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Business and Economics > Investments: Stocks

You are looking at 1 - 9 of 9 items for :

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Cover IMF Working Papers
The Determinants of Commercial Bank Profitability in Sub-Saharan Africa
Valentina Flamini
,
Miss Liliana B Schumacher
, and
Mr. Calvin A McDonald
Bank profits are high in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) compared to other regions. This paper uses a sample of 389 banks in 41 SSA countries to study the determinants of bank profitability. We find that apart from credit risk, higher returns on assets are associated with larger bank size, activity diversification, and private ownership. Bank returns are affected by macroeconomic variables, suggesting that macroeconomic policies that promote low inflation and stable output growth does boost credit expansion. The results also indicate moderate persistence in profitability. Causation in the Granger sense from returns on assets to capital occurs with a considerable lag, implying that high returns are not immediately retained in the form of equity increases. Thus, the paper gives some support to a policy of imposing higher capital requirements in the region in order to strengthen financial stability.
Keywords:
WP; bank profitability; bank return; bank entry barrier; bank risk; Banks; credit risk; market structure; SSA bank; bank performance; activity diversification; bank characteristic; bank spread; macroeconomic risk factors; proxy bank size; Bank soundness; Stocks; Personal income; Inflation; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Cameroun: Initiative renforcée en faveur des pays pauvres très endettés – Document du point d’achèvement et initiative d’allègement de la dette multilatérale
International Monetary Fund
Depuis plusieurs années, le FMI publie un nombre croissant de rapports et autres documents couvrant l'évolution et les tendances économiques et financières dans les pays membres. Chaque rapport, rédigé par une équipe des services du FMI à la suite d'entretiens avec des représentants des autorités, est publié avec l'accord du pays concerné.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; net present value; Cameroonian authorities; discount rate; private sector
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Cameroon: Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative: Completion Point Document and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI)
International Monetary Fund
This paper on Cameroon’s Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative explains implementation of the poverty reduction strategy and macroeconomic performance. Executive Directors agreed that Cameroon’s external public debt was above the HIPC Initiative sustainability threshold, and the country was eligible for assistance in the amount of US$1.26 billion in 1999. Assuming prudent fiscal policies and robust non-oil real GDP growth, Cameroon’s external public debt is expected to be sustainable over the long term.
Keywords:
ISCR; CR; net present value; Cameroonian authorities; discount rate; private sector; debt forgiveness; regulatory agency; lessee company; government program; structural adjustment; NPV terms; government action; personnel management; Debt relief; Debt service; Public and publicly-guaranteed external debt; Stocks; Budget planning and preparation; Africa; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Investment, Capital Accumulation, and Growth: Some Evidence from The Gambia 1964–98
Mr. Christian H. Beddies
This paper considers the potential variables that have determined economic growth in The Gambia during 1964–98. The results indicate that The Gambia’s aggregate production function exhibits increasing returns to scale, thus supporting the endogenous growth-type model. The impact of private investment—and thus private capital accumulation—on output is large and significant. Furthermore, increases in public investment boost output substantially. Finally, the effects associated with human capital accumulation are positive and statistically significant. The paper also estimates a series on total factor productivity growth that indicates that The Gambia was able to use its resources more efficiently.
Keywords:
WP; growth rate; production function; endogenous growth; human capital; investment; capital stock; total factor productivity; output ratio; capital stock estimate; capital model; B. estimation result; CFA franc; government capital accumulation; Private investment; Capital accumulation; Stocks; West Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
Adjustment Costs, Irreversibility and Investment Patterns in African Manufacturing
Mr. Arne L Bigsten
This paper examines dynamic patterns of investment in Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe, assessing the consistency of those patterns with different adjustment cost structures. Using survey data on manufactured firms, we document the importance of zero investment episodes and lumpy investment. The proportion of firms experiencing large investment spikes is significant in explaining aggregate manufacturing investment. Taken together, evidence from descriptive statistics, average investment regressions modeling the response to capital imbalance, and transition data analysis indicate that irreversibility is an important factor considered by firms when making investment plans. The picture is not unanimous however, and some explanations for the mixed results are proposed.
Keywords:
WP; adjustment cost; cost function; investment rate; African manufacturing; investment; adjustment costs; duration dependence; nonparametric methods; unobserved heterogeneity; firm investment model; investment spike; mandated investment; investment behavior; Stocks; Manufacturing; Agroindustries; Employment; Logit models; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
The Impact of Human Capital on Growth: Evidence from West Africa
Ms. Sonia Brunschwig
,
Mr. Emilio Sacerdoti
, and
Mr. Jon Tang
This paper analyzes the impact of human capital on growth, on the basis of refined calculations of human capital, and with a focus on West Africa. Using a growth-accounting methodology, it distinguishes the sources of growth between the accumulation of factors of production and changes in production intensity or efficiency. Private capital is found to be particularly important to growth, but human capital appears not to be significant. The paper also identifies the terms of trade, trade openness, the government deficit, and the share of government investment in total investment as key policy variables affecting growth.
Keywords:
WP; capital; country; Human capital; growth; Africa; output ratio; contribution to growth; physical capital; capital output ratio; capital growth; labor substitution; production function; initial capital output ratio; coefficient of determination; Total factor productivity; Stocks; Capital accumulation; West Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
Government Expenditure Arrears: Securitization and Other Solutions
Mr. Alberto M. Ramos
On occasions, by running arrears, governments have unilaterally borrowed from domestic agents. These agents ended up with implicit claims on the government for which they had no title and that would be honored, at best, on an unspecified future date and for an uncertain value. Having untitled assets limits creditors’ financial management capacity, because they cannot trade or enforce these claims. This paper presents several options for addressing the arrears problem. It recommends that the government recognize its implicit financial liabilities, set a timetable for their clearance, and issue market-negotiable titles (securitize). Several country experiences with securitization operations are documented.
Keywords:
WP; aggregate demand; cash budget; government arrears; arrears problem; debt service; immediate payment; Treasury bill holder; BRO countries; Securitization; Russia; payment arrears; securitization operation; Arrears; Securities; Stocks; Treasury bills and bonds; Currencies; Baltics
Cover IMF Working Papers
Private Investment and Endogenous Growth: Evidence From Cameroon
Mr. Dhaneshwar Ghura
This paper investigates empirically the factors that have influenced economic growth in Cameroon during 1963-96. The results, which support the endogenous-growth-type model, indicate that (1) the aggregate production function exhibits increasing returns to scale; (2) the impact of increases in private investment on growth is large, significant, and robust; (3) increases in government investment have a positive impact on growth; (4) human capital development plays an important role in output expansion; (5) positive externalities are generated by physical and human capital accumulation; and (6) growth is boosted by economic policies that foster external competitiveness and a prudent fiscal stance.
Keywords:
WP; capital stock; physical capital; budget deficit; production function; investment-GDP ratio; boost economic growth; investment ratio; CFA franc; long-run economic growth relationship; Private investment; Human capital; Public investment spending; Stocks; Sub-Saharan Africa
Cover IMF Working Papers
Tuition Subsidies in a Model of Economic Growth
Mr. Philip R. Gerson
This paper examines a two-sector aggregative growth model with human capital and educated unemployment. In the model, a tuition subsidy may lead to a long-run decline in the educated fraction of the population, because it may decrease the long-run per capita stock of physical capital in the economy, tending to reduce the output of the education sector and the incentives for workers to enroll in school. Thus, cuts in education subsidies undertaken by countries in Africa for adjustment reasons may actually lead to long-run increases in the educational attainment of their populations.
Keywords:
WP; physical capital; capital good; output of the education sector; consumption good; educated labor; price of education; input-output ratio; Consumption; Stocks; Africa