Is Investment in Africa Too Low or Too High? Macro and Micro Evidence

Is Investment in Africa Too Low or Too High? Macro and Micro Evidence PDF Author: Howard Pack, Shantayanan Devarajan, William Russell Easterly
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description
Many analysts decry the level of investment in Africa, saying it is too low. But there is no evidence, in cross-country data or in microeconomic data from Tanzania, that private and public capital is productive in Africa. In that sense, investment in Africa may be viewed as too high.

Is Investment in Africa Too Low or Too High? Macro and Micro Evidence

Is Investment in Africa Too Low or Too High? Macro and Micro Evidence PDF Author: Howard Pack, Shantayanan Devarajan, William Russell Easterly
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description
Many analysts decry the level of investment in Africa, saying it is too low. But there is no evidence, in cross-country data or in microeconomic data from Tanzania, that private and public capital is productive in Africa. In that sense, investment in Africa may be viewed as too high.

Is investment in Africa too low or to high? : macro and micro evidence

Is investment in Africa too low or to high? : macro and micro evidence PDF Author: Shantayanan Devarajan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Inversion extranjera - Africa
Languages : en
Pages : 35

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Book Description


Is Investment in Africa Too Low or Too High? Macro and Micro Evidence

Is Investment in Africa Too Low or Too High? Macro and Micro Evidence PDF Author: William Easterly
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description
Many analysts decry the l ...

Is Investment in Africa Too Low Or Too High? Macro and Micro Evidence

Is Investment in Africa Too Low Or Too High? Macro and Micro Evidence PDF Author: Shantayanan Devarajan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
January 2001 Many analysts decry the level of investment in Africa, saying it is too low. But there is no evidence, in cross-country data or in microeconomic data from Tanzania, that private and public capital is productive in Africa. In that sense, investment in Africa may be viewed as too high. Devarajan, Easterly, and Pack investigate the relationship between weak growth performance and low investment rates in Africa. The cross-country evidence suggests no direct relationship. The positive and significant coefficient on private investment appears to be driven by Botswana's presence in the sample. Allowing for the endogeneity of private investment, controlling for policy, and positing a nonlinear relationship make no difference to the conclusion. Higher investment in Africa would not by itself produce faster GDP growth. Africa's low investment and growth rates seem to be symptoms of underlying factors. To investigate those factors and to correct for some of the problems with cross-country analysis, Devarajan, Easterly, and Pack undertook a case study of manufacturing investment in Tanzania. They tried to identify why output per worker declined while capital per worker increased. Some of the usual suspects--such as shifts from high- to low-productivity sub-sectors, the presence of state-owned enterprises, or poor policies--did not play a significant role in this decline. Instead, low capacity utilization (possibly the byproduct of poor policies) and constraints on absorptive capacity for skill acquisition seem to be critical factors. If Tanzania is not atypical, the low productivity of investment in Africa was the result of a combination of factors that occurred simultaneously, not any single factor. What does this tell us? First, we should be more careful about calling for an investment boom so that Africa can resume growth. Unless some or all of the underlying problems are addressed, the results may be disappointing. We should also be more circumspect about Africa's low savings rate; it may be low because returns to investment were so low. The relatively high level of capital flight from Africa may have been a rational response to the lack of investment opportunities at home. Second, there is probably no single key to unlocking investment and GDP growth in Africa. All of the factors contributing to low productivity should be addressed simultaneously. This paper--a joint product of Public Economics and Macroeconomics and Growth, Development Research Group--is part of a larger effort in the group to study growth and development in Africa. The authors may be contacted at [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected].

The Role of Nongovernmental Organizations in Primary Education

The Role of Nongovernmental Organizations in Primary Education PDF Author: Shanti Jagannathan
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Education, Primary
Languages : en
Pages : 62

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Book Description
Nongovernmental organizations working in education in India are professional resource centers and innovators able to reach children who are educationaly disadvantaged. The Indian government could improve the effectiveness of primary education by increasing its collaboration with such organizations.

Africa

Africa PDF Author: Assistant Professor Morten Jerven
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
ISBN: 1783601353
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 167

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Book Description
‘A valuable corrective to the fraying narrative of [African] failure.’ Foreign Affairs Not so long ago, Africa was being described as the hopeless continent. Recently, though, talk has turned to Africa rising, with enthusiastic voices exclaiming the potential for economic growth across many of its countries. What, then, is the truth behind Africa’s growth, or lack of it? In this provocative book, Morten Jerven fundamentally reframes the debate, challenging mainstream accounts of African economic history. Whilst for the past two decades experts have focused on explaining why there has been a ‘chronic failure of growth’ in Africa, Jerven shows that most African economies have been growing at a rapid pace since the mid nineties. In addition, African economies grew rapidly in the fifties, the sixties, and even into the seventies. Thus, African states were dismissed as incapable of development based largely on observations made during the 1980s and early 1990s. The result has been misguided analysis, and few practical lessons learned. This is an essential account of the real impact economic growth has had on Africa, and what it means for the continent’s future.

Vanishing Growth in Latin America

Vanishing Growth in Latin America PDF Author: Andrés Solimano
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 9781845428228
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
Economic growth in Latin America and the rise of material welfare has lagged behind that of more dynamic areas of the world economy. In a region prone to policy experiments, the policies of the Washington Consensus applied since the 1990s failed to bring sustained growth to most of Latin America. Andres Solimano and an impressive set of contributors analyze the last 40 years in order to determine the role of economic reforms, external conditions, factor accumulation, income inequality, political instability and productivity in explaining GDP increases. The book also looks at cycles of growth, identifying periods of rapid growth and contrasting them with periods of stagnation and collapse.

Linking Participatory poverty assessments to policy and policymaking

Linking Participatory poverty assessments to policy and policymaking PDF Author: Carrie Turk
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 34

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Book Description
January 2001 Much of the qualitative research about poverty in Vietnam over the past 8 to 10 years was overlooked by policymakers, who tended to view it as "unscientific" and lacking in credibility. So why did the four participatory poverty assessments implemented in 1999 grab their attention? The year 1999 was important for poverty-related research and policy development in Vietnam. The General Statistics Office had collected household data in the second Vietnam Living Standards Survey in 1998 and made it available for analysis in 1999. And four participatory poverty assessments (PPAs) were implemented during 1999. Turk's case study describes how government agencies, donors, and nongovernmental organizations collaborated in implementing the PPAs. The considerable amount of qualitative information about poverty produced in Vietnam over the past 8 to 10 years has rarely grabbed the attention of policymakers, who tend to view such information as "unscientific" and lacking in credibility. By contrast, the PPAs implemented in 1999 have been widely circulated, used, and quoted. What was different about those PPAs that led their findings to be brought into local and national policy debates, as previous findings had not been? Working partnerships among donors and nongovernmental organizations were important and helped build consensus on the research findings, but more crucial was the active engagement of government partners from the very early stages. Establishing a Poverty Working Group provided a structure for implementing the PPAs, for feeding analysis through to the poverty assessment, and for keeping government fully involved. The Poverty Working Group now supports the government in drafting its poverty reduction strategy. Strong World Bank leadership, financial support from the U.K. Department for International Development, the technical expertise and commitment of the PPA partner agencies, and the availability of recent high-quality household survey data played an important part in ensuring the PPAs' credibility. This paper--a product of the Hanoi Country Office, East Asia and Pacific Region--is part of a larger effort in the region to encourage greater participation by poor households in policymaking and programming for poverty reduction. The author may be contacted at [email protected].

Is Inequality Bad for Business?

Is Inequality Bad for Business? PDF Author: Alice Mesnard
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Entrepreneurship
Languages : en
Pages : 34

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Book Description
Data on occupational choice among return migrants in Tunisia reveal that higher inequality of wealth reduces the level of new business activity. The effect is not large, however. Even dramatic redistributions of wealth would not provide much stimulus to entrepreneurship.

Measuring Education Inequality

Measuring Education Inequality PDF Author: Vinod Thomas
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Coeficiente de Gini
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description
Equal access to education is a basic human right. But in many countries gaps in education between various groups are staggering. An education Gini index -- a new indicator for the distribution of human capital and welfare -- facilitates comparison of education inequality across countries and over time.