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Prof. Mulatu Fekadu F E K A D U ZERIHUN

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Currently I am NRF C2 rated researcher, Head of Department and Professor in the Department of Economics. I have also been serving in various institutional academic committees including Senate Committee. I hold a M.Sc. in Economics from Addis Abba University, DBA (Doctor of Business Administration) from TUT Business School, Tshwane University of Technology, and PhD in Economics from the University of Pretoria. I have extensive teaching & research experience for more than two decades in tertiary academic institutions and 5 years’ experience in the industry. My research interest areas are macroeconomic policy analysis, applied econometrics analysis, development macroeconomics and finance, regional economic and monetary integrations, poverty and income inequality analysis, exchange rate dynamics and economic growth, and socioeconomic and livelihood studies. I have published widely in areas related to Macroeconomics, International Trade and Finance, Development Macroeconomics, and Environmental Economics. Since 2014 I have been receiving academic excellence awards in different categories. In total, I have authored, lead-authored and co-authored more than 125 publications. Among them 70 accredited journal articles, 17 working papers, 32 conference presentations, a book, and 20 chapters in refereed books. So far, I have supervised 3 doctoral (PhD) and 13 master’s students to the completion and many more in the pipeline. I have been collaborating with various international research projects and academic institutions in Africa and abroad. My research metrics on Google Scholar and other platforms such as ResearchGate and Academia.edu are in double digits which exhibits my global contributions in my field of study. Furthermore, I have been equipping myself through academic collaboration, and by attending workshops on various research instruments and skills development courses locally and internationally.
Supervisors: Prof Martin Breitenbach

less

Marthinus Breitenbach

Texas Lutheran University (tlu.edu)

Mulatu F Zerihun

Johanudin Lahap

Universiti Teknologi Mara

Tshwane University of Technology

Aligarh Muslim University

Muhammad Luqman

Manchester Metropolitan University

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Papers by Prof. Mulatu Fekadu F E K A D U ZERIHUN

Leader: Research Niche Area: Inclusive Growth, Socioeconomic Development and Transformation NRF Rating-Level C2 Google Scholar ResearchGate Scopus [Scopus ID: 56053986400] Citations 585 Citations 458

Resumé Currently I am NRF C 2 rated researcher, Head of Department and Professor in the Departmen... more

Combining credit and training to support micro and small enterprises in Ethiopia Policy Brief Micro and Small Enterprises development supported by policy

Why So Much Pessimism about Economic Integration in Africa? The Case of the Southern African Development Community

African Journal of Business and Economic Research, 2019

Is SADC an optimal currency area? Evidence from the generalized purchasing power parity test

Economic Change and Restructuring, 2017

In this paper we investigate the likelihood of a proposed monetary union in the Southern African ... more In this paper we investigate the likelihood of a proposed monetary union in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) from the viewpoint of the Generalized Purchasing Power Parity (GPPP) hypothesis and optimum currency area (OCA) theory. We apply Johansen's multivariate co-integration technique. The findings from this study confirm that GPPP holds among the 11 SADC countries included in this study on account of cointegration in real exchange rate series. The South African rand-normalized long run beta coefficients of all the real exchange rates are below one except in the case of the Mauritian rupee and all bear negative signs except in the case of the Angolan New Kwanza and Mauritian rupee. This provides some evidence to support monetary union in the region with the exclusion of Angola and Mauritius. However, the absolute magnitudes of the short run adjustment coefficients of SADC countries' real exchange rates are low and bear positive signs in some cases. This finding implies that the observed slow speed of adjustment for (log) real exchange rate of SADC member states might constrain the effectiveness of stabilization policies in the wake of external shocks, rendering SADC countries vulnerable to macroeconomic instability. This result has important policy implications for the proposed monetary union in SADC.

Institutional Analysis of Adoption of Agroforestry Innovations in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Analytical hierarchy processes and Pareto analysis for mitigating cybercrime in the financial sector

Journal of Financial Crime, 2021

Purpose The purpose of this study is to use a decision support model based on the Analytical Hier... more Purpose The purpose of this study is to use a decision support model based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Pareto analysis (PA) for ranking the impact of different kinds of cybercrime in organisations in the financial sector to support decisions on cybercrime mitigation. Design/methodology/approach From a structured questionnaire to the staff of 17 licensed banks in South Africa in charge of management, administration and operations, the perceived effect of cybercrime on the organisation’s goals, namely, organisation’s profitability, goodwill, customers’ satisfaction and risk management was derived. The pairwise comparison of the organisation’s goals and identified forms of cybercrime was done using the AHP. Findings The results obtained indicate that there was a consensus (100% of the answers) that the effect of cybercrime has negatively impacted the organisation’s objectives profitability and goodwill. Also, still 95.23% of the respondents agreed that the effect of c...

Institutional Analysis of Adoption of Agroforestry Practices in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

Southern African Journal of Environmental Education, 2020

Agroforestry practices are innovations developed in response to problems associated with inapprop... more Agroforestry practices are innovations developed in response to problems associated with inappropriate land use practices. The latter refers to the use of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes because of an increase in urbanisation, rapidly developing industry, and investments, and, finally, gaps in laws and regulations (Cengiz, 2013). Agroforestry practices are land-based economic development strategies with a perceived positive role in supporting rural livelihoods. Using a logistic regression model with cross-sectional data, this study explores the impact of institutional factors and incentive mechanisms that affect the adoption of agroforestry innovations. The study finds that a larger number of extension services, access to credit, access to extension, information exchange among farmers, trust in local institutions, active participation in social groups and organisations, and prior exposure to agricultural technologies are the variables that positively affect the adop...

Asymmetric Behavior in Nominal and Real Housing Prices: Evidence from Emerging and Advanced Economies

Journal of Real Estate Literature, 2017

Abstract In this article, we investigate asymmetry in nominal and real housing price series from ... more Abstract In this article, we investigate asymmetry in nominal and real housing price series from eleven emerging and twenty advanced economies using the nonparametric Triples test (Randles et al., 1980), which allows identification of different types of asymmetries in economic cycles. We find asymmetry in fewer emerging than advanced economies. In more than half of the latter, nominal prices reach peaks faster than troughs (positive steepness asymmetry), suggesting the presence of downward nominal rigidities. Nominal price asymmetry is found only in slightly over a quarter of the emerging economies. Hence, nominal housing price increases are more likely to be followed by symmetric price falls in emerging than in advanced countries. Regarding real housing prices, peaks are higher than troughs (positive deepness asymmetry) in half of the advanced economies, suggesting the presence of price overshooting during booms, but less undershooting during busts. Weaker evidence of similar asymmetry is found in emergi...

Determinants of agroforestry technology adoption in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Development Studies Research, 2014

In addressing the problem of land degradation as well as enhancing sustainable food production, a... more In addressing the problem of land degradation as well as enhancing sustainable food production, agroforestry was advocated among the arable crop farmers in the area. The study was thus conducted to investigate the determinants as well as the constraints of agroforestry technology adoption in Ondo State, Nigeria. Data collected from a multi-stage sampling procedure were analysed with the aid of descriptive statistics and double hurdle model. Findings revealed that the mean age, farming experience,

Exchange Rate Based Policy Coordination in Sadc Towards Monetary Union

This paper evaluates the strength of policy coordination in SADC as a prerequisite OCA criterion ... more This paper evaluates the strength of policy coordination in SADC as a prerequisite OCA criterion toward sensible monetary integration. The underlying hypothesis goes with the assertion that countries meeting OCA conditions to a greater degree face more stable exchange rates. The quantitative analysis encompasses 12 SADC member states over the period 1995-2012. Correlation matrices, dynamic pooled mean group and mean group estimators, and real exchange rate equilibrium and misalignment analysis are carried out to arrive at robust conclusions. This study reveals that the Balassa-Samuelson effect holds true in the region. Furthermore, real exchange rate equilibrium and misalignment analysis reveal that SADC economies are characterized by persistent overvaluation with seemingly unlikely mean reverting trend - at least in the short term. This calls for further policy coordination and policy harmonization in the region. These findings are consistent with earlier studies in other developin...

Entrepreneurs’ Attitudes Toward Risk in Micro and Small Enterprises: Evidence from Urban Ethiopia

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2019

The attitudes toward risk of women and men entrepreneurs in micro-and small enterprises (MSEs) ar... more The attitudes toward risk of women and men entrepreneurs in micro-and small enterprises (MSEs) are analyzed, and the factors that influence attitude toward risk of MSE owners are investigated. The empirical analysis first uses the moment-based approach proposed by Antle (1987) to estimate the risk preferences of men and women entrepreneurs. Second, a regression model is employed to understand the correlates of attitude toward risk and to decompose gender differences in risk aversion using the Oaxaca-Blinder technique. The results clearly indicate that MSE entrepreneurs are risk-averse with a relative risk premium of 1.5%. Women entrepreneurs are slightly more risk-averse than are men entrepreneurs. Regression estimates show that entrepreneurs' attitude toward risk is significantly correlated with age and experience, marital status, education level, financial literacy, wealth, sector, and business type. The gender difference in risk aversion is significantly explained by the predictor variables while the unexplained component is insignificant. This suggests that gender differences in risk preference are the result of disparities in socioeconomic factors rather than of biology.

Article Zerihun, M.F. & Makgwale D. Makgoo (2019)

Why So Much Pessimism about Economic Integration in Africa? The Case of the Southern African Development Community

African economic integration initiatives have been judged by models and theoretical concepts deve... more African economic integration initiatives have been judged by models and theoretical concepts developed outside Africa. Findings from such unrealistic and simplified models, rather than augment the continental initiatives, often create pessimism among stakeholders in the continent and outside. Hence, this paper emphasizes the fact that integration attempts should be evaluated in the context of their objectives, and the political, economic, and institutional setups in which they operate. To understand the economic integration dynamics in Africa and other developing regions, our sets of analysis should go beyond the common approaches which are based on optimum currency area (OCA) theory

Article Zerihun, M.F. & Makgwale D. Makgoo (2019)

Article ajber Why so much pessimism

African economic integration initiatives have been judged by models and theoretical concepts deve... more African economic integration initiatives have been judged by models and theoretical concepts developed outside Africa. Findings from such unrealistic and simplified models, rather than augment the continental initiatives, often create pessimism among stakeholders in the continent and outside. Hence, this paper emphasizes the fact that integration attempts should be evaluated in the context of their objectives, and the political, economic, and institutional setups in which they operate. To understand the economic integration dynamics in Africa and other developing regions, our sets of analysis should go beyond the common approaches which are based on optimum currency area (OCA) theory

Article A Comparative Analysis of Currency Volatility among BRICS Countries

In recent years, exchange rates of the BRICS countries have all experienced periods of high volat... more In recent years, exchange rates of the BRICS countries have all experienced periods of high volatility. Thus far, no study has simultaneously compared the volatility of the BRICS currencies and analyzed the dependence and causal structure of relative volatility of these peer currencies. We addressed this issue by using monthly data from January 1995 to January 2017. We find that:(i) Brazil, India and China are more competitive than South Africa, on average, while South Africa, in turn, is only more competitive than Russia;(ii) the rand has been more volatile than the Brazilian real and the Russian ruble, but less volatile than the Chinese renminbi and the Indian rupee; (iii) there are inter-currency volatility correlations among the real, renminbi, ruble, and rand;(iv) the renminbi return volatility causes return volatility in the real, ruble, and rand.

Leader: Research Niche Area: Inclusive Growth, Socioeconomic Development and Transformation NRF Rating-Level C2 Google Scholar ResearchGate Scopus [Scopus ID: 56053986400] Citations 585 Citations 458

Resumé Currently I am NRF C 2 rated researcher, Head of Department and Professor in the Departmen... more

Combining credit and training to support micro and small enterprises in Ethiopia Policy Brief Micro and Small Enterprises development supported by policy

Why So Much Pessimism about Economic Integration in Africa? The Case of the Southern African Development Community

African Journal of Business and Economic Research, 2019

Is SADC an optimal currency area? Evidence from the generalized purchasing power parity test

Economic Change and Restructuring, 2017

In this paper we investigate the likelihood of a proposed monetary union in the Southern African ... more In this paper we investigate the likelihood of a proposed monetary union in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) from the viewpoint of the Generalized Purchasing Power Parity (GPPP) hypothesis and optimum currency area (OCA) theory. We apply Johansen's multivariate co-integration technique. The findings from this study confirm that GPPP holds among the 11 SADC countries included in this study on account of cointegration in real exchange rate series. The South African rand-normalized long run beta coefficients of all the real exchange rates are below one except in the case of the Mauritian rupee and all bear negative signs except in the case of the Angolan New Kwanza and Mauritian rupee. This provides some evidence to support monetary union in the region with the exclusion of Angola and Mauritius. However, the absolute magnitudes of the short run adjustment coefficients of SADC countries' real exchange rates are low and bear positive signs in some cases. This finding implies that the observed slow speed of adjustment for (log) real exchange rate of SADC member states might constrain the effectiveness of stabilization policies in the wake of external shocks, rendering SADC countries vulnerable to macroeconomic instability. This result has important policy implications for the proposed monetary union in SADC.

Institutional Analysis of Adoption of Agroforestry Innovations in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Analytical hierarchy processes and Pareto analysis for mitigating cybercrime in the financial sector

Journal of Financial Crime, 2021

Purpose The purpose of this study is to use a decision support model based on the Analytical Hier... more Purpose The purpose of this study is to use a decision support model based on the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Pareto analysis (PA) for ranking the impact of different kinds of cybercrime in organisations in the financial sector to support decisions on cybercrime mitigation. Design/methodology/approach From a structured questionnaire to the staff of 17 licensed banks in South Africa in charge of management, administration and operations, the perceived effect of cybercrime on the organisation’s goals, namely, organisation’s profitability, goodwill, customers’ satisfaction and risk management was derived. The pairwise comparison of the organisation’s goals and identified forms of cybercrime was done using the AHP. Findings The results obtained indicate that there was a consensus (100% of the answers) that the effect of cybercrime has negatively impacted the organisation’s objectives profitability and goodwill. Also, still 95.23% of the respondents agreed that the effect of c...

Institutional Analysis of Adoption of Agroforestry Practices in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

Southern African Journal of Environmental Education, 2020

Agroforestry practices are innovations developed in response to problems associated with inapprop... more Agroforestry practices are innovations developed in response to problems associated with inappropriate land use practices. The latter refers to the use of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes because of an increase in urbanisation, rapidly developing industry, and investments, and, finally, gaps in laws and regulations (Cengiz, 2013). Agroforestry practices are land-based economic development strategies with a perceived positive role in supporting rural livelihoods. Using a logistic regression model with cross-sectional data, this study explores the impact of institutional factors and incentive mechanisms that affect the adoption of agroforestry innovations. The study finds that a larger number of extension services, access to credit, access to extension, information exchange among farmers, trust in local institutions, active participation in social groups and organisations, and prior exposure to agricultural technologies are the variables that positively affect the adop...

Asymmetric Behavior in Nominal and Real Housing Prices: Evidence from Emerging and Advanced Economies

Journal of Real Estate Literature, 2017

Abstract In this article, we investigate asymmetry in nominal and real housing price series from ... more Abstract In this article, we investigate asymmetry in nominal and real housing price series from eleven emerging and twenty advanced economies using the nonparametric Triples test (Randles et al., 1980), which allows identification of different types of asymmetries in economic cycles. We find asymmetry in fewer emerging than advanced economies. In more than half of the latter, nominal prices reach peaks faster than troughs (positive steepness asymmetry), suggesting the presence of downward nominal rigidities. Nominal price asymmetry is found only in slightly over a quarter of the emerging economies. Hence, nominal housing price increases are more likely to be followed by symmetric price falls in emerging than in advanced countries. Regarding real housing prices, peaks are higher than troughs (positive deepness asymmetry) in half of the advanced economies, suggesting the presence of price overshooting during booms, but less undershooting during busts. Weaker evidence of similar asymmetry is found in emergi...

Determinants of agroforestry technology adoption in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Development Studies Research, 2014

In addressing the problem of land degradation as well as enhancing sustainable food production, a... more In addressing the problem of land degradation as well as enhancing sustainable food production, agroforestry was advocated among the arable crop farmers in the area. The study was thus conducted to investigate the determinants as well as the constraints of agroforestry technology adoption in Ondo State, Nigeria. Data collected from a multi-stage sampling procedure were analysed with the aid of descriptive statistics and double hurdle model. Findings revealed that the mean age, farming experience,

Exchange Rate Based Policy Coordination in Sadc Towards Monetary Union

This paper evaluates the strength of policy coordination in SADC as a prerequisite OCA criterion ... more This paper evaluates the strength of policy coordination in SADC as a prerequisite OCA criterion toward sensible monetary integration. The underlying hypothesis goes with the assertion that countries meeting OCA conditions to a greater degree face more stable exchange rates. The quantitative analysis encompasses 12 SADC member states over the period 1995-2012. Correlation matrices, dynamic pooled mean group and mean group estimators, and real exchange rate equilibrium and misalignment analysis are carried out to arrive at robust conclusions. This study reveals that the Balassa-Samuelson effect holds true in the region. Furthermore, real exchange rate equilibrium and misalignment analysis reveal that SADC economies are characterized by persistent overvaluation with seemingly unlikely mean reverting trend - at least in the short term. This calls for further policy coordination and policy harmonization in the region. These findings are consistent with earlier studies in other developin...

Entrepreneurs’ Attitudes Toward Risk in Micro and Small Enterprises: Evidence from Urban Ethiopia

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2019

The attitudes toward risk of women and men entrepreneurs in micro-and small enterprises (MSEs) ar... more The attitudes toward risk of women and men entrepreneurs in micro-and small enterprises (MSEs) are analyzed, and the factors that influence attitude toward risk of MSE owners are investigated. The empirical analysis first uses the moment-based approach proposed by Antle (1987) to estimate the risk preferences of men and women entrepreneurs. Second, a regression model is employed to understand the correlates of attitude toward risk and to decompose gender differences in risk aversion using the Oaxaca-Blinder technique. The results clearly indicate that MSE entrepreneurs are risk-averse with a relative risk premium of 1.5%. Women entrepreneurs are slightly more risk-averse than are men entrepreneurs. Regression estimates show that entrepreneurs' attitude toward risk is significantly correlated with age and experience, marital status, education level, financial literacy, wealth, sector, and business type. The gender difference in risk aversion is significantly explained by the predictor variables while the unexplained component is insignificant. This suggests that gender differences in risk preference are the result of disparities in socioeconomic factors rather than of biology.

Article Zerihun, M.F. & Makgwale D. Makgoo (2019)

Why So Much Pessimism about Economic Integration in Africa? The Case of the Southern African Development Community

African economic integration initiatives have been judged by models and theoretical concepts deve... more African economic integration initiatives have been judged by models and theoretical concepts developed outside Africa. Findings from such unrealistic and simplified models, rather than augment the continental initiatives, often create pessimism among stakeholders in the continent and outside. Hence, this paper emphasizes the fact that integration attempts should be evaluated in the context of their objectives, and the political, economic, and institutional setups in which they operate. To understand the economic integration dynamics in Africa and other developing regions, our sets of analysis should go beyond the common approaches which are based on optimum currency area (OCA) theory

Article Zerihun, M.F. & Makgwale D. Makgoo (2019)

Article ajber Why so much pessimism

African economic integration initiatives have been judged by models and theoretical concepts deve... more African economic integration initiatives have been judged by models and theoretical concepts developed outside Africa. Findings from such unrealistic and simplified models, rather than augment the continental initiatives, often create pessimism among stakeholders in the continent and outside. Hence, this paper emphasizes the fact that integration attempts should be evaluated in the context of their objectives, and the political, economic, and institutional setups in which they operate. To understand the economic integration dynamics in Africa and other developing regions, our sets of analysis should go beyond the common approaches which are based on optimum currency area (OCA) theory

Article A Comparative Analysis of Currency Volatility among BRICS Countries

In recent years, exchange rates of the BRICS countries have all experienced periods of high volat... more In recent years, exchange rates of the BRICS countries have all experienced periods of high volatility. Thus far, no study has simultaneously compared the volatility of the BRICS currencies and analyzed the dependence and causal structure of relative volatility of these peer currencies. We addressed this issue by using monthly data from January 1995 to January 2017. We find that:(i) Brazil, India and China are more competitive than South Africa, on average, while South Africa, in turn, is only more competitive than Russia;(ii) the rand has been more volatile than the Brazilian real and the Russian ruble, but less volatile than the Chinese renminbi and the Indian rupee; (iii) there are inter-currency volatility correlations among the real, renminbi, ruble, and rand;(iv) the renminbi return volatility causes return volatility in the real, ruble, and rand.