Search results

The study examines the impact of risk on the profit efficiency and profitability of banks in Ghana.

Data envelopment analysis was used to estimate profit efficiency scores and accounting ratios were used to measure profitability. The panel corrected standard error regression was used to assess the nexus using a dataset of 32 banks from 2000 to 2015.

The paper found that the Ghanaian banking industry exhibits a variable return to scale property, suggesting that average costs change with output size. Profit efficiency score for banks closer to the efficiency frontier is 61%. Credit risk is significant in enhancing profit efficiency and return on equity. Market risk is relevant in improving profit efficiency, return on asset and asset turnover. To drive profitability, bank managers have to be committed to effective liquidity risk, insolvency risk and capital risk management. Operational risk reduces shareholders' returns. The impact of size, age, stock exchange listing, cost efficiency and competition have are all been discussed extensively.

The findings contribute to the knowledge on the risk-performance nexus and provide information that is valuable to academics, bankers and regulators for policy formulation. The findings are relevant to the newly established Financial Stability Council.

This paper appears to be among the premier attempts to examine the effect of various risk types identified in the Basel III framework on bank performance in Africa.

This study explores Ghanaian views about accountability discharge by firms and government in the context of the nation's newly discovered oil and gas resources. The research focusses on a range of issues relating to stakeholder interaction, communication flows and the impact of decision-making on Ghanaian lives, as perceived by individuals on the ground.

The paper adapts elements of legitimacy theory to interpret the outcome of a series of semi-structured interviews with members of key accountee and accountor groups including citizens and representatives of the state and private firms in the oil and gas industry in Ghana.

The results indicate that rather than attempting to effect substantive accountability discharge, Ghana's government and oil and gas firms employ a wide range of legitimation strategies despite the apparently complete absence of the accountee power normally seen as driving the need for social contract repair.

The findings suggest that accountability discharge in Ghana is cursory at best, with several legitimising strategies in evidence. The representatives from state institutions appear to share some of the concerns, suggesting that the problems are entrenched and will require robust enforcement of a strengthened regulatory approach to effect meaningful change.

This paper contributes to the literature on the discharge of institutional accountability by building on earlier conceptualisations of legitimacy theory to explore perceptions around a recent natural resource discovery. The analysis highlights grave concerns regarding the behaviour of state and corporate actors, one that runs counter to sub-Saharan African tradition.

This study aims to examine the prevalence of transfer pricing and earnings management activities, and how they are impacted by corporate governance mechanisms.

Using the political cost theory, the study provides insights into how opportunistic managerial behaviours which have a strong link to profit shifting and tax evasion are driven by corporate governance using data from 16 listed firms for the period 2008–2020.

The results reveal that the transaction-based transfer pricing model is better than the index-based model and the accrual-based earnings management model suits the political cost theory more than the real earnings management metric. Board size and female CEO increase transfer pricing aggressiveness but board independence, CEO tenure, CEO nationality and female Board Chairwomanship reduce transfer pricing aggressiveness. The findings also reveal the role of multinational enterprise status, private ownership, industry type, firm size, financial leverage, asset tangibility and firm age. For accrual-based earnings management, board independence, CEO tenure, and female Board Chairwomanship significantly decrease earnings management. Other factors include private ownership, firm size, and firm age.

The findings of the study are relevant for shaping industry-level policies on earning management, transfer pricing and related-party transactions. Since these opportunistic managerial behaviours are the foremost drivers of tax avoidance and profit shifting, the findings of this study provide relevant insights for practitioners, tax and other regulatory authorities, policymakers and the academic community alike.

This is among the premier studies on the transfer pricing and earnings management nexus with corporate governance factors using the political cost theory, especially in the developing country context. It also reveals the significant impact of gender and suggests the need for gender diversity in corporate management.

The construction industry (CI) is a major contributor to the gross domestic product of most economies. Yet, the industry is characterized by poorly performing projects, plagued with cost overruns, delays, with a relatively high-risk nature and marginal returns. Given that construction projects are financially dynamic, relying on highly fluctuating working capital and cash-flow requirements, there is an imperative need to understand the working capital management (WCM) of the CI. This study aims to review the extant literature on WCM in the CI to present a contemporary positional paper and engender a wider polemic debate on this crucial phenomenon.

A systematic literature review methodology is used, using Google Scholar as the literature database.

Despite the importance of this research theme, only 16 publications dedicated to the topic of WCM in the CI are identified. This is an important finding in itself and is indicative of hitherto scant research conducted. Other observations include the lack of experts examining the field, with no authors exploring the theme more than once. Subthemes of WCM are also scarce, with only the topic of the relationship between “WCM and profitability” been revisited and refined in literature; all other topics being cursory.

This study is among pioneering papers in developing economies that have taken stock of WCM in the CI. As a result, the conclusion of this paper is to call out the paucity of research in WCM and set a broad agenda for future research.

The concept of working capital management (WCM) has been a fundamental financial accounting term that has evolved in financial theory for centuries. Given that the construction industry (CI) is financially dynamic, there is an imperative need to understand its WCM practices. The call for the industry players to adhere to efficient financial management practices as a result of a huge financing gap requires consented effort. This study aims to explore the trend of practices of WCM in the CI and elicit a broader polemic dialogue about this crucial theme.

The source of information for the study was secondary mainly from referenced journals and international conference papers published on WCM relating to the CI. A three-step sample selection strategy was adopted to identify the range and scope of publications on WCM in the CI based on the systematic literature review method.

The CI cannot boost of enough empirical WCM research to gain in-depth understanding of its practical trend. The developing economies are failing to produce insightful peer-reviewed papers on WCM to assist in bridging the infrastructural financing gap through apposite strategies. Gaining appropriate knowledge of the short-term financial operations through a conceptualization of WCM practices in the CI may lead to better strategies formulated for smooth operations.

This is a pioneering paper in developing economies that have taken stock of WCM knowledge of the practical trend in the CI. Future research prospects in which WCM matters can use it as a reference point.

This study aims to explore individual perceptions about how the government, as the main architect of policies and regulations, discharges strategic accountability in Ghana’s oil and gas sector and, in so doing, promotes resource sustainability.

The study reports on a series of interviews with key actors using institutional theory as a lens for discussion and interpretation of results. This approach forms the basis for a number of specific contributions to knowledge regarding strategic accountability around natural resource discoveries.

Whilst many deeply-set problems appear to persist, the paper reports some favourable movement in public perceptions regarding institutional accountability that has not been identified previously. The empirical findings demonstrate how the three elements of institutional theory work together in an emerging country’s natural resource industry to drive a potentially holistic strategic institutional legitimacy, contrary to the existing pervasive picture of detrimental regulative, normative and cognitive institutionalism found within the region.

The findings suggest that, contrary to existing regional evidence regarding institutional financial accountability practices around natural resources, Ghana has made favourable strides in terms of strategic accountability discharge. This discovery implies that with persistence and commitment, a meaningful degree of intelligent strategic accountability can be achieved and, with appropriate empirical methodology, identified and rationalised.

The persistent coercive pressure from the Ghanaian society that caused the government to listen to overtime and take positive steps in the institutionalisation of their strategic accountability process which translated into a holistic institutional legitimacy that has eluded the sub-region for decades, is a glimmer of hope for other societies within the sub-Saharan region that all is not lost.

The paper suggests an empirically driven approach to understanding the institutionalisation of strategic accountability practices and their impact on sustainability around natural resources in sub-Saharan Africa. The focus on the strategic aspect of accountability – rather than the financial as in most prior work – and the consideration of opinions at more than a single point in time permits the identification of novel evidence regarding accountability in emerging economies.

This study aims to examine the effect of anti-corruption disclosure on the profitability and financial stability of extractive firms in Africa. It also tests the convergence of profitability and financial stability.

The study uses an unbalanced panel data of 27 firms operating in five African countries covering the period 2006–2018. Anti-corruption assessment is done in line with GRI 205: Anti-Corruption. Profitability is measured using the return on asset and return on equity, whereas the z-score measures financial stability. The study uses the panel-corrected error regression technique for estimation.

There is evidence that corruption disclosure reduces the financial stability of firms. Disclosures on corruption analysis and corruption training are the main factors driving the reduction in financial stability. The effect on profitability is not significant except in the case of disclosure on corruption response, which also reduces profitability. There is strong statistical evidence to suggest that profitability and financial stability of extractive firms converge. This suggests that less-performing firms catch up with high performers.

The study has relevant implications for practitioners, policymakers and the academic community. The study uses data that is skewed towards large extractive firms.

This study is premier in exploring the effect of anti-corruption disclosure on performance metrics among extractive firms in Africa. It is also unique in providing a test of both beta and sigma convergence of performance among the firms.

The purpose of this study is to examine the convergence and determinants of anti-corruption disclosures of extractive firms in Africa.

The study uses an unbalanced panel data of 27 firms operating in 5 African countries covering the period 2006 to 2018. Corporate data is collected from the global reporting initiative (GRI) database. The study uses an index to measure overall disclosure and individual items are coded as binary. The study uses fixed effects, panel logistic and panel-corrected standard error regression, depending on the type of dependent variable used.

The results indicate that the determinants of anti-corruption disclosure are membership in the United Nations global compact (UNGC) and Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, multi-national enterprise status, corruption perception index and human development index (HDI). Specifically, UNGC membership and multi-national status enhance the disclosure on corruption analysis. Countries with a high prevalence of corruption tend to disclose more on corruption analysis. Disclosure on corruption training is high among firms that are UNGC signatories, countries with a high HDI and countries with a high prevalence of corruption. There is a weak effect of firm-level, industry-level and country-level factors on disclosures on corruption response.

The study provides insights on the use of GRI 205: Anti-Corruption, which has relevant implications for practitioners, policymakers and the academic community.

This study is premier in exploring anti-corruption disclosure with a special focus on extractive firms in Africa. It is also unique in providing a test of both beta and sigma convergence among the firms.

This paper seeks to examine the prospects and constraints of implementing food banking in the in Kumasi Metropolis in Ghana.

Multistage sampling technique was used to select 385 respondents for the study. Descriptive statistics were used to present prospects of food banking. The probit regression model was used to analyse factors influencing food banking implementation whereas Kendall's coefficient of concordance was used to analyse constraints in implementing food banking.

Addressing food poverty, helping to provide food aid to respondents in times of pandemics (such as Covid 19) and also helping in reducing food wastage were the most notable prospects of food banking. Age, household size, food bank awareness and food poverty had a significant positive influence on food banking implementation, whereas residential status and employment status had a significant negative influence on food banking implementation. The most pressing constraint in implementing food banking is funding and support with the mean rank of 3.03 whiles the least pressing constraint is improper documentation of potential beneficiaries with the mean rank of 6.72.

This study provides empirical contributions and practical implications for implementing food banks in Ghana. Thus, the government of Ghana through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) can enact policies that can help prevent food losses and wastage. In this vain, food which could have been wasted would be redirected to food banks. This can serve as a tool for social intervention, poverty alleviation and prevention of hunger among the vulnerable in Ghana.

Despite several studies on food banking in affluent countries, food banking research in developing countries such as Ghana remains scanty. Thus, this paper makes significant contributions to the literature on prospects and constraints in implementing food banking and the factors influencing food banking implementation.

Users of smallholder farmer microfinance are able to make enough returns to repay credits advanced to them. However, they are in dire need of financial capital such that they are inconsiderate of farmer- and credit-specific characteristics when participating in a microfinance programme. This study analyses perceptions of stakeholders regarding select farmer and credit characteristics within the microfinance industry. The study identifies and analyses the factors that influence participation in a microfinance programme by farmers using the logistic regression model. The purpose of this paper is to widen the knowledge base of rural agricultural finance, including factors that influence participation in microfinance intervention(s) thereof.

A total of 104 participants and 120 non-participant farmers in microfinance programmes were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire by applying the multistage sampling technique. The paper applied the logistic regression model in which farmer- and credit-specific characteristics were used to estimate the probabilities of participation.

The logistic regression results showed that distance, interest rate, experience, membership of farmer-based organisation, number of dependants, household, gender and age were statistically significant farmer- and credit-specific characteristics that influence participation in microfinance programmes. Interest rate and distance exact negative significance influence on participation, whereas membership of farmer-based organisations, experience, gender, household head and age influence participation positively. Reduction in the interest rate and expansion of microfinance to very remote areas rather than locations in urban areas are crucial in terms of improving participation.

The paper used data from only farmers so there is a limit to which the results can be generalised for all microfinance users. It may be relevant to undertake a study that considers non-farm enterprises.

This paper brings to light the need to develop well-structured microfinance facilities that meet the specific needs of the rural poor in transitioning economies while taking into consideration critical factors affecting participation before the establishment of such programmes.

This paper provides empirical evidence to show that farmer- and credit-specific characteristics are essential to ensure participation and success of microfinance programmes thereof.