Research

   Publications:

1. 1. Keen, B. & Strong, C. (2025). Inflation Legacies: Early-Life Crises and Their Impact on Policy Preferences and Money Growth in Africa. Economic Modelling. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2025.107344

   2. Strong, C. (2025). What Role do Finance Ministers Play in Political Business Cycles? Evidence Based on a New Dataset. International Journal of Finance and Economics. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.70072

   3. Keen, B. & Strong, C. (2025). Ethnic Politics and Fiscal Dominance: Implications for Currency Union Formation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of African Economies. https://doi.org/10.1093/jae/ejaf015

   4. Strong, C.  & Gapka, L. (2025). Early-Life Currency Crises and Exchange Rate Pass-Through:  Understanding the Impact of Central Bankers’ Formative Years in Africa. Journal of International Money and Finance. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jimonfin.2025.103393. 

   5.  Strong, C. (2025). Forging Monetary Hawks: Early-Life Inflation Experiences and Government Debt in Africa. Kyklos. https://doi.org/10.1111/kykl.12450

   6. Strong, C. & Yayi, C. (2024). Do Central Bankers’ Characteristics Matter for Africa? Ethnic Favoritism, Fractionalization, and Inflation. International Review of Financial Analysis. Volume 94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.irfa.2024.103256

   7. Strong, C. (2024). Selecting Finance Ministers: Key Characteristics Shaping Government Debt in Africa. International Review of Economics and Finance. Volume 93, Part A, June 2024, Pages 736-757. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2024.03.034

   8. Strong, C. & Gapka, L. (2023). Crisis Babies: Inflation Experiences and the Probability of an Electoral Cycle. Finance Research Letters.  Volume 58, Part D. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2023.104657

1. 9. Strong, C. (2023). Conditional Political Cycles in Africa: Myth or Reality? Journal of African Economies. Volume 33, Issue 5, November 2024, Pages 489–514. 

https://doi.org/10.1093/jae/ejad019

1. 10. Keen, B. & Strong, C. (2023). Optimal Fiscal and Monetary Policy in a Model with Government Corruption. Finance Research Letters. Volume 58, Part B.

 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.frl.2023.104435

1. 11. Strong, C. (2023). The Effect of Fiscal Rules on Government Debt: Evidence from the CFA Zone. Empirical Economics. Volume 65, pages 2357–239. 

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00181-023-02430-w

1. 12. Strong, C. & Yayi, C. (2023). Political Affiliation, Central Bankers’ Characteristics, and Government Debt: Evidence from Africa. International Review of Finance and Economics. Volume 85, pages 603-620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2023.02.016

   13. Strong, C. (2023). Tying one’s hand: The effect of Fiscal Rules on the Political Business Cycle in Africa. Journal of African Economies. Volume 32, Issue 4, pages 438–467.

            https://doi.org/10.1093/jae/ejac014 

1. 14. Strong, C. (2022). What Type of Central Banker Dampens the Political Business Cycle? The Case of Africa. International Journal of Finance and Economics. Volume 29, Issue 2.

http://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.2769

1. 15. Strong, C. (2022). Do Commodity Price Shocks Affect the Probability of a Central Bank Governor’s Removal? International Journal of Finance and Economics. Volume 27, Issue 2, p.1443-1460.  https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.2224

   16. Strong, C. & Yayi, C. (2021). Central Bank Independence, Fiscal Dominance and Government Debt: Lessons from Africa. Journal of Macroeconomics. Volume 68.  

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmacro.2021.103313.

1. 17. Strong, C. (2021). Political Influence, Central Bank Independence and Inflation in Africa: A Comparative Analysis. European Journal of Political Economy. Volume 69. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2021.102004

1. 18. Strong, C. (2021). Did Mali Benefit from Joining the CFA Zone? An Analysis Using the Synthetic Control Method. Review of Development Economics.Volume 25, Issue 2,  p.931-955.  https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12733.

  Book chapters:

1.  Strong, C. O. (2025). Central bank independence, inflation, and growth in Africa. In E. Farvaque & P. Stanek (Eds.), Are Central Banks Still Conservative? Frameworks, Monetary Policy and Inflation After Rogoff (with a foreword by Kenneth Rogoff). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.

https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/usd/are-central-banks-still-conservative-9781035337569.html

      Current Manuscripts Under Review and Research in Progress:

1. 1. When Crisis Teaches Caution: How Early Debt Experiences Influence Fiscal Discipline During African Elections? Revise and resubmit at Emerging Markets Review.

   2. Forged in Crisis: A New Experience-Based Measure of Central Bank Credibility and Its Impact on Inflation Dynamics. Revise and resubmit at Oxford Economic Papers.

   3. Leadership Transitions and Economic Growth in Africa: The Costs of Military Background. Under review.

   4. Who Do Presidents Appoint as Central Bankers? Political Vulnerability, Coethnicity, and Inflation: A Tale of Two Principals. Under review. 

   5. The Long Shadow of Debt Crises: Theoretical and Empirical Insights into Fiscal Policy in Africa with Lewis Gakpa. Under review.

   6.  Only a Fool Can Trust an Ally: Asymmetric Information and the Illusion of Ethnic Loyalty with Lewis Gakpa. Under review.

   7. Inflation Crises, Fiscal Reallocation, and Growth: Evidence of Allocative Conservatism in African Economies with Lewis Gakpa. Working Paper.

   8. When Crises Become Routine: Generational Desensitization and Inflation Persistence in Africa with Benjamin Keen. Work in progress.

   9. Leadership and the Persistence of Institutional Legacies in Africa with Lewis Gakpa. Work in progress.