This study sought to contribute to the growing empirical literature by investigating the effects of FDI on per capita GDP growth for South Africa using time series data collected between 1970 and 2016. Compared to the majority of previous studies, we use quantile regressions which investigates the effects of FDI on economic growth at different distributional quantiles. Puzzling enough, the empirical results show that FDI has a negative influence on welfare at extremely low quantiles whereas at other levels this effect turns insignificant. Contrary, the effects of domestic investment on welfare is positive and significant at all levels. Collectively, these results have important implications for policymakers in South Africa.

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to evaluate whether nighttime luminosity sourced from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-Operational Linescan System satellite sensors is a suitable proxy for measuring poverty in Africa.Design/methodology/approachOur study performs wavelet coherence analysis to investigate the time-frequency synchronization between the nightlight data and “income-to-wealth” ratio for 39 African countries between 1992 and 2012.FindingsAll-in-all, the authors find that approximately a third of African countries produce positive synchronizations between nighttime data and “income-to-wealth” ratio and hence conclude that most African countries are not at liberty to use nighttime data to proxy conventional poverty statistics.Originality/valueIn differing from previous studies, the authors examine the suitability of nightlight intensity as a proxy of poverty for individual African countries using much more rigorous analysis.

In this paper, we question whether night light luminosity data can beused as an alternative measure of GDP in 49 African countries. For thisto be proven true, evidence of significant relationships between night lightdata and GDP time series variables needs to be confirmed through empiricalanalysis. In differing from previous studies, we employ pooled meangroup (PMG) cross sectional cointegration estimators and wavelet coherencetools to examine the cointegration relationships and time-frequencysynchronizations between GDP and DMSP-OLS night light intensity forannual data collected between 1992 and 2012. All in all, we find little evidenceof significant relationships between nighttime data and GDP for individualAfrican countries and therefore caution policymakers in strictlyusing DMSP-OLS data to create synthetic measures of economic growth.Possible avenues for future research are further recommended at the endof the study.

Suicides represent an encompassing measure of psychological wellbeing, emotional stability as well as life satisfaction, and they have been recently identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a major global health concern. The G20 countries represent the powerhouse of global economic governance and hence possess the ability to influence the direction of global suicide rates. In applying the sequential panel selection method (SPSM) to three generations of unit root testing procedures, the study investigates the integration properties of suicides in G20 countries between 1990–2017. The results obtained from all three generations of tests provide rigid evidence of persistence within the suicides for most member states of the G20 countries, hence supporting the current strategic agenda pushed by the WHO in reducing suicides to a target rate of 10 percent. In addition, we further propose that such strategies should emanate from within G20 countries and spread globally thereafter.