Edem Kwame Mensah Klobodu

Urbanization, regime type and durability, and environmental degradation in Ghana

This study examines the effect of urbanization, income, trade openness, and institutional quality (i.e., regime type and durability) on environmental degradation in Ghana over the period 1965–2011. Using the bounds test approach to cointegration and the Fully Modified Phillip-Hansen (FMPH) technique, the findings show that urbanization, income, trade openness, and institutional quality have long-run cointegration with environmental degradation. Further, the results show that income, trade openness, and institutional quality are negatively associated with environmental degradation. This suggests that income, trade openness, and institutional quality enhance environmental performance. Urbanization, however, is positively related to environmental degradation. Additionally, long-run estimates conditioned on institutional quality reveal that the extent to which trade openness and urbanization enhance environmental performance is largely due to the presence of quality institutions (or democratic institutions). Finally, controlling for structural breaks, we find that trade openness, urbanization, and regime type (i.e., democracy) improve environmental performance significantly after the 1970s except for income.

Capital Flows and Economic Growth in Ghana

ABSTRACT The study examines the differential effects of capital flows on economic growth in Ghana over the period 1970–2014 using autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL). Breakpoint unit root tests are employed to cater for structural change and breaks in time series. Afterwards, these break dates are fed into the ADRL model as dummy variables to allow for the computation of a more robust cointegrating vector. The findings indicate that in both the short and long run capital flows (i.e. FDI, aid, and external debt) have negative effects on economic growth. However, remittances exhibit positive insignificant elasticity in all the regressions. Further, the empirical results show that while the impact of trade, gross capital formation and population growth on growth are mixed, that of inflation is negative. The results of the study are consistent with the idea that the impact of capital flows in Africa has been exaggerated.

The Effects of Capital Flows on Economic Growth in Senegal

This article examines the effects of capital flows on economic growth in Senegal using autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) over the period 1970–2014. Overall, our results show that remittances cause economic growth in Senegal in the long run. In contrast, external debt has a negative impact on economic growth. The ARDL results, however, show no cointegration between aid and growth or between foreign direct investment (FDI) and growth. The Quandt–Andrews breakpoint test selects year 1991 as the most likely breakpoint location for the remittances–growth equation. Finally, time-varying parameter analyses using the year 1991 as a slope dummy reveal that remittances have been growth-enhancing post-1991. Therefore, government and policy makers in Senegal must create a favourable atmosphere for attracting more remittances to promote economic development. JEL: F21, F24, F35, F34, O10

Financial development, control of corruption and income inequality

Abstract This paper examines the effect of financial development and control of corruption on income inequality in 21 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries over the period 1985–2011 using the pooled mean group (PMG) estimator. The empirical results show that financial development measures have positive impact on income inequality, which suggest that financial development increases income inequality. On the other hand, the coefficients of control of corruption are negative and significantly related to income inequality which implies that corruption control reduces income inequality. Further, the interaction of the financial development and the control of corruption is found to be negatively and significantly related to income inequality. Equally the interaction of the financial development and transparency index (an alternate measure of corruptibility) is found to be negatively and significantly related to income inequality. These findings suggest that the control of corruption and transparency in governance are crucial in reducing income inequality in SSA.

Psychological contract formation: The influence of demographic factors

The study surveyed 292 respondents from Tema (a major urban municipality and manufacturing hub in Ghana) to examine the determinants of psychological contract. The study sought to examine whether demographic factors (age and gender) mediate the formation and the effect of a psychological contract. Using a Structural Equation Modeling estimation technique, the results indicate a positive relationship between employees’ expectations and the obligations of employers. Further, the findings show that older employees perceive higher relational obligations than younger employees, whereas younger employees perceive higher transactional obligations than older employees. Also, while men score higher on transactional expectations, women score higher on relational expectations. There was no difference, however, in the expectations of employees concerning the obligations of the employers.

Capital flows and economic growth revisited: evidence from five Sub-Saharan African countries

ABSTRACT The study examines the differential effects of capital flows on economic growth in five Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries over the period 1970–2014. Using the autoregressive distributed lag methodology, the findings show that in the long-run capital flows (i.e. foreign direct investment (FDI), aid, external debt, and remittances) have different effects on economic growth. FDI has a significant positive effect in Burkina Faso and negative effects in Gabon and Niger whereas the impact of debt is negative in all countries. Aid, however, promotes growth in Niger and Gabon whiles it deters growth in Ghana. Remittances, on the other hand, have a significant positive effect in Senegal. Finally, gross capital formation is significant in most of the countries and the impact of trade is mixed. These results suggest that the benefits of capital flows in SSA have been overemphasized.

Women entrepreneurial orientation, motivation, and organizational performance in Ghana

ABSTRACT The study surveyed 286 women entrepreneurs from three major Ghanaian metropolitan cities (Accra, Kumasi, and Takoradi) to examine the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and organizational performance. The study also sought to examine whether motivation mediates the EO and organizational performance relationship. Using a structural equation modelling estimation technique, the findings of the study indicate a positive relationship between EO and organizational performance. Separating EO into its individual components, proactiveness, and competitive aggressiveness exhibit positive relationship with organizational performance. Additionally, the results show that EO is more significantly related to non-financial measures but not the financial measures. Further, the findings reveal that the EO and organizational performance relationship is mediated by motivation; and the push factors and not the pull factors were significantly related to organizational performance.