Determinants of poverty: a relative panel data analysis among African regional economic communities

Abstract

The study compares the effects of macroeconomic factors on poverty among African regional economic communities using panel data from 1991 to 2018. A fixed effects model results indicate that from the whole sample, all variables affect poverty. However, individualistic regional economic community characteristics affect poverty differently. The results show that while all factors are important when countries are considered as a single total sample, the effects of particular factors vary from one regional economic community to another signifying the importance of regional economic community characteristics heterogeneity. This implies different policies should be implemented to reduce poverty based on each country's regional belonging. Conclusively, intervening policies implemented to reduce poverty do not yield the same results for countries in different regional economic communities, meaning this classification of countries by regions matters and thus the determinant macroeconomic factors suitable for each region need to be identified first before implementation.