GENDER, LAND ACCESS AND RURAL POVERTY IN CÔTE D’IVOIRE

The aim of this paper is to examine the link between land access (property rights) and gender (female and male) poverty in rural areas in Côte d’Ivoire, which economy is mainly based on agriculture products. The study particularly distinguishes households which head of family is a woman from those headed by a man. Several studies have shown that women headed households are the most exposed to poverty, specifically in rural areas. In effect, while this group of households can have a lucrative activity in urban areas, their activity is subject to land access in rural areas. The issue of property rights on rural lands is then essential in programs for gender poverty alleviation in rural areas.Gender, Land access, Property rights, Poverty

BUSINESS CYCLE AND SECTORAL FLUCTUATIONS: A NONLINEAR MODEL FOR CÔTE D’IVOIRE

Although the share of service sector in Côte d’Ivoire’s real GDP is higher than other sectors, it is widely recognized that the Ivorian economy is mainly based on agricultural sector and thus the fluctuations in this ‘motor’ sector could have a huge impact on the growth process of the country. We examine the issue of existence, identification and interaction of business cycle in Côte d’Ivoire’s GDP and compare its fluctuations with the disaggregated main economic sectors (agriculture, industry and service), by using a univariate Markov regime switching model and its multivariate version over the period 1970-2001. We found similarities and simultaneity of business cycle between the sectors of the economy. While the real GDP’s business cycle can be characterized, according to its mean duration (around 10 years) as a Juglar type cycle, the sectors’ cycles mean duration is shorter from 4 to 5 years.Business cycles, Economic Growth, Markov switching, Structural breaks, Time series analysis

WAGE DYNAMICS IN A STRUCTURAL TIME SERIES MODEL FOR LUXEMBOURG

This paper examines the relationships between monetary wage and its theoretical explanatory variables using a Structural Time Series (STS) model in order to take into account the unobserved components (trend, cycle, seasonal and irregular) of wage. Theoretically, the monetary wage is negatively related to labor productivity and unemployment rate but positively to the consumer price index and foreign prices. Our empirical results for a small open economy as Luxembourg indicate that the wage is positively related to the consumer price index and foreign prices as predicted by the theory, but the labor productivity and unemployment rate are not significant in the explanation of wages dynamics in the Luxembourg economy.Wage Bargaining, Labor Unions, Unobserved Components Models, Structural Time Series

GENRE, ACCES A LA PROPRIETE FONCIERE ET PAUVRETE RURALE EN COTE D’IVOIRE

Le but de ce papier est d’examiner la relation entre l’accès à la terre (droits de propriété) et la pauvreté rurale en Côte d’Ivoire, un pays dont l’économie repose essentiellement sur l’agriculture. On distingue particulièrement les ménages dont le chef est une femme de ceux dont le chef est un homme (problème du genre). Des études ont montré que les ménages dont le chef est une femme sont les plus exposées à la pauvreté principalement dans les zones rurales. En effet alors qu’elles peuvent accéder à un emploi rémunéré dans les zones urbaines, dans les zones rurales leur activité est subordonnée à l’accès à la terre. La question des droits de propriété sur les terres rurales est donc essentielle dans les programmes de lutte contre la pauvreté non seulement pour les hommes mais surtout pour les femmes en zone rurale.Genre, accès à la terre, droit de propriété, pauvreté

Influence of the Fiscal System on Income Distribution in Regions and Small Areas: Microsimulated CGE Model for Côte d'Ivoire

The objective of this paper is to examine how a small open economy such as Côte d’Ivoire (CI) can obtain growth-based internal tax resources, and how the tax system affects households and individuals through relative prices. A microsimulated CGE model is used to analyse the effects of an alternative tax system on households by utilizing a survey. It is postulated that the military and political crisis that started in 1999 with the first coup d’etat in Côte d’Ivoire is transitory and that CI has an internal tax policy capacity. This paper indicates that an alternative tax structure can reduce distortion in regional poverty, inequality for households, and in cities and small areas of the country. A model is formulated using Côte d’Ivoire’s 1998-based social accounting matrix and the 1998 population survey of 4,200 households. The main findings of this study are that the post-crisis tax policies envisioned by the government (reducing the tax rate on firms, reducing import taxes and increasing taxes on household income) result in an increase in poverty and inequality at the regional, city and small area levels.

RELATIVE EFFECTS OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE INVESTMENT ON COTE D’IVOIRE’S ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE

This paper investigates the impact of public and private investment on Côte d’Ivoire’s economic performance (GDP growth) over the period 1969-2001, using an autoregressive-distributed lag (ARDL) Error Correction Model (ECM). The results shows that in the short run an increase in private investment by 1% enhance economic growth by 28%, while a 1% increase in public investment leads to only 7% increase in real GDP. In the long run nevertheless the impact of public investment on GDP growth has been higher than private investment, a 1% increase in private investment leads to 25% increase in GDP, while public investment impacts growth by 37%. On the other hand, a 1% increase in employment leads to 38% increase in long run GDP growth. The main findings indicate that while the short run efficiency of public capital can be further improved in Côte d’Ivoire, in the same time the efficiency of private investment can be improved in the long run.Public and Private investment, GDP Growth, ECM

HEALTH, EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: TESTING FOR LONG-RUN RELATIONSHIPS AND CAUSAL LINKS in the United States

This paper examines the causal relationships between human capital (Education, and Health) and Economic growth for the USA using time series approach for the period 1929-1997. We find cointegration between the variables under study. The EC-VAR investigations show bi-directional causality between Education and Health. Causality also exists from Education to Economic growth. On the other hand, causality is found between Health and Economic growth and not the reverse. We therefore perform variance decomposition and impulse response functions to see the importance of the impacts among these variables. The results show that the long-run dynamics of growth are slightly explained by past health and education level, and the health level account for 10% of the evolution of education in the long run.Human Capital, Health, Education, Economic growth, Cointegration, ECM, Causality