This paper estimates the effect of institutions on economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa over the period 1995-2007. We follow Henderson, Storeygard, and Weil (American Economic Review 102(2): 994-1028, 2012) in combining Penn World Tables GDP data with satellite-based data on nightlights in...

In this paper we argue that the answer is yes. Our optimism rests on the finding that differences in the level of institutional quality predict cross-country variation in African economic growth during the period 1995-2011. This finding is quite robust. It holds in OLS, LAD and 2SLS settings; it...

We use a panel data set of 46 African countries over the 2003-2015 period to study the role of institutional quality in infrastructure-led growth. Based on causal analysis, we show large positive effects on growth for countries with strong institutional quality in comparison with their weak...

The paper examines the importance of relative prices, institutional quality and other factors which are regressed on the estimated total factor productivity (TFP). With panel data of 26 African countries for the period 1980-2011, the results show that relative prices have significant effects on...

Investors all too often assign a uniform broad - brush risk rating to Sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, with over 40 nations and a landmass nearly twice that of Europe, there is clearly reason to suggest risk - return in Sub-Saharan Africa is unique across countries and specific to local experiences. In...

Are there contemporary development effects of African resistance to European domination? This question is the primary issue addressed by this inquiry. We establish that African resistance has had adverse effects on post-colonial African development and discuss possible channels of such...

We explore the potential effects of the first leaders of Sub-Saharan Africa. We first outline a set of theoretical reasons for why leaders may matter particularly at the critical juncture of African independence and why this influence may be persistent. In an unbalanced panel from 40 African...

This study contributes to the scholarly literature on the achievement of sustainable development in light of the UN’s Agenda 2030 and African Union’s Agenda 2063 by examining pathways through which energy efficiency (EE) promotes inclusive green growth (IGG) in Africa. Our contribution is...

This study investigates the impact of different schooling dimensions (primary, secondary and tertiary) on the intensity of intra-state conflicts in 25 African states during the period 1989 - 2008. It uses fixed-effects and Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM) estimators in an annualized panel...

This paper reviews the literature on the impact of ethnic diversity on economic development. Ethnically polarized societies are less likely to agree on the provision of public goods and more likely to engage in rent seeking activities providing lower levels of social capital. Initial conditions...