This paper assesses the determinants of state fragility in sub-Saharan Africa using hitherto unexplored variables in the literature. The previously missing dimension of nation building is integrated and the hypothesis of state fragility being a function of rent seeking and/or lobbying by de...

Purpose – This paper examines whether initial levels in GDP growth, GDP per capita growth and inequality adjusted human development matter in the impact of aid on development. In substance its object is to assess if threshold development conditions are necessary for the effectiveness of...

The August 15th 2013 Shanghai Academic Rankings of World Universities (ARWU) should leave policy makers wondering about whether the impressive growth experienced by ‘latecomers in the industry\' has moved hand-in-hand with contribution to knowledge by means of scientific publications. Against...

This study dissects with great acuteness some of the big questions on China-Africa relations in order to debunk burgeoning myths surrounding the nexus. It reviews a wealth of recent literature and presents the debate in three schools of thought. No substantial empirical evidence is found to...

Purpose – The issue of which financial initial conditions are necessary to materialize the benefits of financial globalization remains open to debate in the literature. In this paper, we try to put some empirical structure on the concept of financial threshold conditions in order to give...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of policy options in financial dynamics (of money, credit, efficiency and size) on consumer prices. Soaring food prices have marked the geopolitical landscape of African countries in the past decade. Design/methodology/approach –...

Our generation is experiencing the greatest demographic transition and Africa is at the center of it. There is mounting concern over corresponding rising unemployment and depleting per capita income. We examine the issues in this paper from a long-run perspective by assessing the relationships...

Are there different determinants in the fight against corruption across developing countries? Why are some countries more effective at battling corruption than others? To investigate these concerns we examine the determinants of corruption-control throughout the conditional distribution of the...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the aid-development nexus in 52 African countries using updated data (1996-2010) and a new indicator of human development(adjusted for inequality). Design/methodology/approach – The estimation technique used is a Two-Stage-Least Squares...