Foreign aid volatility and lifelong learning: demand-side empirics to a textual literature

Arbeitspapier

Purpose- This paper has put a demand-side empirical structure to the hypothesis that foreign aid volatility adversely affects choices to lifelong learning in recipient countries Design/methodology/approach- Lifelong learning is measured as the combined knowledge acquired during primary, secondary and tertiary educational enrolments. Three types of aggregate foreign aid volatilities are computed in a twofold manner: baseline standard deviations and standard errors (standard deviations of residuals after first-order autoregressive processes). An endogeneity robust dynamic system GMM empirical strategy is employed. Findings- The findings broadly show that foreign aid volatility does not adversely affect the demand-side choices of lifelong learning in Africa. Practical implications- As a policy implication, when faced with aid uncertainty, the demand for education would increase. This may be explained by the need for more self-reliance in order to mitigate income risks or/and the use of education as means of copping with uncertainty. Moreover, the findings indirectly confirm a stream of the literature sustaining that when faced with uncertainty in external financial flows, countries may recourse to promoting human resource development through lifelong learning and knowledge economy as a competitive advantage. This may also explain why countries which have acknowledged scarcity in external financial flows from natural resources have done relatively better compared to their natural resource-rich counterparts. Originality/value- This paper has provided demand-side empirics to a hypothesis that could substantial influence policy making.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: AGDI Working Paper ; No. WP/15/016

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Education and Research Institutions: General ; Education: Government Policy ; Foreign Aid ; Economywide Country Studies: Africa ; Capitalist Systems: Political Economy
• Subject: Lifelong learning ; Foreign aid ; Development ; Africa

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Asongu, Simplice A. ; Nwachukwu, Jacinta C.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): African Governance and Development Institute (AGDI)
• (where): Yaoundé
• (when): 2015

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/123660
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET