Abena D. Oduro

Do African Manufacturing Firms Learn from Exporting

We use firm-level panel data for the manufacturing sector in four African countries to investigate whether exporting impacts on efficiency, and whether efficient firms self-select into the export market. Based on simultaneous estimation of a production function and an export regression, our preferred results indicate significant efficiency gains from exporting, which can be interpreted as learning by exporting. We show that modelling unobserved heterogeneity by a flexible approach is important for deriving this conclusion. A policy implication of our results is that Africa would gain from orientating its manufacturing sector towards exporting.

Rates of Return on Physical and Human Capital in Africa's Manufacturing Sector

In this paper two sets of issues are addressed using panel data from the manufacturing sector of five African countries. First, how high are the returns to human relative to physical capital. Second, what is the relative importance of technology and endowments of human and physical capital in determining differences in earnings and productivity across the countries. Evidence from earnings functions shows that the private returns to both experience and education rise with the level of education. Private returns rise from 3 per cent at the primary level, to 10 per cent at the secondary level and 35 per cent for tertiary. Evidence from the production function gives lower returns on education than from the earnings function. Rates of return on physical capital exceed 20 per cent and greatly exceed the average return on human capital. Data is available on the stocks of human and physical capital across the countries. Productivity and earnings differentials are shown to be large between Cameroon and Ghana. These differences are due almost entirely to differences in physical, not human, capital endowments.

Exports of African manufactures: macro policy and firm behaviour

Macro policy has changed the real exchange rates for African countries dramatically in the 1990s. In this paper the possible impact of macroeconomic policy on firms in the manufacturing sector is considered based on a panel survey of such firms in Cameroon. Kenya, Ghana and Zimbabwe. The data show that most large African manufacturing firms do export, but most do not specialize in exporting. An export equation is estimated both for the propensity of the firms to export and the percentage of output exported. It is shown that a stable export function can be estimated for all four countries over the three rounds of the survey. While there is no evidence that real devaluations have effected a general rise in manufactured exports there is evidence from the surveys of a rise in the percentage of output exported from the Cameroon. Reasons for the lack of a general response to macro policy are suggested. In the Cameroon, large firms did increase their propensity to export. Understanding the links between macro policy and firm performance may require an understanding of how such policies impact on different types of firms.

Women's Wealth and Intimate Partner Violence: Insights from Ecuador and Ghana

ABSTRACT Intimate partner violence (IPV) by men against their partners is one of the most glaring indicators of womens lack of empowerment. Drawing upon the 2010 Ecuador Household Asset Survey (EAFF) and the 2010 Ghana Household Asset Survey (GHAS), nationally representative surveys for Ecuador and Ghana, respectively, this study investigates the relationship between womens ownership of assets and physical and emotional abuse by spouses against currently partnered women over the previous twelve months. It uses the value of a womans total assets compared to those of her partner as the main proxy for a womans bargaining power. Differentiating between physical and emotional violence in both countries, the study finds that womens share of couple wealth is significantly associated with lower odds of physical violence in Ecuador and emotional violence in Ghana. Moreover, the association between womens share of couple wealth and IPV is contingent on the households position in the wealth distribution.

Risk Sharing in Labour Markets

Empirical work in labour economics has focused on rent sharing as an explanation for the observed correlation in cross-sections between wages and profitability. The alternative explanation of risk sharing between workers and employers has not been tested. Using a unique panel data set for four African countries we find strong evidence of risk sharing. Workers in effect offer insurance to employers: when firms are hit by temporary shocks the effect on profits is cushioned by risk sharing with workers. Rent sharing is a symptom of an inefficient labor market. Risk sharing, however, can be seen as an efficient response to missing markets. Our evidence suggests that risk sharing accounts for a substantial part of the observed effect of shocks on wages.

Changing Patterns of Wealth Distribution: Evidence from Ghana

Abstract A largely unexplored feature of structural transformation is the change in the composition of an economy’s asset holdings. In most poor economies, assets are concentrated in land. In rich economies, physical and human capital are more important. This paper focuses on the changes in the composition of household wealth and the share of assets owned by women in Ghana over two decades of relatively rapid growth and significant structural changes. We find that land’s share of household portfolios decreased and the share of financial assets increased. Women’s share of land, savings and business assets rose over the period.

Assets and shocks: a gendered analysis of Ecuador, Ghana and Karnataka, India

ABSTRACT Drawing upon household surveys in Ecuador, Ghana and Karnataka, India, we analyse the relationship between assets and shocks, distinguishing between asset loss as the shock, and the use of assets as a coping strategy. A greater proportion of households experienced a direct loss of assets due to shocks than as a coping response. In Karnataka, but not in Ghana or Ecuador, women’s assets are more likely to be sold than men’s. Asset ownership and the decision to sell or pawn assets are fairly strongly related but do not completely overlap. Husbands and wives often differ in both the perception of shocks and the response to them.

Engendering Economic Policy in Africa

ABSTRACT Despite Africas relatively commendable growth performance since 2000, growth has not been accompanied by structural transformations. First, there has been little diversification from agriculture into industry, particularly manufacturing. Second, the poverty headcount and inequality remain high in many countries, even as African countries continue to rank lowest on the United Nations Development Programmes Gender Inequality Index. This contribution goes beyond the individualistic approach of supply-side policies and unveils deeper mechanisms that need to be tackled for the two transformations (diversification and inequality reduction) to occur. It demonstrates that gender inequality relies on unwritten but dominant social norms, hence, informal institutions. The removal of formal legislation that constrains womens agency, the enactment of formal laws, and the implementation of economic policies designed specifically to create incentives for behavior change are recommended.

The Study and Practice of Economics in Ghana

Against the backdrop of developments in the Ghanaian economy and the evolution of economics as a discipline, this chapter traces the evolution of the study and practice of economics in Ghana. The major thematic areas are the teaching of economics at the University of Ghana, economic research in Ghana, and economic policy-making. Under the theme of the teaching of economics at the University of Ghana, the chapter assesses the changes in the programmes of the Department of Economics, what motivated the changes, and the challenges of teaching economics in Ghana. Regarding economic research, we focus on the patterns, trends, and underlying factors. We also highlight constraints to economic research in Ghana, as well as the enhanced opportunities. The third thematic area examines the relationship between researchers in economics and policy-makers. This is done by examining the available institutional framework for facilitating such a relationship and the relevance of economic research to policy-makers.