A Review of The Unethical Business Practices That Causes Loan Default in Small Scale Enterprises in Port Loko Municipality in Sierra Leone

Small scale enterprises are an income stream for the unemployed and under-employed in Sierra Leone. The financing of such a venture is from the loan capital of Micro Finance Institutions and other credit agencies in the country. Default in the repayment of loan capital within prescribed conditions has been an issue because of the unethical practices of lenders and borrowers and hence concern for studies. The primary objective of the study is to do a review on the unethical business practices that causes loan default in small-scale enterprises in Port Loko municipality in Sierra Leone. Such studies will avail recommendations that shall be instruments to minimize the rate of unethical practices of borrowers and lenders within the Pot Loko Municipality. The Specific objectives of the study are to know the attitudes of Lenders and borrowers that influence loan default. Questionnaires were administered to respond to Researched Questions which were framed from the research objectives. Also, Reviews of others writers were done with regard ethical issues. The researcher Used the Likert Scale in preparing and administering the questionnaire. Opinions of Respondents were analyzed using the Structured Package for Social Sciences. The following analyses were done: i) Percentage Analysis, ii) Analysis of correlation by use of the Pearson Correlation. iii). Analysis of coefficient iv) Analysis of Model summary v) Analysis of Anova. From the study, the Researcher discovered that Unethical business practices like bribe-taking and other dishonest games are predominant between lenders and borrowers, and these practices have greatly influenced loan default in small-scale enterprises in Port |Loko Municipality in Sierra Leone and have a significant relationship on loan default.

Islamic Financial Planning: Towards Sustaining the Financial Wellbeing of Muslim Families in Malaysia Post Covid-19

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was reported that over 60% of the people in Malaysia only have enough savings to last them for less than 6 months in the event of loss of income. It is also reported that only 10.8% of urban Malaysian households have enough savings to withstand ‘financial shocks’ resulting from events such as job loss, economic crisis, physical impairment and death. The current Covid-19 pandemic had proven in stronger term that financial preparation is crucial for unpredictable situations such us the financial problems arising from the economic slowdown caused by movement control orders and lockdowns. Many households; especially those whose breadwinners were being laid-off by their companies, or had their salaries cut-off and asked to take unpaid leave – are in difficult financial situation. Only those with minimal debt obligations, steady income stream and enough financial buffer to pay for expenditures for the coming months are not in urgent need of any government assistance. Hence, it is high time to inculcate the knowledge of Islamic financial planning among Muslim families to ensure their wellbeing.

An Improved Secure Enabled Information Sharing on Hybrid Cloud

Distributed computing guarantees the adaptable conveyance of figuring administrations in a pay-more only as costs arise way. It permits clients to effectively scale their foundation and save money on the general expense of activity. Anyway Cloud administration contributions can possibly flourish if clients are happy with administration execution. Permitting immediate access and adaptable scaling while at the same time keeping up the help leaves and offering serious costs represents a critical test to Cloud registering suppliers. Moreover administrations will stay accessible over the long haul just if this business creates a steady income stream. To address these difficulties we present novel approach based assistance confirmation control models that target expanding the income of Cloud suppliers while considering educational vulnerability with respect to asset prerequisites. Our assessment shows that arrangement based methodologies measurably altogether outflank the early bird gets the worm draws near, which are still cutting edge. Moreover the outcomes give bits of knowledge in how and how much vulnerability contrarily affects income.

Euclidean distance: integrated criteria to study sheep behaviour under heat stress

Livestock farming with sheep represents an important income stream. With climate change, domestic sheep are being exposed to heat stress which can have adverse effects on growth. Here, data regarding sheep behaviour in response to high temperature stress was analysed using the Euclidean distance method to integrate all variables into a single representative outcome that could summarize sheep behaviour. We studied the effects of two shepherding conditions either with or without the provision of shade. The number of animals eating grass, ruminating and resting either in the shade or directly in the sun were recorded over one year at two-week intervals. As the ideal behaviour (expert’s criteria), the following conditions were considered: maximum numbers of animals eating grass, ruminating and resting under shaded conditions were desirable; while the numbers of animals ruminating or resting under direct sunlight should be at a minimum. The statistical evaluation undertaken integrated these variables to identify the most significant effects of heat stress. Sheep spent most of the daylight hours engaged in eating and this activity was more intensive where shaded conditions were available. The Euclidean distance calculated for the group of animals maintained under shaded conditions was statistically lower (indicating better behaviour). Based on this, it is possible to accurately rank the treatments in terms of severity. The analysis indicates that the use of the Euclidean distance could be used to summarize a simplified outcome for observational data collected in behavioural studies in response to differing climatic conditions.

Antecedents of Firm’s Risk-play – A Structural Equation Modeling Approach in an Emerging Market Context

Firm-risk and managerial risk-taking though distinct are used interchangeably in empirical literature. Here, we identify these two distinctly by examining different proxies for them. We use income stream uncertainty and accounting beta to proxy firm-risk, and market risk and capital intensity ratio represent managerial risk-taking. Once defined, our objective is to find the antecedents of both these by using the most advanced structural equation modelling (SEM) approach from created constructs of performance, psychological, corporate governance, shareholding patterns, fundamental valuation and firm’s characteristics drivers. We formulate seven hypotheses based on empirical literature representing these constructs. We use data of 269 Indian firms for 18 (1999-2017) years to run SEM and then analyse our results individually and combinedly. SEM is used here to test the unidimensionality of the seven constructs (consisting of 19 drivers) and to analyze these drivers (i.e. antecedents) influence on firm-risk and managerial risk-taking i.e. firm’s risk-play. Results prove that present firm-performance, corporate governance drivers, promoters’ shareholding and firm’s characteristics are driving firm’s risk-play. However, fundamental valuation drivers have no role to play in influencing income stream uncertainty, systematic operating risks and managerial risk-attitudes. Psychological drivers and foreign shareholdings act only as a catalyst of firm-risk.

Antecedents of Firm’s Risk-play – A Structural Equation Modeling Approach in an Emerging Market Context

Firm-risk and managerial risk-taking though distinct are used interchangeably in empirical literature. Here, we identify these two distinctly by examining different proxies for them. We use income stream uncertainty and accounting beta to proxy firm-risk, and market risk and capital intensity ratio represent managerial risk-taking. Once defined, our objective is to find the antecedents of both these by using the most advanced structural equation modelling (SEM) approach from created constructs of performance, psychological, corporate governance, shareholding patterns, fundamental valuation and firm’s characteristics drivers. We formulate seven hypotheses based on empirical literature representing these constructs. We use data of 269 Indian firms for 18 (1999-2017) years to run SEM and then analyse our results individually and combinedly. SEM is used here to test the unidimensionality of the seven constructs (consisting of 19 drivers) and to analyze these drivers (i.e. antecedents) influence on firm-risk and managerial risk-taking i.e. firm’s risk-play. Results prove that present firm-performance, corporate governance drivers, promoters’ shareholding and firm’s characteristics are driving firm’s risk-play. However, fundamental valuation drivers have no role to play in influencing income stream uncertainty, systematic operating risks and managerial risk-attitudes. Psychological drivers and foreign shareholdings act only as a catalyst of firm-risk.

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown and social distancing policies on small businesses in south-eastern Nigeria: whither the stimulus packages?

This article examines the specific or sub-sectoral effects of COVID-19 lockdown measures on small business units, thus departing from previous studies which only focused on general effects. Based on qualitative and cross-sectional survey methods, the article depicts a cross-sectoral disparity in the patronage level and income stream of customers of small businesses found on the streets of south-eastern Nigeria. The article identifies the gap in the policy interventions meant to cushion the negative impacts of COVID-19 lockdown and social distancing policies on small businesses. Hence, state policy interventions have not had the cushioning impact on small businesses in south-eastern Nigeria. A pro-poor approach towards the review of the policy interventions is highly imperative.

What Is a P2P Business Model?

Since 2005, the number of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) platforms has grown substantially in areas such as carpooling, online dating, and crowdfunding. Though the development of P2P activities is increasing, there is a lack of strategic and managerial theories for this type of platform, especially when identifying the elements of its business model. This paper seeks to clearly define what a business model is. Extensive literature is reviewed to build a theory of business model for P2P activities. The validity of the model is tested through crowdfunding platforms. Keywords: Business model, crowdfunding, customer value proposition (CVP), governance, income stream, infrastructural technologies, P2P, two-sided markets,

Addressing the Pension Decumulation Phase of Employee Retirement Planning

Longevity increases and population ageing create challenges for all societal institutions, particularly those providing retirement income, healthcare, and long-term care services. At the individual level, an obvious question is how to ensure all retirees have an adequate, secure, stable, and predictable lifelong income stream that will allow them to maintain a target standard of living for, however, long the individual lives. In this chapter, we review and discuss the main pension decumulation options by explicitly modelling consumers’ behaviour and objectives though an objective function based on utility theory accounting for consumption and bequest motives and different risk preferences. Using a Monte-Carlo simulation approach calibrated to US financial market and mortality data, our results suggest that purchasing a capped participating longevity-linked life annuity at retirement including embedded longevity and financial options that allow the annuity provider to periodically revise annuity payments if observed survivorship and portfolio outcomes deviate from expected (or guaranteed) values at contract initiation deliver superior welfare results when compared with classical annuitization and non-annuitization decumulation strategies.

A portfolio perspective of rural livelihoods in Bushbuckridge, South Africa

Land-based income streams, which include the consumption and selling of crops, livestock and environmental products, are inherent in rural households’ livelihoods. However, the off-farm cash income stream – primarily composed of migrant labour remittances, social grants, and savings and loans – is increasing in importance in many regions. This case study of 590 households from Bushbuckridge, South Africa, analyses the economic value of each of these income streams at three points: what enters the household, what is used and what is sold. Two important findings emerge. First, dependence on offfarm cash incomes is far higher than previously suggested by case studies in the area and the benefits of employment accrue to those already better educated and wealthier. This suggests that shifts in offfarm opportunities will exacerbate already deep inequalities. Second, while environmental products and crops are important for direct use, they generate insignificant cash incomes from sales. This suggests a weakening of the direct links between the local ecosystem and this society, challenging traditional notions of African rurality being intrinsically land based.