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This research study proposes, through case study research, to uncover and understand some of the business challenges and obstacles faced by entrepreneurs and SME business owners in Mozambique, with a view to developing a set of recommendations aimed at both the priate sector sole players and the overnment policy makers. / Through this report, the researcher sets out to understand the challenges to doing business in rural Mozambique by documenting and discussing the case study of Vilanculos Madeira Lda. With this understanding and in the context of the literature, the researcher then tries to develop some practical recommendations for both the government and the private sector, such that these challenges can be reduced and further Small and Medium Enterprise growth can continue. The literature indicates that Mozambique’s economy is growing rapidly, but that there are a number of challenges to doing business in the country for both local and foreign investors (the VM case study supports this notion). In the literature review, the researcher has documented a number of other relevant and interesting case studies of how similar challenges to doing business have been tackled by other countries around the world, and it is these case studies that form the grounds to some of the recommendations of this report. It is a conclusion of the researcher that a large number of the challenges identified stem from shortfalls in the current regulatory environment of Mozambique, particularly how these regulations are implemented and enforced. To assist with structuring the report, the researcher has used the 10 areas of business regulation as described in the World Bank’s “Doing Business” series of reports. As such, the recommendations aimed at the government and policy makers of Mozambique are presented in the above mentioned structure and speak of the various regulatory reforms that the researcher feels need to take place to improve the situation. It is in this context that the case studies of reform that are documented in the literature review prove to be so informative. It is from these case studies that the reader is led to understand that the most important element of correcting Mozambique’s challenging business environment emanates from creating the case for change. If the government and its leaders do not see the need for change, the battle is surely lost. However, if government does see need for change and they appoint the right kinds of leadership to lead the change, there is no reason why Mozambique could not overcome the documented challenges and become a shining example of reform in Africa. In the context of the private sector, the researcher has concluded that the best the business owners and managers can do is to learn to comply and work within the limits imposed by the current regulatory setup, as there is not much opportunity for the private sector to change the regulatory environment. Therefore the recommendations to the private sector are more geared towards compliance and how to achieve it, whilst also working with organised structures like chambers of business to help create the case for change.

The purpose of this study is to find out in what magnitude corruption affects economic growth in Africa, based on 8 variables chosen; GDP per capita growth, Corruption Perception index, Capital, Education, Unemployment rate, Worldwide Governance Indicators. There is an ongoing fight against corruption world-wide. The most severe condition of corruption is centered in large parts of Africa based on data from Transparency International. For this reason, the scope is to research if the high level of corruption hasan impact on the economic growth and if so, how big of an impact it has on economic growth, based on factors implemented. A panel data analysis is conducted to econometrically estimate how corruption effects economic growth in Africa. Previous studies in this subject and literature that speak of corruption as “grease to the wheels” and “sands to the wheels” is the foundation for the study. Results show no significance when it comes to the relation between CPI and economic growth. Therefore, no conclusion can be made.

This thesis investigates the relationships between trade, specialization and growth at the regional level for Spain's Autonomous Communities. First, we test for the existence of a long-run relationship between per capita GDP and trade, for 15 Spanish Autonomous Communities between 1988 and 2004, using the cointegration methodology. In particular, we will implement several newly-developed panel unit root tests and panel cointegration tests, with a special attention to their behaviour in a small sample. Our cointegration results reject the existence of a significant relationship between GDP per capita and exports. However, we do find some evidence of a significant relationship between GDP per capita and imports. Building on these cointegration results, we then examine how the relationship between per capita GDP and trade may depend on the level of specialization or on the extent of structural change undertaken between 1988 and 2003. In particular, we investigate the pattern of cross-correlation between regions emerging from their relationship GDP-Trade, using as determinants variables expressing economic geography, specialization and the evolution of structural change. While the inclusion of specialization does not affect the significance of the cointegration tests, our empirical strategy do compile converging evidence on the importance of structural change for Spain's regional development. Finally, we explore the mapping between specialization and trade in Spain's Autonomous Communities at the industry level. Does regional specialization in a particular industry translates into a greater level of export? We estimate an equation explaining the volume of intra-European exports, including the index specialization and other determinants of trade. Overall, the econometric analysis confirms the existence of a mapping between specialization and exports. By comparison, the counterfactual relationship between specialization and imports is negative or not significant, and perhaps spurious. / La présente thèse porte sur les relations liant la croissance économique, le commerce international et la spécialisation au niveau régional au sein des Communautés Autonomes d'Espagne. En premier lieu, nous testons pour l'existence d'une relation de long-terme entre le PIB per capita et le commerce international, pour 15 Communautés Autonomes entre 1988 et 2004, en recourant à la technique de la cointégration. En particulier, nous réalisons plusieurs tests – développés récemment - de racine unitaire ou de cointégration en panel, en portant une attention particulière au problème d'échantillon temporel court ainsi qu'à la corrélation entre les régions. Les tests de cointégration rejettent l'existence d'une relation long-terme entre le PIB per capita et les exportations. Par contre, nos résultats tendent à accepter l'existence d'une relation long-terme entre le PIB per capita et les importations. A partir de ces résultats de cointégration, nous tentons ensuite d'examiner en quoi la relation long-terme entre le PIB per capita et le commerce international peut dépendre du niveau de spécialisation régionale ou de l'ampleur des changements structurels entrepris entre 1988 et 2003. En particulier, nous tentons d'expliquer la structure de la corrélation croisée existant entre les régions dans leur relation PIB-commerce international, en utilisant comme déterminants des variables mesurant la géographie économique, le niveau de spécialisation et l'évolution des changements structurels. Bien que l'inclusion de la variable de spécialisation n'affecte pas directement la signifiance de la relation de cointégration entre le PIB per capita et le commerce international, notre stratégie empirique tend à confirmer l'importance des changements structurels pour le développement de l'Espagne. Enfin, nous explorons le « mapping » entre la spécialisation et le commerce international au niveau des industries au sein des Communautés Autonomes d'Espagne. La question est de savoir à quel degré la spécialisation régionale dans une industrie se transmet-elle en un niveau plus élevé des exportations. Pour ce faire, nous estimons une équation expliquant les déterminants des exportations intra-communautaires au niveau industrie-région, dont un indice mesurant la spécialisation de la région dans cette industrie, ainsi que d'autres déterminants du commerce international. En somme, l'analyse économétrique confirme l'existence d'un « mapping » significatif entre la spécialisation et les exportations. En comparaison, la relation entre la spécialisation et les importations apparaît comme étant négative ou non significative, et peut-être même fallacieuse sur le plan économétrique.

This thesis investigates the relationships between trade, specialization and growth at the regional level for Spain's Autonomous Communities. First, we test for the existence of a long-run relationship between per capita GDP and trade, for 15 Spanish Autonomous Communities between 1988 and 2004, using the cointegration methodology. In particular, we will implement several newly-developed panel unit root tests and panel cointegration tests, with a special attention to their behaviour in a small sample. Our cointegration results reject the existence of a significant relationship between GDP per capita and exports. However, we do find some evidence of a significant relationship between GDP per capita and imports. Building on these cointegration results, we then examine how the relationship between per capita GDP and trade may depend on the level of specialization or on the extent of structural change undertaken between 1988 and 2003. In particular, we investigate the pattern of cross-correlation between regions emerging from their relationship GDP-Trade, using as determinants variables expressing economic geography, specialization and the evolution of structural change. While the inclusion of specialization does not affect the significance of the cointegration tests, our empirical strategy do compile converging evidence on the importance of structural change for Spain's regional development. Finally, we explore the mapping between specialization and trade in Spain's Autonomous Communities at the industry level. Does regional specialization in a particular industry translates into a greater level of export? We estimate an equation explaining the volume of intra-European exports, including the index specialization and other determinants of trade. Overall, the econometric analysis confirms the existence of a mapping between specialization and exports. By comparison, the counterfactual relationship between specialization and imports is negative or not significant, and perhaps spurious. / La présente thèse porte sur les relations liant la croissance économique, le commerce international et la spécialisation au niveau régional au sein des Communautés Autonomes d'Espagne. En premier lieu, nous testons pour l'existence d'une relation de long-terme entre le PIB per capita et le commerce international, pour 15 Communautés Autonomes entre 1988 et 2004, en recourant à la technique de la cointégration. En particulier, nous réalisons plusieurs tests – développés récemment - de racine unitaire ou de cointégration en panel, en portant une attention particulière au problème d'échantillon temporel court ainsi qu'à la corrélation entre les régions. Les tests de cointégration rejettent l'existence d'une relation long-terme entre le PIB per capita et les exportations. Par contre, nos résultats tendent à accepter l'existence d'une relation long-terme entre le PIB per capita et les importations. A partir de ces résultats de cointégration, nous tentons ensuite d'examiner en quoi la relation long-terme entre le PIB per capita et le commerce international peut dépendre du niveau de spécialisation régionale ou de l'ampleur des changements structurels entrepris entre 1988 et 2003. En particulier, nous tentons d'expliquer la structure de la corrélation croisée existant entre les régions dans leur relation PIB-commerce international, en utilisant comme déterminants des variables mesurant la géographie économique, le niveau de spécialisation et l'évolution des changements structurels. Bien que l'inclusion de la variable de spécialisation n'affecte pas directement la signifiance de la relation de cointégration entre le PIB per capita et le commerce international, notre stratégie empirique tend à confirmer l'importance des changements structurels pour le développement de l'Espagne. Enfin, nous explorons le « mapping » entre la spécialisation et le commerce international au niveau des industries au sein des Communautés Autonomes d'Espagne. La question est de savoir à quel degré la spécialisation régionale dans une industrie se transmet-elle en un niveau plus élevé des exportations. Pour ce faire, nous estimons une équation expliquant les déterminants des exportations intra-communautaires au niveau industrie-région, dont un indice mesurant la spécialisation de la région dans cette industrie, ainsi que d'autres déterminants du commerce international. En somme, l'analyse économétrique confirme l'existence d'un « mapping » significatif entre la spécialisation et les exportations. En comparaison, la relation entre la spécialisation et les importations apparaît comme étant négative ou non significative, et peut-être même fallacieuse sur le plan économétrique.

This paper examines the empirical effect of corporate Income tax on GDP growth rate using historical data from 1951-2010 for Sweden. Economic theory postulates that corporate tax rates should significantly negatively affect GPD growth rate. Some past empirical works on cross-country panel data also supports this significantly negative correlation between growth rate and corporate tax. However, empirical works using country specific time-series data show deviations and contradictions to this conventional wisdom. Using time series data, I find that corporate income tax rates have no significant effect on Swedish economic growth.