William A. Amponsah

Global Trade Integration and Economic Convergence of Developing Countries

Gerschenkron hypothesized that lower income countries would tend to grow more rapidly than higher income countries and, therefore, that their average incomes would converge. Since that time the record indicates that the industrialized nations have had relatively slow growth rates while many less-developed countries (LDCs) have had relatively rapid rates of growth, although many others have had slower rates of growth and some have been negative. Furthermore, the rates of growth have varied considerably during the four and one-half decades since 1952, both among countries and within a country from one year to the next. Thus, convergence remains an issue among development economists and others interested in the topic, with frequent concern being expressed about a growing gap between average incomes in the moreand less-developed economies of the world. In this article we examine convergence (and divergence) due to differential rates of growth, factors that affect growth, the role of international trade in the process, the policy frameworks that enhance or detract from growth, and the research needs and opportunities for agricultural and resource economists. A controversial aspect is the influence of trade on the process since most development economists tend to believe that more

Alternatives for Small Farm Survival: Government Policies Versus the Free Market

This paper briefly outlines a topology of small farms and then considers the role of the government versus the market in key public policies such as commodity income support, environment, stability, research, and rural development. A number of options are explored for public policy to better serve small farms, including drastic alternatives such as graduated property taxes on farmland, with exemptions or lower rates for small farms. These and other alternatives are not necessarily recommended. Improved extension education and human resource development offer some of the most promising public policy opportunities to help small farmers.

Revisiting the African Economic Growth Agenda: Focus on Inclusive and Pro-poor Growth?

This paper determines whether the recent growth trajectory in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been inclusive and pro-poor and discusses potential policies in making growth more inclusive. The motivation for the study is that in the economic literature, economic growth is viewed as fundamental in achieving poverty reduction, changes in income distribution are expected to lead to improving the poverty reduction outcome stemming from growth, and initial inequality would reduce the impact of growth on poverty reduction. Two conventional definitions commonly used in the literature to measure whether economic growth is pro-poor require knowledge of whether there have been distributional changes in income and whether those changes have improved the welfare of the poor. First, regional analyses show that compared to the rest of the world’s regions, SSA experienced negative per capita growth from 1985 through 2000, and that this was accompanied by significant decline in income distribution such that by 2000 the average income of an African in the lowest quintile of economic distribution was only 90 % of the income in 1985. Second, country-specific analyses show that unlike many East Asian economies that recorded average income growth along with their poorest quintile, in SSA economies even when growth in average income occurred, the incomes of the poorest Africans fell. The exceptions were in Gabon and to a smaller extent Ghana. Third, analyses of recent data showed that like the rest of the world’s developing regions, after realizing rising poverty rates from 1981 to 1999, SSA also saw steady declines in extreme poverty rate by 10 % from 1999 through 2010. However, it was the only region where the number of extreme poor rose from 205 million in 1981 to 414 million in 2010 with its global share rising from 11 to 34 %. The average gap of the extremely poor in SSA rose from

Violence, Political Instability, and International Trade: Evidence from Kenya’s Cut Flower Sector

0.53 per day in 1981 to

Do Market Size and Remittances Explain Foreign Direct Investment Flows to Sub-Sahara Africa?

0.54 a day compared to the

COMPUTER ADOPTION AND USE OF INFORMATION SERVICES BY NORTH CAROLINA COMMERCIAL FARMERS

1.25 per day threshold for the extremely poor, and compared to the developing country average of

Globalization and Poverty: Lessons from the Theory and Practice of Food Security

0.51 per day to

Competition in agriculture: the United States in the world market.

0.29 per day for the same time period. Therefore, the aggregate SSA extreme poverty gap doubled from

Adoption and use of farm information systems

40 billion in 2005 PPP terms in 1981 to

The impact of preferential trade arrangements on EU imports from developing countries: the case of fresh cut flowers.

82 billion in 2005 PPP terms in 2010 compared to the aggregate for all developing countries that fell by half from