Search results

This paper examines correlations of the underlying structural shocks and the degree of synchronization in the impulse responses of output, inflation and trade to a one standard deviation shock to non-oil commodities price index and exchange rates within the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) countries from 1990q1 to 2020q1.

This paper uses the structural vector autoregressive model to isolate the underlying structural shocks and compares them with the West African Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries.

Findings from the study suggest that correlations of underlying structural shocks are more profound in the WAEMU than in the WAMZ. Impulse responses of output to price and exchange rate shocks are more symmetric in the WAEMU than in the WAMZ. However, impulse responses of inflation to price and exchange rate shocks are symmetric in the WAMZ than in the WAEMU and responses of trade in both sub-groups are not uniform.

The paper concludes that the WAMZ does not constitute an Optimum Currency Area concerning the correlations of the structural shocks and output. However, it has achieved convergence in inflation and there are adequate adjustment mechanisms to shocks in the WAMZ than in the WAEMU. Therefore, the WAMZ may not suffer from joining the monetary union. Thus, economic Community of West African States may take steps to roll out the monetary union.

The paper examines correlations of the underlying structural shocks, impulse responses of output and inflation to shocks to commodities price and exchange rates in the WAMZ and compares them with the WAEMU.

This paper aims to assess the efficiency of public investment in West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries at both the global and sectoral level over the 2005–2015 period.

This paper estimates efficiency scores using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) models. Efficiency is divided into managerial efficiency (related to inputs management) and technological efficiency (related to production technology). A Tobit model is then used to investigate the determinants of public investment efficiency.

The findings suggest that, at the global level, WAEMU countries are less efficient than sub-Saharan African and Asian reference countries. However, the breakdown of global efficiency into managerial and technological reveals that WAEMU countries are more efficient than sub-Saharan African countries in terms of technological efficiency. Moreover, these findings are robust to nonparametric estimation. The assessment of financing sources indicates that external debt has a more positive and significant effect on public investment efficiency than internal debt does.

This paper is unique in that it disentangles managerial efficiency from the technological efficiency of public investment in WEAMU countries and highlights how financing sources of investment affect its efficiency. In terms of policy implications, the underlying message of the results is that the rules and conditions of domestic or regional debt in the WAEMU countries must be strengthened to ensure better monitoring and then better efficiency of these resources.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the relationship among fiscal variables (net lending, government expenditure and revenue) and economic growth in Sub-Saharan African countries.

Using yearly data for the period between 1980 and 2011 in 15 Economic Communities Of West African States (ECOWAS) countries, the relationship among fiscal variables, economic growth and trade is investigated, through various econometric techniques.

Government expenditure and revenue show pro-cyclical effects in West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and ECOWAS countries, while fiscal balance has a pro-cyclical nature for WAEMU during the years 1999-2011. Moreover, a weak long-run relationship between government expenditure and revenue emerge, but only in the case of West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) countries. Granger causality analysis showed mixed results for WAEMU countries, while for four out of six WAMZ countries (Gambia, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone) the “tax-and-spend” hypothesis holds, since government revenue would drive the expenditure. Finally, in the last three decades, cyclical component of economic growth has reduced its fluctuations, both for WAEMU and WAMZ member States.

This is the first study on the effects of fiscal policies in the ECOWAS countries.

The paper analyzes the response of agricultural value added to credit and real interest rate shocks in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and make a short-term comparative effect analysis of credit granted to the agricultural sector on agricultural value added among member countries.

First, in order to estimate impulse response functions (IRFs) and study shocks, a panel VAR model is used. Second the paper uses an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model with the associated error correction model to make a comparative analysis of the effect of agricultural credit on agricultural value added in the WAEMU.

Results shows that: (1) credit stimulates agricultural value added only in the medium and long term; (2) in the case of WAEMU, credit only becomes a means of lifting the constraint of capital underutilization after three years; (3) short-term credit granted to agriculture in WAEMU has a weak and differentiated effect on agricultural value added from one country to another.

It is imperative to implement a policy of lowering real short-term interest rates. Moreover, a monetary policy that favors direct financing of agriculture to the detriment of that oriented toward market financing is to be prioritized.

The originality of this paper is that it makes the link between macroeconomics and agriculture. It shows how the monetary instrument can be manipulated to improve the performance of agriculture. Actually, in WAEMU, the financing of agriculture is provided by the market. This paper proposes a new approach which is direct financing. The paper offers possibilities for the coordination of agricultural policies in the WAEMU.

This paper aims to assess the short- and long-run effects of the interaction between institutional quality and financial development (FD) on the competitiveness of the WAEMU economy over the period 2007–2018.

The methodology consisted of cross-referencing a synthetic indicator of FD with indicators of institutional quality and then estimating an auto regressive distributed lag model.

The results of the pooled mean group and dynamic fixed effect estimation show a positive and significant impact of this interaction on the competitiveness of the economy in the long run. In the short run, the results are quite similar to those in the long run for the direct effects but different for the crosses. Also, the analysis of country specificity shows that the results are similar to those in the short run since the interaction between FD and institutional quality (political stability and government effectiveness) negatively affects the competitiveness of Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Mali, and positively affects the competitiveness of Benin and Senegal.

These results suggest the need for effective policies to improve the quality of institutions to enhance the mobilization of financial resources through FD to ensure the competitiveness of economies. Improving the quality of the political and institutional environment is a prerequisite for economic competitiveness.

The paper is in line with the New Institutional Economics that developed in the 1970s. This referential framework is a heterogeneous body of work that encompasses works whose common point is the determination of the role of institutions in economic coordination. Unlike previous studies, which have focused on the contribution of the interaction between institutional quality variables and FD on economic growth, this paper analyzes the effects of this interaction on economic competitiveness. It, therefore, constitutes a contribution to this literature and aims primarily to fill this gap.

This article examines if the national productions of West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries can be substituted for the imports by testing MLRC in these countries.

The Mundell–Fleming model (MMF) is the analytical framework adopted in this paper with import demand and export supply functions estimation borrowed to Thirlwall (1979). This study covers four countries in West Africa from 1990 to 2021. The estimation procedure used is an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration.

The findings reveal that there is a strong marginal propensity to import in the WAEMU countries. The hypothesis of a non-significant price effect on imports in the short-term is confirmed for several countries while only Togo satisfies the MLRC in the short and long run.

This study presents several originalities: (1) it evaluates MLRC with a clear analytical framework; (2) unlike other studies, this article quantifies the MLRC from a theoretical, econometric and empirical point of view; (3) this article presents the results country by country in order to reveal heterogeneity between countries; (4) this study adds to the Marshall–Lerner condition for the derivation of Robinson by considering a situation where initially the trade balance is not in equilibrium.

This study aims to re‐examine the direction of causality between investment and saving in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

The study is empirical, testing for Granger causality between investment and saving as well as for other pertinent variables in the determination of the two variables of interest. It uses two methods: co‐integration and decomposition of variances on the one hand, and dynamic panel on the other.

The use of recent developments in the treatment and analysis of time series data and the inclusion of relevant variables omitted in prior studies help to shed more light on the contradictory results that exist so far. The empirical result is a proof that saving is a real constraint on investment in the financially moderate economies of the WAEMU.

The paper encourages own resource mobilisation for economic growth and development. Ideas generated in the study suggest that financial liberalization per se will not work unless enough flow of domestic savings exists in a country.

It is one of the recent attempts to investigate this issue within a group of African countries operating in an economic and monetary union. The strength of the paper is the use of various econometric methods to address the issue.

Post-harvest losses are major problems faced by farmers and this is due to their poor access to credit considered as a low rate of financial inclusion. This paper aims at analysing the relationship between financial inclusion and post-harvest losses in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

The study engaged data from the Food and Agriculture Organisation [FAO] for post-harvest losses. Also, it engaged data from Banque Centrale des Etats de l’Afrique de l’Ouest [BCEAO] for financial inclusion over the period 2000 to 2020. The study applied the Instrumental Variable Two-Stage Least Squares (IV-2SLS) and Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) to test the robustness of the results.

The results show that financial inclusion reduces post-harvest losses by 1.2%. Therefore, given this result, policies to improve farmers’ access to credit by increasing the rate of financial inclusion, is a necessary condition for the reduction of post-harvest losses.

Social implication of this study is that it contributes to the policy debate on the enhancement of food security by reducing post-harvest losses. The reduction in post-harvest losses and food security, will improve the welfare and livelihood of the society. This aims for the actualization of sustainable development goal of food and nutrition security (SDG-2).

The findings imply that efforts by governments and policymakers to improve farmers’ access to credit by increasing the rate of financial inclusion would reduce post-harvest losses in West African countries that are members of the WAEMU. Also, investment in education, ICT and building warehouse for farmers will help in reducing post-harvest losses. It implies that educated farmers have more opportunities to be financially inclusive than those who are not educated.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the presence of women in senior management and the performance of microfinance organizations in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

Using a data set of 266 microfinance institutions (MFIs) for the period 2013–2017, the study assesses the impact of women’s representation in senior management and on the boards of West African MFIs on these institutions’ financial and social performance.

The results indicate that board size and diversity positively and significantly affect the social performance of MFIs, particularly in relation to women’s participation in decision-making regarding expanding services to poor people. In essence, greater gender diversity at the board and management levels promotes the social orientation of MFIs.

The low representation of women on boards and as managers makes it difficult to more accurately determine the true impact of women in senior positions on MFIs performance.

The author recommends minimum quotas for women in the top management of MFIs. This would help these institutions incorporate key skills and actively involve all members. Also, regulation places constraints on the ability of West African MFIs to mobilize deposits and this negatively impacts their financial performance.

This investigation highlights the importance of including women in the top management of MFIs to improve these institutions’ performance. It also underscores an interesting problem and answers questions raised in the existing literature by either rejecting or confirming the findings. As players in the microfinance sector recognize that board diversity is important for the success of any microfinance institution, this paper helps shed light on the situation of these organizations in the WAEMU.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-06-2019-0365