The returns to vocational training and academic education: Evidence from Tanzania

In this paper we ask what can account for the continuing strong preference for academic education in Africa where the level of development is so low and there are few wage jobs and which form of educational investment, the academic or vocational, is most profitable. We argue that the answers to these questions are linked through the shape of the earnings function and the importance of firm effects. High levels of academic education have far higher returns than those available either from vocational or lower levels of academic. However at lower levels the vocational return can exceed the academic.Vocational and General education in Tanzania, manufacturing, training.

Are charcoal makers willing to participate in a scheme of payment for environmental services: A choice experiment in the coastal forest of Tanzania

Economic instruments such as Payment for Environmental Services (PES) have become very popular to jointly address poverty alleviation and sustainable management of natural resources. In this paper we focus on the suppliers of the environmental services in a case study in the Coastal Belt Forests of Tanzania. A Choice Experiment is conducted to determine charcoal makers' willingness to participate in a PES scheme and the compensation necessary to make them give up their destructive – but vital income generating – forest activities, mainly charcoal production. We find that this willingness does exist, especially if other cash generating alternatives are offered. However we also conclude that a PES alone will not be sufficient to halt the destruction of the Coastal Forests if nothing is done to curb the growing urban demand for charcoal

The Dynamics of Returns to Education in Kenyan and Tanzanian Manufacturing

The returns to education remain a central concern for development policy. In developed countries there is evidence that the returns to education have been rising.Evidence for changes over this period for developing countries is limited. In this paper we use data from Kenya and Tanzania to estimate returns to education for manufacturing workers and examine how these returns have changed from 1980 to the late 1990s. We find strong evidence that the earnings function is convex for both countries and document significant differences in the earnings profiles across cohorts, typically with stronger convexity amongst the young. We also find evidence of increasing convexity over the 1990s in Tanzania, but remarkable stability in Kenya.We test for the importance of ability bias and find convexity robust to endogeneity. Treating education as an endogenous explanatory variable generally results in higher estimated returns to education than what is obtained by OLS. Potential reasons for this result are discussed.Returns to education, Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, manufacturing

The Dynamics of Returns to Education in Kenyan and Tanzanian Manufacturing

The returns to education remain a central concern for development policy. In developed countries there is evidence that the returns to education have been rising. Evidence for changes over this period for developing countries is limited. In this paper we use data from Kenya and Tanzania to estimate returns to education for manufacturing workers and examine how these returns have changed from 1980 to the late 1990s. We find strong evidence that the earnings function is convex for both countries and document significant differences in the earnings profiles across cohorts, typically with stronger convexity amongst the young. We also find evidence of increasing convexity over the 1990s in Tanzania, but remarkable stability in Kenya. We test for the importance of ability bias and find convexity robust to endogeneity. Treating education as an endogenous explanatory variable generally results in higher estimated returns to education than what is obtained by OLS. Potential reasons for this result are discussed.Returns to education, Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, manufacturing

TRADE FACILITATION, ICT AND MANUFACTURED EXPORT PERFORMANCE IN TANZANIA: WHAT IS THE MISSING LINK?

This study assesses the missing links between ICT and trade facilitation in influencing exports and productivity of Tanzanian manufacturing enterprises. It focuses on testing the hypothesis that application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at firm level and adaptation of appropriate trade facilitation policies have a causal impact on the quality and quantity of manufactured exports, productivity and investment. The main argument is that, despite the remarkable and impressive record of Tanzanian economic performance and efforts to attain a knowledge economy, performance of the manufacturing sector has stagnated. Low levels of technology usage, inadequate and low levels o

Optimization of the charcoal chain in Tanzania

The high reliance on charcoal makes Tanzanian producers, traders and consumers vulnerable for environmental problems such as deforestation. Increasing the sustainability of the charcoal chain in Tanzania calls for a comprehensive approach that accounts for a multitude of aspects (e.g technological, economic, social and environmental issue

Pinpointing areas of increased soil erosion risk following land cover change in the Lake Manyara catchment, Tanzania

publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Pinpointing areas of increased soil erosion risk following land cover change in the Lake Manyara catchment, Tanzania journaltitle: International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation articlelink: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jag.2018.05.008 content_type: article copyright: © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved