This paper examines the role of export instability (EI) in the economic growth of African LDCs by analyzing 1970-86 data for a sample of 35 African LDCs. Using an augmented production function framework that controlled for labor, capital, and export growth, the estimated effect of EI on GDP...

The current paper, first, finds that although the post-independence growth of African economies has fallen substantially below that of other regions, this comparative evidence is less than uniform across time and countries. Second, it uncovers total factor productivity as the primary culprit...