African Journal of Economic and Management Studies最新文献

{"title":"Can national productions replace imports in West African countries? Estimation of the Marshall–Lerner–Robinson condition (MLRC)","authors":"Laurent Oloukoi","doi":"10.1108/ajems-05-2022-0205","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ajems-05-2022-0205","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis article examines if the national productions of West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) countries can be substituted for the imports by testing MLRC in these countries.Design/methodology/approachThe Mundell–Fleming model (MMF) is the analytical framework adopted in this paper with import demand and export supply functions estimation borrowed to Thirlwall (1979). This study covers four countries in West Africa from 1990 to 2021. The estimation procedure used is an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach to cointegration.FindingsThe findings reveal that there is a strong marginal propensity to import in the WAEMU countries. The hypothesis of a non-significant price effect on imports in the short-term is confirmed for several countries while only Togo satisfies the MLRC in the short and long run.Originality/valueThis study presents several originalities: (1) it evaluates MLRC with a clear analytical framework; (2) unlike other studies, this article quantifies the MLRC from a theoretical, econometric and empirical point of view; (3) this article presents the results country by country in order to reveal heterogeneity between countries; (4) this study adds to the Marshall–Lerner condition for the derivation of Robinson by considering a situation where initially the trade balance is not in equilibrium.","PeriodicalId":46031,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Economic and Management Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43967544","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":"What factors influence household financial decisions in Malawi?","authors":"Paul Kachepa, Muhammad Zubair Mumtaz","doi":"10.1108/ajems-11-2022-0470","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ajems-11-2022-0470","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis study investigates the factors influencing household financial choices in Malawi. The authors also compare how household financial decisions differ in urban and rural areas.Design/methodology/approachThe authors utilize the logit model to examine the factors that influence household financial decisions using the Malawi Integrated Household Survey 2019–20, while Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition is used to estimate the variations in household financial decisions between urban and rural areas.FindingsThe authors find that the likelihood of saving increases with income, secondary and tertiary education, and age. The likelihood of saving also decreases with household size and remittances. Additionally, the authors report that marriage reduces the likelihood of loans, whereas sex, age, and income raise the likelihood of loans. According to this study’s findings, income discrepancies between urban and rural samples account for most observed household financial variations. The authors also find that most of the observed variations in household financial decision-making between urban and rural households are reduced when income equality, participation in agriculture, university education, and household size are considered.Originality/valueUsing data from the Malawi Integrated Household Survey 2019–20, this research analyzes the components that affect household financial decisions. While most studies only look at one component of household finances, this study concurrently addresses debt and savings. The study also evaluates whether changes in the variables between urban and rural households impact those households' financing choices.","PeriodicalId":46031,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Economic and Management Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49379764","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":"Creativity, innovation and employment growth in sub-Saharan Africa","authors":"S. K. Medase, I. Savin","doi":"10.1108/ajems-02-2022-0074","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ajems-02-2022-0074","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeAlthough employees' creativity is vital for firm innovation and overall performance, little is done to examine the potential association between creativity and employment. This paper investigates the contribution of employees' creativity, process and product innovations to firm-level employment growth.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use data from World Bank Enterprise Survey and Innovation Follow-up Survey on 9503 firms covering the period 2012–2015 in 11 countries from sub-Saharan Africa and Heckman's two-stage estimation model.FindingsThis study's results indicate a positive role of creativity on firm-level employment growth. In addition, the authors find evidence for a complementary effect arising from the combination of creativity with managerial experience, staff level of education and their associated skills, in contrast, combining creativity with internal or external R&D results in a substitution effect. Interestingly, these synergy effects are pronounced for SMEs but absent for large firms.Practical implicationsPolicy makers in developing economies of sub-Saharan Africa should stimulate company management to use free time offered to employees to be creative in the workplace as one of their key strategies to stimulate employment growth. This strategy is expected to be particularly fruitful among SMEs having some managerial experience and skilled stuff.Originality/valueIn contribution to innovative work practices and workforce creativity, the authors demonstrate that providing employees with free time could be an alternative way to enhance the focal firms' performance.","PeriodicalId":46031,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Economic and Management Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41780846","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":"Entrepreneurship and internationalisation: to what extent do the perceptions of male and female entrepreneurs differ on success factors","authors":"O. B. Damoah","doi":"10.1108/ajems-09-2022-0355","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ajems-09-2022-0355","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to explore gender variations in entrepreneurship and internationalisation from the perspective of the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm; in particular, the paper explores how differences in the personal idiosyncrasies of both males and females in part account for the variations in export internationalisation.Design/methodology/approachThe study draws on extant literature on the critical success factors in entrepreneurship and internationalisation research (e.g. foreign market knowledge, firm-level technology and firm age) as the conceptual framework to explore the issue. The study is based on 21 male and 17 female export entrepreneurs from Ghana and uses a descriptive research design (i.e. frequencies and chi-square test) to analyse the results.FindingsThe results show that the perceptions of male and female exporters differ on key internationalisation success factors based on extant literature. Implicitly, whilst both groups shared a similar degree of basic knowledge on a few export success factors, across most of the other key export success factors, the male counterparts demonstrated a more expanded view compared to the females. The results support the assumption of the RBV theory applied in this study to argue that to account properly for the internationalisation outcomes of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the personality characteristics of the owner entrepreneurs are critical resources which cannot be ignored.Research limitations/implicationsIn terms of limitation, the study is exploratory study based on non-probability sampling methods using descriptive frequencies tables and analysis of chi-square test and so readers must bear this limitation in mind in interpreting the results to improve on future studies.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the empirical literature by offering a unique perspective regarding how women and men perceive and interpret export success factors and how that impacts on the internationalisation outcomes of women and men. The paper responds to calls by researchers (e.g. Terjesen et al., 2011; Ratten and Tajeddini, 2018; Kuschel and Labra, 2018; Javadian and Richards, 2020) to populate studies on the topic to deepen the present understanding. By using data from Ghana, West Africa, the study sheds a fresh insight on the topic from an under-studied and under-researched geographical context.","PeriodicalId":46031,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Economic and Management Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41334342","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":"Economic growth, inflation and unemployment in Africa: an autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing approach, 1991–2019","authors":"Mario Gómez, Oluwasefunmi Eunice Irewole","doi":"10.1108/ajems-09-2022-0378","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ajems-09-2022-0378","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeUnemployment is one of the major challenges facing most countries, including Africa as a continent. Seeking how to reduce unemployment, debt, inflation and increase gross domestic product (GDP), foreign direct investment (FDI) and gross capital formation in the continent has been an agenda of governments, policy makers and economists to. This study examines the relationship between economic growth, inflation, debt, FDI, gross capital formation, labor force, population and unemployment in Africa.Design/methodology/approachAn updated panel dataset of 29 African countries was selected from different regions from 1991 to 2019. These countries were selected based on their unemployment, population growth and inflation rates. The Pesaran cross-sectional dependence and panel unit root test (the Dickey–Fuller cross-sectional supplemented and the Im-Pesaran-Shin cross-sectional) were applied. Further, the panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model (Bounds test) and pooled mean group (PMG) estimator were utilized in this work.FindingsThis shows that economic growth, debt, labor force and population have a positive relationship with unemployment in the long run. Therefore, an increase in these variables generates an increase in the selected African countries' unemployment growth. In contrast, inflation, FDI and gross capital formation have a negative relationship with unemployment in the long run, which implies that an increase in these variables reduces unemployment in the selected African countries.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has potential limitations because some data from the countries are not up to date and some years are missing from the data.Practical implicationsThis study contributes to understanding unemployment and Okun's law in the African economy. This study shows that an increase in economic growth leads to a rise in unemployment, while an increase in inflation leads to a decrease in unemployment.Originality/valueThis paper provides an insight into the major factors that increase and reduces unemployment for government and policy marker to take the adequate measure.","PeriodicalId":46031,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Economic and Management Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47801777","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":"Business climate and sustainability of Cameroonian small and medium enterprises in times of COVID-19","authors":"Rovier Djeudja, Yang Salamon","doi":"10.1108/ajems-05-2022-0214","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ajems-05-2022-0214","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate the contribution of the business climate on the sustainability of Cameroonian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in times of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).Design/methodology/approach To achieve this purpose, the study proceed with a quantitative analysis using the simple LOGIT model on a sample of 52 individuals.Findings Through the administration of questionnaires and estimations, results reveal that certain variables such as the taxation regime of the enterprise, the different types of taxes paid by the enterprise, the frequency of payment of income tax, the nature of the training of managers, the clauses of the debt contracts with banks/EMFs (Microfinance institution), the time taken to apply for a loan from the bank and the nature of the manager’s training have a negative influence on the sustainability of Cameroonian SMEs during COVID-19, while others such as the evolution of financial profitability in the context of the coronavirus pandemic in Cameroon, the company’s sector of activity and the main methods of financing the SME have a positive influence on the sustainability of Cameroonian SMEs during COVID-19 pandemic. The improvement of the business climate by the institutional authorities is, therefore, essential in the perspective of an eventual development of the country; the said development cannot take place without capitalizing on the potential for income and job creation by SMEs.Research limitations/implications The first limitation is related to the size of the sample and also to the specificity of our study. In fact, the study is conducted among individuals/actors likely to have access to information on the business climate and sustainability of Cameroonian SMEs at the time of COVID-19 encountered in the city of Yaoundé. In this context, the sample size is considered to be small (52). This element does not immediately allow the results of the present research to be generalized to all regions where SMEs are located in Cameroon, as other criteria or other elements must still be taken into account and the results obtained must, therefore, be interpreted with caution. This research could be deepened in the future by considering more business climate variables on the one hand and a larger sample size extended to all cities in Cameroon on the other.Practical implications The results of this research confirm the importance of institutional bodies establishing a rigorous policy of support for businesses. Such a policy would contribute to improving the business climate and extend beyond mere resilience.Originality/value The originality of this study lies in the fact that it looks at the sustainability of SMEs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Cameroon using a simple LOGIT econometric model.","PeriodicalId":46031,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Economic and Management Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47445245","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":"Revisiting the oil prices–domestic food inflation nexus in Nigeria: the role of global geopolitical risk","authors":"O. Adeosun, M. Tabash, S. Anagreh","doi":"10.1108/ajems-09-2022-0399","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ajems-09-2022-0399","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis study examines the influence of the global geopolitical risk (GPR) on the relationship between oil prices and domestic food prices under the augmented Phillips curve framework.Design/methodology/approachUsing monthly data on Nigeria from January 1995 to December 2021, the authors accommodate symmetry and asymmetry by adopting the linear and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag, linear and nonlinear Granger causality tests.FindingsThe study establishes the positive and significant effects of both oil prices and GPR on food prices in the long and short run, though with a small magnitude in the short run. The asymmetric model shows that, while oil price shocks (positive and negative) exert a positive influence on food prices in the long-run, the effects of oil price shocks differ when accounting for GPR in the short-run. The coefficients of the interactive term, being the moderator of GPR between oil-food prices, are positively significant across models, suggesting that they jointly influence food prices when assuming linearity. The nonlinear model shows that the positive and negative components of interactive terms exert a positively significant influence on food prices, even though food prices tend to be more reactive to positive oil price shocks. The robustness checks show a unidirectional causal flow from oil prices and GPR to food prices under the linear and nonlinear models.Originality/valueThe authors examine the moderating effect of the newly developed global GPR index of Caldara and Iacoviello (2022) on the oil–food inflation relationship in Nigeria by applying the symmetric and asymmetric approaches.","PeriodicalId":46031,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Economic and Management Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44937499","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":"What levels of informality tackle poverty in Africa? Evidence from dynamic panel threshold analysis","authors":"Segun Thompson Bolarinwa, Munacinga C. Simatele","doi":"10.1108/ajems-07-2022-0279","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ajems-07-2022-0279","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThe paper validates the threshold argument in the informality–poverty nexus. Recent literature and policy have argued the existence of a threshold in the relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts dynamic panel threshold analysis, estimated within the framework of system Generalized Method of Moments (SGMM) to control for endogeneity and simultaneity. Data from 40 selected sub-Saharan African countries between 1991 and 2018 are used for the study.FindingsEmpirical results confirm the existence of an average threshold of 31% share of informality in GDP. Also, the paper finds that threshold of informality that addresses mild and severe poverty varies between 24.32 and 36.75%.Research limitations/implicationsThe work is limited to African economies. Evidence from other emerging and developed economies is suggested for further research.Practical implicationsOverall, the empirical results indicate a threshold in the informality–poverty nexus. Therefore, an excessive informality level does not benefit the African growth process. Policymakers and governments are advised to operate within the bounds of the threshold of informality that reduces poverty and improve the African economic growth process.Originality/valueThe paper is the first study to provide empirical findings on the nonlinear and threshold argument in the informality–poverty nexus, as far as the authors know.","PeriodicalId":46031,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Economic and Management Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47908379","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 shock in the hospitality industry: its effect on hotel operations within the Bono region of Ghana","authors":"Mildred Nuong Deri, Neethiahnanthan Ari Ragavan, Augustine Niber, Perpetual Zaazie, David Anandene Akazire, Martha Anaba, Dorlaar Andaara","doi":"10.1108/ajems-07-2022-0264","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ajems-07-2022-0264","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has long-lasting effects that necessitate business revision, innovation, and transformation in the hospital industry. The research in this field is, however, still incredibly underdeveloped. Hotels have faced unprecedented pressure due to the outbreak of novel COVID-19, forcing many to close temporarily or permanently. The aim of this study is to assess COVID-19 effect on hotels within the Bono region of Ghana, as the protocols are currently relaxed.Design/methodology/approachUsing a quantitative approach, a stratified and purposive sampling method was used and 174 hotel managers in the Bono region responded to the research questions in relation to how their businesses were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.FindingsThe findings showed that the most prominent and recurring measures among hotels are the application of hygiene standards, employee training and awareness, reduction of employees’ guest contact and ensuring a safer environment for both guests and employees.Research limitations/implicationsThe study’s sample frame covers hotels in the Bono region of Ghana with lower star classifications, ranging from affordable to three stars in quality and service. Hotels should emphasize the importance of providing their personnel with ongoing training and education to prepare them to deal with the outbreak of the pandemic.Practical implicationsAs a result, the study suggests that hotel operators give innovative, fascinating and delightful accommodation experiences that may boost customers’ authentic happiness, as well as offer possibilities for customers to gain positive, memorable experiences from their experience.Social implicationsAcademia and hotel managers need to contribute to theory development in hotel marketing by analyzing changes in customer expectations and industry recovery measures to affect good changes in industry best practices in the aftermath of the epidemic.Originality/valueThis study makes a significant contribution to the body of knowledge of the service delivery system model research because it is one of the initial studies to examine hotel business operations and activities during the COVID-19 utilizing the Bono region as a case. Theoretical, managerial and policy implications are discussed to cope with this crisis.","PeriodicalId":46031,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Economic and Management Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41284148","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":"Guest editorial: Organizational and management practices in COVID-19 business environments in Africa – The human factors","authors":"M. Sanda","doi":"10.1108/AJEMS-06-2023-575","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/AJEMS-06-2023-575","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46031,"journal":{"name":"African Journal of Economic and Management Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3,"publicationDate":"2023-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43407974","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}