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The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of military expenditure on the relationship between terrorism and investment in twenty-four African countries for the period 2001 to 2018. The study utilizes fixed effects regression with Driscoll and Kraay standard error and cushions the effect of simultaneity and reverse causality using the lags of the regressors as instruments. The empirical results reveal the negative effect of terrorism on both domestic investment and foreign direct investment (FDI). The study further reveals a negative net effect of military expenditure on the relationship between terrorism and investment. Furthermore, it was discovered that a threshold of 2% to 5% of military expenditure in GDP is required for military expenditure to offset the negative effect of terrorism on FDI. The study recommends that counter-terrorism initiatives be tailored more towards inclusive growth policies, increasing access to education, and improving the quality of governance.

This paper examines the economic and political determinants of the observed variations in the quality of budgetary institutions in 31 selected African countries from 2005 to 2017. The quality of budgetary institutions is measured using the World Bank’s Country Policy and Institution Assessment score. The empirical analysis utilises Ordinary Least Squares, two-stage least squares, two-step generalized method of moment, and the random effects probit and mixed effects models. The most significant and robust determinants of budgetary institution quality were found to be the level of external debt, foreign aid, the extent of control of corruption, and the level of voice and accountability. The results also reveal that foreign aid, control of corruption, and voice/accountability increase the probability of an improved quality of budgetary institutions. These findings resonate with the broader discussion on the role of political will and the need for the preferences of domestic actors to be aligned in order to deliver institutional reform in Africa.

This study investigated the effect of food prices on poverty in 37 sub‐Saharan African economies between 2001 and 2020. The study employed Prais‐Winsten regression, variations of the Fixed Effects model to account for conventional biases in econometric modeling, and the Method of Moment Quantile Regression with Fixed Effects to account for existing poverty levels. The findings revealed that a higher proportion of Africans will fall into poverty due to the increase in food prices. This result is consistent with the presence of endogeneity, cross‐sectional dependence, and unobservable heterogeneity. The study also reveals that the increase in food prices has a greater effect in sub‐Saharan African countries with lower levels of poverty as compared to those with high poverty levels, showing that rising food prices disproportionately hurt countries with low poverty levels, pushing more Africans below the poverty line in those countries. The study recommends the need for the implementation of supply‐side agricultural policies that enhance productivity in the sector, thereby boosting aggregate agricultural supply and precipitating a decline in food prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the determinants of fiscal effort in sub-Saharan African (SSA) within the framework of fiscal reaction functions. Whereas previous studies focusing on SSA have mainly considered the economic non-debt determinants this study accounts for the role of conflict given its persistence in many SSA countries. It employs a variety of panel econometric methods that are applicable in tackling the problem of endogeneity. Specifically the study employs the instrumental variables fixed effects, the two-step generalised method of moments (GMM) and the traditional two-stage least squares techniques. Mainly the evidence shows that although SSA governments have made fiscal adjustments in response to the escalating levels of debt, conflict impacts negatively on this response in SSA. Furthermore, the results affirm the presence of fiscal fatigue in SSA’s fiscal reaction function. Recommendations based on these findings are discussed.

Across African countries, terrorism has become a major challenge to socioeconomic development. While there are studies that have examined the influence of terrorism on economic growth, this study adds to the existing literature by investigating the role of military expenditure on the relationship between terrorism and economic growth in Africa. The study utilised a dataset comprising 24 African countries for which terrorism activities have increased substantially in the last decades. Utilising an instrumental variable Fixed Effects model with standard errors that account for cross-sectional dependence, serial correlation and group-wise heteroskedasticity, the study revealed that, (1) terrorism has a detrimental effect on economic growth in the selected African countries, (2) the interactive effect of military expenditure and terrorism on economic growth is significantly positive, (3) the net effect of military expenditure on the relationship between terrorism and economic growth is positive when the number of terrorism incidents act as a proxy for terrorism but negative when the number of terrorism fatalities acts as a proxy for terrorism. However, this negative effect is substantially lower when compared to the unconditional effect of terrorism on economic growth in Africa. Policy recommendations based on these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 purpose of the study is to examine the impact of globalization and institutional quality on income inequality as well as examining the influence of institutional quality on the relationship between globalization and income inequality. The study employed instrumental variable quantile regression which accounts for simultaneity/reverse causality. This method enabled us to determine how the existing level of income inequality affects the impact of globalization and institutions on income inequality. Findings revealed that the impact of globalization on income inequality depends on the measure of globalization utilized, while the impact of institutional quality on income inequality depends on the initial level of income inequality. More precisely, we found that trade globalization significantly reduces income inequality in the presence of improved institutional quality in countries where the initial levels of income inequality are low, while it increases income inequality in the presence of improved institutions in countries where the initial levels of income inequality are high. Furthermore, in the presence of improved institutional quality, foreign direct investment and official development assistance (financial globalization) significantly increase income inequality in countries where the initial levels of income inequality are high and low, respectively. Policy recommendations based on these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peace has been deemed paramount to socioeconomic progress and economic development across nations. It is for this reason nations strive to improve the peaceful coexistence of citizens. This study investigates the effect of democracy, governance and militarisation on peace in 43 African countries for the year 2018 in a cross sectional framework. The ordinary least square (OLS), the tobit regression and the quantile regression (QR) where employed as estimation strategies. The empirical result firstly reveal that democracy increases peace in Africa, particularly in countries where the initial level of peace is at its highest level. Secondly, militarisation of Africa reduces peace in the region only in countries where the initial level of peace is at its highest level. Thirdly, the influence of governance on peace in Africa depends majorly on the measure of governance utilized. The control of corruption, government effectiveness and regulatory quality increases peace where the initial level of peace is at its lowest level. Political stability increases peace across the entire quantiles utilized while rule of law increases peace in countries where the initial level of peace is low. In conclusion, governance in general increases peace in the countries where initial level of peace is very low. Policy recommendations based on these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poverty and income inequality are the twin greatest menaces in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) with significant prevalence. This study decomposed their significance and probabilities in determining the quality of life (QOL) of individuals and households in SSA while controlling for household demographics. The household‐level poverty (HLP) index and the indexes for QOL indicators were constructed from the national demographic and health surveys (DHS) for SSA countries. Data on consumption poverty thresholds and income inequality are from the global consumption and income project (GCIP) over 1985–2015. Findings reveal that, while the HLP index elicits more rural poverty across regions, consumption poverty thresholds are more urbanized and persistent across regions, except for Central Africa. The results for income inequality were found to be Gini −0.4396 and Atkinson index −0.4437, and more urbanized across regions. Furthermore, we found that SSA has made giant strides towards achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) 6 and 3 but no information on the quality of healthcare. However, abysmal likelihoods exist for SDGs 4, 7 and 8 in SSA. Similarly, abysmal probabilities were also found for households' access to adequate housing, a good environment and insurance coverage. Indeed, SDG‐4 is more significant for achieving SDG‐8. HLP stand as a significant bottleneck to achieving SDG‐7 and adequate housing, while income inequality mars SDG‐3 targets and sustainable environmental conditions in SSA. Policy options are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]