Using 1975-2000 panel data, this paper examines the effects of institutions and social capital, in the form of generalized trust (proxied by contract-intensive money), on economic development in 39 African countries. The results indicate that there is a robust positive influence of social...

We examines how institutional and policy reforms affect the relationship between entreprene urship and growth. We perform Arellano-Bond GMM estimations on annual data (over the period 1990-2002) from a large group of developing countries and focus in particular on the interplay between policy...

This paper uses panel data from African and Arab countries and Arellano-Bond estimations to empirically assess the impact on growth of two primary indicators that are associated with MDG 3; namely the ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary enrolment, and the ratio of 15-24 year-old...

This paper examines the contribution of institutions, social cohesion, and trade to development (per-capita income) with emphasis on fragile states in Africa. Results from GMM estimations suggest that political institutions, openness to trade, and social cohesion affect growth in fragile states...

Limited access of entrepreneurs to credit constrains the creation and growth of private firms. In Africa, access to credit is particularly limited for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) due to unclear property rights and the lack of assets that can be used as collateral. This paper presents a...

I perform Arellano-Bond GMM estimations using panel data over the period 1995-2008 and explore the growth effects of Africa’s trade with China, distinguishing between the effect of imports and the effect of exports, and controlling for the role of export concentration. Four important results...

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the controversial relationship between financial system development and economic development. Using cointegration and VAR estimations on annual data from Africa, we examine the nature of the relationship between financial development and income. We...

This paper examines the impact of trade and political institutions on environmental quality in Africa and explores whether political institutions matter to the trade-environment relationship. We use data from a large group of African countries, covering the period 1990-2008 and two indicators of...

Using the Arellano-Bond dynamic panel GMM estimator, this paper explores the effects of aid, institutions, and social cohesion on per-capita income growth in 34 African countries, focusing in particular on the interplay of aid and institutions and the interplay of aid and social cohesion. The...