Justice Tei Mensah

Modelling Demand for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in Ghana: Current Dynamics and Forecast

Gas is fast becoming an integral component of the energy mix in Ghana and holds huge prospects for the future. However, there is still great uncertainty surrounding the size of this potential market and often results in supply shortfalls. The recurrent shortages in the supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for domestic and industrial consumption pose a great challenge to the goal of promoting access and utilisation of modern and efficient energy to engender sustainable development in Ghana. As a result, this paper investigates the long- and short-run demand drivers of LPG in Ghana and presents a 10-year forecast of future trends in the demand using the autoregressive distributed lag and partial adjustment model techniques. Results identify income, price and urbanisation as the main drivers of demand. Projections from all three scenarios reveal that demand for LPG will reach a minimum of 5.9 million metric tons by the year 2022. This result has serious implications on both demand and supply side management, and thus calls for stringent efforts to attract the requisite infrastructure to ensure stable and reliable supply of LPG to meet domestic and industrial demands.

An Empirical Analysis of Hunting Lease Pricing and Value of Game in Sweden

Game species generate considerable benefits to society in terms of hunting values, tourism, and maintenance of ecosystem balance. This paper seeks to estimate hunting values for multiple hunted species by disentangling the role of wildlife harvesting opportunities from other factors that affect hunting lease prices. We examine the determinants of hunting lease prices in Sweden using both spatial and nonspatial econometric techniques. Our analysis confirms considerable hunting values for fallow deer and wild boar. Also, the study reveals the presence of spatial spillovers in lease prices, implying that landowners have little scope for exerting monopoly power on the hunting lease market. (JEL Q23, Q26)

What Drives Structural Transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa?

This paper provides an empirical assessment of the driving forces behind structural transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa, and to further access the role of structural reforms in accounting for cross-country differences in transformation. Evidence from this paper reveals that country specific fundamentals, institutions and policy reforms as well as governance and fiscal reforms are the key drivers of transformation in the region. A set of policy strategies is proposed to engender sustained transformation and development in the region.

Climate Change and Electricity Consumption in Sub‐Saharan Africa: Assessing the Dynamic Responses to Climate Variability

Electricity consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa has surged over the past two decades, whereas economic fundamentals like growth in gross domestic product (GDP) might have contributed to this trend, the impact of changing climatic conditions cannot be underestimated. This study therefore investigates the dynamics among electricity consumption, temperature variability (a proxy for climate change) and economic growth, while controlling for urbanization within a structural vector error correction model for 11 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Findings from the study indicate that a positive shock in temperature variability has a positive permanent effect on electricity consumption for all the countries except Togo, South Africa and Zimbabwe. In the case of Togo we find only transitory effects of positive shocks in temperature variability on electricity consumption. However, these effects are minimal, given the low penetration rate for air conditioners and heating devices in these countries. Moreover the findings further indicate that the effects of a positive shock in temperature variability on real GDP is consistent in terms of the direction of the effects, which is negative, but only vary across the sampled countries in relation to the period(s) the effects of the shocks completely diminished.

Natural resource revenues and public investment in resource-rich economies in sub-Saharan Africa

The general policy prescription for resource-rich countries is that, for sustainable consumption, a greater percentage of the windfall from resource rents should be channelled into accumulating for ...