Conflicts and political instability have been serious constraints to growth in Guinea-Bissau. Of special concern was the civil war of 1998, which lasted 11 months and led to substantial loss of life as well as to a massive decrease in GDP per capita. Based on research on the economic cost of...

This paper provides an appraisal of some of the researches conducted in recent years for evaluating the efficiency of Islamic banks. It is restricted to studies using parametric (SFA) and non-parametric (DEA) models. It finds that they leave much to be desired and the conclusions they arrive at...

The availability of better data on time use in developing countries makes it important to provide tools for analyzing such data. While the idea of “time poverty” is not new, and while many papers have provided measures of time use and hinted at the concept of time poverty, we have not seen...

This paper presents some analytical techniques to help policymakers gauge the technical and fiscal feasibility of development targets. While each of the techniques discussed below has deficiencies, taken together they have proven very useful in providing a sense of realism to target setting. The...

Agriculture is the engine of Guinea-Bissau’s economy. The sector relies mainly on cashew nuts, rice, and the subsistence production of food crops. Cashews represent 90 percent of the country’s exports and the principal source of income in rural areas. Unfortunately, cumbersome administrative...

Very poor people are often considered ignorant and even incapable of thinking, because they have had no opportunity to gain skill in expression through education. The experience of contempt and exclusion is deep among the poorest, whether they live in rich or poor countries, and it often...

Despite long working hours, for many household members, and especially women, underemployment is nevertheless affecting a large share of the population in many developing countries. Using data on time use, wages, and consumption levels from a recent household survey for Guinea, this paper...

The devaluation of the CFA Franc in 1994 generated a public investment boom in Senegal. The increase in public investment was made possible thanks to an improved budgetary situation related to the reduction in real terms of the public wage bill which had been too large for some time. The rise in...

Rwanda is facing a severe electricity crisis. Higher demand and production cost as well as a reduction in revenues in real terms have led to large operating losses for the electricity operator Electrogaz. In order to deal with this crisis, a doubling of electricity tariffs was recently approved,...

In view of a unique relationship of unity and divergence between Islam and capitalism, the paper takes a hurried look at the current state of profit theory in the mainstream economics. Here it identifies a few issues which include the concept of profit, its source and its relationship with the...