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Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Business Regulations, Policies and Institutions

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  • Richard Adjei Dwumfour

    (University of Ghana Business School)

Abstract

The study investigates the impact of business regulations, policies and institutions on welfare in Sub-Saharan Africa. The HDI and GDP per capita are used as measures of welfare or poverty. The World Bank doing business indicators are used as business regulatory measures and the Country Policy and Institutional Assessment are also used as policies and institutional quality measures. The study employs systems GMM estimation technique in examining these relationships. The results show improved welfare in SSA countries to be associated with less burdensome regulations on starting business. The results reveal that merely pursing regulations in respect of business operations and closure such as those related to getting electricity, protecting minority interest, paying taxes and resolving insolvency as a strategy to improve welfare directly does not work unless done within a milieu of sound policies and institutions. There are however threshold values at which policy and institutional quality indexes can complement regulations to improve welfare. Following a formal sample-splitting, the study finds some differences in these relationships explained by the income status as well as the legal origin of the countries. Policy implications are well discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Adjei Dwumfour, 2020. "Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Business Regulations, Policies and Institutions," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(3), pages 861-890, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:149:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s11205-020-02277-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-020-02277-z
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    Cited by:

    1. Dwumfour, Richard Adjei & Pan, Lei & Harris, Mark N., 2023. "FDI and development redux: Is R&D a substitute for FDIs?," MPRA Paper 116117, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Elena Bárcena-Martín & Samuel Medina-Claros & Salvador Pérez-Moreno, 2021. "Economic Gender gap in the Global South: How Public Institutions Matter," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 459-483, December.
    3. Rafiou Raphaël Bétila, 2021. "The impact of Ease of Doing Business on economic growth: a dynamic panel analysis for African countries," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(10), pages 1-34, October.
    4. Davidmac O. Ekeocha & Jonathan E. Ogbuabor & Patterson C. Ekeocha & Anthony Orji, 2023. "Analysis of Sectoral Outcomes and Institutional Quality Nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Poverty; Welfare; Sub-Saharan Africa; Doing business; Policies; Institutions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • K15 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Civil Law; Common Law

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