Theses

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://197.255.125.131:4000/handle/123456789/22146

A long essay or dissertation or thesis involving personal research, written by postgraduates of University of Ghana for a university degree.

Browse

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Item
    Institutions and African Economic Development
    (Working Paper, 2022) Fosu, A.K.
    In light of the increasing importance of institutions in economic development and Africa’s desire to catch up, the present paper provides an account of this crucial subject, ‘Institutions and African Economic Development. First, adopting the usual definition of ‘institutions’ as ‘rules of the game’, the paper shows that improvements in economic institutions, such as economic freedom, had begun by the early 1990s, and accelerated about the mid-1990s, consistent with observed improvements in economic and development outcomes. Also improved are measures of political institutions: an index of electoral competitiveness, constraint on the executive branch of government, and polity 2 as an indicator of the level of democracy, beginning in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Second, based primarily on a review of the extant literature, the paper observes that these improvements in the measures of economic and political institutions are positively associated with the increasing economic development in Africa. Third, indicators of institutional instability, measured by the frequency of civil wars and the incidence of coups d’etat, have been diminishing since the early 1990s, with implications for improved growth and human development. Fourth, some evidence is provided in support of the notion that African countries with better performance on institutional quality during the period of growth resurgence have also exhibited greater progress in poverty reduction. Finally, the paper concludes by flagging the potential risk of African countries backtracking on their respective trajectories toward achieving the democratic consolidation required to sustain the gains in growth and development.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Visa-Free Movement and Intercultural Communication: Expectations and Experiences of Kenyans in Ghana
    (University of Ghana, 2019-03) Omuholo, W.O.
    The pivot of this study is that while the prospects of regional interaction and integration for political and economic development in Africa have been well researched, the implications of intercultural communication have not received as much scholarly attention. The expectations and intercultural communication experiences of Kenyans in Ghana were, therefore, examined in order to understand the ways in which the visa-free entry policy, driven by the African Union, might influence the immigrant public’s expectations and experiences of their host populations. Specifically, the study employed a qualitative approach, involving individual interviews with 21 adult Kenyans over a two-month period, to adduce empirical evidence on: how Kenyans in Ghana encounter and react to the host cultures; how those interactions affect their native cultural identities; and how these experiences inform their appreciation of the AU visa-free movement policy for African integration. Four main findings were made: Kenyans have positive intercultural communication experiences in Ghana, showing that visa-free policies encourage intercultural relations and integration, stereotypes held by Kenyans about Ghanaians were largely disabused, demonstrating the relevance of physical movements among African countries for removing cultural barriers, respondents’ experiences of the Ghana Immigration Service during residency permit renewals were positive, and this can facilitate sustainable intra-Africa movements, though their experiences of Ghanaians were positive, respondents maintained their cultural identities, demonstrating that culturally diverse identities in Africa are not a constraint to regional unity. Three main recommendations were made, that: the Ghana Immigration Service can create a feedback platform on its website for people. Such feedback can provide useful information for visitors, facilitate migration to Ghana, encourage more intercultural interactions and deepen relations between non-Ghanaians and Ghanaians, national agencies such as the Ghana Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture should monitor and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v review the contents of movies and internet sites on Ghanaian culture, to minimise false information that causes stereotype, improve information flow, and facilitate fruitful intercultural communication between non-Ghanaians and Ghanaians, on the basis of the positive intercultural communication experiences of the Kenyans in Ghana, the African Union should speed up with the visa-free movement policy to facilitate more movement between African states, bring cultures into contact with each other and promote intercultural interactions among Africans.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Remittances, Total Factor Productivity And Economic Development in Africa.
    (University of Ghana, 2017-07) Dzeha, G. C.
    This study examines the implication of international migrants‘ remittance, total factor productivity (TFP) and economic development in Africa. It is based on three empirical papers. The first empirical chapter looks at the effect of international migrants‘ remittances on labour productivity and capital accumulation. In this study we conceptualise how remittances received in Africa could lead to labour productivity and capital accumulation. The study also tested the interactive effect of remittances and human capital on capital accumulation. The study employs a panel of twenty-five African countries across a twenty-three-year period (1990 – 2013) using the two-step generalised methods of moment estimator and finds that remittance promotes labour productivity. While the study does find evidence that remittances promote capital accumulation; it does show that the interactive effect of remittance and human capital largely impacts capital accumulation. Thus, remittance inflows only lead to capital accumulation if recipients are skilled and trained. The second paper examines the effect of international migrants‘ remittance on Total Factor Productivity (TFP) within sampled African countries. The study first employs the output based non-parametric Malmquist productivity index- Data Envelope Analysis in a macroeconomic context to segregate the component of TFP into technical change, efficiency and TFP growth. In this context, the real GDP is the output that is produced by the countries; while the physical capital stock and labour are the set of inputs. The study further investigates the consequence of migrants‘ remittances on each component of TFP by the use of the Seemingly Unrelated Regression estimation technique on a panel of twenty-three African countries across a twenty-three-year period (1990 – 2013). The study shows that international migrants‘ remittances, although received by households, are a valuable source of capital that increases technical change (innovation) and spurs the growth in total factor productivity, but does not encourage efficiency. Confirming that, there is no doubt that University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh viii innovation cannot happen without money, migrants‘ remittance inflows are very important and significant in enabling recipients to bring their ideas to life through innovation. Remittances increase recipient households‘ purchasing power and create opportunities by making it easier for recipients to acquire simple tools and equipment that promote productive investments and lead to increase in productivity growth directly. International migrants‘ remittance inflows, through official channels, make available huge capital inflows that change the dynamics of productive investments through innovation and growth in technology. Hence the repercussions are that there is the need for governments to create enabling and congenial economic environments that will increase remittance inflows. A congenial economic environment will create opportunities for remittance-recipients to put these monies into economic activities that have far-reaching effects and enhance living standards. The third paper also examines the effect of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) on human development contingent on the level of remittances in Africa. The study essentially employs the inequality-adjusted human development index as a proxy for human development in Africa and employs the system Generalised Methods of Moments (SGMM), with a set of data on a sample of twenty-one African countries over a five-year period (2010–2014) in a balanced panel. The findings of the study show that TFP has a negative effect on human development; meanwhile, human development is affected by remittances positively. However, the combined effect of TFP and remittances turns out to be positive, suggesting that countries that receive a high level of remittances are able to transform the negative impact of TFP on human development into a positive one. The implications are that, although remittances are received by households, their cumulative effect could drive total factor productivity to promote human development. As Africa‘s population continuous to grow astronomically, it becomes pragmatically assiduous for Africa to take advantage of its increasingly active population in the diaspora seeking greener pastures and sending remittances to transform its human development levels in education attainment, poverty alleviation and increasing life expectancy.