Browsing by Author "Ackah, C."
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Item Africa’s businesswomen – underfunded or underperforming?(Springer, 2023) Ackah, C.; Görg, H.; Hanley, A.; et al.Abstract While the recent success of Africa’s ‘Lionesses’ – successful female entrepreneurs – is internationally celebrated, less is known about how liquidity can fuel the success of the ‘Lionesses’ and other businesswomen. Using information from a panel of over 800 male- and female-owned businesses in Ghana (ISSER-IGC survey), we capture a measure of underfunding, in addition to data on supplier credit, equity and other fnance sources. Our regressions reveal a female-to-male productivity gap of between−11 and−19 per cent, values similar to estimates for other African countries. However, when fnancial constraints are taken into account, the gender performance gap disappears. Accordingly, female business owners who indicate that funding is not a problem are associated with higher productivity than males, all things equal. In a fnding new to the literature, our regressions reveal the importance of supplier credit for Africa’s businesswomen. Plain English Summary 300 African Businesswomen in Focus - Suppliers Key to Success. Suppliers to Africa’s businesswomen (e.g. sellers of cloth for garment manufacture) who ofer the possibility for delayed repayment, statistically boost the survival of female-owned businesses. Africa’s ‘Lionesses’ – exceptional businesswomen – are a comparative rarity, a reason we explore the reasons behind their success. Using data from over 800 Ghanaian businesses from 2011 to 2015, we examine the role of funding in explaining why the majority of businesswomen perform so poorly. Our fndings highlight an unusual fact – suppliers to female-owned businesses (e.g. sellers of cloth for manufacture into garments) who ofer their female customers the possibility to delay repayments are enormously benefcial in narrowing the gender gap. Targeting tax-cuts towards such suppliers would boost the emergence of future ‘Lionesses’.Item Deals and Development: The Political Dynamics of Growth Episodes(Oxford University Press, 2017) Osei, R.D.; Ackah, C.; Domfe, G.; Danquah, M.This chapter explores the extent to which political settlements interacting with the rents space affect the nature of the deals space and consequently help explain economic growth in Ghana. The discussions are centred around four break points and therefore five growth episodes for Ghana: pre-1966, 1966–74, 1974–83, 1983–2001, and 2001–14. First, there are signs that the post-2001 period has been more ordered and open than the first twenty-five years after independence. Second, the political settlement has also changed somewhat over the years, from a dominant to a more competitive type. However, it is argued that political patronage remains rife. Third, the chapter finds that the interplay of political settlements and rent space has been important in shaping the nature of the deals space in Ghana. Finally, it highlights two types of positive and negative feedback loop relating to these variables over the years.Item Determinants of types of underemployment in the MiDA intervention zones of Ghana(International Institute for Science, Technology and Education, 2013) Domfe, G.; Osei, R.D.; Ackah, C.Underemployment is a severe form of human resource underutilization, especially in the rural areas of Ghana. Unfortunately while its ‘twin brother’, unemployment, had for many years enjoyed some attention in the world of research, much cannot be said of underemployment. Using labour underutilization framework, the paper employs multinomial logistic regression to investigate empirically the various forms of underemployment and their determinants in the three MiDA intervention zones in Ghana. The empirical analysis was done with the data of the Ghana Living Standard Survey Five Plus (GLSS 5+) and factors such as: experience, employment in the manufacturing sector and settlement in an urban location tend out not to be in support of underemployment. Consistent with findings of previous studies, the study found all forms of underemployment to be highly pervasive in the rural areas. Unexpectedly, acquisition of tertiary academic qualification was found to exacerbate the incidence of underemployment. Suggestion was therefore made to the stakeholders of the Ghanaian economy to develop pragmatic measures to address the problem of labour underutilization, especially those involving graduates of tertiary institutions, in order not to discourage Ghanaians from seeking higher academic laurelsItem Exploring firm performance and growth among own-account and micro enterprises in Ghana(International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2019-10-30) Owoo, N.S.; Oduro, A.D.; Ackah, C.Using micro-level data from the 2013 nationally-representative GENDA survey on approximately 1,200 own-account and micro enterprises, we examine firm performance and business growth between men and women entrepreneurs in Ghana. Using OLS and multinomial logit (MNL) regression techniques, we find differential effects and constraints for men and women-owned businesses: men generally perform better than women, controlling for a host of characteristics. We find that among women-operated firms, locating a business at home has negative performance implications. Additionally, women-operated firms report more positive growth experiences when their businesses are formally-registered. While credit constraint has negative effects for both male and female-operated firms, the effects are felt stronger among men. We also find some evidence of ICT use-age on performance of firms, with differential effects for men and women. These findings provide significant scope for policy targeting in order to enhance business performance and growth among own-account and micro enterprises in Ghana.Item Financial Access and Firm Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa(Journal of African Business, 2017-10) Bokpin, G.A.; Ackah, C.; Kunawotor, M.E.The paper investigates the effect of access to finance on the productivity of manufacturing firms in Sub-Saharan Africa. With the aid of the Semi-parametric approach by Levinsohn and Petrin, findings reveal that access to a cost-effective line of credit/loan or an overdraft facility has a positive effect on firm productivity. The study, therefore, concludes that it is of outmost benefit for firms to acquire credit facilities for more productive projects and that the credit constraints firms in Africa face should be significantly relaxed.Item Financial Access and Firms’ Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa(University of Ghana, 2016-06) Kunawotor, M. E.; Ackah, C.; Bokpin, G. A.; University of Ghana, College of Humanities, Business School, Department of Finance and BankingThis study aimed at finding the effect of financial access and other potential determinants on productivity of firms in Sub-Saharan Africa. Data was sourced from the World Bank‟s Enterprise Survey for 2,830 manufacturing firms collected over the period 2003 – 2014. With the aid of the Semi-parametric approach by Levinsohn and Petrin which uses intermediate inputs to proxy for unobservable productivity shocks, total factor productivity was estimated and regressed on several variables including financial access proxied by line of credit/loan and access to an overdraft facility. The result indicates that access to cost-effective line of credit/loan or an overdraft facility has positive and statistically significant effect on firms‟ productivity. Using firms‟ age, size and location as control level variables, the study found foreign ownership, exports and internationally-recognised quality certification to be positively related to productivity whilst frequent power outages and female managers to adversely affect productivity. These findings are consistent with robustness checks using alternative approaches. The study therefore suggests that credit constraints should be significantly relaxed, starting with governments in Africa lessening their policy rates. Also firms should acquire internationally recognised quality certification and take part in exporting of their products as well as allowing foreign partnerships on their shareholding structure.Item Financial regulation in Ghana: balancing inclusive growth with financial stability(2016) Ackah, C.; Asiamah, J.P.Following the financial crisis, many countries are beginning to prioritise financial stability through regulation, and seeking to balance such policy priorities with the promotion of inclusive growth, especially in poor countries. Sustained financial sector restructuring and transformation in Ghana has succeeded in creating one of the most vibrant financial services centers in the sub region. Ghana has therefore seen a significant increase in the number of banks, including pan-African groups, with a rapidly expanding deposit base. Currently, Ghana is home to 27 banks, of which 15 are foreign owned and 6 are African banks. However, a number of cross-cutting challenges remain, including access to credit by the private sector and the high cost of credit, which tends to militate against small-scale businesses. While the authorities have continued to work on these challenges, current macroeconomic challenges continue to hamper efforts to lower the cost of credit and to expand access to credit for most small-scale businesses.Item The Global Financial Crisis and African Economies: Impact and Transmission Channels(Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2011) Aryeetey, E.; Ackah, C.This paper is intended to highlight the general impact of the crisis on African countries in terms of economic performance and then show some variations across countries by discussing how the different transmission channels operated in them, and what their effects have been. The paper has noted that the global financial and economic crisis has affected African economies in a significant way, mostly indirectly through the harm it causes to the real sectors of the economies. In aggregate terms, the impact has been quite strong, as shown by the sharp drop in aggregate output around the region. Even though there are both direct and indirect channels for transmitting the crisis to African economies from the rest of the world, the indirect channels have been more pronounced in their effects largely on account of the structures of these economies. The integration of these economies into the global economy has been largely on account of trade in goods and also the consequence of migration, hence the effects on the real sectors and in remittance flows. There have been significant variations in the impact of the crisis across countries, and this has been influenced largely by the quality of institutions, particularly for regulation, and initial conditions prevailing in the countries.Item Global Health Justice and Governance(2019-08-21) Ruger, J.P.; Torpey, K.; Ackah, C.; Gyekye-Jandoh, M.A.In a world beset by serious and unconscionable health disparities, by dangerous contagions that can circle our globalized planet in hours, and by a bewildering confusion of health actors and systems, humankind needs a new vision, a new architecture, new coordination among renewed systems to ensure central health capabilities for all. Professor Jennifer Prah Ruger's book Global Health Justice and Governance (Oxford University Press, 2018) lays out the critical problems facing the world today and offers a new theory of justice and governance as a way to resolve these seemingly intractable issues. In this seminar, Professor Prah Ruger will address the fundamental responsibility of society to ensure human flourishing; the central role that health plays in flourishing and how that places a unique claim on our public institutions and resources to ensure central health capabilities to reduce premature death and avoid preventable morbidities; and the new global health architecture that is needed in order to address staggering inequalities, imperiling epidemics, and inadequate systems.Item The health MDGs in Ghana: lessons and implications for the implementation of the sustainable development goals(Journal of Public Health (Germany), 2018-04) Fenny, A.P.; Crentsil, A.O.; Ackah, C.PurposeThe Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), an initiative by the United Nations, consisted of eight broad goals, which were envisaged to improve the living conditions of the world’s populations. In spite of the momentum and investments made to achieve the MDGs, significant challenges still exist at the global and national levels. In Ghana, the attainment of some MDGs was uneven across the goals and within the country. This paper critically reviews the implementation of the health MDGs in Ghana: specifically, MDG 4, MDG 5 and MDG 6. The study focuses on drawing key lessons from the national implementation strategies and institutional reforms adopted by Ghana towards achieving these health MDG targets. Methods The study uses content analysis of policy documents in selected programmatic interventions which have been deemed influential in reaching the health MDGs in Ghana. ResultsIn brief, the results indicate that 73% of the 37 MDG indicators for Ghana were either achieved or could show significant progress. Ghana did not achieve MDG 4 and MDG 5 due to the slow progress it made in improving child and maternal health. The study indicates that key investments need to be made in the health sector, especially in the areas of access to good quality care, to narrow gaps in access and financing. Conclusions Reducing maternal and child mortality in Ghana will require transforming the sectors that drive development, such as energy, agriculture and transportation. It is expected that the lessons learnt will enhance evidence-based policy-making towards achieving the SDGs in Ghana.Item The Impact of the Financial Crisis on Ghana’s Economy(Diffusion Presses Universitaires de France, 2011) Ackah, C.; Arthur, B.; Quartey, P.When the crisis first broke internationally, within Ghana there was much ambivalence of how the Ghanaian economy is less likely to be affected. Many were of the view that Ghana will be relatively immune to the international financial implosion because of the relatively limited level of integration of its financial markets. This paper investigates the impact of the global financial crisis on Ghana’s economy using secondary data from the World Bank, IMF, Bank of Ghana and other macro datasets and finds the belief that African countries are insulated from the effects from global financial and Economic crisis is fading. Some important elements of Ghana’s balance of payment and the domestic financial sector have been affected. There are significant implications for domestic banking and capital market, indicated in a credit crunch that has considerably affected access to credit, quality of banks’ loan books and market activity on Ghana Stock Exchange. The paper also finds that FDI showed signs of distress as multinational companies transfer funds to their parent companies to address financial difficulties. There are also negative effects on the trade and external current account balances, and private inward transfers as migrants face challenging times in their destination countries. This paper suggests that the central bank should not renege on its cardinal regulatory and supervisory responsibilities since the financial sector is become one of the major transmission channel through which the crisis is affecting Ghana’s economy. It is also recommended that policy responses should include rethinking of the country’s trade and industrial strategies.Item Industrial policy in Ghana: Its Evolution and Impact(Oxford University Press, 2016) Ackah, C.; Adjasi, C.; Turkson, F.E.This chapter chronicles the evolution of industry in Ghana over the post-independence era from an inward overprotected ISI strategy of 1960–83 to an outward liberalized strategy during 1984–2000, and since 2001, to the private sector-led accelerated industrial development strategy based on value-addition. Industry in Ghana is mainly dominated by micro and small firms, privately owned and mainly located within urban areas in the form of industrial clusters. Patterns of labour productivity and wages indicate the food processing sub-sector, foreign owned and older firms as the most productive. The emerging policy issues from Ghana’s current industrial policy include how to empower SMEs to expand productive employment and technological capacity within a highly competitive manufacturing sector; how to promote agro-based industrial development to ensure value-addition to manufactures and Ghana’s exports among others.Item Inter-linkages between remittance and savings in Ghana(International Journal of Social Economics, 2019-01) Quartey, P.; Ackah, C.; Lambon-Quayefio, M.P.Purpose The increase in volumes and circulation of internal and international remittances have become a substantial part of resource flow for economic development especially in developing countries with a significant impact on household welfare. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between remittances and savings mobilization. Design/methodology/approach Using the most recent wave of the Ghana Living Standard Survey data, the study accounts for the endogeneity in remittance receipts by employing treatment effect estimators, in addition to a probit model to establish the relationship between remittances and likelihood of savings. Findings The results suggest that receiving remittances significantly affects household’s propensity to save. Households that receive international remittances seem to have a slightly higher probability of savings compared to households that receive only domestic remittances. Originality/value From the literature, whereas the theoretical relationship between savings and remittances is mixed, it is also evident that the empirical relationship between remittances and savings has not been clearly established, especially in sub-Saharan African countries in general and Ghana in particular. The present study adds to the paucity in the literature in two main ways. First, the study provides empirical evidence on the relationship between remittances and savings by not only focusing on international remittances but also on internal remittances. Second, in sharp departure from other studies, the current study employs more robust empirical estimators in estimating the relationship between remittances and savings.Item Internal Migration in Ghana: Determinants and Welfare Impacts(Emerald, 2012-08) Ackah, C.; Medvedev, D.Purpose – Using a recently compiled dataset on migration and remittances in Ghana, the purpose of this paper is to estimate the determinants of an individual’s likelihood to be an internal migrant and the relationship between internal migration and welfare. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses treatment regression techniques to assess the characteristics of Ghanaian migrants, the determinants of migration, and its impact on household welfare. Findings – The paper finds that the likelihood to migrate is determined by a combination of individual (pull) and community-level (push) characteristics. The probability of migration is higher for younger and more educated individuals, but communities with higher levels of literacy, higher rates of subsidized medical care, and better access to water and sanitation are less likely to produce migrants. It is found that households with migrants tend to be better off than similar households without migrants, even after controlling for the fact that households with migrants are a non-random sample of Ghanaians. However, the positive relationship is only true for households with at least one migrant in urban areas. Research limitations/implications – Clearly, if the authors had access to panel data, they would have been able to do something very nice and clean (on both theoretical and econometric grounds). Originality/value – This paper adds to the Ghana migration literature by offering a novel empirical assessment of the characteristics of Ghanaian migrants, the determinants of migration, and its impact on household welfare by drawing on a recently-assembled, nationally-representative sample of Ghanaian households.Item Mobile money: a gateway to achieving financial inclusion in Ghana(Enterprise Development and Microfinance, 2022) Kodom, M.; Steel, W.F.; Ackah, C.; Bokpin, G.A.While emerging studies on mobile financial inclusion have focused on the factors driving the adoption of mobile money, little evidence exists on how the service is facilitating the use of formal financial services. Using the World Bank Findex data, we estimate the effect of mobile money adoption on the use of formal accounts, savings, and credit in Ghana. The results of the recursive bivariate probit analysis showed a significant symbiotic relationship between mobile money adoption and the probability of operating a formal account. Mobile money adoption has a positive effect on savings and access to credit but does not affect the avenues to savings and obtaining credit, respectively. Mobile money users save in their wallet and obtain microcredit through the mobile money platform but not through formal channels. These findings reinforce the hypothesis that mobile money is the surest financial tool for achieving universal financial inclusion in developing countries.Item Motivations, income determinants and livelihood vulnerability of female teenage head porters in Kasoa, Ghana(Emerald Publishing Limited, 2017) Otieku, E.; Ackah, C.; Forkuor, D.Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide statistical and empirical evidence on the motivations, income determinants and livelihood vulnerabilities of female teenage head porters. The paper draws from the motivational theory and the livelihood vulnerability approach to assess the motivations, livelihood vulnerabilities and income determinants of female teenage head porters in Kasoa, Ghana. Design/methodology/approach – The mixed methods data collection instruments were used to collect primary data from 200 randomly sampled female teenage head porters in Kasoa. It includes both close and open-ended questionnaires, one case study and personal observation. Findings – Based on the estimation, the study found that household poverty, unemployment, desire for regular income and quest for personal independence were significant motivational factors drawing teenage girls into head porting. Also, age of respondents and years of experience in the occupation were the significant determinants of income of respondents. Exposure to frequent malaria, stress and physical pains were common livelihood risk factors faced by the respondents. Majority of them were from the northern region of Ghana and less than 20 percent of them had formal education. Practical implications – The paper proposed for extensive implementation of robust macroeconomic and specific social protection interventions to enhance equal job and income opportunities as well as to protect the vulnerable. Originality/value – The study provides statistical and empirical results different from other related studies (Opare, 2003; Awumbila, 2007; Baah-Ennumh et al., 2012; Akanle and Chioma, 2013).Item Nonfarm Employment and Incomes in Rural Ghana(Wiley, 2011) Ackah, C.This paper analyses the determinants of participation in nonfarm activities and the impact of nonfarm employment on household income. A clear empirical regularity is that women are significantly less likely than men to be in wage employment and more likely than men to be in self-employment activities. We find also that households whose heads have completed secondary education or higher gravitate more toward wage employment. Nonfarm employment appears to be crucial for the alleviation from rural poverty in Ghana. With limited opportunities in agriculture, nonfarm employment is necessary to augment or supplement farm incomesItem Political Settlements and Structural Change: Why Growth Has Not Been Transformational in Ghana(Deals and Development: The Political Dynamics of Growth Episodes, 2017-12) Osei, R.D.; Ackah, C.; Domfe, G.; Danquah, M.This chapter explores the extent to which political settlements interacting with the rents space affect the nature of the deals space and consequently help explain economic growth in Ghana. The discussions are centred around four break points and therefore five growth episodes for Ghana: pre-1966, 1966-74, 1974-83, 1983-2001, and 2001-14. First, there are signs that the post-2001 period has been more ordered and open than the first twenty-five years after independence. Second, the political settlement has also changed somewhat over the years, from a dominant to a more competitive type. However, it is argued that political patronage remains rife. Third, the chapter finds that the interplay of political settlements and rent space has been important in shaping the nature of the deals space in Ghana. Finally, it highlights two types of positive and negative feedback loop relating to these variables over the years.Item Political settlements, the deals environment and economic growth: The case of Ghana.(Effective States and Inclusive Development, 2015) Osei, R.D.; Ackah, C.; Domfe, G.; Danquah, M.The paper explores the extent to which political settlements, and consequently the deals environment, have influenced the growth and development outcomes for Ghana. This is done using a conceptual framework which tries to demonstrate how political settlements and the deals environment help explain sustained economic growth. Some of the key findings are summarised as follows. First, the paper notes that political settlements in Ghana have been largely personalised over the years, with electoral competition becoming a feature of the last two decades. Second, it notes that the product space for Ghana has remained largely unchanged over the years, reinforcing the argument that growth has not been structurally transformative. Third, it argues that the deals space in Ghana is largely a product of the nature of the political settlement and this in turn has contributed to growth without structural transformation of the economy. The paper concludes by noting that Ghana finds itself in a position where change to its deals space, in a way that promotes sustained accelerated growth, will be difficult.Item State-business relations and firm performance in Ghana(State-Business Relations and Economic Development in Africa and India, 2013) Ackah, C.; Aryeetey, E.; Clottey, E.