Despite recent political backlash in Europe and the United States, international migration remains a formidable force with wide-ranging consequences in destination and origin countries. The presence of a migrant family member living in a developed country could have multifaceted implications for the welfare of the left behind. In our recent paper we attempt to examine the impacts of international migration on the education of family members left behind in Nigeria. Specifically, we study the net effects of the presence of a migrant family member living in a foreign country on the educational attainment of family members back at home at both secondary and post-secondary levels. We then examine the role of the prospect of future migration, inspired by the presence of a family member abroad, as a potential channel mediating the effect of emigration on family education. By conducting such analysis for Nigeria, the most populous country on the African continent, we hope to shed light on the human capital implications of migration in one of the poorest regions in the world.
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Research Briefs
Can creditor bail-in trigger contagion? The experience of African Bank
The economic costs of bank failures can be substantial, and the resulting reprioritisation of government resources has long-lasting economic, political and social costs. To reduce the cost of failures to taxpayers, recent global regulatory reforms have focused on `burden-sharing arrangements', which aim to share the costs of bank failures between creditors and government. These reforms include `creditor bail-in', a mechanism to write-down the claims of creditors during the bank resolution process. The unintended consequences of bail-in are largely unknown and there are few successful examples.
Shaking Out or Shaking In: The Impact of Zimbabwe’s Economic Crisis on the Country’s Manufacturing Sector Allocative Efficiency
Following Zimbabwe's economic crisis between 1997 and 2009, a number severe policy reversals from the achievement of reforms and a more competitive manufacturing sector attained through the 1991 to 1995 IMF/World Bank supported Economic Structural Adjustment Programme, were instituted by the country's authorities in their quest to rescue the crisis. These included selective credit, selective foreign exchange allocation and at worst directed marketing of basic commodities at the height of the crisis. These firm and industry specific interventions complemented the already existing crisis induced idiosyncratic shocks on industry and firms.
Latest Publications
Quality of life: Validation of an instrument and analysis of relationships between domains
Quality of life (QoL) is now widely recognised as a multidimensional concept. This study validates an instrument to measure multidimensional QoL, and investigates the relationships between the domains thereof.
Sanctioned Quotas vs Information Provisioning for Community Wildlife Conservation in Zimbabwe: A Framed Field Experiment Approach
We investigate the behavioural responses of resource users to policy interventions like sanctioned quotas and information provisioning.
Taxpayers’ behavioural responses to Voluntary Disclosure Programmes: evidence from South Africa
South Africa, like any other country, strives towards greater tax revenue mobilisation. One possible explanation to low revenue levels is non-compliance by taxpayers.
Order flow and rand/dollar exchange rate dynamics
This paper uses the microstructure approach for the South African foreign exchange market to determine the impact of order flow on the rand/US dollar exchange rate over the short and long term.
Foreign Direct Investment, Sectoral Effects and Economic Growth in Africa
Earlier studies on the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth have not been instructive largely on their failure to examine the sectoral transmission channels through which FDI affects overall growth.
Latest Journal Publications
Regional economic effects of changes in South Africa's electricity generation mix
This paper examines the long-run regional economic effects within South Africa of changing the electricity-generation mix away from coal. We use a regional CGE model of South Africa to conduct our analysis.
The Impact of Political Competition on Economic Growth: Evidence from Municipalities in South Africa
South African Journal of Economics (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/saje.12208)
This paper examines the impact of political competition on economic growth.
Effect of Financial Development on Economic Growth in sub–Saharan Africa: Does Sectoral Growth Matter?
Journal of Policy Modelling (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161893818301170)
This paper examines the overall economic growth effect when the growth in finance and real sector is disproportionate relying on panel data for 29 sub–Saharan African countries over the period 1980–2014.
Impact of macroeconomic announcements on foreign exchange volatility: Evidence from South Africa
South African Journal of Economics (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/saje.12160)
This study focuses on scheduled macroeconomic news announcements and evaluates their impact on the volatility of the South African rand (ZAR) and US dollar (USD) exchange rate using high frequency data.
Race to the top: Does competition in the DSL market matter for fibre penetration?
Telecommunications Policy (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308596117302045)
High speed broadband creates potential productivity gains and has a positive impact on economic growth.
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