Search results

In this study, the authors examine how economic freedom mediates the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth in Africa.

By using data from 41 countries over the period 2000–2017, the authors invoke Seo and Shin's (2016) sample splitting approach while relying on the recently developed Seo et al.'s (2019) computationally robust bootstrap algorithm to achieve the purpose of this study.

The authors find evidence of economic freedom threshold that bifurcates the link between FDI and economic growth in Africa. More precisely, FDI does not improve overall economic growth for African countries whose economic freedom index is below the estimated threshold while significantly spurring growth for African countries with economic freedom above this threshold.

African countries need to strive towards improving their level of economic freedom through the strengthening of rule of law, reducing government size, promoting regulatory efficiency and further opening of the goods and capital markets.

The association between FDI and economic growth has been well documented. While the positive theoretical postulations are almost conclusive, empirical literature on the precise effect of FDI remains contentious and far from being settled. What is missing in the existing literature in Africa is whether countries' level of economic freedom mediates how FDI explains the variations in economic growth across African countries. The authors fill this research gap.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the interactive effect of human capital in financial development–economic growth nexus. Relative to the quantity-based measure of enrolment rates, the main aim was to determine how quality of human capital proxied by pupil–teacher ratio influences the relationship between domestic financial sector development and overall economic growth.

Data are obtained from the World Development Indicators of the World Bank for 29 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries over the period 1980–2014. The analyses were conducted using the system generalised method of moments within the endogenous growth framework while controlling for country-specific and time effects. The author also follows Papke and Wooldridge procedure in examining the long-run estimates of the variables of interest.

The key finding is that, while both human capital and financial development unconditionally promotes growth in both the short and long run, results from the interactive terms suggest that, irrespective of the measure of finance, financial sector development largely spurs growth on the back of quality human capital. This finding is also confirmed by the marginal and net effects where the interactive effect of pupil–teacher ratio and indicators of finance are consistently huge relative to the enrolment. Statistically, the results are robust to model specification.

While it is laudable for SSA countries to increase access to education, it is equally more crucial to increase the supply of teachers at the same time improving on the limited teaching and learning materials. Indeed, there are efforts to develop rather low levels of the financial sector owing to its unconditional growth effects. Beyond the direct benefit of finance, however, higher growth effect of finance is conditioned on the quality level of human capital. The outcome of this study should therefore reignite the recognition of the complementarity role of human capital and finance in economic growth process.

The study makes significant contributions to existing finance–growth literature in so many ways: first, the auhor extend the literature by empirically examining how different measures of human capital shape the finance–economic growth nexus. Through this the author is able to bring a different perspective in the literature highlighting the role of countries’ human capital stock in mediating the impact of financial deepening on economic growth. Second, the author makes a more systematic attempt to evaluate the relative importance of finance and human capital in growth process while controlling for several ancillary variables.

The paper aims to investigate empirically the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on financial performance in South African listed firms.

The paper uses panel corrected standard errors to estimate the effect of CSR on firm financial performance and thus addresses contemporaneous cross-correlations across the panel cross sections. The study uses a broad base measure of CSR created by the Public Investment Corporation data set and the combination of accounting and economic means of measuring firm financial performance.

CSR is found to have a strong positive impact on firm financial performance in South Africa. When CSR is decomposed further into its major components, governance performance positively impacts a firm’s financial performance with no evidence of any relationship between social components and firm performance and between environmental components and firm performance. The positive impact of CSR on firm performance is greater in big firms. At the industry level, CSR is noticed to impact positively on financial performance in the extractive industry via good governance and responsible environmental behaviors. It however has no impact on firm performance in the financial sector.

The results should be interpreted with caution and some limitations. Due to the limiting nature of the Public Investment Corporation data set (the survey was carried out on selected firms on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange for three years spanning from 2011 to 2013). This resulted in a sample of 56 firms. It is therefore very problematic to generalize the findings to a larger population over a long period of time. This is more limiting especially on individual sector studies where the sample has further shrunk to a smaller sample. As a result of the smaller sample size, the authors were unable to explore some other sectors which could have given more revealing findings. The authors recommend that future research should explore other data sets or use primary data approach that can allow for more sample size and elongated time period for a more holistic view and for easy generalization of the findings. The authors also identify an important lacuna necessitating further research effort. It would be interesting to empirically examine the threshold point of firms’ size beyond which CSR damages firms’ performance. Knowledge of this will guide managers of firms in their strategic CSR decision.

This study does not only serve as a reference work for subsequent investigations into the impact of CSR on firm performance in sub-Saharan Africa but also serves as a guide to policymakers on the financial impact of CSR adoption.

This study is one of the pioneering works that comprehensively examines the effect of CSR on financial performance amongst South African firms via size and sector and also controls for contemporaneous cross-correlation effects from the firms in the panel set.

This paper aims to investigate the determinants of the motivation to pay tax in Ghana. Traditionally, raising tax morale to ensure compliance is often tied to the level of prevailing enforcement. But beyond enforcement, why do citizens pay tax?

This paper relied on the sixth wave of the World Values Survey data in determining the drivers of tax morale. It used the probit model with different specifications to determine robustness of the results.

The findings remain robust to model specification and show a non-linear relationship between age and tax morale. The level of education, marital status, patriotism, sector of employment, satisfaction with democracy and one’s “fear of God” do not matter in tax morale. The economic class of a person per se is also far from being a significant driver and that people are intrinsically motivated to pay tax once they are satisfied with their financial situation, have trust in the government as well as confidence in the parliament.

In addition to being a pioneering micro-econometric work on the determinants of tax morale in Ghana, the main contribution of the study lies in its investigation of a non-linear relationship between age and tax morale in Ghana.

A large portion of first-time homebuyers lack adequate means to meet their needs of housing owing to home price inflation in Malaysian cities. One way to address the housing needs of urban household is to provide affordable quality homes. Drawing upon a case study of Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this study attempts to discuss the cloud of issues related to different homeownership schemes available for first-time homebuyers. Results suggest that affordable housing should be made available at the price and locations that can be accepted by first-time homeowners. In line with the principle of sustainability, homeownership schemes for first-time homebuyers should be economically viable, socially acceptable and technically feasible.

This study aims to investigate the influence of information and communication technology (ICT) capabilities on supply chain fraud and sustainability within the context of Ghana’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Additionally, the research explores the mediating role of supply chain fraud in the relationship between ICT capabilities and supply chain sustainability.

Data were collected from 102 respondents within Ghana’s SME sector, and the research employed the dynamic capability theory as the conceptual framework. The study utilized partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to develop and analyze the proposed model.

The results of the study reveal a significant reduction in supply chain fraud attributable to enhanced ICT capabilities within Ghanaian SMEs. Moreover, ICT capabilities exert a significant positive influence on supply chain sustainability. Importantly, supply chain fraud emerges as a mediator, elucidating its role at the nexus of supply chain sustainability and ICT capabilities.

This research contributes to the limited body of evidence on the interconnectedness of ICT capabilities, supply chain fraud and supply chain sustainability, particularly within the context of Ghanaian SMEs. Notably, this study pioneers an examination of the mediating impact of supply chain fraud on the relationship between ICT capabilities and supply chain sustainability.

The critical success factor of enterprises is the ability to identify risks and subsequently adapt to the ever-changing technology, as well as the business environment. This paper aims to investigate the top risks faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In the meantime, this paper outlines the perspectives on enterprise risk management (ERM)-based best practices and the adoption level of ERM practices in SMEs.

A mixed methodology was used to collect a comprehensive understanding of the adoption of ERM, especially in SMEs. The research is based on cross-sectional questionnaires and collected from risk practitioners in Malaysia. Detailed analysis of the top risks and best practices presented in this paper to identify the developments of risk management in changing organizations. This study used chi-square tests to examine the distribution of the adoption of the ERM programme using risk and insurance management society risk maturity model attributes. Logit regression was used to test the association of ERM efforts with the probability of adopting/considering ERM practices.

The findings indicated that business interruption risk and economic slowdown risk are the major concern for companies in Malaysia. A business continuity plan was found to be the most common risk management practice. Efforts such as the establishment of a risk management team and the development of risk appetite and/or risk tolerance statements in an organization are associated with the probability of adopting/considering ERM practices.

This paper helps to identify challenges of implementing risk governance and management in SMEs that shed light on the regulatory setting which we rather know a little about its impacts.

There are limited studies conducted in emerging countries on ERM and the application of the ERM framework in SMEs. Prior research studies are mostly generalized and lack details of risk management strategies applying to specific risks. This paper successfully examined the low maturity level of ERM practices and how SMEs in Malaysia managed those risks that emerged in their organizations.

This paper aims to assess if the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been effective in combating corruption in Nigeria from 2003-2012.

The paper adopted a documentary analytical approach.

The organization has not been effective in combating corruption in Nigeria.

The study is between 2003-2012.

There is a need to correct those identified inhibitors that undermined the Commission’s capacity, such as intrusive government interference, lack of autonomy, poor funding and weak laws, among others, to mitigate corruption.

Eliminating those identified constraints will remove the incentive to be corrupt, thereby curbing the desire to be corrupt.

This paper is an original assessment of the EFCC's effectiveness in combating corruption in Nigeria during the specified period.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the seeming paradox that underpins Nigeria’s war on corruption. This paradox centres on the undue interference of the presidency in the war against corruption. This interference has resulted in selective prosecutions and a deceleration in the tempo of the anti-corruption crusade.

The study used an admixture of primary and secondary data to evaluate whether indeed Nigeria is fighting against corruption to win it. The primary data were derived from key informant interviews. A total of ten diverse experts were interviewed through the instrumentality of unstructured set of questions, which were administered to them with room for elaboration. The secondary data were sourced from archival materials.

The findings of the study centre on three key issues: a characteristic one-sidedness in the prosecution of alleged corruption offenders by the anti-graft agencies. Those with pending corruption cases who have decamped to the ruling All Progressives Congress have had their cases placed in abeyance. There is evidence of the politicisation of the war against corruption as well as evidence of weak institutionalisation, which robs the anti-corruption agencies of the capacity to act independently.

The anti-corruption war may likely be derailed if the operational efficiency of the anti-graft agencies is not enhanced and their independence guaranteed.

If the anti-corruption crusade fails, it will have multiple negative domino effects on national development and quality of life of the Nigerian people.

The paper is original because no recent study has interrogated the declining efficiency of Nigeria’s anti-graft agencies or linked this declining efficiency on weak institutionalisation and interference from the presidency.

This study investigates the relationship between responsible leadership (RL) and employee sustainable performance (ESP), utilizing the CSR theory as a theoretical framework. Furthermore, this study aims to examine the role of ethical climate as a potential mediator in the relationship between RL and ESP.

A sample of 415 employees from the healthcare sector of India was collected through a questionnaire-based survey by using the convenience sampling technique. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with the help of SmartPLS 4.

The study's findings demonstrated a significant, positive association between RL and ESP [employee well-being (EWB) and employee performance (EP)]. Additionally, the findings show that ethical climate partially mediates the link between RL and ESP (EWB and EP).

The generalizability of the study's data collection is limited because it is based on the responses of Indian healthcare sector employees to an online and offline survey. The authors propose that the healthcare industry implement an intensive leadership training program in light of the findings of this study, which will aid human resource (HR) managers in comprehending the significance of RL and fostering related behaviors, such as encouraging employees to maintain ethical behavior and positive attitudes.

To the authors' understanding, this study is among the earliest attempts to present an integrative model that examines the relationship between RL, ethical climate and ESP in the context of Indian healthcare employees, incorporating the theory of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Moreover, the novelty of this research study examines the relationship between RL and ESP, with an ethical climate serving as a mediator. The focus is specifically on employees working in the Indian healthcare sector.