Remittances, ICT and Doing Business in Sub-Saharan Africa

Asongu, Simplice and Biekpe, Nicholas and Tchamyou, Vanessa (2018): Remittances, ICT and Doing Business in Sub-Saharan Africa. Forthcoming in: Journal of Economic Studies

Abstract

Purpose – This study examines how linkages between information and communication technology (ICT) and remittances affect the doing of business.

Design/methodology/approach – The focus is on a panel of 49 sub-Saharan African countries for the period 2000-2012. The empirical evidence is based on Generalised Method of Moments.

Findings – While we establish some appealing results in terms of net negative effects on constraints to the doing of business (i.e. time to start a business and time to pay taxes), some positive net effects are also apparent (i.e. number of start-up procedures, time to build a warehouse and time to register a property). We also establish ICT penetration thresholds at which the unconditional effect of remittances can be changed from positive to negative, notably: (i) for the number of start-up procedures, an internet level of 9.00 penetration per 100 people is required while (ii) for the time to build a warehouse, a mobile phone penetration level of 32.33 penetration per 100 people is essential. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Originality/value – To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to assess linkages between ICT, remittances and doing business in Sub-Saharan Africa.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Remittances; ICT; Doing business; Development; Africa
• Subjects: F - International Economics > F2 - International Factor Movements and International Business > F24 - Remittances; F - International Economics > F6 - Economic Impacts of Globalization > F63 - Economic Development; L - Industrial Organization > L9 - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities > L96 - Telecommunications; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O30 - General; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O5 - Economywide Country Studies > O55 - Africa

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