Impact of financial development on domestic investment: Evidence from West African countries

This paper investigates the effect of financial development on domestic investment in West African countries. The study uses data from 1985 to 2019 and employs the pooled mean group technique. The main finding of the study is that financial development has a positive effect on domestic investment in the long run but an insignificant effect in the short run. Furthermore, remittances, real GDP per capita and trade openness increase investment rate. The results of causality tests support the view that investment is a channel through which financial development stimulates economic growth. Therefore, it is reasonable for the selected countries to formulate policies that promote domestic credit to the private sector in order to ease liquidity constraints and increase investment and economic growth.     

The impact of capital goods prices on Africa's economic performance

Over the last four decades, the relative price of investment goods in Africa has gone through a relatively large decrease, resulting in a steady convergence towards the levels recorded in high-income countries. This fact begs the following question: To what extent might the relative price decrease be a driving force behind the economic performance of this continent? The paper addresses this question from the perspective of a panel ARDL approach, using the Solow growth model—augmented with barriers to investment—as a framework. The results reveal that a one-unit decrease in the relative price of investment leads, in the long term, to a 4% increase in per capita GDP, an increase that could be neutralised by a 6.5 percentage points decrease in the savings rate. The findings contribute to the case for a policy mix that combines policies geared towards reducing investment distortions with those promoting savings mobilisation.     

农村宅基地季节性闲置与完全闲置的比较——基于全国百县调查

研究目的：识别我国宅基地闲置的类型特征，分析不同类型的形成原因，为闲置宅基地科学管理、分类整治提供理论参考。研究方法：基于一项全国百县调查数据，对宅基地季节性和完全闲置进行比较研究，利用多元线性回归模型考察二者的影响因素。研究结果：季节性闲置比完全闲置更为常见，平均程度更深，村际差异也更大。中部地区农村宅基地平均闲置率最高且以季节性闲置为主，区位偏远农村季节性闲置更为普遍。人口迁移对宅基地闲置的解释力最强，家庭化迁移直接导致宅基地闲置；地理条件差异是形塑宅基地闲置地域分异的基础；确权颁证发挥产权固化的作用，对两种闲置均有促进作用；基础设施配套完善能有效抑制完全闲置，非农就业则明显提高季节性闲置。研究结论：季节性闲置宅基地仍发挥居住功能，不应视为资源浪费；完全闲置才是宅基地资源浪费的典型，在具体整治时应予以重点关注。