IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/rehdxx/v32y2017i2p177-209.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Moving Forward in Rural Ghana: Investing in Social and Human Capital Mitigates Historical Constraints

Author

Listed:
  • David Wuepper
  • Johannes Sauer

Abstract

There is now considerable evidence to suggest that historical events have had long-term impacts on economic outcomes in Africa. What is less widely studied is the potential for mitigating such impacts. We surveyed 400 pineapple farmers in Ghana and find that both the historical dependency on different crops and the impact of the trans-Atlantic slave trade predict income differences in 2013. However, not all farmers are affected equally by history. Using instrumental variables to identify causal effects, we find that human and social capital are pivotal for overcoming historically inherited constraints.

Suggested Citation

  • David Wuepper & Johannes Sauer, 2017. "Moving Forward in Rural Ghana: Investing in Social and Human Capital Mitigates Historical Constraints," Economic History of Developing Regions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 177-209, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rehdxx:v:32:y:2017:i:2:p:177-209
    DOI: 10.1080/20780389.2017.1330654
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/20780389.2017.1330654
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/20780389.2017.1330654?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chiara Cazzuffi & Alexander Moradi, 2010. "Why do cooperatives fail? Big versus small in Ghanaian Cocoa Producers' Societies, 1930-36," Working Paper Series 0110, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    2. Arne Bigsten & Paul Collier & Stefan Dercon & Marcel Fafchamps & Bernard Gauthier & Jan Willem Gunning & Jean Habarurema & Abena Oduro & Remco Oostendorp & Catherine Pattillo & Måns Söderbom & Francis, 2000. "Exports and firm-level efficiency in African manufacturing," CSAE Working Paper Series 2000-16, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    3. repec:fth:oxesaf:2000-16 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. David Wuepper & Hannes Lang & Emmanuel Benjamin, 2020. "Ancestral Ways of Life and Human Capital Formation in Kenya," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 18(4), pages 571-584, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rémi Jedwab & Alexandre Moradi, 2011. "Transportation Infrastructure and Development in Ghana," PSE Working Papers halshs-00607207, HAL.
    2. Carías Vega, Dora E. & Keenan, Rodney J., 2016. "Situating community forestry enterprises within New Institutional Economic theory: What are the implications for their organization?," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 1-13.
    3. Wuepper, David & Sauer, Johannes, 2016. "Explaining the performance of contract farming in Ghana: The role of self-efficacy and social capital," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 11-27.
    4. Vu, Hanh & Doan, Hung, 2016. "Vietnamese footwear export:The direction of trade and determinants of firms’ market penetration," MPRA Paper 75566, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Hanh Vu Thi, 2015. "Essays on the Export Performance of Vietnam/Essais sur la Performance à l'Exportation du Vietnam," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/216765, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    6. Joachim Wagner, 2016. "Exports and Productivity: A Survey of the Evidence from Firm Level Data," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Microeconometrics of International Trade, chapter 1, pages 3-41, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Saon Ray, 2014. "What Explains the Productivity Decline in Manufacturing in the Nineties in India?," Working Papers id:6280, eSocialSciences.
    8. Eslava, Marcela & Haltiwanger, John & Kugler, Adriana & Kugler, Maurice, 2004. "The effects of structural reforms on productivity and profitability enhancing reallocation: evidence from Colombia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 333-371, December.
    9. Alvarez, Roberto, 2007. "Explaining Export Success: Firm Characteristics and Spillover Effects," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 377-393, March.
    10. Fabian Unterlass, 2013. "The relationship between innovation, exports and economic performance. Empirical evidence for 21 EU countries," EcoMod2013 5655, EcoMod.
    11. Marcel Fafchamps & Mans Söderbom & Najy Benhassine, 2009. "Wage Gaps and Job Sorting in African Manufacturing," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 18(5), pages 824-868, November.
    12. James R. Tybout, 2000. "Manufacturing Firms in Developing Countries: How Well Do They Do, and Why?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(1), pages 11-44, March.
    13. L. ALAN WINTERS & NEIL McCULLOCH & ANDREW McKAY, 2015. "Trade Liberalization and Poverty: The Evidence So Far," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Non-Tariff Barriers, Regionalism and Poverty Essays in Applied International Trade Analysis, chapter 14, pages 271-314, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    14. Lundström, Susanna, 2003. "Effects of Economic Freedom on Growth and the Environment - Implications for Cross-Country Analysis," Working Papers in Economics 115, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    15. Néstor Gandelman & Verónica Alaimo & Marcelo Olarreaga & José Luis Guasch & Daniel Lederman & Carlos Casacuberta & Ana María Oviedo & J. Humberto López & Inessa Love & Guido Porto & Pablo Fajnzylber &, 2009. "Does the Investment Climate Matter?: Microeconomic Foundations of Growth in Latin America," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 60058 edited by José Luis Guasch & J. Humberto López & Pablo Fajnzylber, February.
    16. Taye Mengistae & Catherine Pattillo, 2004. "Export Orientation and Productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 51(2), pages 1-6.
    17. W.A. Naudéa & R. Oostendorp & P.A.E. Serumaga‐Zake, 2002. "South African Manufacturing In An African Context," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 70(8), pages 1247-1272, December.
    18. Takahiro FUKUNISHI, 2009. "Has Low Productivity Constrained The Competitiveness Of African Firms? A Comparison Of Kenyan And Bangladeshi Garment Firms," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 47(3), pages 307-339, September.
    19. World Bank, 2005. "The Cost of Doing Business in Africa : Evidence from the World Bank’s Investment Climate Data," World Bank Publications - Reports 8769, The World Bank Group.
    20. Lejour, Arjan & Rojas Romasgosa, Hugo & Rodriguez, Victor & Montalvo, Carvos & Van der Zee, Frans, 2009. "Trade costs, Openness and Productivity: Market Access at Home and Abroad," MPRA Paper 21214, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:rehdxx:v:32:y:2017:i:2:p:177-209. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/rehd20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.