The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) offers a significant opportunity for Ghanaian women and youth entrepreneurs by broadening market access, improving economic involvement, and promoting regional value chains. Women and youth constitute a substantial segment of Ghana's entrepreneurial ecosystem; yet, institutional impediments—such as elevated tariffs, non-tariff barriers, insufficient access to trade finance, and restricted regulatory compliance—persistently hinder their comprehensive involvement in cross-border commerce. This paper examines how the AfCFTA can act as a catalyst for tackling these difficulties, providing possible benefits in export expansion, job creation, and poverty alleviation.The results suggest that AfCFTA may elevate Ghana's exports by 21% by 2035, while intra-African trade is anticipated to expand by 94%. Women-led enterprises are projected to have a 10.5% gain in salaries, surpassing the 9.9% growth anticipated for men. Women are projected to benefit from approximately 57,000 new jobs, and wage gains for both unskilled labor and women are expected to be driven largely by expanded opportunities in agriculture. Additionally, AfCFTA is projected to reduce iceberg trade costs and customs processing times in Ghana by 4.3%, enhancing trade efficiency and competitiveness. The Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade promotes gender-sensitive trade policies, facilitating enhanced inclusion in value chains and the formalization of informal trade. The efficacy of these initiatives relies on intentional policy measures, such as enhanced market information, trade facilitation, and financial inclusion strategies specifically designed for women and youth.This study contends that although AfCFTA known to have large positive effects on trade creation between member countries, Ghana must provide women and youth Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with effective ways for easier utilization of the agreement by confronting challenges like insufficient gender-disaggregated trade data, Non-Tariff Barriers, feeble trade associations, and deficient trade infrastructure. Recommendations encompass bolstering the support mechanisms of the National AfCFTA Coordination Office, reducing administrative costs, streamlining customs procedures, and improving financing access for firms run by women and youth. Through the implementation of targeted policies and capacity-building activities, Ghana can optimize the AfCFTA's potential to foster inclusive economic growth and empower women and youth entrepreneurs in regional commerce.
This study investigates cost dynamics of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) engaged in joint production of rural and urban loans. Employing a translog cost function, the paper examines economies of scale, cost complementarities, and elasticities of substitution using three MFI categories: those offering both deposits and loans (Dep-MFIs), those offering only loans (Non Dep-MFIs), and the aggregate sample. The analysis utilizes data from 2008 to 2015, sourced from over 1,000 MFIs worldwide. Results indicate increasing economies of scale for all MFI categories, with Dep-MFIs demonstrating the most significant cost reductions over time. Urban loans are generally more expensive to produce for Non-Dep-MFIs, while rural loans remain costlier for Dep-MFIs and the aggregate sample. Despite positive but minimal cost complementarities, approximately one-fifth of Dep-MFIs experience negative cost complementarities, suggesting potential learning effects. These findings contribute to the literature on financial inclusion by offering empirical insights into cost efficiencies and production dynamics within MFIs.
This paper tests whether changes in the accumulated stocks of gross FDI and net FDI (after subtracting net payments of profits and interest) have a positive or negative effect on Mexican economic growth over the 1970-2020 period. The novelty of the paper resides in the fact that it is one of the few in the extant literature to examine the effect of changes in the stock of net FDI on economic growth as opposed to changes in the stock of gross FDI. The focus on Mexico is based on the availability of time series data for a sufficiently long period of time (51 years) and on its strategic economic and geopolitical importance to the United States stemming from its membership in the USMCA. The first section examines the relevant literature and motivates the discussion of the economic importance of reverse flows in the Mexican case. This is followed by a presentation of the conceptual model and its empirical counterpart. The fourth section presents the results for an error correction model during the 1970-2020 period along with actual and in-sample (historical) forecasts generated by the model. Tests for reverse “causality” or precedence are undertaken via the VECM Granger Causality/Block Exogeneity test and they suggest that FDI flows lead economic growth rather than the reverse. The last section is the conclusion.
The capacity of a country to collect taxes can significantly impact its economic development, regardless of its economic system and social-political order. Governments carefully consider the amount of tax revenue they need to collect when determining their short- and medium-term fiscal policy goals. This paper's goal is to examine the problem of estimating Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) tax capacity and to present evidence of the elements that impact tax capacities based on the opinions of tax practitioners in this area through gender analysis. The sample in this study used a simple random sampling method. The results of the research are the formulation of some conclusions regarding the tax capacity and specific factors of social benefits and security regulation and regulation of the shadow economy, therefore, it is necessary to change them in many aspects. In order to determine which factors have the biggest impact on tax capacity, the article uses both theoretical and empirical analyses. The empirical analysis uses a chi-square proportion test.
Food cost is a fundamental factor in reducing world hunger and minimizing the food insecurity problem. Agricultural commodities prices, especially grains, are determinants of food costs. Therefore, studying the behavior of commodity prices responsible for food security on the planet is essential for economic agents, especially for macroeconomic policy decision-makers. Food production and prices are related to energy prices, mainly through biofuels and fertilizers. Among energy sources, crude oil is one of the main ones in the world's energy matrix. Many studies on crude oil and food prices have been carried out relating energy and food or, more specifically, crude oil and agricultural commodity prices. This work examines the dynamic relationship between oil and grain commodity prices: rice, wheat, corn and soybeans. It also verifies the causality and cointegration between each grain and crude oil price return. Besides that, Autoregressive vector models were estimated to infer the impulse response function and the variance decomposition. The sample period corresponds to the interval between the two biggest crises of the century, the subprime financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic sanitary crisis. Thus, the data is not impacted by significant abnormal variations caused by these crises. The inferences show an interaction between crude oil prices practiced in the international market and food commodity prices.
