We investigate whether Egyptian mothers display son preference in their breastfeeding behaviour, given the trade off between the protective effects of breastfeeding and its contraceptive properties. We also examine how intensity of exposure to gender-biased parental investments before childbirth affects maternal nursing behaviour, exploiting exogenous variation in mothers’ age at premarital gen...

We assess the behavior of real effective exchange rates (REERs) of members of the CEMAC zone with respect to their long-term equilibrium paths. A reduced form of the fundamental equilibrium exchange rate (FEER) model is estimated and associated misalignments are derived for the period 1980 to 2009. Our findings suggest that for majority of countries, macroeconomic fundamentals have the expected...

This paper situates the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 7, 8, and 13 to investigate growth-energy-emissions trilemma. It uniquely contributes discourse by using carbon emissions per (emissions), GDP capita (economic growth), energy use (nonrenewable energy) renewable from seven South Asian countries covering 1990 2019 determine effect of economic growth on if its intera...

Does Promoting School Attendance Reduce Child Labour? Evidence from Burkina Faso’s BRIGHT Project Using data from BRIGHT, an integrated program that aims to improve school participation in rural communities in Burkina Faso, we investigate the impact of school subsidies and increased access to education on child work. Regression discontinuity estimates demonstrate that, while BRIGHT substantiall...

The Okada & Samreth (2012, EL) and Asongu (2012, EB; 2013, EEL) debate on ‘the effect of foreign aid on corruption’ has had an important influence in policy and academic circles. This paper provides a unifying framework by using investment and fiscal behavior transmission channels in 53 African countries for the period 1996-2010. Findings unite the two streams of the debate and broadly suggest ...

Using firm-level data for three Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries and four manufacturing industries, I examine how imports from OECD countries lead to productivity gains for domestic establishments through their knowledge absorption capabilities. I find that domestic firms with technology standards farther away from the international frontier benefit more from trade than those with technology...

This paper documents a significant impact of climate variation on urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa, primarily in arid countries. By lowering farm incomes, reduced moisture availability encourages migration to nearby cities, while wetter conditions slow it. The paper also provides evidence for ruralurban income linkages. In countries with a larger industrial base, reduced moisture shrinks the ...

In this study, we show that historic events have a long term incidence on institutional development. Within the framework of the paper, we attempt to provide insights into a historical dimension that has not received the scholarly attention it deserves in empirical literature, notably: African resistance in the face of colonization. The main finding suggests that contemporary institutions in Af...

In the 1970s, taxation of "windfall" profits from primary products and intervention in trade and production tempted governments into expansionary fiscal policies, whilst stifling the private sector and depressing growth. However, the experience of the recent coffee boom has so far been more favourable: those African countries which liberalized and left a large share of the “windfall” with the p...

This study was conducted to characterize virulence genes of Escherichia coli isolates from water, sediment, fish, and crab in Aby Lagoon. Serogrouping was performed by EPEC antisera in 113 E. coli strains. The presence of diarrhea-associated genes (eae, stx, AggR, elt, and est) was assessed by multiplex PCR using specific primers. Based on the multiplex PCR, sixty-two isolates (42 from water, 1...