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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.Item Body size estimation and weight management practices in urban poor communities in Ghana: A cross-sectional study(Journal of Health and Social Sciences, 2020) Frempong, G.A.; Anarfi, J.K.; Badasu, D.M.; Codjoe, S.N.A.Body size perception is a pertinent issue globally due to its implications for weight management. This study examined the influence of body size estimation on weight management behaviors in urban poor areas of Ghana. Methods: A cross-sectional design was used to collect data among a sample of 395 adults aged 18-70 years. A semi-structured questionnaire was designed for the collection of data on socio-demographic characteristics, weight perceptions, and weight management strategies. Anthropometric measurements were also taken, using standard procedures. Logistic regression models were used to examine relationships among the va variables. Results: More than half (57%) of the total sample was overweight or obese and 56.7% of the participants accurately estimated their body size. Nearly a third (37%) of the participants intended to stay about the same weight, while 29.6% and 11.9% wanted to lose or gain weight, respectively. To achieve their weight management goals, 60.3% of the participants engaged in healthy weight management practices. Body size estimation had no statistically significant relationship with weight management practices. However, the likelihood of engaging in healthy practices increased as age increased (OR = 1.021; 95% CI: 1.000 to 1.042). Individuals who belonged to households of the upper wealth category were less likely than those in lower wealth households to engage in healthy practices (OR = 0.548; CI: 0.330 to 0.911). Community of residence, a community conducive to physical activity and social support also significantly predicted weight management practices. Conclusion: The findings of this study highlight the importance of age and some socio-environmental factors in public health strategies for weight management.Item Comparison Of Stochastic Frontier Approaches For Estimating National Efficiency: An Application To Sub-Saharan African Countries(Journal Of Economic Development, 2018) Danquah, M.; Ouattara, B.In this paper, we attempt to estimate pure national (technical) efficiency for 19 SSA countries over the 1960-2010 period. In doing this, we compare conventional stochastic frontier models for panel data with several recently developed models that seek to control for unobserved heterogeneity in the inefficiency component. We find that the ‘true’ random effects model that treats unobserved heterogeneity in our national dataset generates more reasonable efficiency estimates. Moreover, the results confirm that most SSA countries operate far from the efficient frontier.Item Deliberation for Development: Ghana ’s First Deliberative Poll(Journal of Deliberative Democracy, 2019) Chirawurah, D.; Bawah, A.; Fishkin, J.; et al.This article poses the problem of public consultation in developing countries and applies a solution in Ghana as a test case. It describes the theoretical rationale for deliberative consultation with random samples, describes specific criteria for success, and then assesses an application under the challenging conditions of a developing country. It builds on notions of “deliberative democracy,” and shows how they can be practically realized in an African context through “Deliberative Polling” (DP). The challenge is that the context is one of the poorest parts of one of the poorest countries in Africa. Rather than consulting just stakeholders, or self-selected populations, or using conventional surveys, DP’s have the advantage of consulting random samples with deliberation in depth in confidential surveys so that the opinion changes can be evaluated at the individual level, free of social pressures for consensus. Is this practical in this context? A DP was conducted in Tamale, Ghana on issues of water, sanitation, hygiene, and food security. Criteria for success for DPs that have been applied in highly developed countries are discussed and then applied in Ghana under challenging conditions.Item Towards Social Justice Consciousness in Ghana’s Higher Education: Revisiting the Thoughts of Nkrumah and Nyerere(Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education, 2021) Amuzu, D.This article revisits the thoughts of Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere on decolonizing higher education in Africa. Their critique of colonial higher education centers on the notion that it was designed to promote the economic aspirations of the colonial metropolis, making it socially unjust, culturally irrelevant, and developmentally inapt. For redemption, African universities should align with the aspirations of their societies and promote African cultural consciousness. Their value-laden thoughts are classified into themes, discussed, and consequently recommended as ideas for policy considerations because they are yet to firmly influence Ghana’s higher education policy framework despite their relevance. The themes are: liberating the African mind; nurturing African character; owning the African narrative; and the essence of knowledge.Item Assessing Quality Assurance Practices in Institutions of Higher Learnings(International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 2019) Dei, D.G.J.In the effort to globalize higher education services and embark on innovative knowledge production and dissemination aimed at fitting into the global scheme, quality assurance becomes the sine qua non. Quality assurance (QA) provides the tools and direction to improve the quality of knowledge created, stored, and shared at institutions of higher learning. This study assesses the development and practice of QA in institutions of higher learning (IHLs) in Ghana. The mixed research method was used to collect data from staff and officers of institutions of higher learning who are directly involved in ensuring quality in the institutions. Six (6) IHLs participated in this study. The results indicated a generally higher degree of awareness and understanding of the concept of QA at the institutions as all of them have a QA department. The institutions are putting in more effort to ensure quality by carrying out internal assessments as there are available policies and strategies aimed at ensuring quality at the institutions. This led to high service quality at the institutions except for the College of Health. Besides, the focused areas quality at the institutions: stated vision, mission; governance structure; statutes and conditions of service; academic and programs; clean and siren environment; staffing; and library, technology, and information services. Despite these, the study established that the quality assurance units of the institutions lacked the necessary resources (technology, library, staff, laboratories, etc) for effective quality assurance activities.Item Productivity Losses and Firm Responses to Electricity Shortages: Evidence from Ghana(The World Bank Economic Review, 2021) Abeberese, A.B.; Ackah, C.G.; Asuming, P.O.One of the commonly cited obstacles to firms’ operations in developing economies is inadequate access to electricity. This paper explores the impact of electricity outages on firm productivity using arguably exogenous variation in outages, induced by an electricity rationing program, across small and medium-sized Ghanaian manufacturing firms. The results indicate that eliminating outages in this setting could lead to an increase in firm productivity. Further analyses of the strategies firms use to cope with outages show that changing the firm’s product mix to favor less electricity-intensive products mitigates the negative impacts of outages on productivity. However, using a generator, a common strategy in many parts of the world, is unable to insulate firms from the negative impacts of outages on productivity.Item Schooling and Education in Ghana: Research Conversations(Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education, 2021) Amponsah, S.; Kyei-Blankson, L.Ghana, a former British colony, known as the Gold Coast, is located in the West Africa, south of the Sahara. With a current population estimation of 30 million and a functional adult literacy rate of 79% (Macrotrends, 2021; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO] Institute for Statistics, 2020), eradicating illiteracy and dealing with issues affecting schooling and education in this country has always been at the forefront of academic dialogue and governmental policies.Item Internet Usage and its effect on Senior High School Students in Bantama Sub-Metro in Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana(2021) Kwaah, C.O.; Ankrah, E.; Frimpong, A.D.; et al.The internet has become the fountain of information access for senior high school students and academics. Poor telecommunication infrastructure, difficulties in accessing relevant information, inadequate computers, high cost of bundles, system failure, low internet bandwidth, and power fluctuation are some challenges Senior High students face in their quest to access information on the internet. The study sought to determine internet usage and its effect on students of three Senior High schools in the Bantama Sub-Metro in the Kumasi Metropolis. The study adopted the survey research design, and the quantitative research approach was used; hence questionnaires were the main instrument employed for data collection. A total of 360 students were conveniently sampled from three selected Senior High schools. From the results, it was found that students accessed information on the internet prominently for communication, recreation, and learning. The public internet café was the highest point of internet access followed by the home and availability of computer laboratories in the schools. However, confirming the effects on students regarding the use of the internet, the students were given limited hours to access information and different internet infrastructure in the schools. The majority of the students rated the internet access in their school computer laboratories as poor. By implication, Administrators and parents should adopt safety measures to monitor the internet content used by students, educating students on how to access and use information from the internet, provision of more computers in the school's laboratories, and high bandwidth to access the internet.Item Better decisions for food security? Critical reflections on the economics of food choice and decision-making in development economics(Cambridge Journal of Economics, 2020) Stevano, S.; Codjoe, E.; Johnston, D.With malnutrition recognized as a key public health issue, attention has been placed on how individuals can make better decisions to attain food and nutrition security. Nevertheless, food practice entails a complex set of decisions that are not fully understood. This paper interrogates the focus on food choice by investigating how socio-economic relations shape practices of food provisioning. Given the surge of behavioral approaches in development economics and our focus on a middle-income country, we contextualize food choice in the transformations of the conceptualizations of decision-making in development economics. We draw on mixed-method evidence on food consumption practices among schoolchildren in Accra, Ghana. We find that the food decision-making process is complex in that it entails multiple moments and people, and embodies contradictory motivations. Decisions are negotiated outcomes reflecting social relations of power among the actors involved. Socio-economic inequality fragments the urban food environment and material living conditions. Furthermore, the concentration of capital gives the food industry the power to shape material and cultural relations to food in ways that extraordinarily limit the scope for individual choice. This is a critical case study to understand the contemporary dynamics of malnutrition in the urban Global South, with broader relevance for the analysis of food poverty elsewhere.