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Examining the Robustness of Competing Explanations of Slow Growth in African Countries

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  • Ronelle Burger,
  • Stan du Plessis

Abstract

This research challenges previous findings regarding the robustness of the African growth dummy by expanding the list of variables to include those suggested by Easterly and Levine (1998) and Sachs and Warner (1997b). Using the Bayesian Averaging of Classical Estimates approach, this paper concludes that the African growth dummy does not appear to be robustly related to growth. This supports the interpretation that the presence of the African dummy in other studies results from misspecification. The paper also contributes to the debate on growth strategies for Africa by assessing the robustness of divergent perspectives offered in the recent literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Ronelle Burger, & Stan du Plessis, 2006. "Examining the Robustness of Competing Explanations of Slow Growth in African Countries," Discussion Papers 06/02, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
  • Handle: RePEc:not:notcre:06/02
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Jan Willem Gunning & Paul Collier, 1999. "Explaining African Economic Performance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 64-111, March.
    4. Barro, Robert J, 1996. "Democracy and Growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 1-27, March.
    5. David E. Bloom & Jeffrey D. Sachs, 1998. "Geography, Demography, and Economic Growth in Africa," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 29(2), pages 207-296.
    6. Easterly, William & Levine, Ross, 1998. "Troubles with the Neighbours: Africa's Problem, Africa's Opportunity," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 7(1), pages 120-142, March.
    7. Robert J. Barro, 1991. "Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 407-443.
    8. Easterly, William & Levine, Ross, 2003. "Tropics, germs, and crops: how endowments influence economic development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 3-39, January.
    9. David F. Hendry & Hans-Martin Krolzig, 2004. "We Ran One Regression," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 66(5), pages 799-810, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Martin Gustafsson, 2012. "More countries, similar results. A nonlinear programming approach to normalising test scores needed for growth regressions," Working Papers 12/2012, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    2. Mary Oluwatoyin AGBOOLA & Mehmet BALCILAR, 2014. "Can food availability influence economic growth - the case of African countries," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 60(5), pages 232-245.
    3. Charemza, Wojciech W. & Strachan, Rodney & Zurawski, Piotr, 2010. "False posteriors for the long-term growth determinants," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 144-146, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    growth; Africa; model specification; robustness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C11 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Bayesian Analysis: General
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

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