Open Access Publishing Group

This study analyses the impact of foreign direct investment on economic growth in Nigeria using data for 32 years, from 1985-2016. The OLS estimation and the Johansen cointegration test were the key techniques of analysis employed. The results indicate that foreign direct investment has no positive impact on the Nigerian economic growth. Trade openness and exchange rate, however, have positive but insignificant influence on economic growth. The cointegration test result revealed that there is evidence of a long-run relationship between foreign direct investment and economic growth. The paper thus recommends that there is need for in-depth investigation of economic and institutional forces that determine the composition of FDI inflows to developing countries and to work towards improving such forces. Moreover, government should also take measures in order to stabilize the exchange rate system that may attract foreign investors in the country, and also liberalize the trade policy to attract foreign investors to the country.

JEL: E22, F21, G11

Many organizations, ought to have strategic plans to achieve their set objectives and eventually achieve their success. In most cases, organizations do not consider the importance of strategic plans in organizations` performance. Therefore, this study is targeted to investigate the nexus between strategy implementation and industry performance in Kenya. The study also investigated the effect of organizational culture on strategic plan implementation and performance of Kenyan Industries and more specifically Meru Law Courts. Descriptive study was applied for the study and stratified sampling was also used to get sample size. The target population was 146 employees of the Kenyan judiciary and the sample size was 107 employees which were derived from the target population. Data collection technique for the study was questionnaires as they were simple and cheap to administer. Data for the study was analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression. Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the data to determine the degree of relationship between the variables under study. The hypotheses were tested using multiple linear regression at 5% level of significance. The data for the study was then presented in form of frequency tables, charts and graphs. The study recommends that a further study should be undertaken and extended to other Counties to assess whether different findings may be reached regarding the issue under study.

JEL: L60, L10

This research focused on the evaluation of the effectiveness of financial management practices in Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) on public sector reforms. The main objective of the study was to establish the effectiveness of financial management practices on public sector reforms taking a case study of KeRRA. The specific objectives of the study were to establish the effectiveness of budgeting on public sector reforms in KeRRA, to examine the effectiveness of procurement laws on public sector reforms in KeRRA, to establish the effects of effectiveness of IFMIS – Integrated Financial Management Information Systems on public sector reforms and to determine the effectiveness of work plans on public sector reforms in KeRRA. The study used descriptive research design with a target population of 530 employees; a sample of 222 was selected using simple random sampling technique. The research used both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected using questionnaires. Secondary data was obtained from reports and archives. Pilot test was conducted to enhance the instrument validity and reliability. Data collection involved a self - administered questionnaire through drop and picks them later. Descriptive analysis was applied which included mean, frequencies and percentages using assistance of computer packages especially Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 to communicate research findings.The study also used a regression model and correlation to study the relationship between factors. From the model, the factors that significantly influenced public sector reforms included Budgeting process (t = 2.189, p = .032), Procurement process (t = 1.913, p = .059), and IFIMIS Implementation (t = -3.847, p = .001). Work plan implementation (t = .979, p = .331) did not have any significant influence on public sector reforms. KeRRA should include financial reforms as part of their performance contracts target and should ensure that they implement the reforms to their logical conclusion in order to achieve the reforms intended objectives and consequently improve on its performance.

JEL: H61, H72, H83, B26

The implementation of devolved government system in Kenya has enabled most citizens to receive efficient and better services. This is facilitated by supportive leadership style such as democratic styles which enables different actors to participate in decision making and implementation of service delivery. The study objective was to find out how leadership Style influences implementation of service delivery in County government. The null hypothesis stated that there is no significant relationship between leadership Style and implementation of service delivery in County government. This study adopted descriptive study design. The study made use of stratified sampling. Stratified is where the researcher divides a study area in portion and then he/she picks few individuals for study. The sample size comprises of 110 respondents. The researcher used descriptive statistics including frequency distribution tables, percentages. In addition to this, inferential statistical techniques were considered such as Pearson correlations and multiple regression analysis. They were used to establish relationships among variables. A detailed description of the data and the findings were presented in tables. The study found that county government has a policy on leadership style. It was also found that workers were not free to make most decisions without consulting their seniors, meaning decisions are made by their seniors. The study recommended that the County government should embrace participative leadership which may encourage implementation of service delivery in County governments and that county government employees should be allowed to air their grievances to the top county managers, avoid authoritative leadership in County government.

JEL: G18, G28, H11

The growth and decline or economic downturn of countries is closely linked to the workings of banking institutions. The banking system offers services without which the economic system of the country remains open. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of internal factors on profitability of accepted banks in Tehran Stock Exchange. To describe the research method, Mark, Philip, and Adrian (2009) used the onion model for the research process. This model has 8 layers, and the present study based on the lines of the paradigm were categorized of research on affirmation, the main type of applied research, the method of analytic-hypothesis research, quantitative research strategy, field research, the choice of research method in correlation and time series, the research objectives were descriptive and, finally, the methods and procedures for collecting data of reviewing library resources and financial ratios. The statistical population of this study was equivalent to the total accepted banks in Tehran Stock Exchange. All statistical analyzes were performed at the error level of 5% with the help of Excel 2016 and version 10 of Eviews software. The results of this study revealed that credit risk factors have a linear and significant correlation with profitability (return on equity and equity ratio), stock market indices and profitability (return on assets and equity ratio).

Citizen participation is one of the national values in Kenya and is also a principle of public service. This study examined the key factors affecting public participation in budgeting process in the County Government of Nandi in Kenya. The study also sought to identify the key socio-cultural factors affecting public participation in the budgeting process in Nandi County. The study adopted a descriptive survey design targeting Community Based Organizations’ (CBOs) members who are residents of Nandi County, CBO officials and officials from the Treasury and Economic Planning department in the County Government of Nandi. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select members of Community Based Organizations who were administered with structured questionnaires. The study found out that public participation enhances the quality of the budgeting process. The study also found out that stakeholders’ involvement in budgeting process enhances accountability and transparency. Pearson correlation test found that there was a statistically significant positive relationship (R = 0.513) between stakeholder’s involvement and budgeting process since p < 0.05 (p = 0.014). It was also found that socio-cultural factors could also affect public participation in the budgeting process and using Pearson correlation test to determine the effect of socio-cultural factors on participatory budgeting process, the study found a weak positive relationship (R = 0.203) between Socio-cultural factors and budgeting process since p < 0.05 (p = 0.203).

The tea industry has long been acknowledged as a major source of livelihood in Sri Lanka with regards as the biggest provider of employment, export earnings and government revenue. Kenya, India, China, Vietnam, Malawi and Indonesia are emerging as competitors for Sri Lankan tea industry in the international market. Ceylon tea still has golden opportunity to compete in the global tea market with respect to high quality tea products. Factory model cultivation is initiated to encourage tea factories to control their tea input quality, in turn improves tea output quality. Based on this premise, this study aims to identify the impact of factory model cultivation on tea input and output quality of tea factories in Sri Lanka. An empirical investigation was conducted on a sample comprising 74 tea factories in Ruhunu region, Sri Lanka. A personally-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The independent sample t-test and the multiple regression analysis were employed to test the hypotheses. The findings offer useful insights not only in terms of understanding the link between tea input quality and output quality of tea production, but also the impact of factory model plantation on controllability of the external suppliers input quality. The study has extended the understanding of the extent of applicability of the factory model cultivation to upgrade input and output quality of tea as well as controlling abilities towards input quality of external suppliers. 

JEL: O13, Q18, Q15

This study reviews the market intervention technique used by central banks for the management of exchange rate. In literature, enough evidence is available describing that many Central Banks used intervention as a tool to control the volatility of foreign exchange; however, recently the Central Banks in larger industrialized nations shifted from physical intervention policy to the oral intervention policy. The evidence suggests that the oral intervention remained more successful in controlling the volatility compared to physical intervention.

Economic development must be sustainable, improving and dynamic in order to achieve the critical goal of poverty alleviation. A review of extant literature indicates that studies in this area of finance have focused on the impact of finance on economic growth arising more from developed economies. Recommendations from these works may obviously have favoured these economies to the detriment of the developing ones. It is therefore, against the need to explore the role of finance in tackling developmental issues in developing economies with bias to sub-Saharan African countries that this study examined the impact of financial intermediation on human capital development of sub Saharan African countries from 1980 to 2012 utilizing panel data set from the World Bank and applying the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression in analysis. Results reveal that financial intermediation did not have positive and significant impact on human development in sub Saharan Africa within the period of this study. This trend must be reversed as it probably might have contributed to their underdevelopment. It is recommended that policy makers should pay more attention to the quality of growth so as to support all round human development. Countries may consider establishing banks of infrastructure or even go further to have banks of development. These will further assist in addressing critical areas such as life expectancy, adult literacy and school enrolment, amongst others beyond just economic growth.

This study examines the effectiveness of European Central Bank asset purchase program (quantitative easing) on the long-term interest rates. In particular, the study evaluates the effectiveness or influence of the European Central Bank’s non-conventional monetary policy tool, quantitative easing (also known as asset purchase program) on the yield of  5-year sovereign government bonds of Eurozone economies. The main objective and the motivation for this study is to provide the compact effects or influence of the quantitative easing in the Eurozone economies, as the current literature on quantitative easing insufficiently covers the effects of quantitative easing in the euro area. The duration of the quantitative easing or asset purchase program is from the end of 2014 until the first quarter of 2017; however, the currently available literature only studies the effects of the asset purchase program until mid of 2016. Very few researches are published after the completion of the quantitative program that estimates or evaluate the complete influence of the program on the long-term interest rates and economic indicators. Whereas, this research provides a complete solution to the literature gap by studying the influence of all the quantitative easing related announcements made by ECB from June 2014 to January 2017, or the whole period of extended asset purchase program conducted by ECB.
The research questions that the study aims to answer is that if the ECB announcements related to quantitative easing influence the long-term interest rates via influencing the 5-year government bonds. If the impact on the 5-year government bond yield is only influenced by those ECB announcements that contain new information related to asset purchase program. If the impact of quantitative easing or asset purchase program is larger on the weaker Eurozone economies namely Spain and Italy, as compared to the impact of the same program on stronger Eurozone economies including Germany and France
This research uses the event-study analysis methodology. Under the event study method, the research first estimates the abnormal variation in the yield of 5-year government bonds of the four largest Eurozone economies around the announcements made by European Central Bank regarding the quantitative easing or asset purchase program in the monetary policy statement. Later the study evaluates if abnormal variation in 5-year government bond yield around such announcements has statistical and economic significance. The sample of four 5-year government bonds of the four largest economies of Eurozone, namely Germany, France, Spain, and Italy, are considered for the research..
The research made key contributions to the literature on the subject of quantitative easing focused on the euro area. The statistical results of the research conclude that the ECB announcements negatively (decrease) influence the 5-year government bond yields. While the event-study results and the hypothesis revolve around measuring the effectiveness and influence of the non-conventional monetary policy tools used by ECB, the study also discovered a key pattern that the influence of such asset purchase program is much larger on weaker economies of the dataset like Spain and Italy, as compared to strong candidates i.e. Germany and France. The study also discovered that the abnormal variations in yields only occur around those central bank announcement that has a surprise element or that has a new information related the monetary policy.
The results of the study also show economic significance. The results show that at the initiation of the asset purchase program or quantitative easing, the inflation rates across Europe were between -1% to 0.8%, which is far below the optimal inflation rate of 2%. However, at the end of asset purchase program in the first quarter of 2017, the monthly inflation rates in Germany, France, Spain and Italy has increased to 2%, 1.4%, 2.6% and 2% respectively. At the beginning of the asset purchase program the quarterly GDP growth rate in sample countries was between -0.2% to 0.4%, whereas, at the end of the asset purchase program or quantitative easing in the second quarter of 2017, the quarterly GDP growth rate of Germany, France, Spain and Italy increased to 0.6%, 0.5%, 0.9% and 0.4% respectively. Hence all the results derived from the event-study analysis are consistent with the hypothesis proposed under this research.

The 21st century consumers are mindful of problems that impact social and environmental sustainability, fast fashion’s main emphasis is faster turnaround from factories to stay competitive thus some retail companies aren’t paying keen attention on the ethics in apparel production factories (Bhasin, 2014, June 04; Tan, 2016). According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) forced labor is a worldwide concern affecting 21 million people; simply put there are 3 out of every 1,000 victims who are part of forced labor within Asia-Pacific with 11.7 million and other regions as shown in Appendix A (Mcclelland, 2017). 260 million children partake in employment with an estimate of 170 million children engaged in apparel making; ILO estimated that 6 million children are in forced labor with 14 to 16 working hour days in poor working conditions with reported cases in Bangladesh apparel factories; yarn spinning in India; cotton seeds production in Benin; and harvesting cotton in Uzbekistan (Moulds, 2017; Peiris, 2005). Ashridge Centre for Business and Sustainability, and Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) confirmed that 71% of companies admitted to cases of modern slavery in their supply chain; with 168 million child labor cases in 2017 and a proven improvement from 246 million cases in 2000 (Mcclelland, 2017). Can apparel suppliers and retailers tackle the unethical practices that are impacting humanity and integrate practices that would ensure social sustainability? The focus of this research was for an opportunity to acquire and understand millennials perspectives on the unethical conduct and fashion industry with relevance to apparel sourcing, manufacturing, industry sustainability.

JEL: L60, L67, M14, D29, K20

The pressure to gain market share in competitive markets plays a role in expedited production, less time in research and development, and minimal product testing; these actions leave the flaws to be pinpointed by consumers instead of the respective companies. Product recalls are an economic threat to suppliers and manufacturers and a main concern to the public’s health; the complexity of a globalized supply chain with areas of unregulated safety standards contribute to increase in recalls. The adoption of technology and ease in usage of smart devices equipped with access to social media has provided consumers with the power to report malfunctions to larger audience and government agencies thus directly influencing consumer behavior. The cost incurred by companies after a recall are estimated at $55.5 billion a year including mortality, productivity losses, and medical expenses; specifically, the direct cost to the food company can go up to $10 million on lost sales and brand image reputation. The ethics within industries; what motivates industries from not being forthcoming and delaying the recall of products that cause harm to others and need to be recalled? Research focused on eliciting millennial perspectives on safety recalls on significant consumable products, baby products, and technology related recalls with emphasis on the CPSC recall of 1.9 million Galaxy Note 7 and 2.8 million top-load washers for a total of 4.7 million recalled products in 7 weeks a period from September 15 to November 04, 2016.

JEL: D18, L60, M11, A14, F23, M14

Americans spend $392 billion in prescribed medication per Washington post; Wall Street Journal study compared branded rugs in Ontario, Canada, England, Norway the findings confirmed that United States prices were higher prices than Norway; and England. United States with the highest prices contribute to price gouging? EpiPen by Mylan from $2 overseas and $750; Daraprim by Turning Pharmaceuticals gouge from $13.50 to $750 per pill; and Cosmegen $20 to $30 overseas and $1400 per injection these prices are horrendous especially when the drugs are required for debilitating diseases. Ebola scare in 2014 required protective devices against contamination of the virus. Kimberly Clark and Halyard Health manufactured, marketed, and sold Microcool gowns with a 77% failure rate as confirmed by Intertek Labs. What contributes to the pharmaceutical unethical conduct that includes price gouging and exploitation? Pharmaceuticals growing with an emphasis on buying rights to drugs and drastically increasing the cost of drugs and medical devices without substitutes ethical; what do millennials who are projected by Fortune to dominate the workforce by 2020 think on ethics within pharmaceuticals? The findings confirmed that the pharmaceuticals price gouging, sale of drugs and products that are later recalled, and huge budgets in marketing instead of R&D weren’t ethical and results confirmed that the pharmaceutical companies should focus on their core which is saving patients’ lives.

JEL: L60, L65, I18 A14, L29, K32, M14

Social responsibility, animal welfare, and environmental responsibility are essential practices in sustainably sourced products. The industry leaders in ethical sourcing and sustainable development are paving the way while the followers are lagging; how can the industry continue the upward trend in sourcing ethically and improving sustainability? Gaining brand loyalty and increase of sales while sourcing ethically and sustainably is the emphasis of this research, millennials as sample participants are projected to dominate the workforce by 2020. What are the millennials perspectives on integrating moral values to ensure ethical sourcing and sustainable development? Consumers are now more than ever aware of where products are sourced from, the treatment and living conditions of workers who grow the products, and the use of land without care of sustainability measures. The voluntary ethical sourcing can be linked to company who are moving towards caring for the environment and humanity thus ethical sourcing and maintaining the process has become essential and more especially the millennials who are the focus on this research are ferociously loyal to ethically sourced and sustainable brands.

JEL: L60, L66, L15 N5, Q13, Q50, Q56, Q58, J43 M14, M16, D23, D83

Corruption is the core component that acts as a barrier for social and economic development in emerging markets. The examination of ethics within organizations that have entered emerging global platforms is essential to bring forth evidence of ways organizations are conducting in emerging markets. Research shows that organizations dress up the illegal bribes as the cost of conducting business; are these costs in violation of United States Laws? The secondary research examined if the desire of foreign exposure contributed to organizations involvement in unethical ways to capitalization on the rapid growth to remain sustainable.

JEL: D73, D23, F13, D23, D83, G38, K23, M14, M16, A13

Integration of moral values with ethics for sustainable development in the auto industry research analysis on 5 auto industry related incidents; GM faulty ignition left 100 dead and paid $2 billion in civil settlements and fines; and Toyota recall of the unintended acceleration caused 89 deaths United States and costed over $1.2 billion to address the economic loss. The 1978 recall of the 14.5 million Firestone and 2000 Ford Explorers highway rollovers equipped with firestone tires killed 271 people; Takata defective airbags by Japanese Auto makers agreed to pay $1 billion in penalties and fines in recall of 70 million airbags in 42 million vehicles with 11 deaths and 150 injuries and 100 million worldwide recalls; and Volkswagen emission deceptions in violation of Clean Air Act and with payment of $4.3 billion in criminal and civil penalties with overall settlement of $22 billion in fines and settlement in United States for 600, 000 vehicles.  What are the perspectives on ethics and sustainability in the auto industry by millennials who are projected dominate the workforce Auto Industry by 2020? The research findings detailed the agreement of participants that Volkswagen cheating software; Firestone treads peeling off; Takata airbag explosions; and Toyota sticky gas pedals were all unethical actions; the strategies shared by participants included selection of individuals with moral thus improving company culture.

JEL: L62, Q52, Q53, D23, D83, F63 M12, M14, K32, O13, Q54, Q56

The arguments on the responsiveness of capital structure leverage to sets of its major determinants have dominated the corporate finance literature. There is however no consensus regarding the direction of effects of these determinants on debt to equity ratio. In contribution to existing literature, this study explored development of debt to equity ratio in capital structure in the Nigerian context, with aim of filling gaps in methodology which have been argued to undermine the credibility of previous findings. The method of estimation used is the Panel-Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS). The Pedroni cointegration test was employed to test for long-run relationship. The descriptive statistics and the panel unit root test were the preliminary test. We ascertained that our data set are stable and normally distributed as precursor to determining if the variables are cointegrated. A more sophisticated method of panel estimation other than the traditional method was adopted which among other advantages purges the defects posed by heteroskendasticity prevalent in the conversional estimation method. We established that there is a long-run relationship between debt to equity ratio and tangibility, profitability, firm growth and firm size. The panel regression estimate confirmed the trade-off theory and the pecking order hypothesis in Nigeria as tangibility was found to have positive effect on corporate leverage. However, the finding with regards to growth and firm size supports the trade-off theory while discrediting the pecking order assumption. Profitability on the other hand confirmed the pecking order theory for Nigeria and shows that profitability has negative effect on debt to equity ratio. The robustness and reliability of the findings was embedded on the controls for residual weaknesses and disturbances.

JEL: L60, O14, D24

This study examined the causal link between the job ownership structure and increased commitment and motivation in worker co-operatives. The separation of job ownership from management and the effective alignment of the interests of job managers and the owners have generated a lot of discussion in the past. Proponents of the agency theory have, on the one hand, recommend actions that maximize shareholders value. On the other hand, the adoption of sweeping statements of purpose by many business organizations, have led to the recommendation of the stakeholder and the stewardship theories as being the appropriate guides to corporate actions. However, given the complexities of modern business organizations where the expectations of the workers and job owners are increasingly getting blurred, reliance on these theories does not provide a satisfactory solution. Survey questionnaires were the main instrument for primary data collection in this study. Semi-structured follow-up interviews were also conducted to supplement the method. The research design included three phases of data collection and analysis. Phase one was a qualitative method of informal, semi-structured interviews while phase two was a quantitative survey, the findings of which were used to construct further semi-structured follow-up interviews with worker co-operative stakeholders. The study concluded that the job ownership structure adopted by worker co-operatives has resulted into increased commitment and motivation which has in turn lead to increased productivity and improved performance.

JEL: E24, J24, O15

Strategic formulation is a management tool for measuring negotiated performance targets. It is a freely negotiated performance agreement between the government, acting as the owner of public agency on one hand, and the management of the agency on the other hand. The County government strategies are anchored on the Kenya Vision 2030. In revising their strategies, the County government needs to employ participatory approach, relying on the consensus of stakeholder groups, including civil society, the private sector and donor partners. The study focused on Isiolo county government. This is because the county government has been formulating and implements their strategies for the period of 3 years. The study involved all the management employees who include head of department of the county government. There were 63 managerial staff who were involved in the study. The study adopted descriptive research design. The study adopted a census sample design since the target population was manageable and the respondents were within systems that can be accessed easily hence the sample size which was 63 respondents. The questionnaire was used to collect the data from the sample. Descriptive statistics which includes frequencies and percentages were used. Pearson correlation was used in hypothesis testing. The analyzed data was thereafter be presented for better comparison using tables. The study concludes that successful formulation of strategic plan has taken root among the County governments. The study concluded that there no leadership training that equips leaders on strategic plans formulation. The study recommends that the leadership should provide the required support to ensure that strategic plans formulated influences the county government performance.


JEL: D73, H83, J88

Police service employees are extremely crucial to the country since their value is essentially intangible and not easily replicated. Kenya police service employees have been complaining of career growth and opportunity, better compensation, structured induction programs, performance management tools, equitable compensation packages, job satisfaction and good leadership skills were found to influence their decision to stay with their current employer. The objective of this study was to establish the influence of working environment on organizational performance in the Kenya Police Service. The study was carried out in the police services using Lakipia Police Divisional Headquarters. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The target population of the study was 86 disciplined uniformed officers who work in the Laikipia Police Division headquarters. The researcher conducted a census of all the respondents from the Laikipia Police Division headquarter. Descriptive statistics which includes frequencies and percentages were used to analyze data. The study used Pearson correlation analysis to test the hypothesis and the p-value from test statistic. The study concludes that working environment is one of the key issues in the world’s Kenya police service. The study recommends that the governments should ensure that police officers are given proper working tools and equipment to improve their performance. The police department should professionally come up with a practical scheme of service and policies that ensures that there is no conflicting policies in the police organization structure.

Target setting has over the years become a very crucial part of Human Resource Management in organizations and its benefits all over the world cannot be over-emphasized. It is an integrative process involving objective evaluation of employee’s competencies, contributions, improvement opportunities, and potential for future growth in line with organizational objectives. In Kenya, technical training institutes have started carrying out target settings to their employees with the aim of measuring institutional performance from January 2016 as per the requirements of Teacher’s Service Commission to enhance performance of the technical training institutes. The study objective was to establish the influence of target setting on the performance of Technical Training Institutes in Meru County. This study was carried out in the four technical training institutes in Meru County. These are Meru National Polytechnic, Nkabune TTI, Kiirua TTI and Mukiria TTI. All the management employees of the technical training institutes were used as the respondents. There was 74 respondents’ management staff from the 4 technical training institutes in Meru County. It was found that employees are involved in setting targets by their supervisors while a few are not involved in target setting by their supervisors. It is also evident that targets set are not always achievable which affects employees’ performance. It is also evident that employees are never given allowance to negotiate targets with their supervisors which negatively affect their performance. The study recommended that the technical institute management should ensure that the target setting process is fair and inclusive of employees’ views in order to ensure that employees own those targets and strive to achieve them for the benefit of organization performance

This study aimed at establishing the relationship between Human resource and sustainability of public day secondary schools in Imenti North Sub-County, Meru County. The study had the following objectives; the influence of salary, management leadership, incentives, training and development and their relationship with sustainability of public day secondary schools in Kenya. This study sought to test the hypothesis that; salary, management leadership, incentives, training and development affect sustainability of free day secondary schools. The study adopted descriptive and explorative research design since its main aim is to explain human resource variables that affect sustainability of public day secondary schools in Kenya. The target population was 29 public day secondary schools in Imenti North sub-County. The respondents were selected using stratified random sampling to identify sample schools and simple random sampling to select respondents from the identified strata. The sample respondents comprised of 12 principals, 61 HODs and 136 teachers totaling 173 respondents. Data was collected using structured open ended, closed ended and unstructured questionnaire. Reliability was tested by test–retest method using Cronbach's alpha correlation coefficient which was used to test the correlations between the items. Correlation coefficient of above 0.7 was obtained and was deemed acceptable for the study. Data was analyzed by use of descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression was used to test the cause and effect relationship between the dependent and independent variables under the study. All the hypothesis was tested at 5% level of significance or 95% confidence level. The analyzed data is presented in frequency tables, pie charts and bar graphs. It is expected that the results of the study will assist education stakeholders and the Ministry of education to address human resource challenges that affect sustainability of public day secondary schools in Kenya.

JEL: J24, O15, H75, I25

Housing cooperatives were introduced in Kenya in the early 1980s and currently there are 650 registered housing cooperatives which are affiliated to the National Cooperative Housing Union (NACHU). Official statistics obtained from the Ministry of Co-operative Development as at 2010 show 424 housing co-operatives as having been registered, 79 out of these being dormant, 16 having been liquidated and 329 active. This clearly indicates that some housing cooperatives have not achieved the objectives for which they were formed. This begs the question on Corporate Governance Practices have any effect on the financial performance of housing cooperatives in Kenya. A sample size of 59 housing cooperatives was used from a target population of 650 housing cooperatives. Random sampling technique was used to obtain the sample size and was derived using the Fischer formula:  . Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient for accountability and financial performance was r = 0.366**, with probability value (p = 0.000) that is less than α = 0.01 level of significance showing a moderate effect of accountability on financial performance at the one percent level of significance. Adjusted R square value was 0.118 implying that financial performance is dependent on accountability by 11.8%. Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient for auditing committees and financial performance was r = 0.351**, with a probability value (p = 0.000) that is less than α = 0.01 level of significance showing a significant effect of auditing committees on financial performance at the one percent level of significance. Therefore, findings revealed that auditing committees significantly affects financial performance. Adjusted R square was 0.107 implying that auditing committees predicts financial performance by 10.7%.Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient for separation of ownership and financial performance was r = 0.289*, with probability value (p = 0.000) that is less than α = 0.05 level of significance showing a significant effect of separation of ownership on financial performance at the five percent level of significance. Therefore, it was found out that separation of ownership significantly affects financial performance. Adjusted R square value was 0. 066. This implied that financial performance is dependent on separation of ownership. Separation of ownership predicts financial performance by 6.6 %.Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient for moderating variables and financial performance was r = 0.310*,with probability value (p = 0.000) that is less than α = 0.05 level of significance showing a significant effect between moderating variables and financial performance at the five percent level of significance. Therefore, it was found out that moderating variables significantly affects financial performance. Adjusted R square value was 0.079 implying that moderating variables predicts financial performance implying that financial performance is dependent on moderating variables by 7.9%.

Today’s markets are competitive and its evident that excellence in our operations, providing consumers with a phenomenal experience, and acting in ethical behavior can be challenging thus creating pressure to meet objectives within organizations. The government Accountability Office estimated that the financial crisis of 2008 cost the United States economy an estimated 22 trillion dollars. Research has documented that government regulations alone don’t deter organizations from unethical conduct, there are several laws and penalties imposed yet under the pressure to stay competitive, the organizations are even today caught in unethical conduct with Wells Fargo as the latest scandal. The objective of this research was to inquire and understand millennials viewpoints on corporate scandals; leaders and workers’ integration of individual morals with ethics; and the impact of the unethical conduct on organizations sustainability. Organizations are the powerhouse of our economy and if not handled ethically will contribute to turmoil to the United States and the world; the integration of individual moral that we have within us from our foundation as children with ethics and adherence of the code of conduct will lead to sustainable organizations, 2013; Shahriar & Diken, 2016). Organizational ethics as shared by Chron entails the standards and principles whereby business is conducted via honor and responsibility, compassion, and fairness; code of conduct is core detailing business principles to guide the organization as the ethical philosophy contributes to productivity and sustainability (Kelchner, 2017; Suttle, 2017; Valentine, Hollingworth, & Eidsness (2014). A healthy organization with solid reputation also contributes to organizational sustainability; this can be achieved when leaders’ individual moral values are in play and leaders encourages workers to work with integrity and honesty thus enhancing organizational reputation in the business and society (Kelchner, 2017; Lawrence & Weber, 2017; Solomon, 1992; Murphy, 1993).

JEL: D12, P36, P46, D53, G15

Economic Resilience is a knowledge-based notion, lately launched by Imam Khamenei, the Iranian supreme leader. Economic resilience is defined as the policy-induced ability of an economy to withstand or recover from the effects of internal & external shocks. (Briguglio et al, 2008) The present paper has briefly reviewed & extended the research towards the development of a conceptual and methodological framework for the definition and measurement of economic resilience to propose an index for gauging the adequacy of policy in twenty broad areas. This exploratory, GT-based study intended to delve into two basic relevant notions, whose beneficiaries were announced to be academicians in general and academic decision makers in particular to change the curriculum in favour of promoting start-ups & mega markets. The speculation needed to satisfy two basic requirements: firstly, it has been based on a faith related endeavour and secondly it has operated like the theory of the game, working in a non-adaptable system, as a mathematical operation. In addition, Nash equilibrium seems to be part of that system, with an interaction between two poles: a religious duty & a socio-cultural, economic one, pioneered by the Imam for checks and balances on the notion.. Hence, it does not rely on a vicious circularity type of If X, then Y model. Concentration seems to be on microenterpreunership, which has been recently introduced, especially in form of new job opportunities with basic commonalities: informationalism & information processing, patent registration, Neoliberalism, database development, universities new missions and task-based ELF rather than EFL learning, while inputs are basically written in iconic language and their outputs are necessarily in English. Qualitative results, driven from an open-ended questionnaire are supportive of the research questions.

In the United States, highly competitive market outsourcing benefits are correlated to low consumer prices, growth in sales, and taking over market shares leaving competitors tailgating your organization. The high costs associated with adhering to the United States manufacturing regulations that include adherence to Clean Air Act that controls the pollution levels; Clean Water Act; Occupation Safety and Health Act; labor; and disposal regulations among others are leading reasons for the attraction of companies to outsource to global markets that have fewer regulations. Global outsourcing ventures in manufacturing sectors carry a perception of unethical conduct that involves long hour with low wages, physically abused, and poor working conditions, among consumers. The researchers’ objective was for an opportunity to acquire and understand millennials perspectives on the integration of individual moral values with ethics and millennials personal implications on sustainable development in Apple’s manufacture outsourcing. Consumer millennials decision to purchase Apple products contributes to Apple’s sustainability development; would the millennial’s access to the unethical practices in the manufacturing sway purchasing decisions. The face to face interviews gained insight if millennials considered individual morals and ethics in making purchasing decisions. The interviewed population for the research was millennials ages 18 to 34 who

The main purpose of this study is investigate of the effect of financial structure, financial leverage and profitability on company’s value among the firms listed on Tehran's stock exchange between 2010 and 2014. In this study, the data were collected by using of various sources based the official documents on Tehran's stock exchange, including the Tadbirpardaz and Rahavard Novin software have been used for calculation of dependent research variables have been used for calculation of dependent research variables. Nonetheless, data belonging to firms have been reviewed through investigation of journals, disks that are provided by the stock exchange organization and the website of Tehran stock services and also reports published by Tehran's organization of stock exchange. Which was processed after moving to the EXCEL spreadsheet, and using was of data analysis by combined data method. Results have shown that the variable of financial structure has no statistically significant effects on company’s value. Results of the study regarding, there is a positive relationship between financial leverage and profitability on company’s value.

JEL: G32, O16, D53

This article investigates the weak points of the usual accounting system used in companies using Internet in performing their commercial and financial transactions. According to the results of this study, in order to reach an effective and applicable improvement in the accounting system first it is needed to prepare a suitable foreground including professional internet equipment and feasibilities. Electronic commerce rules and regulations specialized and appropriate soft wares in electronic commerce and solid and compiled systems capable of providing and enforcing security in inland and overseas internet commerce. The next step is to compile and complete accounting standards for internet electronic commerce with an eye on the user’s approach towards it. Electronic commerce is called the industrial revolution of the twenty first century which still has not revealed its marvels fully. This is while internet which was born in the twentieth century is expanding and progressing speedily. Electronic commerce seems like the traditional commerce and the only difference is the working tool. The process of transaction in the virtual world (Electronic commerce) can be divided into separate parts; search and investigation of different commodities by the purchaser, negotiation with different marketers and selecting one, reaching an agreement with the marketer and signing a contract, paying the fee, delivery of the merchandise and finally after sale services.

Growth opportunities for investments form an important part of the bank's value. When investors determine value of the bank according to the bank's accounting report, it is necessary to consider the bank's expectations for growth investments. With the development of capital markets has been more pronounced role of performance measures at reflecting in the performance of banks through their existing content. Identify economic and financial accounting factors which influence from different directions on the value of bank shares are effective in creating positive conditions for increasing investment and financial credit absorption of bank. Taking into account the stated conditions, the purpose of this investigation is to investigate factors affecting the value of bank stocks. Needed data for research are collected from 25 active banks in Tehran Stock Exchange during 2008-2014. The data are analyzed using Excel, SPSS and E-views soft wares. Im, Pesaran, and Shin test is used to evaluate the reliability of variables, then F-Limer fitness tests and Hausman are reported and finally regression model corresponding to the research questions is fitted. Obtained results show that bank size, bank performance, inflation rate and bank credit risk have impact on market value of bank shares.

JEL: D53, E31, G32

The study empirically evaluated the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) foreign exchange interventions in for the period pre and post dollarization. There have been different forms and motives of intervention used by the RBZ in line with the exchange rate system and fundamental macroeconomic problems at each given point in time. There has been sterilised and unsterilized intervention together with direct and indirect interventions. Success ranges from the fixed exchange rate system when the main reason for intervention was to defend the fixed parity hence success was mainly imminent for the period 1985 to 1995 when the foreign exchange reserves were more than enough but the reserves started to be depleted towards 2000 and hence led to the move towards the flexible exchange rate system from the Auction system of 2003 to the actual flexible exchange rate system leading to the abandonment of the local currency as it continued to lose value relative to foreign currencies. Intervention became indirect and fairly successful from 2008 after the adoption of the multicurrency system. Reasons behind unsuccessful intervention being depletion of foreign currency reserves due to persistent Balance of Payments deficits, declining levels of productivity, vulnerability to natural disasters such as droughts, rampant corruption, policy inconsistency and incredibility. However if the above fundamental issues are not addressed, there is no need for the country to return its own currency since it will never stand against other foreign currencies hence recommend the need to continue with the multicurrency exchange rate regime.

Analysis of share prices and stock market indexes has actually attracted the attention of financial analysts, capital market participants and researchers alike. This study is based on share price data on selected companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange as well the market activities of major stock market indexes in the US. The data collated were on monthly basis from January 2000 to February 2017. Trends of these series were plotted and further emphasis highlighted with a descriptive statistics. Share prices and stock market performance trends over the period appear similar. There were perceived signs of stability between January 2000 and 2008:Q2. However, the adverse effects of the 2008 global financial crisis were visible and significant as all the series nosedived, notably between 2008:Q3 and 2009:Q2. From our evidence, relative recovery from the crisis began to be felt from July 2009. Thereafter, the pace of growth in performances across the series has been quite impressive. Both the covariance and principal components analysis results indicate that stock market performance and share prices have direct relationship. The covariance results further showed that the relations so revealed are positive and significant.

In planning and development of a sustainable community-based agro-tourism, which is always held the principle is the participation of local communities, Lombok Kulon Tourism Village is one of the tourist villages in Bondowoso district that successfully implement community-based ecotourism development, particularly in terms of community engagement. The purpose of this study was to describe the community organizing that occurs in the development of agrotourism in Lombok Kulon Rural Tourism. The methods used in this study are qualitative and quantitative methods with a single case study approach. The analysis finds that the process of organizing the community in the development of agro-tourism is a cycle that consists of several stages, namely: the stage of integration, mapping issues, potential, and problems, the design of joint action, activity implementation, monitoring and evaluation, reflection, and the absence of feedback to re-mapping issues, potential, and problems related to Lombok Kulon Tourism Village. The existence of Village Tourism Lombok Kulon also considered successful in increasing the capacity of community organizing Lombok Kulon Tourism Village in developing agro-tourism, when comparing the periods before and after the establishment of the Tourism Village Lombok Kulon.

The present research investigates the effects of cash conversion cycle on economic value added among companies listed on Tehran's stock exchange. The sample of study includes 118 companies. The multivariate-regression method has been used for analysis of research hypotheses. Results indicated that a reverse and statistically significant relationship exists between companies' cash conversion cycle and their economic value added. In other words, by reducing the length of cash conversion cycle within reasonable limits, companies are able to increase their economic value added.

The centrality of land to man’s socio-economic and even political survival, has long been recognised as a non-negotiable necessity. Apparently, because of the relative fixity of this resource, coupled with ever soaring demographic bursts, that had made it imperative more than ever before, to ensure the management, administration, control and regulation of its use and development a top priority. However, it must be frankly admitted, that formal land market, which is driven by the dynamics of supply and demand, which are otherwise termed delivery and accessibility respectively, are faced with very unimaginable challenges of unprecedented scales. Although, these ‘brickwalls’ are emanating from very many different contexts, but arguably, the most copious of them are traceable to formal land administration and regulation systems. Therefore, it is in a bid to address this very unfortunate trending turbulence, created and sustained by ‘brickwalls’ of formal land administration and regulation system, as reflected above, that this study was conducted.  Hence, subsequent upon literature search that revealed some salient issues, that was evidenced to be brickwalls of land administration and regulation system. Therefore, structured questionnaires were designed with 5point Likert scale format and distributed via purposive and convenience sampling technique, among 450 respondents that were adopted for the sample size, from a sample frame 850 respondents, out of the total sample space of 2408 respondents. It captured relevant officers on permanent and tenured engagement among the various land agencies that jointly constitute the formal land administration and regulation system within the Nigeria’s south-western states of Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti, as well as independent land consultants and NGOs with shelter mandate, together with various classes of land users and developers. Sequel to application of AMOS’ version 18 software to conduct Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), the 427 retrieved questionnaires were made through series of integrity tests to establish their reliability and normality. 416 questionnaires were found valid, upon which the analyses were done. The results showed that amongst the three major ‘brickwalls’ studied, human techno-analytical arsenal was found to be of not-so-significant effects on the formal land administration and regulation system and thus resultantly impacts less on the overall supply and demand dynamics of the formal land market. The study recommends among other things, for a very urgent and decisive action to seriously re-align and reconfigure the structure of various constituent units of Nigeria’s land administration and regulation system, so as to engender synergy and collaboration building among them, with a view to making them more optimal in their performance, thus contributing immensely to the operational vibrancy of the formal land market in Nigeria.

This paper analysed the determinants of agricultural entrepreneurial intentions of the unemployed in urban Kano, Nigeria, using three different multinomial logistic models fitted to the primary data obtained via structured questionnaire from the 173 out of 200 targeted respondents. The results suggest that age explains the likelihood of starting or engaging in agricultural business. Gender and educational levels were not significant in explaining the likelihood of starting the business. Inadequate capital was found to explain the likelihood. Family and cognitive ability (self) as motivational variables were insignificant in explaining the likelihood. Risk tolerance was found to explain the likelihood of starting the agricultural business. Employment status was found significant in explaining the likelihood. Innovative ability was insignificant in explaining the likelihood. The paper recommends that entrepreneurial support should be geared toward young ages as against old age; as the size of youth unemployed outweighed that of old age in the study area. Promoters of entrepreneurship could use risk tolerance behaviour in selecting people to support. Capital should be made available by the concerned institutions to enable persons preparing to start the agricultural business to start. Researchers could also incorporate other predictor variables in analysing the determinants or employ different models, like nested models against non-nested models used in this study.

There have been several studies about economy and environmental protection in this work. Through the matrix of equations, it is describing the dynamic depending between ecological system exits. Economic problems are considered in terms of the environment, and environmental problems are considered in terms of economic development requirements. There are detailed studies of ecological linkages and noted the effects of environmental pollution. Taking this into consideration, a static model is constructed and tested with provisional data due to incompleteness of the information. There has been data analysis through tables. Final analysis was completed and marked the growth in gross issuance.

JEL: Q57, O13, P18, P28

This paper assessed the effect of SMEs financing and manufacturing sector growth in Nigeria using annualized data from 1981 to 2014. A co-integrating relationship was determined using the Engel and Granger residual based approach which showed evidence of a long-run relationship between SMEs credit and manufacturing output growth in Nigeria. The results of the error correction model showed that SMEs financing had exerted positive influence on the manufacturing sector growth. The finding indicated that when credits to the SMEs increased by 1%, manufacturing output rose by 14.5%. The results also revealed that interest rate and inflation rate had negative effect on manufacturing sector growth. A unit change in interest rate led to 15.7% fall in output growth of the manufacturing sector. We conclude that while SMEs is an important sector that can drive the Nigerian economy, rising interest rate stifles their growth and overall economic impact. This sector needs nurturing hence the government and monetary authorities should make policies and create enabling environment for SMEs to thrive. Access to fund should also be made easy and at low interest rate.

We all know that what gets measured gets done. However, the organizations which pursuing the knowledge management don't have any process for measuring the organizational knowledge or intellectual capitals of assets. The traditional financial reporting cannot measure the actual value of the company (or company) and will suffice the measurement of short-term balance sheet and tangible assets. In fact, the intellectual capital provides a new complete model for observing the actual value of the organizations and through its using; the future value of company can be also measured. Due to the willingness to assess and consider the real value of intangible assets, the intellectual capital has increased more than ever to company, shareholders (investors) and other stakeholder groups. In this study, according to the justified Pulic model (e-VAIC™), the intellectual capital value of listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange during 10 years period from 2005 to 2015 got measured and then, the relationship between components of intellectual capital and companies' performance was evaluated. In the current study, the statistics method was used and data analysis was conducted with multifold regression and correlation coefficient. The sampling was continuously for a period of 10 years which the company size and financial leverage were considered as control variable. The results indicate that there is a meaningful positive relationship between intellectual capital and financial performance of listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange. According to the results, using this model for achieving higher profit can be intensely recommended for utilizing companies, shareholders, investors and other beneficiaries.

Tax is one of the most major political tools of governments and the most important source of their incomes and costs supplement. The dependency to the oil incomes can be reduced to zero by prevention of tax evasion. For decreasing the dependency to the oil incomes, we are needful to increase the levies in country. The optimized levies and actual taxes not only increase the government's tax incomes but lead to a tax justice. The disclosure of accounting information was notified as one of the most important subjects for researchers from long time ago and the final product is considered as an accounting system. Actually, the final purpose of accounting system is providing information for benefited persons in the form of in and out-organization reports and the complete information disclosure can be an underlie of fiscal justice. This study surveys the relationship between the influences of effective tax rate and the level of financial statements disclosure of accepted companies in Tehran Stock Exchange. In this research, the multi variable regression analysis according to the panel data in order to survey the relationship of effective tax rate with the level of financial statements disclosure during the years of 2011 to 2015. The study sample is included of 94 listed companies in Tehran Stock Exchange for a temporal duration of 5 years. The results show that there is a reverse meaningful relationship between the effective tax rate and the level of mandatory financial statements disclosure; means, as effective tax rate gets higher, the level of mandatory disclosure gets lower and also there isn't any meaningful relationship between effective tax rate and the level of voluntary financial statements disclosure.

This study sought to establish how various credit risk management practices affect performance of commercial banks in Nyeri County in Kenya. Even though commercial banks face several types of risks, credit risk stands out as the most severe. Credit risk is the possibility of loss to the lender on non-performing loans. Financial practice as well as theory provides a scientific process of credit risk management in financial institutions. However, lenders still face loan default and consequently this study sought to find out how those practices affect the performance of commercial banks in Nyeri County, Kenya. A census study was conducted where a population of 86 respondents was targeted comprising of branch managers, credit managers and credit officers. The findings of the study were that all commercial banks had a well written credit policy which is strictly and consistently followed. Only few commercial banks conduct a quantitative credit scoring model. In all banks, initial screening is done by credit officer and approval done at different levels depending on the amount. Majority of the banks check post borrowing activities of the borrower. In conclusion, credit risk management has an effect on loan performance amongst commercial banks. Thus, managers should evaluate more accurately the ability to pay back of a customer since the better the screening the better the performance of commercial banks.

The research study was taken to investigate the quality of work life of secondary school teachers. The sample of 135 Secondary School Teachers from Kermanshah City was selected to adopting Stratified random sampling technique. Considering the independent variable namely Gender, Length of experience, and type of schools the stratification was made. Teachers’ quality of work life was accessed with the help of Teacher’s Quality of Work Life Scale constructed by the investigator. Specific objectives formulated were: 1. To assess the level of quality of Work Life of Secondary School teachers. 2. To find whether there is any significant difference in Quality of Work Life of Secondary School Teachers with male and female. 3. To find whether there is any significant difference in quality of Work Life of Secondary School Teachers with high and low experience. 4. To find whether there is any significant difference in Quality of Work Life of Secondary School teachers belonging to Government, Private aided and Private un-aided Schools. The descriptive survey method was adopted for the study. The data, which was obtained from that survey, was analyzing using percentage analysis, t-test and one-way ANOVA. Findings of the study were 1. A majority (73.8%) of the secondary school teachers in Kermanshah was found to possess an average level of quality of work life and (6.9%) were found to possess low level of quality of work life. Only (19.3%) of the teachers possessed high level of quality of work life. 2. There is a significance difference of Quality of Work life of male and female secondary school teachers comparing teachers mean scores it is found that the female teachers have a high quality of work life than their male counterparts. 3. There is no significance difference between above 10 years experience and below 10 years of experienced secondary school teachers in their Quality of Work Life. 4. There is no significant difference is the quality of work life of teachers belonging to government, private aided, and private unaided secondary school teachers.

The explanations of how and why non-profit organizations are formed have been provided since decades ago. Along the time, researchers have come out with more and more hypotheses and theories in this field. By analysing various ideas form different points of views, the changing of marketing and social situation can be substantially depicted. The comparisons among the existing theories may also give us a clearer understanding on the formation of non-profit organizations. We may then observe this field with a more comprehensive view, and seek to move forward.

This paper analyses the causal relationship between institutional quality and economic growth to investigate whether institutional quality is the outcome or the cause of economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. It uses annual panel data of 27 countries for the period spanning 1996 to 2014 by employing Pedroni panel co-integration, Wald panel causality, and the system GMM techniques. The co-integration test results show that there is a long-run relationship between institutional quality and economic growth. Also, the causality test results show a unidirectional causality from economic growth to institutional quality but not the other way round. Furthermore, the study found that institutional quality, trade openness, financial development, and debt positively affect economic growth. Also, economic growth and freedom are found to be important determinants of institutional quality. However, debt servicing and dependence on natural resources negatively affect economic growth and institutional quality respectively. It is, therefore, recommended that enhancement of institutional quality, openness, and financial development; while downsizing of debt servicing is crucial in achieving desired level economic growth in the region.

The objectives of corporations conducting business entail making profit and or making a difference. Corporations contribute billions of dollars towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) each year in the name of addressing the welfare of the society. The assumption that if companies are successful and exhibit increasing financial performance they have an obligation to care for the society does exist in some regions. This paper explores the understanding of CSR and examines if the population in Kenya expects corporations to take initiative in addressing the welfare of their society. The results substantiate that CSR initiatives from corporations conducting business in Kenya are unexpected by the local population. The findings confirmed that the population sought for assistance from some organizations that included American National Red Cross, UNICEF, World Vision, and World Hunger.

The study which was conducted in Umuahia Agricultural Zone of Abia State, Nigeria made use of the EAs in the Zone in identifying the contact – farmers. A simple random method was used to select 20 % of the contact farmers which gave a sample size of 144 respondents that was used. Structured questionnaire was used in the generation of the primary data. Descriptive statistics were used in the analysis of the data. Results showed 69.4 % of the respondents were males, and 30.6 % females. About 83.3 % were married with a mean age of 43 years and 93.1 % had formal education with a mean household of 6 persons, and 13.5 years, of mean years of farming experience with a mean farm-size of 0.9 hectares and mean monthly income of ₦33,569.44 respectively. A high level (X = 2.68) of participation in ADP – capacity building programmes was recorded. The respondents, were within the categories of early adopters (X = 3.68) in the adoption of ADP recommended innovations. About (X = 69.4 %) of the respondents indicated that, the ADP trainings did not address their felt needs, (X = 62.5 %) sessions were held at the wrong time, (X = 58.3%) training centres not centralized and (X= 51.4%) felt that training sessions were too long & boring. The study recommends that the ADP should strengthen the feedback mechanism as to ensure that their trainings address the felt needs of farmers. Also, a performance evaluation of the contact farmers by the ADP should be a regular exercise as to ensure that it is only the performing ones that are

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) has become one of the most controversial policies in the United States economic history. Although FATCA aims at increasing the government’s revenue, the policy has regrettable economic and social implications that threaten the state’s future development. Precisely, the policy has direct and long-term implications on investors and investment processes. Therefore, the research examines the manner in which the government uses the policy to strengthen its operations. The study also explores the impacts of the FATCA on investment, policies, digital investment, the determination of the optimal structure of clients, investment psyche, and roles of mobile devices and the legality of the FATCA.

This study applied the Index of Institutional Quality (IQ) methodology to measure the level of independence of the Reserve Bank of Malawi (central bank) and examine its impact on inflation. The IQ methodology assesses independence of central banks based on their actual practices. The methodology is suitable for developing countries whose practices do not fully conform to the laws of Banks that are in place. The study finds that the average independence index of the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) is 15.1, which is more than half below the total index value of 36. This clearly shows that the RBM is not convincingly independent. Although the results show an above-average value for index of monetary policy independence, indications are that the RBM is not free from political pressures as evidenced by below-average values for indices of political and fiscal independence. Using Ordinary Least Square (OLS), the results further show that the low degree of independence by the RBM has contributed to high inflation in Malawi.

This paper develops two scenarios, as part of a proposal that seeks to support decision making, given the notorious absence of financial literacy that have been referenced by institutions like the World Bank (2014; 2015) and the Mexican Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP, 2013), among others. This proposal is a scheme of advance annuities and a scheme of annuities with arithmetic gradient; all of them with the same interest rate and an equal number of payments. The results allowed observing different increments generated by each of the scenarios, in terms of interest generated. The best choice or at least the most attractive is an investment fund based on a scheme of annuities with arithmetic gradient which generates more profits.

Quality assurance involves the systematic implementation, monitoring and evaluation of products and services and certification of fitness for use. The process involves utilization of a framework that involves determination of adequate technical requirements of inputs and outputs, certification and rating of suppliers, testing of procured materials for conformance to established quality, performance, safety and reliability of standards; proper receipt, storage, issue of material, audit of process quality, evaluation of process to establish required corrective response and audit of final output for final conformance to technical reliability, maintainability and performance requirement. Worldwide Universities have established mechanisms for streamlining quality in the university systems. This paper appreciates that external quality assurance mechanism undertaken by external parties but argues that internal quality assurance is equally critical and paramount in the pursuit of quality in the provision of university education. Quality assurance by national accreditation bodies; Ministry of education by externally undertaking quality assurance are critical in the improvement of university standards. However, internal quality assurance mechanisms by Universities are more critical in improvement of standards. This paper has emphasized streamlining of internal quality assurance mechanisms within universities as equally critical in the improvement of quality of education. The concept of internal quality assurance has been systematically examined by looking at dynamics, challenges and solutions. The paper has examined aspects internal quality assurance; quality assurance policy, staff development capacity, research performance, curriculum design and development, teaching and learning, student support, research performance, teaching and learning, effective university student assessment, infrastructure development, provision of quality education for students with specialised needs, inadequate capacity to undertake quality assurance, funding and budget constraints, negative attitude towards quality assurance, student-lecturer assessment and management support together with staff towards quality.

Small and Medium Enterprises are expected to play a vital and vibrant role in the economic growth and development of Nigeria. Given the volatility of the Nigerian business environment, this paper ex-ray the operations of SMEs with a view to identifying challenges encountered in fulfillment of their expected roles. Several literatures on SMEs were reviewed along with a survey research design that sampled a total of one hundred and thirty-eight (138) respondents by means of self-completed questionnaire; selected from four strategic locations in Lagos State. Data were collected on possible issues affecting the operations of SMEs ranging from high borrowing rates, high loan requirements, government when making policy, documentation, collateral, entrepreneurial skills, business strategy to Infrastructural inadequacies. The data were analysed using the descriptive and inferential statistical tools. Result on challenges affecting SMEs operation was rated. The analysis of variances was applied to hypothesis testing. The result revealed that SMEs are constrained by inadequate funding and poor management. It was recommended that government should develop a lasting solution to the state of infrastructural deterioration especially electricity along with policies that can assist to cushion the bureaucracy in obtaining loans from micro finance banks.

This paper aims to prove which could be the best financing option for individuals with low incomes seeking sources of funding, depending on their profile and according to the available options in the national financial system, specifically through commercial banks and non-bank financial institutions. For that, we develop scenarios to show the benefits provided in each case, using a payments scheme with overdue annuities. The result shows a better choice to get loan through non-bank financial institutions.

Looking at the recent developments in the field of science and technology, it seems that it is a very rapid transformation. This transformation affects many aspects of the society such as economic, social, prosperity, communication, but this paper will focus especially on the economic effects of scientific and technological developments. Looking at the countries that are leading the world economy, it is inevitable that the common aspects of these countries are in the field of information and technology. Many things in the world are changing very quickly now. This change has been observed in this report on the basis of some macroeconomic indicators that the countries that have been in a better position to succeed in the economic arena have not succeeded in this change or those that are late in making up. Especially the efforts of countries such as USA, China, Japan, which are a serious force in the world economy, have shown the most important differences in science and technology from other countries played an important role. In this study, it was tried to determine the level of the role of scientific and technological developments in developments in the world economy by using macroeconomic indicators in general. This study also analyzed the countries' R & D expenditures, Technology levels, Welfare levels, growth and development rates.

The study examines how changes in the landuse and landcover of the Nigerian portion of the Lake Chad affect socioeconomic activities of the inhabitants of Lake Chad that is, the fishermen, farmers, cattle headers and water transporters. Abadam and Kukawa Local Government areas were sampled from all the other LGAs that share their boundaries with the lake for this study. The seasonal behavior of the Lake Chad results into seasonal changes in the lake's landuse and landcover. Structured questionnaire was administered to 270 respondents in the two LGAs. An oral interview was also conducted to generate more information to compliment those in the questionnaire. The results of the study show that the changes in the behavior of the Lake Chad control the socioeconomic activities of those that rely on the Lake Chad for their survival. These changes bring about migration and switching of occupation by those who rely on the lake. The study concludes and recommends that, the current effort to recharge the lake by LCBC through River Oubangui in Central Africa should be sustained so that the lake can recover to its former size and landcover. Recharging the Lake Chad will boast fishing and agricultural activities on a commercial scale.

The aim of this work is to design a debt restructuring proposal through a new payments scheme, with the purpose of giving franchisees an opportunity to finish credit debts acquired with the aim to buying operative equipment for a franchise. With this purpose, this work used the procedure proposed by García–Santillán and Vega Lebrúm (2008) related to an equivalent equations model capable of, in first place, re-evaluating the original debt, including overdue payments, as well as those that already were paid. Besides, the debt restructuring model pursues knowing the amount of each payment in the new payments scheme. The result of the design proposed by the restructuring scheme, offers the franchisee a scenario where he/she could have a better control on the reference debt and besides offers a viable scenario for finishing it.

Economic integration in Asia is a distinctive and multifaceted phenomenon because it is a very heterogeneous area, made up of very different countries in their economic and political systems, forms of ownership and levels of development; what a huge variety of ethnic elements, religion and culture adds. It is a geographical space where political conflicts are also present, historical, some, other more recent regional stability remaining. China was isolated from the integration processes in the region until 1978. However, after starting the process of reform and opening up has been inserted into different schemes gradually. In recent years, the Asian integration has been a peculiar and complex phenomenon that has been highlighted by great dynamism. The recent proliferation of agreements in the region is controversial; in particular the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is controversial because of its potential implications. China's accession to the integration process becomes relevant because of its growing economic importance and what this has meant for the countries of the area. This article discusses integration in Asia-Pacific, provides an overview of the current situation and highlights the role played by China in its evolution and perspectives. Currently, active participation impregnates a new dynamism to the links between the countries of the region.

Timeliness is one of the most important qualitative characteristics of financial information; Timeliness means that information should be available to users in the shortest possible time and the fastest recommended. Whatever the interval between the end of the financial year and the date of publication of financial statements of business units is shorter, is increases the benefit from the annual financial statements of business units. Increasing the time interval between the end of the fiscal year and date of publication of the financial statements, increases disclosure of information to benefit of users and that is the detriment of others. The purpose of this research, examines the relationship between some characteristics of company with duration of implementation and completion of the audit. The population consists of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange during the period 2006 to 2014. The results of tests that has been done on the research hypothesis showed that the Five independent variables in this research, including size, debt-to-equity ratio, profitability, the type of audit opinion that provided financial statements and company life cycle, there is a significant relationship with duration of implementation and completion of audit.

Unexpected changes of abnormal return having to do with companies are the concept that has been considered several times by market activists and investors. In so doing, the market changes are taken into account as the important events in the field of science and practice. In general, fear of crisis is deemed as permanent source of stress and anxiety. The aim of the present study is to determine the relationship between cash balance changeability and abnormal return as well as commercial credit of active companies in the field of food industry in Tehran stocks center. The statistical sample comprises of 27 active companies and the study lasts for 7 years i.e. 2006 to 2010. Research hypotheses were studied using correlation method and making use of multivariate regression models. The findings indicated that there was a significant relationship between the liquidity level fluctuations due to economic shocks and abnormal return of companies. In other words, when it comes to the changes in economic shocks, the increase of changes in cash balance would lead to increase in capital market response and would result in more return of companies compared to capital market return. Also, liquidity did not have a determining role in commercial credit of companies.

The Cuban economy has been delayed in unproductivity for over two decades. Living standards have deteriorated, the revolution's notable achievements in universal health, education and in social equality are eroding; the old-fashioned productive methods are suffering from de-capitalization and technological uselessness, and the nation's balance of payments is becoming critical. The present research tries to investigate the economic evolution, the economic strategy and development of the Cuban socialist market economy from now on. Market relations are formed in each economy under the influence of the dominant relations in the economic-society and non-economic, and reflect them. We conclude that it was a error to reject the market economy, and asserts that the Cuban economy moves toward an economic model so that makes it compatible the planned direction with the action of the law of value, that macroeconomic and microeconomic factors are integrated into a systemic vision of development, and that the transition to the new economic model will be a gradual complex and controversial progression.

This study, carried out in Britain, sought to find out the triple-bottom line performance initiatives adopted by worker co-operatives and to determine the level of satisfaction with their performance as an indicator for effective achievement of objectives. Although survey questionnaires were the main instrument for primary data collection, semi-structured follow-up interviews were also conducted to supplement the method. The study found out that apart from the achievement of the economic and social well-being of members, worker co-operatives have also responded effectively to the social challenges of their communities by trying to solve the problems of unemployment and social exclusion. Some of their objectives include democratization of the work place; integration of the marginalized members of the society; fair trade and environment conservation. The study also found out that worker co-operatives seek to promote the fullest possible participation in the economic and social development of groups of people who have hit her to encountered economic difficulties within the existing economic infrastructure that is not able to provide them with opportunities.

Customer service, design and logistical components are a little bit misjudged and underutilized in current practice elements of Spanish service establishments. Although most of them take into account the connection between logistics and customer service, it is reflected only as support for the service and not as an important way to elevate levels of competence and competitiveness. The objective of this research work is to provide a technique for the design of logistics customer service in business services; this procedure has been applied in different companies and this has allowed us to verify its validity.

The study that was carried out in Abia State, Nigeria made use of 120 respondents realized through multi–stage sampling methods. Data generated via structured questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Z–test analysis respectively. Results revealed that 66.7 % of the Heads of Households (H/H) were married and 75 % were males and 25 % females. A mean age of 46.8 years and a mean monthly income of ₦38,750.00 were recorded by the H/Hs. A mean household size of 5.7 persons and a mean farm size of 2.2 hectares were also recorded. About 75 % of the H/Hs were literates with mean years of farming experience of 22.9 years. Results equally, revealed that the H/Hs had a low level (X = 1.5) of awareness on what constituted child-labour. A very high proportion (72.9 %) of the H/Hs indicated that 83.3 % of the activities in cocoa production involved child-labour. Factors such as poverty, hunger, traditions, death of parents, lack of mechanization and high cost of labour among others were identified as factors influencing the involvement of child-labour in the study area. Results revealed that there is no significant difference between what constituted child-labour in cocoa production and factors influencing the involvement of child-labour in the study area. The study recommended that the National Orientation Agency (NOA) of Nigeria should intensify campaign as to educate the masses mostly in the study area, on the negative effects of child-labour both to the child and the larger society.