Structural Adjustment Programmes and the City in Tropical Africa

Riddell, Barry

doi:10.1080/0042098975646

Cited by 82 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Whilst worldwide agricultural tariffs run at an average of 40% (compared with 4% on manufactured goods), diversifying the export base and increasing the competitiveness of manufacturing and services sectors are clearly key to sustainable economic development. This observation stands in stark contrast to the standard logic of Ghana's Structural Adjustment Programme, which has been marked, at least initially, by the reallocation of resources and a policy bias towards commodity agriculture, in the belief that this is where comparative advantage (exclusively) lies (Riddell 1997). However, we return to this issue later.…”

Section: Ghanacontrasting

confidence: 51%

“…Despite apparent increasing economic activity, the peripherality of African cities to the global economy leads, given trade liberalisation, to a reliance upon manufactured imports (and NGO dollars), with the urban economy serving a largely distributive function. As Riddell (1997Riddell ( : 1303 rather pessimistically notes, 'the city has become the focal point of national depression'.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Small firm exporters in a developing economy context: evidence from Ghana

Robson

Freel

2008

Entrepreneurship & Regional Development

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A cursory review of the industrial policies of most nations suggests that exporting matters. Identifying exporting firms and facilitating their endeavours (or encouraging others to emulate them) are familiar policy themes, and studies of the relationship between firm characteristics and the propensity to export are common in the academic literature. Yet, the context for the bulk of these studies is provided by developed economies. To the extent that international trade relies upon specialisation and that broad differences exist in the patterns of specialisation between developed and developing economies, one wonders how well findings may be generalised to a developing context. Drawing upon firm-level data from a recent survey of small enterprises in Ghana (n = 500), the current study is concerned with identifying the characteristics of exporters in the three main non-governmental sectors of the Ghanaian economy (manufacturing, services and agriculture). Our interest is in Ghanaian economic development imperatives and in the extent of congruence between the findings of this study and previous developed economy studies

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Section: Ghanacontrasting

confidence: 51%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Small firm exporters in a developing economy context: evidence from Ghana

Robson

Freel

2008

Entrepreneurship & Regional Development

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“…SAPs have not only been ineffective in reducing urban poverty, but evidence from across the continent suggests that the policies have led to increases in urban poverty among the unemployed as well as those with fixed incomes such as salaried employees (Gilbert 1994;Riddell 1997;Kaseke, 1998 employee. The monthly salary of a typical public school head teacher in 1996 (¢110,000, or $103) was barely enough to provide the basic needs of an average household for only three weeks.…”

Section: Urban Impoverishment and Multiple Modes Of Livelihood: Explomentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban impoverishment and multiple modes of livelihood in Ghana

Owusu¹

2001

Canadian Geographies / Géographies canadiennes

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Many African countries experienced economic crisis in the 1970s and are currently restructuring their economies under the tutelage of the World Bank and the IMF. The restructuring process has had pervasive effects on the livelihood strategies of many people, as their established means of income generation have been disrupted. While survival of the urban poor has been studied, little is known of strategies of other social groups. Using Ghana as a case study, I argue that although urban poverty predates the implementation of structural adjustment program (SAP), the policies have created a favorable environment for the intensification of multiple livelihood strategies among of salaried employees. The paper finds that multiple livelihood strategies are practiced by a large number of salaried employees, but their involvement depends on many factors, including individual, family and household characteristics; access to capital and resources; opportunities offered by the urban economy; and the nature of formal employment. KeywordsEconomic reforms, African urban economies, multiple modes of livelihood Disciplines African Studies | Regional Economics | Urban, Community and Regional Planning | Urban Studies and Planning CommentsThis is the accepted version of the following article from

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“…Debt, however, contributes to an ''anti-urban bias'' that largely precludes such efforts in the LDCs (Riddell 1997;UN-HABITAT 2003b).…”

Section: Debt and The Built Urban Environmentmentioning

confidence: 97%

Debt and the Built Urban Environment: Examining the Growth of Urban Slums in the Less Developed Countries, 1990–2010

Rice

2012

Sociological Spectrum

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The present study examines the influence of external debt on the change in the proportion of the total population living in urban slum conditions in the less developed countries between 1990 and 2010, drawing from a political economy of the world-system theoretical perspective. Ordinary least squares panel regression illustrates external debt as a percent of gross national income has a statistically significant positive effect producing higher levels of urban slum growth. This result is recurrent across all developing countries but is particularly strong among sub-Saharan African nations. Further, urban population growth 1960-1990 exhibits a positive effect contributing to higher urban slum growth. The results support the hypothesis that external debt burden is an important factor contributing to higher levels of urban slum growth in the less developed countries between 1990 and 2010. This effect, moreover, is particularly strong among sub-Saharan African countries relative to developing countries within other regions of the world.

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Structural Adjustment Programmes and the City in Tropical Africa

Cited by 82 publications

References 16 publications

Small firm exporters in a developing economy context: evidence from Ghana

Small firm exporters in a developing economy context: evidence from Ghana

Urban impoverishment and multiple modes of livelihood in Ghana

Debt and the Built Urban Environment: Examining the Growth of Urban Slums in the Less Developed Countries, 1990–2010

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