The impact of foreign capital inflows on poverty in Vietnam: An empirical investigation

This study investigates the impact of foreign capital inflows on poverty in Vietnam, using annual time series data from 1990 to 2018. The study was motivated by the need to establish if burgeoning foreign capital inflows in Vietnam can support the poverty alleviation agenda. Foreign direct investment (FDI) and external debt were used as proxies for foreign capital inflows; and infant mortality rate, Human Development Index (HDI) and household consumption expenditure were used as poverty proxies. Using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach, the study found foreign direct investment to reduce poverty in the short run and long run when household consumption expenditure was used as a poverty measure. However, the study found FDI to worsen poverty in the short run when infant mortality rate and HDI were used as poverty proxies. The study found external debt to have poverty mitigating effect in the short run regardless of the poverty measure used and in the long run only when household consumption expenditure was used as a poverty measure.

Factors determining the operational self-sufficiency of microfinance institutions

The main aim of this paper is to explore the factors determining Microfinance institutions (MFIs) self-sufficiency. The data on selected variables for this research were obtained from the public MIX Market Database and cover the year of 2017. The empirical model is constructed with application of a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Logistic regression analysis. Sample is consisted of 342 MFIs from all around the world, with 21 independent variables grouped into eight factors/components, and OSS (operational self-sufficiency) as dependent variable. The obtained results suggest that higher revenue and MFIs profitability combined with decrease of credit risk lead to higher probability of MFI to be self-sufficient. These results also confirm widespread belief that MFIs will not be able to achieve their social goals without achieving sustainable profitability. In addition, results also confirm importance of MFIs core mission as with increase in outreach, probability of MFIs achieving self-sustainability also increases.

Public debt and inflation dynamics: Empirical evidence from Zimbabwe

The study seeks to empirically test the hypothesis that public debt has a significant influence on inflation in Zimbabwe, covering the period 1980-2020. The study was motivated by recent trends in public debt and domestic inflation in Zimbabwe, and the need to guide debt-inflation related policy. These latest trends have started to ring alarming bells, which raises questions on the effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policies in bringing macroeconomic stability in the country. Applying the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing procedure to cointegration and an error correction mechanism (ECM), expanded by incorporating structural breaks, the study finds evidence in support of positive and significant impact of public debt on inflation dynamics in Zimbabwe, particularly in the long run. Based on the findings, public debt dynamics matter for inflation process in Zimbabwe. That is, fiscal policy can be considered to be an important determinant of the effectiveness of monetary policy in Zimbabwe. Therefore, the government should be mindful of increases in public debt as this was found to be inflationary.

The pre-pandemic role of customer online satisfaction in price determination: evidence from hotel industry

This study examines the importance of online reviews for price determination in the hotel industry in the pre-pandemic period. The research is conducted for Croatian small open economy with a developed tourism sector. The paper fills the gap in existing literature by using multivariate principal component analysis to group various customer satisfaction categories in the hotel industry and assessing the relationship between customer satisfaction and hotel price. The conducted empirical analysis points to a positive statistically significant relationship of guest satisfaction and hotel prices. Moreover, linear regression modelling is conducted separately for four-star and five-star hotels. The estimated impacts are statistically significant and positive, but the effects are twice as strong in five-star hotels then in four-star hotels. The obtained results indicate that hotel star rating impacts the strength of the relationship between hotel prices and guest satisfaction. Recognizing the link between hotel ratings, online reviews and pricing is essential both for hotel managers and customers. Hence, the paper provides valuable conclusions from the aspect of supply and demand side in the hotel industry.

Remittance in Niger: effects on economic growth and on migrants’ left behind

Remittances have long been an important source of revenue for many people in the Republic of Niger. In order to fight poverty, young people choose to migrate. In 2019, a total of 293 million U.S. dollars was sent by migrants to their relatives in Niger; that is 3% of Niger Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The objective of this study is to analyze the effects of remittances on economic growth in Niger and the significance of its contribution in improving the living condition of migrants’ left behind families. The study applies a three-step econometric procedure followed by a survey on the usage of the remittances in the city of Tahoua (Republic of Niger). The study also performed some tests on the residuals for the accuracy of the prediction of the model. The empirical results showed no long run relationship between remittances, economic growth and gross fixed capital formation in Niger. However, in the short-run, the study revealed the existence of causal effect between remittances and economic growth. On the other hand, the results of the conducted survey in the city of Tahoua showed that 45.7% of the received remittance is used in food expenditure, 19.3% in education expenditure, 10.36% in health expenditure and 5.4% is allocated to house rent. The survey also revealed the importance of the remittances for the left behind. It indicates that 14% of the respondent left behind wish to see another family member engage in migration.

Economic analysis of rice production by small-holder women farmers in Adamawa State, Nigeria

This study is focused on analysing the economics of rice production by the small-holder female rice-farmers in Adamawa State, Nigeria. Specifically, the study described female rice-farmers’ socio-economic characteristics, analysed their technical and allocative efficiencies, and also assessed their economic efficiency in the area. Primary data were collected from 180 randomly selected female rice-farmers in Adamawa State using a semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and stochastic frontier function were used analysing the data collected. Findings of the study revealed that the technical in-efficiency of the farmers is influenced by farming experience, education, and access to credit facilities. Also, the allocative in-efficiency of female farmers was influenced by education, household size, and access to credits. The result showed that education and access to credit facilities were common factors affecting the technical and allocative efficiency of female rice farmers in the area. The mean economic efficiency of the female farmers was 0.6. Therefore, the study recommends that the government and other actors in the agricultural sector should facilitate women’s access to credit facilities and other agricultural information relevant to rice production.

Business and Economics Students’ Self-Reports on Academic Reading in English as L2: A Factor Analysis

Adequate reading behaviour is vital for text comprehension across fields. In today’s professional environment, a well-developed reading skill is also expected in English as a second language (EL2), which happens already in college, although transition to college-level reading may be difficult even in the first language. It is therefore useful to analyse students’ use of reading strategies to facilitate their academic progress. This study investigates the reading behaviour of junior students of business/economics when reading academic texts in EL2. We conducted an exploratory factor analysis (N=134) of a 45-item questionnaire about students’ awareness of reading strategies and their reading confidence (i.e. self-perceived competence in text retelling). The majority of the items were based on self-reports found in the literature (Kolić-Vehovec, Bajšanski, 2001; Mokhtari, Reichard, 2002; Taraban, Kerr, Rynearson, 2004) and several items were added to the questionnaire (e.g. questions related to note taking). Five factors were interpretable: four factors related to Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies (Repeated Reading, Monitoring/Regulation, Note Taking and Elaboration) and the fifth factor covering self-perceived competence in text retelling (Reading Confidence). Internal consistency of the factors indicated by standardized Cronbach’s alphas were 0.83 (Repeated Reading), 0.80 (Monitoring and Regulation), 0.77 (Note Taking), 0.63 (Elaboration) and 0.75 (Reading Confidence). Three strategies positively correlated with each other (Repeated Reading, Monitoring/Regulation and Elaboration), while negative correlation was found between Note Taking and Reading Confidence. The results provide valuable information on the patterns in student reading as a baseline for further analysis of L2 text comprehension in college.

Public sector innovation performance in Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina: An exploratory factor analysis

Innovation has nowadays become the main force to cope with challenging times in the fast-changing world. The influence of public sector innovation (PSI) in resolving dynamic economical and societal challenges is undisputable. Regardless of the numerous advantages of innovation in the public sector (PS) which have been recognised worldwide, the concept of public sector innovation is still novel for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH). Moreover, there is limited empirical evidence which would facilitate the understanding of public sector innovation performance. The purpose of this paper is to identify main components of PSI performance. The primary research data was obtained through a survey with close-ended questions which was completed by the public sector institution employees in FBiH. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used in order to determine the principal components of measuring public sector innovation performance. The EFA returned the factor-structures for all four suggested constructs, innovation capabilities, wider sector conditions for innovation, sources of information and the share of creative occupation, explaining between 65% and 78% of the variance of the innovation performance measurement construct. The results from the exploratory factor analysis provided a distinct estimation on the factor structure of measuring PSI. The paper has provided and analysed the first instrument in measuring public sector innovation performance in FBiH.

Auction theory and a note on game mechanisms

This paper will review important topics on the subject of auction theory and mechanism design, these include: efficiency first and foremost, also revenue comparison between different types of auctions and the issue of incentive compatibility, individual rationality with the general idea and proof that bilateral trade is inefficient. Mechanism design theory tells us that if buyers and sellers both have private information full efficiency is impossible, however Vickrey auction (single unit auction) will be efficient i.e. will put the goods in the hands of the buyers that value them most. However, the conclusion from this paper is that because of overvaluation of bidders the main result is inefficient, i.e. bids are too high. When weak and strong bidders are compared the main conclusion is that strong bidders’ expected payoff is higher in second price auction (SPA), while weak bidder prefers first price auction (FPA) bid.