Assessing the Impact of Development Cooperation: the Case of African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and U.S. Imports from Sub-Saharan Africa.

We evaluate the impact of the unilateral trade policy concession known as African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) on U.S. imports from eligible Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Using U.S.-SSA countries’ trade data that span the years 1991-2006, we find that AGOA has contributed to the initiation of new and the intensification of existing U.S. imports in both manufactured and non-manufactured goods and several product categories. However, compared to its import initiation impact, the import intensification effect of the Act has been marginal. Our results have important policy implication for further intensification of African exports to the U.S. markets.AGOA, Trade Agreements, Trade Initiation, Trade Intensification

Determinants of the Allocation of US Aid forTrade.

Since the 2001 Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations, members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have shown a renewed interest in using a new type of aid known as aid for trade (hereafter to be simply referred as AFT) as a means for catapulting the economic growth performance of developing countries. Japan, U.S., and the United Kingdom account for a significant proportion of AFT outlays being extended to developing countries. Despite the rise in the amount of funding outlays, to date, there is little information as to what determines the allocation of the AFT funds to different countries and the impact of the aid on the economic performance of the recipient developing economies. Using data on U.S. AFT outlays extended to a panel of 54 developing countries during 1999-2005, this study identifies some salient donor and recipient specific factors that influence the propensity and intensity of AFT allocation. Our study indicates that the share of AFT given to a country is greater: the larger is the relative magnitude of the donor’s exports to the recipient country, the more vulnerable the recipient country is to external economic shocks, the more politically globalized and landlocked the recipient is, the lower the level of economic freedom enjoyed by the citizens of the recipient country, and the higher the amount of the traditional Non-AFT aid per capita inflow is to the country. On the other hand, both the propensity and intensity of U.S. AFT falls with a rise in the recipient country’s ability to serve as a source for U.S. import supply and the more integrated it is with the rest of the world.Aid for trade, capacity building, export promotion, economic growth

Does a Unilateral Policy Change Promote Trade? The Case of African Growth and Opportunity Act.

In recent years, development co-operations that seek to promote trade flows between countries have continued to emerge from the notion that trade has a positive impact on economic growth. We evaluate the impact of one such initiative, the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), on the eligible Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries’ exports to the U.S. We find that the implementation of the AGOA has contributed to the initiation of new and the intensification of existing SSA countries’ exports to the U.S. across several sectors. Our results imply that the contribution of such development and cooperation efforts to enhance the long-term economic growth of the parties involved through increased trade flows depends on the ability of policy makers in building upon the trade-initiation impetus generated by the policy change.AGOA, Trade liberalization, Development Cooperation

The Impact of Tourism on Economic Growth and Development in Africa.

Over the decade of the 1990s, Africa has experienced a rise in tourist arrivals from 8.4 million to 10.6 million and receipts growth from $2.3 billion to$3.7 billion, respectively. According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO, 2006), the tourism industry in Sub-Saharan Africa enjoyed a robust annual market share growth rate of 10 percent in 2006. In spite of this, there are only few empirical studies that investigate the contributions of tourism to economic growth and development for African economies. Using a panel data of 42 African countries for the years that span from 1995 to 2004, this study explores the potential contribution of tourism to economic growth and development within the conventional neoclassical framework. The results show that receipts from the tourism industry significantly contribute both to the current level of gross domestic product and the economic growth of Sub-Saharan African countries as do investments in physical and human capital. Our findings imply that African economies could enhance their short-run economic growth by strategically strengthening their tourism industries.Tourism, Economic Growth, Sub-Sahara Africa, Dynamic Panel Data, Fixed Effects, Random Effects, and Arellano-Bond Models

Tourism and Economic Growth in Latin American Countries(LAC): Further Empirical Evidence.

From 1995-2007, worldwide tourist arrivals increased about 68.2 percent (or an average annual growth rate of about 5.2 percent) from 534 million to 898 million (UNWTO, 2008). Over the same period, Latin America countries (Central and South America) have experienced a rise in tourist arrivals from 14.3 million to 27.9 million (about 49 % growth) and tourist receipts growth from $2.3 billion to$3.7 billion (about 61 % growth), respectively. The tourism industry in Latin American countries (LAC) has also experienced a sizable increase in annual market share growth rate of 8.7 percent in 2004. Despite this fact, there are only few empirical studies that investigate the contributions of tourism to economic growth and development for Latin American economies. Using a panel data of 17 Latin American countries for the years that span from 1995 to 2004, this study investigates the impact of the tourism industry on the economic growth and development Latin American countries within the framework of the conventional neoclassical growth model. The empirical results show that revenues from the tourism industry positively contribute to both the current level of gross domestic product and the economic growth of LACs as do investments in physical and human capital. Our findings imply that Latin American economies may enhance their economic growth by strategically strengthening the tourism industry while not neglecting the other sectors which also promote growth.Tourism, Economic Growth, Latin American Countries, Dynamic Panel Data, Fixed Effects, Random Effects, Arellano-Bond Models