One of the main topics in marketing area is customer satisfaction. The literature is full of research in this regard and this term is highly cited in marketing research articles related to consumer behavior. Brand personality is a new term in comparison to customer satisfaction. Despite customer satisfaction which has been in place for more than a decade, brand personality has just been introduced and hence there is a dearth of research in literature for this term. Therefore, the aim of this study is to see what the effect of brand personality on customer satisfaction is. Since one important variable which is highly effective is demographic variables, in this study we will see the effect of this variable as a moderator on the relation between customer satisfaction and brand personality. Results showed that brand personality has a direct effect on customer satisfaction and demographic variable has moderator effect on the relationship between brand personality and customer satisfaction.

In contemporary organizations, human resources are considered to be the most strategic assets. Given that effective organizational communication has been recognized as a crucial factor in enhancing organizational outcomes, it is undoubtedly the most critical dynamic in keeping employees committed to the organization and satisfied in their work. While several researchers have sought to establish an understanding of how the context of the organization influences communication processes, studies in the field of public administration have provided little knowledge about organizational communication and effects. A thorough review of the existing literature in this field revealed a research gap that brought to mind the following research question: What is the impact of organizational communication on organizational commitment and job satisfaction in the Namibian public organizations? An empirical study of 100 public employees from 25 Namibian Government Ministries was conducted to answer this research question.

Ecology versus economic growth? There is not general solution to this dilemma or trade-off (de Bruyn, 2012; Eriksson, 2013; Managi, 2015). Following the COP21 Agreement objectives and their decentralised implementation over this century, the countries of the world, guided by international governance, must learn how to invest in projects that both foster growth and innovation as well as environmental sustainability and decarbonisation. It will be far more difficult, not to say much uncertain, whether the COP21 approach can work.

Agro-processed products in Tanzania are important in income generation and continuation supply of food products throughout the year. Despite the importance of processed products in the country yet is being processed below standard and exported in small percentage. The objective of this study therefore established the quality status and factors affecting approval of processed products. The study was done in Mbeya and Morogoro regions as representatives of other regions in the country. The analysis was done descriptively where percentage, graphs photographs and tables were used. The results showed the approval agro-processed products are affected by unskilled labour, poor quality of packing materials, cost of acquiring TFDA and TBS approval. The paper recommends the increase and improvement of vocational training collages and technical institutions for skilled people to join agro-processing sub-sector. Improve packing materials; also the government should reduce cost for acquiring TFDA and TBS approval.

This study examined the impact of cash flow on stock price in the banking sector of Nigeria. The study adopted market price per share (MPPS) as proxy for stock price and the dependent variable, while cash flow per share ratio (CFPS), cash flow to total assets ratio (CFTA), and dividend to operating cash flow ratio (DOCF) were adopted as the independent variables. Data on the study variables for the period 2005 – 2014 were collected from the annual reports and accounts of ten commercial banks listed on the NSE. The study employed multiple regression technique based on Windows SPSS 20 version to analysis the data. The findings of the study revealed that CFPS, CFTA and DOCF had positive significant impact on MPPS. Thus, the study concluded that cash flow has positive significant impact on stock price in the banking sector of Nigeria. The study recommended that preparers of financial statements should view the statement of cash flow as an important component of the annual report, while investors should put attention on the statement of cash flow in making investment decisions.

Given the complexity and challenging nature of environments in which peacebuilding practitioners operate, their Cross-Cultural Competences (CCCs) are very crucial for them to effectively adapt and function in foreign countries. The ability to effectively maintain positive interactions with local people is so vital that the overall success of a peacebuilding mission is every so often considerably affected by it. Therefore, in order to gain an understanding on how peacebuilding practitioners successfully navigate in local culture and achieve successful performance in competitive environments, adaptability is an essential measure of their performance to be analyzed. Despite heightened interest by both scholars and practitioners in studying and better understanding the importance of expatriate adjustment, limited research has so far been conducted on adaptive performance in United Nations peacebuilding context. A review of the literature in this regard revealed a research gap that culminated in the following research question: What is the influence of Cross-Cultural Competence (CCC) on Adaptive Performance (AP) in United Nations missions? Hence, an empirical study of 100 staff members of the Integrated Peacebuilding Mission in Guinea-Bissau was designed to answer this research question.

The concept of Geographical Indication (GI) is a local development tool. In 2010, on ten thousand GIs identified in the world, Africa had none. However Africa has food products that have reputations or specific characteristics links to their origin. This is the case of two peanut food sub products (Agonlinmi and kwlikwli) in Benin, that undergoing counterfeits. This study aims to assess consumer’s willingness to pay for these two products. This assessment is carried out on a sample of 400 Agonlin oil consumers and 150 kwlikwli consumers selected randomly in the city of Cotonou and surroundings and also in the Agonlin area. The assessment was made using hedonic price method. Quality attributes and implicit price of both products were calculated. The results showed that the quality attribute variable "geographical origin" of the two products is not significant. Prices of quality attributes "color" for Agonlin oil and "crispness" for Kwlikwli are significant. The potential for GI protection for the two products is not evident on the basis of this analysis of willingness to pay. It will take more research by other analysis or investigative tools.

Organizational coaching can be described as a learning process that aims to facilitate the participants’ leadership skills by providing them with new ways to view their work, as well as their actions within the work community. Previous studies focusing on the Deep Leadership® coaching process have found that the coaching program has immediate effects on the participating work communities. However, more studies on the effectiveness of the method are needed in order to enable an understanding of how the coaching method operates in different kinds of work communities. In this paper, we study the effectiveness of the Deep Leadership® coaching process (DL, 2014) by analyzing the changes that have taken place within a science-based company during and after active between 2011 and 2012. In this study, we combine the statistical findings of 360-leadership profiles, coaching feedback data, and the organization’s climate survey data to evaluate the effectiveness of the Deep Leadership® coaching process. We will start by presenting the core aims and structure of the Deep Leadership® coaching process and the methods used to study the effectiveness of the program. Thereafter we will proceed to the analysis of this case study and discuss the findings in relation to previous studies.

In Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar city (UB) is not only the largest and capital city with continuously growing populations due to its own development. Current domestic liquid milk production has not met with the consumption of UB and other big cities in Mongolia. The objective of this study is to analyze market equilibrium of liquid milk market of UB city, and determine level of milk supply. Market theory, including demand and supply analyses were applied using regression analyses to estimate functional forms and other required statistical – econometrical indicators. Secondary data gathered from National Statistical Office /2004-2014/ and methodology for converting adult equivalence methodology cited from methodological guidance. The main finding is that there is comparatively big deficit of liquid milk in UB, which leads to liquid milk insecurity (794.4 t <237.8 t). The functions and elasticity(s) show clearly that the share of dried milk higher in the market. Therefore, support of domestic liquid milk producers should desirable to increase domestic liquid milk supply. More advanced development of intensified dairy farms and supports of their activities are essential in order to meet the demands. Furthermore, we have created the map of liquid milk supply in UB.

Learning and expression of the fact-and-reality cannot take place at instance coincidentally. The variations embodied into both assessing and justification of traits and quality of an incumbent set up parameters based on some skills or factors. This study focused on the key factors having influence in selecting an employee for an organization. Due to varied nature of selection methods and variability, the factors were found disperse behavior in different dimensions. The researcher craved to identify the impact of scattered factors in selection of an employee and made some clusters through similarities and variability by Varimax Rotation Factor Analysis. From several factors, this study found that maximum preference toned with leadership skill under which leadership, oral communication, presentation skill, decision making capacity, capability to work in group, knowledge about corporate world, written communication, analytical ability, innovativeness, fellow feeling, and dedication to work were worth considerable. The study also encompassed other influential factors namely, team spirit, belongingness skills, analytical ability, change management skill, and human skills.

This study examines the effects of having women directors on corporate board on company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure. We also examine if women directors’ demographic characteristics would influence CSR disclosure. From an initial sample of 300 non-financial companies listed in Bursa Malaysia, 139 companies have women on corporate boards. Using data for the year 2013, we found that tenure negatively influences CSR disclosure. As the number of years of serving the corporate board increases, the women directors were found to have less influence on CSR disclosure. Other predictive variables, however, were found to be insignificant in influencing companies’ CSR disclosure. Findings from this study add to the literature on the impacts of having women directors on company’s corporate board and their demographic characteristics on CSR disclosure from the point of view of a developing country. The results may be useful for policy makers to improve the representation of women directors as preliminary analyses provide some evidence that companies with women directors provide a better quality of CSR disclosure.

This study examined the impact of bank credits on the performance of Agricultural and Manufacturing sectors using annual time series data from 1970-2013. Using co-integration and error correction mechanism for the analysis, the study revealed that a long run relationship exists between bank credits and Agricultural and Manufacturing sectors output respectively. Given the error correction mechanism results, the study showed that bank credits exhibited negative significant impact on the performance of both agricultural and manufacturing sectors in Nigeria. Based on these findings, the study recommends among others: Bank Credits to the Agricultural and Manufacturing Sectors should be properly monitored to ensure that funds are not diverted for other purposes, Recipients of these Bank Credits to the Agricultural and Manufacturing Sectors should be made to undergo entrepreneurial training and as well on how to pay back as at when due, so as to reduce the risks associated in giving out these Credits to the Agricultural and Manufacturing Sectors.

With increased attention paid to leisure time and much diversified interests developed in tourism, there have emerged various recreational activities that attract the eye of the many potential recreationists. The modern society begins to witness recreationists continue their involvement with recreational activities with a view to accumulating practical experience, improving activity skills and upgrading recreational specialization. In this socialization process, tourist firms play an important role, indeed. However, what is the better investment strategy for tourist firms to meet the rising demand of recreationists? This paper in application of optimal control theory seeks to construct a model, first of all, to describe the dynamic nature of recreational specialization process and accumulation of human capitals and resources, and secondly, to bring forth recommendation of adequate investment strategy for tourist firms. Findings include improving service speeds up accumulating process of recreational specialization capital.

In China, a mobile education app is one of the top-three most popular apps, and its market size is continually growing. As the age of the largest group of mobile app users in China is between 26 and 30 years old, college students will become the largest potential group to use mobile education apps in the future. Therefore, understanding the Chinese potential consumers’ attitude and behavior intention to use mobile education apps is a good way for marketers to set up competitive strategies during promotions. Based on the TAM model, this study used perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived enjoyment to measure students’ attitude and behavior intention to use mobile education apps in China. Based on the research of 125 Chinese college students, the result indicated that perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment were positively influencing users’ attitude and intention to use mobile education apps. However, the perceived ease of use didn’t affect participants’ behavior intention to use education apps. It confirms that the perceptions of usefulness and enjoyment are indicators of attitude and intention to use mobile education apps among Chinese college students. Moreover, the perceived ease of use has a positive impact on the Chinese college students’ attitude toward education apps but not the individual intention to use the apps. Therefore, in order to target Chinese college students, marketers can focus on the usefulness and enjoyment of using education apps.

Mexican supermarket industry is mainly characterized by a variety of types of consumers, mainly marked by differences in purchasing power. Mexican industry self serves the needs of different consumers through: (i) modern formats such as supermarkets, warehouses, hypermarkets and membership clubs; (ii) traditional formats such as small independent sundries; and (iii) informal, such as farmers’ markets and local street vendors. This paper analyzes retrospectively the acquisition of the Gigante stores by Soriana from the theory of industry, resources and capabilities, reviewing the situation of both companies in the diamond industry by Porter, SWOT analysis themselves that theory.

This paper examined the bank-specific determinants for commercial bank’s liquidity in Namibia. The study was based on quarterly data covering the period 2001:Q1 to 2014:Q2, utilizing the technique of unit root and ordinary least squares. The results of the unit root test showed that all variable were stationary in levels and thus, the ordinary least squares technique was used to conduct the estimation. The results revealed a statistical insignificant negative relationship between commercial bank’s liquidity and return on equity as a measure of commercial bank’s profitability. Furthermore, the results also showed a positive relationship between commercial bank’s liquidity and capital adequacy as well as between commercial bank’s liquidity and non-performing loans though statistical insignificant.

This study examined the relevance of the information in the financial statements to test the impact of earnings management practices to the relevance of financial statement information. The financial information used was earnings and book value. This research separates proxy earning management discretionary accruals into short-term and long-term discretionary accruals. The test results against a company sample 822 listings in Indonesia stock exchange (IDX) during the period 2013 – 2015 proves that earnings and book value of equity does not lose its relevance as indicators for assessing the performance of a company. The study also found that, earnings management does not have any impact on the relevance of earnings and book value of equity when earnings management is done through short-term and longterm discretionary accruals.

This study is sought to determine the conflict management styles and values of supervisors and managers in selected Filipino owned -small scale businesses in United Arab Emirates. The researcher chooses 120 respondents who participated in the survey questionnaire. The respondents are 20 supervisors and 100 employees from among reputable Filipino restaurants and saloons all over Dubai, UAE. The researcher used the percentage analysis and ranking to assess the responses of the respondents. The study concluded that there are various management style that managers can do to supervise its staff in small-scale business. Businesses that are classified as small-scale organizations are likened to human beings that are susceptible to the different types of conflicts which are unavoidable and thus, inherent to the business operations. Different conflict management strategies are taken to handle these conflicts such as Various conflict management strategies are adopted for handling conflict; the most important among these are, mediation, negotiation, avoidance, collaborating etc. Poor management of conflicts when it occur will create the problem as conflict and discomfort are not the same. It is not the conflict that others consider the problem but poor management of such is the problem itself. Recommendations suggest that Managers should be able to develop and adopt a good motivation strategies for its staff and supervise them effectively most especially to newly established business to counter the incidence and existence of conflicts that may hinder the progress of the service. Effective management is the key to avoid or lessen the conflicts. Managers should be well-informed, understand and trained to manage conflicts in different ways and at various levels. And, conducting trainings and seminars relative to conflict management of superiors and subordinates would be suitable and appropriate for change in organization design and culture in the working environment.

Large price changes can generate abnormal returns owing to under-reaction and over-reaction behavior of individuals. This behaviors result in price continuation or price reversal in short term. The effects of large price changes can be observed in Post-shock period with abnormal returns. The aim of the study is to explore the abnormal returns after positive large price changes in Turkish stock market. Turkish sport index is investigated due to its relative negligence in literature. Turkish banking sector is also analyzed in order to compare results. The large price shocks indicates price changes which exceed two standard deviation which is calculated from windows prior the event. The abnormal returns are calculated by means which are the averages of returns of windows days prior the market shocks. The findings of the study show that the sport index support under-reaction theory and provide price continuation with average 2.5% positive cumulative abnormal returns in post event period. However, banking sector stocks support efficient market behavior and only two of seven banks can generate positive returns at the end of post event period with average 0,6 % and 0.1% which are highly small when compare to the post-event abnormal returns of the Borsa Istanbul sport index.

The CBS Television surprise hit “Undercover Boss” has aired for six consecutive seasons and features publicly traded firms, closely-held corporations, and in some instances not-for-profit institutions. While there has been much analysis on the ethical dilemmas faced by the undercover CEO or other executive, no practical analysis of a firm’s profitability has been conducted on any of the firms featured on the show. Conventional wisdom would suggest that financial performance of a featured firm would improve after the initial airing date, as the show typically ends on a ‘feel good’ note and most often places the executive, as well as the firm, in a positive light. This paper analyzes the stock market price after the initial air date as well revenue and net income for all publicly traded firms that have appears on the show through the end of the sixth season.

The paper examines the case of massification in science-based faculties at Gulu University. It is argued that the boom in university education in Uganda resulted into the increase in students’ enrolment over time. This increase in enrolment resulted into situation of massification where the ratio of educational resources and class numbers became incompatible. Using qualitative and quantitative research paradigms, the survey, single-case and parallel cross-sectional designs, 294 respondents out of the 395 sampled population participated in the study. The findings underscored that Institutional Autonomy and Governance play a central role in the management of massification. The study finally concluded that although the organs of Council and Senate which constitute the hallmark of Institutional Autonomy and Governance were well established at Gulu University according to the Universities and Other Institutions Act (UOTIA), the University has met some challenges especially with regards to corporate governance practices. Finally the study recommended that Gulu University should encourage the corporate governance approach in all its management and administrative units with a view of promoting bottom-up planning in order to yield desired outputs and targeted outcomes as well as marshal the challenges posed by massification.

Outsourcing is “a practice used by different companies to reduce costs by transferring portions of work to outside suppliers rather than completing it internally.” (Outsourcing, 2013) After the financial crisis of 2007-2008, many companies in the United States began to enhance their bottom-line profits by outsourcing and cutting costs instead of through the traditional route of top-line sales growth. In an attempt to effectively cut costs and generate profits for investors, more organizations engaged in outsourcing of jobs by means of offshoring. Offshoring is a form of outsourcing whereby jobs are relocated to a foreign country with a cheap labor force and low socioeconomic standards, and less regulations such as the EPA. From a Human Resources perspective, offshoring jobs is that there will be benefits to the organization such as cost and efficiency savings, focus on core activities, reduction of overheard costs, staffing flexibility, continuity, avoid organized labor, and risk management. In theory, the argument for offshoring is plausible and synergies can be created for companies; however, issues can result, creating huge disadvantages for organizations. Outsourcing can become detrimental to the financial health of an organization because of unforeseen costs. In addition, the organizational culture and employee morale begins to diminish when employees have no job security and they fear layoffs. Thus, there are pros and cons of offshoring jobs those Human Resources managers’ must evaluate before choosing whether to offshore jobs or keep them domestically. Therefore, outsourcing jobs through offshoring can result in disadvantages to an organization because of hidden costs, bad publicity and low employee morale, quality problems, loss of managerial control, threat to confidentiality and security, and reliance on the financial health of the outsourced organization. This paper has been divided into two sections due to the comprehensive approach taken by the authors to provide a focused view on the legal aspects giving the reader an opportunity to use the information as a guide if needed, or for further research.

The objective of this paper is to test the exchange rate dynamics by measuring the speed of adjustment of prices. In this overshooting model, we assume price stickiness (gradual adjustment). If the prices are adjusted instantaneously, we will have the monetarist view; otherwise, the overshooting one, due to slow adjustment of prices and consequently, it affects all the other variables and slowly the exchange rate. We outline, here, an approach of testing the dynamic models of exchange rate determination. This approach is based upon the idea that it is difficult to measure directly the process by which market participants revise their expectations about current and future money supplies. On the other hand, it is possible to make indirect inferences about these expectations through a time series analysis of related financial and real prices. Empirical tests of the above exchange rate dynamics are taking place for four different exchange rates ($/€, $/£, C$/$, and ¥/$). Theoretical discussion and empirical evidence have emphasized the impact of gradual adjustment and “overshooting” that it is taking place. Only for the $/€ exchange rate the monetarist model is correct.

This paper empirically examines the role of uncertainty occurred by ‘news’ in Japanese financial markets. A GARCH-MIDAS model is used for estimation. It finds that news-based implied volatility performs well in predicting long-term aggregate market volatilities. A subsample analysis provides that the predictive power of news-based volatility is continuing, as most of the coefficients are positive and significant. So, in general, the news based implied volatility model is associated with high market volatility. Moreover, stock market prices go on rising, different effects that appeared in each subsample period. On the recent period, when Abenomics was conducted, the effect decreased. Also, the effect of exchange rates decrease in short time. When stock prices decrease, volatilities of the stock prices in the past period increase. There is some possibility that markets were too unstable about the movements because of the low prices. Also, the volatility of long-term interest rates increases when the interest rate declines in the recent period under Abenomics. Although interest rates have been quite low in both sample periods, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) started to manage long-term interest rates in the recent period, so market participants seem to begin noticing the movements.

Financial sector plays a pivotal role in the economic development, but, in recent time, it has witnessed that the World Economy is passing through some intricate circumstances as bankruptcy of banking & financial institutions, debt crisis in major economies of the world and euro zone crisis. The scenario has become very uncertain causing recession in major economies like US and Europe. The tempo of development for the Indian banking industry has been remarkable over the past decade. It is evident from the higher pace of credit expansion, expanding profitability and productivity similar to banks in developed markets, lower incidence of non- performing assets and focus on financial inclusion have contributed to making Indian banking vibrant and strong. Indian banks have begun to revise their growth approach and re-evaluate the prospects on hand to keep the economy rolling. It is generally agreed that a strong and healthy banking system is a prerequisite for sustainable economic growth. The banking sector has always been one of the important sectors for investment. In the time of uncertainty, some are arguing that the economies are in the process of recovery, and while others are opining that the world is set for another recession soon. In order to resist negative shocks and maintain financial stability, it is important to identify the Performance of Indian Banking Sector. The current study is mainly concerned with the analysis of Performance Of banking sector in India, that reflects the impact of new competitive environment on the bank’s performance in terms of various selected parameters. The article considered the variables like balance sheet operations, efficiency, profitability ,Capital Adequacy, Asset Quality, Sect oral deployment of bank credit, Technological Development, Customer services and Financial Inclusion for a period of 6 years from 2011 to 16. The Data was collected through secondary sources from Statistical Tables relating to banks in India. The results have found strong evidence poor profitability and inefficiency of managing the assets in the year 2016.

This study employs quantile regression analysis to examine possible non-linearity in the determinants of corporate effective tax rate (ETR). The results generally indicate that the examined determinants have significant impact on ETR along the decides and confirm non-linearity in the distribution of ETR. Firm size, firm leverage and inventory intensity are most influential variables while capital intensity and profitability are fairly influential across the ETR of firms. However, tax expert, firm size and inventory intensity are the most influential for firms with lower ETR. The study also confirms that large firms enjoy political clout but smaller firms are also able to reduce their fiscal pressure. The influence of human controllable factors is also evident in the study.

To analyze the factors affecting the price volatility of stocks, microeconomic and macroeco-nomic elements must be considered. This paper selects elements that are appropriate with the daily data of stock prices to build the GARCH family models. External variables such as global oil prices, consumer price index, short interest rates and the exchange rate between the United States Dollar and the Euro are examined. The GARCH models are developed in order to analyze and forecast the stock price of the companies in the DAX 30, which is Germany’s most important stock exchange barometer. The volatility of the residual of the mean function is the important key point in the GARCH approach. This financial application can be extend-ed to analyze other specific shares or stock indexes in any stock market in the world. There-fore, it is necessary to understand the operating procedures of their pricing for risk manage-ment, profitability strategies, cost minimization and, in addition, to construct the optimal port-folio depending on investor’s preferences.

After the fall of Bretton Woods System, exchange rates become the focus of researchers and politicians. When a floating exchange rate system was started researchers investigated the impact of exchange rate volatility on international trade but the development of derivative instruments changed the researchers focus from currency volatility towards the impact of currency appreciation or depreciation on international trade. The main objective of this research was to investigate the short run and long run relationship between Turkey’s merchandise trade deficit and real effective exchange rate. The monthly data was collected from Central Bank of Republic of Turkey from March 2005 to September 2017. Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach and Error correction model (ECM) was used for the analysis. The finding shows that the variables have long run relationship but it is not significant at 5% significance level. The short run model also shows the insignificant results. These findings have the following policy implication: Turkey cannot improve the merchandise trade deficit by devaluating its currency.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the validity of Marshall-Lerner condition and the existence of J curve for the Turkish economy. Because of transition to the floating exchange rate regime in 2001, the analyzing period has been chosen as 2003-2016 to use monthly data for the related variables. After conducting unit- root and cointegration tests, the estimated VECM results show that Marshall- Lerner condition holds for the Turkish case. On the other hand, estimated VECM produces impulse- response functions that prove the existence of J curve for the Turkish economy in the long run.

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of bank minimum capital requirement on credit supply in Ivory Coast, over the period from 1982 to 2016. To this end, the ARDL method was used to study the nature of the relationship between our explanatory variables and bank credit supply in Ivory Coast. The study indicates some major results. The results showed that in the short term, real GDP per capita and bank size influence credit supply in Ivory Coast. Real GDP per capita acts negatively on credit supply in the short run while bank size has a positive influence on banks’ capacity to finance the economy. In the long run, the Cooke ratio and the openness rate have an impact on bank credit supply in Ivory Coast. The recovery of bank minimum capital requirements positively influences bank credit supply while the openness of the economy negatively impacts banks’ ability to offer bank credit. In terms of economic policies implications, monetary authorities must enforce and respect the policy of increasing bank minimum capital requirements. They must encourage banks to increase their banking assets.

This paper presents the Socioeconomic Performance of Women in parallel trading and its Implications in Dessie town Ethiopia. The study was carried out in Dessie town Ethiopia. Primary Data were gathered from parallel traders through questionnaire and observation, and secondary data sources were accessed from Dessie town trade and transport office and CSA (Central Statistical Agency). The paper has purely mixed explanatory sequential approach which is based on the collection and analysis of quantitative data to be followed and supported by a qualitative data. The finding of the study has shown that parallel trading is the first among alternatives for women’s divorced or widowed and dependent hitherto to parallel trading. Women in parallel trading were engaged in retails of food items that are easily accessed in the local markets, in which more than two-third of households are dependent on the gains as well as become involved in the retails activity. Though, the economic responses of parallel trading were the bases for women’s livelihood, its performance would not let women’s and their dependent family members /household to have better house and access to education. Furthermore, the study has shown that the socioeconomic performance of parallel trading were constrained by government regulations that exclude and discourage the trading, lack of access to finance, lack of premises and lack of smooth supply of inputs. Therefore, it is important for both local governments and organizations working on women affairs to reconsider their actions and create an environment encouraging for women in parallel trading to grow and integrate to formal economic sectors.

Gaining an understanding of the basics of international economics plays an important part in developing an effective strategy for successfully penetrating the international or globalized market. In deciding upon an effective strategy for market penetration, a company may be constrained by the policies, laws, or other administrative or regulatory procedures which are in force in the host country. Economic considerations related to income, strategies for market penetration, development indicators, and debt will determine the readiness of countries to accept foreign investment and are critical pieces of the analysis that must be undertaken. In addition, in order to successfully compete in a globalized world, a company must navigate these delicate issues relating to sovereignty that will impact on the decision-making process.In reaching the decision to move outside national borders, a company must exercise sound judgment regarding opportunities and risks associated with the economy of the host nation in order to guaranty the success of a proposed international operation.These measurements, classifications, strategies, and development criteria important in the context of international business are often looked upon as secondary to judging financial or accounting realities. Yet, by taking into account these core definitional concepts in developing an investment strategy, businesses will assure success on a wide variety of fronts.

This study sets to assess the effect of government intervention on economic development adopting Songhai Development Initiative Farm in Rivers State of Nigeria as a case study. It adopted the survey design with the instruments of personal observations, interviews and questionnaires to collect the required data. The data has internal consistency of 0.87, test-retest reliability of 0.85 (p < 0.001), split-half reliability of 0.82 (p < 0.001). The mean of 3 points was chosen as a cut off point for accepting or rejecting each of the items in the Likert’s scale. The Chi-square was also used to test the hypothesis. All items have mean (X ¯) that are higher than the cut-off mark and this is supported by low standard deviation for all the items which depicts a low variation of the observations from the mean. With the calculated Chi-square greater than the table value (i.e 30.34957 > 21.026) in absolute term, the study concludes that there is a significant relationship between Songhai Development Initiative Farm and the economic development. It, therefore, recommended that such and similar government direct involvements in the agricultural and other sectors should be encouraged for optimum benefits in output, job creation, income, social welfare and technological advancement.

In addition to analyzing the characteristics of gender equality in tertiary education enrolment in Africa, this paper empirically studies the key drivers of gender equality in tertiary education enrolment, using cross-sectional time series data from 1970 to 2012. Our results show that the coefficient associated with the level of real GDP per capita is positive and statistically significant. Our results also suggest that higher domestic investment, increased economic globalization, the quadratic element of political globalization, economic globalization, ethnic fractionalization, increased democracy, and Christian dominance in a country increase gender equality in tertiary education enrolment in the continent. However, increases in the level of political globalization and increased incidence of civil wars tend to lower it. The policy implications and lessons of these results are discussed.

This paper studies the causal relationship between inflation and economic growth in Qatar for the period of 1980 to 2016. A time series analysis of unit roots tests, Johansen cointegration method and Granger causality tests were applied on data. The variables were found to be cointegrated, hence a long run-relationship between them exists. Granger causality test found causality runs from inflation to economic growth.

Consumers online purchase intention is significant guide for operating online organization in Bangladesh. The major purpose of this paper is to explore the key factors that influence consumers’ intention, satisfaction and loyalty towards online purchase in Bangladesh. This paper adopts quantitative analysis of possible factors that may influence consumers’ intention, satisfaction and loyalty towards online purchase. By using Convenient Sampling technique the data has been collected from 200 respondents. Data are analyzed using frequency, mean, standard deviation and regression analysis. From the results of regression analysis, this research is found that security, personal hobby, payment method, appropriate pricing, privacy, social media and reference groups as the significant factors, which considerably influence consumers’ intention towards online purchase. This investigation is revealed that online purchases intention, product quality and product brand as the important factors, which significantly influence consumers’ satisfaction. This paper is also demonstrated that satisfaction as the momentous factor, which notably influences consumers loyalty in Bangladesh.

The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of financial market development and liberalization on money demand behavior in Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC). We adopt the generalized method of moments (GMM) system for panel data. The empirical results indicate that financial liberalization has a negative impact on money demand. Moreover, real GDP and the GDP deflator affect it positively, while the main policy rate has a negative impact. In terms of economic policy involvement, monetary authorities must pursue reforms aimed at deepening financial liberalization measures so that banks actively participate in the financing of CEMAC economies.

This study used error correction model (ECM) to analyse the causality between Value Added Tax (VAT) and the Nigerian Economy proxied by GDP during the period 1994-2015. The data such as VAT and GDP were obtained from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) statistical bulletin and Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS). The results of the findings revealed that VAT exerts positive and significant influence on GDP while there was evidence of unidirectional causality running from VAT to GDP. Therefore, the researchers recommend that in order to enhance economic growth of Nigeria through VAT revenue, there is need to plug all the lapses identified in tax administration and educate the tax administrators as well as the entire populace on the relevant of VAT revenue to the economy.

Financial sector has always been potential ingredient in bringing growth in an economy, the indirect impact of financial markets and institutions through saving mobilization and credit expansion is of extraordinary importance. By employing Autoregressive Distributed Lags (ARDL) approach impact of financial sector on economic growth of Tanzania is examined. The results show that, in both long-run and short-run, financial development exerts significant but negative effect on economic growth contrary to our expectations. The study employs the ratio of broad money to GDP (financial depth) as a proxy measure of financial development, along with inflation rate, real interest rate, real exchange rate, share on of investment to GDP, proportion of development expenditure to total expenditure and dummy for structural reforms as control variables during our estimations. Results also suggest non-existence of causality between financial development and economic growth. Thus the study suggests strengthening data availability on flow of credit from financial institution to the public is necessary to materialize the effect of financial sector in Tanzania.

Increase in technology has been helping all sectors of the economy in Nigeria. Yet, there is no gainsaying the fact that technology has both the positive and the negative sides of it. While economic and financial crimes perpetrators manipulate the negative part, forensic accounting uses it as a tool to unearth perpetrators. Crimes classified as economic and financial remain major problem facing the Nigeria’s economy and the citizenries and many believe that forensic accounting is the only panacea in Nigeria. We used the survey method for the purpose of this study. Four hypotheses (null hypotheses) were tested using the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient (PPMC) statistical tool. We find that forensic accounting has a significant but negative relationship with economic and financial crimes; technology has significant and positive relationship with both forensic accounting and economic and financial crimes; and that technology moderates the relationship that exists between forensic accounting and economic and financial crimes. We then made some recommendations such as mandatory forensic accounting department ought be established in publicly and privately owned institutions and offices through regulatory authorities and not on voluntary basis; recruit forensic accountants/investigators/auditors in both the private and public sectors and regularly train and retrain them on current technologies; the Nigerian government should amend existing laws to meet the requirements of present day technological advancement. We then concluded that forensic accounting as afield has all it takes to fight economic and financial crimes in Nigeria and that technology moderates the relationship, though negative, between forensic accounting and economic and financial crimes hence the need for technological advancement in forensic accounting in order to fight against economic and financial crimes.

This study addresses two methods commonly used to measure overconfidence and examines their reliability. It is shown that traditional methods of assessing subjective certainty concerning a given forecast can contribute to a systematic overestimation of overconfidence. It also becomes apparent that a common approach measuring relative overconfidence can cause a distortion of scientific results. This is particularly valid for study groups in which female and male participants are not equally represented.

The current global situation in agribusiness is characterized by rapid changes and endless challenges under the influence of many factors, some of which compete unidirectional. Many countries are slowly reforming agricultural policies. This has helped to increase trade and the greater role of the private sector in agriculture vis-à-vis the state. The population growth, income and urbanization, changing crop culture, eating crops, declining crops to feed the population have contributed to rising global food prices. At the same time, consumer requirements related to safety, quality, convenience of trading are increasing and the differential between agricultural and commodity prices is constantly increasing due to the differences in the technological provision of the two production processes. The changed paradigm in the diet of produced, processed and, above all, health-safe but higher-priced and differentiated agricultural products has created opportunities for agricultural entrepreneurs to transform the goods into consumer-demanded products. Small, highly mobile family agribusiness has prompted greater private sector involvement in agriculture and focusing on the development and improvement of agricultural value chain chains (AVCs) in terms of quality, productivity, efficiency and depth. The value chains are formalized relationships between producer groups, dealers, processors, service providers and non-governmental organizations that unite to achieve productivity gains and added value to their activities. Individual added value is achieved by bringing together participants in a single value chain, and its participants increase competitiveness and are better able to maintain the level of this competitiveness through a culture of innovation.The limitations of each participant in the value chain are eliminated by establishing synergies and rules for communications along the chain, with the ultimate goal of achieving higher value. The main commercial advantages of stakeholders to engage as part of an effective value chain can be defined as:- The ability to reduce the cost of doing business; increasing revenue increasing market impact; -Enhancing access to technology, information and capital for the process of innovation in manufacturing and marketing in order to gain higher added value and ensure higher quality of customers. These and other important aspects of the functioning of value chains are the subject of research in this work. As a result, some conclusions are drawn about the place of the Balkan countries in the agribusiness development chains as well as the prospects for the development of the process in the whole.

This paper investigates the extent of macroeconomic volatility caused by the transfer pricing behavior of multinational corporations. The study examined two possible transmission channels through which transfer pricing causes macroeconomic volatility, namely, terms of trade and budget policy channels. Using the EGARCH model with annual data on selected variables from 1980 to 2017, the paper found evidence of macroeconomic volatility caused by transfer pricing. The size of the shock from transfer pricing is high and statistically significant in the terms of trade and budget policy channels. Negative shock from multinational corporations shifting taxable income between high and low tax regimes had a larger effect than a positive shock on the country’s budget policy. The volatility caused by transfer pricing was short-lived in the terms of trade channel. However, in the budget policy channel, past volatility of transfer pricing persisted for a longer period to explain current volatility.

This paper investigates the awareness level and challenges confronting the Bhutanese Stock market and brokers to ascertain its development potential within this emerging economy. The study was carried out using both quantitative and qualitative techniques and is mainly based on primary sources of data where a semi-structured questionnaire was designed to collect data from the public, brokers and officials of Royal Securities Exchange of Bhutan Limited (RSEBL). The findings have revealed that more than half of the public are aware of the existence of the RSEBL and they are not highly knowledgeable about trading on the Stock market or its benefits. The study also found that the respondents are interested in investing in the Stock market but lacked knowledge on investment avenues. Furthermore, the findings have revealed the challenges and limitations which hinder the development of a more robust stock market in Bhutan. The major challenges faced by RESBL and its brokers are lack of participation from public and companies, low frequency of trade and liquidity problem. The study suggests that the public should be educated on the benefits of investing in the stock market as well as on the procedures of investing in stocks. In addition, RSEBL should encourage more companies to be listed in the stock exchange. This study draws awareness to the existence of the Bhutan stock market as a potential investment opportunity. Furthermore, it sheds light on the challenges emerging markets face in establishing a viable and effective exchange.

Accruals are non-cash items of income and represent adjustments made for cash flows that do not create a benchmark for profits that are generally influenced by matuarity and cash payments, and increase expected returns of profitability and reduction of offsetting liabilities. The results indicate that operating profitability is based on liquidity of profitability factor, and, moreover, adjusted operating profit based on operating cash flow is predicted at current yield stage. An investor can increase a Sharp strategic ratio by adding an adjusted operating profit factor to a larger investment position.

This research work investigated the influence of firm size on the financial performance of deposit money banks quoted on the Nigerian stock exchange. The research work is necessitated by the need to find the factors that respond positively or negatively to the financial performance of deposit money banks in Nigeria. Five deposit money banks were sampled with the aid of Taro Yemeni sampling technique to represent the entire banking industry in Nigeria. The firm size proxied by log of total assets represents the explanatory variable while the financial performance measured by profitability proxied by return on asset is the dependent variable. The analysis was conducted using the pooled OLS regression and fixed effect/random effect regression with the aid of STATA for panel regression. In addition, descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were computed. The finding of the study indicates that firm size insignificantly negatively influenced financial performance as a result of diseconomies of scale. The study therefore recommends that the industry should minimize the cost of expansion and enjoy maximum benefits of economies of scale in addition to other factors that may stimulate financial performance should be considered instead of the firm size that indicate insignificantly negative effect.

Oil and gas resources present enormous opportunities for the economic development of low income economies, but poor management of these resources can result in dire consequences for the foundations of the resource-endowed nation. The discovery of oil and gas in Ghana is as significant as the policies and measures to ensure optimum benefits to the nation. This paper evaluates the sustainability of petroleum production in the light of the medium term policy structure, the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA). In particular, the economic contribution of oil and gas to Ghana’s GDP and sustainable investment options for petroleum revenues were examined using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. The evidence suggests that at current production levels, petroleum is not a significant contributor to Ghana’s GDP after adjusting for the contribution from other sectors of the economy. The consistent appreciation of Ghana’s real effective exchange rate between 2010 and 2013 led to a deterioration of the competitiveness of the non-oil sector and declining contribution of the agricultural sector to GDP; and further eroded the net impact of petroleum production. Investing petroleum proceeds in the non-oil sector and expansion of the export base are a viable option for utilising petroleum revenues.

Smooth functioning a bank depends on the stability of stream of returns that it gets from its financing decision. This study is an attempt to showcase the reason for idling or shortage of funds and the factors for the case of Islamic banking. This effort will determine the strategy which can boost the financing in the economy, for this, this study has used the panel data of full-fledged Islamic banks from countries Pakistan and Malaysia, spanning to several years and based on several banks. Based on the analysis of internal and external factors of Islamic banks, it can be seen that increase in the market rate leads to decrease in demand of financing while the increase in deposits and equity do not show a proportional increase in financing which hints that there is excess liquidity available in the Islamic banks. On the positive side, it is evident that increase in the economic activity boosts the demand for Islamic financing.

This paper examines the impact of e-banking on commercial banks’ performance in Namibia using an error correction modelling and granger causality test for the period 2012M1 to 2015M8. The advent of the internet has resulted in paradigm shifts in the banking industry towards electronic banking to create a competitive edge over rivals. Although this rapid development of information technology has made some banking tasks more efficient and cheaper, there are concerns that technological investments are taking a larger share of bank’s resources. The finding reports that return on investment is significantly driven by interbank settlement systems, electronic funds transfer and cheques, with an adjustment of 32 percent per month. The direction of causality test reveals a unidirectional causality from return on investment to interbank settlement system and cheques. This indicates that an increase in the return on investment is likely to enhance innovations and development. The study also found a bidirectional causality between the volume of electronic funds transfer and return on investment. Policy implications emanating from this study suggest that stable macroeconomic conditions that enhance return on investment are good stimulant to drive innovations and technology that will ultimately increase economic development.

The long-run relationship between exports and imports has been the subject of intensive research in developed and developing economies. This relationship is of importance due to the fact that it reflects the stability of foreign trade situation of a country. The main objective of this paper is to study and investigate the long-run relationship between exports and imports in Ghana’s economy. A time series econometric techniques of unit root tests, Johansen cointegration and error-correction mechanism were applied. Annual data for real exports and real imports for the period 2002 – 2015 were used. The results of ADF unit root tests suggest that the two variables export and imports are integrated of order one. Johansen cointegration test revealed that, a long-run cointegrating relationship exist between exports and imports in Ghana. The error-correction model found a long-run unidirectional causality from imports to exports. This means that the short run fluctuations between exports and imports are sustainable since, in the long run, they will eventually converge towards an equilibrium state. The study confirms that Ghana is not in violation of its international budget constraints, and macroeconomic policies have been effective in bringing exports and imports into a long-run equilibrium.

The research studies the impact of the exchange rate fluctuations of the local currency on the share dividends exchanged in the stock market, and stating whether there is a trace of the fluctuations occurring in the exchange rate on the fluctuations reflected on the stock returns in the stock market – during the political and economic crisis in Syria. The descriptive analytical approach was adopted to indicate whether there is any direct or indirect impact of fluctuations in the exchange rate of the pound (Lira) against the dollar on the exchange value of the Damascus Securities Exchange Index. The study community consists of all stock companies listed in Damascus Securities Exchange. It covers the total of 23 listed companies. It relied on the period from 1/7/2011 through 12/31/2013 to study the impact of exchange rate fluctuations on stock returns, where the crisis began on 18/03/2011, but reflections on economic life began to appear in mid-2011 when the severe fluctuations in the exchange rate and returns began as a result of lack of stability and economic siege Syria has been witnessing and the study stretched until the year 2013. The data is a sort of daily observations of each of the dependent and independent variable sending with 381 observations. The study reached the many results some of which include that there is an inverse weak between the Syrian pound exchange rate and Damascus Securities Exchange Index returns. The inefficiency of Damascus Securities Exchange Index on the weak level, where, as we have seen, this index is not subject to normal distribution and it is auto-correlated of the third degree and does not settle at the first level; instead, it settles at the first change.

The contemporary business environment has been highly complex and dynamic with organizations facing unprecedented amount of competition due to globalization and technological innovations. Merger and acquisition is one of the most popular organization strategy that organizations apply when faced with this kind of operating environment acquiring resources, skills, and competencies beyond their organization control. Many studies have been done to support implementation of M&As within organizations but they have indicated conflicting outcomes with some showing that it negatively affect organization performance and others indicating they positively affect performance. However, none of the studies done has concentrated on the effect within the privately traded organizations and very few but conflicting studies have been done on this relationship in Kenya. This study therefore sought to assess the effects of merger and acquisition on the performance of privately trading organizations in Kenya. The study was grounded upon the efficiency theory, the market power theory, and economic production theory. Reviewed literature revealed existing gaps related to the literature. The study adopted descriptive research design on short run data collected at UAP Insurance within the pre-merger (2012-2014) and post-merger (2015-2017) periods for various performance statistics, where descriptive analysis was applied to assess the differences and independent sample t-test. The study found that M&A affects the net profit margin, Return on Assets, Return on Equity, and earnings per share with all these performance indicators showing that the post-merger period had poorer performance than the pre-merger period. The study further observed that the M&A implementation caused serious disruptions in the operating environment and organization culture of the organization, which was bound to have negative implications on organization performance, employees and shareholders. The study recommends that organizations should avoid M&A strategy unless their current assets are able to fund their current liabilities beyond the short run period, as the declined performance was linked to the disruptions experienced from M&A implementations. The study also recommends that M&A intended changes should occur sequentially to cushion the organization internal operations from the disruptions due to the changes. Study suggests further studies assessing the long term impact of M&A on organization performance.

This paper analyzes the trends and evolution of public expenditures in the agriculture sector in Togo, as well as its impact on the growth of agriculture during the period 1985–2015. To this end, we constructed a model capturing both the effect of the volume and the composition of public expenditures in Togolese agriculture. The results highlight the fact that the public investments on agriculture had a positive impact on agriculture growth, whereas public expenditures on fertilizer subsidies had the opposite effect. The study recommends that to revitalize the agriculture sector, the public expenditures should be directed at improving the provision of public investments and services rather than at subsidizing private inputs.

This study investigates specifically the impact of Oil and Non-Oil Products on Nigeria Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Data were collected for period 1981-2016 Descriptive Statistics and Multiple Linear Regression Approach was used, defining Oil, and Non-Oil Products as independent variables and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as dependent variable. From the analysis, Oil, and Non-Oil Products contributes immensely to the Nigeria Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Contrary, the Oil Product is positively and insignificant on economic growth of Nigeria (GDP) and the Non-Oil Product has positively and significant on economic growth of Nigeria (GDP). This study therefore recommends that Nigeria should enhance her export promotion strategies and diversify her economy far away from Crude oil.

The study sought to understand the justification of NATO’s intervention in Libya and implications on regional security. Qualitative research methodology was used in the study. Primary and secondary data sources were used to collect data. The findings of the study indicated that NATO’s military intervention in Libya was not justified and failed to promote peace and security. Research findings further showed that the intervention was based on self-interest. The intentions of NATO in Libya were far-fetched and heavily undermined the doctrines of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and humanitarian intervention. The research findings indicated that NATO intervened in Libya for regime change, imperialism and to benefit from the oil resource. Libyan citizens benefitted nothing from the intervention. The study argues that Libyans suffered economic, socio-political and religious effects. The intervention by NATO fuelled civil wars, violence, religious conflicts and terrorism.

This study focuses on the effectiveness of State and Non-state actors in combating human trafficking and ensuring safe migration of Zimbabwean women. The study relied on qualitative research methodology while data was gathered through primary and documentary search. Respondents were purposively selected from victims of human trafficking and organisations that deal with combating human trafficking. These included IOM, Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Human Trafficking Desk, Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs. The study revealed that human trafficking in Zimbabwe thrives under conditions of vulnerability which are caused by various factors ranging from poverty, limited educational opportunities, poor economic conditions, gender and age. A strong relationship between Government and NGOs’ inadequate adherence to the Palermo Protocol standards and escalation of human trafficking was also exposed. Though Zimbabwean has several laws that deals with human trafficking, implementation of these laws still remains a challenge. This has contributed to the escalation of human trafficking cases from Zimbabwe to neighbouring countries, particularly South Africa.