Purpose In Ghana, legal and illegal artisanal small-scale mining (ASM) activities have attracted the attention of the general populace and academia with varied opinions. This study examined how adopting the coping strategies for ASM operations affected the welfare of farm households. Design/methodology/approach Primary data were solicited from respondents using a semi-structured questionnaire. This paper used the endogenous treatment effect model to quantitatively estimate whether or not farmers who adopt coping strategies for activities of ASM have improved or deteriorated welfare. Findings The results revealed that households adopted coping strategies such as diversification, social networking, land reclamation, borrowing, dependence on the market for food and resettlement in other communities. The endogenous treatment effect model results show that households that adopted land reclamation and social networking had improved welfare regarding consumption expenditure and food security compared to non-adopters. Conversely, diversification was associated with lower consumption expenditures and high food insecurity among adopters. Practical implications This paper recommends that farm households in mining communities form cooperatives and farmer-based organizations to ensure improved access to joint resources for enhanced capacity to cope with ASM-induced shocks. There is a need for government and civil society organizations to encourage and support land reclamation measures. Originality/value This paper covers a broader perspective and deploys more than one welfare proxy, which has not been considered before in previous studies.
Purpose This research examines how shadow economy affects foreign direct investment (FDI). Design/methodology/approach The study utilizes a panel dataset including 124 nations between 1997 and 2015. Information on shadow economy, FDI and macro-economic characteristics is obtained from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and World Bank database. Various econometric methods are employed, such as the panel ordinary least squares (OLS) with fixed-effect estimator and the two-step system generalized method of moments estimation. Findings The findings of the study illustrate that shadow economy negatively influences total FDI inflows, and this adverse impact is mainly driven by greenfield investments – a component of FDI. Moreover, the authors provide evidence that the shadow economy has more devastating influences on FDI inflows in countries with higher corruption levels and fewer land resources. Practical implications Overall, this research suggests an important policy implication that the shadow economy should be controlled more strictly since it harms the FDI inflows, especially greenfield investment. Originality/value This research is among the first attempt of evaluating the effect of shadow economy on different FDI types. Furthermore, it examines how the shadow economy–FDI inflows nexus is changed when considering factors including corruption and land resource.
Purpose This study empirically examines the impact of rural roads on consumption of households in Ethiopia. Design/methodology/approach Both descriptive statistics and econometric techniques are used to address the aforementioned objective. Specifically, quantile regression, fixed- and random-effect models are used to understand the impact of rural road quality on welfare. Findings The econometric analysis revealed that improving the quality of rural roads and/or creating access to all-weather roads raises households' average real consumption per capita by as much as 10%. The other transport indicator – mode of transport – also has a positive effect on real consumption per capita. The result indicated that real consumption per capita for households using the traditional mode of transport would increase by as much as 7% compared to those using foot as a major mode of transport. However, the fixed quantile estimation result revealed that rural road access has a positive and significant effect on consumption per capita only for the 0.8th and 0.9th percentiles, indicating that the access to roads is not pro-poor. Research limitations/implications Improving rural roads to a level of all-weather road standards and provision of agricultural transport facilities should be strategic priorities. Originality/value This study provides empirical evidence pertinent to the effect rural mobility has on the consumption of households as well as the pro-poorness of such investments in rural settings.
Purpose The study investigates the effect of political instability and employee tenure security on the performance of firms in middle-income economies (MIEs) after controlling for the influence of corruption, international quality certification, external auditor services and firm age. It examines whether ownership and sector effects matter in the explored relationships. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts the generalized method of moments estimator and collects firm-level cross-sectional data from 77 MIEs. Findings The evidence shows that political uncertainty, employee tenure security and firm age negatively impact firm performance. Also, external quality assurance mainly improves firm performance. Additionally, foreign-owned firms benefit from corruption more than their domestic counterparts. Moreover, there are ownership and sector effects in the firm performance drivers. Practical implications The findings suggest the need for MIE firm managers to implement policies and programs to improve permanent employees' efficiency, commitment and honesty. Policy makers and political actors must work toward a stable political environment in MIEs. The policy must also focus on at least minimizing corruption. Originality/value The study shows the contributions of employee tenure security, political instability and corruption to the performance of MIE firms. It documents sector and ownership effects in the factors influencing firm performance.
