Search

Objectives: This study has investigated the impact of democracy on the sustainability of the environment in 52 African countries between 1990 and 2020. Methods: The study utilized the ordinary least square as the baseline estimation technique, the two‐stage least square to account for endogeneity, and the quantile regression to account for existing levels of carbon emissions (CO2), which is a proxy for environmental sustainability. Results: Our findings show that improving the quality of African democracies will see a significant reduction in the level of CO2 emissions. Electoral and egalitarian democracy have a greater impact on reducing CO2 emissions in Africa and thus improving environmental sustainability. Further findings show that improving the quality of Africa's democracy will better dampen the level of CO2 emissions in African countries where the existing level of CO2 emissions is at its highest levels. Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of political institutions in improving environmental sustainability in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study adds to the body of existing literature on the relationship between democracy and terrorism by investigating the impact of democracy on terrorism in 26 African countries. The study utilises a robust measure of democracy known as the varieties of democracy index, which has been observed in literature to be more superior to conventional measures of democracy. A composite index of terrorism was derived from the number of terrorism incidents, the number of terrorist fatalities, and the number of terrorist injuries utilising the principal component analysis. The study utilises a fixed effects regression with Driscoll and Kraay standard errors and accounts for simultaneity utilising the first lags of the regressors as instruments. The results reveal an inverted U‐shaped relationship between democracy and terrorism in the selected African countries. In particular, early stages of democracy are associated with higher levels of terrorism while later stages of democracy are associated with lower levels of terrorism. These findings are robust when the negative binomial regression suitable for count data dependent variables is employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of the study is to investigate the effect of real exchange rate on the rate of unemployment in Nigeria. Time series data spanning from 1983 to 2015 which were sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Debt Management Office (DMO) statistical bulletin for 2019 and also the World Development Indicators (WDI) (2019) were used for the analysis. The ARDL bounds testing approach to cointegration was used to analyse the data. The results from the estimations show that real exchange rate has both in the short and long run, led to increase in the rate of unemployment. Other covariates in the study such as economic growth and credit to the private sector were only significant in the short run, while external debt is a significant determinant of unemployment both in the short and long run. In conclusion, it is recommended that the government should strengthen the economy through diversification, such as to improve the quality of the local industries to attenuate shocks that come as a result of exchange rate volatilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The study examined the impact of governance quality on infant mortality, maternal mortality and adult female mortality in sub Saharan Africa. Data Source and Methods: World Bank data covering 2002 to 2015 for 31 sub Saharan African countries were employed and analysed utilising the Driscoll and Kraay Fixed Effect Model. Results: Improvements in regulatory quality and total governance reduces infant mortality by O.I441 and 0.0712 percentage points respectively. Improvements in the control of corruption, regulatory quality and total governance reduces maternal mortality by 0.0788, 0.1324 and 0.0654 percentage points respectively. Political stability reduces adult female mortality by 0.0485 percentage point. Conclusion: There is need for the pursuit of efficient and speedy execution of sound private sector development policies in order to reduce infant and maternal mortality. Enhancing the fight against corruption aids maternal mortality reduction. Political stable environment should be prioritised to reduce adult female mortality. An overall improvement in the quality of governance reduces mortality rates in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]