Search

Begin New Search Topic International Political Economy Content Type Research Paper

1. Land Tenure Security, Credit Access and Agricultural Productivity in Cameroon

Author:
Tchinda Kamdem Eric Joel and Kamdem Cyrille Bergaly
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
African Economic Research Consortium (AERC)
Abstract:
Cameroonian farmers face two tenure systems: a modern regime and a customary regime. These two regimes are perpetually confronting each other, putting farmers in a total uncertainty as to the regime to adopt to ensure the sustainability of their ventures. This study aims to assess the influence of land tenure security on agricultural productivity through credit access. To achieve this goal, a two-stage sampling technique was applied to data from the third Cameroon Household Survey (ECAM 3). The number of farmers selected for the analysis was 602. These data were analysed using descriptive and three-step recursive regression models. The results of the analysis reveal that land tenure security improves agricultural productivity through the credit access it allows. A proof of the robustness of this result has been provided through discussion of the effects of land tenure security in different agro-ecological zones and through a distinction between cash crops and food crops. The overall results confirm that land tenure security positively and significantly influences agricultural productivity. The regression has also shown that the size of the farm defined in one way or another, the perception of farmers on their level of land tenure security and therefore indicates the intensity with which land tenure security influences agricultural productivity. The recorded productivity differential indicates that smallholder farmers, because they keep small farms, feel safer and produce more than those who keep medium-sized farms. The results also show that land tenure security significantly improves the value of production per hectare of food products that are globally imported into Cameroon. Therefore, we recommend that the public authorities promote land tenure security by reinforcing the unassailable and irrevocable nature of land title, but also by easing the conditions of access to it.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Economics, International Political Economy, Economic structure, and Economic Policy
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

2. Estimating the Size and Trends of the Informal Economy in Ghana

Author:
Matthew Kofi Ocran
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
African Economic Research Consortium (AERC)
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to quantitatively examine the evolution of the informal economy over the past four decades. The study used the currency demand approach as analytical framework for the assessment. The findings suggest that there has been an upward trend in the size of the informal economy as a proportion of the officially recorded GDP. For instance, the size of the informal economy as a proportion of the official GDP estimates increased steadily, from 14% in 1960 to 18% by 1977. The proportion fell thereafter and started picking up again from 1983 to a new high of 30% between 2003 and 2004. The outcome of the study has policy implications particularly for the design of effective monetary and fiscal policy and the selection of appropriate policy instruments.
Topic:
Development, Economics, International Political Economy, Monetary Policy, Economic growth, Fiscal Policy, and Profit
Political Geography:
Africa and Ghana

3. Econometric Analysis of Gender and Labour Market Outcomes in Urban Cameroon

Author:
Christian Zamo Akono
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
African Economic Research Consortium (AERC)
Abstract:
In every country, gender disparities are observed in various aspects of daily life, the most visible ones being those related to labour market outcomes. This paper highlights the importance of the labour market related gender disparities in Cameroon with special focus on the relative contribution of identified determinants on unemployment duration, employment status and remuneration. Based on the 2010 Employment and the Informal Sector Survey by the National Institute of Statistics, both parametric and non-parametric analyses of unemployment durations have been used. They include probit model estimates for the choice of non-wage earner status, estimates of Mincer-type equations and various extensions of the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition. The results obtained can be summarized in three main points as follows. Firstly, women have longer periods of unemployment and are less likely to leave unemployment for a job than men. Results indicate that these gender disparities in exit probabilities from unemployment are due to differences in human capital endowments and to socioeconomic factors, which have a tendency of increasing women’s reservation wage. Also, unobserved heterogeneity with greater positive duration dependence for women is confirmed. Secondly, there are gender differences in probability transitions to either wage or non-wage employment with women being more likely to be self-employed. Of these gender differences, human capital endowment and job search methods account for 20.64% and 38.20%, respectively. The remaining part is due to unobserved factors. Thirdly, gender differences in labour market earnings are around 6% and 17% among wage and non-wage earners, respectively. Observable factors in wage equations account for only for 6% and 30% in the respective groups. These results suggest the formulation of several policies to reduce the observed differences. Some of these policies relate to the conception and implementation of vocational training targeting women and, to some extent, the setting up of programmes for relocating unemployed individuals to where employment opportunities are greater. Others relate to reducing the
Topic:
Economics, Gender Issues, International Political Economy, International Trade and Finance, Labor Issues, Economic growth, Capital Flows, and Macroeconomics
Political Geography:
Africa and Cameroon

4. Leave no Country behind: Ending poverty in the poorest places

Author:
Geoffrey Gertz and Homi Kharas
Publication Date:
02-2018
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
The past 15 years saw the most rapid decline in global poverty ever, with the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the global poverty rate reached several years ahead of schedule. Building on this, governments around the world committed to a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including ending extreme poverty everywhere by 2030.
Topic:
International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. Rights and Politics: Human Rights Action and Socio-economic Struggles in Tunisia

Author:
Hatem Chakroun
Publication Date:
01-2018
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Arab Reform Initiative (ARI)
Abstract:
The interaction between Tunisian human rights organizations and movements struggling for economic and social rights present the former with hard questions and important challenges. Human rights actors need to scrutinize their role and tactics to decide whether they would remain in the fast eroding mediation level (between the movements and the state) or they could explore other avenues that can address the complex issues of representation and brokerage between human rights defenders and the bearers of these very rights who are busy developing new ways of defending themselves.
Topic:
Human Rights and International Political Economy
Political Geography:
Tunisia

6. The Impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on Small Business

Author:
Michael D Bordo
Publication Date:
09-2018
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
The Cato Institute
Abstract:
The Dodd Frank Act of 2010 (DFA) was designed to overcome the sources of excessive leverage and systemic risk in the U.S. financial sector perceived to have created the Great Financial Crisis of 2007–2008. Since then, considerable controversy has swirled around the efficacy of various components of the multifaceted act. Many have been critical of the Volcker Rule, while others have praised the elevation of capital ratios and the requirements for banks to undergo periodic stress tests. However, there has been mounting concern in the financial community, Congress, and the press over the negative impact of the DFA regulations on small banks and businesses.
Topic:
International Political Economy
Political Geography:
America

7. The Middle Class in Georgia: Quantitative Assessment, Dynamics and Profile

Author:
Merab Kakulia and Nodar Kapanadze
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Georgian Foundation for Strategic International Studies -GFSIS
Abstract:
The middle class is a key factor of stability for any country. Aristotle pointed out that the bigger the middle class – or social group between rich and poor – the more stable the society is.1 The veracity of this statement is especially clear in modern society, where the middle class acts as an engine of economic growth and social progress. In the first place, this implies that the middle class strives to accumulate human capital and savings. Secondly, it generates creative people, who speed up innovations and stir up economic activity. Thirdly, the consumer capacities of the middle class promote diversification and extension of markets, which in its turn give possibilities for using the economies of scale2. And lastly, the middle class can play a decisive role in the improvement of governance – compared with the poor, it has the capacity to demand better public services, more accountability of civil servants and support economic gross-oriented policies.3
Topic:
International Political Economy and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Georgia

8. Decline, Not Collapse: The Bleak Prospects for Russia’s Economy

Author:
Andre Movchan
Publication Date:
02-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Russia faces bleak economic prospects for the next few years. It may be a case of managed decline in which the government appeases social and political demands by tapping the big reserves it accumulated during the boom years with oil and gas exports. But there is also a smaller possibility of a more serious economic breakdown or collapse. A proper analysis requires consideration of a number of key and often overlooked features of Russia’s post-Soviet economy.
Topic:
Economics, International Political Economy, and Economic structure
Political Geography:
Russia

9. East Asia’s Regional Financial Governance: Assessing Korea’s Centrality

Author:
Ramon Pacheco Pardo
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI)
Abstract:
In the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, the multilayered international financial governance regime has been strengthened. In East Asia, this regime includes an ASEAN+3 regional layer designed to complement – rather than replace – the global layer. This regional layer has three goals: crisis prevention, crisis management and resolution, and market strengthening. The Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), and Economic Review and Policy Dialogue (ERPD) are the key institutions in the areas of crisis prevention, management, and resolution. South Korea has become increasingly central to this regional financial governance regime over the past few years. Seoul was crucial to the setting up of CMIM, holds top management positions in AMRO, and is involved in the ERPD dialogue process. Three key reasons explain Korea’s centrality
Topic:
International Political Economy and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Korea

10. When Hunger Strikes: How Food Security Abroad Matters for National Security at Home

Author:
Cullen S. Hendrix
Publication Date:
04-2016
Content Type:
Research Paper
Institution:
Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Abstract:
Feeding the world and teaching the world to feed itself is not just a humanitarian endeavor. It is vital to US national security. Food price–related unrest can have an immense impact on the stability of countries vital to US interests. Fortunately, the United States is well positioned to lead the fight against food insecurity across the globe. Even with increases in agricultural productivity, Africa and Asia have become increasingly dependent on global markets to satisfy their growing domestic demand for food. For example, Africa's 20 most populous countries are all net grain importers. This import dependence has made these countries more sensitive to food price volatility than ever before.
Topic:
International Political Economy, National Security, and Food Security
Political Geography:
America and Global Focus