Foreign aid as an economic policy was previously widely accepted as a way to assist least developed economies to achieve economic growth. Over the years, aid effectiveness has been questioned, whilst aid dependency has continued to rise. To assist in aid reduction, various economists have proposed aid exit strategies that countries could adopt to reduce aid dependency. However, the adoption of these strategies has been rather slow. The purpose of this study was to review and assess the current literature on the different proposed foreign aid exit strategies, in terms of their feasibility and ease of implementation, taking into account the current state of African economies. The analysis focused on the exit strategies recommended by Tandon (2008), Moyo (2009) and Fee (2012). The main finding of this study suggests that the aforementioned exit strategies are feasible, but not necessarily easy to implement, due to the limitations faced by many least developed countries. / Economics / M. Com. (Economics)

This thesis is framed within the research area of Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D), which is concerned with how ICT can make a difference to the lives of the poor. This study focuses primarily on mobile phones and how they can be used as part of an Agriculture Market Information Service (AMIS) in order to provide crucial information to farmers in Bangladesh. AMIS principally collect, manage and disseminate agricultural market prices and related information through various processes and media. These services are mainly used by farmers. The research question of how mobile phone-based AMIS can be designed and deployed in order to improve opportunities for farmers in Bangladesh is investigated through a design science research approach in four steps; understanding the scope and challenges related to AMIS in least developed countries; diagnosing the situational realities of farmers of Bangladesh; understanding the process of adopting mobile phones and investigating market information practices and preferences in a rural context; and finally designing and implementing a mobile phone based AMIS and evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of it for the farmers of Bangladesh. In this thesis, development is viewed in terms of bringing about an in-crease in farmers’ capability set directed towards the utilization of resources for the purpose of production and trade. Information and knowledge are important drivers of development and poverty reduction: ICT can create new opportunities to expand the availability, exchange, and impact of information and knowledge. This thesis contributes to ICT4D research and practice through empirical findings, the design of an AMIS, test results, and the development of analytical tools. Its major contributions include an increased understanding of farmers’ attitudes and preferences towards the use of technology in general, and mobile phones in particular, and a broader understanding of ICT for human development in the context of poor rural regions. / Informatics or ICT4D

Rapporterade naturkatastrofer har ökat markant under senare år, likt totala kostnader som följer. Utländska direktinvesteringar har ökat parallellt och är en viktig variabel för återhämtning efter en katastrof, särskilt för utvecklingsländer. Naturkatastrofer utgör en risk för utländska direktinvesteringar varför syftet med uppsatsen är att analysera naturkatastrofers inverkan på inflödet av utländska direktinvesteringar. För att besvara uppsatsens syfte analyseras om direktinvesteringar i utvecklade och utvecklingsländer påverkas olika av naturkatastrofer samt hur olika typer av naturkatastrofer påverkar direktinvesteringar. Få publikationer finns att tillgå inom ämnet, varför uppsatsen fyller en kunskapslucka. Uppsatsen använder ett balanserat paneldataset med 1632 observationer över tidsperioden 1980 - 2011. Fixed Effect Model tillämpas och resultaten visar att naturkatastrofer har en negativ inverkan på inflödet av utländska direktinvesteringar på både kort och lång sikt. Effekten är mer negativ på lång sikt vilket stärker bilden av att direktinvesteringar är långsiktiga. Stormar är den typ av naturkatastrof, framför översvämningar, som är tydligast bunden till direktinvesteringar. Jordbävningar visar ingen signifikans. Naturkatastrofer påverkar utländska direktinvesteringar i utvecklade länder marginellt mer än i utvecklingsländer. Den ekonomiska tillväxten är enbart signifikant för utvecklingsländer som uppvisar en positiv signifikant för alla studerade tidshorisonter. För utvecklade och utvecklingsländer har stormar och översvämningar ett negativ samband med direktinvesteringar. Jordbävningar uppvisar en positiv signifikans på 1 års sikt för utvecklade länder, men ingen signifikans för utvecklingsländer.Nyckelord: Utländska / The reporting of natural disasters has increased significantly during the last century. Likewise has the financial costs risen along with the natural disasters. Foreign direct investments (FDI) has increased during the same time period and is a key variable for economic recovery after a natural disaster, especially for developing countries. Natural disasters imposes risk for FDI, hence the purpose of this study is to analyze the impact natural disasters has on FDI. This study investigate if there are differences in how developed and developing countries cope with natural disasters and how different types of natural disasters affects FDI in different ways. The study uses a 1632 observation panel data set covering the time period 1980 to 2011. The regression model applied is Fixed Effect Model. The results show that natural disasters significantly impact FDI negatively, both in the short and long-run. The marginal effect in the long-run are shown to be more negative than in the short-run, establishing that FDI are long term investments. The type of natural disaster, closest connected to FDI are storms. The impact from natural disaster on developed countries is marginally more notable than the impact on developing countries. Economic Growth, as a regressor, is only shown to be significant for developing countries. For developed and developing countries storms and floods are negatively connected to FDI. In developed countries earthquakes have a positive connection to FDI in a one year period.

<p>The Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region is faced with limited medical personnel and healthcare services to address the many healthcare problems of the region. Poor health indicators reflect the overall decline in socio-economic development. Shortages of access to health services in the region is further complicated by the concentration of health services in urban areas, the region’s multiple medical problems (over 70% of HIV/AIDS cases in the world); and the brain drain phenomenon – it is estimated one-third of African physicians emigrate to North America and Europe. The result is that the SSA region is left with about 10 physicians, and 20 beds, per 100,000 patients. Telemedicine has been found to offer socio-economic benefits, reduce costs, and improve access to healthcare service providers by patients, but previous attempts to move various information technologies from developers in the industrial world to the developing world have failed because of a clear neglect of infrastructural and cultural factors that influence such transfers. The objective of this study is to address key factors that challenge the introduction of telemedicine technology into the health sector in SSA in particular, and by extension, other developing countries with similar socio-economic structures.</p><p>This research offers a distinctive perspective, focusing on visually-based clinical applications in the SSA region, and considerable attention to the national infrastructure and cultural impact of telemedicine transfer (social and value) outcomes. Two research models and its associated hypotheses are proposed and empirically tested using quantitative data collected from SSA physicians and other health professionals. The study also contributes to the ongoing debate on the potential of telemedicine in improving access and reducing costs. This research can help to understand the socio-economic impact of telemedicine outcomes in a comprehensive way. The finding from the survey shows the rapid advances in telemedicine technology specifically, visual clinical applications may become an essential healthcare tool in the near future within SSA countries.</p>

Mobile technologies are emerging as one way to help address health challenges in many countries, including in Least Developed Countries. Mobile technology can reach a large share of the population but in order to provide effective support to healthcare services, technology, information collection and dissemination, and work processes need to be well aligned. The thesis uses a design science methodological approach and mixes qualitative and quantitative data analysis to address the question of, How can mobile technologies be effectively integrated with routine healthcare services? The study concerns the design, implementation, and evaluation of a mobile technology-based system, called SMSaúde, with the aim of improving the care of patients with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in Mozambique. The work started with the elicitation of functional and user requirements, based on focus group discussions. An important challenge, as in many mHealth interventions, was the integration with routine healthcare services and the existing IT systems, as well as developing a scalable technical structure. The system has now been in routine use since 2013 in more than 16 healthcare clinics in Mozambique. Evaluation was done by a randomised controlled study. Analysis of patient records showed that retention in care in urban areas was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group. In a user study both patients and health professionals were very positive to the system. The thesis contributes to research by demonstrating how information system artefacts can be constructed and successfully implemented in resource-constrained settings. The practical contributions include the designed artefact itself as well as improved healthcare practices and mHealth policy recommendations.

Health has long been referred to as a contributing development factor for economic growth, and health investments have been implemented as a strategy for achieving economic development. However, several countries have reached economic growth before improving health status, which raises questions of the significance of public health related to economic growth. The economic inequalities between countries tend to increase along with enlarged differences in health status, is there possibly a correlation between these occurrences? The purpose of this essay is to make a theoretical contribution by examining the impact of health on economic growth based on the world’s least developed countries (LDCs). This relationship has not been studied within these countries before and the essay intends to find out if basic health is a prerequisite for economic growth. The hypothesis of the study is a positive correlation between improvement of health status in a population within a country and its economic growth. Quantitative approach through a cross-sectional study of the independent variables health investments, initial GDP per capita, life expectancy and HIV along with the dependent variable of GDP per capita growth. Data from 48 LDCs during the period 1995 – 2015 was obtained. A regression analysis of Ordinary Least Squares, VIF-test and QQ-plot was performed through the computer program Gretl 2016c.  The variation in GDP per capita growth can be explained to 75 % by changes in the health-related variables. Previous theories regarding the positive effect on economic growth from increased health investments, lower initial GDP per capita and increased life expectancy were supported in this study. Health investments and initial GDP per capita showed a statistically significant correlation to economic growth. Life expectancy lacked significance, but was supported by previous research. The variable for HIV showed a positive correlation to economic growth, contrary to previous theories. The relationship can although be explained by insufficient data and low significance. / Hälsa har länge benämnts som en bidragande utvecklingsfaktor för ekonomisk tillväxt och hälsoinvesteringar har använts som en strategi för att uppnå ekonomisk utveckling. Samtidigt har flera länder uppnått ekonomisk tillväxt innan förbättrad hälsostatus vilket leder till funderingar kring vilken roll befolkningens hälsa egentligen spelar för landets ekonomiska tillväxt. De ekonomiska ojämlikheterna länder emellan tenderar att öka och skillnaden i hälsostatusen likaså, finns det möjligtvis ett samband kring detta? Syfte: Uppsatsens syfte är att bringa ett teoretiskt bidrag genom att undersöka hälsans inverkan på ekonomisk tillväxt med utgångspunkt i världens minst utvecklade länder (MUL-länder). Detta samband har tidigare inte studerats inom dessa länder och uppsatsen avser att ta reda på om en grundläggande god hälsa förefaller vara en förutsättning för ekonomisk tillväxt. Hypotesen för uppsatsen är ett positivt samband mellan ett förbättrat hälsotillstånd hos ett lands befolkning och dess ekonomiska tillväxt. Frågeställning: Leder en förbättrad hälsa till ökad ekonomisk tillväxt i världens minst utvecklade länder? Metod: Kvantitativt tillvägagångssätt genom en tvärsnittsstudie av de oberoende variablerna statens hälsoinvesteringar, initial BNP per capita, förväntad livslängd och HIV samt den beroende variabeln tillväxt i BNP per capita. Data från 48 MUL-länder under perioden 1995 – 2015 inhämtades. I dataprogrammet Gretl 2016c utfördes en regressionsanalys av typen Minsta kvadratmetoden, VIF-test samt QQ-plot. Slutsats: Variationen i tillväxten i BNP per capita kan till 75 % förklaras av förändringar i de hälsorelaterade variablerna. Tidigare teorier kring positiva effekter på den ekonomiska tillväxten från ökade hälsoinvesteringar, lägre initialt BNP per capita och ökad livslängd förstärktes i denna undersökning. Hälsoinvesteringar och initialt BNP per capita visade ett statistiskt säkerställt samband till den ekonomiska tillväxten. Förväntad livslängd saknade signifikans, men stöds av tidigare forskning. Variabeln för HIV visade ett positivt samband på ekonomisk tillväxt vilket strider mot tidigare teorier. Sambandet kan dock förklaras av bristfällig data och låg signifikansnivå.

The theme of this study is that seven major East Asian less developed countries (LDCs) have experienced "dependent development," and that some internal and external intervening factors mattered in that process. Utilizing a framework of "dependent development," the data analysis deals with the political economy of development in these countries. This analysis supports the fundamental arguments of the dependent development perspective, which emphasize positive effects of foreign capital dependence in domestic capital formation and industrialization in East Asian LDCs. This perspective assumes the active role of the state, and it is found here to be crucial in capital accumulation and in economic growth. This cross-national time-series analysis also shows that the effects of external dependence and military spending on capital accumulation and economic growth can be considered as a regional phenomenon. The dependent development perspective offers a useful way to understand economic dynamism of East Asian LDCs for the past two decades.

The Least developed countries represent the weakest and poorest segment of the Word economy. Members of this this specific group are countries with the lowest incomes per capita, low human development and high economic vulnerability. Dealing with problems of these countries including extreme poverty isn't successful in the long run. Many advanced, developing as well as the LDCsstart to concentrate on tourism development, thank to its wide impacts on the economy and regional development. Also the UN strengthens its support to the LDCs in sustainable tourism development. The goal of this thesis is to analyze the significance of tourism for the economies of the LDCs and its potential for boosting the socio-economic development in these countries and for solving their problems includingtha alleviation of poverty.

This case study, executed in school network driven by a private foundation for underprivileged children in Cambodia, provides a perspective from a unique situation of technology enablement in an environment with a predominantly instructivist teaching tradition.   The said environment is strongly influenced by private sector donors with strong constructivist traditions and expectations. The environment is thus unique in the sense that a relatively asset rich environment, with expectations of 21st century pedagogical skills, is transported into an asset poor environment that was/is strongly rooted in instructivism. The case study thus give a perspective on if technology itself is a possible solution for better teacher education/educational delivery, or if the underlying pedagogy first needs to be evolved to allow web-based platforms and tools to be fully leveraged.     In the specific environment being studies, teacher in-service training plays a larger role than formal teacher qualifications, and peer-to-peer, in-person, learning is the cornerstone of development (offline connectivism). Rather than changing the way the teachers learn, there should be opportunity in further strengthening the current practices of communities. Connectivist MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) do provide the community engagement and together with technology mediated professional learning platforms there should be opportunity to provide enhanced support for teachers’ education.   The two main hurdles to overcome, beyond functioning technology assets and web access, are teachers own comfort levels with technology platforms, as well as provision of platforms that support local language options. The comfort level with technology is important to address as, assuming technology and web access works, the openness and lack of control in a web environment is in direct contradiction to instructivist teaching. Unlocking the potential of the web requires that teachers are comfortable with the web itself and also truly support inquiry based learning over didactic teaching, and that they have the skills to help children navigate the openness of the web.   As economies shift towards becoming knowledge societies, collaborative problem-solving and navigation to knowledge are skills of increasing in importance, relative static knowledge recall that was previously viewed as value adding. This case study contributes to pedagogical theory and in particularly gives one more perspective on the shift from instructivist to constructivist teaching as a pre-requisite for capturing the power of the internet, and the shift to leveraging networks in a connectivist pedagogical approach. This case study also calls out the need for evolved frameworks to better describe technology mediated learning in least developing country environments. The case study also provides contribution to practice to technology mediated teacher education as it specifically addresses some of the opportunities in strengthening the support to teacher education in least developed countries.

Inovação verde incorpora melhorias tecnológicas que economizam energia, previne a poluição, permite a reciclagem de resíduos e pode incluir design de produto verde e a gestão ambiental das empresas. Este tema tem sido estudado por diversos autores sob vários aspectos, mas os resultados sobre os antecedentes da Inovação Verde ainda apresentam divergências na literatura. Diante disso e com base na teoria institucional, este estudo pretende analisar como o grau de severidade das regulamentações ambientais e a competitividade internacional dos países afetam os esforços em Inovação Verde das empresas do setor industrial dos Países Desenvolvidos (PD) e dos Países em Desenvolvimento (PED). A amostra da pesquisa foi composta por 186 empresas industriais, que constam na lista das 500 maiores empresas por valor de mercado da Financial Times no ano de 2015, sendo 114 de PD e 72 PED. Foram utilizados no estudo como variáveis de análise: o índice de competitividade global do World Economic Forum (WEF), os indicadores de regulamentação ambiental da OECD, as informações sobre certificação ISO 14001 nos relatórios de sustentabilidade das empresas baseados nas diretrizes de GRI, as medidas de tamanho da empresa, o grau de internacionalização e investimentos ambientais coletados da base Thomsom One, bem como as informações sobre Pacto Global e sobre DJSI. Como metodologia, este trabalho caracterizou-se por ser um estudo descritivo, com abordagem quantitativa, uma vez que foram levantados dados e utilizou-se da Modelagem de Equações Estruturais para análise da relação entre as variáveis. Os principais resultados do trabalho foram: (a) O rigor das regulamentações ambientais dos países afetam o esforço de inovação verde das empresas industriais dos PD e PED somente no construto IV2, composto pelas variáveis Pacto Global e investimentos ambientais; (b) A competitividade dos países não apresentou influência positiva no esforço de inovação verde das empresas e demonstrou um efeito negativo e significante estatisticamente no construto IV2; (c) o tamanho das empresas só apresentou um impacto positivo e significante estatisticamente sobre o construto IV2; (d) o grau de internacionalização das empresas não apresentou um efeito significativo sobre nenhum dos construtos de inovação verde; (e) a relação entre as regulamentações ambientais e a inovação verde é moderada positivamente pelo tamanho das empresas e moderada negativamente pelo seu grau de internacionalização; (f) a relação entre a competitividade dos países e a inovação verde é moderada negativamente pelo tamanho das empresas e moderada positivamente pelo seu grau de internacionalização. Pode-se concluir com os resultados desta tese que, dentre os antecedentes da inovação verde analisados, confirmou-se que somente as regulamentações ambientais e o tamanho das empresas exerce um efeito positivo sobre os esforços de inovação verde das empresa, mas isso dependendo de como a inovação verde está sendo medida. / Green innovation incorporates technological improvements that save energy, prevent pollution, allow waste recycling and can include green product design and environmental management of companies. This theme has been studied by several authors in different aspects, but the results of the background of Green Innovation still present divergences in the literature. Given this, and based on institutional theory, this study aims to analyze how the severity of environmental regulations and the international competitiveness of countries affect the efforts of Green Innovation in companies of the industrial sector in Developed Countries (PD) and Developing Countries (PED). The survey sample consisted of 186 industrial companies, which are listed in the Financial Times\' top 500 companies by market value in 2015, of which 114 were PD and 72 were PED. The variables used in the study were based on: the Global Competitiveness Index of the World Economic Forum (WEF), OECD environmental regulation indicators, ISO 14001 certification information in the company sustainability reports based on GRI guidelines, company size measures, degree of internationalization and environmental investments collected from Thomsom One base, Global Compact and DJSI information. As a methodology, this work was characterized as a descriptive study, with a quantitative approach, since data were collected and the Structural Equation Modeling (SME) was used to analyze the relationship between variables. The main results of the study were: (a) The rigor of the environmental regulations of the countries affect the green innovation effort of the industrial companies of the PD and PED only in construct IV2, composed of the variables Global Compact and environmental investments; (b) The competitiveness of the countries did not have a positive influence on the green innovation effort of the companies, but showed a statistically negative and significant effect on the IV2 construct; (c) the size of the companies, only had a positive and statistically significant impact on the IV2 construct; (d) the degree of internationalization of companies has not had a significant effect on any of the green innovation constructs; (e) the relationship between environmental regulations and green innovation is moderated positively by the size of firms, and moderated negatively by their degree of internationalization; (f) the relationship between the countries\' competitiveness and green innovation is negatively moderated by the size of firms and moderated positively by their degree of internationalization. It can be concluded from the results of this thesis that, among the antecedents of the green innovation analyzed, it was confirmed that only environmental regulations and the size of companies have a positive effect on the companies\' green innovation efforts, but this depending on how green innovation is being measured.