Elizabeth Asiedu is a professor of economics at the University of Kansas. She has facilitated research that is centered around foreign aid, foreign directed investment (FDI), and gender. She is a founder of the Association for the Advancement of African Women (AAAWE), as well as the current president of the organization. Asiedu is an editor of the Journal of African Development.
Education
Asiedu received her first degree, an B.S. (Hons) in computer science and mathematics from the University of Ghana in 1988. She then went on to receive an M.S. in mathematics (1992), an M.S. in economics (1994), and a PhD in economics (1998) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Career
Since 2012, Asiedu has been a professor of economics at the University of Kansas, where she teaches both undergraduate and graduate economics. Asiedu was also the associate chair and the director of graduate studies of the economics department at the University of Kansas from 2007 to 2009. She sits on the board of the African Finance Economic Association (AFEA), was president of the organization between 2011 and 2013, and was the vice president between 2007 and 2010. Additionally, she was an editor of the Journal of African Development (JAD) between 2017 and 2018. Dr Asiedu is also a founder and president of the Association for the Advancement of African Women (AAAWE). She sat on the board of the National Economic Association between 2016 and 2019. Asiedu is a member of the following;
Global Research Competition Steering Committee, Global Development Network, India, October 2011 – Present Distinguished External Reference Group, The African Capacity Building Foundation, Zimbabwe, April 2012 – Present Member of a four-scholar international panel committee to conduct a ten-year review of The United Nations University/ World Institute of Development and Economic Research (UNU/WIDER), Finland, May 2010-January 2011
Research and selected publications
Access to Credit by Small Businesses: How Relevant Are Race, Ethnicity, and Gender? (2012) In this article, Asiedu, James A. Freeman, and Akwasi Nti-Addae explore the role of race, ethnicity, and gender on credit access. Their study categorizes race and ethnicity into the following: Black, Hispanic, Asian/Native American/Pacific Islander (ANP), White female, and White male. They find that firms owned by visible minorities have a higher denial rate with the highest denial rate for Hispanics. Additionally, the denial rate for has increased between 1998 and 2003. Finally, they find that minority-owned firms also paid higher interests than the White-male owned firms. In terms of gender, they find that firms owned by White women did not experience discrimination when accessing credit, and they also paid less interest rates own loans than their male counterparts. Their study showcases that factors such as race, ethnicity and gender do in fact affect access to credit and interest paid on loans.
Does Foreign Aid In Education Promote Economic Growth? (2014) The paper "Does Foreign Aid in Education Promote Economic Growth? Evidence From Sub-Saharan Africa" explores whether the foreign aid that is aimed towards education is effective in primary education and secondary education in sub-Saharan Africa. Asiedu's study focuses on 38 countries from 1990 to 2004. She argues that although educational financial aid is positively related to growth (because it provides resources such as books, training for teachers, etc.) this is only the case for primary education. Educational financial aid in secondary education, on the other hand, does not contribute to economic growth, in fact it may have an adverse effect on growth. This is because of the lack of employment for secondary school graduates (which she suggests is true to many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa), she suggests that another reason why this might be true is the lack of quality secondary education (such that increased time spent in school has no benefits). Furthermore, she argues that this might be true because many secondary school graduates are employed in jobs that are low in productivity, thus reducing the potential for economic growth. Finally, she argues that there is a lack of physical capital and other “complementary inputs” in Sub-Saharan Africa that would otherwise encourage productive labour in the region.