The Oxford Handbook of Africa and Economics: Volume 1: Context and Concepts

by C?lestin Monga (Editor), Justin Yifu Lin (Editor)

Overview

For a long time, economic research on Africa was not seen as a profitable venture intellectually or professionally-few researchers in top-ranked institutions around the world chose to become experts in the field. This was understandable: the reputation of Africa-centered economic research was not enhanced by the well-known limitations of economic data across the continent. Moreover, development economics itself was not always fashionable, and the broader discipline of economics has had its ups and downs, and has been undergoing a major identity crisis because it failed to predict the Great Recession. Times have changed: many leading researchers-including a few Nobel laureates-have taken the subject of Africa and economics seriously enough to devote their expertise and creativity to it. They have been amply rewarded: the richness, complexities, and subtleties of African societies, civilizations, rationalities, and ways of living, have helped renew the humanities and the social sciences-and economics in particular-to the point that the continent has become the next major intellectual frontier to researchers from around the world. In collecting some of the most authoritative statements about the science of economics and its concepts in the African context, this ^lhandbook (the first of two volumes) opens up the diverse acuity of commentary on exciting topics, and in the process challenges and stimulates the quest for knowledge. Wide-ranging in its scope, themes, language, and approaches, this volume explores, examines, and assesses economic thinking on Africa, and Africa's contribution to the discipline. The editors bring a set of powerful resources to this endeavor, most notably a team of internationally-renowned economists whose diverse viewpoints are complemented by the perspectives of philosophers, political scientists, and anthropologists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191510762
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	07/02/2015
Series:	Oxford Handbooks
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	608
File size:	23 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

C?lestin Monga is Vice-President and Chief Economist of the African Development Bank Group. He previously served as Managing Director at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and Senior Economic Adviser-Director at the World Bank. He is also a Visiting Professor of Economics at the University of Paris 1 Panth?on-Sorbonne and Peking University. Dr. Monga has published extensively on various dimensions of economic and political development. His books have been translated into several languages and are widely used as teaching tools in academic institutions around the world. His most recent works include Beating the Odds: Jump-Starting Developing Countries (Princeton University Press, 2017), with Justin Yifu Lin; and Nihilism and Negritude: Ways of Living in Africa (Harvard University Press, 2016). Dr. Monga holds graduate degrees from MIT, Harvard University, the Universities of Paris and Pau. Justin Yifu Lin is Councillor of the State Council and Professor and Honorary Dean of the National School of Development at Peking University. He was the Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank, 2008-2012. Prior to this, Professor Lin served for 15 years as Founding Director and Professor of the China Centre for Economic Research (CCER) at Peking University. He is a member of the Standing Committee, Chinese People's Political Consultation Conference, and Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce. He is a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy and a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences for Developing World.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Africa, the Next Intellectual Frontier, Celestin Monga and Justin Yifu Lin
Part I: Concepts
1. Economics as an African Science: An Epistemological Analysis, Fabien Eboussi Boulaga
2. Households and Income in Africa, Kathleen Beegle, Gero Carletto, Alberto Zezza, and Benjamin Davis
3. Transformation of African Farm-cum-Family Structures, Catherine Guirkinger and Jean-Philippe Platteau
4. The Economics of Marriage in North Africa: A Unifying Theoretical Framework, Ragui Assaad and Caroline Krafft
5. The Theory of the Firm in the African Context, Christopher Malikane
6. Markets and Urban Provisioning, Jane Guyer
7. Development as Diffusion: Manufacturing Productivity and Africa's Missing Middle, Alan Gelb, Christian Meyer, and Vijaya Ramachandran
8. Employment, Unemployment, and Underemployment in Africa, Stephen Golub and Faraz Hayat
9. Inclusive Growth in Africa, Mthuli Ncube
10. Poverty: Shifting Fortunes and New Perspectives, Abebe Shimeles
11. Dimensions of African Inequality, Arne Bigsten
12. Inclusive Growth and Developmental Governance: The Next African Frontiers, Richard Joseph
13. Economics and the Study of Corruption in Africa, Melissa Thomas
14. Thoughts on Development: The African Experience, Francois Bourguignon
15. The Idea of Economic Development: Views from Africa, Hippolyte Fofack
Part II: Methodological Issues
16. Principles of Economics: African Challenges, Celestin Monga
17. Economics and Culture in the African Context, Felwine Sarr
18. The Economics of Non-Cognitive Skills, Laura Camfield
19. Modeling African Economies: A DSGE Approach, Andrew Berg, Shu-Chun S. Yang, and Luis-Felipe Zanna
20. Measuring Economic Progress in the African Context, Morten Jerven
21. Measuring Structural Economic Vulnerability in Africa, Patrick Guillaumont
22. Measuring Democracy: An Economic Approach, Celestin Monga
23. Measurement and Analysis of Competitiveness, Julius Agbor and Olumide Taiwo
Part III: Historical Trajectories and Economic Landscape
24. Africa's New Economic Opportunities, Paul Collier
25. Tigers or Tiger Prawns? The African growth 'tragedy' and 'renaissance' in perspective, Ha-Joon Chang and Christopher Cramer
26. The Economic Legacies of the African Slave Trades, Warren Whatley
27. The Economics of Colonialism in Africa, Gareth Austin
28. The Public Private Interface, Olu Ajakaije and Afeikhena Jerome
29. Natural Resources: Precious Boon or Precious Ban?, Ibrahim Elbadawi and Nadir Mohammed
30. Volatility and Vulnerability, Xubei Luo
31. Africa's Urbanization: Challenges and Opportunities, Danny Leipziger, Maria Emila Freire, and Somik Lall
32. Environmental and Climate Change Issues in Africa, Tomonori Sudo
33. Informality, Growth and Development in Africa, Ahmadou Aly Mbaye and Nancy Benjamin
34. Capitalism and African Business Cultures, Scott D. Taylor
35. African Monetary Unions: An Obituary, Celestin Monga
Part IV: The Economics of Political Transformation
36. The Impact of Democracy on Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1982-2012, Takaaki Masaki and Nicolas Van de Walle
37. The Economics of Authoritarianism in North Africa, Tarik Yousef, Raj M. Desai, and Anders Olofsgard
38. The Potential Economic Dividends of North African Revolutions, Mustapha Nabli and Hakim Ben Hammouda
39. The Economics of Violent Conflict and War in Africa, Anke Hoeffler
40. The Causes and Consequences of Terrorism in Africa, Juliet Elu and Gregory Price
41. The Political Economy of the New Arab Awakening, Mustapha Nabli and Hakim Ben Hammouda
42. Democratic Decentralization and Economic Development, Roger Myerson
43. The Economics of Happiness and Anger in North Africa, Nadareh Chamlou