Does institutional quality contribute to increasing labour productivity in sub-Saharan Africa? An empirical analysis.

The objective of this work is to study the effect of institutional quality on labour productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. To do this, we considered a panel of 31 countries over the period from 1996 to 2016. Thus, we constructed an empirical model based on the stochastic frontier production function developed by Battese and Coelli (1995), to which we applied panel estimation techniques (static and dynamic), particularly with GMM system and Within estimators. Our results show that institutional quality indicators have a positive and significant influence on labour productivity. Political stability, government effectiveness and the rule of law are the indicators that contribute most to increasing labour productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. A series of robustness tests were performed to confirm our results. Thus, we suggest that African governments take a closer look at policies that promote good governance in their labour productivity growth strategies to improve the competitiveness of their economies

Does institutional quality contribute to increasing labour productivity in sub-Saharan Africa? An empirical analysis.

The objective of this work is to study the effect of institutional quality on labour productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. To do this, we considered a panel of 31 countries over the period from 1996 to 2016. Thus, we constructed an empirical model based on the stochastic frontier production function developed by Battese and Coelli (1995), to which we applied panel estimation techniques (static and dynamic), particularly with GMM system and Within estimators. Our results show that institutional quality indicators have a positive and significant influence on labour productivity. Political stability, government effectiveness and the rule of law are the indicators that contribute most to increasing labour productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. A series of robustness tests were performed to confirm our results. Thus, we suggest that African governments take a closer look at policies that promote good governance in their labour productivity growth strategies to improve the competitiveness of their economies

Does poverty increase COVID-19 in Africa? A cross-country analysis

Background: Most economies in African countries are informal. As such, households in these countries tend to face higher levels of informality coupled with a lack of social protection, and have no replacement income or savings in the event of unexpected external shocks, such as COVID-19. Thus, the COVID-19 shock and its negative economic efects triggered a cascade of income losses and bankruptcies that pushed a signifcant share of households in African countries into poverty. This research analyzes the efect of poverty on the spread of COVID-19 using a sample of 52 African countries. Methods: To achieve the objective of this research, this paper uses a multiple linear regression model and a sample of 52 African countries observed in 2020 to conduct a cross-country analysis. More importantly, two COVID-19 indicators (total number of ofcially reported cases and disease severity) and six poverty indicators (average poverty, poverty incidence, poverty depth, poverty severity, multidimensional poverty index, and extreme poverty) were used in this research. Results: The results show a positive and signifcant relationship between poverty and the spread of COVID-19. Conclusions: These results suggest that more attention needs to be paid to poor populations in African countries during the pandemic. These populations are generally vulnerable, and there is a need for support programs targeting them to be put in place quickly. These programs may include food aid, distribution of supplies, health care support, fee waivers, and interest deferrals. In addition, sensitization of these disadvantaged groups on vaccination against COVID-19 to achieve herd immunity is strongly encouraged