Demographic changes and economic development: Application of the vector error correction model (VECM) to the case of Ethiopia
October 2012
Ethiopia is one of the countries with high fertility, rapidly growing and largely young population. At the same time, it is among countries with weak and poorly focused population policy. In light of this, this study intended to assess the causation between demographic factors and economic development in Ethiopia. To this end, it applied vector-error-correction model (VECM) to data on economic, demographic...
Financial inclusion by Zimbabwean commercial banks in a liquidity constrained environment
October 2012
The study investigates the trends and challenges of financial inclusion by commercial banks in Zimbabwe after the adoption of the multiple currency regime. Results showed that some commercial banks made efforts to ensure financial inclusion. New innovations like cell phone banking and internet banking were positive steps towards ensuring financial inclusion by Zimbabwean commercial banks. The foreign...
The impact of globalization on African economic development
May 2012
The term globalization captures the attention of everyone and especially economic development researchers. Despite the prior prosperity promises of globalization and the benefits of an information accessing society, the afterwards benefits have not been universal and global inequality has increased instead. Globalization has widened the gap between rich and poor countries in its relentless progression....
Problems and prospects of electronic resources usage in Nigerian academic libraries
May 2012
This work dealt with the problems and prospects of electronic information resources in Nigeria. It was obvious from the review that the use of e-resources is not problem-free in Nigeria. Amongst others, it was pointed out that acquisition and maintenance cost, availability of electronic information resources gadgets, spare parts and experts, erratic power supply, are major problems militating against the...
Official development assistance (ODA), public spending and economic growth in Ethiopia
May 2012
The objective of this research was to analyse the role of Ethiopia’s government expenditure in economic growth and the importance that ODA has played in financing government spending. The study employed both descriptive and econometric analyses. In the econometric analysis, Ram’s (1986) model is adopted to scrutinize the impact of different composition of public spending on economic growth. The...
Nigerian foreign trade policy: Its impact on non-oil exports
May 2012
The paper sets out to examine the impact of trade policy on Nigeria non-oil exports. It specifically seeks to ascertain the effect of trade policies on non-oil exports in Nigeria as well as the performance of the non-oil export sector over the period 1970 to 2010. Nigeria’s data set from the CBN statistical bulletin volume 18, (2009) and the American reserve bank during the period 1970 to 2010 were...
Does economic growth and financial development spur energy consumption in Tunisia?
April 2012
This study investigates the link between energy consumption, financial development and growth in Tunisia. The causal relationship between energy consumption growth (ENC), per capita GDP growth (GDP) and credit to the private sector as a proxy of financial development (CSPV) during the 1972 to 2010 period was examined using the cointegration and vector error correction models for Granger causality...
Tax policy developments, donor inflows and economic growth in Malawi
April 2012
Government continuously operates with revenues below expenditures and taxation is increasingly becoming a sensitive political and economic tool to be relied upon as an instrument for revenue generation and economic growth. This study seeks to examine the impact of tax policy and donor inflows on economic growth in Malawi from 1970 to 2010 using data envelope analysis (DEA) and transcendental logarithm...
Lessons from the great recession: Need for a new paradigm
March 2012
The ongoing sovereign debt crisis in Europe and U.S. is challenging the conventional wisdom and is creating fears of a double dip recession in 2012. Massive levels of debt and consumption beyond means and speedy financial innovation with lax regulation has put major economies in a deep hole. Monetary policy with ease in rates had been ineffective, to say the least, in generating new jobs in the last few years...
Research and Development (R&D) spillovers and economic growth: Empirical validation in the case of developing countries
March 2012
The aim of this paper is to study the effects of the domestic and foreign Research and Development (R&D) on the total factor productivity (TFP) in the case of the developing countries. In other words, it is to determine the important role of the R&D externalities through the commercial opening in the TFP of these countries and the necessary conditions to enable them absorb the technological...
Theoretical issues on the African stock markets and portfolio performance
March 2012
The study discusses the theoretical issues surrounding the African stock markets and portfolio performance. It examines the issues underpinning the perception of market inefficiency in African stock markets. It has been proposed that the solution to problems faced by African stock markets is to integrate their stock exchanges by merging the stock exchanges. The study adopted an exploratory research...
Risk, coping mechanisms, and factors in the demand for micro-insurance in Ethiopia
February 2012
This paper is the first result of a policy study carried out for the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), to determine how micro-insurance can help Ethiopia’s poor become more resilient to negative financial shocks. This research focuses on the demand components of micro-insurance, and investigated two main research questions: Do...
Social and financial performance of microfinance institutions: Is there a trade-off?
February 2012
The simultaneous achievement of financial and social objectives assigned to microfinance institutions is a challenge. Showing good financial performance (good profitability) and having a high depth of outreach (serving the poor) may be contradictory. Therefore, these "banks for the poor" are facing a trade-off that can lead to mission drift. To verify the existence of this fact, we have analyzed the...
Impact of socio-economic characteristics of GSM-owner on the use of global system for mobile communication (GSM)
February 2012
The wide use of the global system for mobile communication (GSM) and its influence on various aspects of the society is yet to be empirically investigated. This paper examined the relationship between GSM usage and socio-economic characteristics (sex, marital status, age, education, income, occupation and employment) of the GSM-owners. The study sample consisted of 2,500 households in the study area....
Free coinage for gold and silver –Then and now
February 2012
Transformational leadership for excellent result: Challenges for women in management and executive positions in Nigeria
February 2012
The obvious problem that impedes growth in today’s organizations and particularly government is not that of getting leadership but the transformational one that can make remarkable difference in the socio-economic lives of stakeholders. This nation has been ruled and governed by “men in their various capacities and yet we are far away from the median of growth and development. This paper tried to...
Hedge funds and their interaction with market parameters
February 2012
The performance of hedge funds and other financial institutions has been carefully studied during the last financial crisis. In our study which spans through a time period of 31 December, 1999 to 21 June, 2011, the relationship between global hedge fund indice and Federal Reserve’s effective interest rate, and the relationship between the 10 year-term Treasury bill and the M2 monetary supply variables...
Effect of corporate governance on the top management team compensation
January 2012
This paper has explored the determinants of the top management team (TMT) compensation. Specifically, it has examined the influence of ownership structure and the board of directors’ effectiveness on the TMT compensation in a sample of 274 most admired American firms of fortune magazine. When panel data methodology was applied, the results have shown that TMT pay level has not been affected by the...
Industrıal sector energy consumptıon ın Turkey- the relatıonshıp between economıc growth (1970-2010)
January 2012
Economic growth is one of the most important macroeconomic targets, due to its relatively important effects on the other macroeconomic variables. Among many others, productivity of labor, accumulation of capital, technological improvements, enhancement of human capital, existence of natural resources are considered to be the most important factors affecting economic growth. In this study, the effect of energy...
Money supply and inflation in Malawi: An econometric investigation
January 2012
This paper examines the relative importance of monetary factors in driving inflation in Malawi. A stylized inflation model is specified which includes standard monetary variables, the exchange rate and supply-side factors. The results indicate that inflation in Malawi is a result of both monetary and supply-side factors. Monetary supply growth drives inflation with lags of about 3 to 6 months. On the other...
Interaction between political instability and investment
January 2012
The aim of this paper is to identify the effect of political instability on investment and economic growth. By using a dynamic balanced panel data model applied on annual data from 11 countries from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region over the period of 2000 to 2009. The political instability’ effect on the contribution of investment to economic growth has been the subject of a second...
Financial performance and ownership structure of Ethiopian commercial banks
January 2012
It has been argued since long time that private ownership of firms leads to better firm performance. Knowledge of the relationship of performance and ownership is assumed to have significance importance. This paper is an empirical analysis on the impact of ownership structure on the performance of Ethiopian commercial banks. We examined whether the ownership structure of banks significantly impinges on bank performance....
Evaluation of countries solution against the U.S economics crisis through a multiple attribute decision model (MADM)
January 2012
U.S economics crisis have occurred since 2007. It is the important crisis after the great depression of 1930’s. The countries in our global village have relationships together. They can become impressive or neutral in case of this crisis. It definitely depends on their policies and decisions. In this paper, we evaluate some chosen solutions in front of U.S economic crisis using a multi attributes...
Global climate change and emerging environmental and strategic security issues for South Asia
December 2011
Global climate change-essentially an adverse consequence of global warming, is principally caused by progressive build-up and extensive spread of greenhouse gases (GHGs) across countries, regions or continents because of earth’s rotational movement. The potent sources of GHGs are fossil-fuels and biomass. With the increasing pace of globalization, industrialization and rapid change of life-style, the...
The determinants of the demand for money in developed and developing countries
December 2011
This study examined the determinants of the demand for money in developing and the developed countries. The study employed a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of the determinants of the demand for money in both developing and developed countries. It was found out that income related factors or the scale variables are more effective in the developing countries while factors that work through the...
Effective risk management and company’s performance: Investment in innovations and intellectual capital using behavioral and practical approach
December 2011
Risk management is used to decrease the undesirable effects of market conditions and behavior on company’s activities and performance. This research focuses on ability of risk management response to out of control market factors to facilitate consistent profitability that leads to improvement in company’s performance. This is an empirical research that investigates the association of total risk...
Mixed exchange rate regime in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU)
December 2011
The debate on the issue of choosing the best exchange rate regime is still valid. Indeed, each exchange rate regime has both costs and benefits. For WAEMU countries, the current choice is less and less justified mainly because of globalization. Therefore, the objective of this study is to propose a mixed exchange rate regime pegged to the euro and U.S. dollar. The study shows that this type of plan allows...
An econometric analysis of money demand function in Sudan, 1960 to 2010
December 2011
This study is an attempt to test the existence of a stable money demand function in Sudan during the period, 1960 to 2010. The money demand function includes real money balances, real GDP (as scale variable), the rate of inflation and exchange rate (as opportunity cost of holding money balances variables). The study applies cointegration and error correction models to examine the behavior of money demand...
Effectiveness of foreign aid in sub-Saharan Africa: Does disaggregating aid into bilateral and multilateral components make a difference?
December 2011
Inspired by the contradicting findings of studies on aid effectiveness and the recently emerging dissatisfaction of scholars with the methodologies of earlier works, this study took up the examination of the effectiveness of bilateral and multilateral aids on economic growth. To this end, the study applied the estimation technique of system-GMM (system - generalized method of moments) to panel data of 42...
Economic integration and trade deficit: A case of Vietnam
November 2011
This paper attempts to present a quantitative analysis in order to figure out the reasons of continuous increase of trade deficit in the last decade in Vietnam. After a long period of unceasing economic growth and macroeconomic stability, Vietnam has become one of the attractive investment destinations for many foreigner investors. However, the country starts to worry about its overall economic situation...
The investigation of the current status of socially responsible investment indices
November 2011
This paper investigated the development of the current status of socially responsible investment indices and their composition features, and it was found that the socially responsible investment indices were highly developed since the 2006 period. The socially responsible investment indices mostly used in European markets are becoming a trademark in many countries. Meanwhile, this paper listed some...
Time series variation of foreign exchange rate in the Nigerian Wholesale Dutch Auction Market
November 2011
Exchange rate movements can be forecast if we understand how exchange rates are determined. This paper seeks to find significant explanatory variables in the time series variation of foreign exchange rates based on Nigerian data. The study period covered 2004 to 2009 using monthly data for the Wholesale Dutch Auction Market (WDAS). The study embodies the monetary approach to exchange rate determination,...
A survey of poverty and inequality indicators with an application to Southern African Customs Union (SACU)
November 2011
The article provides a brief survey of poverty and inequality indicators and proceeds to provide their analytical application for countries in the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). Poverty measures surveyed, included money-metric measures such as the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) indicators, while the non-money metric measures included body mass index and human development index (HDI), among others. The inequality...
The long run relationship between interest rates and inflation in Iran: Revisiting Fisher’s hypothesis
November 2011
This paper analyzes the relationship between interest rates and inflation by using the Johansen’s co-integration approach and then vector error correction model (VECM) approach. It should be noted that this relation has been known as Fisher effect in long run term, so we used the theory of Fisher for theoretical basis. The hypothesis, proposed by Fisher (1930), which states that the nominal rate of...
Economic growth and increasing trends of child malnutrition in Mumbai City
November 2011
Malnutrition among children reduces the physical growth, school achievements and future employment opportunities. Present study finds that the incidence of malnutrition among below five age group children in Kutcha slums of Mumbai city is increasing. The incidence of stunting is rising faster whereas the incidence of underweight remains stagnant. The incidence of severe malnutrition is also increasing among...
International portfolio diversification: Cointegration, causality tests and error correction model
November 2011
The objective of this paper is to examine the short and long term relationships between 22 financial markets in order to study their implication on the potential gains from international diversification during the period 1987 to 2004. We will make an empirical study based on cointegration, causality tests and error correction model. The results of bivariate tests show the existence of long term...
Balance sheet channel in developing countries: Review, evaluation and integration
November 2011
Lacking from most of the literature on the balance sheet channel is an integration of economic theory with empirical observation. We provide: (1) An account of the usefulness of the theoretical literature for interpreting the empirical research on the balance sheet channel; (2) Brief notes on some of the implications of the balance sheet channel; and (3) Suggestions for future research roadmap which...
Analytic hierarchy process for prioritizing production functions: Illustration with pharmaceutical data
November 2011
Since the downturn hit the world’s economy in 2008, many organizations have been having a tough time remaining in business not to talk of making profit. Consequently, companies now seem to give a relatively high priority to the marketing competencies of their staff even when this may not be the required antidote. Using data from five major pharmaceutical companies in Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, this study...
Foreign direct investment and export growth in Nigeria
October 2011
The purpose of this study was to examine the link between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Nigeria from 1970 to 2008. The stationary properties of the data and the order of integration of the data were tested using the augmented Dickey fuller (ADF) and the Philip – Perron (PP) tests. The cointegration results showed at least one cointegrating equation in the export function. The Granger...
The impact of different investment strategies on reducing systematic risk in Tehran stock exchange
October 2011
Scientific findings indicate that the efficiency of different investment strategies is varied, so financial experts have classified these strategies from diverse perspectives. One of the most common categories as the major academic studies which have been done on this classification is passive, active and momentum strategies, but so far none has been done around correlation of investment strategies. In this...
Analyzing the effect of macroeconomic variables on stock market returns: Evidence from Ghana
October 2011
This study investigates the relationship between macroeconomic variables and stock market returns using monthly data that spans from January 1992 to December 2008. Macroeconomic variables used in this study are consumer price index (as a proxy for inflation), crude oil price, exchange rate and 91 day Treasury bill rate (as a proxy for interest rate). The ordinary least square estimation (OLS) model...
Social entrepreneurship as an instrument for curbing youth gangsterism: A study of the Nigerian Urban Communities
October 2011
There have been growing concerns over the level of unemployment in Nigeria especially among the teeming youths. Unemployment among the youths has been a major factor responsible for youth gangsterism in most urban centers. This study focuses on the effectiveness of social entrepreneurship in providing gainful employment for the teeming youths in the Nigerian urban communities, especially in the light of...
Does devaluation improve the trade balance of Nigeria? (A test of the Marshall-Lerner condition)
October 2011
This paper aims to investigate the effect of devaluation/depreciation of the Nigerian naira on the country’s trade balance for the period 1986 to 2008. The paper adopts the elasticity approach to the balance of payments adjustment. The study investigates the effect of exchange rate devaluation as a policy on the Nigerian economy’s Trade for the period 1986 to 2008. The focus is to test...
Liberalizing trade in services in Tunisia: General equilibrium effects
October 2011
The main objective of this paper is to simulate removal of barriers to trade in services in Tunisia by focusing on two modes; cross-border delivery (Mode 1) and commercial presence (Mode 3). For the first mode, we model restrictions as tariff equivalent-price wedge. Thus, the simulation of services liberalization consists of removing totally or partially these estimated tariff equivalents. We assume for...
Impact of government sectoral expenditure on economic growth
October 2011
The objective of this study is to investigate the growth effect of government expenditure on economic growth in Nigeria over the period of 1980 to 2008, with a particular focus on sectoral expenditures. This paper investigates the growth effects of government expenditure in Nigeria over the period of 1980 to 2008, with a particular focus on sectoral expenditures. Five key sectors were...
Trade Unionism: Protection of worker’s rights in Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Port Harcourt (Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company)
October 2011
The focus of this study was on trade unionism in the protection of workers’ rights, using Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Port Harcourt (Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company) as a reference. A partly-coded questionnaire was administered on a randomly selected 384 PHCN workers whose selection was without consideration of place of residence, ethno/tribal and religious background. There...
Productivity in agribusiness firms and its determinants in Abia State, Nigeria
October 2011
The study examined total factor productivity in agribusiness firms and its determinants in Abia state, Nigeria. The specific objectives includes, (1) to classify and examine firm specific characteristics that enhance productivity in agribusiness and (2) to identify factors that influence total factor productivity in agribusiness firms in Abia State. The first objective was realised with descriptive statistics...
Financial derivatives, global economic crisis and less developed countries (LDCs)
September 2011
Financial derivatives have been acclaimed as the greatest innovation of the 20th century. This popularity is not unconnected to their use as risk management tool. It is therefore disconcerting that such instruments meant to manage risks can be blamed for having exacerbated it, to the extent of causing a global crisis. In the light of the aforementioned, this paper examines the nature and uses of...
Towards reducing poverty in Nigeria: The case of Igboland
September 2011
This paper studied poverty in Igboland (Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States) of Nigeria, using the 1996 National Consumer Survey data set. The results show that by 1996, the proportion of the Igbo States’ population living under the in 1992. The depth of poverty in Igbo%, up from 40.9%poverty line stood at 55.1 in 1992. The severity of% in 1996, again an increase from...
Niger Delta University and the socio-economic life of Amassoma
September 2011
The paper seeks to evaluate the impact of the establishment of Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State on the socio-economic life of Amassoma City, with emphasis on the growth in population of the area in relationship to the availability of basic social amenities. To achieve this objective, descriptive statistics was employed in analysing the primary data collected. Our findings reveals that...
Page 5 of 8, showing 50 records out of 362 total, starting on record 201, ending on 250
