scholarly journals The role of lifelong learning on political stability and non violence: evidence from Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simplice A. Asongu ◽  
Jacinta C. Nwachukwu

Purpose – Education as a weapon in the fight against conflict and violence remains widely debated in policy and academic circles. Against the background of growing political instability in Africa and the central role of the knowledge economy in twenty-first century development, this paper provides three contributions to existing literature. The purpose of this paper is to assess how political stability/non-violence is linked to the incremental, synergy and lifelong learning effects of education. Design/methodology/approach – The authors define lifelong learning as the combined knowledge acquired during primary, secondary and tertiary education. Principal component analysis is used to reduce the dimensions of educational and political indicators. An endogeneity robust dynamic system Generalized Methods of Moments is used for the estimations. Findings – The authors establish three main findings. First, education is a useful weapon in the fight against political instability. Second, there is an incremental effect of education in the transition from secondary to tertiary schools. Third, lifelong learning also has positive and synergy effects. This means that the impact of lifelong learning is higher than the combined independent effects of various educational levels. The empirical evidence is based on 53 African countries for the period 1996-2010. Practical implications – A plethora of policy implications are discussed, inter alia: how the drive towards increasing the knowledge economy through lifelong learning can be an effective tool in the fight against violence and political insurgency in Africa. Originality/value – As the continent is nursing knowledge economy ambitions, the paper is original in investigating the determinants of political stability/non-violence from three dimensions of education attainment: the incremental, the lifelong learning and a synergy effect.

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-165
Author(s):  
Bijoy Rakshit ◽  
Yadawananda Neog

PurposeThe primary purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of educational attainment on crime rates across 33 Indian states over the period 2001 to 2013. This paper also examines the role of various macroeconomic, socio-economic and demographic factors in determining the variation of crimes in India.Design/methodology/approachFirst, this paper provides a representative theoretical model and discusses the possible relationship between crime and education. Second, the paper applies a dynamic panel data (DPD) model to extract more precise, unbiased and reliable estimates of the effect of education in abating different crime rates. The main advantage of using the dynamic panel model is to address the problem of endogeneity in some regressors and capture the time persistent effect of education on crime.FindingsEmpirical findings reveal that a 1% increase in gross enrolment ratio leads to the reduction of total crime by 8%. However, a unique finding identifies a positive association between tertiary education and economic crime. This finding further goes against the general belief that criminals tend to be less educated than non-criminals.Practical implicationsThis paper recommends that instead of punishment and mandatory law enforcement for offenders, increase in government expenditure and different educational attainment ratios can go a long way to combat crime in India, which has posed a serious threat to the stability of society. Furthermore, utilizing the information on offenders' educational attainment in examining the crime rates can be a future research agenda for policymakers.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the empirical debate of ‘crime-education nexus’ by examining the role of education on crime in India. This study is the first of its kind that focuses on the aspects of crime and education more recently and investigates the relationship between crime and education due to the recent changes in educational attainment ratios and crime rate.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tesfaye Taddese Lemma ◽  
Ayalew Lulseged ◽  
Mthokozisi Mlilo ◽  
Minga Negash

Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of political stability and political rights on firm-level earnings (both accrual-based and real) management. Design/methodology/approach The authors develop models that link political stability, political rights, and the interplay between the two and earnings (both accrual-based and real) management. The authors analyze 63,872 firm-year observations of publicly listed, non-financial, firms drawn from 39 countries, for the period 1995 to 2016. Findings The authors find that political stability (political rights) attenuates (accentuates) accrual-based earnings management; political rights (political stability) accentuates (have no effect on) real earnings management; and the association between political rights and real earnings management is more pronounced in countries with better political stability. Practical implications The findings imply that users of financial statements should take cognizance of a country’s ambient political environment in assessing the potential for earnings management by firms. Originality/value No prior research examined the role of political forces in shaping firm-level earnings management behavior in a cross-country setting.


2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-172
Author(s):  
Luis Felipe Zegarra

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of political instability on rural credit in Lima between 1835 and 1865. In particular, it explores the effects of wars on interest rates for the agricultural sector. Design/methodology/approach The paper relies on primary sources for the study of the early credit market of Lima. In particular, the study relies on a sample of more than 800 notarized loans for 1835–1865, collected from the National Archives of Peru, to determine the effect of wars on the cost of credit. Findings The evidence shows that wars increased interest rates on rural loans and that the impact of wars on the cost of credit was greater when the State lacked fiscal resources. Political instability made funding more costly for landlords and farmers, especially in the late 1830s and early 1840s. Originality/value This paper is one of the few historical studies on the role of wars on rural credit in Latin America. It contributes to our understanding of the linkages between political instability and financial development.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuliang Zhao ◽  
Yanhong Jiang ◽  
Xiaobao Peng ◽  
Jin Hong

PurposeBecause the mechanism of how knowledge sharing affects organizational innovation is still unclear, the study focuses on the relationship between knowledge sharing and organizational innovation performance, with a focus on mediating role of absorptive capacity and individual creativity.Design/methodology/approachOn the basis of the knowledge base view and organizational learning theory, the study propose a model to verify the impact of inbound and outbound knowledge sharing on organizational innovation performance based on previous research. It also analyzed how these effects were mediated by individual creativity and absorptive capacity. The study collected 166 samples to verify the theoretical model.FindingsResults corroborate that inbound knowledge sharing cannot directly promote organizational innovation performance, and absorptive capacity has a full mediation effect between inbound knowledge sharing and organizational innovation performance. Knowledge outbound sharing, individual creativity and absorptive capacity can improve innovation performance. In addition, absorptive capacity and individual creativity have direct and significant impacts on organizational innovation performance. Moreover, absorptive capacity plays a partial mediate role between individual creativity and innovation performance. Finally, this study discusses the policy implications of the study and describes possible future research directions.Originality/valueThe paper creatively divides knowledge sharing into inbound knowledge sharing and outbound knowledge sharing and verifies that knowledge sharing does not directly affect organizational innovation performance. The mediating role of absorptive capacity and individual creativity was analysis.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahid Rizwan ◽  
Husam-Aldin Al-Malkawi ◽  
Kamisan Gadar ◽  
Ilham Sentosa ◽  
Naziruddin Abdullah

Purpose Although 76% of the population of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is Muslim, takāful (Islamic insurance) has a much smaller share of business in the UAE than conventional insurance does. The purpose of this study is to highlight the importance of brand equity (BE), which is known as the incremental value that provides reason to buy a brand. This study provides useful insights that can help the health takāful industry to gain a feasible market share in the UAE. Design/methodology/approach This is a quantitative study in which stratified random sampling was adopted for data collection from 300 respondents through a self-administered questionnaire from August to November 2018. Underpinning the study is the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique has been used to examine the impact of BE on purchase intentions (PI) through the moderating role of demographic factors such as age, income, education and religion. Three dimensions of BE, i.e. brand awareness (BAW), brand association (BAS) and perceived quality (PQ), are evaluated in terms of their significance as dimensions of BE. Findings The major findings of this study confirm that BE has a strong positive influence on the PIs of health takāful customers in the UAE and that all three dimensions of BE make significant contributions to the overall BE. The results show that education does moderate the relationship between BE and PI while age, income and religion do not. A new finding of this study is the nonsignificant moderating role of religion, whereby it was found that takāful products in the UAE are not limited to Muslim customers but can include potential customers who are followers of other religions. Originality/value To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first of its kind to examine the impact of BE on the PI of health takāful customers in the UAE. The findings of the study give academia, researchers and marketers a better understanding of the importance of BE and of its vital role in promoting takāful products in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries such as the UAE.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Taher Hamza ◽  
Elhem ZAATIR

Purpose This study aims to examine the impact of corporate tax aggressiveness on future stock price crash. It also tests the corporate tax aggressiveness prediction power of the stock price crash via a long forecast window (two years). Design/methodology/approach The study sample consisted of 1,169 firm-years observations. The multivariate analysis uses three measures of stock price crash risk, as a dependent variable. The key variable is tax aggressiveness lagged by one period (one year) as all independent variables. As a robustness check, this paper uses alternate measures of earning management and a longer forecast window (two years) to predict stock price crash risk. Findings Tax aggressiveness activity is positively related to a firm-specific future stock price crash. Corporate tax aggressiveness predicts stock price crash risk for a long forecast window (two years). The findings are robust to a number of checks and have several policy implications. Practical implications Investors should be cautious about the different risks of corporate tax aggressiveness: stock price crash risk. The important role of firm disclosure which leads to more relevant stock price informativeness. Adopt accounting conservatism behavior. The market perceives a socially irresponsible behavior and may harm the firm reputation. Social implications Incentives for French regulators to reduce the feeling of injustice by SMEs vis-à-vis large international companies that have the possibility of transferring part of their profits to a country different from that where it should be taxed to reduce their tax bases. Originality/value French companies are among the heavily taxed in Europe which makes France a particularly suitable context for studying tax aggressiveness issues. The first in the French context, that document a significant and positive relation between tax aggressiveness and future crash risk. It focuses on the important role of corporate tax planning as a means of withholding bad news and its consequences in inflating stock prices.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriella Kuráth ◽  
Norbert Sipos

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show the effects of the six competence areas of Garcia-Aracil and Van der Velden (2007) on new graduates' labor market success measured by salary.Design/methodology/approachThe paper starts with a literature review about the role of competencies in higher education. Then the Graduate Career Tracking System (GCTS) carried out at the University of Pécs (UP) in Hungary provides a good basis to understand the competence assessment methodology better. Furthermore, GCTS is suitable for carrying out an exploratory, a confirmatory factor analysis and an OLS regression to discover the connection between competencies and level of income.FindingsThe analyzed results, using a representative online survey based on 6,190 respondents, show that the six competence sets do exist, but that not all of them have a significant effect on salaries. With the control variables involved, 24.3% (EFA) and 23.0% (CFA) of the global competencies account for variance in salaries. The impact of methodological and the socioemotional set on salaries can be clearly seen among those with new degrees, and based on the results and the literature review, the HEIs can improve them.Research limitations/implicationsIn the absence of nationwide general competence assessment, the results are limited only for the UP graduates of Hungary, even if this HEI is one of the biggest ones.Practical implicationsBased on the results, more soft-competence development courses and opportunities should be offered by the HEIs.Originality/valueThe findings of the study help us to understand the role of the institutions in tertiary education, the extra service to be provided to assist students in being successful in life. Based on the literature review, there is a need to understand better the connection between competencies and labor market success. This paper contributes to this and also presents an opportunity for further comparative research. The sample is robust to allow other researchers to use this conceptual model and apply it to other countries.


Author(s):  
Lassaad Ben Mahjoub ◽  
Ines Amara

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the effect of the shareholder governance on environmental sustainability by the moderating effect of some cultural factors.Design/methodology/approachThe authors have studied the extent of sustainability by continent. On the other hand, the authors have conducted three empirical models that deal with the effect of shareholder governance on environmental sustainability and also with the moderating effect of cultural factors.FindingsUsing a sample of 140 countries during the year 2018, the authors find a notable and positive effect of the shareholder governance on environmental sustainability. Regarding the role of cultural factors, the authors found that the factor gender parity is more important than other factors.Practical implicationsThe findings have policy implications for governments aiming to combat environmental sustainability and shareholder governance.Originality/valueThis research has approached cultural factors in a different context, which is an eastern country, which are completely different from those of western countries. On the other hand, the subject of sustainability is not sufficiently threated in this country (Saudi Arabia).


2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurudeen Abu ◽  
Mohd Zaini Abd Karim ◽  
Mukhriz Izraf Azman Aziz

Abstract This paper employs PCSE, OLS and TSLS with random effects to investigate the impact of the political instabilityincome interaction on savings in ECOWAS countries during the period 1996-2012. The empirical evidence illustrates that higher political stability is associated with higher savings and income levels moderate the adverse effect of political instability on savings, indicating that the impact of political instability on savings is higher in low income ECOWAS countries, but lesser at higher levels of income. The paper recommends the promotion of political stability via increases in incomes to raise savings in the ECOWAS region.


2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 637-661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kalugala Vidanalage Aruna Shantha

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the evolutionary nature of herding phenomenon in the context of a frontier stock market, the Colombo Stock Exchange of Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach This study applies the cross-sectional absolute deviation methodology for daily frequencies of data of all the common stocks listed during the period from April 2000 to March 2018. The regression coefficients are estimated by using both the ordinary least square and the quantile regression procedures. Findings The findings reveal significant changes to the pattern of herding over different market periods, each with specific characteristics. Herding is strongly evident in up and down market days in the 2000-2009 period, during which the market was highly uncertain with the impact of the political instability of the country due to the Civil War on the stock trading. Even after this Civil War period, herd tendency is strongly manifested toward the up market direction as a result of the investors’ optimism about the country’s economy and political stability, which caused to a speculative bubble in the market. After that, it is turned into negative herding due to the panic selling occurred in view of the uncertainty of the inflated prices, which led to a market crash. Notably, herding appears to be consistently absent over the period after the crash, despite the presence of herd motives such as high market uncertainties triggered by political instability and economic crisis during that period. Research limitations/implications The findings suggest that herd behavior is an evolving phenomenon in financial markets. Consistent with the adaptive market hypothesis, the absence of herding evident after the market crash could be attributed to the investors’ learning of the irrationality of herding/negative herding for adapting to market conditions. As a result, herding and negative herding tendencies declined and disappeared at the aggregate market level. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by providing novel evidence on the evolutionary nature of behavioral biases, particularly herding, as predicted by the adaptive market hypothesis. With the application of the quantile regression procedure, in addition to customary used ordinary least squares approach, it also provides robust evidence on this phenomenon.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document