FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT, HOST COUNTRY PRODUCTIVITY AND EXPORT: THE CASE OF U.S. AND JAPANESE MULTINATIONAL AFFILIATES

The literature on the transfer of technology from FDI to host country firms is growing rapidly. Most of the studies find that there are positive spillover effects from FDI flow to host country firms in advanced economies. The result for the case of FDI recipient developing economies is mixed. The purpose of this study is to analyze the role that foreign direct investment from the U.S. and Japan plays in affecting developing countries¡¯ productivity, and export. Trade and production dataset by industrial groups and disaggregated U.S. and Japanese FDI data are used to empirically test presence of spillover effects on labor productivity and export. The results of the study show that positive productivity effects from U.S. and Japanese FDI firms are not empirically supported for the case of sample developing countries. The presence of FDI firms from all source countries and the number of U.S. total FDI and U.S. manufacturing FDI firms increase exports of host countries to the rest of the world. On the other hand, productivity is enhanced by foreign portfolio investment, availability of skilled manpower, capital intensity of industries and the number of bilateral investment treaties signed by host countries. Official development assistance and official aid have significantly negative effect on host country productivity, value added and export.Foreign Direct Investment, Productivity, Developing Countries, USA, Japan

Determinants of Market Prices of Cattle in Eastern Ethiopia

This study has attempted to identify determinants of cattle price per kilogram live weight using a log-linear regression model. The estimated model explains about 48% of the variation in market prices of cattle. Price per kilogram live weight of cattle increases with animal characteristics such as age, live weight and grade. Type of sellers, buyers' purposes, festivals, time of transaction and a time trend are also important variables in affecting cattle prices. Farmers tend to sell their animals at price discounts as compared to trader sellers. Cattle sellers suffer from price discounts in selling to buyers with business purposes in comparison to selling to ultimate consumers. Sellers tend to benefit from animal sales during festivals, as they tend to receive price premium compared to selling during non-festival periods. Cattle price per kilogram live weight increases with the time of transaction suggesting that sellers tend to obtain higher prices by selling at later hours of a market day. The policy implications of these empirical results are that efforts to benefit cattle producers and/or sellers need to pay attention to animal characteristics, sellers' type, buyers' purposes and festivals in preparing animals for market and/or during actual transactions. It is vitally essential to train cattle keepers on the above issues. Provision of reliable livestock market (price) information to market participants, and investment in different livestock marketing facilities (like weighing scale) and services need to be given due attention in order to avoid unrewarding cattle-pricing practices.Cattle, price variation, live weight, animal characteristics, market characteristics, Eastern Ethiopia, Livestock Production/Industries,

Anatomy Of Foreign Aid To Ethiopia: 1960-2003

The purpose of this study is to present a portrait of the foreign aid flow to Ethiopia during the 1960 to 2003 period. Since the launch of Marshal Plan after World War II, the flow of foreign aid has been seen as the panacea to overcome underdevelopment. Ethiopia is not an exception to this view, and Ethiopia is one of the recipients of foreign aid not only to provide emergency relief but also to support longterm economic development. This study shows the flow of aid to Ethiopia in terms of major donors (bilateral and multilateral), method of delivery, and major recipient sectors/purposes. The study attempts to answer the following questions: Which are the major donor countries? For what purposes has the aid been given? For which sectors has the country been receiving aid? Further, during the study period the country has twice experienced changes in government. How have the composition, donors, and purposes of aid changed with the changes of government? The paper attempts to present aid flows for the country’s three government regimes. The study will use detailed aid data collected from donors by the OECD and recently made available. This study does not attempt to link the flow of aid to the progress, economic or otherwise, that has ensued from the flow of aid.Foreign Aid, Ethiopia, Development

The Dynamics of Income Diversification in Ethiopia: Evidence from Panel data

Block and Webb (2001) in food policy address the issue of the dynamics of livelihood diversification in Ethiopia. Their study uses the ratio of per capita income derived from crops to the sum of all other incomes as an indicator of livelihood diversification for the years 1989 and 1994. Their study focuses only on drought-prone areas during the survey years. The aim of the present study is to explore further the demographic and economic determinants of the dynamics of income diversification using survey data. The data used in this study cover larger and more representative sample and was colleted from rural Ethiopia during 1994 and 1997 harvest years. This study investigates not only the determinants of participation and intensity of off-farm activities, but also factors that affect the dynamics between 1994 and 1997. The results of this study attempt to answer the question: to what extent initial conditions (for instance, asset holdings, production, and crop income) prompt households to diversify to off-farm activities overtime. The results show that participation in off-farm activities is mainly driven by demographic factors, whereas land and other asset ownership as well as crop production and income affect intensity of off-farm activities. The dynamic model results show that farm families who have initially diversified to more off-farm activities subsequently realized less income diversification. Families with more initial crop production from slack harvest season subsequently realized greater income from off-farm activities in 1997. The study also confirms that it is only during slack harvest season that off-farm and on-farm activities are complement each other.Dynamic Livelihood, Off-farm Income, Diversification, Ethiopia

Framing Frances Domestic Response to the November 2015 Paris Attacks Insights from Al Jazeera English

This article examines Al Jazeera English s framing of the French authorities domestic response to the November 2015 Paris attacks The objective of the paper was to analyze the way Al Jazeera English framed the French government s domestic response to the attacks using qualitative textual analysis method of the selected news articles The findings show Al Jazeera English s critical stance towards the domestic reaction of French authorities to the attacks The network voicing the opinions of French Muslim minority groups in its framing contests the anti-terror operation and the state of emergency which occurred in the aftermath of the attacks Its framing highlights a further marginalization and exclusion of French Muslim minorities who are already suffering from Islamophobia since the 9 11 attacks and after Charlie Hebdo attack The article concludes that the network in its framings voices the views of the French Muslim minorities in its frame

The Effect of Farmers’ Participation in Soil and Water Conservation Practices in Their Household Food Security Together with Other Determinant Factors in Farta Woreda, South Gondar Zone, Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia

The objective of this study was to examine the impacts of soil and water conservation activities on household food security status together with other factors in Farta woreda, South Gondar Zone. In this study a two stage sampling procedure was employed to select 6 sample kebeles out of 41 and 381 sample households out of 8230 in the sampled kabala’s using simple random sampling. The primary data were collected using pre-tested structured questionnaire. Categorization of households in to food secure and insecure was done based on the cost of 2200 kcal per day per adult which was determined to be 1985 birr per year per adult person as food poverty line for Ethiopia. The result revealed that only 35.67% of sample households participated in soil and water conservation activities voluntarily and about 70.34% and 29.66% of sample households were food insecure and secure groups respectively with the average 21 percent food gap for insecure households. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression model was employed to identify rural household food security status. The result of binary logit model revealed variables such as participation index, age, family size, education level, off-farm income, farm income, size of cultivated land, soil fertility problem, ox ownership and dependence ratio were found to be significant determinants of rural household food security status. Thus development partners should made effort to increase farmers’ participation in soil and water conservation and activities should be done in integrated way to maintain the food security level of households. Moreover attention should be given to those factors that were found to affect both farmers’ participation and households’ food security status in the study area. Keywords: Participation, Soil and Water Conservation, Food Security, Binary Logistic Regressio

Gross Value Added of Wood Fuel Production in Ethiopia

Ethiopia is among the developing countries dependent on solid biomass energy source. Wood-fuel is among the dominant solid biomass energy source used by all households in the country. Charcoal and firewood are the source of income for the poor rural households and primary fuel in most rural and urban areas of Ethiopia. The gross value added from value chain across all levels of wood fuel production in Ethiopia was about USD 5,858 million, accounting about 4.5% of the GDP in 2014. It increased to USD 6,419 million in 2015. It is difficult to present the cost-benefit distribution along the chain of charcoal production and marketing because it passes through informal channels. Large number of people are employed in the various phases of the charcoal value chain, including: tree harvesting; sizing of wood; preparation of charcoal kilns; loading the wood into kilns and unloading charcoal after conversion; unloading, bundling, packaging and transportation, and marketing. However, that distribution of income and profit in charcoal production-supply channel in Ethiopia is highly skewed toward the producers, that is, 75% of the total revenue/bag. Even though, wood-fuel production generates significant income to rural poor, the production and consumption of both charcoal and firewood is inefficient and unsustainable causing environmental problems. Therefore, there is a need for institutional interventions that promote and regulate more environmentally friendly means of production. Promotion of improved cook stoves (ICS) can increase energy efficiency and sustainability. We recommend using alternative renewable energy sources like biogas and electricity (hydroelectric power, electricity from wind power and thermal energy) to reduce the environmental impact wood-fuel production and consumption. Keywords: Wood fuel, gross value added, value chain, gross domestic product, Ethiopia DOI: 10.7176/JETP/10-7-01 Publication date: November 30th 202

Assessment of the Attitude of Consumers Towards Domestic Garment Products

ABSTRACT This study endeavored to assess the attitude of consumers towards domestic garment products. It is more of Psychological reaction of people which is revealed in this study. The study was conducted at Nazareth town on population aging from 18 to 50 years old. The population includes employees of both governmental and non-governmental organizations, businessmen and college students ill the town. Quota sampling technique is employed in determining the sample size for each division. The data-were collected by use of structured questionnaires. Careful analysis is employed to come up with facts 'from the study. The objective of the study is to investigate attitude of consumers towards domestic garment products and to analyze the cause of such attitude. Based on variables that influence the attitude of consumers-quality and fashion of the product, cost relative to its .quality of the product, social factors and usage rate it is observed that most domestic consumers reacted negatively to domestic .garment products. This paper also recommends on how to alleviate the consumer loss being faced by garment factories due to attitudinal problems.Jimma Universit

Assessment of yield stability in sorghum

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. (Moench)) is the third major cereal crop in Ethiopia in terms of area and production next to tef (Eragrostis tef) and maize (Zea mays). It is the major crop in drought stressed lowland areas that cover 66% of the total arable land in the country. Yield stability is one of the setbacks facing plant breeders in developing widely adapted varieties with superior yield. The present study was carried out to investigate the effect of genotype by environment (GxE) on the yield stability of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) using fifteengenotypes in eight environments (Locations x years combination). There were significant differences among the genotypes, the environments and GxE interactions. Thus, the three types of univariate stability models: Type-1 (CVi and S2i), Type-2 (W2i, s2i, and bi) and Type-3 (Sd2i) were compared for ranking of the genotypes. Theparameters of W2i and si2 had perfect positive correlation (r=1.0) and strong positive correlation with bi (r=0.80),but either weak or no correlation with the rest of the parameters. Similarly, CVi and S2i had strong rank correlation(r=0.97) but both had either very weak or no rank correlation with the rest of the parameters tested. The Sd2i had very weak negative correlation with the remaining parameters. Based on the three stability statistics, the different genotypes were classified as stable. To compliment and verify findings of this univariate approach, the GxE which uses a mulivariate approach was used. The multivariate approach (AMMI model) gives a broader inference. Based on the AMMI model, genotypes 2 and 5 were the most stable, although genotypes 1 and 3 had satisfactory levels of yield performance as well as stability. Therefore, these four genotypes with wider adaptationare recommended for sorghum growing dry lowlands of the country