UDSspace

The role of productivity in general and agricultural productivity in particular in hastening the pace of economic growth cannot be underestimated. There is an ever rising need for increases in food supply, given the incessant increases in population and a dwindling supply of farmland that can only emanate from growth in productivity rather than increases in input usage. The study examined the total factor productivity measure and the factors influencing it in Ghanaian agriculture by employing...

This study investigates the macroeconomic determinants of financial institutions development in a panel of 32 countries in sub-Saharan Africa from 1985 to 2015. Using the two-step system generalized method of moments dynamic panel model estimation approach, the results reveal that trade openness, income, and government expenditure are positive determinants of financial institutions development while higher inflation inhibits improvement in financial institutions. The results suggest that fina...

In this paper, we apply a battery of stochastic copulas to determine the tail distribution and contagion risk-sharing relationship between eight stock markets and gold returns.We find evidence of a significant co-jump of gold and stock market returns.This is in sharp contrast to the safe-haven and diversification attributes of gold. We assume that different stock markets may have sectoral compositions that weigh certain commodities higher, gold in particular, and that investor attitudes may b...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the interactive effect of human capital in financial development–economic growth nexus. Relative to the quantity-based measure of enrolment rates, the main aim was to determine how quality of human capital proxied by pupil–teacher ratio influences the relationship between domestic financial sector development and overall economic growth. Design/methodology/approach – Data are obtained from the World Development Indicators of the World Bank for...

This study examines the factors influencing monetary and non–monetary poverty in Upper West Region of Ghana. The authors relied on primary data collected using a questionnaire from 395 households to construct a multidimensional non–monetary measure of poverty using the Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) while invoking instrumental variables estimation approaches that deal with potential endogeneity eminent in poverty studies. The results reveal varying determinants of both measures of pov...

Ghana’s public debt has been on the rise in recent years, raising questions of fiscal sustainability. At the same time prices of Ghana’s main commodities such as crude oil, gold and cocoa have not fared well in world markets. Coupled with an underdeveloped financial system and weak domestic revenue mobilization capacity, the higher public debt levels pose a significant challenge to macroeconomic stability, and long-run economic growth. This study contributes to a better understanding of the grow...

Studies on the drivers of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Africa have not rigorously examined whether recent advances in the continent’s Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) infrastructure and financial development have any role in attracting foreign capital. This study re-examines the determinants of FDI inflows, paying special attention to the ICT and financial sector environments. By relying on a panel dataset covering 46 countries in sub-Saharan Africa over the period 1980~2...

This study seeks to assess the School Capitation Grant Policy on Basic School enrolment and attendance in the Wa municipality of Ghana. The study adapted the utilization of capitation grant by Yoshiaka (2010), by assessing the role of capitation grant in basic enrolment, attendance and retention in the Wa Municipality. Schools that were in existence before the inception of the program and have benefited from the program were specifically targeted. Exploratory research design was use...

The overarching aim of this study is to examine the relationship among foreign direct investment (FDI), economic growth and financial sector development relying on annual panel data spanning 1980–2016 from 45 African countries. Results from the two-system generalized method of moments reveal an ambiguous effect of FDI on economic growth although, for most part, higher FDI is associated with higher growth. Thus, the precise effect of FDI on economic growth is conditioned on the model specification...

Throughout the world, marriage is regarded as a moment of celebration and a milestone in adult life. sadly, the practice of early marriage gives no such cause for celebration. All too often, the imposition of a marriage partner upon a child means that a girl or boy’s childhood is cut short and their fundamental human rights are compromised. Several international conventions and laws exist to prevent early marriage but yet the situation still exists. The main objective of this resear...

The Ghana Statistics Development Plan was launched in November, 2008 to undertake a reform programme within the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in order to make it more efficient and effective in managing and coordinating the National Statistical System. As a result, a Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) Grant Agreement was implemented from March 2011 to June 2013 as part of the reform programme. The present study was undertaken to assess the Ghana Statistical Service Institutional Reform P...

We examine the factors that influence farmers’ decisions to adopt climate-smart practices and how adoption affects food and nutrition security in Ghana, using an endogenous switching regression approach to account for selectivity bias. The results show that adoption positively and significantly impacts food and nutrition security. The impacts of adoption are greater in the lower quantiles of the distributions of food and nutrition security, an indication of the potential role of adoptio...

The study examined the effects of organizational cynicism on commitment and job satisfaction of employees in Ghana’s public sector organization, with a specific focus on three employee groups (Senior Member Teaching Staff, Senior Member Non-Teaching Staff and Senior Staff) of University for Development Studies. Using quantitative research approach, results of the ANOVA analysis revealed significant differences in mean scores of organizational cynicism of the three employee groups; with S...

Improved rice production techniques are being promoted in Ghana as a way of enhancing sustainable productivity among farmers. Despite the important role that the adoption of improved rice production technologies plays in improving output, very few studies, especially in the context of Northern Ghana, have been conducted to analyse the factors influencing their intensive adoption. In this study, we compared the results of negative binomial, Poisson...

Vegetable production in urban and peri-urban areas involves use of wastewater for irrigation and agrochemicals, which pose risks to consumers’ health. To some degree, certification assures con-sumers of food safety. Certification is costly, requiring consumers to, at least partially, bear the cost. Consumer willingness to pay for certified vegetables was examined in Tamale, Ghana, based on a survey of 300 consumers using the contingent valuation method.Young, well-educated, and affluent consu...

In response to the challenges of using traditional farming practices and in order to boost smallholder productivity on sustainable basis, many civil society organizations, NGOs and international donor agencies including USAID, under the auspices of its Agriculture Development and Value-Chain Enhancement (ADVANCE) project, has initiated many intervention programmes geared towards the development and dissemination of Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs). The study aimed at identifying the factors...

The recent rise of indigenous knowledge, is embedded in the community unique to a given culture or location. This body of knowledge has been developed outside the formal educational system, generated over centuries enabling communities to survive in a balanced relation with their natural and social environment. But the dominance of the western knowledge system has largely led to a situation in which indigenous knowledge is ignored and neglected. This study was carried out in Kayoro in t...