agencies (IPAs).
Topic:: Development, Economics, Poverty, Foreign Aid, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Africa and Asia

302. Are resurging state-owned enterprises impeding competition overseas?

Author:: Nilgün Gökgür
Publication Date:: 04-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:: There are no up-to-date systematic data on the size, composition, ownership structure, and economic weight of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), so we are unable to assess the impact of SOE performance on stakeholders in domestic and overseas markets. Yet there is sufficient evidence of their expansion, especially following the 2008 financial crisis. Emerging markets, led by China, are now increasingly encouraging their SOEs to expand globally as multinational enterprises (MNEs).
Topic:: Economics, Emerging Markets, Globalization, and Markets
Political Geography:: Africa and China

303. Political Trends in the African Great Lakes Region

Author:: Judith Vorrath
Publication Date:: 06-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: Despite recent elections in Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda and upcoming elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Great Lakes region shows worrying trends toward electoral authoritarianism and political fragmentation, with new divisions that intensify the potential for confrontation. A shrinking political space and a tight grip on the state by the ruling elites and their parties are signs of authoritarianism in the region—a cause of concern since armed conflict in all four countries has been strongly linked to a history of exclusion under autocratic regimes. New divisions beyond previous alignments in armed conflicts also have occurred and already led to serious confrontations, flight, and at times violence. An increasing political fragmentation has become visible, and splits embroil intraparty conflicts in the political landscape instead of resolving them. The two trends—electoral authoritarianism and political fragmentation—are mutually reinforcing within and across the countries of the region and risk jeopardizing economic and social progress in Uganda and Rwanda as well as an emerging vibrant civil society in Burundi and the DRC. In light of the history of conflict and autocratic regimes in the region, these trends have to be a serious concern for local and international actors. The preference for stable leadership, economic performance, and security considerations regardless of political conduct has been a fatal miscalculation before in the Great Lakes region. Rather, acting early and using pressure constructively, the international community should do what it can to support a more open and less fragmented political sphere in the Great Lakes countries.
Topic:: Democratization, Economics, Political Economy, and Fragile/Failed State
Political Geography:: Uganda, Africa, and Burundi

304. Corruption and the Rule of Law in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author:: Stuart S. Yeh
Publication Date:: 01-2011
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: African Journal of Legal Studies
Institution:: The Africa Law Institute
Abstract:: The World Bank and IMF attribute underdevelopment in sub-Saharan Africa to the practice of directing economic activity through centralized planning. They prescribe privatization and economic liberalization to restructure African economies, promote competition, reduce the scope for corruption, and promote good governance. However, inadequate checks on political power permit African elites to subvert these reforms. This article reviews the political economy of sub-Saharan countries as well as a case study of Sierra Leone to illustrate the problem. The analysis suggests the need for an international agency such as the UN to provide the capacity to investigate, expose and check corruption by employing UN inspectors who are immune to pressure from powerful African elites. This type of check on corruption is necessary to promote the rule of law in sub-Saharan Africa.
Topic:: Economics, United Nations, and Law
Political Geography:: Africa

305. European Neighbourhood Policy: How to Reconcile EU's Offer with Neighbour's Expectations?

Author:: Beata Wojna and Monika Arcipowska
Publication Date:: 11-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Polish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: Since its launch in 2004, the ENP has succeeded in bringing about a strengthening of economic relations, especially trade, between the EU and its neighbours. However, the political record of the seven-year implementation of this policy is relatively poor. The violent, unprecedented socio-political changes in North Africa and the Middle East, which started in January 2011, revealed weaknesses and problems in the European policy towards its southern neighbours as developed in the framework of the Barcelona Process and the Union for the Mediterranean. Arab spring has shown that the EU support to introduce political reforms and to build and consolidate democracy in the southern neighbouring countries has yielded very limited results. The Eastern Partnership seems to be one of the few positive manifestations of the European Neighbourhood Policy's evolution in recent years but is not free from problems. The most tell-tale sign of the Eastern Partnership's deficiencies is a palpable relapse in democratisation.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, and Middle East

306. Turkey and Democratization in the Arab World: Between an Inspiration and a Model

Author:: Karol Kujawa
Publication Date:: 08-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: The Polish Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: For several months, we have witnessed rapid change in the countries of North Africa. Researchers and politicians have raised questions about the future of Arab countries once the revolution has run its course. Will the new authorities attempt to build a theocratic state or will they follow the example of Turkey and implement democratic reforms? The latter choice is becoming increasingly popular in the Arab world. This article will address the key questions that come up in connection with Turkey and Arab countries, including: the source of Turkey's popularity in the Arab world, what do they have in common, what divides them and, finally, whether Turkey could become a model for Arab countries.
Topic:: Democratization, Development, Economics, and Islam
Political Geography:: Africa, Turkey, Asia, and Arabia

307. Security Policies of India, Brazil and South Africa – Regional Security Contexts as Constraints for a Common Agenda

Author:: Daniel Flemes and Alcides Costa Vaz
Publication Date:: 02-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: In the course of the last decade, the IBSA states (India, Brazil, South Africa) have increased their weight in the shifting global order, particularly in economic affairs. Can the same be said about the IBSA states' position in the international security hierarchy? After locating the IBSA coalition in the shifting world order, we analyze its member states' willingness and capacity to coordinate their security policies and build a common global security agenda. In addition, we explore the state of and perspectives on bi- and trilateral collaboration initiatives on defense and armaments between India, Brazil and South Africa. A key reason for the mostly modest results of global security agenda coordination and cross-regional defense collaboration is that the prevailing security concerns of each country are located at the regional level. Therefore, the starting point of an assessment of the prospects of IBSA's security cooperation and its potential impact on the strategic global landscape has to be a comparative evaluation of the regional security environments, focusing on overlaps and potential synergies between the national security policies of the three state actors.
Topic:: Security, Defense Policy, and Economics
Political Geography:: Africa, India, and Brazil

308. Africa Can Feed Itself in a Generation

Author:: Calestous Juma
Publication Date:: 01-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: African agriculture is at a crossroads. Persistent food shortages are now being compounded by new threats arising from climate change. But Africa also has three major opportunities that can help transform its agriculture to be a force for economic growth. First, advances in science, technology, and engineering worldwide offer Africa new tools needed to promote sustainable agriculture. Second, efforts to create regional markets will provide new incentives for agricultural production and trade. Third, a new generation of African leaders is helping the continent focus on long-term economic transformation.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, Economics, Science and Technology, and Food
Political Geography:: Africa

309. Sensitivity of Loan Size to Lending Rates

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

310. Exchange Rate Regimes and Trade: Is Africa Different?

Author:: Mahvash Saeed Qureshi and Charalambos G. Tsangarides
Publication Date:: 03-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper revisits the link between exchange rate regimes and trade in the context of Africa's exchange rate arrangements. Applying an augmented gravity model that includes measures of currency unions and pegged regimes, the paper compares Africa's experience with that of the world. Our results suggest that both currency unions and direct pegs promote bilateral trade in Africa vis-à-vis more flexible exchange rate regimes,and that their effect is almost double for the region than that for an average country in the world sample. Further, we find evidence that the effect of conventional pegs is at least as large as that of currency unions in Africa, and that the benefits of fixed exchange rate regimes stem through channels in addition to reduced exchange rate volatility.
Topic:: Economics, International Trade and Finance, Bilateral Relations, and Monetary Policy
Political Geography:: Africa

311. Population Size, Per Capita Income, and the Risk of Civil War: Regional Heterogeneity in the Structural Relationship Matters

Author:: Markus Brückner
Publication Date:: 03-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: A common finding in the empirical civil war literature is that population size and per capita income are highly significant predictors of civil war incidence and onset. This paper shows that the common finding of population size and per capita income having a significant average effect on civil war risk in a world sample breaks down once country- and year-specific unobservables are accounted for. However, for Sub-Saharan Africa there continues to be a highly significant average effect of population size and per capita income on civil war risk that is robust to the use of country- and year-fixed effects and instrumental variable techniques.
Topic:: Civil War, Demographics, and Economics
Political Geography:: Africa

312. Does Lack of Innovation and Absorptive Capacity Retard Economic Growth in Africa?

Author:: Steve Onyeiwu
Publication Date:: 03-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper reviews the innovative capabilities and absorptive capacities of African countries, and investigates whether they have played significant roles in the region's slow and episodic economic growth. Results from cross-country regressions covering 31 Sub-Saharan African countries suggest that growth in Africa is not simply a question of capital accumulation, fertility rates, aid dependency, and stable macroeconomic environment. It is also about strengthening the capacity of African countries to assimilate and effectively use knowledge and technology. Contrary to the views held by many analysts, the growth of African economies does not depend so much on their ability to innovate, but rather on their capacity to absorb and effectively use new technologies. Beyond technological issues, the paper confirms the stylized facts that the size of the government and political stability are important for the growth performance of African countries.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:: Africa

313. Enhancing public budgeting transparency in Botswana: Why and how

Author:: Gape Kaboyakgosi
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:: This policy brief discusses the need to make Botswana’s budget process more transparent. Transparent or open budgets both facilitate and support timely, relevant public access to budget information, enhancing citizen participation in the budgetary process. Transparent budgets also strengthen the role and independence of oversight institutions such as Parliament and Supreme Audit Institution (SAI)-or the Office of the Auditor General. The objective of this brief is to advocate for the opening up of Botswana’s budgetary process, hence the paper concludes by making recommendations on how to enhance budget transparency in Botswana.
Topic:: Economics, Governance, Budget, Local, and State Funding
Political Geography:: Africa and Botswana

314. Factors Underlying Communal Beef Cattle Marketing Decisions in Botswana: The Role of Public and Private Transfers

Author:: Tebogo Seleka and David Mmopelwa
Publication Date:: 08-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:: This article examines factors underlying communal beef cattle marketing at a household level in Botswana, with emphasis placed on the role of public and private transfers. Results show that public and private transfers (pensions, remittances, government food rations, and food supplies from friends and relatives) discourage cattle marketing. Thus, while they are important sources of household food security, cash and food transfers may adversely impact on beef export performance in Botswana. It is therefore fundamental that public transfer programmes are well targeted to needy and poor households, in order to minimize their adverse effects on the cattle industry. On the positive side, the paper argues that public transfer programmes may assist poor farmers rebuild their cattle and other livestock inventory, contributing to transition out of inter-generational poverty.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Public Policy, Economic Development, Private Sector, and Cattle
Political Geography:: Africa and Botswana

315. Competition and Trade Policy: The Case of the Botswana Poultry Industry

Author:: Masedi Motswapong and Roman Grynberg
Publication Date:: 09-2011
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:: The poultry sector is the most successful example of import substitution in Botswana with the country having achieved national self sufficiency. The paper describes the value chain in the industry and shows how, given the small size of the market, a high degree of market concentration exists. There is an estimate of the loss of consumer surplus from the current trade regime. The paper raises issues regarding the fundamental tension between competition and industrial policy in a small developing country. As the larger firms in the poultry industry move towards export readiness after 32 years of protection, the question of a new trade and industry regime is considered.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Economic Development, Trade Policy, Strategic Competition, and Industry
Political Geography:: Africa and Botswana

316. Madagascar : sortir du cycle de crises

Publication Date:: 03-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: Madagascar est en crise depuis les troubles sanglants qui l'ont secoué début 2009. Plusieurs mois de médiation sous l'égide de l'Union africaine (UA), entre autres, n'ont pas permis de débloquer la situation. Malgré la signature de plusieurs documents, et l'annonce de l'Union africaine de sanctions individuelles contre les membres du regime le 17 mars, les négociations n'ont pas abouti, principalement à cause du refus du gouvernement Rajoelina de mettre en oeuvre le partage du pouvoir accepté à Maputo en août. Bien que la violence ait été contenue depuis qu'il a pris le pouvoir en mars 2009, la légitimité du régime est remise en question tant à l'intérieur du pays qu'à l'extérieur, alors qu'une situation économique difficile pèse lourdement sur une population déjà appauvrie. Pour éviter toute escalade, la médiation devrait cesser d'essayer de mettre en place une transition fondée sur un partage du pouvoir, et tenter plutôt d'obtenir un accord sur la rédaction consensuelle d'une nouvelle constitution et l'organisation rapide d'élections sous supervision internationale
Topic:: Political Violence, Economics, Environment, and Armed Struggle
Political Geography:: Africa

317. Are Borders Barriers? The Impact of International and Internal Ethnic Borders on Agricultural Markets in West Africa

Author:: Jenny C. Aker, Michael W. Klein, Stephen A. O'Connell, and Muzhe Yang
Publication Date:: 04-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: This paper addresses two important economic issues for Africa: the contribution of national borders and ethnicity to market segmentation and integration between and within countries. Market pair regression analysis provides evidence of higher conditional price dispersion for both a grain and a cash crop between markets separated by the Niger-Nigeria border than between two markets located in the same country. A regression discontinuity analysis also confirms a significant price change at the international border. The international border effect is lower, however, if the cross-border markets share a common ethnicity. Ethnicity is also linked to higher price dispersion within Niger; we find a significant intranational border effect between markets in different ethnic regions of the country. This suggests that ethnic similarities diminishing international border effects could enhance international market integration, and ethnic differences could contribute to intranational market segmentation in sub-Saharan Africa. We provide suggestive evidence that the primary mechanism behind the internal border effect is related to the role of ethnicity in facilitating access to credit in agricultural markets. We argue that the results are not driven by differences in price volatility or observables across borders.
Topic:: Agriculture, Economics, Ethnic Conflict, and Markets
Political Geography:: Africa, West Africa, and Nigeria

318. How Did the 2008 Economic Crisis Affect: Social and Political Solidarity in Europe?

Author:: Jennifer L. Hochschild
Publication Date:: 01-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: One possible outcome of the economic crash of 2008 was that the majority or mainstream members of a society would direct their anger and fear against the minority or marginal members of their society. Commentators on television or the radio would claim, "it's all the fault of the immigrants!" or "if we didn't hand over so much of our tax dollars to the poor, the economy would not have deteriorated so much," or "social benefits to African Americans [or German Turks] have distorted the housing market." Citizens would come to believe these assertions, politicians would echo them – and the upshot would be not only a deteriorating national and international economy but also increased hostility and fear among racial, ethnic, or nationality groups in a country. Social solidarity would decline, perhaps irrevocably.
Topic:: International Relations, Economics, Politics, Social Stratification, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: Africa, America, Europe, and Germany

319. The Global Financial Crisis and Africa's "Immiserizing Wealth"

Author:: Luc Soete and Alexis Habiyaremye
Publication Date:: 01-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: Before the current global recession, many resource-rich African countries were recording unprecedented levels of growth due to a raw material price boom. However, the collapse in raw material prices and the ensuing severe economic difficulties have again exposed the vulnerability of these countries' natural resource export-focussed economic structures. In this research brief, we describe how Africa's abundance of natural resources attracted disruptive and predatory foreign forces that have hindered innovation-based growth and economic diversification by delaying the accumulation of sufficient stocks of human capital. We suggest that for their long-term prosperity, resource-rich African countries shift their strategic emphasis from natural to human resources and technological capabilities needed to transform those natural resources into valuable goods and services to compete in the global market.
Topic:: Economics, Emerging Markets, Industrial Policy, Global Recession, Natural Resources, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: Africa, China, and India

320. Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa

Author:: Jenny C. Aker and Isaac M. Mbiti
Publication Date:: 06-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: We examine the growth of mobile phone technology over the past decade and consider its potential impacts upon quality of life in low-income countries, with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa. We first provide an overview of the patterns and determinants of mobile phone coverage in sub-Saharan Africa before describing the characteristics of primary and secondary mobile phone adopters on the continent. We then discuss the channels through which mobile phone technology can impact development outcomes, both as a positive externality of the communication sector and as part of mobile phone-based development projects, and analyze existing evidence. While current research suggests that mobile phone coverage and adoption have had positive impacts on agricultural and labor market efficiency and welfare in certain countries, empirical evidence is still somewhat limited. In addition, mobile phone technology cannot serve as the “silver bullet” for development in sub-Saharan Africa. Careful impact evaluations of mobile phone development projects are required to better understand their impacts upon economic and social outcomes, and mobile phone technology must work in partnership with other public good provision and investment.
Topic:: Economics
Political Geography:: Africa

321. Are the Chinese in Africa More Innovative than the Africans? Comparing Chinese and Nigerian Entrepreneurial Migrants' Cultures of Innovation

Author:: Dirk Kohnert
Publication Date:: 07-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: The remarkable influx of Chinese migrant entrepreneurs in West Africa has been met with growing resistance from established African entrepreneurs. Whether the former have a competitive edge over the latter because of distinctive sociocultural traits or whether the Chineseʹ s supposed effectiveness is just a characteristic feature of any trading diaspora is open to question. This comparative exploratory study of Chinese and Nigerian entrepreneurial migrants in Ghana and Benin provides initial answers to these questions. Apparently, the cultural stimuli for migrant drivers of change are not restricted to inherited value systems or religions, such as a Protestant ethic or Confucianism; rather, they are continually adapted and invented anew by transnational migration networks in a globalized world. There is no evidence of the supposed superiority of the innovative culture of Chinese entrepreneurial migrants versus that of African entrepreneurial migrants. Rather, there exist trading diasporas which have a generally enhanced innovative capacity vis‐à‐vis local entrepreneurs, regardless of the national culture in which they are embedded. In addition, the rivalry of Chinese and Nigerian migrant entrepreneurs in African markets does not necessarily lead to the often suspected cut‐throat competition. Often the actions of each group are complementary to those of the other. Under certain conditions they even contribute to poverty alleviation in the host country.
Topic:: Economics, Markets, and Migration
Political Geography:: Africa and China

322. Cargo Cult in Africa: Remittances and the State in Tanzania

Author:: Peter Hansen
Publication Date:: 07-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: This paper examines remittance and diaspora policy formation in Tanzania as cargo cult. Both migration-development policy formation and cargo cults express the belief in the miraculous transformation of the local by the arrival of wealth emanating from the outside. The paper is based on ethnographic research in Dares Salaam, and adds to our understanding of the links between migration and development in Tanzania, and to our understanding of the relationship between remittances and the state, where the underlying cultural values, ideas and imaginaries expressed in remittance policies and thinking have been ignored.
Topic:: Development and Economics
Political Geography:: Africa and Tanzania

323. The Design and Effects of Monetary Policy in Sub-Saharan African Countries

Author:: Mohsin S. Khan
Publication Date:: 07-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:: Since the 1990s there have been a number of major changes in the design and conduct of monetary policy. In a globalized environment, there is less time to adjust to shocks and greater need to achieve closer convergence of economic performance among trading partners. As a result, a number of developing countries have adopted exchange rate regimes with more flexibility, and thereby greater scope for monetary policy. Notable examples include a number of sub-Saharan African countries moving from fixed exchange-rate regimes to more flexible regimes and the adoption of formal or informal inflation targeting regimes by some of these countries. These changes have triggered considerable debate on how monetary policy should be conducted and the effects it has on the real economy.
Topic:: Economics and Monetary Policy
Political Geography:: Africa

324. "Dreams Don't Come True in Eritrea": Anomie and Family Disintegration due to the Structural Militarization of Society

Author:: Nicole Hirt
Publication Date:: 01-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: This article analyzes contemporary Eritrea's acute crisis within the framework of the theory of anomie. It is based on the hypothesis that militarization, forced labor, mass exodus, and family disintegration can be interpreted as the consequences of two incompatible norm and value systems: the collectivist, nationalistic, and militaristic worldview of the former liberation front and ruling party People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), and the traditional cultural system of Eritrea's society. In 2002 the regime introduced an unlimited "development campaign," thereby forcing large parts of the society to live as conscripts and perform unpaid labor. This has caused a mass exodus of young people and a rapid process of family disintegration. The article is based on empirical fieldwork and evaluates the ongoing developments, which have led to rapid economic decline and the destabilization of the entire fabric of society.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Migration, Fragile/Failed State, and Governance
Political Geography:: Africa and Eritrea

325. Nigeria: A Prime Example of the Resource Curse? Revisiting the Oil-Violence Link in the Niger Delta

Author:: Annegret Mähler
Publication Date:: 01-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: This paper studies the oil-violence link in the Niger Delta, systematically taking into consideration domestic and international contextual factors. The case study, which focuses on explaining the increase in violence since the second half of the 1990s, confirms the differentiated interplay of resource-specific and non-resource-specific causal factors. With regard to the key contextual conditions responsible for violence, the results underline the basic relevance of cultural cleavages and political-institutional and socioeconomic weakness that existed even before the beginning of the “oil era.” Oil has indirectly boosted the risk of violent conflicts through a further distortion of the national economy. Moreover, the transition to democratic rule in 1999 decisively increased the opportunities for violent struggle, in a twofold manner: firstly, through the easing of political repression and, secondly, through the spread of armed youth groups, which have been fostered by corrupt politicians. These incidents imply that violence in the Niger Delta is increasingly driven by the autonomous dynamics of an economy of violence: the involvement of security forces, politicians and (international) businessmen in illegal oil theft helps to explain the perpetuation of the violent conflicts at a low level of intensity.
Topic:: Political Violence, Crime, Economics, and Oil
Political Geography:: Africa

326. The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA): Towards a New Era for Caribbean Trade

Author:: Diana Thorburn, John Rapley, Damien King, and Collette Campbell
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) signed in 2008 signalled a new era of trade relations between the European Union (EU) and the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM). Caribbean exporters previously had greater duty-free access to the EU market than European exporters enjoyed in the Caribbean, along with quotas that enabled them to avoid price competition with rivals from outside the Lomé ACP (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) bloc.
Topic:: Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, and Caribbean

327. Will China relocate its labor-intensive factories to Africa, flying-geese style?

Author:: Terutomo Ozawa and Christian Bellak
Publication Date:: 08-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:: China has developed increasingly close economic relations with Africa in its quest for oil and minerals through investment and aid. The World Ban k recently called upon China to transplant labor-intensive factories onto the continent. A question arises as to whether such an industrial relocation will be done in such a fashion to jump-start local economic development—as previously seen across East Asia and as described in the flying-geese (FG) paradigm of FD.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:: Africa and China

328. The Environment and Corporate Governance in Zimbabwe

Author:: Hany Besada and arolina Werner
Publication Date:: 07-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:: Formerly one of Africa's most promising economies, Zimbabwe has begun a process of economic reconstruction after decades of political turmoil and economic mismanagement. The advent of a national unity government in February 2009 launched a new but still tentative era of political stability. The government has a daunting political and economic agenda. Top priorities include restoring the rule of law, demonstrating fiscal responsibility, and putting in place macroeconomic and structural reforms to win the confidence of domestic and international investors.
Topic:: Economics and Monetary Policy
Political Geography:: Africa and Zimbabwe

329. Challenges of the Drylands

Author:: Jeffrey D. Sachs, Belay Begashaw, and Upmanu Lall
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Video
Institution:: Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:: A panel discussion moderated by Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs with East African Leaders, and Dr. Belay Begashaw from the Earth Institute's MDG Centre and Upmanu Lall, director of the Columbia Water Center, followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
Topic:: Agriculture, Climate Change, Economics, and Health
Political Geography:: Africa

330. When Does Rigorous Impact Evaluation Make a Difference? The Case of the Millennium Villages

Author:: Michael Clemens and Gabriel Demombynes
Publication Date:: 10-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: When is the rigorous impact evaluation of development projects a luxury, and when a necessity? We study one high-profile case: the Millennium Villages Project (MVP), an experimental and intensive package intervention to spark sustained local economic development in rural Africa. We illustrate the benefits of rigorous impact evaluation in this setting by showing that estimates of the project's effects depend heavily on the evaluation method. Comparing trends at the MVP intervention sites in Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria to trends in the surrounding areas yields much more modest estimates of the project's effects than the before-versus-after comparisons published thus far by the MVP. Neither approach constitutes a rigorous impact evaluation of the MVP, which is impossible to perform due to weaknesses in the evaluation design of the project's initial phase. These weaknesses include the subjective choice of intervention sites, the subjective choice of comparison sites, the lack of baseline data on comparison sites, the small sample size, and the short time horizon. We describe how the next wave of the intervention could be designed to allow proper evaluation of the MVP's impact at little additional cost.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

331. Assets, Shocks, and Poverty Traps in Rural Mozambique

Author:: Lena Giesbert and Kati Schindler
Publication Date:: 11-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: Using a micro-level approach to poverty traps, this paper explores welfare dynamics among households in post-war rural Mozambique. Conceptually, the paper builds on an asset-based approach to poverty and tests empirically, with household panel data, for the existence of a poverty trap. Findings indicate that there is little differentiation in productive asset endowments over time and that rural households gravitate towards a single equilibrium, which is at a surprisingly low level. The analysis shows that shocks and household coping behavior help to explain the observed poverty dynamics. The single low-level equilibrium points to an overall development trap in the rural farm-based economy. This is attributed to the long-term impact of the civil war, which has consolidated unfavorable economic conditions in rural areas and limited new economic opportunities outside of the agricultural sector.
Topic:: Economics, Markets, and Poverty
Political Geography:: Africa

332. Congo : Pas de stabilité au Kivu malgré le rapprochement avec le Rwanda

Publication Date:: 11-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: Le plan de résolution du conf lit au Kivu consistant à pri-vilégier la solution militaire s'avère être un échec. Deux années après le début du rapprochement entre le président Congolais Joseph Kabila et son homologue rwandais Paul Kagame, les soldats gouvernementaux sont encore aux prises avec des miliciens pour le contrôle des terres et des zones minières. Bien qu'aucune des deux parties n'ait réellement les capacités de pr endre un ascendant définitif, elles ont toutes deux les ressources suffisantes pour prolonger la lutte. Dans le même temps, les civils subissent des violences extrêmes et la situation humanitaire se dété-riore. Les tensions ethniques se sont aggravées à l'annonce des plans de rapatriement de dizaines de milliers de réfu-giés congolais qui ont fui au Rwanda durant les années 1990. Le Conseil de Sécurité des Nations Unies a observé la situation se dégrader à l'est du Congo sans s'opposer aux décisions de Kagame et Kabila.
Topic:: Civil War, Diplomacy, Economics, Peace Studies, Treaties and Agreements, War, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:: Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

333. Developing Technological Capabilities in Agro-Industry: Ghana's experience with fresh pinapple exports in comparative perspective

Author:: Lindsay Whitfield
Publication Date:: 11-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: The economic policy agenda which promoted a non-interventionist state, trade openness, deregulation, liberalization and privatization as the formula for unleashing private sector productive forces in developing countries is discredited. The economic record of the past decades does not support this theory. Former proponents of the agenda acknowledge that the 'supply side' response of the private sector, especially in African countries, has not been what was expected in reaction to these economic reforms. Consensus is building on the need for industrial policy, and the debate is over what kinds of state interventions are likely to help build the private sector. Thus, the time is ripe for an evidence-based discussion of what is 'private sector development' in Africa, and how it promote it. In order to move the debate forward, we need more analyses of how actual existing industries are created, expanded and remain competitive in the contemporary global economic context.
Topic:: Agriculture, Development, Economics, and Globalization
Political Geography:: Africa

334. Emerging Africa: How 17 Countries Are Leading the Way

Author:: Steven Radelet
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: There's good news out of Africa. Seventeen emerging countries are putting behind them the conflict, stagnation, and dictatorships of the past. Since the mid-1990s, these countries have defied the old negative stereotypes of poverty and failure by achieving steady economic growth, deepening democracy, improving governance, and decreasing poverty.
Topic:: Debt, Democratization, Development, Economics, and Poverty
Political Geography:: Africa

335. The 2010 World Cup High-Frequency Data Economics: Effects on International Awareness and (Self-Defeating) Tourism

Author:: Stan Du Plessis and Wolfgang Maennig
Publication Date:: 04-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg
Abstract:: Without a doubt, the 2010 World Cup of soccer in South Africa was a great experience for both soccer fans, who enjoyed a safe and efficiently-run tournament, and their South African hosts. The sporting and social spectacle was broadcast around the world and focused unprecedented media attention on South Africa. Despite the manifest success of the tournament, its short-term effects on international tourism, which are the nucleus of all other short-term positive effects on economic variables such as employment, income and taxes, have turned out to be of a much smaller magnitude than expected or even as reported during the tournament. This may be attributable to self-defeating prophecy effects. This study is a warning against the abuse of economic impact studies, especially those pertaining to major sporting events. It is also a call to use the “correct” arguments of measurable awareness effects and potential long-term development effects in discussing major sporting events. Methodologically, this study is innovative in its economic analysis of major sporting events because it (i) uses data from social networks and (ii) uses high-frequency daily data on tourism.
Topic:: Economics, Tourism, Sports, World Cup, Facebook, Social Networks, FIFA, and Google
Political Geography:: Africa, South Africa, and Global Focus

336. Implementing The Fiscal Responsibility Act At The State Level In Nigeria

Author:: Vanessa Ushie
Publication Date:: 10-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA)
Abstract:: Fiscal responsibility acts have become increasingly common tools to enhance fiscal prudence and public expenditure transparency in many countries. In Nigeria, fiscal profligacy at the sub-national level has emerged as a major contributor to state corruption and macroeconomic instability.
Topic:: Corruption, Economics, Fiscal Policy, and Public Spending
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

337. Foreign Aid And The Real Exchange Rate In The West African Economic And Monetary Union

Author:: Eberechukwu Uneze
Publication Date:: 09-2010
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA)
Abstract:: This paper examines the relationship between foreign aid and the real exchange rate to determine how the competitiveness of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) is affected by foreign aid.
Topic:: Economics, Foreign Aid, Exchange Rates, Competition, and West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU)
Political Geography:: Africa and West Africa

338. Africa's Private Sector: What's Wrong with the Business Environment and What to Do About It

Author:: Vijaya Ramachandran, Manju Kedia Shah, and Alan Gelb
Publication Date:: 03-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Why has the private sector failed to thrive in much of sub-Saharan Africa? Drawing on a unique set of enterprise surveys, we identify inadequate infrastructure (especially unreliable electricity and poor quality roads) and burdensome regulations as the biggest obstacles to doing business. We find as well that the private sector in many countries is dominated by ethnic minorities, which inhibits competition and lowers demand for a better business environment. Solutions include investing in infrastructure, providing risk guarantees, and reforming regulations to lower the cost of doing business, as well as increasing access to education for would-be entrepreneurs.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Emerging Markets, Globalization, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Africa

339. La langue amÃ¨re des temps nouveaux : dynamique de la violence au Rwanda rural

Author:: Emmanuel Viret
Publication Date:: 08-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:: Dealing with the dynamics of rural violence under the multi-party transition (1991-1994), this paper suggests new points of view on the mobilization of Rwandan peasantry during the genocide (1994). Going through local archives and interviews held in the hills and in four prisons of the country, the analysis focuses on the increasing development of an economy of violence. The multi-party system incited competing rural elites to recruit a growing number of men and ruffians against other contenders in order to assure their access to power. Local elites (re)formed patron-client links previously dried by the spreading of money and wage incomes in the countryside. Particular attention is paid to the dimension of political entrepreneurship and to the relationship between social brokers and rural elites, in the course of the struggle between political parties as well as during the building of the Power coalitions which led the massacres locally.
Topic:: Political Violence, Democratization, Economics, and Genocide
Political Geography:: Africa

340. To Formalize or Not to Formalize? Comparisons of Microenterprise Data from Southern and East Africa

Author:: Vijaya Ramachandran, Manju Kedia Shah, Alan Gelb, and Taye Mengistae
Publication Date:: 07-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Why do firms choose to locate in the informal sector? Researchers often argue that the high cost of regulation prevents informal firms from becoming formal and productive. Our results point to a more nuanced story.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Markets, and Labor Issues
Political Geography:: Africa

341. Commodity Price Volatility and World Market Integration since 1700

Author:: David S. Jacks, Kevin H. O'Rourke, and Jeffrey G. Williamson
Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: Poor countries are more volatile than rich countries, and we know this volatility impedes their growth. We also know that commodity price volatility is a key source of those shocks. This paper explores commodity and manufactures price over the past three centuries to answer three questions: Has commodity price volatility increased over time? The answer is no: there is little evidence of trend since 1700. Have commodities always shown greater price volatility than manufactures? The answer is yes. Higher commodity price volatility is not the modern product of asymmetric industrial organizations - oligopolistic manufacturing versus competitive commodity markets - that only appeared with the industrial revolution. It was a fact of life deep into the 18th century. Does world market integration breed more or less commodity price volatility? The answer is less. Three centuries of history shows unambiguously that economic isolation caused by war or autarkic policy has been associated with much greater commodity price volatility, while world market integration associated with peace and pro-global policy has been associated with less commodity price volatility. Given specialization and comparative advantage, globalization has been good for growth in poor countries at least by diminishing price volatility. But comparative advantage has never been constant. Globalization increased poor country specialization in commodities when the world went open after the early 19th century; but it did not do so after the 1970s as the Third World shifted to labor-intensive manufactures. Whether price volatility or specialization dominates terms of trade and thus aggregate volatility in poor countries is thus conditional on the century.
Topic:: Economics, Globalization, and Monetary Policy
Political Geography:: Africa, South Asia, and Latin America

342. Vanishing Third World Emigrants?

Author:: Jeffrey G. Williamson and Timothy J. Hatton
Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: This paper documents a stylized fact not well appreciated in the literature. The Third World has been undergoing an emigration life cycle since the 1960s, and, except for Africa, emigration rates have been level or even declining since a peak in the late 1980s the early 1990s. The current economic crisis will serve only to accelerate those trends. The paper estimates the economic and demographic fundamentals driving these Third World emigration life cycles to the United States since 1970-the income gap between the US and the sending country, the education gap between the US and the sending country, the poverty trap, the size of the cohort at risk, and migrant stock dynamics. It then projects the life cycle up to 2024. The projections imply that pressure on Third World emigration over the next two decades will not increase. It also suggests that future US immigrants will be blacker and fewer will speak Spanish.
Topic:: Demographics, Economics, Migration, and Third World
Political Geography:: Africa and United States

343. The Political Economy of Heterogeneous Development: Quantile Effects of Income and Education

Author:: Marcus Alexander, Matthew Harding, and Carlos Lamarche
Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:: Does development lead to the establishment of more democratic institutions? The key to the puzzle, we argue, is the previously unrecognized fact that based on quantitative regime scores, countries over the past 50 years have clustered into two separate, very distinct, yet equally-common stages of political development—authoritarian states with low levels of freedom on one side an d democracies with liberal institutions on the other side of a bimodal distribution of political regimes. We develop a new empirical strategy—exploiting exogenous world economic factors and introducing new panel data estimators—that allows for the first time to estimate the effects of development as well as unobserved country effects in driving democracy at these different stages of political development. We find that income and education have the least effect on democracy when authoritarian regimes are consolidated and that only country effects, possibly accounting for institutional legacies, can lead to political development. Ironically, it is in highly democratic and wealthiest of nations that income and education start to play a role; however greater wealth and better educated citizenry can both help and hurt democracy depending again on what the country's institutional legacies are. Far from accepting the notion that much of the developing world is cursed by unchanging and poor long-run institutions, policy-makers should take note that with democratization we also see country-specific factors that in turn condition the difference income and education make for democracy.
Topic:: Democratization, Development, Economics, Political Economy, and Third World
Political Geography:: Africa, United States, China, Asia, and Germany

344. Strategies for Growth and Poverty Reduction: Has Tanzania's Second PRSP Influenced Implementation?

Author:: Dennis Rweyemamu
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Tanzania's current growth and poverty reduction strategies are contained in its second PRSP. This document, and the processes leading to its formulation, has helped to mobilize donor funds. However, the content of the PRSP is largely irrelevant for implementation, and has contributed little to better inter-sectoral linkages and synergies both of which were its main purposes. The immediate reasons for this irrelevancy include a participatory planning process not aligned with the domestic political process and with no budget constraints which led to a shopping list of un-prioritized initiatives; an implementation machinery around the budget process which in practice does not ensure that resources are allocated in line with the document's priorities; and limited understanding and/ or acceptance across the spectrum of government institutions and political leadership that the PRSP is the overall strategic guiding document.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Poverty, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa and Tanzania

345. The new 'New Poverty Agenda' in Ghana: what impact?

Author:: Lindsay Whitfield
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: This paper describes and explains the impact of the international-driven 'New Poverty Agenda' in Ghana, focusing on the impact of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) adopted by the New Patriotic Party government in power from 2001 until 2008. The paper argues that the New Poverty Agenda has had some impacts, but not they have been limited and not necessarily helpful in achieving long term poverty reduction. The PRSP was seen by the government in Ghana as necessary to secure debt relief and donor resources, and the strategies produced by the government contained broad objectives rather than concrete strategies on how to achieve those objectives and thus had little impact on government actions. The paper discusses what was actually implemented under the NPP government and the factors influencing those actions. It highlights the constraints Ghanaian governments face in pursuing economic transformation within contemporary domestic and international contexts.
Topic:: Economics, Government, and Poverty
Political Geography:: Africa

346. Governing Khat Drugs and Democracy in Somaliland

Author:: Peter Hansen
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: This paper examines the role of the mild stimulant khat in the economic and political transformation of the independent, yet internationally unrecognized Republic of Somaliland. Rather than seeing khat as a hindrance for nation-state formation and as a developmental problem, the paper argues that khat has been important to the economic viability of Somaliland and to the formation of political practices and identities. In this sense, khat should be seen not only as a drug contributing to violence, state failure and inadequate development, but also as underpinning economic processes, political identities and societal structures that have been crucial to the formation and political success of Somaliland. The paper adds to our understanding of the links between emerging political and economic orders in a post-conflict society.
Topic:: Economics, Peace Studies, Political Economy, Narcotics Trafficking, and Fragile/Failed State
Political Geography:: Africa and Somalia

347. Saving Ghana from Its Oil: The Case for Direct Cash Distribution

Author:: Todd Moss and Lauren Young
Publication Date:: 10-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Ghana can be considered a relative success story in Africa. We cite six variables—peace and stability, democracy and governance, control of corruption, macroeconomic management, poverty reduction, and signs of an emerging social contract—to suggest the country's admirable political and economic progress. The expected arrival of sizeable oil revenues beginning in 2011–13, however, threatens to undermine that progress. In fact, numerous studies have linked natural resources to negative outcomes such as conflict, authoritarianism, high corruption, economic instability, increased poverty, and the destruction of the social contract. The oil curse thus threatens the very outcomes that we consider signs of Ghana's success. This paper draws lessons from the experiences of Norway, Botswana, Alaska, Chad, and Nigeria to consider Ghana's policy options. One common characteristic of the successful models appears to be their ability to encourage an influential constituency with an interest in responsible resource management and the means to hold government accountable. The Alaska model in particular, which was designed explicitly to manufacture citizen oversight and contain oil-induced patronage, seems relevant to Ghana's current predicament. We propose a modified version of Alaska's dividend program. Direct cash distribution of oil revenues to citizens is a potentially powerful approach to protect and accelerate Ghana's political and economic gains, and a way to strengthen the country's social contract. We show why Ghana is an ideal country to take advantage of this option, and why the timing is fortuitous. We conclude by confronting some of the common objections to this approach and suggest that new technology such as biometric ID cards or private mobile phone networks could be utilized to implement the scheme.
Topic:: Corruption, Economics, Oil, and Poverty
Political Geography:: Africa and Ghana

348. Conflict-Business Dynamics in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Author:: Raymond Gilpin and Richard Downie
Publication Date:: 11-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has enormous economic potential thanks to its rich mineral deposits and vast tracts of arable land. Historically, these resources have been exploited by predatory leaders and a host of subregional actors. The time is now ripe for the DRC to put years of war and economic underdevelopment behind it. The business community has an important part to play in promoting sustainable peace in the DRC. Business communities in Bukavu and Lubumbashi have managed to remain profitable in the very trying years following the signing of the 1999 Lusaka peace accord by showing great resilience and versatility, primarily outside formal channels. Congolese businesses face serious obstacles, including poor infrastructure, high taxes, extortion, and market distortions. However, respondents expressed relatively little concern about insecurity and violence, suggesting that these costs have been internalized or that other obstacles impose much greater costs. DRC businesses neither want nor expect handouts. Respondents would prefer assistance in removing barriers to trade, improving infrastructure, and reducing corruption. Respondents are broadly optimistic about the future and their economic prospects, and have a strong sense of being stakeholders in shaping society. This bodes well for the future of the DRC, provided public policy can harness this energy and not impede it.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Development, Economics, and War
Political Geography:: Africa and Democratic Republic of the Congo

349. The Mozambican PRSP Initiative: Moorings, usage and future

Author:: Lars Buur and Obede Suarte Baloi
Publication Date:: 12-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: This paper analyses the seemingly uncontroversial public life of the PRSP approach in Mozambique and suggests that it embodies much of the Frelimo government's thinking about development since independence, though obviously 'packaged' to fit international donor discourses as they continually change. The PRSP is therefore not an outright 'imposition' on the Frelimo government or necessarily a 'challenge' to its sovereignty, as it is often argued. In general we argue that the PRSP became over time a broad 'consensus document' because it came to potentially incorporate 'all' stakeholders needs and wishes. We argue that after the political turbulence of the 1980s and 1990s with privatisation and structural adjustments, the PRSP allowed for different elite groups to find common ground with regard to ideological and party-preserving concerns, as social and market-economic trade-offs could now be legitimately accommodated.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa

350. Investment Opportuntities in Mekelle, Tigray State, Ethiopia

Author:: Bryant Cannon
Publication Date:: 12-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:: Mekelle, a rapidly developing city in northern Ethiopia, is located about 780 km from the capital, Addis Ababa. Established nearly 150 years ago by Emperor Yohannes, the city is nestled in Ethiopia's temperate highlands, in the heart of a region that traces its origins back to the ancient Axum Empire that once controlled Red Sea trade (4th century BC – 10th century AD). The city maintains aproud history of many religions, particularly Orthodox Christianity, dating back to the 4th century AD. Mekelle was largely ignored in the latter half of the 20th century by Ethiopia's ruling feudal and socialist governments, but began to experience an economic and cultural rejuvenation with the election of a democratic government in Ethiopia in the early 1990s.
Topic:: Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:: Africa and Ethiopia

351. A Copper-Bottomed Crisis? The Impact of the Global Economic Meltdown on Zambia

Author:: Duncan Green
Publication Date:: 12-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: At the time of independence in 1964 Zambia was a middle-income country and appeared set to develop into a prosperous nation. However, the combination of a tumultuous world economy and fiscal mismanagement led to rapid economic decline, which continued unabated into the 1980s and 1990s. Average economic growth from 1990–1999 was the lowest in the region, and unemployment and inflation soared resulting in per capita incomes 50% less in 1999 than they had been 25 years earlier.
Topic:: Economics, Globalization, International Trade and Finance, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:: Africa

352. Towards a Sustainable Cocoa Chain: Power and possibilities within the cocoa and chocolate sector

Author:: Jan Cappelle
Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: The cocoa tree is an important source of income for millions of farming families in equatorial regions. Cocoa originates in the river valleys of the Amazon and the Orinoco in South America. Its discoverers, the Maya people, gave it the name 'cocoa' (or 'God's food'). Cocoa was introduced to Europe in the fifteenth century. Cocoa imports were heavily taxed, and as a result it was consumed as a drink only by the wealthy. Investment from Great Britain and The Netherlands, combined with the launch of the chocolate bar in 1842 by Cadbury, resulted in a greater demand for chocolate. This led to the gradual expansion of cocoa production, spreading to Africa in 1870.
Topic:: Economics, Globalization, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Poverty
Political Geography:: Britain, Africa, Europe, South America, Netherlands, and Amazon Basin

353. Whither aid? Financing development in Mozambique

Author:: Sam Jones
Publication Date:: 03-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Careful consideration of the appropriate level and composition of aggregate public spending is vital in low income countries, especially in the presence of large volumes of foreign aid. Not only can expansion of the public sector weaken economic growth, but also provision of public services may be difficult to retrench. These issues are relevant to Mozambique as the share of government in GDP already is comparatively high and strategic management of aggregate public spending historically has been weak. A new long-term macroeconomic model quantifies the implications of alternative aggregate spending profiles. It shows that small increases in minimum levels of government spending correspond to large increases in the duration to aid independence. Sharp reductions in aid availability would necessitate significant fiscal and economic adjustments, including cuts in real public spending per capita. For this reason, there is no room for complacency as regards the future of development finance to Mozambique.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Humanitarian Aid, International Political Economy, Poverty, and Third World
Political Geography:: Africa

354. Savings, Credit and Insurance: Household Demand for Formal Financial Services in Rural Ghana

Author:: Lena Giesbert, Susan Steiner, and Mirko Bendig
Publication Date:: 01-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: This paper argues that the study of the demand for financial services in developing countries leaves out part of the story, if it looks at only one of the three elements of the so called finance trinity, i.e. savings products, loans, or insurances, as is largely done in the literature. In contrast to previous research, it is assumed that households' choice for any of these services is strongly interconnected. Therefore, the paper simultaneously estimates the determinants of household demand for savings, loans and insurances by applying a multivariate probit model on household survey data from rural Ghana. On the one hand, the estimation results confirm the common finding that poorer households are less likely to participate in the formal financial sector than better off households. On the other hand, there is empirical evidence that the usage of savings products, loans and insurances does not only depend on the socio-economic status of households, but also on various other factors, such as households' risk assessment and the past exposure to shocks. In addition, trust in the providing institution and its products appear to play a key role.
Topic:: Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, Poverty, and Third World
Political Geography:: Africa

355. WSC 5: Protecting People, Economies, and Infrastructure

Author:: Christine Lynch, Devon Tucker, Michael Harvey, and Jacqueline McLaren Miller
Publication Date:: 02-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: EastWest Institute
Abstract:: Drawing on a diverse array of opinions from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America, the EastWest Institute's Fifth Worldwide Security Conference brought together specialists from the spheres of policy, academia, and civil society. Participants addressed a variety of issues on the contemporary global security landscape. These ranged from specific security threats (whether illicit trade, the targeting of critical infrastructure or cyber crime) to the role of interested actors (such as business, NGOs, and media), as well as a focus on potential strategies to counter terrorism and extremism (either in terms of constructing global cooperative architectures or, more controversially, the possibility of opening dialogue with the terrorists). A variety of policy recommendations emerged from each session—detailed in the main body of the report—but there were several recurring themes binding the debate together and animating the core arguments of proceedings as a whole. These policy recommendations were not necessarily consensus recommendations but reflected a wide range of debated policy prescriptions.
Topic:: International Relations, Security, Economics, Education, Globalization, Human Rights, International Security, and Political Theory
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America

356. Rice Crisis Forensics: How Asian Governments Carelessly Set the World Rice Market on Fire

Author:: Tom Slayton
Publication Date:: 03-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: The world rice market was aflame last spring and for several months it looked as if the trading edifice that had exhibited such resilience over the last two decades was going to burn to the ground. World prices trebled within less than four months and reached a 30- year inflation-adjusted high. Many market observers thought the previous record set in 1974 would soon be toast. The fire was man-made, not the result of natural developments. While the governments in India, Vietnam, and the Philippines did not to set the world market on fire, that was the unintended result of their actions which threatened both innocent bystanders (low-income rice importers as far away as Africa and Latin America) and, ultimately, poor rice consumers at home. This paper describes what sparked the fire and the accelerants that made a bad situation nearly catastrophic. Fortuitously, when the flames were raging at peak intensity, rain clouds appeared, the winds [market psychology] shifted, and conditions on the ground improved, allowing the fire to die down. It remains to be seen, however, if the trading edifice has been seriously undermined by the actions of decision makers in several key Asian rice exporting and importing countries. In describing the cascading negative effects of these seemingly rational domestic policies, this paper aims to help policy makers in the rice exporting and importing nations to avoid a repeat of the disastrous price spike of 2008.
Topic:: Agriculture, Economics, Health, Humanitarian Aid, Markets, and Political Economy
Political Geography:: Africa, India, Asia, and Latin America

357. Heckle and Chide: Results of a Randomized Road Safety Intervention in Kenya

Author:: James Habyarimana and William Jack
Publication Date:: 04-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: In economies with weak enforcement of traffic regulations, drivers who adopt excessively risky behavior impose externalities on other vehicles, and on their own passengers. In light of the difficulties of correcting inter-vehicle externalities associated with weak third-party enforcement, this paper evaluates an intervention that aims instead to correct the intra-vehicle externality between a driver and his passengers, who face a collective action problem when deciding whether to exert social pressure on the driver if their safety is compromised. We report the results of a field experiment aimed at solving this collective action problem, which empowers passengers to take action. Evocative messages encouraging passengers to speak up were placed inside a random sample of over 1,000 long-distance Kenyan minibuses, or matatus, serving both as a focal point for, and to reduce the cost of, passenger action. Independent insurance claims data were collected for the treatment group and a control group before and after the intervention. Our results indicate that insurance claims fell by a half to two-thirds, from an annual rate of about 10 percent without the intervention, and that claims involving injury or death fell by at least 50 percent. Results of a driver survey eight months into the intervention suggest passenger heckling was a contributing factor to the improvement in safety.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Political Economy, and Third World
Political Geography:: Kenya and Africa

358. Revenue effects of participation in smallholder organic cocoa production in tropical Africa: A case study

Author:: Sam Jones, Peter Gibbon, and Yumiao Lin
Publication Date:: 04-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: This paper examines the revenue effects of certified organic contract farming and of use of organic farming methods in a tropical African context. These are compared with 'organic by default' conventional farming systems without contractual relations. Survey data from a medium-size cocoa-vanilla contract farming scheme in Uganda is reported using a standard OLS regression and propensity score matching approaches. The analysis finds that there are positive revenue effects for the certified crops from both participation and, more modestly, from using organic farming techniques.
Topic:: Agriculture, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Africa

359. A Copper-Bottomed Crisis? The Impact of the Global Economic Meltdown on Zambia

Author:: Duncan Green
Publication Date:: 03-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:: At the time of independence in 1964 Zambia was a middle-income country and appeared set to develop into a prosperous nation. However, the combination of a tumultuous world economy and fiscal mismanagement led to rapid economic decline, which continued unabated into the 1980s and 1990s. Average economic growth from 1990-1999 was the lowest in the region and unemployment and inflation soared, resulting in per capita incomes 50 per cent less in 1999 than they had been 25 years earlier.
Topic:: Economics, Post Colonialism, and Foreign Aid
Political Geography:: Africa

360. The Impact of the Doha Round on Kenya

Author:: Eduardo Zepeda, Mohamed Chemingui, Hedi Bchir, Christopher Onyango, and Bernadette Wanjala
Publication Date:: 11-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:: As the first decade of the twenty- first century comes to an end, Kenya's economy is being confronted with a number of challenges that call for carefully crafted, well- informed policies. After fifteen years of stagnation—when the country witnessed zero increase in its gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and investment at levels below 20 percent of GDP—it has risen to become one of Africa's fast growing economies (see Arbache and Page 2008). Between 2004 and 2007, Kenya's economy showed signs of revitalization, and the average annual growth rate climbed above 5 percent, allowing Kenyans to finally enjoy an increase in GDP per capita. However, the political turmoil of 2008 slowed growth, and the current global financial and economic crisis has made it difficult to return to high growth rates. Thus, Kenya now faces shrinking export markets, rising protectionist measures worldwide, and meager financial flows.
Topic:: Agriculture, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:: Kenya and Africa

361. An assessment of crime related risks in the Sahel

Author:: Laurence Ammour
Publication Date:: 11-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: NATO Defense College
Abstract:: The Sahel, a vast belt of land covering nine million square kilometers and encompassing ten countries, has always been a transit area for constant flows of people, trade, finance and religious groups. For the past twenty years, organized crime has had ample opportunity to develop here, either by using traditional networks or by taking over areas where there is no state control. It is also a region afflicted by perennial crises and weakened states, notwithstanding its undeniable strategic importance arising from its natural resources: oil, gold, phosphates, diamonds, copper, iron, coal, nickel, zinc, bauxite, uranium, plutonium, manganese, cobalt, silver, chrome and precious timbers.
Topic:: Crime, Economics, Natural Resources, and Fragile/Failed State
Political Geography:: Africa

362. Fragile states and the international response: in pursuit of security or development?

Author:: Koen Vlassenroot
Publication Date:: 09-2009
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: EGMONT - The Royal Institute for International Relations
Abstract:: In the pursuit of security and development in Africa, more and more reference is being made to the concept of fragile states. This paper explores the meaning of this concept and considers the attention that is being paid to it as a consequence of integrating security and development into the policy of the major donor countries. In an African context state fragility is a cause of numerous conflicts, but also a major focal point of peace processes and donor interventions. This paper is intended to be a warning against a too narrow focus on security in the process of combating fragility. It pleads for an integrated policy, based on the pursuit of sustainable development and emphasises the strengthening of the authority and power of the state and the promotion of local economic and social development.
Topic:: Conflict Resolution, Security, Political Violence, Development, Economics, and Fragile/Failed State
Political Geography:: Africa

363. Should Nigeria Establish A Sovereign Wealth Fund?

Author:: Menachem Katz and Cijeyu Ojong
Publication Date:: 11-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA)
Abstract:: This paper explores the issues relating to the establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) in Nigeria consistent with best practices. Experience with established SWFs suggests that successful oil- based funds tend to be underpinned by a sound oil revenue management framework. The paper thus discusses the underlying issues of oil revenue management, the policy choices and SWF implementation issues.
Topic:: Economics, Oil, Sovereign Wealth Funds, and Revenue Management
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

364. South Africa's Post-Apartheid Two-Step: Social Demands versus Macro Stability

Author:: Brahima Coulibaly and Trevon Logan
Publication Date:: 05-2009
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Abstract:: During Apartheid, there was little need for redistributional policies or to borrow for public works since the vast majority of the population was underserved. With the arrival of a representative democracy in 1994, however, South Africa faced a unique problem-- providing new and improved public services for the majority of its citizens while at the same time ensuring that filling this void would not undermine macroeconomic stability. Over the past fifteen years, policy makers have achieved macrostability, but progress on social needs has been below expectations and South Africa continues to lag behind its peers. This paper reviews the progress made so far and examines the challenges ahead for the upcoming administration. Our analysis suggest an increase in skill formation as a possible solution to the policy dilemma of fullfilling the outsized social demands while maintaining macrostability.
Topic:: Apartheid, Economics, Political stability, and Welfare
Political Geography:: Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa

365. Business Constraints and Growth Potential of Micro and Small Manufacturing Enterprises in Uganda

Author:: Esther K. Ishengoma and Robert Kappel
Publication Date:: 05-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: Ugandan micro- and small enterprises (MSEs) still perform poorly. The paper utilizes data collected in Uganda in March and April 2003 to analyze the business constraints faced by these MSEs. Using a stratified random sampling, a sample of 265 MSEs were interviewed. The study focuses on the 105 manufacturing firms that responded to all questions. It examines the extent to which the growth of MSEs is associated with business constraints, while also controlling for owners' attributes and firms' characteristics. The results reveal that MSEs' growth potential is negatively affected by limited access to productive resources (finance and business services), by high taxes, and by lack of market access.
Topic:: Economics, Emerging Markets, and Political Economy
Political Geography:: Uganda and Africa

366. The Diversification Challenge in Africa's Resource-Rich Economies

Author:: John Page
Publication Date:: 12-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Brookings Institution
Abstract:: For a growing number of countries in Africa the current commodity boom is a huge opportunity. But if the economic history of resource-rich, poor countries-especially in Africa-is any guide, rather than bringing prosperity, the resource boom may drive them into what Paul Collier (2007) in his influential book The Bottom Billion terms the "Natural Resources Trap." In Africa, countries dependent on oil, gas, and mining have tended to have weaker long-run growth, higher rates of poverty, and higher inequality than Non mineral-dependent economies at similar levels of income.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Political Economy, and Poverty
Political Geography:: Africa

367. (How) does aid Work? A Literature Review of Aid Effectiveness Welfare Studies

Author:: Tina Maria Jensen
Publication Date:: 12-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Despite several decades of development aid, economists generally agree that on average, most developing countries have experienced no or only little economic growth: while a limited number of countries particularly in South East Asia have experienced a rather significant growth, most African countries have had very limited or in some cases even negative economic growth. Only two of the 47 Sub-Saharan African countries, Botswana and Equatorial Guinea – both low in population – have reached annual growth rates of 7% over the last 15 years, while only nine countries have managed a growth rate above 2%. Moreover, 21 of the African countries have experienced negative growth, while on a global scale, just five countries have reached an annual growth rate of 7 % or more over a 15 year period (1985-2000) (Clemens et al. 2004:9-10).
Topic:: Civil Society, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:: Africa and Southeast Asia

368. Depoliticizing Zimbabwe's Economy: Solutions for Two Million Percent

Author:: Raymond Gilpin
Publication Date:: 08-2008
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:: Although Zimbabwe's deep-seated economic malaise has robbed citizens of their savings, rendered incomes practically worthless and undermined domestic productivity, experts believe that a resolution of the political impasse could trigger much-needed policy reform and economic revitalization. This USIPeace Briefing reviews policy options and recommendations proffered at a USIP roundtable discussion on August 12, 2008. The panelists were: Keith Campbell, Managing Director at the Executive Research Associates; Bernard Harborne, Lead Conflict Specialist at the World Bank; Frank Young, Vice President of Abt Associates; Callisto Madavo, visiting professor at the African Studies Program at Georgetown University. USIP's Raymond Gilpin moderated the event.
Topic:: Corruption, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:: Africa and Zimbabwe

369. Between Bureaucracy and the People: A Political History of Informality

Author:: Keith Hart
Publication Date:: 11-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: I explore here the dialectic of formal and informal economy in the context of 'development' discourse over the last four decades. It would not be hard, in post-colonial Africa for example, to conceive of this dialectic as a war waged by the bureaucracy on the people, allowing informal economic practices to be portrayed as a kind of democratic resistance. Yet, however much we might endorse the political value of self-organized economic activities, there are tasks of large-scale co-ordination for which bureaucracy is well-suited; and the institution's origins were closely linked to aspirations for political equality, even if historical experience has undermined that expectation. So the task is not only to find practical ways of harnessing the complementary potential of bureaucracy and informality, but also to advance thinking about their dialectical movement.
Topic:: Economics, Globalization, and Political Economy
Political Geography:: Africa

370. Export Productivity and Specialization in China, Brazil, India and South Africa

Author:: Amelia U. Santos-Paulino
Publication Date:: 03-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: This paper analyses the patterns of export productivity and trade specialization profiles in the China, Brazil, India and South Africa, and in other regional groupings. In doing so, the investigation calculates a time varying export productivity measure using highly disaggregated product categories. The findings indicate that export productivity is mainly determined by real income and human capital endowments. Importantly, the study reveals significant differences in the export productivity and specialization patterns of countries with comparable per capita income levels. For instance, China's export productivity and implied export sophistication is in line with that of countries with higher per capita incomes, including some OECD industrial economies.
Topic:: Economics and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Africa, China, India, Asia, South Africa, Brazil, and South America

371. Global Growth and Distribution: Are China and India Reshaping the World?

Author:: Dominique van der Mensbrugghe, Maurizio Bussolo, Rafael E. De Hoyos, and Denis Medvedev
Publication Date:: 03-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: Over the past 20 years, aggregate measures of global inequality have changed little even if significant structural changes have been observed. High growth rates of China and India lifted millions out of poverty, while the stagnation in many African countries caused them to fall behind. Using the World Bank's LINKAGE global general equilibrium model and the newly developed Global Income Distribution Dynamics (GIDD) tool, this paper assesses the distribution and poverty effects of a scenario where these trends continue in the future. Even by anticipating a deceleration, growth in China and India is a key force behind the expected convergence of per capita incomes at the global level. Millions of Chinese and Indian consumers will enter into a rapidly emerging global middle class—a group of people who can afford, and demand access to, the standards of living previously reserved mainly for the residents of developed countries. Notwithstanding these positive developments, fast growth is often characterized by high urbanization and growing demand for skills, both of which result in a widening of income distribution within countries. These opposing distributional effects highlight the importance of analysing global disparities by taking into account—as the GIDD does—income dynamics between and within countries.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Poverty
Political Geography:: Africa, China, India, and Asia

372. Measuring the Vulnerability of Subnational Regions

Author:: Mark McGillivray, Wim Naudé, and Stephanié Rossouw
Publication Date:: 05-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: A small but growing literature has been concerned about the economic (and environmental) vulnerability on the level of countries. Less attention is paid to the economic vulnerability of different regions within countries. By focusing on the vulnerability of subnational regions, our paper contributes to the small literature on the 'vulnerability of place'. We see the vulnerability of place as being due to vulnerability in various domains, such as economic vulnerability, vulnerability of environment, and governance, demographic and health fragilities. We use a subnational dataset on 354 magisterial districts from South Africa, recognize the potential relevance of measuring vulnerability on a subnational level, and construct a local vulnerability index (LVI) for the various districts. We condition this index on district per capita income and term this a vulnerability intervention index (VII) interpreting this as an indicator of where higher income per capita, often seen in the literature as a measure of resilience, will in itself be unlikely to reduce vulnerability.
Topic:: Security, Demographics, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

373. Nigeria: Ogoni Land after Shell

Publication Date:: 09-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Crisis Group
Abstract:: The Nigerian government's 4 June 2008 decision to replace the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) as operator of oil concessions in Ogoni areas offers an opportunity for ending one of the longest-running conflicts between a multinational oil company and a local community in the Niger Delta. But to ensure that new friction does not develop between the Ogoni and Shell's successor company, it must be followed by a comprehensive program of consultations with local populations to address the remaining issues involved in oil production in this area, including environmental protection and distribution of revenues.
Topic:: Economics, Environment, and Oil
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

374. The FDI Recession Has Begun

Author:: Karl Sauvant
Publication Date:: 11-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Institute for Latin American and Iberian Studies at Columbia University
Abstract:: With $1.8 trillion (according to UNCTAD), world foreign direct investment (FDI) flows reached an all-time high last year. All major regions benefitted from increased flows. But that was then. What is, and will be, the impact of the financial crisis and the recession on FDI flows this year and next?
Topic:: Economics, International Political Economy, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:: Africa, Russia, Central Asia, and Latin America

375. Water and Gender: The Unexpected Connection That Really Matters

Author:: Vivienne Bennett, Sonia Davila-Poblete, and Maria Nieves Rico
Publication Date:: 10-2008
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Journal of International Affairs
Institution:: School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:: Since the mid-1990s, worldwide focus on water scarcity has exploded. Attention has moved beyond the technical dimensions of water provision to the political and social contexts in which water management occurs. In many places, especially where water is scarce, control over water confers power. The political analysis of water is then an analysis of power relations. As social scientists have entered the water world, and more and more case studies are carried out in Latin America, Africa and Asia, another facet of the politics of water that has been brought to light is gender differentiation in water usage and water management. In our 2005 book, Opposing Currents: The Politics of Water and Gender in Latin America, we provided a framework for understanding the connection between water and gender and a review of the development of global water policy and gender policy since the early 1990s, using case studies from six Latin American countries to highlight the role of women in water management. We found that substantial change is still needed to overcome pernicious gender bias and imbalances that distort water management and lead to ineffective planning in the water sector.
Topic:: Economics
Political Geography:: Africa, Asia, and Latin America

376. Governing the Global Economy: Strengthening Multilateral Institutions

Author:: Ngaire Woods
Publication Date:: 07-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Peace Institute
Abstract:: The good news in the global economy is that the past two decades have seen globalization proceed apace with unprecedented economic growth in several parts of the world. To date, sound economic policy has made hyperinflation a rarity. Rising commodity prices are fueling growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Formerly poor countries are emerging as major players in the world economy.
Topic:: Economics, Globalization, International Organization, International Political Economy, and Peace Studies
Political Geography:: Africa and Bangkok

377. Police Corruption, Crime and Crime Reporting: A Simultaneous Equations Approach

Author:: Omar Azfar and Tugrul Gurgur
Publication Date:: 09-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:: We study the causal relationship between police corruption, crime and crime reporting, using data from the International Crime Victimization Survey. Using a simultaneous equations approach we find a number of intuitive relationships, which are statistically significant. The clearest of these is that crime reporting reduces police corruption.
Topic:: Security, Crime, Economics, and Sociology
Political Geography:: Africa

378. Transboundary Water Cooperation in Africa: The Case of the Nile Basin Initiative

Author:: Wondwosen Teshome B.
Publication Date:: 12-2008
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:: Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:: At present, more than 55 percent of the World's population lives in internationally shared river basins. Shared waters could be either a source of conflict or a source of cooperation and prosperity. Today, the growing need for water resources for development has brought intense political and economic tensions among the countries that share rivers that flow across two or more countries. The aim of this paper is to identify the economic, social and political benefits of the transboundary cooperation by using the Nile Bain Initiative (NBI) as a case study. It also attempts to identify the obstacles that hinder transboundary cooperation in the Nile Basin. The paper argues that the riparian states in the Nile Basin should work for “benefit-sharing” rather than “water-sharing” and this should be the basis for their transboundary cooperation. It also claims that implementing the concept of benefit-sharing would help in solving problems that are caused by divergent interests among the riparian states in the Nile basin and the up stream-down stream problems frequently manifested in the area. The paper concludes by suggesting the main points that have to be considered in transboundary cooperation.
Topic:: Economics and Water
Political Geography:: Africa

379. Kumasi Marketing Strategy: Tourism

Author:: Dario Cacciatore, Andre Le, Nicholas Levi-Gardes, Antonio Lopez Reus, and Kenny Sai-Kin Hsu
Publication Date:: 09-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:: Kumasi needs to position itself strategically as a cultural destination, communicate its attributes more effectively to tourists already in Ghana and differentiate itself from other cities and attractions Position should entail marketing a larger cultural region than just Kumasi Several positioning statements can transmit Kumasi's new marketing strategy: Kumasi - Heart of the Kingdom of Ashanti. Ashanti - The Hidden Kingdom. Kumasi - Come and See! Kumasi is well placed to capitalize on the growth of tourism in Ghana due to its status as a cultural capital The financial impact of tourism growth is potentially significant for the city and its surrounding districts The creation of the Ashanti Region Marketing Corporation is fundamental to proper coordination among stakeholders.
Topic:: Development, Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:: Africa

380. Assessing Infrastructure Constraints on Business Activity in Kumasi, Ghana

Author:: Ginger Baker
Publication Date:: 09-2008
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:: The development of urban infrastructure is intimately connected with the process of economic growth. Businesses depend on reliable water and electricity sources, affordable and plentiful land for expansion and modern transportation networks to reach the markets they serve. Inadequate infrastructure can deter investments and lead to a general climate of economic decline.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Markets, and Infrastructure
Political Geography:: Africa and Ghana

381. What's in it for Labour? Private social standards in the cut flower industries of Kenya and Tanzania

Author:: Lone Riisgaard
Publication Date:: 08-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Export of cut flowers from East Africa to Europe is an example of how tightened quality regulations and increasing concern with social and environmental issues have created a highly codified industry. For producers participating in value chains driven by large retailers, adopting social and environmental standards is a requirement and specificities are dictated by the buyers. In this paper focus is on private social standards and the opportunities and challenges they pose for labour organizations, especially trade unions. By incorporating the concept of labour agency, global value chain analysis is widened to encompass not just industrial development but also labour development.
Topic:: Agriculture, Economics, and Emerging Markets
Political Geography:: Kenya, Africa, Tanzania, and East Africa

382. The role of freight transport in economic development: An analysis of the interaction between global value chains and their associated transport chains

Author:: Poul Ove Pedersen
Publication Date:: 07-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: The purpose of this paper is first to discuss the paradox that freight transport, which so clearly is an important prerequisite for the processes of regional development and economic internationalisation and globalisation, since the 1970s has almost vanished from mainstream economic geography and development studies, and is most often hardly mentioned in studies of international industrial development and global commodity or value chains. Secondly, the paper discusses the consequences of leaving freight transport out of the value chain analyses and argues that it has had serious consequences for economic development especially in the peripheral parts of the world, not least in Africa, and for our understanding of rural poverty.
Topic:: Development, Economics, Globalization, and Third World
Political Geography:: Africa

383. The Spice Industry in Tanzania: General Profile, Supply Chain Structure, and Food Standards Compliance Issues

Author:: Evelyne Lazaro and Adam Akyoo
Publication Date:: 03-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: The fall in the agricultural sector's contribution to Tanzanian export earnings since the early 1990s has increased attention toward new crops with the potential of supplementing the country's traditional export crops. Particular attention has been focused upon identifying crops enjoying price stability, high demand elasticity and low substitutability. Spices fall into this category. Consequently there have been efforts by public agencies and private exporters, both on the mainland and on Zanzibar, to promote the crop. However, access to high value export markets raises issues of supply chain dynamics and conformity with international standards. This paper focuses upon the recent history of the spice industry in Tanzania with reference to these issues. The main conclusions are that Certified Organic standards are the only international standards complied with, and that a very loosely coordinated chain exists alongside a more coordinated one. Macro- and micro-institutional weaknesses need attention if the full potential of the sub-sector is to be realized.
Topic:: Economics, Health, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:: Africa, Zanzibar, and Tanzania

384. The economics of certified organic farming in tropical Africa: A preliminary assessment

Author:: Simon Bolwig and Peter Gibbon
Publication Date:: 01-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: The paper examines the relative profitability of certified organic and conventional farming operations in tropical Africa as well as differences between organic and conventional farmers in rates of adoption of farming practices and in household factor endowments. The paper is based on three surveys in Uganda of smallholder farmers of respectively, organic coffee, cocoa, and pineapple and of matching control groups of conventional farmers. Organic production was in all cases organised on a contract farming-type basis, in schemes operated by the firm exporting the organic product. The central conclusion from the study is that farms that engaged in certified organic export production were significantly more profitable in terms of net farm income earnings than those that engaged only in conventional production. This was the result of generally significant differences between organic and conventional farmers' gross farm incomes, although these differences were further amplified by differences in costs. Income differences related partly to differences between organic and conventional farmers' factor endowments. Preliminary analyses indicted that, among factor endowments, area under crops subject to organic certification (CSC) and numbers of CSC plants had the strongest relations to farmers' sales volume and incomes,. Labour availability and average age of CSC plants had a much lower level of importance. As for other factors, yields were strongly related to sales volumes, but average price received was of lesser importance. The precise relative contribution of these different factors to sales volumes and incomes remains to be established in a further paper, however. The results for average net income also show enormous differences in profitability between organic farmers of different cash crops, with pineapple farmers earning three and five times more than cocoa and coffee farmers, respectively. It is worth underlining that, in contrast to the experience in developed countries, we found that organic conversion in tropical Africa is associated with increases rather than reductions in yield, which relates to the low-input characteristics of conventional farming on the continent. Focus group interviews suggest that organic farmers enjoyed higher yields due to more effective farm management technique, but the survey results on rates of adoption of yield-enhancing farming practices could not verify this.
Topic:: Agriculture, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:: Uganda and Africa

385. Local stakeholders' use of forest reserves in Kasyoha-Kitomi forest landscape, Uganda and Nguru south forest landscape, Tanzania

Author:: Kim Raben, Michael Kidoido, David Loserian, Johnson Nyingi, and Zarupa Akello
Publication Date:: 01-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Tropical forests are characterised by stakeholders with multiple and often conflicting interests. This paper identifies and analyses local stakeholders in the Participatory Environmental Management (PEMA) programme in the Kasyoha-Kitomi forest landscape in Uganda and the South Nguru forest landscape in Tanzania. The overall objective of the PEMA programme is to pilot and promote an approach to the management of natural resources in two high-biodiversity Forest Reserves and surrounding landscapes that reconciles the conservation and development interests of multiple stakeholders at local, national and international levels. The Danish Institute for International Studies had as one of its task to carry out an analysis of local stakeholders i.e. the rural people in the forest landscapes, who directly or indirectly benefit from services provided by the forests. The image of stakeholders and interests in forest management is complex and stakeholder analysis provides a means to start understanding it. Based on the stakeholder identification methodology (Ravnborg and Westermann 2002) the paper investigates stakeholders and the interdependencies among them with regard to the management of natural resources. Point of departure is taken in individualsâ€™ interests, and previous and current uses of services provided by the Kasyoha-Kitomi Forest Reserve and Nguru South Forest Reserve are documented. These services are for instance the provision of agricultural land, wood products, NTFP, hunting, fishing, grazing and the less tangible services such as climate regulation, water quantity and quality. Where possible, interests are distinguished according to social groups. It is concluded that local inhabitantsâ€™ stakes in the forest reserves are determined by their access to technology, capital, markets, skills, as well as their locality, gender, age, ethnicity and (lack of) alternative livelihood strategies. In addition, the context of inter-related demographic and socio-economic processes that influence patterns of resource use and determine (and change) local inhabitantsâ€™ interests in and use of the forests are described and conflicting interests and interdependencies identified. The stakeholder analysis provides a start to understanding the complex picture of interests attached to the forests and the potential for involving local stakeholders in the PEMA programme. The paper concludes, among other things, that activities such as cultivation within the forest reserves, labouring in logging activities, collection of material for thatch and sambu oil seeds are mainly the interests of the poor local inhabitants. Findings from both forest landscapes show that NTFP such as weaving and thatch material constitute important sources of income for the local inhabitants including the poor and should thus be considered when negotiating use rights to resources in the forest reserve. In general, it is recommended that profound attention is given in the PEMA programme to improving the local stakeholdersâ€™ access rights to the forest reserves and not just meet the interests of more powerful non-local stakeholders
Topic:: Economics and Environment
Political Geography:: Uganda, Africa, Tanzania, and Southeast Asia

386. The Significance of Transport Costs in Africa

Author:: Wim Naudé and Marianne Matthee
Publication Date:: 08-2007
Content Type:: Policy Brief
Institution:: United Nations University
Abstract:: The success of Africa's exports, as well as its spatial development, depends on lowering transport costs. In this Policy Brief, we address a number of pertinent questions on transport costs in Africa, such as 'what are transport costs?', 'do transport costs matter for trade?', 'how important are transport costs in practice?', and 'why are Africa's transport costs so high?' We present a case study of the firm location decisions of exporters in South Africa to illustrate the significance in particular of domestic transport costs for manufactured exports. The message from this Policy Brief is that Africa's international transport costs are significantly higher than that of other regions, and its domestic transport costs could be just as significant. Moreover we show how domestic transport costs influence the location, the quantity, and the diversity of manufactured exports. Various policy options to reduce transport costs in Africa are discussed.
Topic:: Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:: Africa

387. Does Influence-Peddling Impact Industrial Competition? Evidence from Enterprise Surveys in Africa

Author:: Vijaya Ramachandran, Manju Kedia Shah, and Gaiv Tata
Publication Date:: 10-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Prior research has emphasized that the high costs and risks arising from a poor investment climate—lack of clear property rights, macro-instability , the burden of regulation and taxation, poor infrastructure, lack of finance, and lack of human capital—have impeded the development of the private sector in sub-Saharan Africa, despite adoption of structural adjustment and liberalization policies. Given the resulting wide differentials in productivity, it is not surprising that most of the African manufacturing sector has not been competitive in exports. However, trade liberalization should have had greater impact on domestic markets for manufactured goods in Africa, leading to either a rapid decline in the size of the manufacturing sector due to import competition, or to a rapid increase in productivity of surviving enterprises. In fact, neither has happened to any significant degree over the last 20 years.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:: Africa

388. What About Women? The Failure of HIV/AIDS Initiatives to Address the Needs of African Women

Author:: Victoria Okoye
Publication Date:: 06-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:: HIV/AIDS continues to claim the lives of more African men, women and children than any other disease or conflict. As populations across the continent experience the destructive effects of this pandemic, the most marginalized communities feel the brunt. Africa Action calls for a new and intense international focus on the situation of African women, as the only effective means to combat this pandemic.
Topic:: Economics, Health, and International Organization
Political Geography:: Africa

389. Africa: Confronting Complex Threats

Author:: Kwesi Aning
Publication Date:: 02-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: International Peace Institute
Abstract:: Africa is grappling with several difficult security challenges. These difficulties result not only from the magnitude of these challenges, but also from the lack of capacity of African states and organizations to respond quickly and effectively to them. While wide swathes of Africa are compelled to deal with problems in an ad hoc manner, there are indications that some states, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and the African Union (AU) are undertaking promising steps to respond. Some of Africa's core security challenges are (a) the legacy of historic notions of state sovereignty; (b) the rise of regionalism in the absence of common regional values; (c) the difficulty of managing hegemonic regionalism; (d) elitism in the form of regional integration occurring only at the level of leaders without permeating the consciousness of the people; (e) the creation of institutions with little or no capacity to manage them, resulting in a merely formal regionalism; and finally (f) the perception of regionalism as an externally driven project.
Topic:: Conflict Prevention, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:: Africa

390. Sectoral Transformations in Neo-Patrimonial Rentier States: Tourism Development and State Policy in Egypt

Author:: Thomas Richter and Christian Steiner
Publication Date:: 11-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: This article challenges claims that liberalising state regulated markets in developing countries may induce lasting economic development. The analysis of the rise of tourism in Egypt during the last three decades suggests that the effects of liberalisation and structural adjustment are constrained by the neo-patrimonial character of the Egyptian political system. Since the decline of oil rent revenues during the 1980s tourism development was the optimal strategy to compensate for the resulting fiscal losses. Increasing tourism revenues have helped in coping with macroeconomic imbalances and in avoiding more costly adjustment of traditional economic sectors. Additionally, they provided the private elite with opportunities to generate large profits. Therefore, sectoral transformations due to economic liberalisation in neo-patrimonial Rentier states should be described as a process, which has led to the diversification of external rent revenues, rather than to a general downsizing of the Rentier character of the economy.
Topic:: Development and Economics
Political Geography:: Africa, United States, Middle East, and Egypt

391. Seeking Opportunities: Migration as an Income Diversification Strategy of Households in Kakamega District in Kenya

Author:: Lena Giesbert
Publication Date:: 09-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: Migration and remittances are widely seen as major components of diversification strategies aimed at coping with risky environments in developing countries. The debate in the literature mainly concentrates on effects of and access to the strategy of migration. Against this background, the paper investigates patterns, determinants and the impact of internal migration on households based on data from a densely populated rural area in Western Kenya. The motivation behind migration is largely economic in kind. Accordingly, remittances account for a substantial share of household incomes. Results derived from a probit model estimation indicate that the likelihood of migration is independent from the wealth position of households. Instead, demographic household factors, education-related variables and migrant networks are of central importance. Migration and remittances are obviously more easily accessible than other opportunities of income diversification beyond farming for households across all levels of wealth, including the poorest households. JEL classification:
Topic:: Economics, Migration, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:: Kenya and Africa

392. Boda-bodas Rule: Non-agricultural Activities and Their Inequality Implications in Western Kenya

Author:: Jann Lay, George Michuki M'Mukaria, and Â Toman Omar Mahmoud
Publication Date:: 04-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: Engagement in non-agricultural activities in rural areas can be classified into survival-led or opportunity-led. Survival-led diversification would decrease inequality by increasing the incomes of poorer households and thus reduce poverty. By contrast, opportunity-led diversification would increase inequality and have a minor effect on poverty, as it tends to be confined to non-poor households. Using data from Western Kenya, we confirm the existence of the differently motivated diversification strategies. Yet, the poverty and inequality implications differ somewhat from our expectations. Our findings indicate that in addition to asset constraints, rural households also face limited or relatively risky high-return opportunities outside agriculture.
Topic:: Agriculture, Economics, and Poverty
Political Geography:: Kenya and Africa

393. Securing Household Income among Small-scale Farmers in Kakamega District: Possibilities and Limitations of Diversification

Author:: Henriette Dose
Publication Date:: 02-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:: In the debate of sustainable rural livelihoods, diversification is seen as a way to secure incomes and to increase food security. On the basis of a data set on income security, this paper analyses to what extent this applies to small-scale farmers in Kakamega District, Kenya. Using the sustainable rural livelihoods approach, this paper draws the conclusion, that (1) diversification in agricultural production is not sufficient for securing rural livelihoods in Kakamega District; (2) a sufficient income diversification depends heavily on requirements like access to education, infrastructure, as well as investment capital; and (3) small-scale farmers in Kakamega District in most cases lack these requirements, therefore not being able to achieve secure household incomes or increased food security.
Topic:: Security, Agriculture, and Economics
Political Geography:: Kenya and Africa

394. Nigeria's Economic Reforms Progress and Challenges

Author:: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Philip Osafo-Kwaako
Publication Date:: 03-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: The Brookings Institution
Abstract:: Following years of economic stagnation, Nigeria embarked on a comprehensive reform program during the second term of the Obasanjo administration. The program was based on the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) and focused on four main areas: improving the macroeconomic environment, pursuing structural reforms, strengthening public expenditure management, and implementing institutional and governance reforms. This paper reviews Nigeria's recent experience with economic reforms and outlines major policy measures that have been implemented. Although there have been notable achievements under the program, significant challenges exist, particularly in translating the benefits of reforms into welfare improvements for citizens, in improving the domestic business environment, and in extending reform policies to states and local governments. Consequently, we argue that the recent reform program must be viewed as the initial steps of a much longer journey of economic recovery and sustained growth. This paper concludes by outlining a number of outstanding issues that future Nigerian administrations must address.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Government
Political Geography:: Africa and Nigeria

395. Credit Elasticities in Less-Developed Economies: Implications for Microcredit

Author:: Dean Karlan and Jonathan Zinman
Publication Date:: 01-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Policymakers often prescribe that microfinance institutions increase interest rates to eliminate reliance on subsidies. This strategy makes sense if the poor are rate insensitive: then microlenders increase profitability (or achieve sustainability) without reducing the poor's access to credit. We test the assumption of price inelastic demand using randomized trials conducted by a consumer lender in South Africa. The demand curves are downward-sloping, and steep for price increases relative to the lender's standard rates. We also find that loan size is far more responsive to changes in loan maturity than to changes in interest rates, which is consistent with binding liquidity constraints.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Markets
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

396. Why Are There So Few Black-Owned Firms in Africa? Preliminary Results from Enterprise Survey Data

Author:: Vijaya Ramachandran and Manju Kedia Shah
Publication Date:: 01-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Center for Global Development
Abstract:: Much of the growth in Sub-Saharan Africa in the past decade has come from extractive industries, rather than from private, entrepreneurial activity. Furthermore, non-extractive activity in the private sector is often dominated by firms owned by ethnic minorities. This paper analyzes the characteristics of the formal private sector in five countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular emphasis on Black African-owned (indigenous) firms. We find that indigenous firms start smaller and grow more slowly; however their rate of growth is positively influenced by whether the owner-entrepreneur has a university degree. We do not find overwhelming evidence that credit is the binding constraint but we do find that indigenous firms get less access to trade credit than firms owned by minority entrepreneurs. Finally, we discuss policy solutions that might enable a larger number of indigenous entrepreneurs to enter and survive in a vibrant, multi-ethnic private sector.
Topic:: International Relations, Development, Economics, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:: Africa

397. The “Social Market Economy” and its Impact on German European Policy in the Adenauer Era, 1949-1963

Author:: Guido Thiemeyer
Publication Date:: 06-2007
Content Type:: Journal Article
Journal:: German Politics and Society
Institution:: German Politics and Society Journal
Abstract:: This article focuses on the economic aspects of German European policy in the 1950s and raises the question whether the economic system of the Federal Republic of Germany, “Soziale Marktwirtschaft” had any impact on the European policy of the West German state. It argues that Social Market Economy as defined by Ludwig Erhard influenced German European policy in certain aspects, but there was a latent contradiction between the political approach of Konrad Adenauer and this economic concept. Moreover, this article shows that West German European policy was not always as supportive for European unity as it is often considered.
Topic:: Foreign Policy and Economics
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, and Germany

398. Nigeria: Elections and Continuing Challenges

Author:: Robert I. Rotberg
Publication Date:: 04-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:: Nigeria's vital importance for Africa's political development, for U.S. and European interests, and for world order cannot be exaggerated. Nigeria's sheer aggregate numbers—possibly as many as 150 million of the full continent's 800 million—and its proportionate weight in sub-Saharan Africa' s troubled affairs, make the country's continuing evolution from military dictatorship to stable, sustained democracy critical.
Topic:: Democratization and Economics
Political Geography:: Africa, Europe, and Nigeria

399. World Cup 2010: South African Economic Perspectives and Perspectives Policy Challenges Informed by the Experience of Germany 2006

Author:: Stan Du Plessis and Wolfgang Maennig
Publication Date:: 01-2007
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg
Abstract:: The paper provides a first ex post analysis of the financial burden and economic benefits of the World Cup in Germany 2006. On the usual cost-benefit measures, the experience of WC 2006 appears to be in line with existing empirical work on large sporting events and sport stadia which rarely identify significant net economic benefits. The paper also argues that the “event benefit” or “feel-good factor” of sport events should no longer be neglected in cost-benefit studies of large sporting events, even though these effects are likely to be underestimated ex ante due to their possible experience good character. These lessons from Germany 2006 provide a context for analysing the potential risks and benefits for South Africa, the World Cup hosts in 2010. The paper aims to open a discussion on policy decisions, often at the level of urban planning and architecture, that might improve the balance of costs and benefits for sport events and stadia. To that end the paper attempts to initiate a discussion on the economic effects of “iconic buildings”.
Topic:: Economics, World Cup, Regional Economy, and Urban Planning
Political Geography:: Africa and South Africa

400. Better (RED) than Dead: 'Brand Aid', Celebrities and the New Frontier of Development Assistance

Author:: Stefano Ponte and Lisa Ann Richey
Publication Date:: 09-2006
Content Type:: Working Paper
Institution:: Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:: Bono's launch of Product (RED)™ at Davos in 2006 marks the opening of a new frontier for development aid. The advent of 'Brand Aid' explicitly linked to commerce, not philanthropy, reconfigures the modalities of international development assistance. American Express, Gap, Converse and Armani represent the faces of ethical intervention in the world, as customers are encouraged to do good by dressing well. Consumption, trade and aid wed dying Africans with designer goods, as a new social contract is created to generate a sustainable flow of money to support The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Aid celebrities – the bard, the teacher and the healer – guarantee the 'cool quotient,' the management and the target of this new modality. Bono is the rock-star who led his fans to believe that they could solve Africa's problems of AIDS and poverty. Jeffrey Sachs is the recently-radicalized economist who masterminded The Global Fund. And Paul Farmer is the physician who convinced the world that treatment of AIDS was possible in even the poorest communities. The consumer's signification of status through designer RED products does not represent the exploitation of the most downtrodden – it actually helps them. 'Brand Aid' creates a world where it is possible to have as much as you want without depriving anyone else. Promoted as new leftist development chic, compassionate consumption effectively de-links the relations of capitalist production from AIDS and poverty.
Topic:: Development, Economics, and Humanitarian Aid
Political Geography:: Africa and America

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS