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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of access to production credit on the productivity of smallholder farmers.

Data for the study were drawn from the Agricultural Value Chain Facility (AVCF), which was implemented in the Northern Region of Ghana. This paper uses the Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to estimate the average treatment effect of access to production credit on the productivity of smallholder farmers. The rationale for the choice of this estimation technique is to control for selection bias since the treatment variable (access to production credit) was not randomised. The authors also test for the effect of hidden bias using “Rosenbaum bounds” sensitivity analysis. The study uses two control groups to examine the net effect of credit on productivity.

The results reveal that smallholder farmers with access to production credit increased productivity through investment in farm inputs. For the impact of credit on productivity using control Group 1, the result shows that farmers with access to credit increased their productivity by 0.170 metric tonnes per hectare and for control Group 2, the result shows an increase of 0.252 metric tonnes per hectare more than farmers who are without access to production credit.

The evidence as provided by this paper is that access to production credit is significant to meet the credit needs of smallholder farmers and therefore contributes to the policy debate on whether access to credit has impact on the productivity of smallholder farmers.

The paper shows the importance of production credit in augmenting the production function of smallholder farmers.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of macroeconomic uncertainty on stock‐price volatility in Ghana.

The method of analysis is in two stages. The first stage estimates univariate volatility models for each macroeconomic variable; namely consumer price index (proxy for inflation), exchange rate, money supply, interest rates, oil price, gold price, and cocoa price using the exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (EGARCH) model. In the second stage volatility effect of macroeconomic variables on stock prices is estimated using the most recent squared residuals from the mean‐conditional variance of macroeconomic variables as exogenous variables in the conditional variance equation of the stock price.

The results show that higher volatility in cocoa prices and interest rates increases volatility of the stock prices, whilst higher volatility in gold prices, oil prices, and money supply reduces volatility of stock prices.

This paper departs from previous studies on African markets, by incorporating time‐varying volatility characteristics of stock returns and further examining the effect of conditional volatility of macroeconomic variables on the volatility of stock. It also incorporates the effect of external macroeconomic uncertainties from oil and commodity price shocks.

Purpose – This paper investigates competitive bank behaviour in Africa for the period 1999–2008 and further examines the impact of institutional quality and political atmosphere on competitive bank behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach – This study used panel data methodology based on the Panzar–Rosse (1987) design.

Findings – The findings of the study indicates that the nature of banking system in Africa can best be described as monopolistically competitive. Also, our findings endorse the importance of institutional quality and political stability in fostering competitive banking sector. In particular, the rule of law shows positive and significant relationship with competitive bank behaviour. Additionally, the quality of regulations suggests positive association with bank competitive behaviour. With respect to political environment, stable political atmosphere is conducive for promoting competitive banking sector. Improved regulatory quality coupled with reduced level of perception about corruption fosters competitive bank behaviour.

Originality/value – This paper provides useful information relevant to policy makers in the banking sector about the nature of bank competitive behaviour in Africa and the drivers behind the competitive behaviour.

The paper aims to investigate the relationship between stock prices and exchange rate movement in seven African countries.

It uses vector autoregressive (VAR) cointegration and impulse response analysis to determine the long‐ and short‐run linkages between stock prices and exchange rates.

Cointegration analyses indicate a long‐run relationship between stock prices and the exchange rate in Tunisia, where exchange rate depreciation drives down stock prices. A short‐run error‐correction model also shows similar results. Impulse response analyses for other countries show that stock returns in Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius and Nigeria reduce when induced by exchange rate shocks but increase in Egypt and South Africa. Shocks induced by either stock prices or the exchange rate are more protracted in Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius and Nigeria than in South Africa and Egypt.

This is one of the few studies on Africa which tests for long‐run dynamics and impulse response shock dynamics within a VAR framework. Again unlike other studies it also concentrates on more countries in the sample.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the extent to which the corporate governance framework can be applied to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and discuss these issues further within the Ghanaian context.

After considering some of the key issues, the paper shows how relevant these issues are to the SME sector.

It is clear that corporate governance brings new strategic outlook through external independent directors and enhances firms' corporate entrepreneurship and competitiveness. Again the problems of credit constraint and managerial incompetence in the Ghanaian SME sector could also be overcome with a good corporate governance structure in place.

The discussion mainly focuses on corporate governance within the context of Ghanaian SMEs.

This paper provides conceptual insights on the application of corporate governance among SMEs.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between banking sector efficiency and economic growth in Africa.

Methodology/approach – The paper used the stochastic frontier approach stating the banking sector cost function as a Fourier flexible to estimate bank efficiency. We then used the Arellano–Bond GMM estimator to investigate the relationship between banking sector efficiency and economic growth. Annual data for banking sector financial statements were used in estimating efficiency scores.

Findings – The study found banking sector efficiency in the sample to be 69%. We also found a positive relationship between banking sector efficiency and economic growth, confirming the critical role banks play in the economy.

Practical implications – Banking sector efficiency score of 69% implies banks in Africa could save up to 31% of their total cost if they were to operate efficiently. Policy direction should therefore focus on policies and incentives that will improve the efficiency of the banking sector and hence economic growth. The study brings to the fore the importance of the qualitative aspect of the banking sector in allocating financial resources in the real economy. Focus in the real economy should not be only on the size of the banking system but also on the quality with which resources are allocated.

Originality/value of paper – This study is among the first dedicated solely to African countries. It does set the pace for future research in the area and also confirms in Africa the Schumpeterian hypothesis that the banking sector is key in allocating resources in the real economy.

The study aims to examine the socio‐economic determinants of maternal health services utilization in Ghana.

Probit and ordered probit models are employed in this study.

The results generally indicate that most women in Ghana undertake the required visits for antenatal services and also take both doses of the tetanus toxoid vaccine as required by World Health Organization. However, the results show low levels of usage in terms of the other maternal health care services (i.e. prenatal care, delivery at a health facility, and postnatal care). There is clearly an urgent need to develop innovative strategies that will help upscale intervention especially for improvement in the use of these services by women in Ghana. The regression results reveal that utilization of maternal health services and intensity of use of antenatal services are influenced by age of mother, type of birth, education of mother, ethnicity, economic status, geographic location, residence, and religious affiliation. Obviously, this suggests that more than medical factors are responsible for the differences in the use of maternal health services by women in Ghana as well as the decision on the number of visits to undertake with respect to antenatal visits.

The findings of this study have important implications for health policy formulation targeted at improving maternal health care service utilization.

This paper's purpose is to examine the nature and correlates of poverty in Ghana.

Using the most recently published household living standards survey; the paper computes poverty indicators using the Foster et al., and Theil's inequality indicators to examine the nature of poverty. It also does a qualitative analysis on the nature of poverty by examining access to social amenities by households. Finally, based on standard empirical literature the paper runs an ordinary least squares and a probit regression to determine the correlates of poverty.

Most households rely on wood fuel, do not have access to tap water and live in rooms rather than full apartments. Expenditure inequality is high and greater in the rural areas compared to the urban areas. Inequality within locations appears to be the main source of national inequality. A household is less likely to be poor if the head is educated, as well as if the household is urban based. Again, households with heads employed in the clerical, sales, services, and agricultural sectors are more likely to be poor compared with those employed in the administrative and managerial sectors.

The paper is based on a static analysis of poverty; the absence of a panel household survey makes it difficult to examine the dynamics of poverty.

This paper provides a comprehensive and holistic examination of the nature of poverty in Ghana. It looks at poverty within various sectors of an economy by simultaneously examining the issues both from quantitative and qualitative perspectives

Drawing first on stylised facts, the purpose of this paper is to isolate the impact of trade liberalisation policies pursued for the past two decades on poverty in agricultural households in Ghana.

Two samples of agricultural households are drawn from the most recently published Ghana Living Standards Survey. Using terms of trade as a channel of the reforms, an econometric estimate of the impact of terms of trade on per‐capita expenditure, of these agricultural households, is run on both samples using two cross‐sectional models.

The results suggest that trade liberalisation had an adverse welfare impact on agricultural households immediately after the reforms‐1992; however, trade positively influenced welfare much later‐1999. Even though agricultural producers' terms of trade have improved they still constitute the largest segment of the poor in Ghana.

Targeted trade policy instruments are required to positively impact mainstream agricultural households in poverty alleviation efforts. The absence of repeated cross‐sections in the Living Standards Survey limits the possibility of exploring dynamic effects.

This paper isolates welfare effects of trade on agriculture households in Ghana – a departure from previous studies which examine the effect of trade on all households. This distinction is important since welfare effects of trade in Ghana are more likely to impact households whose livelihoods depend on agriculture than on other households.