Unifying Power of Sport Fandom

Through previous research, it was known that sport has many physical and non-physical benefits to participants and is a powerful tool used to bring people together in light of social and political differences. However, little was known about the impact of sport fandom on feelings of social connectedness. The purpose of this study was to further the understanding of feelings of social connectedness in sport fandom within the context of the current polarized political environment in the United States. Survey methodology was used to capture demographics and other variables including political identity and behaviors, sport fandom identity and behaviors, and feelings of social connectedness. The survey was distributed on Twitter through the use of relevant hashtags and also sent to students, faculty, and staff at St. John Fisher College. Results found that there was a significant relationship between ratings of sport fandom identity and behaviors and reported feelings of social connectedness. There was also found to be a significant predictive relationship between the grand means of sport and politics to the grand mean of social connectedness. The results of this research study added support for the use sport and sport fandom as tools for bringing people together within a polarized society as these findings suggested that sport fandom was a strong unifying tool that transcended the divided sociopolitical culture of the US today

Marking boundaries and identities: the precolonial expansion of segmentary societies in Southwestern Burkina Faso

Over approximately the last 200 years, north-west Ghana and large areas of neighbouring southern Burkina Faso were the stage for a highly successful expansion of Dagara-speaking peoples. Probably setting out from an area around Wa, small groups of Dagara migrated towards the north, some of them taking a westward route, crossing the Black Volta river into today’s Burkina Faso. They rarely advanced into nomansland but rather displaced peoples such as Sisala-, Dyan-, Phuie- and Bwamu-speaking groups, who then moved further west and north. Today, the Dagara occupy about 3500 km2 in southern Burkina Faso, where they represent the sixth largest language group. In this paper I wish to explore the history of the north-west frontier of Dagara expansion and the interaction between the “land-owning” Phuo and the incoming Dagara

Land Use, Production Growth, and the Institutional Environment of Smallholders: Evidence from Burkinabe Cotton Farmers

The cotton boom in Burkina Faso consisted of a growth in cotton land shares together with an overall increase in total cultivated land. This paper examines the impact of institutional changes in the cotton sector on the evolution of smallholders’ land-use decisions. The empirical analysis is supported by a structural model that takes into account the specific institutional features of the Burkinabè cotton sector and builds upon household level data collected in rural Burkina Faso. We attribute most of the change in land use to the newly established institutional arrangements between producers and stakeholders, mechanization, and slackening of the food security constraint.Burkina Faso, Cotton, Land Use, Commodity Reform, Institutional Arrangements, Farm Management, Financial Economics, N57, 013, O33, Q15, Q18,

Work opportunities and frictions for rural child migrants in West African cities

This chapter looks at the participation of rural children and youth in the urban labour market and, specifically, focuses on the first years of their migration. In Burkina Faso, the proportion of the working population employed informally was 74.3 per cent in 2001 but few studies have focused specifically on employment practices. This chapter examines the broad range of activities in which rural child and youth migrants engage, and the reasons behind their tactical choices as urban workers. The chapter addresses both diversities and similarities in children’s and youth’s experiences, and the transformation individuals undergo as they gain more knowledge about urban ways and the labour market. It is an empirical piece of work that demonstrates what constitutes young migrants’ negotiation of the urban informal economy in Burkina Faso

The Role of Institutional Environments on Technical Efficiency: A Comparative Stochastic Frontier Analysis of Cotton Farmers in Benin, Burkina Faso, and Mali

This paper examines the role of institutional environments on cotton farmer technical efficiency scores in Benin, Burkina Faso, and Mali using a stochastic frontier production approach. First, the key institutional changes that have occurred with the recent market-oriented reforms are discussed. Then, farm efficiency per country is measured using cross-sectional data collected by the Cotton Sector Reform Project of the Africa, Power, and Politics Programme in 2009. Results from a one-stage estimation procedure suggest that while no technical inefficiency exists in Benin, an average technical efficiency of 69% and 46% is found in Burkina Faso and Mali, respectively. Agricultural development policies focusing on reducing the inefficiency at the farm level in Mali and Burkina Faso should be adopted; whereas policies designed to shift outward the production frontier seem more appropriate in Benin. Interestingly, institutional environment factors explaining variations in efficiency scores differ across countries. In Mali, farms that are food secure and that cultivate more hectares of cereals are more technically efficient in producing cotton. In contrast, Burkinabe farmers who are dissatisfied with the management of their producer organizations are more technically efficient. To be successful, efforts to promote efficiency would have to work in concert with the local realities in each country.Cotton, Technical Efficiency, Institutional Changes, Reforms, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Development, Production Economics,

RE-EXAMINING THE FINANCE-GROWTH NEXUS: STRUCTURAL BREAK, THRESHOLD COINTEGRATION AND CAUSALITY EVIDENCE FROM THE ECOWAS

The aim of this paper is to re-examine the cointegrating and causal relationship between financial development and economic growth in the ECOWAS. To this end, we use the Gregory and Hansen (1996a, 1996b) approach to cointegration with structural change and the procedure for non-causality test of Toda and Yamamoto (1995). Data are from the World Bank (2007) and cover the period 1960-2005. We show that there is a long-run relationship between financial development and economic growth in six countries, namely, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d¡¯Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone. In addition, we show that financial development ¡®leads¡¯ economic growth in Ghana and Mali while growth causes finance in Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire and Sierra Leone, and a bidirectional causality in Cape Verde and Liberia. The policy implication is that Cape Verde, Ghana and Mali should give policy priority to financial reform while Burkina Faso, Cote d¡¯Ivoire and Sierra Leone should promote economic growth.Threshold Cointegration, Financial Development, Granger Causality, Growth

Attitudes towards abortion and contraception in rural and urban Burkina Faso

Using results from the ethnographic literature and two qualitative studies on people’s representations of different means of birth control (abstinence, contraception, abortion) in two populations in Burkina Faso (one rural and one urban), we designed a multi-dimensional quantitative scale to measure individuals’ attitudes towards varied means of birth control. We applied it in two representative surveys in rural and urban Burkina Faso. Relating individuals’ attitudes towards birth control to their socio-demographic characteristics and to their attitudes towards other life dimensions, and applying N. Elias’ theory of the civilization process, we seek to explain why abortion is less tolerated, while more widely practiced, in the city than in the villages.abortion, abstinence, Africa, attitude(s), Burkina Faso, civilization, contraception, culture, meanings, practices, process, representations, rural, sexuality, social change, urban

Applying a Life-Cycle Costs Approach to Water

This working paper presents findings and recommendations from the application of a life-cycle costs approach (LCCA) to water supply services in rural communities and small towns1 in four countries -- Andhra Pradesh (India), Burkina Faso, Ghana and Mozambique

Social effect and female genital mutilation (FGM)

In this article we attempt to identify the impact of social effects on the decision to practice excision on girls, based on the methodology used by Bertrand, Luttmer and Mallainathan (2000). We are particularly interested in social determinants, and make use of the heterogeneity of behaviors according to area of residence, ethnicity and religion. We focus on the interaction between the density and the quality of contacts to infer a social network. We use the percentage of individuals of the same ethnic group and religion, living in the same survey area, to measure the quantity of contacts, and the percentage of excised women of the same ethnic group and religion to measure the quality of contacts. To implement our trials, we use data from the Burkina Faso's Demographic and Health Surveys 2003, which supplies information on the prevalence of female genital mutilation (FGM) and on the characteristics of Burkina Faso households. Our results show that social pressure is strongly correlated to the decision to practice excision in Burkina Faso households.Burkina Faso, poverty, Female genital mutilation, social effects

Child migrants in Africa

Child Migration in Africa explores the mobility of children without their parents within West Africa. Drawing on the experiences of children from rural Burkina Faso and Ghana, the book provides rich material on the circumstances of children's voluntary migration and their experiences of it. Their accounts challenge the normative ideals of what a 'good' childhood is, which often underlie public debates about children's migration, education and work in developing countries The comparative study of Burkina Faso and Ghana highlights that social networks operate in ways that can be both enabling and constraining for young migrants, as can cultural views on age- and gender-appropriate behaviour. The book questions easily made assumptions regarding children's experiences when migrating independently of their parents and contributes to analytical and cross-cultural understandings of childhood. Part of the groundbreaking Africa Now series, Child Migration in Africa is an important and timely contribution to an under-researched area