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This paper investigates whether democracy plays a mediating role in the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates whether democracy plays a mediating role in the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical analysis is conducted using fixed effects and system GMM (Generalised Method of Moments) on a panel of 38 Sub-Saharan African countries covering the period of 1990–2018.
Findings
The results find that FDI has no direct effect on inequality whereas democracy reduces inequality directly in both the short run and the long run. The sensitivity analyses find that democracy improves equality regardless of the magnitude of FDI, resource endowment or democratic deepening whereas FDI only reduces inequality once a moderate level of democracy has been achieved.
Social implications
The results discussed above thus have four policy implications. First, these results show that although democracy has inequality reducing benefits, SSA is unlikely to significantly reduce inequality unless the region purposefully diversifies its trade and FDI away from natural resources. Second, the region should continue to expand credit access to reduce inequality and attract FDI. Third, policymakers should undertake reforms that will reduce youth inequality. Lastly, the region should focus on long-run democratic reforms rather than on short-run democratization to improve governance and investor confidence.
Originality/value
Although there are existing studies that examine the association between FDI and inequality, FDI and democracy and democracy and inequality, this is the first study to explicitly examine the effect of democracy on the association between FDI and inequality in SSA, and the first study to separately consider the possible varied effects of contemporaneous democratization versus the long-run accumulation of democratic capital. In addition, rather than measure inequality by income alone, this study uses the more appropriate Human Development Index to account for SSA's sociological, education and income disparities.
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Is the need for stability pre-empting the need for democratic values? How can the EU cope with two contradictory security requirements: the need to promote democratic norms and to…
Abstract
Purpose
Is the need for stability pre-empting the need for democratic values? How can the EU cope with two contradictory security requirements: the need to promote democratic norms and to secure geostrategic interests? This paper takes on the security-democracy dilemma in a complex way that transcends the realpolitik frame overshadowing the analysis of the EU’s policy orientation in the Southern Mediterranean while considering its normative role as a fig leaf for security interests.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper investigates the EU’s foreign policy orientation reflected in the ENP in terms of the two logics of action of consequentialism and appropriateness. Tracing changes at the policy level over time between 2011 and 2015, the paper zooms into the implementation of the “new” ENP in the aftermath of the Arab uprisings in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia to highlight additional variation across countries.
Findings
Building on a document analysis of the official declarations for the policy-making level and of ENP action plans for the implementation level, the paper argues that local political dynamics and the level of the EU’s threat perception shape the EU’s response to the partner countries.
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Xusen Cheng, Wanxin Liu and Yuanyuan Li
Collaboration is significant but difficult for the development of youth organizations, this research aims to explore whether the online collaboration process is suitable for youth…
Abstract
Purpose
Collaboration is significant but difficult for the development of youth organizations, this research aims to explore whether the online collaboration process is suitable for youth organizations' collaboration and improve their effectiveness and efficiency.
Design/methodology/approach
This research has applied a design approach using the collaboration engineering method, to design an online collaboration process for youth organizations to improve their effectiveness and efficiency. Using a self-developed group support systems (GSS) tool, the authors have tested the new collaboration process through an experiment among four youth organizations and conducted a survey afterwards.
Findings
The new process improves the collaboration effectiveness and efficiency. The research also identifies the detailed relationships among influencing factors in the online collaboration process.
Originality/value
There is little research in the context of computer mediated youth organization collaboration. This research designs an online collaboration process for the effective and efficient collaboration of youth organizations and has it tested among representative youth organizations, providing practical instructions for digital youth organization collaboration in the context of global pandemic.
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Keywords
Abstract
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