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This study investigates the effect of globalisation on governance in 40 Sub-Saharan African countries for the period 2000-2019, with particular emphasis on income levels (low income versus middle income), legal origins (English common law versus French civil law), landlockedness (landlocked versus unlandlocked), resource wealth (oil-rich versus oil-poor) and political stability (stable versus unstable). The empirical evidence is based on Fixed Effects in order to control for the unobserved heterogeneity. Political, economic, social, and general globalisation variables are used, while three bundled governance indicators are also employed to assess five main hypotheses. From baseline findings, while all globalization dynamics negatively affect political governance, only political and social globalisation have a negative incidence on economic governance. Social and general globalisation dynamics positively affect institutional governance. The hypotheses that higher income, English common law, unlandlocked, oil poor, and politically-stable countries are associated with higher levels of globalisation-driven governance, are valid, invalid, and partially valid contingent on the globalisation and governance dynamics.

This study examines whether the remarkable inflow of resources in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI) to SSA contributes to inclusive growth in the region. The study further investigates whether SSA's institutional fabric modulates the effect of FDI on inclusive growth in SSA. To this end, we draw data on 42 SSA countries for the period 1990 - 2020 for the analysis. The evidence, which are based on the GMM estimator shows that: (1) though FDI fosters inclusive growth in SSA, the effect is weak, and (2) the weak inclusive growth inducing-effects of FDI are weakened or nullified completely by SSA' fragile governance quality. Nonetheless, the optimism, which we provide by way of threshold analysis shows that channelling resources into the development of these governance dynamics yield positive net effects from the short-term through to the long-term. Notably, the results show that the short-term to long-term FDI-induced inclusive growth gains of developing frameworks and structures for fighting corruption while addressing fragilities in regulatory quality and government effectiveness are outstanding. A few policy recommendations are discussed in the end.

In this study, nexuses between governance and natural resource rents are assessed in 44 sub-Saharan African countries using data for the period 1996-2016. The empirical evidence is based on Tobit regressions. The findings show that political governance (entailing “voice & accountability†and political stability) and institutional governance (consisting of the rule of law and corruption control) have a negative effect on resource rents. However, if the conception and definition of attendant governance variables are understood within the framework that such variables are negatively skewed, it becomes apparent that bad governance reduces resource rents. This conclusion clarifies the paradox because negatively skewed governance variables are understood to be representing poor governance. By extension, the negative effect of the rule of law or corruption control on natural resource rents should be the negative effect of the absence of the rule of law or lack of corruption control on natural resource rents. The paradox is further clarified in the light of specific components of the governance dynamics. While the clarification of the paradox is relative, especially if the sample is compared with countries for which governance indicators are largely skewed in the positive direction, from an absolute perspective (i.e. exclusively from the sampled countries), the indicators of the World Bank are standardized such that negative skewness does not affect the estimated results. Another worthwhile argument with which to explain the paradox is that governance has more impact on the nonresource component of GDP.

This study investigates how governance and infrastructure modulate the effect of natural resource rents on economic growth in a sample of 110 countries for the period 2000-2018. The empirical evidence is based on Panel Smooth Transition Regressions (PSTR). The following findings are established. First, the nexus between economic growth and natural resources is not linear and the underlying non-linearity is contingent on existing infrastructural and governance levels. Second, evidence of a "natural resource curse" is apparent in countries with extremely low levels of governance and infrastructural development. Third, the favorable effect of natural resources on economic growth requires a governance threshold of -1.210 and an infrastructure threshold of 2.583 indicating that countries with governance and infrastructure level higher than these values tend to benefit much more from the wealth of natural resources. With high levels of the transition variables (governance and infrastructure), the established thresholds are low and situated between the 5 th and the 10th percentiles. Countries identified below the established thresholds are mainly from Africa. Policy implications are discussed with specific emphasis on African countries.

This study examines whether the remarkable inflow of resources in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI) to SSA contributes to inclusive growth in the region. The study further investigates whether SSA's institutional fabric modulates the effect of FDI on inclusive growth in SSA. To this end, we draw data on 42 SSA countries for the period 1990 – 2020 for the analysis. The evidence, which are based on the GMM estimator shows that: (1) though FDI fosters inclusive growth in SSA, the effect is weak, and (2) the weak inclusive growth inducing-effects of FDI are weakened or nullified completely by SSA' fragile governance quality. Nonetheless, the optimism, which we provide by way of threshold analysis shows that channelling resources into the development of these governance dynamics yield positive net effects from the short-term through to the long-term. Notably, the results show that the short-term to long-term FDI-induced inclusive growth gains of developing frameworks and structures for fighting corruption while addressing fragilities in regulatory quality and government effectiveness are outstanding. A few policy recommendations are discussed in the end.

The debate on the need for Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries to increase female participation in the economic sector has intensified the coming into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and good governance. This study investigates the joint effects of governance (comprising of political, economic and institutional governance) and economic integration on female economic participation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The study employs panel data of 42 countries in SSA spanning 1996-2020 for the analysis. The empirical strategy uses the dynamic System Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM) estimation technique. The findings reveal that the single effect of economic integration on female economic participation is necessary but not sufficient. Hence, complementing economic integration with good governance further enhances female economic participation in SSA. In general, the joint effect of economic integration and good governance should be a concern for policymakers to promote female economic inclusion.

The objective of this study is to evaluate: (i) the effects of infrastructures on CO2 emission and (ii) how trade openness and governance contribute to mitigating these effects. The results from the system GMM methodology for 36 African countries between the 2003-2019 period show that infrastructural development exacerbates CO2 emission in Africa. This result is robust across different types of infrastructural development indexes. When the indirect effect regressions are carried out by interacting governance and trade openness with the different infrastructural development variables, the following results are obtained. Firstly, infrastructural development interacts with governance producing a positive net effect, up to a governance threshold estimate of 0.532 when the positive net effect is nullified. Secondly, infrastructures interact with trade openness producing a negative net effect up to a trade openness threshold of 78.066914 (% of GDP) when the negative net effect is nullified. Positive and negative synergy effects are also apparent. Practical policy implications are discussed based on the results obtained.

This study complements the extant literature by assessing the role of governance dynamics in food security in Ghana for the period 1980-2019. The empirical evidence is based on the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) technique and governance is categorized into: political (entailing political stability and voice & accountability), economic (consisting of regulatory quality and government effectiveness) and institutional (entailing corruption-control and the rule of law) governance dynamics. The study finds that the engaged governance dynamics improve food security in Ghana. Policy implications are discussed with specific emphasis on the sustainable development goals.

In the quest for the attainment of democracy with its fully unleashed potentials, the role of information and communication technology (ICT) is integral within this current knowledge economy disposition. The study explores the effect of mobile technology penetration on governance quality from the unconditional and marginal effects of mobile phones and diverse democracy indicators. The analysis is carried out by applying the instrumental variables (IV) Tobit regression to the data to examine the relationship among the variables of interest with a view to handling possible endogeneity issues in the empirical model. The study finds that weak democracy is detrimental to the effect of mobile phone penetration on integrated governance quality and that the higher the mobile phone penetration, the lower the weak democracy quality in SSA. The study concludes by recommending efforts and policies to be enacted and implemented such as the enhancement of mobile technology for concise quality governance.

In this paper, we revisit the relationship between governance and human development in Africa during the period 2010-2019 taking into account the existence of spatial dependence and controlling the endogeneity problem through a Generalized Spatial Two Stage Least Squares (2SLS). The exploratory spatial data analysis reveals the existence of spatial dependence of human development and governance quality. Our empirical findings support that in Africa, "good fences make good neighbours" or proximity matters in the distribution of human development. Implications are discussed.

Motivated by the projected rebound of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow to sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) following the implementation of the AfCFTA and the finalization of the Africa Investment Protocol, we examine how FDI modulates the effects of various governance dynamics on inclusive growth in SSA. We do this by testing two hypotheses– first, whether unconditionally FDI and various governance indicators (rule of law, control of corruption, regulatory quality, governance effectiveness, political stability, and voice and accountability) foster inclusive growth in SSA; and second, whether these governance dynamics engender positive synergy with FDI on inclusive growth in SSA. Using data from the World Bank’s World Governance Indicators and the World Development Indicators for the period 1990–2020, we employ several fixed effects, random effects, and the system GMM estimators for the analysis. First, we find that FDI and all our governance dynamics are significant inclusive growth enhancers in SSA. Second, though FDI amplifies the effects of all our governance dynamics on inclusive growth in SSA, governance effectiveness, voice and accountability, and political stability are keys. Policy recommendations are provided.

The study assesses the role of governance in modulating the effect of oil wealth on wealth inequality in 45 countries in the world. The empirical evidence is based on Pooled Ordinary Least Squares and the Generalised Method of Moments. The findings show that oil rents unconditionally increase wealth inequality while govenance dyanmics (in terms of rule of law, corruption-control, government effectiveness, regulatory quality) moderate oil rents for an overall net negative effect on wealth inequality. Good governance thresholds at which the unconditional effect of oil rents on the wealth inequality changes from positive to negative are computed and discussed. It follows that while governance is a necessary condition for improving the redistributive effects of oil wealth, it becomes a sufficient condition for net positive improvements in wealth distribution only when some critical levels of good governance have been reached. Other policy implications are discussed.

Motivated by the projected rebound of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow to sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) following the implementation of the AfCFTA and the finalization of the Africa Investment Protocol, we examine how FDI modulates the effects of various governance dynamics on inclusive growth in SSA. We do this by testing two hypotheses - first, whether unconditionally FDI and various governance indicators (rule of law, control of corruption, regulatory quality, governance effectiveness, political stability, and voice and accountability) foster inclusive growth in SSA; and second, whether these governance dynamics engender positive synergy with FDI on inclusive growth in SSA. Using data from the World Bank's World Governance Indicators and the World Development Indicators for the period 1990- 2020, we employ several fixed effects, random effects, and the system GMM estimators for the analysis. First, we find that FDI and all our governance dynamics are significant inclusive growth enhancers in SSA. Second, though FDI amplifies the effects of all our governance dynamics on inclusive growth in SSA, governance effectiveness, voice and accountability, and political stability are keys. Policy recommendations are provided.

Purpose - This paper provides an analysis of the energy-carbon Kuznets curve hypothesis (CKC) using a second-generation panel methodology. Design/methodology/approach - Specifically, we investigate whether energy consumption, natural resources, and governance explain the CKC proposition. Our empirical strategy is based on the Westerlund panel cointegration test, augmented mean group (AMG), and vector autoregressive (VAR) panel Granger-causality tests. Findings - The results suggest that the CKC hypothesis is incomplete without these mechanisms, as they play a critical role in reducing carbon emissions in Africa. We recommend improving the environmental standards and proper regulatory and monitoring systems to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable development in the continent. Originality/value -The study revisits the CKC hypothesis with particular emphasis on governance and more robust empirical estimation techniques.

The purpose of this study is to assess the nexus between governance and renewable energy consumption in sub-Saharan Africa. The focus is on 44 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with data from 1996 to 2016. The empirical evidence is based on Tobit regressions. It is apparent from the findings that political and institutional governance are negatively related to the consumption of renewable energy in the sampled countries. The unexpected findings are clarified and policy implications are discussed in the light of sustainable development goals. This study extends the extant literature by assessing how political governance (consisting of political stability and "voice & accountability") and institutional governance (entailing the rule of law and corruption-control) affect the consumption of renewable energy in sub-Saharan Africa.

This study empirically verifies the effect of terrorism on financial development and how globalisation and governance modulate the incidence of terrorism on financial development in Africa. Two terrorism indicators are adopted for this study, namely, the: number of terrorism incidences and number of terrorism deaths. The methodology involves the pooled data technique running from 1996-2018 for 34 African countries. The results from the POLS, Driscoll-Kraay and the Newey-West standard error corrections show that terrorism is detrimental to financial development. From the interactive regressions, three major tendencies are apparent. First, terrorism dynamics consistently have an unconditional negative effect on financial development. Second, the globalization and government dynamics modulate the terrorism dynamics to broadly induce a negative net effect on financial development. Third, policy thresholds at which the modulating variables reverse the net effect on financial development from negative to positive are: (i) 71.61572 trade (% of GDP) and 13.97872 FDI (% of GDP) for the incidence of terror and (ii) 1.16201 trade (% of GDP) for terror deaths. The computed thresholds make economic sense and worthwhile in terms of policy implications because they are within statistical range. The result is robust to alternative measures of terrorism and financial development. Policy implications are discussed.

In line with the SDG 10 and Aspiration 1 of Africa's Agenda 2063, this study examines whether: (i) the remarkable inflow of Chinese FDI to Africa matters for bridging the continent's marked income inequality gap, (ii) Africa's institutional fabric is effective in propelling Chinese FDI towards the equalisation of incomes in Africa, and (iii) there exist relevant threshold levels required for the various governance dynamics to cause Chinese FDI to equalise incomes in Africa. Our results, which are based on the dynamic GMM estimator for the period 1996 - 2020, reveal that though: (1) Chinese FDI contributes to equitable income distribution in Africa, the effect is weak, and (2) Africa's institutional fabric matters for propelling Chinese FDI towards the equalisation of incomes across the continent, governance mechanisms for ensuring political stability, low corruption, and voice and accountability are keys. Finally, critical masses required for these three key governance dynamics to propel Chinese FDI to reduce income inequality are 0.8, 0.5 and 0.1, respectively. These critical masses are thresholds at which governance is a necessary but no longer a sufficient condition to complement Chinese FDI in order to mitigate income inequality. Hence, at the attendant thresholds, complementary policies are worthwhile. Policy recommendations are provided in the end.

This paper contributes to the literature by investigating the effect of natural resources on under-five mortality in a sample of 50 African countries over the period 1996 to 2018. We also examine the extent to which governance shapes the relationship between natural resources and under-five mortality. Our results show that natural resources have increased under-five mortality. Resource rents also have detrimental effects on child mortality by age, gender, and the three major causes of infant mortality from infectious diseases. However, an extended analysis of different types of natural resources suggests that point resources (such as oil, natural gas and mineral rents) increase under-five mortality, in contrast to the diffuse resources (such as forest rent). We also find that governance mitigates the positive effect of natural resources on child mortality. Corresponding governance policy thresholds that should be attained in order to reverse the positive effects of natural resources on child mortality are provided. We thus suggest an increase in the funds allocated to the health sector from resource rents and encourage efforts to improve governance standards in sampled countries.

This paper examines the governance-"education quality" nexus in a panel of 49 sub-Saharan African countries over the period 2000-2012. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Quantile regression (QR) are employed as estimation strategies. The following findings are established. First, from the OLS, governance variables are negatively correlated with poor education quality. Second, with regards to QR, about half of the governance dynamics are not significantly correlated with poor education quality in the lowest quantile of poor education quality. With the exception of corruption-control, the other governance dynamics are negatively correlated with poor education quality in a non-monotonic pattern.

This paper investigates the role of institutional infrastructures in the financial inclusion-growth nexus for a panel of twenty countries in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA).Employing the System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), the following insightful outcomes are established. First, while there is an unrestricted positive impact of physical access to ATMs and ICT measures of financial inclusion on SSA's growth but only the former was found significant. Second, the four institutional components via economic, political, institutional and general governances were also found to be growth-spurring. Lastly, countries with low levels of real per capita income are matching up with other countries with high levels of real income per capita. The empirical evidence of some negative net effects and insignificant marginal impacts are indication that imperfections in the financial markets are sometimes employed to the disadvantage of the poor. On the whole, we established positive effects on growth for the most part. The positive effects are evident because the governance indicators compliment financial inclusion in reducing pecuniary constraints hindering credit access and allocation to the poor that deteriorate growth.

The study examines the use of governance tools to fight capital flight by reducing the capital flight trap. Two overarching policy syndromes are addressed in the study. It first assesses whether governance is an effective deterrent to the capital flight trap in Africa, before examining what thresholds of government quality are required to fight the capital flight trap in the continent. The following findings are established. Evidence of a capital flight trap is apparent because past values of capital flight have a positive effect on future values of capital flight. The net effects from interactions of the capital flight trap with political stability, regulation quality, economic governance and corruption-control on capital flight are positive. The critical masses at which "voice & accountability" and regulation quality can complement the capital flight trap to reduce capital flight are respectively, 0.120 and 0.680, which correspond to the best performing countries. Policy implications are discussed.

This research assesses the importance of credit access in modulating governance for gender inclusive education in 42 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa with data spanning the period 2004- 2014. The Generalized Method of Moments is employed as empirical strategy. The following findings are established. First, credit access modulates government effectiveness and the rule of law to induce positive net effects on inclusive "primary and secondary education". Second, credit access also moderates political stability and the rule of law for overall net positive effects on inclusive secondary education. Third, credit access complements government effectiveness to engender an overall positive impact on inclusive tertiary education. Policy implications are discussed with emphasis on Sustainable Development Goals.

The objective of this study is to assess governance drivers of FDI in a panel of BRICS and MINT countries for the period 2001-2011. We bundle and unbundle governance determinants using a battery of contemporary and non-contemporary estimation techniques. Our findings reveal the following: Firstly, for both contemporary and non-contemporary specifications, while the majority of our governance determinants of Gross FDI are significant, they are overwhelmingly insignificant for Net FDI. Secondly, the significance of the governance dynamics in increasing order of magnitude are general governance, political governance, economic governance, political stability, regulation quality and government effectiveness. Thirdly, for non-contemporary specifications, the significance of governance variables is as follows in ascending order of magnitude: economic governance, institutional governance, general governance, corruption-control, political governance and political stability. The importance of combining governance indicators is captured by the effects of political governance, economic governance and institutional governance. The results indicate that the simultaneous implementation of the various components of governance clarifies a country's attractiveness for FDI location. Policy implications are discussed with particular emphasis on the timing of FDI and its targeting.

The study examines the role of governance in modulating the effect of capital flight on industrialisation in Africa. The empirical evidence is based on Generalised Method of Moments and governance is bundled by principal component analysis, namely: (i) political governance from political stability and "voice and accountability"; (ii) economic governance from government effectiveness and regulation quality; and (iii) institutional governance from corruption-control and the rule of law. First, governance increases industrialisation whereas capital flight has the opposite effect; and second, governance does not significantly mitigate the negative effect of capital flight on industrialisation. Policy implications are discussed.

This study contributes to the attendant literature by bundling governance dynamics and focusing on foreign aid instability instead of foreign aid. We assess the role of foreign aid instabilit y on governance dynamics in fifty three African countries for the period 1996-2010. An autoregressive endogeneity-robust Generalized Method of Moments is employed. Instabilities are measured in terms of variance of the errors and standard deviations. Three main aid indicators are used, namely: total aid, aid from multilateral donors and bilateral aid. Principal Component Analysis is used to bundle governance indicators, namely: political governance (voice & accountability a nd political stability/no violence), economic governance (regulation quality and government effectiveness), institutional governance (rule of law and corruption-control) and general governance (political, economic and institutional governance). Our findings show that foreign aid instability increases governance standards, especially political and general governance. Poli cy implications are discussed.