Human Capital in the Sub Saharan African Countries: Productivity and the Policy Implications

The paper investigates the contribution of Human capital to productivity in SSA countries. Human capital in this paper was viewed concurrently from the perspective of enrolment and graduates of higher education. While adopts panel data of 30 countries for 1980 to 2015 to estimate the paper’s models, a systematic procedure involving fixed effect Least Square Dummy Variable (LSDV) and system Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM) were used to test the hypothesis in this paper. Findings from this paper indicates that the impacts of higher education (both HEE and HEG) on TFP appear mixed. Higher education human capital proxied by enrollment and graduates consistently shows negative and positive signs in both methods of estimation. The human capital effects on TFP among the SSA countries flow from positive to negative as the regression moves from HEE to HEG. Quality HEG is recommended so that innovation and skills acquisition add value to SSA higher education. We can also conclude that the level of investment in SSA higher education is grossly inadequate. This implies that these countries’ higher education sectors suffer from inadequate human capital

Učinak produktivnosti ljudskog potencijala visokog obrazovanja u odabranim zemljama Sub-saharske Afrike

(HEE), higher education output (HEO) and the associated productivity gap (GP) on selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the period between 1981 and 2014. It was hypothesized in the study that HEE and HEO had statistically significant positive impact on productivity in the selected sub-Saharan Africa countries over the stated period. Fixed effect Least Square Dummy Variable (LSDV) and a robust version of System Generalized Methods of Moment (SYSGMM) were adopted as model estimating techniques. Results from the LSDV model indicated that HEE had no statistically significant positive impact on productivity growth in the twenty-one SSA countries. This non-significance was corrected in the dynamic model, but with negative effects on the growth rate of total factor productivity (TFP). The study further compared the worldwide technological frontier with those of the SSA countries under investigation and discovered that countries like Gabon, Mauritius and Swaziland ranked high, while Burundi needs to improve on its productivity determinants. The major conclusion of this study is therefore that higher education human capital should be supported with strong policy implementation, as this can have a positive impact on productivity growth.(HEE), rezultate visokog obrazovanja (HEO) i povezanog jaza produktivnosti (GP) u odabranim zemljama u sub-saharskoj Africi (SSA) u razdoblju od 1981. do 2014. godine. U istraživanju se polazi od hipoteze da HEE i HEO imaju statistički značajan pozitivan utjecaj na produktivnost u odabranim zemljama sub-saharske Afrike u navedenom razdoblju. LSDV model fiksnih učinaka (Least Square Dummy Variable) i robusna verzija sustava generalizirane metode momenata (SYS GMM) usvojene su kao tehnike procjene modela. Rezultati dobiveni primjenom LSDV modela pokazuju da upisi na visokoobrazovne ustanove nemaju statistički značajan utjecaj na rast produktivnosti u dvadeset i jednoj zemlji sub-saharske Afrike. Ovaj manjak statističke značajnosti ispravljen je u dinamičkom modelu, ali s negativnim učincima na stopu rasta ukupne faktorske produktivnosti (TFP). Istraživanje je nadalje uspoređivalo svjetsku tehnološku granicu s istraživanjima zemalja SSA i ustanovilo da su zemlje poput Gabona, Mauricijusa i Svazi visoko rangirane, dok Burundi treba poboljšati svoje determinante produktivnosti. Glavni zaključak ovog istraživanja je stoga da se ljudski kapital visokog obrazovanja treba podržati snažnom provedbom politike, jer to može imati pozitivan utjecaj na rast produktivnosti

A Comparative Analysis of Effects of Education on Sub-Saharan Africa's Economic Growth

This study aims to analyze and to compare the effects of various levels of education on the economic growth of some selected countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) between 1980 and 2015.It is hypothesized in the study that various levels of education have significant positive impacts on the economic growth of some selected sub-Saharan Africa countries over the stated period. Fixed effect Least Square Dummy Variable (LSDV) and a robust version of System Generalized Methods of Moment (SYSGMM) are adopted as model estimating techniques. Results from the LSDV model indicate increasing positive impacts of various levels of education on the economic growth of the thirty selected SSA countries. This trend of significance is corrected in the dynamic model, but with negative effects on the lower levels of education on growth while higher education output which negatively impacted on growth is reversed. The study systematically compares the effects of education on growth when higher education is included and when it is excluded both at the enrolment and output level in the regression model. We found different results at each instance for the various levels. Therefore, the major conclusion of this study is that higher education human capital at the output level appears to be the most significant of all the levels of education. However, this advantage enjoyed by higher education could have been as a result of cumulative effects from other levels of education over time. We, therefore, conclude that higher education should be supported with strong education policy implementation, as this could have a positive impact on SSA economic growth

Productivity effects of human capital: an empirical investigation of health and higher education in South Africa

Enormna opterećenost bolestima, lošim ishodima učenja u visokom obrazovanju u Južnoj Africi i njihova interakcija u smislu utjecaja na produktivnost ljudskih resursa iziskuju istraživanja za konkretne smjernice u okviru politike. U tom smislu, svrha ovog rada je istražiti ovaj odnos, zajedno s drugim čimbenicima, promatrajući ljudske resurse iz perspektive zdravlja, upisa u visoko obrazovanje (HEE) i diplomiranih studenata visokog obrazovanja (HEG). U istraživanju se primjenjuje model vremenskih serija s autoregresijskim distribuiranim pomacima (ARDL) s podacima koji obuhvaćaju razdoblje od 1980. do 2015. godine. Studija je pokazala da, dok BDP raste, stope zaposlenosti i HEE imaju pozitivan učinak na produktivnost u Južnoj Africi; kapital i životni vijek su inverzni u odnosu na produktivnost. Naime, rezultati ovog istraživanja potvrđuju hipotezu da bez odgovarajućeg školskog sektora usmjerenog na potrebne vještine, široko rasprostranjena antiretroviralna terapija u prevenciji HIV-a stanovništva, a s tim i njihovo preživljavanje, negativno utječe na produktivnost. Nadalje, rezultati potvrđuju da uključivanje u obrazovanje djeluje pozitivno na produktivnost, jer obuhvaća pojedince koji su djelomično vješti u programima potrebnim gospodarstvu. Naposljetku, potvrđena je i hipoteza da su ishodi učenja diplomskih studija negativni u odnosu na produktivnost zbog neusklađenosti vještina diplomanata i potreba gospodarstva. Stoga se predlaže da se u okviru politike za povećanje produktivnosti u Južnoj Africi, poduzmu zajednički napori u školskom i zdravstvenom sektoru.The huge burden of diseases, poor higher educational outcomes in South Africa and their interaction on affecting productivity of human capital requires investigation for a context –specific policy advice. To this effect, the purpose of this paper is to investigate this relationship, alongside other factors, viewing human capital from the perspective of health, higher education enrolment (HEE) and higher education graduates (HEG). The study adopts time series autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) with data covering the period 1980 - 2015. The study has found that, while GDP grows, employment rates and HEE have a positive impact on productivity in South Africa; capital stock and life expectancy exhibited an inverse relationship with productivity. These findings support the hypothesis that widespread antiretroviral therapy and resulting survival, without corresponding school sector focus on needed skills, relate negatively to productivity. The findings further support that enrolments affect positively productivity because they comprise individuals who are partly skilled in programs needed by the economy. Finally, they support the hypothesis that graduate outputs relate negatively to productivity because of mismatch of graduation skills and the economy’s need. As a policy suggestion, combined effort at school and health sector is needed in South Africa for increased productivity

Fossil Energy Consumption, Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Adult Mortality Rate in Nigeria

The health implications of fossil energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions remain a global concern. This study examines the effect of fossil energy consumption and CO2 emissions on adult mortality rate in Nigeria. The study relies on the Health Production Function and utilises the Autoregressive Distributed Lag technique to analyse time series data from 1980 to 2019. The results of the estimated model show that fossil energy consumption reduces adult mortality rates in the short run, while co2 emissions increase adult mortality rates both in the short and long run. In addition, government health expenditure follows an inverted U-shape relationship in explaining adult mortality while foreign direct investment has a U-shape relationship with adult mortality in Nigeria. Trade openness and monetary policy are insignificant in the short and long run. It is recommended that the government should substitute clean energy for fossil fuel energy to improve the quality of life, strengthen CO2 emissions tax and ensure health funds are used for the improvement of healthcare service delivery in Nigeria

Monetary Policy, Human Capital and Productivity in South Africa: An Empirical Analysis

South African has been striving to apply monetary policy that is conducive to productivity in the economy, but the latter has remained elusive. Human capital development in the country has also been a problem with a huge mismatch between the economy’s needs and skills available. Whilst monetary policy operate through transmissions that affect investments, it is not clear how monetary policy, investment in human capital, as well as productivity are interdependent in South Africa.  In this paper, we explore this interdependence using the vector autoregressive (VAR) methodology. Data for South Africa, covering the period 1980–2016 on changes in money supply, productivity and human capital were used to explore the interdependence.  The null hypothesis of this study (H0) is that there are no linear interdependencies among human capital, monetary policy and productivity in South Africa. The key questions of focus in this paper that are of interest to policy makers are 1) how fast do productivity respond to changes in human capital development and monetary policy in South Africa is considered in the model. 2)  A related question concern how does monetary policy respond to productivity and human capital in the economy 3) finally, is the limited role of monetary policy due to the interdependence of this policy and human capital development? The evidence in respect to these questions is that, although productivity responded to both macro-economic variables around the same period, we noticed that productivity response more to human capital than its response to money supply in the model. Again, with respect to changes in money supply, it is expected that productivity would improve quickly in response to a sluggish monetary policy but reverse is the case. Economic performance in South Africa has not led to the expansion of human capital in the country. From the variance decomposition result, it was noted in response to question 3 that human capital development and its interaction with monetary policy are not doing enough to spur expansion in the economic activity in the country. Policy makers should know that given that human capital growth is crucial in a given economy, the lack of effect of monetary policy on human capital suggests that limited productivity has been a result of limited investment in human capital