Pub Date : 2024-08-27DOI: 10.1007/s13132-024-02234-y
Jean-Claude Kouladoum
This study investigates the effect of internet penetration on human capital development in 48 African countries between the periods of 1980 to 2019. The two-step system GMM strategy is adopted to address the potential endogeneity. The findings show that the level of human capital development is ameliorated by growth in information and communication technologies specifically by internet penetration. Internet penetration is measured by individuals using internet and the subscription rate of fixed broadband. These findings remain consistent in both the low- and the middle-income African countries, irrespective of their technology infrastructure levels. From the findings of our study, we suggest that much investment should be made in both the communication and technology infrastructures and in the educational and the health sectors so as to enhance the level of human capital development. Investments in human capital are encouraged by channeling more funds to the educational and health departments to boost the continent’s productivity.
{"title":"Internet Penetration and Human Capital Development in Africa","authors":"Jean-Claude Kouladoum","doi":"10.1007/s13132-024-02234-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-024-02234-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This study investigates the effect of internet penetration on human capital development in 48 African countries between the periods of 1980 to 2019. The two-step system GMM strategy is adopted to address the potential endogeneity. The findings show that the level of human capital development is ameliorated by growth in information and communication technologies specifically by internet penetration. Internet penetration is measured by individuals using internet and the subscription rate of fixed broadband. These findings remain consistent in both the low- and the middle-income African countries, irrespective of their technology infrastructure levels. From the findings of our study, we suggest that much investment should be made in both the communication and technology infrastructures and in the educational and the health sectors so as to enhance the level of human capital development. Investments in human capital are encouraged by channeling more funds to the educational and health departments to boost the continent’s productivity.</p>","PeriodicalId":47435,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Knowledge Economy","volume":"40 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142179703","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-27DOI: 10.1007/s13132-024-02235-x
Vincent Jerald R. Ramos, Sarah Lynne S. Daway-Ducanes
Discussions around the importance of intellectual property (IP) intensified at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as countries raced to secure IP-protected goods (e.g., vaccines and medical equipment) necessary to respond quickly and adequately to the threat of the virus’ spread. Building on the growing strand of the literature that reexamines IP’s effect on an array of social and economic outcomes, this paper examines the relationship between quantitative (patents and trademarks) and qualitative (IP protection) measures of IP, on the one hand, and manufacturing growth, on the other hand, accounting for the presence of nonlinearities. Using a two-step system generalized method of moments (SGMM) approach on a panel dataset of 81 countries spanning the post-1995 TRIPS Agreement period, our estimates show that these alternative measures of IP have differential and nonlinear effects on manufacturing growth. In particular, patents have a positive significant marginal effect on manufacturing growth past a minimum scale, whereas trademarks do not have a significant effect. In contrast, stronger IPR protection has a positive effect only up to a critical level of IPR protection, implying that “too much” IPR protection can stifle growth-inducing competing innovation. The paper concludes with a brief discussion on the mechanisms through which IP may contribute to manufacturing growth, and on some policies, which may help realize this potential. Broadly, this paper speaks to academic and policy discussions surrounding optimal IP enforcement and the benefits and consequences of IP.
{"title":"Nonlinearities in the Intellectual Property-Manufacturing Growth Nexus in the Post-TRIPS Era: Evidence from a Dynamic Panel Analysis","authors":"Vincent Jerald R. Ramos, Sarah Lynne S. Daway-Ducanes","doi":"10.1007/s13132-024-02235-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-024-02235-x","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Discussions around the importance of intellectual property (IP) intensified at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as countries raced to secure IP-protected goods (e.g., vaccines and medical equipment) necessary to respond quickly and adequately to the threat of the virus’ spread. Building on the growing strand of the literature that reexamines IP’s effect on an array of social and economic outcomes, this paper examines the relationship between quantitative (patents and trademarks) and qualitative (IP protection) measures of IP, on the one hand, and manufacturing growth, on the other hand, accounting for the presence of nonlinearities. Using a two-step system generalized method of moments (SGMM) approach on a panel dataset of 81 countries spanning the post-1995 TRIPS Agreement period, our estimates show that these alternative measures of IP have differential and nonlinear effects on manufacturing growth. In particular, patents have a positive significant marginal effect on manufacturing growth past a minimum scale, whereas trademarks do not have a significant effect. In contrast, stronger IPR protection has a positive effect only up to a critical level of IPR protection, implying that “too much” IPR protection can stifle growth-inducing competing innovation. The paper concludes with a brief discussion on the mechanisms through which IP may contribute to manufacturing growth, and on some policies, which may help realize this potential. Broadly, this paper speaks to academic and policy discussions surrounding optimal IP enforcement and the benefits and consequences of IP.</p>","PeriodicalId":47435,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Knowledge Economy","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142179702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-08-27DOI: 10.1007/s13132-024-02266-4
Dhouha Dridi, Radhouane Hasni, Montassar KahiA
The BRICS group is striving to create a new economic and financial paradigm, thereby heightening the importance of financial issues among its members. This group has recently expanded to include new members, some of whom are among the top ten producers of fossil fuels, while others are densely populated. As a result, the BRICS nations face increased challenges and responsibilities regarding environmental degradation. Given this context, it is crucial to evaluate the influence of financial development and its main drivers on environmental outcomes. To achieve this, we have categorized the financial development drivers into three groups: economic, institutional, and productivity-related factors. We then explored how financial development interacts with environmental degradation, with a particular focus on the role of these drivers as effective moderators within the expanded BRICS group. Our analysis uses the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) methodology for a period spanning from 2000 to 2021. The empirical results show that in all cases, the interaction between financial development and its drivers reduces CO2 emissions. This interaction benefits from the direct negative effect of financial development. For instance, the interaction between economic growth or capital formation and financial development improves environmental quality, reversing the initially positive direct effect of these factors on emissions. Moreover, for other factors—such as trade openness, government expenditure, control of corruption, human development, and technological innovation—their interaction with financial development creates a synergy that enhances their initially positive direct effect on emission reduction, except for trade openness, which initially had no significant effect. Based on our empirical findings, we have formulated several policy recommendations to address these issues.
Graphical Abstract
Direct and indirect effects of financial development on CO2 emissions for BRICS PLUS countries in the long run.