The effects of technology intensity in manufacturing on CO2 emissions: Evidence from developing countries
Industrialisation is recognised as important for developing countries’ growth and ‘catching up’ with advanced economies, but is also associated with harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and hence with climate change. This poses a challenge to sustainable development, particularly for late industrialisers: how to industrialise while also mitigating CO2 emissions. This paper investigates the effect of […]
The household effects of very large electricity tariff hikes in Zambia
This paper simulates the real household expenditure effects of electricity price increases in Zambia. First, we find that electricity subsidies are highly regressive. Second, our partial equilibrium model simulations of the welfare effects of electricity tariff rises show that poorer households suffer larger percentage losses in real expenditures compared to wealthier households. Naturally, this leads […]
Female household headship and poverty in South Africa: an employment-based analysis
Female household headship is generally associated with higher poverty incidence relative to male headship. Female headship has generally been on the increase in South Africa. And while generally declining over the post-apartheid period, poverty has increased in the recent past. South Africa also has high unemployment rates. However, there is scant evidence on the role […]
The effect of financial inclusion on welfare in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from disaggregated data
Over two decades sub-Saharan Africa has grown an average by 4.8% per annum. A trend called “Africa rising in the literature” but this robust economic growth seem to have benefited only a minority of elite individuals as poverty in the region remains high and income inequality continues to rise. Critics attribute this to a lack […]
Financial development and income inequality in Africa: A panel heterogeneous approach
Although the financial sector of Africa has witnessed massive reforms to enhance its ability to support economic activities, reduce poverty and lower income inequality, Africa remains the poorest region and the second most unequal region in the world after Latin America. Despite these established facts, little empirical research exists on the relationship between financial development […]
The Migrant Network Effect: An empirical analysis of rural-to-urban migration in South Africa
Recent empirical migration literature in South Africa suggests that access to physical and human capital, in the way of finance and education respectively, are key factors in increasing one’s probability of migrating. This paper attempts to extend this literature by directly measuring the extent to which social capital, broadly defined as one’s access to a […]
Recurrent Property Rates – The Search for a Fair Tax Conducive to Economic Growth
The conflict between the need to attend to acute poverty in the present and the need to invest in longer-term poverty-reducing economic growth is a primary feature of the South African public policy landscape. Economic growth rates, while not alarmingly low (3.4% on average, annually, between 2000 and 2012, 1% from 2007-2012), have also not […]
The Effect of Land Restitution on Poverty Reduction Among the Khomani San “Bushmen” in South Africa
This paper looks at the impact of land restitution involving the Khomani San “bushmen” in the Kgalagadi area of South Africa. It seeks to test whether there is a positive correlation between land restitution and poverty reduction among the beneficiaries. We run instrumental variable probit models on poverty and access to nature. Our results suggest […]
Who would eat more with a food voucher programme in South Africa
What might seem like a good idea for satisfying the hungry is likely to leave the economy in a dyspeptic state. Jan Van Heerden’s study into the relative merits of a food voucher programme (ERSA Working Paper number 110) suggests that the price distortions created by such a scheme are likely to inflate production costs, […]
The private sector has a role to play in cash transfers programmes in Africa
Arguments for greater participation by the private sector in growth-boosting and poverty-reducing initiatives in Africa are intensifying with the mounting fear that the Millennium Development Goals will not be met. In “The Private Sector and Cash Transfers in Africa”, (ERSA Working Paper No. 80) Sheshangai Kaniki argues that the private sector has a pivotal role […]
The wealth of some and the poverty of Sub-Saharan Africa
Policy Paper (Interest) 20 The economic growth performance of Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) over the past few decades has confounded economists. The poverty of SSA has many dimensions and causes, both internal and external. Certainly part of its underdevelopment is attributable to bad luck, initial conditions, and an unfavourable international economic environment. However, the region […]
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