Elizabeth Asiedu

Last updated
Elizabeth Asiedu
2.1- Africa and the triple crisis Q&A (10035274524).jpg
Elizabeth Asiedu
Alma mater University of Ghana, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (UIUC)
Scientific career
FieldsEconomics
Institutions Howard University,University of Kansas
Website https://profiles.howard.edu/elizabeth-asiedu

Elizabeth Asiedu is a professor of economics at the University of Kansas. [1] She has facilitated research that is centered around foreign aid, foreign directed investment (FDI), and gender. She is a founder of the Association for the Advancement of African Women (AAAWE), [2] as well as the current president of the organization. Asiedu is an editor of the Journal of African Development.

Contents

Education

Asiedu received her first degree, a B.S. (Hons) in computer science and mathematics from the University of Ghana in 1988. She then went on to receive an M.S. in mathematics (1992), an M.S. in economics (1994), and a PhD in economics (1998) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. [3]

Career

Since 2021, Asiedu has been a professor of economics at Howard University, where she teaches both undergraduate and graduate economics. [4] From 2012 to 2021, Asiedu she a professor of economics at the University of Kansas. Asiedu was also the associate chair and the director of graduate studies of the economics department at the University of Kansas from 2007 to 2009. She sits on the board of the African Finance Economic Association (AFEA), [5] was president of the organization between 2011 and 2013, and was the vice president between 2007 and 2010. [5] Additionally, she was an editor of the Journal of African Development (JAD) between 2017 and 2018. [5] Dr. Asiedu is also a founder and president of the Association for the Advancement of African Women (AAAWE). [5] She sat on the board of the National Economic Association between 2016 and 2019. [6] Asiedu is a member of the following;

Research and selected publications

Access to Credit by Small Businesses: How Relevant Are Race, Ethnicity, and Gender? (2012)

In this article, Asiedu, James A. Freeman, and Akwasi Nti-Addae explore the role of race, ethnicity, and gender on credit access. Their study categorizes race and ethnicity into the following: Black, Hispanic, Asian/Native American/Pacific Islander (ANP), White female, and White male. [7] They find that firms owned by visible minorities have a higher denial rate with the highest denial rate for Hispanics. Additionally, the denial rate for has increased between 1998 and 2003. [7] Finally, they find that minority-owned firms also paid higher interests than the White-male owned firms. In terms of gender, they find that firms owned by White women did not experience discrimination when accessing credit, and they also paid less interest rates own loans than their male counterparts. [7] Their study showcases that factors such as race, ethnicity and gender do in fact affect access to credit and interest paid on loans. [7]

Does Foreign Aid In Education Promote Economic Growth? (2014)

The paper "Does Foreign Aid in Education Promote Economic Growth? Evidence From Sub-Saharan Africa" explores whether the foreign aid that is aimed towards education is effective in primary education and secondary education in sub-Saharan Africa. Asiedu's study focuses on 38 countries from 1990 to 2004. [8] She argues that although educational financial aid is positively related to growth (because it provides resources such as books, training for teachers, etc.) this is only the case for primary education. [9] Educational financial aid in secondary education, on the other hand, does not contribute to economic growth, in fact it may have an adverse effect on growth. This is because of the lack of employment for secondary school graduates (which she suggests is true to many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa), [10] she suggests that another reason why this might be true is the lack of quality secondary education (such that increased time spent in school has no benefits). [8] Furthermore, she argues that this might be true because many secondary school graduates are employed in jobs that are low in productivity, thus reducing the potential for economic growth. [11] Finally, she argues that there is a lack of physical capital and other “complementary inputs” in Sub-Saharan Africa that would otherwise encourage productive labour in the region. [8]

The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Foreign Direct Investment (2015)

In the paper "The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Asiedu alongside Jin and Kanyama illuminate the relationship between HIV/AIDS and foreign direct investment (FDI). They examine this in 41 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and their model concludes that FDI is inversely related to the prevalence of HIV/AIDS infection for a number of reasons; one of which is that workers that are healthy are more productive, multinational companies (MNCs) that seek to establish themselves in Sub-Saharan Africa would consider the health of the population. [12] [13] Health of the labour force is important because it effects absenteeism and thus overall productivity. [14] Secondly, their model suggests that the negative externalities associated with HIV/AIDS (high morbidity and mortality rates which may affect coworkers that are not infected too). They find that reducing the infection rate will encourage FDI, and thus encourage economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa. [12]

Remittances and Investment in Education (2015)

The paper "Remittances and Investment in Education: Evidence from Ghana" analyses remittances (both international and domestic) in Ghana, and how they affect the likelihood of enrolment in both primary and secondary education. Asiedu and Kwabena Gyimah-Brempong argue that the increase in remittances to less developed countries (LDCs) such as Ghana not only have a positive effect on the GDP (making up about 5.5% of Ghana's GDP in 2011 [15] ), but this in turn allows for households in Ghana to invest in human capital as it eases financial constraints. Additionally, this paper argues that this effect is more observable when the household is headed by a female, and that the increase in investment in human capital allows for long term poverty alleviation in Ghana. The paper uses cross-sectional  data from the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS) from waves 5, [16] as well as pseudo-panel data from GLSS waves 3-5 [17] [18] [16] thus has a wide research base. Asiedu and Gyimah-Brempong use this data to analyze the data with the resource constraint model.

Foreign Direct Investment, Natural Resources, and Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa (2015)

In the paper "Foreign Direct Investment, Natural Resources, and Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa," Asiedu, Komla Dzigbede and Akwasi Nti-Addae explore the rise of oil production and in Sub-Saharan Africa and its effect on foreign direct investment FDI, they authors also question the impact of FDI in Sub-Saharan Africa. [19] They suggest that although FDI may be a vital factor in aiding economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, this economic growth is mostly accrued by the employment created by multinational corporations (MNCs) as these companies usually pay their employees higher wages than domestic companies. [20] [21] The authors use Tullow Oil, plc as an example to show the region's growing share of world oil production as well as to explore the role of MNCs FDI in terms of development and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. [19] Furthermore, they emphasize that the propensity to encourage economic growth or development is highly dependent on the type of FDI - FDI in manufacturing creates more employment than FDI in extractive industries like oil. [21] Additionally, the authors argue that the success of FDI is also dependent on other factors such as the education level in a given country, making it the much more difficult to truly benefit from FDI in just about any industry. [19]

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foreign direct investment</span> Purchase of an asset

A foreign direct investment (FDI) refers to purchase of an asset in another country, such that it gives direct control to the purchaser over the asset. In other words, it is an investment in the form of a controlling ownership in a business, in real estate or in productive assets such as factories in one country by an entity based in another country. It is thus distinguished from a foreign portfolio investment or foreign indirect investment by a notion of direct control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Africa</span> AFRICAN CURRENC-0.001

The economy of Africa consists of the trade, industry, agriculture, and human resources of the continent. As of 2019, approximately 1.3 billion people were living in 53 countries in Africa. Africa is a resource-rich continent. Recent growth has been due to growth in sales, commodities, services, and manufacturing. West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa in particular, are expected to reach a combined GDP of $29 trillion by 2050.

Structural adjustment programs (SAPs) consist of loans provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) to countries that experience economic crises. Their stated purpose is to adjust the country's economic structure, improve international competitiveness, and restore its balance of payments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remittance</span> Money transfer by a foreign worker to their home country

A remittance is a non-commercial transfer of money by a foreign worker, a member of a diaspora community, or a citizen with familial ties abroad, for household income in their home country or homeland. Money sent home by migrants competes with international aid as one of the largest financial inflows to developing countries. Workers' remittances are a significant part of international capital flows, especially with regard to labor-exporting countries.

Frances Julia Stewart is professor emeritus of development economics and director of the Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity (CRISE), University of Oxford. A pre-eminent development economist, she was named one of fifty outstanding technological leaders for 2003 by Scientific American. She was president of the Human Development and Capability Association from 2008 to 2010.

Maurice Kugler is a Colombian American economist born in 1967. He received his Ph.D. in economics from UC Berkeley in 2000, as well as an M.Sc. (Econ) and a B.Sc. (Econ) both from the London School of Economics. Kugler is professor of public policy in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. Prior to this, he worked as a consultant for the World Bank, where he was senior economist before (2010-2012). Most recently he was principal research scientist and managing director at IMPAQ International.

The Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI) is a project of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Founded by Earth Institute director Professor Jeffrey Sachs in 2006, MCI aims to assist through research and policy analysis selected mid-sized cities across sub-Saharan Africa, located near Millennium Villages, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The project's initial focus is on policy analysis impacting foreign direct investment (FDI), with a view to creating employment, stimulating domestic enterprise development and fostering economic growth. In addition to foreign investment, the MCI is working to promote an integrated City Development Strategy. The MCI draws upon, and strengthens, the MDGs work already underway by adding a focused urban-based component. MCI aims to demonstrate through its research and policy analysis that more FDI can be attracted to regional urban centers in Africa, with the resulting employment and economic growth effects. The Initiative will also produce urban development strategies issuing from the Initiative’s own MDG-based needs assessments that will inform municipal and national governments and their donors of the accurate, actual costs of achieving the MDGs.

Globalization is a process that encompasses the causes, courses, and consequences of transnational and transcultural integration of human and non-human activities. India had the distinction of being the world's largest economy till the end of the Mughal era, as it accounted for about 32.9% share of world GDP and about 17% of the world population. The goods produced in India had long been exported to far off destinations across the world; the concept of globalization is hardly new to India.

Sanjaya Lall was a development economist and Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford. Lall's research interests included the impact of foreign direct investment in developing countries, the economics of multi-national corporations, and the development of technological capability and industrial competitiveness in developing countries. One of the world's pre-eminent development economists, Lall was also one of the founding editors of the journal Oxford Development Studies and a senior economist at the World Bank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child labour in Africa</span>

Child labour in Africa is generally defined based on two factors: type of work and minimum appropriate age of the work. If a child is involved in an activity that is harmful to his/her physical and mental development, he/she is generally considered as a child labourer. That is, any work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children, and interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work. Appropriate minimum age for each work depends on the effects of the work on the physical health and mental development of children. ILO Convention No. 138 suggests the following minimum age for admission to employment under which, if a child works, he/she is considered as a child laborer: 18 years old for hazardous works, and 13–15 years old for light works, although 12–14 years old may be permitted for light works under strict conditions in very poor countries. Another definition proposed by ILO's Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC) defines a child as a child labourer if he/she is involved in an economic activity, and is under 12 years old and works one or more hours per week, or is 14 years old or under and works at least 14 hours per week, or is 14 years old or under and works at least one hour per week in activities that are hazardous, or is 17 or under and works in an "unconditional worst form of child labor".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in Africa</span>

The culture, evolution, and history of women who were born in, live in, and are from the continent of Africa reflect the evolution and history of the African continent itself.

Water-related industry in Africa provides jobs and employment opportunities in many sectors, for example agriculture, fisheries, manufacturing and industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raphie Kaplinsky</span> English professor

Raphael Malcolm Kaplinsky is an Honorary Professor at the Science Policy Research Unit and an Emeritus Professorial Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. In 2024 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He was an active and well-known opponent to Apartheid in South Africa during the 1960s, and played a leading role in 1968 in the Mafeje affair. Kaplinsky was not allowed to return to his country of birth until Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, after which he played an active role in policy development at the national and regional levels. He spent the bulk of his professional career at the University of Sussex where he led research programmes on industrial and technology policy and on Global value chain. He led and participated in a number of Advisory Missions to governments in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe.

Foreign direct investment and the environment involves international businesses and their interactions and impact on the natural world. These interactions can be observed through the stringency applied to foreign direct investment policy and the responsiveness of capital or labor incentive for investment inflows. The laws and regulations created by a country that focuses on environmental regimes can directly impact the levels of competition involving foreign direct investment they are exposed to. Fiscal and financial incentives stemming from ecological motivators, such as carbon taxation, are methods used based on the desired outcome within a country in order to attract foreign direct investment.

Hans P. Binswanger-Mkhize was a Swiss economist. His research focused mainly on agricultural economics in developing countries.

Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes is a Spanish economist, a Professor in the Economics and Business Management faculty at the University of California, Merced and a Professor and Department Chair at San Diego State University. Since 2015, she has been the Western Representative for a standing committee called the Committee for the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP). Her field of work focuses on the fundamentals of labour economics and international migration, particularly the nature of immigration policies and its impact on migrant's assimilation into the community at a state and local level. Amuedo-Dorantes has published multiple articles in refereed journals including Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Population Economics, International Migration, and Journal of Development Economics.

Abena Frempongmaa Daagye Oduro is the Vice Dean of the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Ghana where she also holds the position of Associate Professor of the Department of Economics. Having had 30 years of experience teaching, her areas of specialization are centred around gender and asset management, international economics, poverty analysis, macroeconomic theory and trade policy. Abena Oduro is the first Vice President of the Association for the Advancement of African Women Economists (AAAWE) where Professor of Economics in University of Kansas, Elizabeth Asiedu, is the founder and president. She is also the president elect of the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE), her tenure will be 2021 to 2022.

Kwabena Gyimah-Brempong is Ghanaian American economist who is a professor of economics and economics department chair at the University of South Florida, and a former president of the National Economic Association. He serves on the editorial boards of Southern Economic Journal and the Journal of African Development.

Reginald Herbold Green was an American development economist who focused on African economic issues. His research focus included studying the economies of eastern and southern Africa, South African Development Community (SADC), international organizations and aid disbursement, and the Economic Commission on Africa, specializing in poverty alleviation, development enablement, and economic liberalization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Awudu Abdulai</span> Ghanaian scholar (born 1958)

Awudu Abdulai is a Ghanaian agricultural and development economist, and professor at the Institute of Food Economics and Consumption Studies, University of Kiel, Germany. His research and teaching focus on issues related to poverty alleviation, food and nutrition security, consumer behavior, and sustainable agriculture.

References

  1. ↑ "Professor Asiedu". Archived from the original on 2015-08-25. Retrieved 2019-11-25.
  2. ↑ Asiedu, Elizabeth. "About AAAWE". aaawe.org. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  3. ↑ "UNU-MERIT » African women in the Economics profession" . Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  4. ↑ "Elizabeth Asiedu | Howard Profiles". profiles.howard.edu. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Elizabeth Asiedu - Professor of Economics, The University of Kansas". people.ku.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Elizabeth Asiedu - Professor of Economics, The University of Kansas". people.ku.edu. Archived from the original on 2015-08-25. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Asiedu, Elizabeth; Freeman, James A; Nti-Addae, Akwasi (2012). "Access to Credit by Small Businesses: How Relevant Are Race, Ethnicity, and Gender?". American Economic Review. 102 (3): 532–537. doi:10.1257/aer.102.3.532. ISSN   0002-8282. S2CID   16758139.
  8. 1 2 3 Asiedu, Elizabeth (Spring 2014). "Does Foreign Aid In Education Promote Economic Growth? Evidence From Sub-Saharan Africa". Journal of African Development. 16 (1): 37–59. doi:10.5325/jafrideve.16.1.0037. S2CID   18994639.
  9. ↑ Ainsworth, M.; Beegle, K.; Nyamete, A. (1996-01-01). "The Impact of Women's Schooling on Fertility and Contraceptive Use: A Study of Fourteen Sub-Saharan African Countries". The World Bank Economic Review. 10 (1): 85–122. doi:10.1093/wber/10.1.85. ISSN   0258-6770. S2CID   58938706.
  10. ↑ Al-Samarrai, Samer; Bennell, Paul (2007). "Where has all the education gone in sub-Saharan Africa? employment and other outcomes among secondary school and university leavers" (PDF). The Journal of Development Studies. 43 (7): 1270–1300. doi:10.1080/00220380701526592. ISSN   0022-0388. S2CID   59117717.
  11. ↑ Stein, Howard (1994). "Theories of institutions and economic reform in Africa". World Development. 22 (12): 1833–1849. doi:10.1016/0305-750x(94)90177-5. ISSN   0305-750X. S2CID   154984865.
  12. 1 2 Asiedu, Elizabeth; Jin, Yi; Kanyama, Isaac, K. (2015). "The impact of HIV/AIDS on foreign direct investment: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa". Journal of African Trade. 2 (1–2): 1–17. doi: 10.1016/j.joat.2015.01.001 . hdl: 10419/194331 .{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ Asiedu, Elizabeth (2002). "On the Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment to Developing Countries: Is Africa Different?". World Development. 30 (1): 107–119. doi:10.1016/s0305-750x(01)00100-0. ISSN   0305-750X.
  14. ↑ Grossman, Michael (1972). "On the Concept of Health Capital and the Demand for Health". Journal of Political Economy. 80 (2): 223–255. doi:10.1086/259880. ISSN   0022-3808. S2CID   27026628.
  15. ↑ Gyimah-Brempong, Kwabena; Asiedu, Elizabeth (2015-02-17). "Remittances and investment in education: Evidence from Ghana". The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development. 24 (2): 173–200. doi:10.1080/09638199.2014.881907. ISSN   0963-8199. S2CID   153895522.
  16. 1 2 "Ghana - Ghana Living Standard Survey 5: 2005, With Non-Farm Household Enterprise Module". www2.statsghana.gov.gh. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  17. ↑ "Ghana - Ghana Living Standards Survey 3 -1991, Third round". www2.statsghana.gov.gh. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  18. ↑ "Ghana - Ghana Living Standard Survey 4 - 1998, With labour force model". www2.statsghana.gov.gh. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  19. 1 2 3 Asiedu, Elizabeth; Dzigbede, Komla; Nti-Addae, Akwasi (2015). Zedillo, Ernesto (ed.). Africa at a Fork in the Road: Taking Off or Disappointment Once Again?. New Haven, USA: Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. pp. 395–414. ISBN   978-0-9779922-1-8.
  20. ↑ Axarloglou, Kostas; Pournarakis, Mike (2007). "Do All Foreign Direct Investment Inflows Benefit the Local Economy?". The World Economy. 30 (3): 424–445. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9701.2006.00824.x. ISSN   0378-5920. S2CID   154400430.
  21. 1 2 Asiedu, Elizabeth (2004-06-15). "The Determinants of Employment of Affiliates of US Multinational Enterprises in Africa". Development Policy Review. 22 (4): 371–379. doi:10.1111/j.1467-7679.2004.00255.x. ISSN   0950-6764. S2CID   1987298.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.