{"title":"Employability Distress: Factors Affecting ICT Graduates’ Employability and Work Integration in the Workspace","authors":"K. Ohei, Roelien Brink","doi":"10.5430/RWE.V12N1P138","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5430/RWE.V12N1P138","url":null,"abstract":"There has been an ongoing debate on the subject of graduate unemployability in South Africa and the extent to which it has affected academic graduates. The growing consensus regarding intensifying levels of graduate employability distress today is explicitly supported theoretically in a number of research studies. This is despite the considerable efforts that have historically been made concerning the graduate labour force and their probable ramifications in the context of South Africa’s far-reaching labour market issues. A number of scholars both in the past and the present have identified several issues emerging from the heterogeneity of the quality of education, graduates’ capabilities and skills competencies, higher education institutions’ involvement in the industries and employers’ requirements for employment. This study aimed to explore the views that graduates conceive about employability and stress, reason for their unemployment and identify the factor that causes them to be unemployed and decisively suggest way to address these challenges. A quantitative approach and a questionnaire were used. A total of 195 questionnaires from graduates/students in the College of Business and Economics were recovered and usable. The findings reveal a paradox in the increased level of ICT graduate unemployment and skills mismatch and shortages. This has been attributed mostly to organisational changes which may have given rise to misalignment between the skills that graduates currently have and those that employers seek from graduates. Findings suggest that the kind of education obtained, graduates’ incapability to apply the skills received and work experience are factors hindering employability.","PeriodicalId":264194,"journal":{"name":"Research in World Economy","volume":"22 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122373837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
V. Bui, V. H. Nguyen, D. T. Tran, Bich Loc Tram, Gia Quyen Phan, Tran Thai Ha Nguyen
{"title":"Market's Reaction to Analytical Information From Brokerage Institutions: Empirical Evidence From Stock Market in Vietnam","authors":"V. Bui, V. H. Nguyen, D. T. Tran, Bich Loc Tram, Gia Quyen Phan, Tran Thai Ha Nguyen","doi":"10.5430/RWE.V12N1P189","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5430/RWE.V12N1P189","url":null,"abstract":"This paper examines the market’s reaction to brokerages’ recommendations on the Vietnamese stock market. The results indicate that stock analysts tend to show a drastically positive bias, with the overwhelming number of optimistic recommendations compared to negative ones. The abnormal rate of return following upscaling recommendations is positive, incremental, and statistically significant from the offered moment to a month later, which is consistent with results from different measures of the standard portfolio. However, the study has not found cogent evidence of the market reaction to downgrading recommendations. This research emphasizes the significant role of analytical information on the stock market in Vietnam, and the implications are discussed based on this study’s findings. The study results are the foundation for investors’ considerations about brokerages’ proposals before their trades.","PeriodicalId":264194,"journal":{"name":"Research in World Economy","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128975005","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Income Diversification and Economic Welfare of Rural Households in the Volta Region of Ghana","authors":"K. Anaman, Kinsley Delanyo Adjei","doi":"10.5430/RWE.V12N1P120","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5430/RWE.V12N1P120","url":null,"abstract":"We established the factors influencing income diversification, and the linkage between income diversification and economic welfare of rural households, in the Volta Region of Ghana, using data from 894 randomly-selected households, obtained through the latest round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey undertaken by the Ghana Statistical Service from October 2016 to October 2017. The overall household income diversification, measured by the Simpson Index was positively influenced by the age of the household head, remittances received by the household, and the size of the household. Using another measure of diversification, the number of income-based activities (NIBA), we established that the age of the household head influenced NIBA in a cubic fashion, similar to an S-shaped curve. Income diversification declined at very young ages from 17 to 31 years; it then increased from 31 years to 74 years before declining during the household head’s advanced age and retirement period. The positive drivers of NIBA included moderate levels of formal educational attainment, remittance, household size and electricity connection. We showed that income diversification influenced economic welfare only when used at moderate to high levels.","PeriodicalId":264194,"journal":{"name":"Research in World Economy","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130788788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"COVID-19’s Impact on the International Political Economy of Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa","authors":"Gamel Abdul-Nasser Salifu","doi":"10.5430/RWE.V12N1P379","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5430/RWE.V12N1P379","url":null,"abstract":"International political economy of food security has become a central theme in the development narrative, providing a lens through which contemporary challenges of development are intergrated, rationalized and synthetized for sustainable and equitable development. The paper explores the prominent role of food security in development narratives, but in broader conceptions of state and its social contracts. From the analysis of the spatio-temporal evolutions of households’ strategies for coping wth food insecurity and hunger, this paper clearly argues that food security defined as “access to enough preferred food” is fundamentally political. This study offers a set of different approaches to understanding the dynamics of food politics, grounded in broader theorectical traditions of power politics in food governance. The approaches are evaluated through an identification and analysis of a set of problematiques in food security governance gleaned from an overview of the major literature of note in food security and agricultural economics. The micropolitics of food that work in different constellations of ethnic power to perpetuate food insecurity are well outlined. The paper build upon this tensions by further questioning the regimes of power and how dominant political interests exercise themselves in corporate power structures, dismantling socially-oriented state approaches for enhancing food security. The relevance of intergrating the emerging dimensions of food politics and power, concerned with control of resources and opportunities for food production are also highlighted. With the politics of power not only concerned with material domination but directing rural people’s beliefs, values, behaviours and practices. As well as elaborating on the dorminant issues of food politics that have co-opted to increase food insecurity, the paper outlines alternative visions that are diverse and even incompatible on epistemological grounds. In so doing, the paper argues for triangulation of new ideas to shine the light from different angles to achieve sustainable and equitable food security in the Covid-19 era of food crises and deprivation. In this vein, the review, examines the impact of the mobility restraints set in 2020 by local governments to stem the spread of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) on food security regimes in Africa, with particular emphasis on how the move has disrupted economies worldwide, disproportionately affecting livelihoods already threatened by poverty and hunger. Whilst the sections heretofore articulate the synergies between food and politics, so much is shared that this review reflects a richer picture of the political economy of food security on the international front.","PeriodicalId":264194,"journal":{"name":"Research in World Economy","volume":"27 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128495510","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Role of Social Marketing in the Prevention of Corona Virus (Covid-19) in Jordan","authors":"Khaled Tawfeq Al Assaf, Mahmoud Hudaib","doi":"10.5430/RWE.V12N1P279","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5430/RWE.V12N1P279","url":null,"abstract":"This study aimed to identify the role of social marketing (government role, community culture, reference groups) in the prevention of Coronavirus in Jordan. The study was conducted on a random sample targeting all individuals in Jordanian society from different groups lived in other regions, The outcomes of the study indicated that the variable of governmental role adopts the concept of social responsibility with a high average, and the results of the survey signposted that each of the variables of community culture and reference groups has broad contributions in the field of social marketing; represented in the guidance and educational dimensions in combating the pandemic, and the most significant recommendation proposed by the study is the necessity to intensify the efforts of reference groups and celebrities - especially economists - in raising the level of awareness regarding health and economic risks in such exceptional circumstances, and the need to strengthen the community-partnership between the government and community - companies and individuals - in all aspects regarding social responsibility towards the country, and raise awareness levels of societies, especially in developing countries.","PeriodicalId":264194,"journal":{"name":"Research in World Economy","volume":"99 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121562348","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Islamic Finance and Its Role in Funding Small Enterprises in Jordan","authors":"A. Zyadat, Salah Turki Alrawashdeh","doi":"10.5430/RWE.V12N1P406","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5430/RWE.V12N1P406","url":null,"abstract":"The present study aimed to explore the extent to which small enterprises in Jordan benefit from Islamic finance formulas from the perspective of the owners of small enterprises. The researchers adopted a descriptive analytical approach. The sample consists from 300 owners of small enterprises in Jordan. The questionnaire forms were sent the members of the sample via e-mail. It was found that the size of the credit facilities granted to small enterprises in Jordan (in millions) during the period (20162020) contributes to achieving growth. It is less than one billion JDs. It was found that the extent to which small enterprises benefited from Islamic finance is high. The researchers recommend developing the Islamic financing formulas offered by Islamic banks. That shall contribute to developing small enterprises","PeriodicalId":264194,"journal":{"name":"Research in World Economy","volume":"284 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114943152","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Ishak, A. Omar, Sarmila Md Sum, Azhar Ahmad, A. Awang, A. Othman
{"title":"Intellectual Capital, Members' Participation and Cooperative Performance: The Mediating Role of Management Capabilities","authors":"S. Ishak, A. Omar, Sarmila Md Sum, Azhar Ahmad, A. Awang, A. Othman","doi":"10.5430/RWE.V12N1P252","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5430/RWE.V12N1P252","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this paper is to validate the mediating effect of management capability/capabilities (MC) on the relationships between intellectual capital (IC) and cooperative members’ participation (MP) and the cooperatives' financial and non-financial performance. The major aim is to examine the effect of MC in mediating the relationship between influential antecedents and cooperative performance - a topic that is relatively understudied in the literature. The study employs the survey technique to gather data from the respondents. Therefore, the questionnaire is designed to measure the indicators of the prescribed independent and dependent variables. The independent variables consist of MP and IC, which is further itemised into structural capital (SC), human capital (HC) and relational capital (RC), whilst the dependent variable consists of performance measured by financial and non-financial indicators. The questionnaires are distributed to 234 cooperatives that consist of palm oil smallholders cooperatives in Peninsular Malaysia. Among the targeted sample, 44% responded to the survey. The relationships between the characteristics of the Board of Directors and performance are validated through the partial least squares analysis. The findings indicate MC is a significant mediator in the relationships between IC and MP and cooperative performance. Furthermore, MC has been found to have a positive effect on the financial and non-financial performance of the cooperatives. IC and MP have indirect effects on cooperative performance. The ability to influence such a performance lies in the abilities of the management to optimise the benefits obtained from the SC, HC and RC and MP in the cooperative's activities.","PeriodicalId":264194,"journal":{"name":"Research in World Economy","volume":"31 1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131906314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Victor Ndubuaku, V. Inim, U. Samuel, Idamoyibo Hwerien Rosemary, Abner Ishaku Prince
{"title":"Financial Development on Employment Rate in Nigeria","authors":"Victor Ndubuaku, V. Inim, U. Samuel, Idamoyibo Hwerien Rosemary, Abner Ishaku Prince","doi":"10.5430/RWE.V12N1P267","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5430/RWE.V12N1P267","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines financial development on employment rate in Nigeria on the premise of goal 8 of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Using the ARDL model and annualized time-series data from 1999-2019. Findings revealed a positive and statistically significant impact of financial development on employment rate. Supporting the Phillips curve of an inverse nexus between inflation rate and unemployment rate. The findings contravene Okun’s law of a negative relationship between economic growth and unemployment rate. The study recommences a policy framework to influence the operational and business activities of financial institutions to stir employment generation and economic growth in Nigeria.","PeriodicalId":264194,"journal":{"name":"Research in World Economy","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124835366","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Political Economy of Industrialisation in Nigeria: Is Ethnicity a Constraint?","authors":"L. Effiom, Okonette Ekanem, Charles Effiong","doi":"10.5430/RWE.V12N1P293","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5430/RWE.V12N1P293","url":null,"abstract":"Is Nigeria’s multi-ethnic and multicultural configuration responsible for her low level of industrialisation? Is ethnic pluralism really a significant constraint to Nigeria’s industrial development? What role has Nigeria’s political economy played in foisting industrial underdevelopment on Nigeria? What lessons can be learnt from other industrialised but multi-ethnic countries, as Nigeria strives to industrialise? These were the questions that claimed our attention in this paper. The paper discountenances and refutes the hypothesis that ethnicity is responsible for Nigeria’s lack of industrialization, but rather places the burden for Nigeria’s under-industrialization at the doorsteps of vested interests, neo-colonial dependence, and the distorted, dependency worldview of the ruling class responsible for industrial policy formulation.","PeriodicalId":264194,"journal":{"name":"Research in World Economy","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127558916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Internationalization and Firm Performance: Case of Manufacturing Enterprises in Ecuador","authors":"Phan Anh Tu, Huỳnh Tuấn Anh","doi":"10.5430/rwe.v12n1p11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5430/rwe.v12n1p11","url":null,"abstract":"This paper aims to investigate the impact of internationalization on manufacturing enterprise performance in Ecuador. Using a panel data of 90 enterprises in Ecuador over the year 2003, 2006, 2010, and 2017 collected by the Worldbank Enterprises Survey project, with the Random Effects Model (REM) and the Fixed Effects Model (FEM), the regression result shows that the degree of internationalization (DOI) has a non-linear impact on firm performance under the inverse S-shaped curve. Besides that, the factors related to the business environment, such as bribery, access to finance, and skilled laborers' barriers, also negatively impact these firms' performance. The study's implication provides not only for firms but also for policymakers to support Ecuador businesses in the process of internationalization.","PeriodicalId":264194,"journal":{"name":"Research in World Economy","volume":"95 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131876985","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}