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African Successes, Volume III

Modernization and Development

Studies of African economic development frequently focus on the daunting challenges the continent faces. From recurrent crises to ethnic conflicts and long-standing corruption, a raft of deep-rooted problems has led many to regard the continent as facing many hurdles to raise living standards. Yet Africa has made considerable progress in the past decade, with a GDP growth rate exceeding five percent in some regions. The African Successes series looks at recent improvements in living standards and other measures of development in many African countries with an eye toward identifying what shaped them and the extent to which lessons learned are transferable and can guide policy in other nations and at the international level.
           
The third volume in the series, African Successes: Modernization and Development looks at the rise in private production in spite of difficult institutional and physical environments. The volume emphasizes the ways that technologies, including mobile phones, have made growth in some areas especially dynamic.
       

Table of Contents

Series Introduction
Sebastian Edwards, Simon Johnson, and David N. Weil
 
Volume Introduction
Sebastian Edwards, Simon Johnson, and David N. Weil
 
I. Finance and Capital Allocation
 
1. Resolving the African Financial Development Gap: Cross-Country Comparisons and a Within-Country Study of Kenya
Franklin Allen, Elena Carletti, Robert Cull, Jun Qian, Lemma Senbet, and Patricio Valenzuela
 
2. Challenges in Banking the Rural Poor: Evidence from Kenya’s Western Province
Pascaline Dupas, Sarah Green, Anthony Keats, and Jonathan Robinson
 
3. The Financial Sector in Burundi: An Investigation of Its Efficiency in Resource Mobilization and Allocation
Janvier D. Nkurunziza, Léonce Ndikumana, and Prime Nyamoya
 
4. Were the Nigerian Banking Reforms of 2005 a Success . . . and for the Poor?
Lisa D. Cook
5. Misallocation, Property Rights, and Access to Finance: Evidence from within and across Africa
Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan and Bent E. Sørensen
 
II. Mobile Phones
 
6. New Cellular Networks in Malawi: Correlates of Service Rollout and Network Performance
Dimitris Batzilis, Taryn Dinkelman, Emily Oster, Rebecca Thornton, and Deric Zanera
 
7. Mobile Banking: The Impact of M-Pesa in Kenya
Isaac Mbiti and David N. Weil
 
III. International Trade
 
8. African Export Successes: Surprises, Stylized Facts, and Explanations
William Easterly and Ariell Reshef
 
9. AGOA Rules: The Intended and Unintended Consequences of Special Fabric Provisions
Lawrence Edwards and Robert Z. Lawrence
Contributors
Author Index
Subject Index

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