Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Boka S.K. Assa Author-X-Name-First: Boka S.K. Author-X-Name-Last: Assa Author-Name: Zie Ballo Author-X-Name-First: Zie Author-X-Name-Last: Ballo Author-Name: Mbaye Diene Author-X-Name-First: Mbaye Author-X-Name-Last: Diene Title: Choice of environmental policy instruments and welfare in middle-income countries: the case of Cote d'Ivoire Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to determine among pollution taxes, rules and combination of rules-taxes instrument, one that allows increasing welfare in MICs that face economic and environmental shocks. To do this, we used a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model whose parameters are estimated on the Ivoirian economy by the Bayesian method. Results of welfare comparison under three regimes show, on the one hand, that when public abatement spending is effective, welfare under pollution taxes is higher than pure rules if shocks are strong. But when rules are combined with output taxes for public clearance spending (mixed instrument), welfare under this mixed instrument becomes better than pollution taxes regardless of the type of shock. On the other hand, when the government intervention is inefficient, welfare under pollution taxes is almost equivalent to pure rules but remains lower than the mixed instrument. Journal: African J. of Economic and Sustainable Development Pages: 185-216 Issue: 3 Volume: 7 Year: 2020 Keywords: economic and environmental shocks; environmental policy instruments; general equilibrium; middle-income countries; Cote d'Ivoire. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=105660 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ajesde:v:7:y:2020:i:3:p:185-216 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Daniel Aidoo-Mensah Author-X-Name-First: Daniel Author-X-Name-Last: Aidoo-Mensah Title: Savings preference of rural households: empirical evidence from tomato farmers in Ghana Abstract: The study examined the choice of mode of savings between formal and informal financial arrangements among tomato farmers. A total of 562 farmers were randomly selected from six districts in three regions: Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Upper East of Ghana. Descriptive statistics in the form of frequencies and percentages were computed for the preferred mode of savings. Binary logistic regression and Kendall coefficient of concordance were employed to identify factors underlying the choice of mode of saving and reasons for the preferred mode of savings respectively. The results showed that years of education, respondents' total income, gender and amount saved per period significantly influenced farmers' choice of mode of saving. The study established the fact that gender roles and norms play a significant role in the choice of mode of savings. The results of the study revealed that women are more likely to adopt precautionary savings behaviour, hence, their financial surpluses are kept in more illiquid forms of savings in the informal savings mode. The study also revealed that there is direct movement of 'consumers' of financial services across the various sectors, hence, indifference to the use of formal or informal means to save. Journal: African J. of Economic and Sustainable Development Pages: 236-255 Issue: 3 Volume: 7 Year: 2020 Keywords: savings; formal; informal; gender; indifference; tomatoes; financial intermediaries; Ghana. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=105687 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ajesde:v:7:y:2020:i:3:p:236-255 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Moeti Damane Author-X-Name-First: Moeti Author-X-Name-Last: Damane Title: Forecasting the Government of Lesotho's budget: an AR-MIDAS approach Abstract: This study uses an autoregressive mixed data sampling (AR-MIDAS) regression technique and monthly fiscal variable sub-components sampled from 1993Q1 to 2017Q4 to forecast quarterly aggregated key fiscal variables (i.e., total revenues and expenditures). Results of forecast evaluation criteria show that quarterly forecasts of total government revenue and total government expenditure are best performed by a PDL/Almon weight variant of the AR-MIDAS model with monthly values of indirect taxes and compensation of employees as predictor variables, respectively. The study recommends that the PDL/Almon weight variant of the AR-MIDAS model be used to complement techniques currently in place at the Central Bank of Lesotho and the Ministry of Finance for macro-fiscal forecasting. This will help support the Government of Lesotho's public financial management system as well as its medium term expenditure framework. Journal: African J. of Economic and Sustainable Development Pages: 256-285 Issue: 3 Volume: 7 Year: 2020 Keywords: mixed frequency data; fiscal time series; short-term forecasting; RMSE; Lesotho. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=105688 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ajesde:v:7:y:2020:i:3:p:256-285 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Achille Augustin Diendéré Author-X-Name-First: Achille Augustin Author-X-Name-Last: Diendéré Title: Economic dependence of rural households on the riparian zones in Burkina Faso Abstract: This study aims to quantitatively examine the economic dependence of rural households on riparian zones. Data were collected from 536 households across 8 villages in the Dissin area, Burkina Faso. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data collected, while ordinary least squares analytical procedure was used to determine the parameter estimates of riparian income and economic dependence. The economic dependence of both very-low and high-income households is relatively low at 35.53% and 26.39%, respectively. Low-income and middle-income households have higher economic dependencies of 67.21% and 65.73%, respectively. In addition, the factors that contribute to the economic dependence are related to sex, the proximity of the riparian zone, the occurrence of negative idiosyncratic shocks, and the increased importance of other sources of income. In addition, when the riparian income is excluded, the Gini coefficient increases from 0.35 to 0.56, and the incidence of poverty increases from 40.2% to 75.4%. Journal: African J. of Economic and Sustainable Development Pages: 217-235 Issue: 3 Volume: 7 Year: 2020 Keywords: economic dependence; determinant of riparian income; rural households; poverty; income inequality; Burkina Faso. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=105695 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ajesde:v:7:y:2020:i:3:p:217-235 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Tiatité Noufé Author-X-Name-First: Tiatité Author-X-Name-Last: Noufé Title: Agricultural productivity and poverty of agricultural households in Burkina Faso Abstract: Reducing the number of people living below poverty or ensuring that those who are above the poverty line do not fall back into poverty is one of the priorities of those who are concerned about people's well-being. To achieve this, governments need a number of specific indicators to define the content of development aid policies. The objective of this article is to analyse the effects of agricultural productivity on poverty of agricultural households in Burkina Faso. To do this, a multidimensional analysis of poverty is adopted. Logistic regressions in randomised cylinder panels have highlighted the effects of agricultural productivity on poverty of agricultural households. The technical efficiency of farm households, particularly in cereal and groundnut crops, has a positive effect on the probability of getting out of the income poverty of farm households. This is not the case in cotton crops. On the basis of these results, any policy aiming at effectively reducing the poverty of agricultural households should, as a priority, reinforce the technical efficiency of cereals and groundnut farmers. Journal: African J. of Economic and Sustainable Development Pages: 287-306 Issue: 4 Volume: 7 Year: 2020 Keywords: rural poverty; agricultural productivity; technical efficiency; food poverty; monetary poverty; agricultural households; cereals; cotton. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=106819 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ajesde:v:7:y:2020:i:4:p:287-306 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Chali Nondo Author-X-Name-First: Chali Author-X-Name-Last: Nondo Author-Name: Mulugeta S. Kahsai Author-X-Name-First: Mulugeta S. Author-X-Name-Last: Kahsai Title: The impact of energy intensity, urbanisation, industrialisation, and income on CO2 emissions in South Africa: an ARDL bounds testing approach Abstract: We examine the dynamic short and long-run relationship between urbanisation, industrialisation, energy intensity, per capita GDP, and CO<SUB align=right><SMALL>2</SMALL></SUB> emissions in South Africa from 1970 to 2016. The Autoregressive Distributed Bounds Testing Approach (ARDL) is employed to calculate short-run and long-run relationships in the presence of structural breaks and the vector error correction model is applied to determine the direction of causality. The bounds tests suggest that the five variables are bound together in the long run when CO<SUB align=right><SMALL>2</SMALL></SUB> emission is the dependent variable and that urbanisation has the largest impact on CO<SUB align=right><SMALL>2</SMALL></SUB> emissions. Granger causality tests show a strong bidirectional causality among all the variables, with the exception of GDP and energy intensity where there is a strong unidirectional relationship running from energy intensity to GDP per capita. Our findings suggest that policymakers must develop comprehensive policies for mitigating CO<SUB align=right><SMALL>2</SMALL></SUB> emissions, particularly those that focus on managing rapid urbanisation. Journal: African J. of Economic and Sustainable Development Pages: 307-330 Issue: 4 Volume: 7 Year: 2020 Keywords: energy intensity; CO2 emissions; urbanisation; industrialisation; ARDL approach. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=106826 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ajesde:v:7:y:2020:i:4:p:307-330 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Kenneth Kalu Author-X-Name-First: Kenneth Author-X-Name-Last: Kalu Author-Name: Ernest Toochi Aniche Author-X-Name-First: Ernest Toochi Author-X-Name-Last: Aniche Title: China-Africa economic relation: a double-edged sword for Africa Abstract: China-Africa economic relation has expanded significantly since the 1990s. In recent years, China's activities in African countries have attracted criticisms bothering on fears that financial flows from China could exacerbate poor governance and human rights abuses in these countries. However, our assessment of the dynamics of China's engagements with Africa shows that the biggest potential negative impact of these engagements is not necessarily on governance and human rights, as portrayed by Western politicians and commentators, but largely on economic factors. Specifically, China's activities in Africa could delay the emergence of a vibrant manufacturing sector in Africa, if African countries continue to import cheap manufactured products from China while relying on the export of minerals as the mainstay of their economies. Consequently, this paper recommends that African countries should focus on directing China's investment in the continent strategically towards stimulating domestic manufacturing in the respective countries. Journal: African J. of Economic and Sustainable Development Pages: 374-390 Issue: 4 Volume: 7 Year: 2020 Keywords: Africa; China; development; economic integration; governance; industrialisation. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=106827 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ajesde:v:7:y:2020:i:4:p:374-390 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Tosin K. Gbadegesin Author-X-Name-First: Tosin K. Author-X-Name-Last: Gbadegesin Author-Name: Labode Popoola Author-X-Name-First: Labode Author-X-Name-Last: Popoola Title: Effectiveness of collective action in reducing transaction cost for smallholder paddy farmers in Tanzania Abstract: The majority of smallholder farmers (SHF) in developing countries are located in remote areas with poor infrastructure and they often fail to participate in markets due to the high-transaction costs involved. Collective Action (CA) has become an important strategy for SHF in developing countries to remain competitive in rapidly changing markets and has been tagged as a popular means of reducing transaction costs. This study was carried out to show the multifaceted problems of CA and to access the effectiveness of CA in reducing transaction costs for smallholder paddy farmers. The target populations for the study were members of Msalala Paddy Farmers Company (MPAFAC) belonging to five different wards, 35 groups, and different villages. It was found that the total amount spent by smallholder farmers on a transaction before joining MPAFAC was 205 USD by 45.7% of the respondent while 9.2% spent below 100 USD after joining MPAFAC. Journal: African J. of Economic and Sustainable Development Pages: 391-404 Issue: 4 Volume: 7 Year: 2020 Keywords: collective action; transaction cost; smallholder farmers; economy. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=106828 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ajesde:v:7:y:2020:i:4:p:391-404 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: B.G. Jean Jacques Iritié Author-X-Name-First: B.G. Jean Jacques Author-X-Name-Last: Iritié Title: Pricing teak plantations at any age of stand growth: what implications for rural communities in Côte d'Ivoire? Abstract: This paper aims at determining the price or market value of teak plantations at different ages of stand growth in Côte d'Ivoire. To do, we use both cost price values and expectation values methods. The data required for estimation are on silviculture, teak growth model, expenditures, receipts and discount rate; we consider three main phytogeographic areas (wet forest, pre-forest, savannah). Our results show that teak plantations have significant annual monetary values since the establishment of plantations until clear-cut, whatever the area; the tables of estimated annual values can be used as negotiation and decision-making tools in commercial transactions for the benefit of rural producers. As long-term activities, teak plantations could be seen as green savings and legacy capital for future generations. Therefore, policymakers must be more involved in extension and promoting teak plantations in rural communities. Journal: African J. of Economic and Sustainable Development Pages: 331-373 Issue: 4 Volume: 7 Year: 2020 Keywords: teak plantations; forest estimation; cost price value; expectation value; green savings; rural communities; Côte d'Ivoire. File-URL: http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=106829 File-Format: text/html File-Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers. Handle: RePEc:ids:ajesde:v:7:y:2020:i:4:p:331-373