@unpublished{Asongu,2018,
title = {Corporate Social Responsibility and the role of Rural Women in Sustainable Agricultural Development in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from the Niger Delta in Nigeria},
author = {Joseph I. Uduji, Elda N. Okolo-Obasi & Simplice A. Asongu},
url = {http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/CSR-and-role-of-rural-women-in-sustainable-agriculture-in-SSA.pdf},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-01-13},
abstract = {Low productivity among female farmers when compared with their male counterparts is considered an outcome of limited access to agricultural land and inputs. The objective of this investigation was to assess the impact of multinational oil companies’ (MOCs’) CSR on rural women access to modern agricultural inputs in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. A total of 700 rural female farmers were sampled across the region. Results from the use of a logit model indicated that CSR recorded significant success in agricultural development generally, but has undermined equality. This implies that if a woman’s agricultural productivity is continuously hindered by unequal access to agricultural resources (or opportunities) and widespread inequality will limit poverty reduction efforts in Nigeria. The results also showed that women depended on CSR of MOCs for policy dialogue and advocacy for women’s access to agricultural land and inputs. Supporting agricultural initiatives that focus on empowering women would boost food security in sub-Saharan Africa.},
keywords = {CSR. gender equality; agriculture},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {unpublished}
}

@unpublished{Asongu,2018,
title = {The role of information sharing in modulating the effect of financial access on inequality},
author = {Vanessa S. Tchamyou},
url = {http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/Information-asymmetry-financial-access-and-inequality.pdf},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-12-22},
abstract = {This study examines the role of information sharing in modulating the effect of financial access on income inequality in 48 African countries for the period 2004-2014. Information sharing is proxied with private credit bureaus and public credit registries. All dynamics of financial development are taken into account, namely: depth (money supply and liquid liabilities), efficiency (at banking and financial system levels), activity (from banking and financial system perspective) and size. The empirical exercise is based on interactive Generalised Method of Moments. It can be established from the findings that: first, a threshold of 18.072 percentage coverage of public credit registries is needed to counteract the unconditional positive effect of banking system efficiency. Second, on the role of private credit bureaus in financial depth, both the unconditional and the conditional effects are negative; implying a negative synergy. Overall, the findings show that, contingent on the type of financial development dynamic, credit registries broadly play their theoretical role of decreasing financing constraints in order to ultimately reduce inequality.},
keywords = {Inequality; Information asymmetry; Financial development},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {unpublished}
}

@unpublished{Asongu,2018,
title = {ICT, Financial Access and Gender Inclusion in the Formal Economic Sector: Evidence from Africa},
author = {Simplice A. Asongu},
url = {http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/ICT-Financial-Access-and-Gender-Inclusion.pdf},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-12-22},
abstract = {The study investigates the relevance of information and communication technology (ICT) in modulating the effect of financial access on female economic participation. Female economic participation is proxied by female labor force participation, financial access is measured with deposit and credit channels while ICT is proxied by mobile phone penetration, internet penetration and fixed broadband subscriptions. The focus of the study is on 48 African countries for the period 2004-2014 and the empirical evidence is based on Generalized Method of Moments. Policy thresholds are established at which, ICT modulates financial access to induce favourable effects on female economic participation. These policy thresholds are: (i) 160 mobile phone penetration (per 100 people) for the deposit channel and (ii) 2.166 and 0.75 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people for respectively, the deposit mechanism and credit channel. Overall the study supports the importance of ICT in moderating financial access for enhanced female economic participation.},
keywords = {Africa; Gender; ICT; Inclusive development},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {unpublished}
}

@unpublished{Asongu,2018,
title = {Challenges of Doing Business in Africa: A Systematic Review},
author = {Simplice A. Asongu, Nicholas M. Odhiambo},
url = {http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/Challenges-of-Doing-Business-in-Africa.pdf},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-12-20},
abstract = {This paper provides a systematic review of challenges to doing business in Africa. It complements the extant literature by answering two critical questions: what are the linkages between the ease of doing business and economic development; and what are the challenges to doing business in Africa? In providing answers to these questions, the nexus between the ease of doing business and economic development is discussed in six main strands, namely: wealth creation and sharing; opportunities of employment; balanced regional and economic development; Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and GDP per capita; standards of living and exports. Moreover, challenges to doingbusiness are articulated along the following lines: (i) issues related to the cost of starting a business and doing business; (ii) shortage of energy and electricity; (iii) lack of access to finance; and (v) high taxes and low cross-border trade.},
keywords = {Business; Development; Africa},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {unpublished}
}

@unpublished{Asongu,2018,
title = {Size, Efficiency, Market Power, and Economies of Scale in the African Banking Sector},
author = {Simplice A. Asongu, Nicholas M. Odhiambo},
url = {http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/Size-Efficiency-Market-Power-and-Economies-of-Scale-in-the-Africa.pdf},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-12-19},
abstract = {There is a growing body of evidence that interest rate spreads in Africa are higher for big banks compared to small banks. One concern is that big banks might be using their market power to charge higher lending rates as they become larger, more efficient, and unchallenged. In contrast, several studies found that when bank size increases beyond certain thresholds, diseconomies of scale are introduced that lead to inefficiency. In that case, we also would expect to see widened interest margins. This study examines the connection between bank size and efficiency to understand whether that relationship is influenced by exploitation of market power or economies of scale. Using a panel of 162 African banks for 2001–2011, we analyzed the empirical data using instrumental variables and fixed effects regressions, with overlapping and non-overlapping thresholds for bank size. We found two key results. First, bank size increases bank interest rate margins with an inverted U-shaped nexus. Second, market power and economies of scale do not increase or decrease the interest rate margins significantly. The main policy implication is that interest rate margins cannot be elucidated by either market power or economies of scale. Other implications are discussed.},
keywords = {Africa; banks; lending rates; efficiency},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {unpublished}
}

@unpublished{Asongu,2018,
title = {How Enhancing ICT has affected Inequality in Africa for Sustainable Development: An Empirical Investigation},
author = {Simplice A. Asongu, Nicholas M. Odhiambo },
url = {http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/How-Enhancing-ICT-has-affected-Inequality-in-Africa-for-Sustainable-Development.pdf},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-12-15},
abstract = {This study examines if enhancing ICT reduces inequality in 48 countries in Africa for the period 2004-2014. Three inequality indictors are used, namely, the: Gini coefficient, Atkinson index and Palma ratio. The adopted ICT indicators include: mobile phone penetration, internet penetration and fixed broadband subscriptions. The empirical evidence is based on the Generalised Method of Moments. Enhancing internet penetration and fixed broadband subscriptions have a net effect on reducing the Gini coefficient and the Atkinson index, whereas increasing mobile phone penetration and internet penetration reduces the Palma ratio. Policy implications are discussed in the light of challenges to Sustainable Development Goals.},
keywords = {ICT; Inclusive development; Africa},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {unpublished}
}

@unpublished{Asongu,2018,
title = {The Comparative African Economics of Governance in Fighting Terrorism},
url = {http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/The-Comparative-African-Economics-of-Governance-in-Fighting-Terrorism.pdf},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-12-15},
abstract = {This study assesses the comparative economics of governance in fighting terrorism in 53 African countries for period 1996-2012. Four terrorism variables are used, namely: domestic, transnational, unclear and total terrorism dynamics. Nine bundled and unbundled governance variables are employed, notably: political stability/no violence, voice & accountability, political governance, government effectiveness, regulation quality, economic governance, corruption-control, the rule of law and institutional governance. The empirical evidence is based on Fixed Effects regressions. In the analytical procedure, we first bundle governance indicators by means of principal component analysis before engaging the empirical exercise with the full sample. In the final step, specifications are based on a decomposed full sample in order to articulate the fundamental characteristics for comparative purposes. The following broad findings are established. First, good governance is an appealing tool in fighting terrorism. Second, the relevance of the good governance dynamics is as follows in order of increasing relevance: economic governance, institutional governance and political governance. The findings are presented in increasing order of magnitude to emphasise fundamental features in which governance dynamics have the highest effect in mitigating terrorism.},
keywords = {Terrorism; Governance; Africa},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {unpublished}
}

@article{Asongu,2018,
title = {FOREIGN AID, TERRORISM AND GROWTH: CONDITIONAL EVIDENCE FROM QUANTILE REGRESSION},
author = {Asongu, S. A., Nwachukwu, J. C., Biekpe, N},
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/apce.12235#accessDenialLayout},
doi = {10.1111/apce.12235},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-12-14},
journal = {Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics},
abstract = {In this study, we investigate the role of development assistance in reducing a hypothetically negative impact of terrorism on economic growth, using a panel of 78 developing nations with data for the period 1984–2008. The empirical evidence is based on interactive quantile regressions. Domestic, transnational, unclear and total terrorism dynamics are employed while development assistance measurements comprised bilateral and multilateral aid variables. With regard to the investigated hypothesis, we consistently confirm that: (i) In quantiles where terrorism is found to increase (decrease) economic growth, its interaction with foreign aid decreases (increases) economic growth. (ii) Comparing thresholds of the modifying aid variables for which the hypothesis is either rejected or accepted reveals that higher levels of multilateral (bilateral) aid are needed to reverse the negative effect of total (unclear) terrorism on growth, than the quantity needed to reverse the positive impact of transnational (domestic and total) terrorism(s) on growth. (iii) There is scant evidence of positive net effects. Overall the findings broadly indicate that foreign aid is a necessary but not a sufficient policy tool for completely dampening the effects of terrorism on economic growth.

},
keywords = {Economic Growth; Foreign aid; Terrorism; Quantile regression},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

@article{Asongu,2018,
title = {The impact of e‐wallet on informal farm entrepreneurship development in rural Nigeria},
author = {Uduji, J. I., Okolo-Obasi, E. N., Asongu, S. A., },
url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/isd2.12066},
doi = {10.1002/isd2.12066},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-12-14},
journal = {The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries},
abstract = {Transforming agriculture from a largely subsistence enterprise to a profitable commercial venture is both a prerequisite and a driving force for accelerated development and sustainable growth in sub‐Saharan Africa. The objective of this investigation is to assess the impact of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) e‐wallet program on informal farm entrepreneurship development in rural Nigeria. Informal sector farmers are those that are not legally registered at the national level although could be connected to a registered association.

The research is motivated by the absence of literature focusing on the problem statement or objective of the study. One thousand one hundred and fifty‐two rural farmers were sampled across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Results from the use of a bivariate probit model indicate that the mobile phone‐based technology via the e‐wallet program is a critical factor that has enhanced farm entrepreneurship in rural Nigeria. However, results also show that the impact of mobile phones (as a channel to accessing and using modern agricultural inputs) is contingent on how mobile networks are able to link farmers who live in rural areas and work mainly in farming. The results suggest that increasing mobile phone services in rural Nigeria enhances farmers' knowledge, information, and adoption of improved farm inputs and by extension, spurs rural informal sector economic activities in sub‐Saharan Africa. Implications for practice, policy, and research are discussed.},
keywords = {electronic technologies, Informal sectors},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}

@article{Asongu,2018,
title = {Remittances, ICT and doing business in Sub-Saharan Africa},
author = {Asongu, S. A., Biekpe, N., Tchamyou, V. S., },
url = {https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/JES-06-2017-0146},
doi = {10.1108/JES-06-2017-0146},
year = {2018},
date = {2018-12-13},
journal = {Journal of Economic Studies},
volume = {46},
number = {1},
pages = {35-54},
abstract = {Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how linkages between information and communication technology (ICT) and remittances affect the doing of business.

Design/methodology/approach
The focus is on a panel of 49 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries for the period 2000–2012. The empirical evidence is based on the generalized method of moments.

Findings
While the authors establish some appealing results in terms of net negative effects on constraints to the doing of business (i.e. time to start a business and time to pay taxes), some positive net effects are also apparent (i.e. number of start-up procedures, time to build a warehouse and time to register a property). The authors also establish ICT penetration thresholds at which the unconditional effect of remittances can be changed from positive to negative, notably: for the number of start-up procedures, an internet level of 9.00 penetration per 100 people is required, while for the time to build a warehouse, a mobile phone penetration level of 32.33 penetration per 100 people is essential. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to assess linkages between ICT, remittances and doing business in SSA.},
keywords = {Remittances; ICT; Doing business; Development; Africa},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}