In this paper, we argue that the answer to the question of whether the impact of corruption on development is homogenous, is no. Our optimism rest on how development may be conceptualised. When equated to a narrow measure in economic‐wise which fundamentally ignores critical issues, then there is a possibility the outlook could be positive. But when conceptualised using a broad‐based approach such as sustainable development, then the outlook could be negative. We assess a panel of 22 economies in Sub‐Sahara Africa with the most recent dataset (1996–2013) from the World Bank and other reputable agencies. Our finding is quite robust. It holds in pooled OLS, Fixed effects and GMM within IV settings; and it also holds for different measures of institutions and different measures of development using growth per capita GDP and genuine wealth per capita, respectively. Taking stock of major policy blue‐prints of selected countries in the region on the fight against corruption, we are able to point out that institutions play important role in insulating citizens against the devastation caused by corruption. Overall, through this comparison, we are able to signal that both incidental and systematic corruption poses a long‐term threat to sustainable development.
In this paper, we examine the causal relationship between aid inflows and economic growth for Ghana during the period from 1970-2013, taking into account structural breaks. To better reflect causality, corruption and trade are included as control variables. To test for causality in the face of cointegration, a vector error correction model (VECM) is used in place of a vector autoregressive (VAR) model. This approach is complemented with Toda and Yamamoto's method to indicate the causal direction. Our estimation results suggest GDP growth has one cointegrating vector relationship with corruption, EU aid inflows and trade in both the short and long runs. There is a long-run unidirectional causal relationship from EU aid inflows to GDP growth and a short-run unidirectional causal relationship from trade to GDP growth. Corruption (which is a governance issue) was ineffective in inducing GDP growth. The error correction terms are the source of causation in the long run. The results indeed confirm the popular conjecture that corruption in Ghana is endemic and stifles development. Therefore, the decision by the government to launch a national anti-corruption campaign in 2011, though long overdue, was justifiable. We urge all stakeholders to work together to deepen good governance to promote sustainable growth and serve as inducement for continued aid inflows from multilateral donors to sustain efforts at achieving the national development thrust of poverty reduction and sustainable development in Ghana. 1 Introduction Corruption as a social issue is widespread and continues to dominate many discussions in academic and policy circles due to its devastating effects on development. The subject has also been revisited in recent years following the massive looting reported by the European Union anti-corruption watchdog. The agency reveals that corruption alone costs the EU over EUR 120 billion per year, which is just less than the EU's annual budget (European Commission, 2014
The paper examines the effect of governance and health expenditure on infant mortality with a panel data of 32 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries from 2000 to 2015. Having accounted for potential endogeneity issues related to maternal choices that are made due to contemporaneous infant mortality, the evidence from system generalized method of moment reveals that health expenditure and governance shows no direct influence on infant mortality. However, the coefficient of the interaction between government effectiveness and health expenditure is significant and shows a negative relationship with infant mortality, implying that the effectiveness of health expenditure may be explained by the administrative capacity of countries in SSA. To validate our model, the result from the sensitivity analysis reveals that health expenditure and its interaction with government effectiveness and political stability/ absence of violence exert a reducing effect on the under-five mortality rate. Therefore, since governance quality is lower in SSA compared to other regions, we recommend that governance should be improved consistently in order to achieve health-related outcomes. The findings further signal the urgent need to formulate policies that directly redress health conditions, rather than through indirect instruments. This focus is critical for the advancement of sustainable development goal 3 in SSA. 1 | INTRODUCTION Sustainable development goal (SDG) 16 places emphasis on "peace, justice, and strong institutions" as essential for the achievement of other SDG goals. The world leaders have embraced the idea that the achievement of the post-2015 development agenda will be illusionary without sustained peace, stability, protection of human rights, and effective governance (World Bank, 2015). The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) represents an initiative by African leaders to place the continent on the path of sustainable development with strong commitment to good governance, and the consolidation of peace, security, and stability (Herbert & Gruzd, 2008). This is underpinned by the view that the negative effect of ineffective governance in terms of loss of human lives is unthinkable (Joshi, Hughes, & Sisk, 2015, p. 1). Yet, it is still a contested issue in the literature on the type of institutions or governance system required for sustained and inclusive development in the post-2015 African development agenda (Fosu, 2015, p. 114). Despite the abundant natural resources that can be used to advance human development and quality of life, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains the region with the worst human capital foundations
This study explores the causes of corruption in 22 countries in sub-Saharan Africa from 1996 to 2013. The sources of corruption are grouped into three main thematic areas – historical roots, contemporary causes and institutional causes to make way for subjective and objective measures. The subjective measures allow for assessment of the effectiveness of anticorruption policies. Using pooled OLS, fixed-effect and instrumental-variable approaches, and focusing on the perceived level of corruption as the dependent variable, we find that ethnic diversity, resource abundance and educational attainment are markedly less associated with corruption. In contrast, wage levels of bureaucrats and anticorruption measures based on government effectiveness and regulatory quality breed substantial corruption. Press freedom is found to be variedly associated with corruption. On the basis of these findings, we recommend that the fight against corruption on the continent needs to be reinvented through qualitative and assertive institutional reforms. Anticorruption policy decisions should focus on existing educational systems as a conduit for intensifying awareness of the devastating effect of corruption on sustainable national development.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.