Are African Households Heterogeneous Agents

Author : Ms.Louise Fox
Publisher : International Monetary Fund
Page : 36 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2015-05-06
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781484369968

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Are African Households Heterogeneous Agents? by Ms.Louise Fox Pdf

This paper reviews the evidence on how households in Sub-Saharan Africa segment along consumption, income and earning dimensions relevant for quantitative macroeconomic policy models which incorporate heterogeneity. Key findings include the importance of home-grown food in the income and consumption of house-holds well up the income distribution, the lack of formal financial inclusion for all but the richest households, and the importance of non-wage income. These stylized facts suggest that an externally-generated macroeconomic shock and the short-term policy response would mainly affect the behavior and welfare of these richer urban households, who are also more likely to have the means to cope. Middle class and poor households, especially in rural areas, should be insulated from these external shocks but vulnerable to a wide range of structural factors in the economy as well as idiosyncratic shocks.

Author : Oliver Mtapuri
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 236 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2022-11-15
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9789811958564

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African Perspectives on Poverty, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, and Innovation by Oliver Mtapuri Pdf

This book examines the connections between poverty and innovation in Africa. Through case studies and theorizations from a distinctly African perspective, it stands in contrast to current theoretical works in the field, which remain very much rooted in Western-orientated thinking. The book investigates the application of methodologies which explain numerous African contexts in connection with issues of poverty and inequality. It reflects on comparative practices and praxes on the African continent, including commonplace traditions and practices in alleviating poverty, taken against a background of the failure of current prescriptions for poverty alleviation, such as the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP). There is a dire need for new practical perspectives which move Africa forward using its indigenous knowledge. Owing to a general lack of recorded African theories and methodologies on poverty, inequality and innovation, this book represents a pioneering corpus of African knowledge addressing poverty and inequality through local innovations. Adopting a transdisciplinary approach, it is relevant to students and scholars in development studies and economics, African studies, social studies, political history and political economy, climate studies, anthropology and geography.

Author : Amy S. Patterson,Tracy Kuperus,Megan Hershey
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 283 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2023-08-10
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781009235174

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Africa's Urban Youth by Amy S. Patterson,Tracy Kuperus,Megan Hershey Pdf

Draws from extensive fieldwork in three countries to show how African youth negotiate citizenship through daily obligations, relationships, and political engagement.

Author : Andrew Berg,Rafael Portillo
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2018-02-23
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780191088827

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Monetary Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa by Andrew Berg,Rafael Portillo Pdf

Low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa present unique monetary policy challenges, from the high share of volatile food in consumption to underdeveloped financial markets; however most academic and policy work on monetary policy is aimed at much richer countries. Can economic models and methods invented for rich countries even be adapted and applied here? How does and should monetary policy work in sub-Saharan African? Monetary Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa answers these questions and provides practical tools and policy guidance to respond to the complex challenges of this region. Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa have made great progress in stabilizing inflation over the past two decades. As they have achieved a degree of basic macroeconomic stability, policymakers are looking to avoid policy misalignments and respond appropriately to shocks in order to achieve stability and growth. Officially, they often have adopted "money targeting" frameworks, a regime that has long disappeared from almost all advanced and even emerging-market discussions. In practice, though, they are in many cases finding current regimes lacking, with opaque and sometimes inconsistent objectives, inadequate transmission of policy to the economy, and difficulties in responding to supply shocks. Monetary Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa takes a new approach by applying dynamic general equilibrium models suitably adapted to reflect key features of low-income countries for the analysis of monetary policy in sub-Saharan African countries. Using a progressive approach derived from the International Monetary Fund's extensive practice and research, Monetary Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa seeks to address what we know about the empirics of monetary transmission in low-income countries, how monetary policy can work in countries characterized by underdeveloped financial markets and opaque policy regimes, and how we can use empirical and theoretical methods largely derived in advanced countries to answer these questions. It then uses these key topics to guide policymakers as they attempt to adjust food price, terms of trade, aid shocks, and the effects of the global financial crisis.

Author : Maddalena Honorati,Sara Johansson de Silva
Publisher : World Bank Publications
Page : 160 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2016-10-24
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781464809422

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Expanding Job Opportunities in Ghana by Maddalena Honorati,Sara Johansson de Silva Pdf

Ghana was, until very recently, a success story in Africa, achieving high and sustained growth and impressive poverty reduction. However, Ghana is now facing major challenges in diversifying its economy, sustaining growth, and making it more inclusive. Most of the new jobs that have been created in the past decade have been in low-earning, low-productivity trade services. Macroeconomic instability, limited diversification and growing inequities in Ghana’s labor markets make it harder for the economy to create more jobs, and particularly, better jobs. Employment needs to expand in both urban areas, which will continue to grow rapidly, and rural areas, where poverty is still concentrated. The current fiscal and economic crisis is heightening the need for urgent reforms but limiting the room for maneuver and increasing pressure for a careful prioritization of policy actions. Going forward, Ghana will need to consider an integrated jobs strategy that addresses barriers to the business climate, deficiencies in skills, lack of competitiveness of job-creating sectors, problems with labor mobility, and the need for comprehensive labor market regulation. Ghana needs to diversify its economy through gains in productivity in sectors like agribusiness, transport, construction, energy, and information and communications technology (ICT) services. Productivity needs to be increased also in agriculture, in order to increase the earnings potential for the many poor who still work there. In particular, Ghana’s youth and women need help in connecting to these jobs, through relevant skills development and services that target gaps in information about job opportunities. Even with significant effort, most of Ghana’s population will continue to work in jobs characterized by low and fluctuating earnings for the foreseeable future, however, and they will need social safety nets that help them manage vulnerability to income shortfalls. More productive and inclusive jobs will help Ghana move to a second phase of structural transformation and develop into a modern middle-income economy.

Author : International Monetary Fund. Research Dept.
Publisher : International Monetary Fund
Page : 15 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2015-06-18
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781513503974

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IMF Research Bulletin, June 2015 by International Monetary Fund. Research Dept. Pdf

In the June 2015 issue, the Research Summaries review "Migration: An Attractive Insurance Option in African Countries" (Ahmat Jidoud) and "Investment in Emerging Markets" (Nicolas E. Magud and Sebastian Sosa). The Q&A looks at "Seven Questions on Islamic Finance” (Inutu Lukonga). The Bulletin also includes its regular listings of recent IMF Working Papers and Staff Discussion Notes, as well as information on the "IMF Economic Review." A new IMF eLibrary discussion site on energy and climate change is highlighted, along with new recommendations from IMF Publications.

Author : Rafael Portillo,Luis-Felipe Zanna,Mr.Stephen A. O'Connell,Richard Peck
Publisher : International Monetary Fund
Page : 62 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2016-03-17
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781475542639

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Implications of Food Subsistence for Monetary Policy and Inflation by Rafael Portillo,Luis-Felipe Zanna,Mr.Stephen A. O'Connell,Richard Peck Pdf

We introduce subsistence requirements in food consumption into a simple new-Keynesian model with flexible food and sticky non-food prices. We study how the endogenous structural transformation that results from subsistence affects the dynamics of the economy, the design of monetary policy, and the properties of inflation at different levels of development. A calibrated version of the model encompasses both rich and poor countries and broadly replicates the properties of inflation across the development spectrum, including the dominant role played by changes in the relative price of food in poor countries. We derive a welfare-based loss function for the monetary authority and show that optimal policy calls for complete (in some cases nearcomplete) stabilization of sticky-price non-food inflation, despite the presence of a foodsubsistence threshold. Subsistence amplifies the welfare losses of policy mistakes, however, raising the stakes for monetary policy at earlier stages of development.

Author : Samuel Benin,J. Pender,Simeon Ehui
Publisher : ILRI (aka ILCA and ILRAD)
Page : 198 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 2003-01-01
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9291461415

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Policies for Sustainable Land Management in the East African Highlands by Samuel Benin,J. Pender,Simeon Ehui Pdf

Author : Delfin Sia Go,John Page
Publisher : World Bank Publications
Page : 520 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2008-04-14
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0821372785

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Africa at a Turning Point? by Delfin Sia Go,John Page Pdf

Since the mid-1990s, sub-Saharan Africa has experienced an acceleration of economic growth that has produced rising incomes and faster human development. However, this growth contrasts with the continent's experience between 1975 and 1995, when it largely missed out on two decades of economic progress. This disparity between Africa's current experience and its history raises questions about the continent's development. Is there a turnaround in Africa s economy? Will growth persist? 'Africa at a Turning Point?' is a collection of essays that analyzes three interrelated aspects of Africa's recent revival. The first set of essays examines Africa's recent growth in the context of its history of growth accelerations and collapses. It seeks to answer such questions as, is Africa at a turning point? Are the economic fundamentals finally pointing toward more sustainable growth? The second set of essays looks at donor flows, which play a large role in Africa's growth. These essays focus on such issues as the management and delivery of increased aid, and the history and volatility of donor flows to Africa. The third set of essays considers the recent impact of one persistent threat to sustained growth in Africa: commodity price shocks, particularly those resulting from fluctuations in oil prices.

Author : Célestin Monga,Justin Yifu Lin
Publisher : OUP Oxford
Page : 608 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2015-07-02
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780191510755

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The Oxford Handbook of Africa and Economics by Célestin Monga,Justin Yifu Lin Pdf

For a long time, economic research on Africa was not seen as a profitable venture intellectually or professionally-few researchers in top-ranked institutions around the world chose to become experts in the field. This was understandable: the reputation of Africa-centered economic research was not enhanced by the well-known limitations of economic data across the continent. Moreover, development economics itself was not always fashionable, and the broader discipline of economics has had its ups and downs, and has been undergoing a major identity crisis because it failed to predict the Great Recession. Times have changed: many leading researchers-including a few Nobel laureates-have taken the subject of Africa and economics seriously enough to devote their expertise and creativity to it. They have been amply rewarded: the richness, complexities, and subtleties of African societies, civilizations, rationalities, and ways of living, have helped renew the humanities and the social sciences-and economics in particular-to the point that the continent has become the next major intellectual frontier to researchers from around the world. In collecting some of the most authoritative statements about the science of economics and its concepts in the African context, this lhandbook (the first of two volumes) opens up the diverse acuity of commentary on exciting topics, and in the process challenges and stimulates the quest for knowledge. Wide-ranging in its scope, themes, language, and approaches, this volume explores, examines, and assesses economic thinking on Africa, and Africa's contribution to the discipline. The editors bring a set of powerful resources to this endeavor, most notably a team of internationally-renowned economists whose diverse viewpoints are complemented by the perspectives of philosophers, political scientists, and anthropologists.

Author : Karl Schmedders,Kenneth L. Judd
Publisher : Newnes
Page : 688 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2013-12-31
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780080931784

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Handbook of Computational Economics by Karl Schmedders,Kenneth L. Judd Pdf

Handbook of Computational Economics summarizes recent advances in economic thought, revealing some of the potential offered by modern computational methods. With computational power increasing in hardware and algorithms, many economists are closing the gap between economic practice and the frontiers of computational mathematics. In their efforts to accelerate the incorporation of computational power into mainstream research, contributors to this volume update the improvements in algorithms that have sharpened econometric tools, solution methods for dynamic optimization and equilibrium models, and applications to public finance, macroeconomics, and auctions. They also cover the switch to massive parallelism in the creation of more powerful computers, with advances in the development of high-power and high-throughput computing. Much more can be done to expand the value of computational modeling in economics. In conjunction with volume one (1996) and volume two (2006), this volume offers a remarkable picture of the recent development of economics as a science as well as an exciting preview of its future potential. Samples different styles and approaches, reflecting the breadth of computational economics as practiced today Focuses on problems with few well-developed solutions in the literature of other disciplines Emphasizes the potential for increasing the value of computational modeling in economics

Author : Cars Hommes,Blake LeBaron
Publisher : Elsevier
Page : 834 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2018-06-27
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780444641328

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Heterogeneous Agent Modeling by Cars Hommes,Blake LeBaron Pdf

Handbook of Computational Economics: Heterogeneous Agent Modeling, Volume Four, focuses on heterogeneous agent models, emphasizing recent advances in macroeconomics (including DSGE), finance, empirical validation and experiments, networks and related applications. Capturing the advances made since the publication of Volume Two (Tesfatsion & Judd, 2006), it provides high-level literature with sections devoted to Macroeconomics, Finance, Empirical Validation and Experiments, Networks, and other applications, including Innovation Diffusion in Heterogeneous Populations, Market Design and Electricity Markets, and a final section on Perspectives on Heterogeneity. Helps readers fully understand the dynamic properties of realistically rendered economic systems Emphasizes detailed specifications of structural conditions, institutional arrangements and behavioral dispositions Provides broad assessments that can lead researchers to recognize new synergies and opportunities

Author : Mr. Ken Miyajima
Publisher : International Monetary Fund
Page : 24 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2021-03-19
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781513574356

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Monetary Policy, Inflation, and Distributional Impact: South Africa’s Case by Mr. Ken Miyajima Pdf

The South African Reserve Bank has continued to fulfill its constitutional mandate to protect the value of the local currency by keeping inflation low and steady. This paper provides evidence that monetary policy tightening aimed at maintaining low and stable inflation could at the same time reduce consumption inequality over a 12–18 month horizon, commonly understood as the transmission lag of monetary policy action to the real economy, and similar to the distance between survey waves used in the analysis. In response to “exogenous” monetary policy tightening, the real consumption of individuals at lower ends of the consumption distribution declines relatively modestly, or even increases. With greater reliance on government transfers, thus smaller reliance on labor income, and relatively larger food consumption, these individuals appear to benefit mainly from lower inflation. By contrast, the real consumption of individuals at higher ends of the consumption distribution is more likely to decline due to lower labor income, weaker asset price performance, and higher debt service cost.

Author : B. Essama-Nssah
Publisher : World Bank Publications
Page : 57 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2007
Category : Adverse impact
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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Economy-wide and Distributional Impacts of an Oil Price Shock on the South African Economy by B. Essama-Nssah Pdf

Abstract: As crude oil prices reach new highs, there is renewed concern about how external shocks will affect growth and poverty in developing countries. This paper describes a macro-micro framework for examining the structural and distributional consequences of a significant external shock-an increase in the world price of oil-on the South African economy. The authors merge results from a highly disaggregative computable general equilibrium model and a micro-simulation analysis of earnings and occupational choice based on socio-demographic characteristics of the household. The model provides changes in employment, wages, and prices that are used in the micro-simulation. The analysis finds that a 125 percent increase in the price of crude oil and refined petroleum reduces employment and GDP by approximately 2 percent, and reduces household consumption by approximately 7 percent. The oil price shock tends to increase the disparity between rich and poor. The adverse impact of the oil price shock is felt by the poorer segment of the formal labor market in the form of declining wages and increased unemployment. Unemployment hits mostly low and medium-skilled workers in the services sector. High-skilled households, on average, gain from the oil price shock. Their income rises and their spending basket is less skewed toward food and other goods that are most affected by changes in oil prices.

Author : Oparinde, Adewale,Abdoulaye, Tahirou,Manyong, Victor M.,Birol, Ekin,Asare-Marfo, Dorene,Kulakow, Peter,Ilona, Paul
Publisher : Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Page : 24 pages
File Size : 40,7 Mb
Release : 2016-04-13
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 8210379456XXX

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A technical review of modern cassava technology adoption in Nigeria (1985-2013) by Oparinde, Adewale,Abdoulaye, Tahirou,Manyong, Victor M.,Birol, Ekin,Asare-Marfo, Dorene,Kulakow, Peter,Ilona, Paul Pdf

In recent times, results of various adoption studies have been mixed, raising questions regarding why some improved farm technologies are still not widely adopted several years after their first introduction. Many improved cassava varieties have been introduced to millions of farm households across Africa south of the Sahara. Using an extensive review of cassava-adoption literature focused on Nigeria, this paper discusses the uptake of improved cassava varieties. Generic measurement and methodological issues in the literature are illuminated and alternative approaches suggested. The literature can be improved to better inform policy by considering issues such as attribution constraint due to varietal identification challenges and sample selection bias that can limit interpretation of findings. Very few studies disaggregated adoption by men and women, thus the literature can provide more policy relevance by giving adequate attention to gender considerations. Also, the use of only descriptive statistics and dichotomous choice models is most common while issues of sequencing, simultaneity, endogenity, and social learning effects in adoption decisions are under-evaluated. The local germplasm at research institutions in the country is not exhaustive and thus efforts should focus on improving the database for an effective use of a DNA fingerprinting technique in the varietal identification process.