Real interest rate differentials and the real exchange rate: Evidence from four African countries

During the early 1990s much has been written about the return of foreign private capital to many of the larger Asian and Latin American countries. However, until 1992 there was little evidence that countries in sub-Saharan Africa were participating in this phenomenon. In this paper we use variance decompositions and impulse responses from vector autoregressions to shed light on the possible causes and consequences of capital inflows to four countries: Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. We use trend-cycle decompositions to provide evidence linking the appreciation of the real exchange rate to periods of heavy capital inflows. We show that domestic real interest rates have played an important role in explaining the recent behavior of the real exchange rate. In particular, we trace the rise in domestic nominal and real interest rates to policies designed to liberalize the domestic financial sector and attempts to curb the monetary expansion associated with the capital inflows through sterilized intervention.capital flows real exchange rate interest rates

Non-monotonic long memory dynamics in black-market premia

The dynamic response of Black market premia to domestic shocks is an important issue in the design and implementation of stabilization and reform programs. We use a vector autoregressive fractionally integrated model to provide new evidence on the dynamics of the official and Black market exchange rates. We show that the official and Black market exchange rates in Hungary are cointegrated with a negative fractional order ofintegration in the cointegrating residuals. The new empirical finding means that the cointegrating residuals are positively autocorrelated in the short run due to autoregressive dynamics, but are negatively autocorrelated in the long run. The rich and complex dynamics of the premia suggests the existence of what we call long memory non-monotonicity.Foreign exchange rates ; Vector autoregression

A Cultural Examination of Hardiness: Associations with Self-Esteem, Wisdom, Hope, and Coping-Efficacy

It is imperative that college students cultivate and exhibit traits associated with resilience to successfully complete their course of study and to protect themselves against the onset of mental health issues. This study aimed to examine positive psychology variables in relation to resilience in order to find variables that promote resilience in college students. Wisdom, hope, and coping self-efficacy were examined amongst 436 undergraduate students. Ethnicity amongst the sample consisted with 136 self-reporting as African American (31.9%), 264 self-reporting as European American (60.6%), 3 self-reporting as Asian (0.7%), 2 self-reporting as Native American (0.5%), and 28 self-reporting as biracial (6.4%). Participants volunteered to take a survey, which provided the data for this study. Results suggested wisdom, hope, and coping self-efficacy were positively related to resilience. Regression analysis revealed coping self-efficacy and trait hope as unique predictors of resilience for African American students. Regression analysis also revealed wisdom as a unique predictor for European Americans, but not African Americans. This finding suggests the need for a measure of wisdom that is inclusive of African American values of wisdom. Further examination in these findings may ultimately lead to a better understanding of hardiness development during the collegiate years

Combating political and bureaucratic corruption in Uganda: Colossal challenges for the church and the citizens

This article formulates a new approach to combating corruption in Uganda. In pursuit of this research, the author highlights the chronicity of corruption in Uganda, which is uniformly political and bureaucratic. Bureaucratic corruption takes place in service delivery and rule enforcement. It has two sides: demand-induced and supply-induced. Political corruption occurs at high levels of politics. There are ‘political untouchables’ and businessmen who are above the law and above institutional control mechanisms. The established institutions of checks and balances in Uganda have assiduously continued to have a limited bearing on corruption. Neither coherent anti-corruption norms nor severe formal sanctions are able to dishearten certain politicians and civil servants in Uganda from the deviant behaviour of structural corruption. Corruption is a spiritual departure from the law and standard of God. It is an action conceived in the human mind and carried out by the corrupt. Therefore, corruption deterrence not only lies in sound public financial management systems but depends to a large extent on having people with positive human character in all aspects of national life. This article thus provides the framework of corruption and discusses the manifestation of political and bureaucratic corruption in Uganda. It also exegetes the biblical stance regarding corruption. Finally, it proposes a panacea for combating political and bureaucratic corruption