- Title
- Political leadership and economic growth: investigating African presidents, their educational attainment and influence on economic growth
- Creator
- Julius, Claire
- Subject
- Leadership -- Africa
- Subject
- Economic development -- Econometric models
- Subject
- Africa -- Economic conditions
- Date Issued
- 2025-04
- Date
- 2025-04
- Type
- Master's theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/72798
- Identifier
- vital:79263
- Description
- This study examines the role of African presidents’ educational backgrounds in influencing economic growth on the continent. It seeks to answer two key questions: which types of education are most effective in driving economic growth in Africa, and which levels of education are most critical for fostering such growth. The research employs the Cross-Sectionally Dependent Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) and Panel Quantile Autoregressive Distributed Lag (PQ-ARDL) models to analyse a reduced-form growth equation using time-series data from 1975 to 2021. These models are particularly suited for evaluating both short- and long-term effects of education, while capturing its impact across different growth phases of the economy. The findings indicate that both the type and level of education significantly influence economic growth, with their impacts varying depending on the economic growth phase. Specific fields of study, including economics, civil service, and engineering, are more strongly associated with positive economic outcomes when held by African presidents. Furthermore, the level of education enhances these effects, but only when paired with these high-impact fields. The results also highlight that the influence of education is context-dependent, varying with economic conditions; certain qualifications yield greater effectiveness during periods of economic expansion, while others prove more impactful during economic contractions. This study provides important implications for policymakers by offering evidence-based recommendations on prioritising specific educational qualifications for political leaders to promote economic growth. It highlights the strategic importance of education in fostering effective political leadership and driving developmental outcomes. The originality of this research lies in its integration of CS-ARDL and PQ-ARDL models to explore the distributional effects of presidential education on economic growth—a perspective previously unexplored in the African context. This contribution enhances the discourse on the role of leadership in economic development and provides a valuable foundation for informed policymaking in Africa.
- Description
- Thesis (MCom) -- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences, School of Economics, Development and Tourism, 2025
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (102 pages)
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Business and Economic Sciences
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela University
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
- Hits: 4
- Visitors: 4
- Downloads: 0
Collections
NMU School for Economics, Development and Tourism
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | JULIUS, C.pdf | 830 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |