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11. Determinants of Industrial Embeddedness: Evidence from African Manufacturing Firms

Author:
Abdelrasaq Na-Allah
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Recent developments in policy initiatives as well as some current practical events have combined to put the spotlight on the issue of industrial embeddedness in sub-Saharan Africa. Though extant research documents some stylized facts, as determinants of its manifestations, their relevance to realities in the sub-continent, have until now been overlooked. Yet, it is difficult to ignore the fact that its constituent economies possess some peculiar attributes with potentially significant implications for embeddedness behaviour. Using data for the country of Lesotho, a probit model is estimated to ascertain the veracity of some of the widely acclaimed explanatory factors. We find, as we argue, that among all, the issue of supply potentials appears the most important.
Topic:
Development and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
Africa

12. Engaging in productive sector development: Comparisons between Mozambique and Ghana

Author:
Lars Buur and Lindsay Whitfield
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Through a comparison of sector cases in Mozambique and Ghana, the paper analyzes why and how African states engage in developing productive sectors and with what success. It argues that successful state interventions depend on four factors: (1) sustained political support by the government leadership; (2) the existence of an embedded and mediating bureaucracy; (3) changing the 'rules of the game' which govern the distribution of economic benefits and resources; and (4) the organisation of industry actors and institutionalised interaction between industry actors and state actors.
Topic:
Economics and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
Africa and Ghana

13. Will China relocate its labor-intensive factories to Africa, flying-geese style?

Author:
Terutomo Ozawa and Christian Bellak
Publication Date:
08-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
China has developed increasingly close economic relations with Africa in its quest for oil and minerals through investment and aid. The World Ban k recently called upon China to transplant labor-intensive factories onto the continent. A question arises as to whether such an industrial relocation will be done in such a fashion to jump-start local economic development—as previously seen across East Asia and as described in the flying-geese (FG) paradigm of FD.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
Africa and China

14. The Global Financial Crisis and Africa's "Immiserizing Wealth"

Author:
Luc Soete and Alexis Habiyaremye
Publication Date:
01-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Before the current global recession, many resource-rich African countries were recording unprecedented levels of growth due to a raw material price boom. However, the collapse in raw material prices and the ensuing severe economic difficulties have again exposed the vulnerability of these countries' natural resource export-focussed economic structures. In this research brief, we describe how Africa's abundance of natural resources attracted disruptive and predatory foreign forces that have hindered innovation-based growth and economic diversification by delaying the accumulation of sufficient stocks of human capital. We suggest that for their long-term prosperity, resource-rich African countries shift their strategic emphasis from natural to human resources and technological capabilities needed to transform those natural resources into valuable goods and services to compete in the global market.
Topic:
Economics, Emerging Markets, Industrial Policy, Global Recession, Natural Resources, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Africa, China, and India

15. Fostering Environmental Regulation? Corporate Social Responsibility in Countries with Weak Regulatory Capacities

Author:
Jana Hönk, Nicole Kranz, Tanja A. Börzel, and Adrienne Héritier
Publication Date:
02-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 700
Abstract:
The engagement and influence of multinational business in the developing world and in countries in transition is often highly contested. With regard to their environmental impact, there has been ample evidence for business taking advantage of situations of weak environmental regulation and the devastating effects thereof. More recently, however, certain efforts to counteract such tendencies have emerged with voluntary standards in the context of transnational norms of corporate social responsibility. Our research takes a closer look at the interaction of such voluntary CSR norms and public regulation in countries with limited regulatory capacities. In fact, we ask a rather bold question: Do multinational businesses that are subscribing to international CSR norms also actively promote such standards in countries in which they operate? Looking at the situation of environmental governance in South Africa and taking the mining as well as the food beverage industry as examples, this paper seeks to answer two questions. First, are companies who have subscribed to voluntary environmental standards actually engaging in fostering collective environmental regulation and under which conditions? And second, if they do, which schemes of engagement prevail: do companies engage in fostering collective regulation rather via the state, private self-regulation or in forms of public-private co-regulation?
Topic:
Development, Environment, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
Africa

16. Linking Technology Development to Enterprise Growth: Evidence from the Mozambican Manufacturing Sector

Author:
Alex Warren-Rodriguez
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
School of Oriental and African Studies - University of London
Abstract:
This paper examines the relationship between firm-level technological development and enterprise performance in the Mozambican manufacturing sector. It does this on the basis of primary data collected for two industries – metalworking and light chemicals – and the triangulation of quantitative and qualitative information. Overall, the analysis presented in this paper only identifies a weak and, in some cases counterintuitive, association between levels of technological capability and innovation and enterprise performance. There are, however, some isolated exceptions to this finding, in which technology development has played a more decisive role in driving enterprise growth, such as the cluster of firms subcontracting work with the Mozal aluminium smelting plant. The case study of this cluster of firms allows the identification and illustration of conditions that might be required to facilitate a process of technology-led manufacturing growth.
Topic:
Industrial Policy, Science and Technology, Economic growth, and Innovation
Political Geography:
Africa, Mozambique, and Sub-Saharan Africa

17. The Spice Industry in Tanzania: General Profile, Supply Chain Structure, and Food Standards Compliance Issues

Author:
Evelyne Lazaro and Adam Akyoo
Publication Date:
03-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The fall in the agricultural sector's contribution to Tanzanian export earnings since the early 1990s has increased attention toward new crops with the potential of supplementing the country's traditional export crops. Particular attention has been focused upon identifying crops enjoying price stability, high demand elasticity and low substitutability. Spices fall into this category. Consequently there have been efforts by public agencies and private exporters, both on the mainland and on Zanzibar, to promote the crop. However, access to high value export markets raises issues of supply chain dynamics and conformity with international standards. This paper focuses upon the recent history of the spice industry in Tanzania with reference to these issues. The main conclusions are that Certified Organic standards are the only international standards complied with, and that a very loosely coordinated chain exists alongside a more coordinated one. Macro- and micro-institutional weaknesses need attention if the full potential of the sub-sector is to be realized.
Topic:
Economics, Health, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
Africa, Zanzibar, and Tanzania

18. Understanding Multinational Corporations in War-torn Societies: Sudan in Focus

Author:
Luke A. Patey
Publication Date:
04-2006
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
There is a clear starting point for engaging Multinational Corporations (MNCs) in war-torn societies: understand the factors that determine the behaviour of these enterprises in the instable and insecure environments in which they operate. It is certainly a worthwhile objective considering the immense influence, whether deliberate or not, MNCs have on many civil wars in the developing world. Just as MNCs can act as sources of economic and social development, they can also factor into the reasoning of contemporary civil war.
Topic:
Economics, Industrial Policy, and War
Political Geography:
Africa

19. The Development of the Informal Small-Enterprise Sector in Eastern and Southern Africa: From Import Substitution to Structural Adjustment

Author:
Poul Ove Pedersen
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
In spite of its growing importance in the African economies, the informal, small-enterprise sector still plays a dubious and little understood role in development. Due to lack of data it is often treated as if it was unrelated to the rest of the economy. However, a number og large surveys carried out in a number of African countries indicate that structure and development of the small-enterprise sector vary greatly both from country to country and over time, depending in a complex way on the national differences in socio-economic structures and policies.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
Africa

20. The Black Media Entrepreneur and Economic Implications for the 21st Century

Author:
Emmanuel K. Ngwainmbi
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia International Affairs Online
Abstract:
This paper appraises communications as business and examines the impact of new information technology on the productivity of the black entrepreneur (African American (AAs) and African (ABs) mid-scale businesspersons) and provides insights into market conditions in both communities to the mindset of the African entrepreneur and implications for partnership management. Further, it describes the black entrepreneur's access to business information, implications for partnership and a background for strategic planning. Research shows there are potential mutual benefits for African and African American media entrepreneurs, with proper strategic planning and information sharing.
Topic:
Development, Emerging Markets, and Industrial Policy
Political Geography:
Africa