Changes in tastes and preferences in importing countries as well as the need to keep the environment safe, especially in developed markets, has contributed to a rising trend in the demand for sanitary and phytosanitary measures for quality products. However, the stringency and the preponderance...

This study empirically examines diffusion of labor standards from origin to host countries by investigating whether better labor standards of MNCs’ origin countries are correlated with higher wages of workers in host countries in Africa. MNCs originating from countries with more rights of...

We explore the impact of FDI and imports, disaggregated at the sectorial level, on the upgrading of African exports. We distinguish flows from other developing countries (South-South) and developed countries (North-South), and find that they impact differently on the ability of recipients to...

We study the role of education as a social protection mechanism. We compare the effectiveness of direct cash handouts in comparison to education over the long-term in reducing the vulnerability to poverty. We also look at the role of three inter-related mechanisms related to protection against...

In the early stage of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the conventional wisdom was that financial under-development of sub Saharan African economies may have been a bless-ing in disguise because it insulated them from the direct effects of the crisis. This paper argues that this may also make...

It is increasingly apparent that, despite earlier hopes, the global economic crisis will have a significant impact on the economies of Sub-Saharan Africa. In order to co-ordinate and craft the most appropriate responses for African economies to withstand and recover from the crisis, it is...

Three archetypical forms of philanthropy in a rapidly transforming Africa should be distinguished: foreign philanthropies operating in Africa, Africa-born philanthropy on the model of Western organisations and numerous African redistribution practices expressing a variety of societal features of...

The intensity of trade among countries belonging to the same region depends not only on the existence and effectiveness of a regional integration agreement, but also on other factors, which include the overall trade policy orientation and the relative level of geo-graphic and economic barriers...