IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/aak/wpaper/19-002.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Inequality Thresholds, Governance and Gender Economic Inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Simplice A. Asongu

    (Yaounde, Cameroon)

  • Nicholas M. Odhiambo

    (Pretoria, South Africa)

Abstract

Inequality and gender economic exclusion are major policy concerns facing sub-Saharan Africa in the post-2015 development agenda. This paper identifies ‘thresholds’ of inequality that should not be exceeded if governance is to promote gender economic participation. The research focuses on 42 countries in sub-Saharan Africa using annual data from 2004 to 2014. The empirical work utilises the Generalized Method of Moments. The following findings are established. First, inequality (i.e. the Gini coefficient) levels that completely nullify the positive effect of governance on female labour force participation are 0.708 for political stability, 0.601 for voice & accountability, 0.588 for government effectiveness, 0.631 for regulatory quality, 0.612 for the rule of law, and 0.550 for corruption-control. Second, inequality thresholds at which female unemployment can no longer be mitigated by governance channels include: 0.561 for political stability and 0.465 for the rule of law. Third, inequality levels that completely dampen the positive impact of governance on female employment are 0.608 for political stability, 0.580 for voice & accountability, 0.581 for government effectiveness, and 0.557 for the rule of law. As the main policy implication, for good governance to promote gender economic inclusion, inequality levels should not exceed such thresholds.

Suggested Citation

  • Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2019. "Inequality Thresholds, Governance and Gender Economic Inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers of The Association for Promoting Women in Research and Development in Africa (ASPROWORDA). 19/002, The Association for Promoting Women in Research and Development in Africa (ASPROWORDA).
  • Handle: RePEc:aak:wpaper:19/002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://publications.asproworda.org/RePEc/aak/aak-wpaper/Inequality-Thresholds-Governance-and-Gender-Economic-Inclusion-in-SSA-WP2019-02.pdf
    File Function: Revised version, 2019
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Asongu, Simplice A. & Nwachukwu, Jacinta C., 2018. "Educational quality thresholds in the diffusion of knowledge with mobile phones for inclusive human development in sub-Saharan Africa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 164-172.
    2. Simplice A. Asongu & Oasis Kodila†Tedika, 2017. "Is Poverty in the African DNA (Gene)?," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 85(4), pages 533-552, December.
    3. Antonio Andrés & Simplice Asongu & Voxi Amavilah, 2015. "The Impact of Formal Institutions on Knowledge Economy," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 6(4), pages 1034-1062, December.
    4. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2019. "How enhancing information and communication technology has affected inequality in Africa for sustainable development: An empirical investigation," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 647-656, July.
    5. Asongu, Simplice A. & Nwachukwu, Jacinta C., 2016. "The Mobile Phone in the Diffusion of Knowledge for Institutional Quality in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 133-147.
    6. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2019. "Environmental degradation and inclusive human development in sub‐Saharan Africa," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 25-34, January.
    7. Vanessa S. Tchamyou & Simplice A. Asongu, 2017. "Information Sharing and Financial Sector Development in Africa," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 24-49, January.
    8. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2017. "Foreign Aid and Inclusive Development: Updated Evidence from Africa, 2005–2012," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 98(1), pages 282-298, March.
    9. Asongu, Simplice A. & Nwachukwu, Jacinta C., 2016. "The role of governance in mobile phones for inclusive human development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 55, pages 1-13.
    10. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2018. "ICT, Financial Access and Gender Inclusion in the Formal Economic Sector: Evidence from Africa," The African Finance Journal, Africagrowth Institute, vol. 20(2), pages 45-65.
    11. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2019. "Basic formal education quality, information technology, and inclusive human development in sub‐Saharan Africa," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 419-428, May.
    12. Augustin Kwasi Fosu, 2010. "Inequality, Income, and Poverty: Comparative Global Evidence," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1432-1446, December.
    13. Simplice A. Asongu, 2018. "CO2 emission thresholds for inclusive human development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Research Africa Network Working Papers 18/023, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    14. Meniago, Christelle & Asongu, Simplice A., 2018. "Revisiting the finance-inequality nexus in a panel of African countries," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 399-419.
    15. Augustin Kwasi Fosu, 2010. "Inequality, Income, and Poverty: Comparative Global Evidence," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(s1), pages 1432-1446.
    16. K. Bello Ajide & Ibrahim Dolapo Raheem, 2016. "The Institutional Quality Impact on Remittances in the ECOWAS Sub†Region," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 28(4), pages 462-481, December.
    17. Fosu, Augustin Kwasi, 2010. "Does inequality constrain poverty reduction programs? Evidence from Africa," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 818-827, November.
    18. Boateng, Agyenim & Asongu, Simplice & Akamavi, Raphael & Tchamyou, Vanessa, 2018. "Information asymmetry and market power in the African banking industry," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 69-83.
    19. Fosu, Augustin Kwasi, 2017. "Growth, inequality, and poverty reduction in developing countries: Recent global evidence," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 306-336.
    20. Tchamyou, Vanessa S. & Erreygers, Guido & Cassimon, Danny, 2019. "Inequality, ICT and financial access in Africa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 169-184.
    21. Simplice A. Asongu & Oasis Kodila-Tedika, 2018. "Institutions and Poverty: A Critical Comment Based on Evolving Currents and Debates," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 139(1), pages 99-117, August.
    22. Augustin Kwasi Fosu, 2010. "Income Distribution and Growth's Ability to Reduce Poverty: Evidence from Rural and Urban African Economies," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2010-092, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    23. David Roodman, 2009. "How to do xtabond2: An introduction to difference and system GMM in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 9(1), pages 86-136, March.
    24. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2016. "Foreign aid and governance in Africa," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 69-88, January.
    25. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu & Chris Pyke, 2019. "The Comparative Economics of ICT, Environmental Degradation and Inclusive Human Development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(3), pages 1271-1297, June.
    26. Simplice A Asongu & Lieven De Moor, 2017. "Financial Globalisation Dynamic Thresholds for Financial Development: Evidence from Africa," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(1), pages 192-212, January.
    27. Uchenna R. Efobi & Belmondo V. Tanankem & Simplice A. Asongu, 2018. "Female Economic Participation with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Advancement: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Research Africa Network Working Papers 18/005, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    28. Vanessa Simen Tchamyou, 2017. "The Role of Knowledge Economy in African Business," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 8(4), pages 1189-1228, December.
    29. Uchenna R. Efobi & Belmondo V. Tanankem & Simplice A. Asongu, 2018. "Female Economic Participation with Information and Communication Technology Advancement: Evidence from Sub‐Saharan Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 86(2), pages 231-246, June.
    30. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 2003. "Law and finance: why does legal origin matter?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 653-675, December.
    31. Augustin Kwasi Fosu, 2008. "Inequality and the growth-poverty nexus: specification empirics using African data," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(7), pages 563-566.
    32. Simplice Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2016. "Mobile Phones in the Diffusion of Knowledge and Persistence in Inclusive Human Development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 16/009, African Governance and Development Institute..
    33. Joseph I. Uduji & Elda N. Okolo-Obasi, 2018. "Young Rural Women Participation in the E-Wallet Programme and Usage Intensity of Modern Agricultural Inputs in Nigeria," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 18/062, African Governance and Development Institute..
    34. Simplice A. Asongu & Sara le Roux & Jacinta Nwachukwu & Chris Pyke, 2018. "The Mobile Phone as an Argument for Good Governance in sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers 2 4004, Office Of The Chief Economist, Development Bank of Nigeria.
    35. Narayan, Paresh Kumar & Mishra, Sagarika & Narayan, Seema, 2011. "Do market capitalization and stocks traded converge? New global evidence," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 2771-2781, October.
    36. Juliet Elu, 2018. "Gender and Science Education in Sub-Saharan Africa - Keynote address at the African Development Bank/African Finance and Economic Association Luncheon, Chicago, January 7, 2017," Journal of African Development, African Finance and Economic Association (AFEA), vol. 20(2), pages 105-110.
    37. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2016. "Revolution empirics: predicting the Arab Spring," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 439-482, September.
    38. K. Bello Ajide & Ibrahim Dolapo Raheem, 2016. "Institutions-FDI Nexus in ECOWAS Countries," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 319-341, September.
    39. Uchenna Efobi, 2015. "Politicians’ Attributes and Institutional Quality in Africa: A Focus on Corruption," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(3), pages 787-813, July.
    40. Simplice Asongu & Oasis Kodila-Tedika, 2016. "Fighting African conflicts and crimes: which governance tools matter?," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 43(5), pages 466-485, May.
    41. Stephen Oluwatobi & Uchenna Efobi & Isaiah Olurinola & Philip Alege, 2015. "Innovation in Africa: Why Institutions Matter," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 83(3), pages 390-410, September.
    42. Vanessa S. Tchamyou, 2019. "The Role of Information Sharing in Modulating the Effect of Financial Access on Inequality," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 317-338, July.
    43. Zorobabel Bicabaa & Zuzana Brixiová & Mthuli Ncube, 2017. "Can Extreme Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa be Eliminated by 2030?," Journal of African Development, African Finance and Economic Association (AFEA), vol. 19(2), pages 93-110.
    44. Amanda Ellis & Mark Blackden & Josephine Cutura & Fiona MacCulloch & Holger Seebens, 2007. "Gender and Economic Growth in Tanzania : Creating Opportunities for Women," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6829, December.
    45. Augustin Kwasi Fosu, 2010. "Inequality, Income, and Poverty: Comparative Global Evidence," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1432-1446, December.
    46. Asongu, Simplice A & Odhiambo, Nicholas M, 2019. "Inequality and the economic participation of women in Sub-Saharan Africa: An empirical investigation," Working Papers 25483, University of South Africa, Department of Economics.
    47. Augustin Kwasi Fosu & Abdul Fatawu Abass, 2019. "Domestic Credit and Export Diversification: Africa from a Global Perspective," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(2), pages 160-179, April.
    48. Mauro Costantini & Claudio Lupi, 2005. "Stochastic convergence among European economies," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 3(38), pages 1-17.
    49. Asongu, Simplice A. & Biekpe, Nicholas, 2018. "ICT, information asymmetry and market power in African banking industry," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 518-531.
    50. Fosu, Augustin Kwasi, 2017. "Growth, inequality, and poverty reduction in developing countries: Recent global evidence," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 306-336.
    51. Theriault, Veronique & Smale, Melinda & Haider, Hamza, 2017. "How Does Gender Affect Sustainable Intensification of Cereal Production in the West African Sahel? Evidence from Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 177-191.
    52. Augustin Kwasi Fosu, 2010. "The Effect of Income Distribution on the Ability of Growth to Reduce Poverty: Evidence from Rural and Urban African Economies," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(3), pages 1034-1053, July.
    53. Bruno, Giuseppe & De Bonis, Riccardo & Silvestrini, Andrea, 2012. "Do financial systems converge? New evidence from financial assets in OECD countries," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 141-155.
    54. Augustin Kwasi Fosu, 2015. "Growth, Inequality and Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: Recent Progress in a Global Context," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(1), pages 44-59, March.
    55. Theresa Mannah-Blankson, 2018. "Gender Inequality and Access to Microfinance: Evidence from Ghana," Journal of African Development, African Finance and Economic Association (AFEA), vol. 20(2), pages 21-33.
    56. George Okello Candiya Bongomin & Joseph M Ntayi & John C. Munene & Charles Akol Malinga, 2018. "Mobile Money and Financial Inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa: the Moderating Role of Social Networks," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 361-384, July.
    57. Augustin Kwasi Fosu, 2009. "Inequality and the Impact of Growth on Poverty: Comparative Evidence for Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(5), pages 726-745.
    58. David Roodman, 2009. "A Note on the Theme of Too Many Instruments," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 71(1), pages 135-158, February.
    59. Fosu, Augustin K., 2010. "Income Distribution and Growth’s Ability to Reduce Poverty: Evidence from Rural and Urban African Economies," WIDER Working Paper Series 092, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    60. Nihal Bayraktar & Hippolyte Fofack, 2018. "A Model for Gender Analysis with Informal Production and Financial Sectors," Journal of African Development, African Finance and Economic Association (AFEA), vol. 20(2), pages 1-20.
    61. Terrence Kairiza & Philemon Kiprono & Vengesai Magadzire, 2017. "Gender differences in financial inclusion amongst entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 259-272, January.
    62. Evans Stephen Osabuohien & Uchenna Rapuluchukwu Efobi, 2013. "Africa's Money in Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 81(2), pages 292-306, June.
    63. Joseph I. Uduji & Elda N. Okolo-Obasi, 2018. "Young Rural Women Participation in the E-Wallet Programme and Usage Intensity of Modern Agricultural Inputs in Nigeria," Research Africa Network Working Papers 18/061, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Asongu, Simplice A. & Odhiambo, Nicholas M., 2020. "Inequality and gender inclusion: Minimum ICT policy thresholds for promoting female employment in Sub-Saharan Africa," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(4).
    2. Asongu, Simplice A. & Orim, Stella-Maris I. & Nting, Rexon T., 2019. "Inequality, information technology and inclusive education in sub-Saharan Africa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 380-389.
    3. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2021. "The role of inclusive education in governance for inclusive economic participation: gender evidence from sub-Saharan Africa," Research Africa Network Working Papers 21/097, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    4. Simplice A. Asongu & Samba Diop & Amsalu K. Addis, 2023. "Governance, Inequality and Inclusive Education in Sub-Saharan Africa," Forum for Social Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(1), pages 43-68, January.
    5. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2020. "How enhancing gender inclusion affects inequality: Thresholds of complementary policies for sustainable development," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 132-142, January.
    6. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2019. "Inequality and the Economic Participation of Women in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Empirical Investigation," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 19/027, African Governance and Development Institute..
    7. Asongu, Simplice A. & Nnanna, Joseph & Acha-Anyi, Paul N., 2020. "Finance, inequality and inclusive education in Sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 162-177.
    8. Asongu, Simplice A. & Nnanna, Joseph & Acha-Anyi, Paul N., 2020. "Inequality and gender economic inclusion: The moderating role of financial access in Sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 173-185.
    9. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2020. "Finance, governance and inclusive education in Sub-Saharan Africa," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 17(8), pages 1044-1061, July.
    10. Simplice Asongu & Nicholas Odhiambo, 2020. "Thresholds of income inequality that mitigate the role of gender inclusive education in promoting gender economic inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 17(1), pages 106-126, January.
    11. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2021. "Income Levels, Governance and Inclusive Human Development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(1), pages 71-103, February.
    12. Asongu, Simplice A & Odhiambo, Nicholas M, 2019. "Governance,CO2 emissions and inclusive human development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers 25253, University of South Africa, Department of Economics.
    13. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2022. "Enhancing ICT for Female Economic Participation in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers of The Association for Promoting Women in Research and Development in Africa (ASPROWORDA). 22/002, The Association for Promoting Women in Research and Development in Africa (ASPROWORDA).
    14. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2019. "How enhancing information and communication technology has affected inequality in Africa for sustainable development: An empirical investigation," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 647-656, July.
    15. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2018. "ICT, Financial Access and Gender Inclusion in the Formal Economic Sector: Evidence from Africa," The African Finance Journal, Africagrowth Institute, vol. 20(2), pages 45-65.
    16. Simplice Asongu & Joseph Nnanna & Paul Acha-Anyi, 2019. "Information technology, governance and insurance in Sub-Saharan Africa," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 16(8), pages 1253-1273, September.
    17. Asongu, Simplice & Odhiambo, Nicholas, 2020. "The role of Globalization in Modulating the Effect of Environmental Degradation on Inclusive Human Development," MPRA Paper 103143, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Simplice A. Asongu & Joseph Nnanna & Paul N. Acha-Anyi, 2020. "Inclusive Education for Inclusive Economic Participation: the Financial Access Channel," Research Africa Network Working Papers 20/019, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    19. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2019. "Inclusive development in environmental sustainability in sub‐Saharan Africa: Insights from governance mechanisms," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 713-724, July.
    20. Asongu, Simplice A. & Adegboye, Alex & Nnanna, Joseph, 2021. "Promoting female economic inclusion for tax performance in Sub-Saharan Africa," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 159-170.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Africa; Gender; Inequality; Inclusive development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

    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:aak:wpaper:19/002. 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: SIMEN TCHAMYOU Vanessa (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://asproworda.org .

    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.