| 41. |
- Bigsten, Arne, 1947
(författare)
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Determinants of the Evolution of Inequality in Africa
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of African Economies. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0963-8024 .- 1464-3723. ; 27:1, s. 127-148
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Most African countries inherited a dual economic structure and high levels of inequality from the colonial times, and inequality has remained high since independence. The pattern of structural change in Africa has implied a shift of labour out of agriculture, but since the movers have mostly been absorbed into low-paying, often informal activities, this transformation has not led to a significantly lower overall inequality. A change of the structure of the economy leading to an expansion of better-paying jobs requires higher rates of investment.
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| 42. |
- Bigsten, Arne, 1947
(författare)
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Development Research for Global Justice
- 2017
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Ingår i: Forum for Development Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0803-9410 .- 1891-1765. ; 44:1, s. 133-139
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Is the global development agenda changing and, if so, what does this imply for development researchers? The following remarks first discuss our quest for global justice and relate this objective to the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Then I give my take on how the development of poor countries is determined and suggest what directions future research should take to support global justice through the development of poor countries. Considering aid as a principal tool to promote global justice, I conclude with a few comments about changes in the contemporary aid landscape and their implications for aid research.
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| 43. |
- Bigsten, Arne, 1947
(författare)
-
Dimensions of African inequality
- 2014
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper discusses dimensions of inequality in sub-Saharan Africa and their causes. It starts with a review of the empirical evidence about inequality during the colonial period as well as the post-independence era. Then it discusses the forces that determine inequality change, focusing on factor accumulation and structural change. Next it considers the relationship between inequality and growth, the role of agriculture in the development process, the relationships between ethnicity and social stratification and governance, and external influences on inequality. The paper concludes with some comments on what policy interventions can do to reduce inequality.
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| 44. |
- Bigsten, Arne, 1947
(författare)
-
Dimensions of African Inequality
- 2015
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Ingår i: The Oxford Handbook of Africa and Economics. Volume 1: Context and concepts, eds. Celestin Monga and Justin Yifu Lin. - Oxford : Oxford University Press. - 9780199687114 ; , s. 197-212
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The chapter discusses dimensions of inequality in Africa and their causes (the focus is on Sub-Saharan Africa, SSA). It starts with a review of the empirical evidence about inequality during the colonial period as well as the post-independence era. Then we focus on the forces that determine inequality change focusing on factor accumulation and structural change. Next we discuss the relationship between inequality and growth and the role of agriculture in the development process. Then we look at the relationship between ethnicity and social stratification and governance. Finally, we comment briefly on the influence of external influences on inequality and consider what policy interventions can do to reduce inequality
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| 45. |
- Bigsten, Arne, 1947, et al.
(författare)
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Do African Manufacturing Firms Learn from Exporting?
- 2002
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this paper, we use firm-level panel data for the manufacturing sector in four African countries to estimate the effect of exporting on efficiency. Estimating simultaneously a production function and an export regression that control for unobserved firm effects, we find both significant efficiency gains from exporting, supporting the learning-by-exporting hypothesis, and evidence for self-selection of more efficient firms into exporting. The evidence of learning-by-exporting suggests that Africa has much to gain from orientating its manufacturing sector towards exporting.
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| 46. |
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| 47. |
- Bigsten, Arne, 1947
(författare)
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Donor coordination and the uses of aid
- 2006
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The paper discusses donor coordination and its implications for the uses of aid. The paper starts by specifying a simple framework for the discussion, and then reviews the theoretical literature. It then provides some data on donor proliferation and discusses how coordination modalities have evolved over time, in particular during the current phase with partnership and ownership. The following sections summarize the limited empirical evidence available on the impact of coordination on transaction costs and public-sector management and governance. A key issue with regard to the latter is how donor coordination affects the incentives of the recipient government. The paper concludes with a review of the policy debate and some policy conclusions.
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| 48. |
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| 49. |
- Bigsten, Arne, 1947, et al.
(författare)
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Dynamics of Poverty in Ethiopia
- 2004
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper addresses issues related to the dynamics of income poverty using unique household panel data for urban and rural areas of Ethiopia covering the period 1994-97. The percentage of households that remained in poverty was twice as large in urban areas as in rural areas. This suggests that income variability is a serious problem in rural areas, while the persistence is a key feature of urban poverty. The paper also discusses household characteristics that are correlated with the incidence of chronic poverty as well as vulnerability to poverty. A strategy that promotes consumption smoothing through say access to credit can work well in rural areas, while income or employment generation are required for poverty alleviation in urban areas.
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| 50. |
- Bigsten, Arne, 1947, et al.
(författare)
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Efficiency, Technical Progress, and Best Practice in Chinese State Enterprises (1980-1994)
- 2000
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In spite of rapid economic growth and swift structural change during the last two decades, China's industrial reform is far from complete, especially with regard to state enterprises (SOEs). Although troubled with huge financial losses, heavy debt, and substantial over-staffing, SOEs will continue to play a crucial part in the government policy to maintain social stability and economic growth in China. This study, based on samples of about 700 state enterprises during 1980-94, investigates productivity performance of the SOEs using Data Envelopment Analysis and Malmquist Index. Our empirical results show that average technical efficiency had been low among the sample SOEs. Considerable productivity growth was found, but it was mainly accomplished through technical progress rather than efficiency improvement. Regression analyses indicate that wage incentives and education had positive impacts on productivity growth, while large scale was an important determinant of whether an SOE was applying best practice technology. It is also shown that large SOEs were more likely to generate technical progress. These findings are consistent with the industrial structural adjustment program initiated by the government in 1994, which has focused on improving productive efficiency via redundancies and technology upgrading, and on building its best SOEs into conglomerates
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