PUBLICATIONS

@workingpaper{Jellal2015,
title = {Institutional Governance, Education and Growth},
author = {Bouzahzah & Simplice Asongu A Mohamed Jellal},
editor = {African 2015 Governance and Development Institute WP/15/059},
url = {http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/Institutional-Governance-Education-and-Growth.pdf},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-12-01},
abstract = {This study articulates the interaction between institutional governance, education and
economic growth. Given the current pursuit of education policy reforms and knowledge
economy around the world, it is of policy relevance to theoretically analyze the main
mechanisms by which the macroeconomic impact of education on growth (and economic
development) occurs. Our theoretical model demonstrates how incentives offered by the
government affect human capital accumulation which ultimately engenders positive economic
development externalities. We articulate two main channels through which education affects
economic growth. The first channel highlights direct positive effect of educational quality on
the incentive to accumulate human capital by individuals, which makes them more
productive. The second channel appears in the explicit function of the economic growth rate.
As a policy implication, we have shown that the growth rate depends on the rate of return on
human capital or that this rate of return itself depends on the quality of governance, which
further increases growth. As a result, institutional quality has a double dividend, which
suggests considerable benefits to educational reforms.},
keywords = {Education, Growth, Human Capital, Institutions},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {workingpaper}
}

@workingpaper{Asongu2015bf,
title = {Trajectories in Knowledge Economy: Empirics from SSA and MENA countries},
author = {Antonio Andrés R Simplice A. Asongu},
editor = {African 2015 Governance and Development Institute WP/15/060},
url = {http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/Trajectories-of-KE-in-SSA-and-MENA-Countries.pdf},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-12-01},
abstract = {In the first critical assessment of knowledge economy dynamic paths in Africa and the
Middle East, but for a few exceptions, we find overwhelming support for diminishing crosscountry
disparities in knowledge-base-economy dimensions. The paper employs all the four
components of the World Bank’s Knowledge Economy Index (KEI): economic incentives,
innovation, education, and information infrastructure. The main finding suggests that subSaharan
African (SSA) and the Middle East and North African (MENA) countries with low
levels in KE dynamics and catching-up their counterparts of higher KE levels. We provide the
speeds of integration and time necessary to achieve full (100%) integration. Policy
implications are discussed.},
keywords = {Knowledge economy; Principal Component Analysis; Panel data; Convergence},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {workingpaper}
}

@workingpaper{Nwachukwu2015b,
title = {Finance and Inclusive Human Development: Evidence from Africa},
author = {Jacinta Nwachukwu C Simplice A. Asongu},
editor = {African 2015 Governance and Development Institute WP/15/061},
url = {http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/Finance-and-Inclusive-Human-Development.pdf},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-12-01},
abstract = {This study investigates direct and indirect linkages between financial development and inclusive
human development in data panels for African countries using a battery of estimation techniques,
notably: Two-Stage Least Squares, Fixed Effects, Generalized Method of Moments and Tobit
regressions. The dependent variable is the inequality adjusted human development index. All
dimensions of the Financial Development and Structure Database (FDSD) of the World Bank are
considered. The main finding is that financial dynamics of depth, activity and size improve
inclusive human development, whereas the inability of banks to transform mobilized deposits
into credit for financial access negatively affects inclusive human development. Policy
implications are discussed in the light of fighting surplus liquidity and providing information
sharing offices (like public credit registries and private credit bureaus) that would reduce
information asymmetry between lenders and borrowers.},
keywords = {Banking; human development; Africa},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {workingpaper}
}

@workingpaper{Asongu2015bg,
title = {Foreign Aid and Inclusive Development: Updated Evidence from Africa, 2005-2012},
author = {Jacinta Nwachukwu C Simplice A. Asongu},
editor = {African 2015 Governance and Development Institute WP/15/062},
url = {http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/Foreign-Aid-and-Inclusive-Development.pdf},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-12-01},
abstract = {Motivated by the April 2015 World Bank Publication on MDGs which reveals that poverty has been declining in all regions of the world with the exception of African countries, this study investigates the effects of a plethora of foreign aid dynamics on inequality adjusted human development. Contemporary and non-contemporary OLS, Fixed-effects and a system GMM technique with forward orthogonal deviations are employed. The empirical evidence is based on an updated sample of 53 African countries for the period 2005-2012.The following findings are established. First, the impacts of aid dynamics with high degrees of substitution are positive. These include aid for: social infrastructure, economic infrastructure, the productive sector and multi-sectors. Second, the effect of humanitarian assistance is consistently negative across specifications and models. Third, the effects of programme assistance and action on debt are ambiguous because they become positive with the GMM technique. Justifications for these changes and clarifications with respect to existing literature are provided. Policy implications are discussed in the light of the post-2015 development agenda. We also provide some recommendations for a rethinking of theories and models on which development assistance is based.},
keywords = {Foreign Aid; Political Economy; Development; Africa},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {workingpaper}
}

@workingpaper{Asongu2015bh,
title = {Foreign Aid Fiscal Policy: Theory and Evidence},
author = {Mohamed Jellal Simplice A. Asongu},
editor = {African 2015 Governance and Development Institute WP/15/063},
url = {http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/Foreign-Aid-Fiscal-Policy-Theory-and-Evidence.pdf},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-12-01},
abstract = {The paper provides theoretical and empirical justifications for the instrumentality of
foreign aid in stimulating private investment and fixed capital formation through fiscal policy
mechanisms. We propose an endogenous growth theory based on an extension of Barro (1990)
by postulating that the positive effect of aid mitigates the burden of the taxation system on the
private sector of recipient countries. The empirical validity is based on data from 53 African
countries for the period 1996-2010. While the findings on the tax effort channel are
overwhelmingly consistent with theory across specifications and fundamental characteristics,
those of the ‘government expenditure’ channel are a little heterogeneous but broadly in line with
the theoretical postulations. Justification for the slight heterogeneity and policy implications are
discussed.},
keywords = {Foreign Aid; Political Economy; Development; Africa},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {workingpaper}
}

@workingpaper{Asongu2015bi,
title = {Pre- and post-crisis dynamics of financial globalisation for financial development in Africa},
author = {Lieven De Moor & Vanessa Tchamyou S Simplice A. Asongu},
editor = {African 2015 Governance and Development Institute WP/15/045},
url = {http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/Pre-and-post-crisis-dynamics-of-financial-globalisation-for-financial-development.pdf},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-11-01},
abstract = {This study unites two streams of research by simultaneously focusing on the impact of financial
globalisation on financial development and pre- and post-crisis dynamics of the investigated
relationship. The empirical evidence is based on 53 African countries for the period 2004-2011
and Generalised Method of Moments. The following findings are established. First, whereas
marginal effects from financial globalisation are positive on financial dynamics of activity and
size, corresponding net effects (positive thresholds) are negative (within range). Second, while
decreasing financial globalisation returns are apparent to financial dynamics of depth and
efficiency, corresponding net effects (negative thresholds) are positive (not within range). Third,
financial development dynamics are more weakly stationary and strongly convergent in the precrisis
period. Fourth, the net effect from the: pre-crisis period is lower on money supply and
banking system efficiency; post-crisis period is positive on financial system efficiency and precrisis
period is positive on financial size. Policy implications are discussed.},
keywords = {Banking; Financial crisis; Financial development},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {workingpaper}
}

@workingpaper{Asongu2015bj,
title = {Financial globalisation uncertainty/instability is good for financial development},
author = {Isaac Koomson & Vanessa Tchamyou S Simplice A. Asongu},
editor = {African 2015 Governance and Development Institute WP/15/046},
url = {http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/Financial-globalisation-uncertainty-is-good-for-financial-development.pdf},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-11-01},
abstract = {Purpose – This study assesses the effect of time-dynamic financial globalisation uncertainty on
financial development in 53 African countries for the period 2000-2011.
Design/methodology/approach – Financial globalisation uncertainty is estimated as timedynamic
to capture business cycle disturbances while all dimensions identified by the Financial
Development and Structure Database of the World Bank are employed, namely: financial depth
(money supply and liquid liabilities), financial system efficiency (at banking and financial
system levels), financial system activity (from banking system and financial system
perspectives) and financial size. The empirical evidence is based on the Generalised Method of
Moments with forward orthogonal deviations.
Findings- The following findings are established. First, financial globalisation uncertainty does
not significantly affect money supply, financial system deposits and financial size. Second, the
uncertainty increases banking system efficiency, banking system activity and financial system
activity. Moreover, the positive effects are consistently driven by above-median uncertainty
levels.
Practical implications- It follows that uncertainty in foreign capital flows may be a disguised
advantage for domestic financial development, especially in dealing with the substantially
documented issue of surplus liquidity in African financial institutions. Moreover, the sceptical
view in the financial globalisation literature that ‘allocation efficiency’ is only plausible in the
absence of uncertainty/instability is not substantiated by the findings. Justifications for the
nexuses and other policy implications are discussed.
Originality/value- To the best of our knowledge this is the first study to assess the effects of
financial globalisation uncertainty on financial development in Africa using time-dynamic
measurements of financial globalisation uncertainty and all dimensions identified by the
Financial Development and Structure Database of the World Bank.},
keywords = {Banking; Financial integration; Development},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {workingpaper}
}

@workingpaper{Asongu2015bk,
title = {Addressing a Root Cause of Sub Saharan Africa’s Poverty Tragedy: Horizons for post-2015 Common Capital Flight Policies},
author = {Simplice A Asongu},
editor = {African 2015 Governance and Development Institute WP/15/048},
url = {http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/Addressing-a-Root-Cause-of-Sub-Saharan-Africa-s-Poverty-Tragedy.pdf},
year = {2015},
date = {2015-11-01},
abstract = {An April 2015 World Bank report on attainment of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG)
extreme poverty target has revealed that extreme poverty has been decreasing in all regions of
the world with the exception of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), in spite of the sub-region enjoying
more than two decades of growth resurgence. This study builds on a critic of Piketty’s ‘capital
in the 21st century’ and recent methodological innovations on reverse Solow-Swan to review
empirics on the adoption of common policy initiatives against a cause of extreme poverty in
SSA: capital flight. The richness of the dataset enables the derivation of 14 fundamental
characteristics of African capital flight based on income-levels, legal origins, natural resources,
political stability, regional proximity and religious domination. The main finding reveals that
regardless of fundamental characteristic, from a projection date of 2010, a genuine timeframe for
harmonizing policies is between 2016 and 2023. In other words, the beginning of the psot-2015
agenda on sustainable development goals coincides with the timeframe for common capital flight
policies.},
keywords = {Econometric modeling; Capital flight; Poverty; Africa},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {workingpaper}
}