COTTON EXPORTS: ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SALES AND SHIPMENTS

Relationships between cotton export sales and export shipments are examined, and a quarter-specific lag structure is estimated. Two econometric systems are estimated, one employing export shipments and the other using export sales. Results indicate that sales are more sensitive to changes in economic variables than shipments and that stocks net of outstanding export sales are more responsive to price and interest rate changes than gross stocks. Sales and shipments are different variables and cannot substitute for one another in econometric modelling. Use of export sales data should be considered in estimation of export demand and stock demand parameters.International Relations/Trade,

Extractive resources, global volatility and Africa’s growth prospects

Africa is endowed with an incredible amount of natural resources of which the extractive sector is a key component. Unfortunately, however, the continent is characterized by a paradox of plenty or resource curse, depicting a situation of abundant resources that have not translated into economic growth and prosperity for the population. The potential role of the extractive sector is further affected by global volatilities. This article reviews the importance of the extractive sector to selected African countries. It identifies sources of global volatility that affect the sector and further attempts to establish the factors that drive the volatility-growth nexus. We use panel data covering 18 selected African countries from 1970-2013 to explain the gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Volatility persistence estimates are also calculated. The article further examines the policy space that African governments might consider to make the extractive sector play a major role in the development of the continent. We find that the extractive sector makes a huge contribution to GDP of the selected countries. The empirical evidence also indicates that 12 out of 18 countries find it difficult to adjust their economies back to equilibrium when hit with volatility shocks or changes in the volatility of GDP growth.Keywords: economic diversification, extractive sector, growth, natural resources, resource curse, volatilit

Simple sequential procedure for modeling of item non-response in econometric analysis: Application to CV survey data

Item non-response occurs when respondents fail to provide answers to some or all of the questions posed during survey interviews. The standard procedure is to exclude such responses from the econometric analysis. This may be appropriate if the sample included does not differ significantly from those excluded in the analysis. If this is not the case, the econometric analyst faces a sample selection bias problem. The aim of this paper is to provide further evidence using a simple sequential procedure to deal with the problem when using non-randomly selected samples in social science research. The procedure entails different levels of estimation and diagnostic with the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Heckman's 2-step and Full Information Maximum Likelihood (FIML) estimators. In the application context, we found the FIML estimator to be more efficient in dealing with sample selection bias than the Heckman's 2-step approach

Towards a sustainable development licence to operate for the extractive sector

The extractive sector now holds an even more predominant position for national economies following the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015. The sector can make significant contributions to the achievement of a large number of these Goals. Managing extractive resources has always presented a major challenge for many countries worldwide, but especially in the developing world. This paper documents the shortcomings of the existing governance architecture. It builds on the ‘social licence to operate’ and draws from its limitations to propose a new framework called the ‘sustainable development licence to operate’. The latter is a holistic multi-level and multi-stakeholder governance framework aimed at enhancing the contribution of the mining sector to sustainable development. It is not intended to function as a licence in the regulatory sense. The underlying principles, policy options and best practices that form the basis of the proposed framework are outlined in the paper. This analysis should be viewed as a starting point, in recognition that the development of a robust sustainable development licence to operate depends on an open and inclusive approach to populating its normative content

La microfinance en Afrique centrale: Le defi des exclus

The rural poor face a major challenge to access financial services provided by the formal banking system. These poor are excluded from the system because of the requirements imposed on them by that banking sector. The microfinance promise is to ensure that the excluded have access to financial products. Financial intermediation of microfinance through microcredit, micro-transfers, micro-saving and micro-insurance has gained popularity in the developing countries of the world during the past thirty years. For these countries the question is to determine the potential role of microfinance in reducing poverty and in strengthening economic growth. While a considerable amount of research has been undertaken in other parts of the world on these issues, there is a dearth of empirical knowledge in the Central African countries. This book 'Microfinance in Central Africa: The challenge of the excluded' presents results of empirical research concerning microfinance institutions in Central Africa. The book draws from a project that was supported by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in the context of the Centre's globalization, growth and poverty programme initiative. The project examined issues related to the market for microfinance, institutional considerations, efficiency and behaviour of key actors and the impact of microfinance. The studies within the project were undertaken by teams of researchers and doctoral students, all mainly economists and jurists, in four countries in Central Africa, namely: Cameroon, Chad, Congo Republic and Gabon. The book should serve as a reference guide with respect to the microfinance experience in the region for the scientific community, policy makers and other development practitioners

S'intégrer pour s'enrichir : l'intégration régionale et les stratégies de réduction de la pauvreté en Afrique de l'Ouest

Publié conjointement avec SpringerVersion anglaise disponible dans la Bibliothèque numérique du CRDI : Wealth through integration : regional integration and poverty-reduction strategies in West Afric

COTTON EXPORTS: ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SALES AND SHIPMENTS

Relationships between cotton export sales and export shipments are examined, and a quarter-specific lag structure is estimated. Two econometric systems are estimated, one employing export shipments and the other using export sales. Results indicate that sales are more sensitive to changes in economic variables than shipments and that stocks net of outstanding export sales are more responsive to price and interest rate changes than gross stocks. Sales and shipments are different variables and cannot substitute for one another in econometric modelling. Use of export sales data should be considered in estimation of export demand and stock demand parameters

Farmers' perception on soil erosion in Ghana: Implication for developing sustainable soil management strategy.

Farmers' perception on soil erosion has not adequately reported in the conditions of Ghana though its causes and effects are time and site-specific. The objective of this study was to assess farmers' perception on soil erosion and implication for developing soil management strategy in the Eastern and Northern Regions of Ghana. A total of 130 household head farmers were interviewed and complemented with field observation and group. Data was analyzed using descriptive, chi-square test, T-test and binary logistic regression. The results show that there was significant variation in socioeconomic, farm and institutional attributes among the farmers`in the study regions. In the Eastern and Northern Regions, significantly higher proportions of the farmers (95.7% and 86.7%, respectively) perceived soil erosion as serious problem. Significantly higher proportions of the respondents (80%) perceived severe erosion problem at homestead land in the Eastern Region whereas severe erosion in the Northern Region was more noticed at distance farmlands (85.0%). In the two regions, the major causes of severe erosion as perceived by most farmers were over-cultivation, deforestation and heavy rainfall events. In the Eastern and Northern Regions, 58.6% and 75.0% of the farmers perceived, respectively, that soil erosion severity has been increased since the past 10-years. Perceptions of most frequently noted indicators of soil erosion were declined productivity, shallow soil depth, presence of rills, sheet erosion, soil loss from farmland, and change in soil color. Results of the binary logistic regression indicate that there is heterogeneity in the factors accounting for the perception of soil fertility. In developing promising soil management strategy in the study area, attention must be given to key socioeconomic, biophysical, farm and institutional factors