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This paper attempts to unravel the factors behind the growth performance in Ethiopia. This is don... more This paper attempts to unravel the factors behind the growth performance in Ethiopia. This is done first by attempting to place growth in Ethiopia in its political economy and historical context. This historical review helped to categorize the growth experience of the last four decade into three regimes. This is followed by an attempt to characterize the growth record in the past four decades, outlining the most important episodes of growth in each sub-period. We dealt with issues of growth accounting and structural change and discussed their implications. An attempt to understand the source of growth using information from crosscountry growth regression is also made. The Growth performance in the three periods is then examined by analyzing the role of institutions, microeconomic level agents behavior as well as the nature of product and factor markets. The main conclusions that emerged from this analysis are: Growth performance in Ethiopia is largely determined by political economy factors, vagaries of nature; strength and efficiency of institution, efficacy of public policies, and risk related to war and property ownership. Product and input markets are found to be not only thin but also inflexible. This combined with unstable political environment has greatly limited the potential growth in general and its sustainability in particular.. Had it not been for continuity and steadfastness of some of the institutions that resulted from the long and unique history of the country, the growth record would have been much more saddening than the current one.
Routledge eBooks, Feb 6, 2018
Ethiopian Journal of Economics, 1994
In the course of the research and write up of this paper, Jeffrey Fine and Benno Ndulu made inval... more In the course of the research and write up of this paper, Jeffrey Fine and Benno Ndulu made invaluable comments and suggestions, many of which are reflected in the strength of this paper. I would also like to acknowledge the useful comments from Hugh Goyder of the University of Oxford, on an earlier draft of the paper. I also take this opportunity to express my respect and gratitude to the many people who gave their time and provided the information on which this study is based. It would not have been possible without their active support and lively participation. I am also indebted to Messelu Tadesse, Executive Publications Secretary at the Institute of Development Research, Addis Ababa University, whose typing skills, patience and diligence made the timely finalization of the paper possible. 2 HUMAN CAPACITY BUILDING OF PROFESSIONALS: ECONOMISTS IN ETHIOPIA capital stock. This paper aims to contribute to the search for an appropriate policy framework for this by making available information on the living and working conditions of professionals in SSA countries. The study focuses on one set of professionalseconomists in Ethiopia. While economists are singled out for in-depth study, the resulting picture is similar for all professionals in the country. Ethiopia under its repressive military regime could be considered an exception and therefore unrepresentative of the conditions of professionals in other SSA countries. While this is true, the experience of professionals in this setting may, however, be different from other countries in SSA only in degree and magnitude. Professionals in the SSA share the common platform of intellectual and material deprivation which forces them to flee, or, if they decide to stay at home, to "moonlight" to maintain their intellectual sanity and supplement their official incomes. The obvious consequence of this rational behaviour on the part of the professionals is to render the public sector inefficient. Intellectual moonlighting involves, among other things, soliciting for books, reading materials and training opportunities, reading books and articles which are banned by the government, and doing research or writing papers for private circulation, which are often kept under lock and key for fear of discovery by the authorities. To supplement their meagre income, professionals are forced to neglect and even abandon their official duties and responsibilities while remaining on the public payroll. This has become so common that it is more appropriate to refer to it as "sunlighting". It is sad but true that some professionals are also forced into corruption as the only way out of their miseries. A more significant problem, and the root cause for intellectual discontent and emotional instability, is job dissatisfaction. Professionals are seldom used in ways that enable them to make the best use of their skills and know-how. Decisions are made by people in authority without proper professional advice on options and implications. Any attempt to challenge and criticize such decisions, however inappropriate and disastrous they may be, are open invitations for punitive measures. These important issues need to be taken into consideration along with investment in human capital. Unless these problems are resolved, investments designed to build up the stock of the professionals will be a clear misuse of meagre resources, since these countries fail to make optimal use of the output. Section II provides a brief presentation of the politico-economic environment in which professionals live and work, while Section III examines economics and economists. In Section IV economists evaluate their life and work and Section V looks at their survival strategies. Section VI concludes with policy implications.
… (AERC) workshop in Nairboi, Kenya on, 2002
This paper attempts to unravel the factors behind the growth performance in Ethiopia. This is don... more This paper attempts to unravel the factors behind the growth performance in Ethiopia. This is done first by attempting to place growth in Ethiopia in its political economy and historical context. This historical review helped to categorize the growth experience of the last four decade into three regimes. This is followed by an attempt to characterize the growth record in the past four decades, outlining the most important episodes of growth in each sub-period. We dealt with issues of growth accounting and structural change and discussed their implications. An attempt to understand the source of growth using information form crosscountry growth regression is also made. The Growth performance in the three periods is then examined by analyzing the role of institutions, microeconomic level agents behavior as well as the nature of product and factor markets. The main conclusions that emerged from this analysis are: Growth performance in Ethiopia is largely determined by political economy factors, vagaries of nature; strength and efficiency of institution, efficacy of public policies, and risk related to war and property ownership. Product and input markets are found to be not only thin but also inflexible. This combined with unstable political environment has greatly limited the potential growth in general and its sustainability in particular.. Had it not been for continuity and steadfastness of some of the institutions that resulted from the long and unique history of the country, the growth record would have been much more saddening than the current one.
Han W. Singer, a prominent development economist, described the 1980s as a lost decade for the de... more Han W. Singer, a prominent development economist, described the 1980s as a lost decade for the developing countries as a group (Singer, 1989). The 1950s and 1960s are characterised as golden years not only because the rate of growth of their economies was high but because the achievement was home-grown.
Ethiopian Journal of Development Research, 1976
Ethiopian Journal of Economics, 1994
Social Research an International Quarterly of the Social Sciences, 2009
Post-Conflict Economies in Africa, 2005
Northeast African Studies, 1990
Research Papers, 1992
List of tables List of figures Acknowledgements I Introduction 1 II Foreign capital and economic ... more List of tables List of figures Acknowledgements I Introduction 1 II Foreign capital and economic development 3 The role of capital in economic growth 3 Capital and the developing countries 4 Foreign capital and economic development: some dissenting views III Foreign capital in Ethiopia: policy history Pre-1974 policy Post-1974 policy IV Ethiopia's external debt Problems with the measurement of debt The magnitude of external debt Sources of credit Terms and conditions V Utilization of foreign credit Volume Sectoral distribution VI Foreign capital, domestic saving, growth and debt servicing Foreign capital and domestic saving The debt-growth relationship The production function Empirical results The debt servicing problem VII Conclusion References 48
Journal of Ethiopian Studies, 1993
This counter-proposal failed to interest the British government. To compel the Ethiopians to acce... more This counter-proposal failed to interest the British government. To compel the Ethiopians to accede to their demand as per the original terms and conditions, the British were squeezing the government with drastic consequences on economy and society. They removed the reserve of the Maria Theresa dollar in August 1942 to Harar. The Ethiopian government protested and offered to exchange the MTD for East African Shillings (EAS), but to no avail. This move forced the Ethiopian government to use EAS, whose reserve the British again remove to Harrar. The Ethiopian government then resorted to the lira. To inconvenience the government, the British allowed the departing Italians to take their assets out of the country in lire and then purchased all the leftovers for export.24 These draconian measures seem to have mellowed the Ethiopian position. C.S. Collier and Lij Yilma informed Stafford that the government has agreed to accept the currency plan and that a formal decision to this effect would be made by the Council of Ministers soon. The British representative expressed his confidence that the decision would be favourable.25 The British attributed this change of position by the Ethiopian government to their high-anded strategy and they were thus encourated to persist in it. In consequences, they continued to deprive the Ethiopian government of any opportunity to ease the burden until a clear and unconditional acceptance was made by it. Additional pressure came in the form of delaying the payment of subsidy to the Emperor and the form of payment, which was either in Sterling (which was not the medium of exchange in Ethiopia) and/or high denomination notes while what the government needed were EAS divisionary coins and MTD.26 The British Legation in Addis Abeba was also delaying considerations of application for foreign exchange permits to finance purchases from non-Sterling zones.27 Later in the year the Emperor formed a commission to revisit the currency plan. The members were Bitwoded Mekonnen Endalkatchew (Chairman), Ato Mekonnen Desta (Minister of Education), Ato Aklilu Habtewold (Vice Minister of the Pen), Negadras Gebre Egziabeher François (Minister of Commerce), Ato Minasse Lemma (Director General of Finance), and Dr. Ambaye (Vice Minister of Justice). The Commission was charged with the responsibility of reviewing the currency situation in the country and to evaluate the British Plan and report back to him.28 In July, the Commission met at the Ministry of Interior. In addition to the five Ethiopians, five British advisors and the Governor of SBE, Mr. C.S. Collier, were present.29 The Commission appointed a subcommittee , which discussed the issue exhaustively at two meetings and submitted the following recommendations: a) the currency Board was to be composed of five members, two of whom were to be representatives of the Treasury and Bank of England and all were to be appointed by 29
Ethiopian Journal of Development Research, 1991
Social Research an International Quarterly, 2010
This paper attempts to unravel the factors behind the growth performance in Ethiopia. This is don... more This paper attempts to unravel the factors behind the growth performance in Ethiopia. This is done first by attempting to place growth in Ethiopia in its political economy and historical context. This historical review helped to categorize the growth experience of the last four decade into three regimes. This is followed by an attempt to characterize the growth record in the past four decades, outlining the most important episodes of growth in each sub-period. We dealt with issues of growth accounting and structural change and discussed their implications. An attempt to understand the source of growth using information from crosscountry growth regression is also made. The Growth performance in the three periods is then examined by analyzing the role of institutions, microeconomic level agents behavior as well as the nature of product and factor markets. The main conclusions that emerged from this analysis are: Growth performance in Ethiopia is largely determined by political economy factors, vagaries of nature; strength and efficiency of institution, efficacy of public policies, and risk related to war and property ownership. Product and input markets are found to be not only thin but also inflexible. This combined with unstable political environment has greatly limited the potential growth in general and its sustainability in particular.. Had it not been for continuity and steadfastness of some of the institutions that resulted from the long and unique history of the country, the growth record would have been much more saddening than the current one.
Routledge eBooks, Feb 6, 2018
Ethiopian Journal of Economics, 1994
In the course of the research and write up of this paper, Jeffrey Fine and Benno Ndulu made inval... more In the course of the research and write up of this paper, Jeffrey Fine and Benno Ndulu made invaluable comments and suggestions, many of which are reflected in the strength of this paper. I would also like to acknowledge the useful comments from Hugh Goyder of the University of Oxford, on an earlier draft of the paper. I also take this opportunity to express my respect and gratitude to the many people who gave their time and provided the information on which this study is based. It would not have been possible without their active support and lively participation. I am also indebted to Messelu Tadesse, Executive Publications Secretary at the Institute of Development Research, Addis Ababa University, whose typing skills, patience and diligence made the timely finalization of the paper possible. 2 HUMAN CAPACITY BUILDING OF PROFESSIONALS: ECONOMISTS IN ETHIOPIA capital stock. This paper aims to contribute to the search for an appropriate policy framework for this by making available information on the living and working conditions of professionals in SSA countries. The study focuses on one set of professionalseconomists in Ethiopia. While economists are singled out for in-depth study, the resulting picture is similar for all professionals in the country. Ethiopia under its repressive military regime could be considered an exception and therefore unrepresentative of the conditions of professionals in other SSA countries. While this is true, the experience of professionals in this setting may, however, be different from other countries in SSA only in degree and magnitude. Professionals in the SSA share the common platform of intellectual and material deprivation which forces them to flee, or, if they decide to stay at home, to "moonlight" to maintain their intellectual sanity and supplement their official incomes. The obvious consequence of this rational behaviour on the part of the professionals is to render the public sector inefficient. Intellectual moonlighting involves, among other things, soliciting for books, reading materials and training opportunities, reading books and articles which are banned by the government, and doing research or writing papers for private circulation, which are often kept under lock and key for fear of discovery by the authorities. To supplement their meagre income, professionals are forced to neglect and even abandon their official duties and responsibilities while remaining on the public payroll. This has become so common that it is more appropriate to refer to it as "sunlighting". It is sad but true that some professionals are also forced into corruption as the only way out of their miseries. A more significant problem, and the root cause for intellectual discontent and emotional instability, is job dissatisfaction. Professionals are seldom used in ways that enable them to make the best use of their skills and know-how. Decisions are made by people in authority without proper professional advice on options and implications. Any attempt to challenge and criticize such decisions, however inappropriate and disastrous they may be, are open invitations for punitive measures. These important issues need to be taken into consideration along with investment in human capital. Unless these problems are resolved, investments designed to build up the stock of the professionals will be a clear misuse of meagre resources, since these countries fail to make optimal use of the output. Section II provides a brief presentation of the politico-economic environment in which professionals live and work, while Section III examines economics and economists. In Section IV economists evaluate their life and work and Section V looks at their survival strategies. Section VI concludes with policy implications.
… (AERC) workshop in Nairboi, Kenya on, 2002
This paper attempts to unravel the factors behind the growth performance in Ethiopia. This is don... more This paper attempts to unravel the factors behind the growth performance in Ethiopia. This is done first by attempting to place growth in Ethiopia in its political economy and historical context. This historical review helped to categorize the growth experience of the last four decade into three regimes. This is followed by an attempt to characterize the growth record in the past four decades, outlining the most important episodes of growth in each sub-period. We dealt with issues of growth accounting and structural change and discussed their implications. An attempt to understand the source of growth using information form crosscountry growth regression is also made. The Growth performance in the three periods is then examined by analyzing the role of institutions, microeconomic level agents behavior as well as the nature of product and factor markets. The main conclusions that emerged from this analysis are: Growth performance in Ethiopia is largely determined by political economy factors, vagaries of nature; strength and efficiency of institution, efficacy of public policies, and risk related to war and property ownership. Product and input markets are found to be not only thin but also inflexible. This combined with unstable political environment has greatly limited the potential growth in general and its sustainability in particular.. Had it not been for continuity and steadfastness of some of the institutions that resulted from the long and unique history of the country, the growth record would have been much more saddening than the current one.
Han W. Singer, a prominent development economist, described the 1980s as a lost decade for the de... more Han W. Singer, a prominent development economist, described the 1980s as a lost decade for the developing countries as a group (Singer, 1989). The 1950s and 1960s are characterised as golden years not only because the rate of growth of their economies was high but because the achievement was home-grown.
Ethiopian Journal of Development Research, 1976
Ethiopian Journal of Economics, 1994
Social Research an International Quarterly of the Social Sciences, 2009
Post-Conflict Economies in Africa, 2005
Northeast African Studies, 1990
Research Papers, 1992
List of tables List of figures Acknowledgements I Introduction 1 II Foreign capital and economic ... more List of tables List of figures Acknowledgements I Introduction 1 II Foreign capital and economic development 3 The role of capital in economic growth 3 Capital and the developing countries 4 Foreign capital and economic development: some dissenting views III Foreign capital in Ethiopia: policy history Pre-1974 policy Post-1974 policy IV Ethiopia's external debt Problems with the measurement of debt The magnitude of external debt Sources of credit Terms and conditions V Utilization of foreign credit Volume Sectoral distribution VI Foreign capital, domestic saving, growth and debt servicing Foreign capital and domestic saving The debt-growth relationship The production function Empirical results The debt servicing problem VII Conclusion References 48
Journal of Ethiopian Studies, 1993
This counter-proposal failed to interest the British government. To compel the Ethiopians to acce... more This counter-proposal failed to interest the British government. To compel the Ethiopians to accede to their demand as per the original terms and conditions, the British were squeezing the government with drastic consequences on economy and society. They removed the reserve of the Maria Theresa dollar in August 1942 to Harar. The Ethiopian government protested and offered to exchange the MTD for East African Shillings (EAS), but to no avail. This move forced the Ethiopian government to use EAS, whose reserve the British again remove to Harrar. The Ethiopian government then resorted to the lira. To inconvenience the government, the British allowed the departing Italians to take their assets out of the country in lire and then purchased all the leftovers for export.24 These draconian measures seem to have mellowed the Ethiopian position. C.S. Collier and Lij Yilma informed Stafford that the government has agreed to accept the currency plan and that a formal decision to this effect would be made by the Council of Ministers soon. The British representative expressed his confidence that the decision would be favourable.25 The British attributed this change of position by the Ethiopian government to their high-anded strategy and they were thus encourated to persist in it. In consequences, they continued to deprive the Ethiopian government of any opportunity to ease the burden until a clear and unconditional acceptance was made by it. Additional pressure came in the form of delaying the payment of subsidy to the Emperor and the form of payment, which was either in Sterling (which was not the medium of exchange in Ethiopia) and/or high denomination notes while what the government needed were EAS divisionary coins and MTD.26 The British Legation in Addis Abeba was also delaying considerations of application for foreign exchange permits to finance purchases from non-Sterling zones.27 Later in the year the Emperor formed a commission to revisit the currency plan. The members were Bitwoded Mekonnen Endalkatchew (Chairman), Ato Mekonnen Desta (Minister of Education), Ato Aklilu Habtewold (Vice Minister of the Pen), Negadras Gebre Egziabeher François (Minister of Commerce), Ato Minasse Lemma (Director General of Finance), and Dr. Ambaye (Vice Minister of Justice). The Commission was charged with the responsibility of reviewing the currency situation in the country and to evaluate the British Plan and report back to him.28 In July, the Commission met at the Ministry of Interior. In addition to the five Ethiopians, five British advisors and the Governor of SBE, Mr. C.S. Collier, were present.29 The Commission appointed a subcommittee , which discussed the issue exhaustively at two meetings and submitted the following recommendations: a) the currency Board was to be composed of five members, two of whom were to be representatives of the Treasury and Bank of England and all were to be appointed by 29
Ethiopian Journal of Development Research, 1991
Social Research an International Quarterly, 2010