Diversity and return: the impact of diversity of board members’ education on performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 824-842 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac Boadi ◽  
Daniel Osarfo
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Convergence Theory ◽  
Board Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Domestic Banks ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of diversity of board members’ educational qualifications on the financial performance of banks in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach The present study applies system generalized methods of moments as an econometric model in carrying out the analysis. The study yielded a usable sample of 28 banks spanning from 2001 to 2016. Findings The paper concludes that the Ghanaian banking sector profit diverges and invalidates the convergence theory or “catch-up effect”. Specifically, educational qualifications of board members are relevant to banks’ financial performance. Across all the models used, board members with a first degree have a significant positive impact on performance. The opposite is the case for board members with Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). Research limitations/implications Unobservable characteristics such as entrepreneurial skills and intellectual competence experiences are excluded from the study because of the difficulties in measuring these variables. Notwithstanding, the exclusion of these characteristics does not invalidate the general outcome of the study. Originality/value The present study examines the impact of diversity of board members’ educational qualification on financial performance in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Ghana. It also extends the existing literature by decomposing the banking sector into listed, non-listed, foreign and domestic banks.

Impact of globalization on human rights: evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (12) ◽  
pp. 1453-1480
Author(s):  
Aman Takiyar ◽  
N.V.M. Rao
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Economic Dimension ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the impact of globalization and its multiple dimensions on human rights in Sub-Saharan Africa.Design/methodology/approachThe study extends the Poe and Tate (1994) model, which enumerates the various determinants of human rights. Ordered probit estimation is used to estimate the impact of globalization and its dimensions. For the purpose of empirical analysis, the period has been divided into three phases: short, medium and long term. This helps in understanding how the impact of the different dimensions of globalization has evolved over a period of time. Furthermore, analysis has been carried out to detect causality between human rights and globalization.FindingsAs per the results, overall globalization and social dimension of globalization do have a positive impact on human rights in long and medium term and, also, Granger-cause human rights. The political dimension of globalization has a positive relation with human rights, though there exists no causality between the two. On the other hand, the economic dimension of globalization fails to have a statistically significant impact on human rights. Impact of the social dimension of globalization dominates that of other dimensions of globalization.Originality/valueThis is one of the few studies that examine, in an empirical fashion, the impact of globalization on human rights in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The impact of within-industry diversification on firm performance

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1475-1501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Varaporn Pangboonyanon ◽  
Kiattichai Kalasin
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Labor Costs ◽  
Institutional Perspective ◽  
Product Lines ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Linear Pattern ◽  
Coordination Costs ◽  
Industry Diversification ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how within-industry diversification affects the financial performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets (EMs). The authors draw on both the resource-based view and the institutional perspective and argue that within-industry diversification can enhance the financial performance of SMEs in EMs. Due to institutional voids in emerging economies, SMEs can gain additional benefits from scope economies, as well as from market returns, by filling product market voids and gaps in business ecosystems, while also enjoying low input and labor costs that reduce the coordination costs of diversification. This, in turn, enhances benefits of within-industry diversification, thereby resulting in higher financial profitability. Design/methodology/approach This study employs panel data econometrics to estimate the model. The authors test hypotheses on 195 firms, originating from five countries in Southeast Asia, during the period of 2009–2014. Findings The empirical results support the arguments. Within-industry diversification has a positive impact on the performance of SMEs in EMs. These effects become weaker when the institutional contexts are more developed. Nevertheless, such effects become stronger when SMEs in EMs are more efficient. Research limitations/implications The relationship between within-industry diversification and performance is a positive linear pattern, which differs from the pattern in advanced economies. In addition to unrelated diversification, the related diversification is preferable for firms in EMs. Practical implications The paper provides implications for SMEs that aim to enhance their performance by engaging in single product lines and within-industry diversification. Originality/value This paper examines the different ways within-industry diversification can enhance SMEs performance in EM contexts.

The bright and dark sides of green customer integration (GCI): evidence from Chinese manufacturers

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Taiwen Feng ◽  
Hongyan Sheng ◽  
Minghui Li
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Information Sharing ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Resource Dependence Theory ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Opportunistic Behavior ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Customer Integration ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

PurposeBased on resource dependence theory and transaction cost economics this study explores how green customer integration (GCI) affects financial performance via information sharing and opportunistic behavior, and the moderating effects of dependence and trust.Design/methodology/approachThis study develops a theoretical model and tests it using data from two-waved survey data of 206 Chinese manufacturers. The hypotheses were tested using hierarchical linear regression analysis.FindingsThe results show that GCI has a significant and positive impact on information sharing, but its impact on opportunistic behavior is insignificant. Notably, information sharing has a significant and positive impact on financial performance, while opportunistic behavior has an insignificant impact on financial performance. In addition, dependence negatively moderates the impact of GCI on information sharing and positively moderates the impact of GCI on opportunistic behavior. Trust negatively moderates the impact of GCI on opportunistic behavior.Originality/valueAlthough GCI has received widespread attention, how it affects a firm's performance remains unclear. Most previous studies have focused only on its bright side and ignored its dark side. This study highlights how GCI affects financial performance through information sharing and opportunistic behavior, and the moderating effects of dependence and trust. This enriches the understanding of how and under what conditions GCI affects a firm's performance.

Economic freedom, competition and bank stability in Sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Sarpong-Kumankoma ◽  
Joshua Yindenaba Abor ◽  
Anthony Q. Q. Aboagye ◽  
Mohammed Amidu
Keyword(s):  
Economic Freedom ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Bank Stability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Stability

PurposeThis study aims to analyze the potential implications of economic freedom and competition for bank stability.Design/methodology/approachUsing system generalized method of moments and data from 139 banks across 11 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries during the period 2006–2012, this study considers whether the degree of economic freedom affects the relationship between competition and bank stability.FindingsThe results show evidence of the competition-fragility hypothesis in SSA banking, but suggests that beyond a setting threshold, increases in market power may also be damaging to bank stability. Financial freedom has a negative effect on bank stability, suggesting that banks operating in environments with greater financial freedom generally tend to be less stable or more risky. The authors also find evidence of a conditional effect of economic freedom on the competition–stability relationship, implying that bank failure is more likely to occur in countries with greater economic freedom, but with low competition in the banking sector.Practical implicationsThe results suggests to policy makers that a moderate level of competition and economic freedom may be the appropriate policy to ensure the stability of banks.Originality/valueThe study provides insight on the competition–bank stability relationship, by providing new empirical evidence on the effect of economic freedom, which has not been previously considered.

“Does the poor matter” in pro-poor driven sub-Saharan African cities? towards progressive and inclusive pro-poor tourism

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 392-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Regis Musavengane ◽  
Pius Siakwah ◽  
Llewellyn Leonard
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Urban Tourism ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
African Cities ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to question the extent to which Sub-Saharan African cities are progressing towards promoting pro-poor economies through pro-poor tourism (PPT). It specifically examines how African cities are resilient towards attaining sustainable urban tourism destinations in light of high urbanization. Design/methodology/approach The methodological framework is interpretive in nature and qualitative in an operational form. It uses meta-synthesis to evaluate the causal relationships observed within Sub-Saharan African pro-poor economies to enhance PPT approaches, using Accra, Ghana, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Harare, Zimbabwe, as case studies. Findings Tourism development in Sub-Saharan Africa has been dominantly underpinned by neoliberal development strategies which threaten the sustainability of tourism in African cities. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to three Sub-Saharan African countries. Further studies may need to be done in other developing countries. Practical implications It argues for good governance through sustainability institutionalization which strengthens the regulative mechanisms, processes and organizational culture. Inclusive tourism approaches that are resilient-centered have the potential to promote urban tourism in Sub-Saharan African cities. These findings contribute to the building of strong and inclusive Institutions for Sustainable Development in the Sub-Saharan African cities to alleviate poverty. Social implications These findings contribute to the building of strong and inclusive institutions for sustainable development in the Sub-Saharan African cities to alleviate poverty. Originality/value The “poor” are always within the communities, and it takes a community to minimise the impact of poverty among the populace. The study is conducted at a pertinent time when most African government’s development policies are pro-poor driven. Though African cities provide opportunities of growth, they are regarded as centres of high inequality.

Innovation, institutions and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa – an IV estimation of a panel threshold model

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Ato Forson ◽  
Rosemary Afrakomah Opoku ◽  
Michael Owusu Appiah ◽  
Evans Kyeremeh ◽  
Ibrahim Anyass Ahmed ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Innovation Policy ◽  
Threshold Model ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Panel Regressions ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThe significant impact of innovation in stimulating economic growth cannot be overemphasized, more importantly from policy perspective. For this reason, the relationship between innovation and economic growth in developing economies such as the ones in Africa has remained topical. Yet, innovation as a concept is multi-dimensional and cannot be measured by just one single variable. With hindsight of the traditional measures of innovation in literature, we augment it with the number of scientific journals published in the region to enrich this discourse.Design/methodology/approachWe focus on an approach that explores innovation policy qualitatively from various policy documents of selected countries in the region from three policy perspectives (i.e. institutional framework, financing and diffusion and interaction). We further investigate whether innovation as perceived differently is important for economic growth in 25 economies in sub-Saharan Africa over the period 1990–2016. Instrumental variable estimation of a threshold regression is used to capture the contributions of innovation as a multi-dimensional concept on economic growth, while dealing with endogeneity between the regressors and error term.FindingsThe results from both traditional panel regressions and IV panel threshold regressions show a positive relationship between innovation and economic growth, although the impact seems negligible. Institutional quality dampens innovation among low-regime economies, and the relation is persistent regardless of when the focus is on aggregate or decomposed institutional factors. The impact of innovation on economic growth in most regressions is robust to different dimensions of innovation. Yet, the coefficients of the innovation variables in the two regimes are quite dissimilar. While most countries in the region have offered financial support in the form of budgetary allocations to strengthen institutions, barriers to the design and implementation of innovation policies may be responsible for the sluggish contribution of innovation to the growth pattern of the region.Originality/valueSegregating economies of Africa into two distinct regimes based on a threshold of investment in education as a share of GDP in order to understand the relationship between innovation and economic growth is quite novel. This lends credence to the fact that innovation as a multifaceted concept does not take place by chance – it is carefully planned. We have enriched the discourse of innovation and thus helped in deepening understanding on this contentious subject.

Impact of perceived experiential advertising on customers' responses: a multi-method approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 1237-1258
Author(s):  
Caroline Lacroix ◽  
Lova Rajaobelina ◽  
Anik St-Onge
Keyword(s):  
Affective Commitment ◽  
Banking Sector ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Structural Equations ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Expression Recognition ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Credibility ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis article proposes two studies to demonstrate the impact of three dimensions of perceived experiential advertising – cognitive/affective/sensory advertising, relate advertising and behavioural advertising – on consumer behaviour (brand credibility, affective commitment and emotions) in the banking sector.Design/methodology/approachFor study 1, a total of 506 online panellists of a recognized Canadian research firm were asked to evaluate a local bank advertisement using an online self-reported questionnaire. For study 2, a total of 65 Canadian respondents recruited through Facebook and Google adverts were asked to watch two video advertisements (one more experiential and the other less experiential). After viewing the advertisements on a computer equipped with FaceReader software by Noldus, participants completed a short online questionnaire.FindingsUsing structural equations modelling, the first study shows that brand credibility explains the positive impact of perceived cognitive/affective/sensory advertising (complementary mediation) and perceived behavioural advertising (indirect mediation only) on affective commitment. The second study illustrates that the cognitive/affective/sensory dimension is more important for experiential advertising than experiential advertising. Employing FaceReader facial expression recognition software results indicate that the bank advertisement with a higher score of perceived cognitive/affective/sensory advertising produces a higher level of happiness among respondents.Originality/valueBoth studies provide new insights into perceived experiential advertising and the impact of the latter on consumers. Benefits to scholars and practitioners include an enhanced understanding of advertising effectiveness in the banking sector.

Does economic freedom improve health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa?

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (12) ◽  
pp. 1633-1649
Author(s):  
Anand Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Economic Freedom ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the impact of economic freedom on four key health indicators (namely, life expectancy, infant mortality rate, under-five mortality rate and neonatal mortality rate) by using a panel dataset of 34 sub-Saharan African countries from 2005 to 2016.Design/methodology/approachThe study obtains data from the World Development Indicators (WDI) of the World Bank and the Fraser Institute. It uses fixed effects regression to estimate the effect of economic freedom on health outcomes and attempts to resolve the endogeneity problems by using two-stage least squares regression (2SLS).FindingsThe results indicate a favourable impact of economic freedom on health outcomes. That is, higher levels of economic freedom reduce mortality rates and increase life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa. All areas of economic freedom, except government size, have a significant and positive effect on health outcomes.Research limitations/implicationsThis study analyses the effect of economic freedom on health at a broad level. Country-specific studies at a disaggregated level may provide additional information about the impact of economic freedom on health outcomes. Also, this study does not control for some important variables such as education, income inequality and foreign aid due to data constraints.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that sub-Saharan African countries should focus on enhancing the quality of economic institutions to improve their health outcomes. This may include policy reforms that support a robust legal system, protect property rights, promote free trade and stabilise the macroeconomic environment. In addition, policies that raise urbanisation, increase immunisation and lower the incidence of HIV are likely to produce a substantial improvement in health outcomes.Originality/valueExtant economic freedom-health literature does not focus on endogeneity problems. This study uses instrumental variables regression to deal with endogeneity. Also, this is one of the first attempts to empirically investigate the relationship between economic freedom and health in the case of sub-Saharan Africa.

scholarly journals International diversification and firm’s value: evidence from developing nations

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.N. Bany-Ariffin ◽  
Bolaji Tunde Matemilola ◽  
Liza Wahid ◽  
Siti Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
Multinational Firms ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Generalized Method Of Moments ◽  
International Diversification ◽  
Technological Advancement ◽  
Reverse Causality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to evaluate the impact of international diversification, through the investment abroad activities of the Malaysian multinational corporations (MNCs), on their financial performance. Design/methodology/approach The paper applies the panel generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation technique that gives better results. Findings The empirical findings show that the move to invest abroad has brought a positive impact on Malaysian MNCs’ financial performance. However, in terms of a firm’s risk, the results contradict the general internationalization-risk hypothesis. Research limitations/implications The study focuses on the top 100 multinational firms; future researchers may extend the time period and use the entire sample of all the multinational firms. Practical implications Foreign investments offer rewarding returns due to cheaper labour and raw materials, competitive edge in terms of technological advancement and larger market opportunities. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature using the panel GMM’s estimation that effectively control for reverse causality and serial correlation problem. The paper also contributes to the international diversification and performance relationship, in a fast-growing Malaysia.

El Nino spells multiple humanitarian crises for Africa

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
El Niño ◽  
El Nino ◽  
Commodity Prices ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Weather System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Humanitarian Crises ◽  
Cocoa Production ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

Subject Outlook for El Nino in sub-Saharan Africa. Significance The current El Nino weather system, one of the three strongest since 1950, is causing drought in some areas and flooding in others. Past instances have resulted in significant drops in agricultural production, livestock deaths, infrastructure damage and lost income. Together with likely higher incidence of disease, similar effects could trigger humanitarian crises across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Impacts Poor sanitation infrastructure in many major SSA cities will facilitate the spread of water-borne diseases such as cholera. In Southern Africa, strong institutions overseeing intra-regional water sharing will limit prospects for diplomatic disputes over water. Unusual rain and wind patterns in West Africa could curb cocoa production, creating shortages that will push up global prices. Likely lower agricultural output across SSA will compound the impact of low commodity prices on cooling GDP growth.

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