1,721,079 research outputs found
Global Economic Inequalities and Development
No full textThe ‘Wretched of the Earth’ are neglected in our ‘compartmentalised world’. The volume of publications on inequality has increased five-fold since 1992, but many of these focus on the top one per cent of households located in the Global North (International Social Science Council 2016). The more recent publication by the leading journal, Social Forces, on ‘Liberalization, Economic Growth, and Income Inequality in Advanced Industrial Societies’ (Kwon 2016, my emphasis) continues this trend. So, in this special issue of the Journal of Australian Political Economy (JAPE), I asked the contributors to focus on ‘the wretched of the earth’, how their social conditions are shaped by the appalling economic inequalities, the dire implications for society, economy and environment, why this compartmentalisation continues to deepen, and what can be done about it
Informal real estate brokerage as a socially-embedded market for economic development in Africa
No full textReal Estate Agents in Ghana: A Suitable Case for Regulation?
No full textObeng-Odoom F. Real estate agents in Ghana: a suitable case for regulation?, Regional Studies. This paper uses a qualitative approach to examine whether regulation would improve the effectiveness of the Ghanaian estate agency market. Interviews with landlords, estate agents, clients, and officials of the Rent Control Department suggest that (1) most so-called 'problems with unlicensed agents' are actually landlord-related problems; (2) there is a camaraderie relationship between unlicensed agents and their clients which effectively provides a licence against fraud; and (3) regulation would exacerbate unemployment and increase agency fees. For these reasons, regulation in general may not be in the public interest. Alternative ways of improving effectiveness in the Ghanaian estate agency market are recommended. [image omitted] Obeng-Odoom F. Les agents immobiliers au Ghana: est ce qu'il y a de bonnes raisons pour les reguler?, Regional Studies. Cet article emploie une facon qualitative afin d'examiner si, oui ou non, la regulation ameliorerait l'efficacite du marche immobilier au Ghana. Des interviews menes aupres des proprietaires, des agents immobiliers, des clients et des employes du Rent Control Department (des controleurs de loyer) laissent supposer que, primo, la plupart des dits 'problemes avec des agents non-agrees' sont en fait des problemes qui se rapportent aux proprietaires; secundo, il existe une camaraderie entre les agents non-agrees et leurs clients, ce qui fournit en effet une licence contre la fraude; et tertio, la regulation aggraverait le chomage et augmenterait les honoraires des agents. Pour ces raisons-la, il se peut que la regulation generalisee ne soit pas dans l'interet du grand public. On propose d'autres moyens d'ameliorer l'efficacite du marche immobilier au Ghana. Licence Locataires Proprietaires Agents immobiliers Ghana Obeng-Odoom F. Immobilienmakler in Ghana: ausreichende Argumente fur eine Regulierung?, Regional Studies. In diesem Beitrag untersuchen wir mit Hilfe eines qualitativen Ansatzes, ob sich die Leistungsfahigkeit des Immobilienmarktes von Ghana durch eine Regulierung verbessern wurde. Aus Interviews mit Hausbesitzern, Immobilienmaklern, Kunden und Beamten der Mietkontrollbehorde geht Folgendes hervor: (1) die meisten sogenannten 'Probleme mit nicht lizenzierten Maklern' sind in Wahrheit Probleme mit Vermietern; (2) zwischen nicht lizenzierten Maklern und ihren Kunden besteht ein kameradschaftliches Verhaltnis, das gewissermassen einen Schutz vor Betrug bietet; (3) durch eine Regulierung wurden die Arbeitslosigkeit und Maklergebuhren steigen. Aus diesen Grunden liegt eine generelle Regulierung eventuell nicht im Interesse der Offentlichkeit. Es werden alternative Methoden zur Verbesserung der Leistungsfahigkeit des Immobilienmarktes von Ghana empfohlen. Lizenz Mieter Vermieter Immobilienmakler Ghana Obeng-Odoom F. Agentes inmobiliarios en Ghana: �hay suficientes argumentos para regularlo?, Regional Studies. En este articulo se utiliza un enfoque cualitativo para examinar si la regulacion mejoraria la eficacia del mercado de las agencias inmobiliarias en Ghana. Las entrevistas realizadas a propietarios, agentes inmobiliarios, clientes y funcionarios del Departamento de Control de Alquileres indican que (1) la mayoria de los denominados problemas con agentes no autorizados se deben en realidad a problemas que tienen que ver directamente con los propietarios; (2) existe una relacion de camaraderia entre los agentes no autorizados y sus clientes que ofrece una licencia eficaz contra el fraude; y (3) la regulacion agravaria el desempleo y haria aumentar las tasas de las inmobiliarias. Por estos motivos, la regulacion en general podria no ser de interes publico. Se recomiendan otros metodos para mejorar la eficacia del mercado de las agencias inmobiliarias en Ghana. Autorizacion Inquilinos Propietarios Agentes inmobiliarios GhanaLicence, Tenants, Landlords, Estate agents, Ghana,
Natural resource abundance and eminent domain: A case study from Africa
No full textThis Viewpoint article draws on the doctrine of eminent domain (or compulsory purchase) as an analytical framework to analyse the regional and local impacts of a new source of oil. Sekondi-Takoradi, an oil city located in Ghana, West Africa, is used as a case study to explore the differentiated experiences of local people. The article shows that, although there are complex distributional issues that require different levels of compensation and betterment to be assessed and paid for, it is unlikely that they will, in fact, even be considered. © The Author(s) 2012
Oil boom, human capital and economic development: Some recent evidence
No full text© The Author(s) 2015. This article highlights and assesses orthodox responses to three crucial questions in political economy, namely: the role of human capital in the process of economic development, how this role transforms during a period of resource abundance and what is the place of education in empowering labour to reclaim or transform surplus value. Drawing on recent evidence collected from Ghana, a new and young oil economy, it proposes different responses to all these questions which imply the need to replace the concept of 'human capital' with 'human development' and to move from theoretical to substantivist analysis of oil, education and labour relations
The State of African Cities 2014
No full text© 2014, © The Author(s) 2014. After an unprecedented and notable delay, the State of African Cities Report 2014 has been published. It makes a bold claim for re-imagining urban sustainability in Africa, continuing two earlier attempts at shaping the nature of urban discussion among scholars, students, and practitioners interested in cities located in Africa. A systematic content analysis shows that although, as in previous attempts, the report is a major success in highlighting developments in African cities, this year’s attempt is undermined by severe drawbacks, among which are conceptual challenges, a failure to achieve agreement between the report’s claims and research findings, and a bias in focus against smaller African countries and their cities. In turn, there are many dark clouds hanging over this otherwise successful report
Windfalls, wipeouts, and local economic development: A study of an emerging oil city in West Africa
Full text linkAnalysis of the political economy of oil tends to be under the rubric of 'resource curse' to the neglect of the broader problematique of the distribution of windfalls and wipeouts, the mediating role of institutions, and broader issues of local economic development. This article tries to fill this lacuna by focusing on the experiences of Sekondi-Takoradi, an oil city located in Ghana. Using the principles of eminent domain and decentralisation as analytical framework, it shows 'who gets what' in an oil city; demonstrates why different levels of compensation and betterment ought to be paid and received; and reveals the role and struggles of the local State in trying to ensure harmonious local economic development. © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
'Managing Land for the Common Good? Evidence from a community development project in Agona, Ghana'
Full text linkThe common and dominant view that customary land tenure systems in Africa are inefficient because they forbid individuation, are not registered, are insecure, discourage access to credit, and provide incentive for free rider problems is examined through a case study of one community in Ghana, West Africa. A ninety-day field study in the case study area explored the extent to which the land tenure system has supported a community-based housing project and how that, in turn, has shaped or constrained infrastructural and socio-economic and political development. The paper reveals that communal ownership in the case study area deviates from the orthodox description of land tenure systems in Africa and escapes the problems associated with the so-called `tragedy of the commons. Abuse by both the corporation and corporators is possible and probable, but not because of custom. Growing processes of modernisation, commodification, and secularisation will undermine this syste
Understanding Land Reform in Ghana: A Critical Postcolonial Institutional Approach
No full text© 2015, © 2015 Union for Radical Political Economics. Land reform has become particularly prominent in development discourse in recent times. Advocates emphasize its importance for poverty reduction in underdeveloped economies. However, how reform comes about and evolves and what it is and does is situated, not universal, as neoclassical economists suggest. This paper sheds light on the meaning, evolution, and outcomes of land reform in Ghana. It draws on historical and contemporary socio-legal and political-economic sources of evidence, analyzed within a critical postcolonial institutional framework. It shows important features of continuity and change in both colonial and post-colonial land reform. While pre-colonial land tenure relations are misrepresented as entailing no market activities, the concerted effort to introduce “capitalist markets” into the land sector to produce “socially efficient outcomes” has led to contradictory results
Good property valuation in emerging real estate markets? Evidence from Ghana
No full textTraditional valuation methods were designed with developed real estate markets in mind. Within that paradigm, the Cost Approach to property valuation is the method of last resort for surveyors, the exception rather than the rule. However, in countries such as Ghana where cultural practices, special relationships and administrative bottlenecks constitute structural impediments to the use of more 'progressive' valuation methods, surveyors rely on the Cost Approach (with some modifications) as the method of choice
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