Resource‐led Development: An Illustrative Example from Nigeria

Abstract: Several strategies are open to an economy in its attempt to attain sustainable economic development, depending on its historical background and resource endowment. One such strategy is the resource‐led strategy. Nigeria is very rich in crude oil and has reaped billions of petrodollars. However, the country faces the problem of successfully translating this huge oil wealth into sustainable development. This paper employs the vector error correction technique in examining the long‐run impact of the huge oil wealth accruing to Nigeria on its economic development. Basic indicators such as growth, private consumption, infrastructure (electricity), agriculture and manufacturing output growth rates are examined. The empirical results suggest a significant positive long‐run impact of per capita oil revenue on per capita household consumption and electricity generation while a negative relationship is established for GDP, agriculture and manufacturing. Even for those with a negative relationship at current period, there exist positive relationships at subsequent lags. Thus, oil revenue, if properly managed and invested, could be effectively used to induce oil‐led development for Nigeria provided that the initial inhibitions of corruption, lack of transparency, accountability and fairness in its use and distribution are removed.     

GOVERNANCE INSTITUTIONS AND PRIVATE INVESTMENT: AN APPLICATION TO THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

This paper addresses the issue of the low level of private investment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with special emphasis on the role of governance. Based on the existing published reports, we categorize what types of governance institutions are more detrimental to entrepreneurial investments. We then estimate a simultaneous model of private investment and governance quality where economic policies concurrently explain both variables. Our empirical results show that governance plays a significant role in private investment decisions. This result is particularly true in the case of “administrative quality” in the form of control of corruption, bureaucratic quality, investment‐friendly profile of administration, law and order, as well as for “political stability.” Evidence in favor of “public accountability” is also found. Our estimations also stress that structural reforms like financial development, trade openness, and human development affect private‐investment decisions directly, and/or through their positive effect on governance.     

Is Per Capita Growth in Africa Hampered by Poor Governance and Weak Institutions? An Empirical Study on the ECOWAS Countries

Abstract: This paper proposes an empirical study of the links between poor governance, weak institutions and the growth of per capita income in the countries that belong to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). We estimate a conditional beta‐convergence model using panel data. We find that variables such as the rule of law, property rights, the regulatory burden, political violence, and government ineffectiveness hinder growth in these countries. An interesting question is then the following: what can the countries do to improve their situations? To answer this question, we give several examples (Ghana, Nigeria and the NEPAD) of measures that are undertaken in order to strengthen the institutions and improve governance.     

Are Real GDP Levels Stationary in African Countries?

In this study, we apply flexible Fourier stationary unit root test proposed by Enders and Lee (2012) to assess the non‐stationary properties of the per capita real gross domestic product (GDP) for 32 African countries. We find that Fourier stationary unit root test has higher power than linear method if the true data‐generating process of per capita real GDP is in fact a stationary nonlinear process of an unknown form with structural change using the low frequency components. We investigate the stationarity of per capita real GDP from the nonlinear point of view and provide robust evidence that clearly indicates that real output is well characterised by a nonlinear, mean‐reverting process, namely Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Senegal, Sierra Leone and South Africa. Our evidence points that these seven countries are nonlinear stationary, implying that per capita real GDP follows a steady rate of growth, and policy innovations then have temporary effects. These results have important policy implications for African countries.     

The Invisible Hand of Rain in Spending: Effect of Rainfall‐Driven Agricultural Income on Per Capita Expenditure in Ghana

This paper uses a nationally representative household pseudo‐panel dataset for Ghana, a rain‐fed agriculture economy, to investigate whether there is a positive relationship between rainfall‐driven agricultural income and household per capita expenditure. By using the Two Stage Least Squares Instrumental Variable (2SLS‐IV) estimator, it is found that a fall in rainfall‐driven agricultural income leads to a decrease in per capita expenditure. The results show that the gender and the locality of the household head matter in the response of per capita expenditures to rainfall‐driven agricultural income. Female‐headed and rural households are more vulnerable to rainfall‐driven agricultural income changes. The expenditure disaggregation indicates that female‐headed households significantly reduce per capita non‐food expenditure in times of rainfall‐induced agricultural income decrease whilst the response of male‐headed households focuses more on reducing per capita food and remittance expenditures.     

Second World War spending and local economic activity in US counties, 1939–58

Studies of the development of local economies often point to large‐scale Second World War military spending as a source of economic growth, even though spending declined sharply after demobilization. We examine the relationship between war spending per capita and the changes in economic activity in US counties between 1939 before the war and a period several years after the war. In the longer term counties receiving more war spending per capita during the war experienced greater population growth, but growth in per capita measures of economic activity showed little relationship with per capita war spending.     

避免“中等收入陷阱”的国际比较

从国际经验看,人均GDP超过4000美元阶段,如果不及时转型,继续延用过去的经济发展战略,容易积累矛盾,陷入"中等收入陷阱"。拉美一些国家在长达30年里没有走出"中等收入陷阱",原因也在于此。当前,中国人均GDP已经超过4000美元,正处在向高收入国家迈进的阶段。通过国际比较,探索避免"中等收入陷阱"的一般规律,有助于中国加快转变经济发展方式,实现公平与可持续的发展。     

中国经济如何跨越中高等收入陷阱

我国2010年人均GDP已经突破3945美元,根据世界银行对世界各经济体的最新分类标准,我国已经步入中高等收入国家行列,但与此同时我国的收入差距不断拉大。如何将收入差距控制在合理范围内,成功地跨越中高等收入陷阱是当前的紧要问题。本文通过对我国人均GDP及其基尼系数的协整检验发现,我国经济增长与收入分配之间存在一种稳定的长期均衡关系。只有合理的处理我国的收入分配差距问题才能达到经济的持续发展,从而跨越高中等收入陷阱。     

Human Capital and Systems of Innovation in African Development

Abstract: In this paper we propose that historically generated institutions and persistent pattern of human capital formation condition the emergent systems of innovation in Africa. These factors determine the development path of the region. We advance the notion of dynamic and non‐dynamic systems of innovation, the latter describing the African condition. We combine the strands of literature on institutions and their persistence in shaping development with evolutionary theory and systems of innovation. Evidence is presented on the colonial origins of skewed schooling enrolment, at variance with the industrialization objective of modern economies. Employing simple statistical tests, the persistence of initial human capital (school enrolment) reflects in the significant correlation among the three levels of schooling enrolments, and correlation of enrolment in 1970 with per capita income in 2000, a periodicity of some three decades. This outcome is consistent with the literature on countries at early stages of development. Path‐dependency is partially proved even though we did not attempt to investigate all variables making up the system of innovation. This is a first tentative attempt to explore long‐run development in Africa within the systems of innovation framework.     

Physical capital accumulation in Asia 12: Past trends and future projections

The pace of capital accumulation in East Asia has simply been stunning. In this paper, we investigate sources of this fast accumulation and make projections for the future. We estimate a “convergence” equation for physical capital per capita, which is derived from an open economy growth model, using a pooled cross-country, across-decade sample of the entire world. We also conduct projections for the next two decades. We find that an economy with a low level of capital stock per capita tends to experience faster accumulation subsequently. Asian economies have certainly benefited from this “convergence effect”. But on the other hand, other factors such as a low rule of law score and high investment goods prices have worked against them. Our projection shows that, if those economies wish to maintain their current pace of fast capital accumulation, the keys would be to reduce distortions in the domestic market and to improve the quality of institutions.     

EXPLAINING THE GROWTH OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING IN SOUTH AFRICA

What determines government spending in South Africa? The paper estimates the determinants of real per capita government spending in the Republic of South Africa using annual data for the period 1960‐2007, a tumultuous period during which South Africa experienced a variety of internally imposed changes (e.g. the abolition of apartheid, changes in political institutions) and externally generated shocks (e.g. war, oil shocks). Using multivariate cointegration techniques, we find that per capita government spending, per capita income, the tax share and the wage rate are cointegrated, a result that supports the notion that government spending is associated not only with per capita income and the true cost of government service provision as given by the wage rate but also with the fiscal illusion caused by budget deficits. We also find evidence that per capita government spending was positively affected by external shocks. These external shocks seem to play a significant role in explaining the dynamics of government spending growth.     

Uneven centuries: Turkey's experience with economic development since 1820

This article examines the economic development of Turkey from a comparative global perspective. With the help of GDP per capita and other series, it shows that Turkey's record in economic growth and human development since 1820 has been close to world averages and a little above developing country averages. The early focus of the article is on the proximate causes—average rates of investment, below‐average rates of schooling, low rates of total productivity growth, and low technology content of production—which provide important insights into why GDP per capita increases were not any higher. For the deeper causes, the article emphasizes the role of institutions and institutional change. Turkey's formal economic institutions had been influenced by international rules since the nineteenth century, and these rules did not always support economic development. Turkey's elites also made extensive changes in formal political and economic institutions. Formal institutions were only part of the story, however. The direction of institutional change also depended on the political order and the degree of understanding between different groups and their elites. When the political system could not manage the recurring tensions and cleavages between the different elites, economic outcomes suffered.     

Binding constraints to productive investment in Malawi: A modified HRV framework

The paper applies a modified Hausmann, Rodrik, and Velasco (HRV) growth diagnostics framework to analyse Malawi's growth challenges. The study finds five critical binding constraints affecting productive investment and output growth in Malawi. These include land administration, taxation, customs and trade regulations, political governance, and cost‐of‐finance. Land constraints are evidenced by highly urban and rural population growth, an inverse co‐movement between the rural population and investment per capita, and low land administration indices. Tax constraints are evidenced by the negative growth of investment per capita. Customs and trade regulations constraints are evidenced by nontariff measures, such as high costs and the time it takes to export and import. Political governance constraints are evidenced by rising government debt and the low score on transparency, accountability, and corruption based on the World Bank's Public Transparency Scale. Lastly, high cost‐of‐finance constraints are evidenced by monetary policy challenges, such as high real interest rates, inflation rate, uncompetitive exchange rate, and foreign aid ineffectiveness. Therefore, we recommend that the formulation of crucial policy strategies to alleviate these five significant binding constraints be encouraged. The government should base such an approach to sound growth therapeutics that fully account for each challenge's root causes.     

加快推进高校惩防体系建设的若干思考

近年来，随着教育体制的深刻变革，形式多样的高校腐败问题时有发生，社会影响十分恶劣。作为惩防体系建设的重要组成部分，高校反腐倡廉工作需要结合实际，突出重点，抓住关键，狠抓落实，为高校健康和谐发展提供有力保证.     

Migration Experience of Village Leaders and Local Economic Development： Evidence from Rural China

This paper examines the impact of migration experience of village leaders on local economic development,based on the village-level data of the 2005 China General Social Survey.Our results show that the human capital of village leaders accumulated during the migration period has had a positive effect on per capita net income and per capita non-agricultural income in rural China.The migration experience of village leaders also plays a positive role in entrepreneurial activities in rural regions.From a policy perspective,these findings call attention to the importance of harnessing potential benefits of return migration to local economic development in rural China.     

基于生态足迹模型的武汉市可持续发展能力分析

文章运用生态足迹理论和模型,对2002—2007年武汉市的生态足迹和生态承载力进行了定量计算。结果表明武汉市的生态系统处于过度开发之中,全市年人均生态足迹呈现不断增长的趋势,远大于年人均生态承载力的增长,资源的消费严重超过了资源的再生能力,生态资源压力巨大,表明武汉市的经济社会发展处于不可持续性的状态。针对目前的情况,文章提出了加快经济发展、发展循环经济、调整产业结构和转变人们行为观念等实现武汉市可持续发展的对策建议。     

A Eurasian Economic Vision for the Twenty-first Century

Widespread corruption in mainland China adversely affects the overall economy in general and international business in particular. Prior to the establishment of the Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC) in 1974, corruption was also rampant in Hong Kong. The ICAC effectively cleaned corruption in Hong Kong within a short period of time. Hong Kong's success in this area has prompted the Chinese government to learn from Hong Kong's experience. This article reviews the factors that contributed to Hong Kong's success in fighting corruption and discusses whether China can learn from the Hong Kong experience. From this, we can conclude that, first, Hong Kong's experience demonstrates that a corruption‐prone culture can be changed in a relatively short period of time; second, in order for China to learn from Hong Kong's experience, there must be substantial changes in China's political and economic institutions.     

Terror per Capita

Studies on the correlates of terrorism usually analyze total numbers of attacks or victims per country. However, what we may ultimately care about in terms of policy recommendations is the likelihood of any individual being subject to the respective phenomenon. Thus, we propose and explore a simple alternative measure of terrorism: terror per capita. Studying terror per capita across 162 countries from 1970–2015, the associated correlates differ substantially in terms of sign, levels of statistical significance, and magnitude from those when analyzing total terror. We illustrate two cases in point, serving as proof of concept. First, democracy, often associated with more total terror, emerges as a marginally negative predictor of terror per capita. Second, a larger share of Muslims in society is associated with a positive and statistically significant link to total terror, but emerges as a negative predictor of terror per capita. We find similar changes in sign and statistical relevance for GDP per capita and language fractionalization as correlates of terrorism. Depending on the policy question, studying terror per capita can greatly enhance our understanding of terrorism drivers, especially when analyzing data across countries with vastly differing population sizes.     

国民总财富的估算与结构分析——以安徽省为例

国民总财富把经济发展、社会进步和资源环境变化结合起来,更好地代表了经济主体可持续发展的程度。文章依据世界银行提出的方法估算出了1990-2011年安徽省人均财富以及总财富的各项构成部分,结果表明:现阶段安徽省仍然大量使用自然资本来推动人均GDP和人均财富的增长。且现阶段,安徽省财富的积累还是以自然资本为主,但是自然资本的比例越来越低,生产资本所占财富的比重正缓慢上升。人力资本比重最小,这不利于经济的可持续发展。     

私营企业就业人数的面板数据分析

为对我国私营企业就业人数的现状进行分析,以人口、人均GDP、高等学校数和高等学校毕业人数为指标,选取我国2001-2008年31个省市的多指标面板数据对我国私营企业就业人数进行分析。结果表明:私营企业就业人数、人口和人均GDP均为非平稳序列,私营企业就业人数与人口和人均GDP之间存在着显著地稳定关系;一个地区的人口数对该地区私营企业就业人数的作用大于人均GDP对该地区私营企业就业人数的作用。