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Business and Economics > Investments: Stocks

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Cover IMF Working Papers
A Proposal to Improve Country-Level Data on Total Factor Productivity Growth
Andrew M. Warner
The assumption behind popular data on national capital stocks, and therefore total factor productivity, is that countries were in a steady state in the first year that investment data became available. This paper argues that this assumption is highly implausible and is necessarily responsible for implausible data on the ratio of capital to output and productivity growth. It is not credible that countries with similar incomes had huge differences in their capital stocks. This paper claims, with evidence, that implausible features of the data can be greatly reduced by using data on electricity usage or national stocks of road vehicles.
Keywords:
Productivity; Total Factor Productivity; Economic Growth; capital output ratio; total factor productivity growth; capita-output ratio; investment data; TFP growth estimate; Capital productivity; Stocks; Capital adequacy requirements; Electricity; Africa; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Stock Market Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Critical Issues and Challenges
Charles Komla Adjasi
and
Charles Amo Yartey
This paper examines the economic importance of stock markets in Africa. It discusses policy options for promoting the development of the stock market in Africa. The results of the paper show that the stock markets have contributed to the financing of the growth of large corporations in certain African countries. An econometric investigation of the impact of stock markets on growth in selected African countries, however, finds inconclusive evidence even though stock market value traded seem to be positively and significantly associated with growth. African stock exchanges now face the challenge of integration and need better technical and institutional development to address the problem of low liquidity. Preconditions for successful regional approaches include the harmonization of legislations such as bankruptcy and accounting laws and a liberalized trade regime. Robust electronic trading systems and central depository systems will be important. Further domestic financial liberalization such as steps to improve the legal and accounting framework, private sector credit evaluation capabilities, and public sector regulatory oversight would also be beneficial.
Keywords:
WP; economic growth; external finance; stock market; banking sector
Cover IMF Working Papers
The Stock Market and the Financing of Corporate Growth in Africa: The Case of Ghana
Charles Amo Yartey
This paper examines the corporate financing pattern in Ghana. In particular, it investigates whether Singh's theoretically anomalous findings that developing country firms make considerably more use of external finance and new equity issues than developed country firms to finance asset growth hold in the case of Ghana. Replicating Singh's methodology, our results show that compared with corporations in advanced countries, the average listed Ghanaian firm finances its growth of total assets mainly from short-term debt. The stock market, however, is the most important source of long-term finance for listed Ghanaian firms. Overall, the evidence in this paper suggests that the stock market is a surprisingly important source of finance for funding corporate growth and that stock market development in Ghana has been important.
Keywords:
WP; company account; investment decision; accounts methodology; Mauritian firm; Stock markets; corporate finance; corporate growth; Ghana; financing pattern; equity issue; assets growth; equity finance; retained earnings; long-term debt; bank financing; debt equity ratio; Stocks; Business enterprises; Corporate sector; 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
Determinants of Stock Prices: The Case of Zimbabwe
T. Oyama
This paper examines the general relationship between stock prices and macroeconomic variables in Zimbabwe, using the revised dividend discount model, error-correction model, and multi-factor return-generating model. Despite the large fluctuation in stock prices since 1991, this analysis indicates that the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange has been functioning quite consistently during this period. Whereas sharp increases in stock prices during 1993-94 were mainly due to the shift of risk premium that was caused by the partial capital account liberalization, the recent rapid increase in stock prices can be explained by the movements of monetary aggregates and market interest rates.
Keywords:
WP; break; stock price; interest rate; risk premium; DDM; ECM; CAPM; APT; formation process; stock return movement; market liberalization policy; IFC stock return index; stock return index; stock return formation process; interest rate liberalization; stock market return index; risk exposure; stock price index; inflation rate; return formation process; Asset prices; Stock markets; Stocks; Return on investment; Market interest rates; Africa