Informal settlement upgrading,assets and poverty alleviation: Evidence from longitudinal research in South Africa

This paper investigates the relationship between housing as an asset and the accumulation of other assets. Using data from a longitudinal research project stretching over nearly 25 years, we have found that besides actual income, there have also been improvements in self-perceived wealth ranking, asset holding, housing size, infrastructure access and human capital. Not all households have however benefited or been found to be better off. We have found that those households who had settled in Freedom Square after 1994 were indeed better off than the earlier settlers. Asset building is a slow process, one driven by stability (accessing urban land and secure tenure), finding an address, accessing education and finding work or remaining employed (though not necessarily in this particular sequence). Contrary to what the Department of Human Settlements suggests, we have found little evidence that informal settlement dwellers build assets by means of the secondary housing market.     

Managing Risk in Africa Through Institutional Reform

African economies have experienced weak levels of growth in per capita income over the past decade. While standard models of growth suggest institutional governance as one key to success, thus far little attention has been given to the role of risk in institutional reform. In this paper, we use a nested panel regression model to estimate the economic value of institutional reform on economic growth, with data for 30 Sub-Saharan African countries from 1980–2004. Our findings provide a basis for measuring the economic value of institutional reform through its impact on reducing aggregate country risk.

Resource mobilisation,institution and inclusive growth in Africa: Evidence from spatial analysis

This study accommodates spatial effects in the nexus between tax resource mobilisation (TRM) institutions and inclusive growth using panel data from 48 African countries. By adopting the spatial Durbin-fixed effect model, the study shows that spatial dependence and interaction matter when modelling TRM, institutions and inclusive growth relationships. It is also explicit that various disaggregated and aggregated tax components have not played significant roles in increasing inclusive growth in Africa, except property tax. The result suggests the need to harness the role of property tax for revenue generation in stimulating inclusive growth in view of its growth benefits over its distortions. Further evidence shows that all individual proxies of African institutions dampen inclusive growth. These results also pinpoint the weak governance structures that constitute huge constraints on the participatory tendencies of economic growth and reflect the institutional exclusiveness inherent in Africa. Regarding the interactive effects of institutions and TRM on inclusive growth, findings further reveal that existing institutions in Africa weaken the tax administration structures in propelling TRM to actualize inclusive growth. The study informs policy implications.     

Land Inheritance and Schooling in Matrilineal Societies: Evidence from Sumatra

This paper explores statistically the implications of the shift from communal to individualized tenure on the distribution of land and schooling between sons and daughters in matrilineal societies, based on a Sumatra case study. The inheritance system is evolving from a strictly matrilineal system to a more egalitarian system in which sons and daughters inherit the type of land which is more intensive in their respective work effort. While gender bias is either non-existent or small in land inheritance, daughters tend to be disadvantaged with respect to schooling. The gender gap in schooling, however, appears to be closing for the generation of younger children.     

Local and Personal Networks in Employment and the Development of Labor Markets: Evidence from the Cut Flower Industry in Ethiopia

We examine the roles of local and personal networks in the employment process and the emergence and development of the labor market in Ethiopia’s growing cut flower industry. Using primary survey data of 320 workers randomly sampled from all 64 farms, we find that workers who were recruited informally using the social ties were paid less than the formally-recruited workers at hiring. However, these workers quickly increased their productivity, and the effect of social ties on wages disappeared over time. Further, we find that the development of labor market for this newly-emerged industry took place particularly within the industrial cluster.