Browsing by Author "Simatele, Municinga"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Informality and poverty in Africa: Which comes first?
    (Wiley, 2023) Bolarinwa, Segun Thompson; Simatele, Municinga
    Existing empirical work has investigated the relationship between informality and poverty. However, most of this work has neglected the feedback effect. This empirical paper explores the bi-directional causality between poverty and informality within the SGMM-PVAR framework among 40 selected high-income and low-income Sub-Saharan countries between 1991 and 2018. Our results support the heterogeneity argument, suggesting that sub-Saharan African informality is demand and supplyled. The income level of the country mediates the direction of effect. Bi-direction causality is observed for low-income countries. Causality in middle-income countries runs from poverty to informality. The results suggest that a certain level of informality may be desirable, especially in low-income countries.
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    Informality and the climate change-poverty nexus: empirical evidence from African countries
    (Routledge, 2023-04-20) Bolarinwa, Segun Thompson; Simatele, Municinga
    The present paper introduces informality into the climate change-poverty nexus using 40 Sub-Saharan African countries selected from high-, middle and low-income countries between 1990 and 2019. The empirical results show that informality is an important variable that can mitigate the impact of climate change on poverty. The moderation of the poverty climate change nexus is nonlinear in income. Informality reduces the negative effect of climate change on poverty in middle income countries while exacerbating its effect in low-income countries. Possible channels of influence are identified. Policy makers need to rethink the role of informality in an environment where informality is mainly seen as a nuisance, to see it as an ally that can achieve key results for the fight against environmental degradation and extreme poverty.
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    What levels of informality tackle poverty in Africa? Evidence from dynamic panel threshold analysis
    (Emerald, 2023-04-26) Bolarinwa, Segun Thompson; Simatele, Municinga
    Purpose – The paper validates the threshold argument in the informality–poverty nexus. Recent literature and policy have argued the existence of a threshold in the relationship. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopts dynamic panel threshold analysis, estimated within the framework of system Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM) to control for endogeneity and simultaneity. Data from 40 selected sub-Saharan African countries between 1991 and 2018 are used for the study. Findings – Empirical results confirm the existence of an average threshold of 31% share of informality in GDP. Also, the paper finds that threshold of informality that addresses mild and severe poverty varies between 24.32 and 36.75%.