Search

Begin New Search Political Geography Africa Content Type Working Paper Publication Year within 10 Years Publication Year within 25 Years

571. The Impact of Business Regulatory Quality on Private Sector Investment in Botswana

Author:
Kedibonye Sekakela
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:
A market-friendly regulatory environment is key for private sector investment. In this paper, we examine the impact of business regulatory quality on private sector investment in Botswana. The paper finds that the business regulatory environment stimulates private sector investment in the long term and this phenomenon occurs when the quality of bureaucracy improves, among other factors. Other critical factors affecting private sector investment examined in this paper include; corporate credit, output and public infrastructure investment. Private sector investment responds positively to increases in corporate credit in the short term but not responsive in the long term. Economic activities support private sector investment positively but weak. On the other hand, public infrastructure investment crowds in(out) investment in the short and long term respectively. Policy wise, Botswana should further deepen its efforts towards creating a market-friendly regulatory environment and also consider how business regulatory quality interact with other policy variables for better investment and growth outcomes.
Topic:
Regulation, Business, Investment, and Private Sector
Political Geography:
Africa and Botswana

572. The Impact of Infrastructure on Economic Growth in Botswana

Author:
Mpho Raboloko
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:
The study determines the impact of infrastructure on economic growth in Botswana. The study employs an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) estimation technique to determine how infrastructure affects economic growth in Botswana. The empirical results show that healthcare infrastructure has a positive and significant impact on economic growth in Botswana in the long run. The results further reveal that electric power consumption has a positive and significant effect in influencing economic growth in the short run. The results imply that in order to achieve higher economic growth, policymakers should consider accelerating improvement of healthcare infrastructure.
Topic:
Infrastructure, Health Care Policy, Economic Growth, and Integration
Political Geography:
Africa and Botswana

573. Consumption Inequality in Botswana: The Decomposition of the Gini Coefficient of Consumer Expenditures

Author:
Lillian Mookodi
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:
This paper applies the Lerman and Yitzhaki (1985) inequality decomposition approach on food and non-food expenditures on the 2009/10 Botswana Core Welfare Indicator Survey; and the 2015/16 Multi Topic Indicator Survey datasets with an objective to see how overall inequality translates into inequality within each expenditure component. To test for a robustness of our results, we apply a simple bootstrap procedure to obtain the means, standard errors and confidence intervals for the component Gini coefficients estimates. The decomposition analysis results show that overall inequality based on the Gini coefficient of consumption expenditure within the groups has increased between the two periods from 0.498 to 0.533. These results suggest that this rise in overall expenditure inequality is due to the increased burden in the household budget of non-food spending, which tends to be more unequal than food spending. The consumption expenditure is very unequal on non-food items like recreation and hotels; health; education and transport. On one hand, lower Gini coefficients are observed for food; and clothing and footwear; these commodities are considered as necessities among others. This paper finally offers some possible policy measures to curb this consumption expenditure inequality.
Topic:
Food, Inequality, Consumption, and Spending
Political Geography:
Africa and Botswana

574. Structural Transformation and Fiscal Policy in Botswana

Author:
Kelesego Mmolainyane
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:
This paper analyses impacts of fiscal policy on structural transformation in Botswana using structural vector autoregression (SVAR) model over the period of 1990 to 2015. The study uses an inclusive sustainable transformation (IST) index and government expenditure as proxies for structural transformation and fiscal policy respectively. Results show that prudent fiscal policy can be used as a major strategic tool for structural transformation in Botswana. Most evidently, IST index responds positively to government expenditure shocks over time. In addition, fiscal policy innovations dominantly account for movements in structural transformation in Botswana. Notwithstanding, Botswana has a lot of potential and opportunity to use its fiscal policy more effectively and efficiently to promote an inclusive structural transformation that leads to sustainable economic growth.
Topic:
Fiscal Policy, Sustainability, and Economic Transformation
Political Geography:
Africa and Botswana

575. The Impact of Macroeconomic Variables on Capital Market Development in Botswana’s Economy

Author:
Koketso Molefhi
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:
The study examines the impact of macroeconomic variables on stock and bond markets development in Botswana using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL)-Bounds Test. The results indicate that macroeconomic variables have an impact on capital market development in Botswana. In the short run, real output, money supply and inflation have a positive influence on the development of the stock market, while real exchange rate retards its development. Real output further supports the development of the stock market in the long run. For the bond market, only two variables, inflation rate and lending rate have positive and negative impact on the bond market in the long run respectively, while none of the variables influence the bond market in the short run. Policy implications include increased efforts by policy makers to increase money supply, gross domestic product for the development of stock market, while the bond market development requires a decrease in lending rates.
Topic:
Development, Economy, Macroeconomics, and Stock Markets
Political Geography:
Africa and Botswana

576. Education and Labour Market Activity of Women in Botswana

Author:
Goitseone Khanie
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:
This study examines the prevalence of female participation in labour market activities and investigates the role played by education in this participation. Using the 2015/16 Botswana Multi Topic Household Survey data and a multinomial logit model, the study found that women with tertiary education are more likely to be wage employed relative to self-employment, whereas those with lower to no education are more likely to be unemployed or out of the labour force. This is because higher education is normally considered a prerequisite for most wage jobs. It is therefore imperative for the government to continue educating women beyond secondary level as it will better equip them to participate in more meaningful labour market activities. On the other hand, there is need to stimulate the demand side of the labour market in order to accommodate the rising numbers of women with high levels of education. In order to encourage participation of women in high rewarding self-employment activities, there is need to intensify empowerment schemes that are largely oriented towards their self-employment.
Topic:
Education, Markets, Labor Issues, and Women
Political Geography:
Africa and Botswana

577. Financial Inclusion and its Impact on Employment Creation in Botswana

Author:
Koketso Molefhi
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:
The study examines the impact of financial inclusion on employment creation in Botswana using quarterly time series data for the period 2004-2016. Using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model, we find that availability of bank branches, ownership of bank account and borrowing from the commercial bank have a positive impact on employment creation in the short run. Similarly, in the long run, availability of bank branches, ownership of bank account has a positive relationship with employment creation in the long run. Depositors with commercial banks has a negative bearing on employment creation, both in the short run and in the long run. Therefore, policies should be aimed at ensuring easy access into the financial sector by way of reducing costs associated with account opening as well as creating affordable deposit and borrowing windows to the financially excluded groups.
Topic:
Employment, Finance, Financial Institutions, and Inclusion
Political Geography:
Africa and Botswana

578. Challenges of Project Implementation in Local Government: The Case of Francistown City Council and Kweneng District Council

Author:
Thabile A. Samboma
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:
Botswana is faced with many challenges of project implementation. Since independence detailed projects and programmes were initiated, with limited and often less developed state capacity to implement them. This study focuses on challenges of project implementation in Botswana’s tier of local government. A qualitative case research method approach was employed to undertake the study. Telephonic interviews were conducted with politicians and employees from Francistown City Council (FCC) and Kweneng District Council (KDC) and data was analysed using thematic analysis. The paper outlines project implementation challenges in Local Authorities (LA). For instance, lack of capacity, lack of commitment by the District Development Committee (DDC), poor stakeholder engagement and lack of financial autonomy by councils. Some of the identified implementation challenges are not peculiar to the two LAs but cuts across local authorities in Botswana. However, low human capacity in local authorities was cited as a major problem in project implementation.
Topic:
Development, Government, Policy Implementation, and Authority
Political Geography:
Africa and Botswana

579. Gender Quota Legal Brief

Author:
The Carter Center
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Carter Center
Abstract:
This brief reviews the current legal posture of the two-thirds gender rule in the 2010 Kenyan Constitution, which mandates that no more than two-thirds of the members of any elected or appointed public body be of the same gender. It traces the developments of the two-thirds gender rule legislation from its beginning in the 2010 Kenyan Constitution until the most recent implementation attempt in early 2019.
Topic:
Gender Issues, Democracy, Constitution, Equality, and Legal Sector
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

580. The Political Economy of Testing in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa

Author:
Barbara Bruns, Maryam Akmal, and Nancy Birdsall
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa have not implemented testing of children’s learning that can be benchmarked regionally or globally. In contrast, in the last two decades, almost all countries in Latin America have participated in regionally and globally benchmarked testing initiatives. Our analysis of the political economy of cross-national learning measurement in Latin America suggests that policymakers perceive the risks of exposing their education system’s performance by joining cross-national assessments, but they also value the quality of the data generated, the strengthening of domestic technical capacity, and the political benefits in using comparative results to argue for reforms or to advertise progress. We document that in Ecuador and Peru cross-national tests played an important role in both stimulating and justifying reforms that have produced major improvements in learning. In sub-Saharan Africa, no cross-national test has been implemented as consistently or widely as the Latin American regional test. The context in Africa makes regional cooperation on cross-national testing more daunting—countries are poorer and more linguistically diverse than in Latin America, raising the relative costs of developing and administering cross-national tests. The experience of Latin America suggests that a coordinated and efficient application of resources in implementing cross-national tests in Africa, on the part of countries and with support of the international community, could help build countries’ national capacity, strengthen focus on learning, support better research, and help diffuse reforms that raise learning.
Topic:
Education, Political Economy, Children, and Social Services
Political Geography:
Africa, South America, Latin America, North America, and Sub-Saharan Africa