Review Of African Political Economy Research Articles

Migrants and Housing Investments: Theory and Evidence from Nigeria

The dominance of housing may reflect limitations in the menu of investment choices available to migrants in the country of origin. In many developing countries individuals face relatively few savings opportunities where productive assets (such as land farm assets) are associated with high risks and/or low rates of return. Housing investments offer unique advantages in that they are durable highly visible and associated with low risk and monitoring requirements. However there are some important drawbacks associated with housing investments. In particular where resale and rental markets for housing are not well developed migrants housing assets may be relatively illiquid and irreversible. In the next section I provide some background on general patterns of investment behavior among migrants. Here the evidence on housing investments is discussed for a rich set of migrant sending and receiving countries. In Section III I develop the conceptual framework for understanding migrants housing investment decisions. Section IV provides a description of the data sources. Section V outlines the empirical strategy. In Section VI I discuss the empirical findings. Section VII presents conclusions. (excerpt)

Examining the ideas of globalisation and development critically: what role for political economy?

Examining the ideas of globalisation and development critically: what role for political economy?

Zimbabwe out in the cold?

(2003). Zimbabwe out in the cold? Review of African Political Economy: Vol. 30, No. 98, pp. 535-537.

Imperialism & Economic Reform in Africa: What's New About the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)?

(2003). Imperialism & Economic Reform in Africa: What's New About the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)? Review of African Political Economy: Vol. 30, No. 95, pp. 119-128.

Africa, Imperialism & New Forms of Accumulation

(2003). Africa, Imperialism & New Forms of Accumulation. Review of African Political Economy: Vol. 30, No. 95, pp. 5-10.

Tenure, Agricultural Investment, and Productivity in the Customary Tenure Sector of Malawi

Tenure, Agricultural Investment, and Productivity in the Customary Tenure Sector of Malawi

INTRODUCING RACE AS A VARIABLE INTO THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF KENYA DEBATE: AN INCENDIARY IDEA

The debate on the nature and development potential of 'indigenous' capitalism in Kenya seemed to have petered off indecisively in the 1980s. At that time some form of socialism was still an option for some of the debaters. Following the seemingly-global acceptance of free-enterprise as the developmental model of choice, however, the Kenya debate has been resurrected but in a different intellectual guise. In line with the revival (especially in the United States) of culture and ethnicity as determinants of economic prosperity, some non-Kenyan authors have faulted the 1980s literature for leaving out Kenyan-Asian capitalists, the principal protagonists of local entrepreneurship, who, it is argued accounted for Kenya's outstanding development performance in the high-growth years before independence in 1963, and the onset of economic regress under the Moi government in the early 1 980s, by dint of their industry and cultural heritage. Without giving in to the undeserved Asian-bashing which this thesis has provoked in some Kenya-African political circles, this article provides evidence that credit for Kenya's economic achievements is more widespread and more race neutral. So is credit for the corruption and crass mismanagement that has characterized the Moi years. Considering the low intellectual pay-off and the high political dangers inherent in careless introduction of race and culture as operating variables to explain growi, the article advocates greater attention to analytical concepts that show more promise in accounting for inter-ethnic differences in material prosperity. These include law-based governance, a stable macroeconomic environment, and the strengthening of'social capital' at community level. THE DEBATE ON whether indigenous capitalism in Kenya could underwrite the economic transformation of the country, with or without the support of international capital, was all rage in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Michael Chege, a Kenyan, is Director of the Center for African Studies, University of Florida Gainesville, Florida USA. He previously worked with the Ford Foundation in Eastern and Southern Africa. 1. See the chapters by Michael Cowen, Colin Leys, Raphie Kaplinsky, and John Henley in Martm Fransman (ed.), Industty and Accumulation in Africa (Heinemann, London, 1982), pp. 142-231; the contributions on agrarian capitalism in Kenya by Peter Anyang' Nyong'o, Michael Cowen, Shadrack Gutto, Apollo Njonjo and Mukaru Nganga in Review of African Political Economy, 20 (1981); and Bjorn Beckrnan, 'Imperialism and Capitalist Transformation: critique of a Kenya debate', Review of African Political Economy, 19 (1980). Revisiting the debate ten years on, Colin Leys makes the case for giving more attention to the political calculations of African capitalists in 'Learning from the Kenya Debate', in David E. Apter and Carl G. Rosberg (eds.), Political Development and the New Realism in Sub-Saharan Africa (University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1994), pp. 220-43.

Economic Growth and Social Indicators: An Exploratory Analysis

Abstract What are the connections between social and political conditions and economic growth? This paper explores the uses and misuses of statistical analysis of cross-national data in addressing this question. It shows that social, political and economic indicators are linked by “webs of association”. Such webs of association suggest the possibility of distinct groupings of social indicators with differentiated impacts on economic growth. But such correlations also make it difficult to disentangle causal relationships, especially when theorizing is weak, data are badly behaved, and the number of observations is small. Although under such conditions statistical techniques can help preclude premature generalizations, they are easily overinterpreted. Nonetheless, data analysis can help identify countries that seem exceptions to the general patterns, where careful case studies may be especially valuable.

NGOs & the development industry

(1997). NGOs & the development industry. Review of African Political Economy: Vol. 24, No. 71, pp. 3-10.

Africa's economic renewal under the spell of globalisation

Sesay, M A (1995), 'Collective Security or Collective Disaster: Regional Peacekeeping in West Africa', Security Dialogue, vol. 26, no. 2; (1996a), 'Civil War and Collective Intervention in Liberia: A Strange Case of Peacekeeping in West Africa', Review of African Political Economy, No. 67, March; (1996b), 'Politics and Society in Post-war Liberia', Journal of Modern African Studies, vol. 34, no. 3.

Bibliography

Bibliography

Lesotho: inner to outer periphery?

(1996). Lesotho: inner to outer periphery? Review of African Political Economy: Vol. 23, No. 67, pp. 75-80.

The 1995 Tanzania union elections

(1996). The 1995 Tanzania union elections. Review of African Political Economy: Vol. 23, No. 67, pp. 80-87.

Plant genetic resources hold the future

(1996). Plant genetic resources hold the future. Review of African Political Economy: Vol. 23, No. 67, pp. 109-111.

Land Tenure in Zimbabwe

(1996). Land Tenure in Zimbabwe. Review of African Political Economy: Vol. 23, No. 70, pp. 579-580.

Central Africa intervention must not reinforce Hutu extremists or Mobutu regime

(1996). Central Africa intervention must not reinforce Hutu extremists or Mobutu regime. Review of African Political Economy: Vol. 23, No. 70, pp. 576-579.

The Somali in Ethiopia

(1996). The Somali in Ethiopia. Review of African Political Economy: Vol. 23, No. 70, pp. 567-570.

Economic prospects for Africa

(1995). Economic prospects for Africa. Review of African Political Economy: Vol. 22, No. 64, pp. 275-278.

Sierra Leone: the coming anarchy?

(1995). Sierra Leone: the coming anarchy? Review of African Political Economy: Vol. 22, No. 63, pp. 121-126.

Virtual adjustment: whose reality?

(1995). Virtual adjustment: whose reality? Review of African Political Economy: Vol. 22, No. 63, pp. 3-8.