Efficiency Across Hospitals in Bangladesh: Results from Stochastic Frontier Analysis

The health sector of Bangladesh achieved many of its goals. The sector, however, faces challenges. One major challenge is low efficiency. In a resourcepoor country, inefficiency leads to the waste of available resources widening the financing gap of the health sector. A technically efficient production unit produces a large amount of output with a given amount of inputs using a given state of technology. Technical efficiency of the district hospitals in Bangladesh is measured using the secondary source of data applying stochastic frontier analysis. Results show that the efficiency of some facilities is quite low and there is a mismatch of utilization rate and efficiency levels of the district hospitals. Measures like reducing absenteeism, increasing healthcare demand, and ensuring proper functioning of all inputs should be taken to enhance the efficiency and utilization of the district hospitals. Social Science Review, Vol. 37(2), Dec 2020 Page 145-159

ALTERNATIVE FINANCING MECHANISMS OF CHURCH-FOUNDED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN UGANDA

<p>Alternative financing mechanisms of church-founded secondary schools in Uganda geared towards mitigating the repercussions of financial resource scarcity in church-founded schools is an ongoing debate among denominational school stakeholders. This study analyzes the extent to which the schools are grappling with possible mechanisms to bridge their financing gap. The findings are a result of a cross sectional survey of what the various church-founded school stakeholders suggest to be the possible Alternative financing mechanisms of church-founded secondary schools in Uganda. It was concluded that most of the students, teachers, head teachers and education secretariat officials revealed that School-generated businesses such as school farms, alumni associations as well as soliciting for funding partners who share in the mission of the Church are the most appropriate Alternative financing mechanisms for Church Founded Schools in Uganda. </p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0954/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Analysis of the Determinants of Domestic Savings in the WAEMU

This article analyses the determinants of domestic savings in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), except for Guinea-Bissau. Members of the WAEMU are Benin, Burkina Faso, C&ocirc;te d&rsquo;Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Togo. WAEMU member countries are working toward greater regional integration with unified external tariffs. The economic dynamism sought by each country could be beneficial to the mobilization of savings. Research into the determinants of savings is therefore of crucial importance for countries with a financing gap. The study covers the period from 1982 to 2017. The data used for this study come mainly from the World Bank (WDI). Using Dynamic Least Squares (DOLS), the study finds that domestic saving behavior is positively influenced by gross domestic product per capita, investment, life expectancy at birth, and the lending rate. On the other hand, primary school enrolment, trade openness, and inflation negatively affect domestic savings.

Green finance incentives: An empirical study of the Pakistan banking sector

In 21 century the climate change has become an important issues for businesses as well as stockholders. Consequently, to reduce carbon emission financial institutions offer green financing to businesses to mitigate this issue. However, the availability of green loan remains the important case. Therefore this research aims to know how this financing gap can be minimized. A panel design dataset was collected which consists of green financing data for the period 2009 to 2015 from 24 banks operating in Pakistan. We applied Two-stage Least Square Regression Analysis for data analysis. The results revealed that green loans are a less risky investments. Further, the findings also provides useful information to managers who look for grow their business loan and minimize default risk. This study contributes to the existing literature in green financing by filling the gap, particularly for developing countries through empirical evidence. The finding suggests that banks must invest more in green projects.

Firm Funding and Investment under Bank Credit Control Policy: Evidence from China

Using the 2014 China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) credit control policy as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper demonstrates that credit supply contraction leads to a significant reduction in firm’s external funding, cash holding, and investment. Analysis of both loan-level and corporate-level data reveal that new bank loans issuance of targeted firms dropped significantly after the regulation. State-owned banks are identified as the main policy implementer. By instrumenting the change of loans issuance with the policy shock, I further discover the amplifying effect of large declines in bond issuance and trade credit for the targeted firms. Cash holdings were used to cushion the financing gap. Investment dropped and inefficient investment increased due to the shock. Interestingly, whereas such impacts were significant for non-state owned enterprises, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were barely affected. Overall, I conclude that the lending control policy led to less capital resources allocated to non-SOEs but not SOEs. JEL classification numbers: G21, G28, G32, G38. Keywords: Bank lending, Firm funding, Firm investment, SOBs, SOEs, Credit policy, Credit rationing.

Costa Rica

Costa Rica has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, notwithstanding the authorities’ proactive policy response and the country’s well-established universal healthcare system. The socio-economic impact has been significant, exacerbating an already fragile outlook and pre-existing imbalances, with a significant toll on economic activity and unemployment—especially among women and the young. The shock has further weakened the country’s fiscal position, undermining the expected yields from the ambitious fiscal reform launched in late 2018, and generated a large financing gap. Financial support through the Fund’s Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) in 2020 provided temporary relief to respond to the pandemic, including by catalyzing financial assistance from other official partners, but financing needs remain sizable over the medium term.

Financing woes: estimating the impact of MSME financing gap on financial structure practices of firm owners

PurposeAccessing formal mainstream finance is a cumbersome process for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) of emerging economies. Empirical investigations have connected finance accessibility to financing gap that restricts MSMEs from borrowing through formal channels. The purpose of this study is to explore the influence of financing gap on firms' financial structure (FS) practices. In this regard, the research framework divides financing gap into four dimensions, namely: demand gap (DG), supply gap (SG), knowledge gap (KG) and empathy gap (EG).Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts a quantitative approach to establish the underlying relationship between the variables. The participants of the self-structured questionnaire survey were 219 MSME owners from manufacturing, trading and service industries. The results are inferred through the partial least squares structural equation modeling (SEM) technique.FindingsThe findings recognise a significant impact of financing gap on the FS practices of firm owners. The financing constraints contributing to KG, SG and EG are found to be extending the unwillingness of firm owners to borrow through formal channels. Further, the results also confirm the influence of financing gap on the pecking order framework (POF) of MSMEs' FS.Practical implicationsThe study offers the perspective and hesitance of MSME owners towards mainstream financing. The key findings are useful for the financial intermediaries and policymakers, who need to be sensitive and proactive in their small business lending process.Originality/valueThe study adds to the limited evidence of various dimensions of financing gap. It also addresses the role of financing gap on the conscious preferences of MSME owners towards the informal source of financing along with the POF.

Institutional Traps and Interest Groups in the Sphere of Education and Science

The article is devoted to study of institutional traps of optimization in education and science spheres. Our analysis also identifies the role of key actors or groups of interests in education sphere in reproduction of aforesaid institutional traps. The main purpose of this paper is to demonstrate identified institutional traps and groups of interests with help of narratives that were generated in the course of organized focus-groups with university stuff. This article is based on previous research where key institutional traps in education sphere were identified and described. This paper continues the analysis of following institutional traps: metrics trap, the trap of increasing bureaucracy, the trap of financing gap, the trap of electronisation and digitalisation, the trap of reducing the quality of education, the trap of human resources and justifies the efficiency of focus groups research method for detection groups of interests as real or potential actors of institutional changes. This method enables to find out the existing contradictions inside the groups and as a consequence to deepen the understanding of the nature of studied institutional traps and propose recommendations for overcoming the negative effects of it.

Republic of South Sudan

After five years of civil conflict, the warring parties came to a peace agreement in September 2018. Until the COVID-19 crisis broke out, improved political stability and an uptick in international oil prices led to significant progress, with a rebound in economic growth, a decline in inflation, and a stabilization of the exchange rate. The COVID-19 pandemic is severely disrupting South Sudan’s economy, leading to a sharp decline in projected growth (-3.6 percent in FY20/21, about 10 percentage points below the pre-pandemic baseline) and a contraction of oil export proceeds—the main source of exports and fiscal revenue—which has given rise to urgent balance of payments needs and opened a large fiscal financing gap.