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This paper studies the dynamic effects of selected macroeconomic factors on the performance of the housing market in Kenya using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) Models. This study aims to explain the dynamic effects of the macroeconomic factors on the three indicators of the housing market performance: housing prices growth, sales index and rent index.

This study used ARDL Models on time series data from 1975 to 2020 of the selected macroeconomic factors sourced from Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Central Bank of Kenya and Hass Consult Limited.

The results indicate that household income, gross domestic product (GDP), inflation rates and exchange rates have both short-run and long-run effects on housing prices while interest rates, diaspora remittance, construction output and urban population have no significant effects on housing prices both in the short and long run. However, only household income, interest rates, private capital inflows and exchange rates have a significant effect on housing sales both in the short and long run. Furthermore, household income, GDP, interest rates and exchange rates significantly affect housing rental growth in the short and long run. The findings are key for policymaking, especially at the appraisal stages of real estate investments by the developers.

The authors recommend the use of both the traditional hedonic models in conjunction with the dynamic models during real estate project appraisals as this would ensure that developers only invest in the right projects in the right economic situations.

The imbalance between housing demand and supply has prompted an investigation into the role of macroeconomic variables on the housing market in Kenya. Although the effects of the variables have been documented, there is a need to document the short-run and long-term effects of the factors to precisely understand the behavior of the housing market as a way of shielding developers from economic losses.

This study aims to understand the association between the fear of missing out (FOMO) and its impact on psychological well-being (PWB). The mediating effect of anxiety and moderating effects of social media engagement (SME) and resilience on the association mentioned above are also examined.

The study used a mix of attachment theory and cognitive-motivational-relational theory to understand the hypothesized relationship using a diverse sample of international respondents from South Asia, South East Asia and the Middle East. The data from 612 respondents was collected using SurveyMonkey. The authors have used Hayes’ PROCESS Macro to test the hypothesised relationships.

The results revealed that anxiety acts as a mediator between FOMO and PWB, while SME and resilience act as moderators in reducing the impact of FOMO on anxiety and the impact of anxiety on PWB, respectively.

The work extends the existing theorization and points out the merits of using SME and resilience as moderators and anxiety as a mediator for understanding the association between FOMO and PWB.

The study explores how the intention to export affects financing and non-financing variables for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a low-income country (LIC). The objectives of this study are (1) to discern between regional and global exporting and (2) to evaluate its policymaking implications.

Primary survey data were collected from 330 Rwandan SMEs and were analysed using ordered logistic models as an application of the expectation-maximisation iterating algorithm, which was tested for robustness using a sampling model variation.

The results show that alternative sources of finance are the predominant choice to finance the intention to export within and outside Africa. As the scope of export intentions broadened from regional to global, there was a shift in preferences from less formal to more formal lending technologies, moving from methods like factoring to lines of credit. Moreover, reliance on bank officers became more significant, with increasing marginal effects. Finally, the study determined that government financing schemes were not relevant for SMEs pursuing either regional or global exporting.

Whilst alternative sources of finance predominate the export intentions of Rwandan SMEs, establishing a robust banking relationship becomes crucial for global exporting. Despite this implication, the intention to export should prompt more transparent communication regarding government financial support programmes. There is an opportunity for increased usage of relationship lending to customise support for SMEs involved in exporting, benefiting both the private and public sectors.

This study accentuates how export distance alters SME financing priorities. The results also contribute to understanding how the value of relationship lending changes when less familiar markets (i.e. global exporting) are the objective. Moreover, the study offers a new perspective on how institutional voids affect entrepreneurial financing decisions in LICs.

The purpose of this study is to examine approaches used by university libraries to enhance the visibility and utilization of research support services (RSSs) among doctoral students and to assess the competencies of library staff in delivering research support services.

This study used qualitative design approach, purposively sampled 40 librarians (8 university librarians and 32 librarians) in charge of RSSs and use of structured interview.

The findings of this study revealed three major themes: offline and online strategies, the need for upskilling and professional development programs and proactive empowerment.

This study focused on research support services in chartered public universities in Kenya; private universities were not included.

The need to enhance library staff's ongoing professional development programs, increasing funding to university libraries and proactivity by the libraries to improve the provision and promotion of RSSs to doctoral students in Kenya.

There are limited existing literature in the Kenyan context. This study will fill a knowledge gap and contribute to the literature on academic libraries support and doctoral students experience in Kenyan context.

This paper explores some of the recent developments and transformations in Africa's higher education.

It employs an extensive review of literature based on some dominant thematic areas characterizing the main trends and developments in Africa's higher education.

The paper mainly highlights the impacts of academic partnerships on these transformations, with a focus on research, postgraduate training, mobility and some new intra-African initiatives. Following the unprecedented effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, digitalization comes out as an important turning point for Africa's higher education, which should be exploited for more opportunities. The paper calls for collaborative efforts to address the challenges facing Africa's higher education for the repositioning of Africa as a meaningful player in the unfolding global knowledge society.

The outcomes could be useful to researchers focused on international education, policymakers and higher education leaders and international development partners working on higher education in Africa. It could also be useful for structuring future collaborations between Africa and other regions of the world.

The paper calls for enhanced and mutually beneficial collaborations and disruption of the imbalances that have characterised North–South collaborations. It proposes some possible approaches and alternatives that could be used for redress.

The paper is original and relies on some of the new developments in Africa, including the impacts of COVID-19 and digitalization on the future of higher education collaborations with Africa.

This article focuses on regional-level cooperation in higher education by examining the functional, organizational and political approaches (FOPA) framework for higher education regionalization and using supra-national regional universities as established and successful examples of regional-level higher education cooperation among countries.

A conceptual framework is used to provide the structure for analyzing the key approaches to higher education regionalization, followed by an analysis of supra-national regional universities to demonstrate the application of the model.

The FOPA framework for higher education regionalization includes three approaches. The first is the functional approach, which includes both collaborative academic and research activities among higher education institutions as well strategies and policies to help align systems across a region. The second is the organizational approach, which focuses on networks, organizations, institutions and programs, which facilitate partnerships. The third is the political approach, which includes regional-level agreements, declarations and strategic plans to promote higher education collaboration. Key higher education activities for each approach are discussed in generic terms, with examples provided from major regions of the world.

The research was based on desk research only. No interviews were conducted.

A conceptual analysis and a model were provided for the concept of regionalization of higher education and for regional universities, which can help readers locate their interests and research in the regionalization of higher education. Examples of three different types of regional universities were provided to give concrete illustrations of a regional university.

One of the rationales driving regional universities is to address and increase a sense of regional identify and to meet the social, economic and educational needs of the specified region.

Regional universities, such as the University of West Indies, Arab Open University and the Pan-Africa University, are an understudied phenomenon. Using them as innovative and sustainable examples of higher education regional cooperation and the FOPA model, this study illustrates how single-campus, multiple-campus and virtual regional universities are functioning to meet the diversified needs and priorities across a region through cooperation among countries.

This study aims to examine the role of supplier selection and supplier monitoring in public procurement efficiency in terms of cost reduction in Tanzania.

A structured questionnaire was used to collect cross-sectional survey data from 179 public procuring entities in Tanzania. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the collected data.

The findings revealed that supplier selection and supplier monitoring are positive and significant predictors of public procurement efficiency in terms of cost reduction.

This study was conducted in Tanzanian public procurement contexts, so generalisations should be made with caution. Also, this study collected cross-sectional data; other studies may consider longitudinal data.

This study provides procurement practitioners with insights into selecting the proper suppliers and embracing supplier monitoring to achieve procurement efficiency in terms of cost reduction.

This study examines the effects of supplier selection and supplier monitoring on procurement cost reduction as a measure of public procurement efficiency in the Tanzanian context. Consequently, it provides empirical evidence of supplier management practices in the public procurement context.

Most research has investigated the fear of missing out (FOMO) in the context of online activities, often associated with negative personal outcomes such as fatigue and stress. However, given the increased desire to be informed and included associated with FOMO, organizations that can effectively meet these needs may develop or strengthen social and structural bonds, thereby turning short-term customers with FOMO into lifelong patrons. This study aims to examine the relationship between FOMO and favorable organizational outcomes as mediated by several constructs associated with the desire for information and inclusion.

This research was conducted within the higher education sector of the service industry. FOMO served as the IV. The mediators represented context-specific aspects of campus involvement and inclusion. Organizational outcomes related to the long-term services relationship served as the DVs. The sample consisted of 435 students recruited from research pools at two southern universities in the USA. Exploratory factor analysis, OLS regression and the Hayes–Macro were used to examine the data.

The results demonstrate that FOMO is positively associated with students’ desires for information and inclusion (informal peer interaction, campus involvement, informal faculty interaction, campus information media use and a preference for in-person course scheduling), which are associated with the desirable university outcomes of satisfaction, connection and alumni donation/activity intentions.

If a university fosters unstructured time spent with faculty and peers, and promotes campus information media involvement, students with higher levels of FOMO are more likely to be satisfied, feel connected to the university and report intentions to donate time and money as alumni.

Prior research on FOMO is generally focused on internet and social media use; this study takes a broader perspective and identifies the effect of FOMO on a desire for information and inclusion within a novel context (a service environment). It also associates FOMO with favorable long-term service relationship outcomes that fortify social and structural bonds.

The discussion on international migration has become a significant part of globalization and a topical issue in international relations, especially in developing economies which mostly relies on migrant remittances. The purpose of the study is to examine whether financial market development (equity market development and banking sector development) really drives migrant remittance flow in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

The study employs the dynamic heterogeneous panel data approach-the pool mean group (PMG) and the mean group (MG) techniques in analyzing the model based on data obtained from 27 SSA countries covering the period 2000–2020.

The findings of the study revealed that financial market development (equity market development and banking sector development) is a key driver of migrant remittances flows in the SSA region. In addition, the study revealed that the following macroeconomic variables such as real interest rate, unemployment rate, global growth, emigration, and economic growth are also determinants of migrant remittances flows in the SSA region.

The reviewed empirical literature revealed that several studies documents that the macroeconomic determinants of migrant remittances include inflation, GDP, interest rate, exchange rate, population growth, financial sector development and unemployment rate. Most of these studies fail to capture both equity market development and robust banking sector development (financial market development) as critical drivers of migrant remittances flow in SSA. Also, this study uses a robust measure of equity market development and banking sector development, unlike previous studies.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-05-2023-0361

The purpose of the present study is to determine how the cash conversion cycle (CCC) affects the financial performance of manufacturing companies in Bangladesh.

The authors have collected data of 61 Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE)-listed firms from the 10 distinct manufacturing industries of Bangladesh for 18 years, from 2003 to 2020. The data have been analyzed through the two-steps system generalized method of moment (GMM) regression model, using profitability indicators return on asset (ROA) and earnings per share (EPS) as dependent variables, while CCC has been used as the independent variable, whereas asset turnover (ATO) and financial leverage (LEV) were used as control variables to assess the relationship between the CCC and financial performance.

The findings indicated that CCC has a negative connection with profitability – ROA and EPS, with the connection between CCC and EPS being highly significant. This indicates that reducing the inventory conversion time, reducing the period of receivable collection and making payments to creditors with potential delays might help Bangladeshi manufacturing firms boost their profitability. In addition, the firm-specific characteristics, namely ATO and LEV significantly affect the firm's profitability.

The research was based only on secondary sources and information was scarce. This research was conducted to determine the impact of the CCC on the corporate profitability of the manufacturing sector solely. There might be many other working capital variables that are still unexplored through this study.

The current study's findings are consistent with the traditional rule that minimizing the firm's days of the cash cycle may optimize financial performance. The results of this research have added to the existing body of knowledge on the topic of working capital management (WCM). Future research endeavors can be initiated for assessing the impact of the CCC on the firm's profitability in other industrial sectors or to identify other working capital variables that have much impact on corporate profitability.

This study is an original work of the researchers and adds value to the current literature in the domain of WCM and corporate profitability. The present study is the first one that covers firms in all the manufacturing industries in Bangladesh. The corporate managers, creditors, investors and other concerned stakeholders will be benefited from the findings of the present study.