Why Agriculture Remains a Viable Means of Poverty Reduction in Sub‐Saharan Africa: The Case of Ethiopia

Although there is much empirical evidence of the importance of agricultureled economic growth, there is a renewed emphasis in development circles on the industrial sector as the main driver of growth, even for the low‐income countries of sub‐Saharan Africa. This article applies a simplified model of agricultural growth linkages to illustrate the importance of agricultural growth for increasing employment and accelerating poverty reduction in Ethiopia. Achieving rapid agricultural growth, however, will require the engagement of small commercial farmers, large enough to adopt new technologies and produce significant marketed surpluses, but small and numerous enough to have spending patterns that drive a large, vibrant rural non‐farm sector.     

Household Enterprises and Poverty Reduction in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Employment in Household Enterprises (HEs) has been an integral part of the recent economic growth in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). Yet employment and development strategies tend to exclude the sector, despite the fact that households with HEs tend to be richer. A good example is Mozambique, where 34% of households rely on income from this source. Analysis of household livelihoods using panel data shows that starting HEs is associated with upward wealth mobility and poverty reduction, particularly for rural and poorly‐educated households. Targeted programmes directed towards the constraints to HE creation, survival and income growth would be likely to enhance the effectiveness of employment and poverty reduction strategies in Mozambique as well as in other low income countries in SSA.     

The Effect of Remittances on Economic Growth in Kyrgyzstan and Macedonia: Accounting for Financial Development

Kyrgyzstan and Macedonia have experienced a reasonable increase in remittances over the last twenty‐five years. Subsequently, the extent to which remittances can be instrumental for economic development of the two countries has gained serious attention in recent development dialogues. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of remittances versus financial development on the economic growth of the two counties, complementing the burgeoning interest and focus on remittances for policy. The short‐run and the long‐run effects and the causality dynamics of remittances and financial development, are explored. The results show a long‐run positive impact of remittances on the economic growth of these countries. The impact of financial development is negative, significant only for Kyrgyzstan and not statistically significant for Macedonia. The causality results show that remittances support economic growth for Kyrgyzstan, whereas economic growth appears to propel remittances for Macedonia.     

Mass Poverty,Slow Economic Growth and Redistribution

Abstract

Policy-makers in South Africa prefer to tackle poverty indirectly through promoting growth, and allowing benefits to trickle down to the poor, rather than reducing poverty directly through redistributing income. In the long run, economic growth is the only way to reduce poverty. But the benefits of growth take a long time to mitigate poverty, especially in conditions of high inequality or high unemployment – both of which characterise South Africa. The poor benefit more through a more directly redistributive strategy even if overall growth is lower than it would otherwise be. Modelling the effects of different rates of growth, public works programmes and different redistributive strategies (including a basic income grant and expanded child support grants) shows that the poor benefit most from a directly redistributive basic income grant.     

The Impact of European Monetary Union on Finance-Growth Nexus

This study examines the relationship between financial development and economic growth in 15 developed European countries before and after the formation of the euro. The results of the panel data analysis show that financial development is significant in promoting economic growth for both periods. The impact of the banking sector development on growth, however, is greater in the post-euro period, whereas the impact of stock market development on growth is reducing in the period investigated. The study concludes that the formation of European Monetary Union does not weaken the relationship between financial development and economic growth in developed European countries.     

Continuity and Changing Configurations of Migration to and from the Republic of South Africa

This paper focuses on the transfixing configurations of migration dynamics in a new South Africa, while examining the context of migration and migration dynamics with an emphasis on the historical and institutional setting; the role of immigrants, including those doing the dirty and dangerous jobs, even when they are unwanted; the dynamics of replacement; and policy responses to fashion out appropriate migration regimes in the country.
In the early 1970s, Lesotho, Malawi, and Mozambique were the main suppliers of labour to apartheid South Africa. This pattern later changed, and the supply of workers from Lesotho increased steadily over the years to 50 per cent of the foreign labour in South Africa. The striking disparities in economic development and living standards between South Africa and other African countries, and the remarkable transition to post-apartheid rule attracted migrants of all categories from Africa and beyond, despite the daunting problems of unemployment, crime, widespread poverty, and the spread of AIDS. It is estimated that nationals from some 100 countries now live in the Republic of South Africa (RSA). From West Africa came highly skilled professionals from Nigeria and Ghana to staff the universities and other professions, along with tradesmen from Senegal and Mali, including street vendors and small traders. These joined their counterparts from the Democratic Republic of Congo, then Zaire and Zimbabwe to swell the informal sector in contrast to the traditional immigrants from Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Malawi, and Mozambique, whose nationals were mostly unskilled farm labourers and mine workers.     

Breaking down rural and urban bias and interrogating spatial inequality,evidence from South Africa

This article investigates current socioeconomic disparities within rural and urban areas. The empirical analysis is grounded in an examination of urban and rural bias theories, which have often underpinned poverty analysis. This article suggests that poverty analysis can be improved by moving beyond the rural–urban binary and investigating differences across all geographical types (when data are available). Using 2012 household survey data on South Africa, the article sheds lights on substantial differences—in household composition and access to services and assets—that are likely to make households located in particular geotypes far more vulnerable to poverty. Finally, the article discusses how development policy can better address the specific income‐generating constraints that disadvantaged areas face.     

Local economic development and urban poverty alleviation: the experience of post-apartheid South Africa

Urban poverty is a policy issue of growing significance in post-apartheid South Africa. In terms of the new Constitution the developmental role of local governments is given considerable attention. Against a background analysis of the best practice of local anti-poverty strategies in the developing world, this paper reviews the experience of eight case studies of local economic development (LED) initiatives. The case studies review a cluster of research findings from South African metropolitan areas (Midrand, Port Elizabeth, inner-city Durban, Khayelitsha and Winterveld) followed by issues from secondary cities (Nelspruit, Harrismith) and small towns (Stutterheim). A key conclusion from the experience of post-apartheid South Africa is that LED practitioners are currently struggling to find means to integrate their LED initiatives with the task of poverty alleviation.     

Poverty and disability in Eastern and Western Cape Provinces,South Africa

The impact of disability on the living conditions of people living in specifically resource‐poor areas in South Africa has not previously been addressed. This paper presents a comparison of people with a disability and their non‐disabled peers with respect to some key poverty indicators among a sample of Xhosa speaking individuals in resource‐poor areas of Eastern and Western Cape Provinces. A questionnaire on the level of living conditions (household composition and socio‐economic characteristics) and a detailed disability questionnaire that captured more specific details of the disability experience of the individual with a disability were adapted to the South African context and utilised. Despite the improved situation of households with a disabled family member in terms of financial resources (due primarily to the allocation of disability grants), other measures of poverty (education and employment) remain divisive for those with disabilities.     

“Are We Afrikaners Getting too Rich?”1 Cornucopia and Change in Afrikanerdom in the 1960s

Abstract This article attempts to correlate the unprecedented economic growth of the 1960s in South Africa with shifts in patterns of consumption, attendant lifestyle changes and forms of status identification among Afrikaners. Moreover the subsequent divergences in Afrikaner nationalist politics and the demise of apartheid are explored in terms of the rise of the Afrikaner middle-class as one, hitherto largely unexamined, factor in the political transition in South Africa during the 1990s.     

Global Poverty in the South African Economy

Many studies have been made of the incidence of poverty in particular communities in South Africa (see Carnegie Conference Papers Nos 10–72, Maasdorp and Humphries, 1975; Simkins, 1978) but there have been no attempts to estimate the extent of poverty in the economy as a whole. This paper presents the results of crude estimates of the extent of poverty within the four ‘race’ groups, and an estimate of poverty for the whole economy. Observations are also made about past trends in poverty in the metropolitan regions. No attempt is made to provide theoretical explanations of the observed poverty, to examine the likely effects of the growth path of the economy on the incidence of poverty, or to suggest policies for the amelioration of the plight of the poor. Some directions for future research are suggested in the concluding section.     

Living with uncertainty: disappearing modernities and polluted urbanity in post‐2000 Harare,Zimbabwe

Most studies of Zimbabwean migration and the country’s politico‐economic crisis focus on the material aspects of these two issues. In this article, through dual‐sited ethnographic work, I illustrate the symbolisms and meanings that are entangled within political and economic decline in urban Zimbabwe. Using data from fieldwork in Zimbabwe and South Africa, I argue that ‘crisis’ has carried with it a re‐configuration of the meanings associated with urbanity. This leads to a contradiction between how the state and citizens view ‘proper’ modernity. In combination with political factors, the state’s attempts to maintain modernity have led to a paradigm of pollution being associated with poor urbanites. This symbolism and its correspondent reality were found to have influenced the migration of informants in South Africa. It is thus not only economic and political relations that are at stake in present‐day Zimbabwe.     

Dichotomy of development aid’s ambition and neoliberal imperatives: A case‐study of private‐sector development in Bangladesh

Development in the twenty‐first century (“neo‐liberalism”) is a tool and its success and sustainability depend on how this tool is applied on a specific grounded reality. This article investigates how this modernization process continually co‐creates globalized Bangladesh through private sector development. While this field report highlights the challenges development aid donors can face in Bangladesh’s post‐colonial culture, it also unveils the dichotomous traction between globalization and inequality as well as the friction poverty reduction, through private sector development, can generate in impoverished countries. Finally, this report attempts to reconsider the ways in which the aid development ambitions of equality and liberty can find a workable balance with the neo‐liberal Imperative for private sector development. This article calls for improving quality control to generate greater impact of development aid resources in developing private sectors.     

Explaining microfinance's resilience: the case of microfinance in Australia

ABSTRACT

Microfinance has been unsuccessfully deployed as a poverty reduction strategy in the Global South. However, despite advocates acknowledging this shortcoming, the sector continues to grow. Moreover, over the past decade it has expanded its geographic scope, targeting poor communities in the Global North under the banner of financial inclusion. This article investigates the growth of the Australian sector. Analyzing the impacts of reforms to Australia's social security system alongside the political economy of the microfinance industry, it argues the debtfare state in Australia has provided fertile ground for microfinance's expansion. Documenting the advocacy strategies and tools to target vulnerable communities used by microfinance organizations and corporate partners, it charts how government support and subsidies have created a favourable regulatory environment, driving the sector's growth. This has benefitted these coalitions while displacing other forms of social security, despite the lack of robust evidence demonstrating microfinance's benefits for the poor.     

Politics and performance: the implications of emerging governance arrangements for urban management approaches and information systems

Challenges to traditional public sector approaches to urban government have had an impact on various aspects of governance and management, including political arrangements, decision making processes, ways of ensuring accountability, the allocation of roles and responsibilities between public sector agencies and other potential service providers and between different levels of government, and the mobilisation and allocation of financial resources for urban development. These are discussed, drawing in particular on recent research on urban poverty and governance in ten cities in the South. The changing approaches to urban government and management have been accompanied by attempts to define criteria by which urban governance arrangements and performance can be assessed, which are summarised and critically evaluated. Finally, the potential value of a particular set of tools (GIS) for emerging approaches to urban governance is assessed. Their potential for improving the information available to all governance actors is recognised. However, because of their cost and technological and managerial demands, as well as the limited effectiveness of spatial planning and inequalities in access to information, plans for their use must be financially, institutionally and politically realistic.     

Banking Sector Development and Economic Growth in Central and Southeastern Europe Countries

The aim of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship between banking sector development and economic growth in 16 transition countries in Central and Southeastern Europe in the period from 1995 to 2010. We apply fixed-effects panel model and control for other relevant determinants of economic growth and endogeneity. We measure the level of banking sector development using the amount of bank credit allocated to the private sector as a share of GDP. The second variable for the level of financial sector development is the margin between lending and deposit interest rates. According to our results the amount of bank credit allocated to the private sector, apparently does not speed up economic growth in transition countries. The second variable, interest rate margin is negatively but not significantly associated with economic growth.     

Participation in cross-national learning assessments and impact on capacity development: Programmes,practice, structures and teacher competency. Case study of Kenya,Tanzania and South Africa

This research is one of the few attempts to employ the conceptual framework of "technology transfer" to analyze the extent that participation in cross-national learning assessments has had on capacity development, particularly in the development of official public structures, by equipping educationists and influencing teachers’ competency in Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa. The researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with key informants drawn from the Ministries of Basic Education, national examinations councils, civil society organizations and curriculum development institutions in the three countries. The in-depth interviews were complemented by relevant literature on this topic. The study established improved technical capacities in the public education sector in South Africa and Kenya to design and conduct independent large-scale learning assessments. This important research demonstrates a certain level of commitment by African countries to establish official structures necessary to design/implement and sustain a culture of monitoring learning outcomes through public funded large-scale learning assessments. The research potentially contributes to the body of knowledge as far as ‘summative’ evaluation and analysis of the theory of change underpinning the participation in cross-national learning assessments espoused under the Education for All (EFA) Framework of Action     

Finanzialisierung,Demokratie und Gesellschaft – zehn Jahre nach Beginn der Finanzkrise

This introduction to the special issue—ten years after the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers and the beginning of a worldwide financial, economic, and debt crisis—reflects on the extent to which the economic crisis affected a turning point in society overall. The current state of research into the relationship between financialization, democracy, and social conditions strongly suggests that while the processes of financialization that favored the emergence of a crisis were influenced by the financial crisis, they were not completely reversed. In fact, the financial market regulation, which was changed in response to the crisis, did not exert any modifying pressure in terms of a restructuring of the financial system. An epochal shift in financial market regulation therefore cannot be identified from the steps taken in the reform process. Elseways there is clear evidence that the financial crisis has had a lasting impact on the European integration process, confidence in democracy, and political culture. The financial crisis is therefore likely to be perceived as a historical watershed, mainly due to its impact on societal areas beyond the financial system itself.     

Financial intermediation in a model of directed technological change

In this paper, the financial sector is introduced into a directed technological change economic model. The paper shows that, although financial development reduces the incidence of the researcher’s moral hazard, it will not necessarily promote growth. In addition, financial development may have a positive, negative or non-existent effect on wage inequality. One possible implication of this paper is that financial development decreases the growth rate while it increases skill premia. The impact of taxes on economic growth and wage inequality is also investigated in this paper.     

How Countries Become Rich and Reduce Poverty: A Review of Heterodox Explanations of Economic Development

For the sake of less developed countries, it is time to adjust the discussion of international development assistance on poverty reduction. This article attempts to do so by reviewing new and old literature explaining why some countries are rich and others are poor. History has repeatedly shown that building up capabilities in manufacturing and improving the productivity of agriculture are the keys to wealth creation and long‐term sustained poverty reduction. Furthermore, industrialisation and increased agricultural productivity are interdependent processes. Discussion about ending world poverty needs to be shifted back to consideration of economic transformation and the role foreign aid can reasonably play in achieving these objectives.