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The purpose of this paper is to investigate stakeholders influence on voluntary disclosure practices of listed firms in Nigeria from the perspective of managers.

The study used a cross-sectional research design. Data were collected using a survey questionnaire for the constructs of power, legitimacy and urgency. The data for the voluntary disclosure practices were obtained from financial reports of 92 listed companies. The data were analysed using partial least squares.

The results indicate that managers’ perception of stakeholders’ power and urgency are associated with voluntary disclosure. Legitimacy, firm size and industrial category are not significant predictors of voluntary disclosure. It was concluded that stakeholders who are in control of critical resources such as the financial community, customers and creditors should put more pressure on companies to disclose information to meet various stakeholder needs. This will complement the efforts of regulatory agencies in promoting transparency in voluntary disclosure.

The cross-sectional nature of the study means that it does not capture changes in perceptions of managers overtime. Future research may consider a longitudinal study. The study is not industry-specific as such and may capture industry differences. However, in this study, the authors controlled for industry category.

The result has implications for a number of interested parties such as shareholders, regulatory bodies, labour union, academics and mangers.

The study has contributed to the authors’ understanding of managers’ perception of stakeholder attributes that matter in voluntary disclosure decision from the perspective of a developing country like Nigeria.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of competitive advantage in the relationship between managerial competence and financial performance of commercial banks in Uganda.

A cross-sectional survey was employed using 22 fully licensed and operational commercial banks in Uganda. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, zero order correlation and hierarchical regression analyses. Further, the bootstrap method was used to test the mediation effect of competitive advantage. All the analyses were performed using SPSS v21.

The findings reinforce the important position of managerial competence on financial performance of commercial banks. First, managerial competence enhances firms’ competitive advantage. Second, managerial competence has an indirect effect on financial performance through competitive advantage. Overall, managerial competence and competitive advantage are strong predictors of financial performance of commercial banks.

The study employed only a single research methodological approach, therefore future research could be undertaken using a mixed approach and triangulate to compare findings. Furthermore, the findings from the present study are cross-sectional, considering the limitations there in, a longitudinal approach should be explored.

Emphasis should be put on improving the knowledge and skills of managers so as to attain a competitive edge in the market and thus register increased profits. This will help practitioners make legitimate decisions and conclusions that can foster business growth.

A mediation effect of competitive advantage in the relationship between managerial competence and financial performance was tested; previous studies have tended to test the direct effects.

The paper examines individual contribution of intellectual capital elements to competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to explore the weight of individual intellectual capital elements in explaining competitive advantage in Uganda’s microfinance industry.

Hierarchical regression was used because of its capacity to indicate precisely what happens to the model as different predictor variables are introduced.

This study confirms that the three intellectual capital elements are the strong predictors of competitive advantage and they account for 44 percent of variance in competitive advantage. However, the order of importance of these variables in explaining the variance in competitive advantage in the microfinance industry (basing on their standardized β values) is relational capital, structural capital and human capital.

Only a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate the data. Furthermore, the findings from the present study are cross-sectional; future research should be undertaken to examine the longitudinal effects of intellectual capital elements.

The findings can help the management to intensify initiatives to encourage greater understanding and acceptance of the concept of intellectual capital that boosts competitive edge in the industry.

This is the first study that focuses on testing the individual contribution of intellectual capital dimensions to competitive advantage in Uganda’s microfinance institutions.

The purpose of this paper is to establish the mediating role of cost of capital in the relationship between capital structure and loan portfolio quality in Uganda's microfinance institutions (MFIs).

A cross-sectional research design was adopted to collect data and partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to test the study hypotheses.

Cost of capital partially mediates the relationship between capital structure and loan portfolio quality. Hence, cost of capital acts as a conduit through which capital structure affects loan portfolio quality.

Cost of capital was generalized as financial and administrative costs. The impact of costs like dividend pay-outs, interest rates and/or loan covenants on loan portfolio quality could be investigated individually.

MFIs should be vigilant about loan recovery by using strategies like credit rationing to ensure timely repayments.

The study contributes to the ongoing academic debate by identifying the significant indirect role of cost of capital in explaining loan portfolio quality.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of bank specific factors on interest rate in banking financial institutions (BFIs) of Uganda.

To analyze the effect, an OLS random effects regression estimate on a data set of 24 banks from 2008 to 2016 from Bank of Uganda Depository Corporation survey was carried out. Studied bank specific factors including liquidity, operational efficiency, credit risk, capitalization and lending ratio are considered.

The results indicate that liquidity, operational efficiency, capitalization and lending out ratio affect the interest rate while credit risk does not.

The study has confirmed that bank specific factors influence interest rate and other factors such as industry-level and indirect macroeconomic indicators need to be explored. The differences in categories of banks on interest rate would be of importance. Finally, this study concentrated on banks in Uganda, future study would focus on the comparison of Ugandan banks with those of other countries in the East African Region.

Bank managers should invest in up-to-date technology to reduce operational costs and improve efficiency. Managers of bank should take interest on equity mobilization, because it constitutes a cheaper source of capital to finance asset used in operations and long-term needs of borrowers financing. Government should consider a legislation that provides incentives toward savings and reduction in tax for bank inputs.

This is the first study that investigates the effect of bank specific factors on interest rate in Uganda’s BFIs.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of interest rate in emerging markets, focusing on banking financial institutions in Uganda.

Using the net interest margin model, interest rate was estimated by applying a panel random effects regression method on 24 banks, while controlling for bank-specific factors, industry and macroeconomic indicators. Data were drawn from annual reports provided by Bank of Uganda Depository Corporation survey from 2008 to 2016.

The results indicate that liquidity, equity capital, market power and reserve requirement have a positive effect on interest rate. The study further finds that operational efficiency, lending out ratio, concentration, public sector borrowing and private sector credit have a negative effect on interest rate. However, credit risk does not influence interest rate.

Studied banks are grouped in one panel data set; future studies would focus on the differences in banks and establish how these differences affect interest rate. Future study would also focus on how the determinants of interest rate in Uganda are compared with those of other banks in other emerging market countries.

Bank managers need to take interest in equity mobilization because it is a reliable and cheaper source of funding bank operations. Banks should emphasize efficient operations to reduce on the cost of doing business. Government should utilize funds borrowed from banks in efficient ways to improve economic growth. The central bank should minimize the use of reserve requirement as a means of controlling money in circulation.

This is the first paper that uses annual report data from several banks and periods to investigate the determinants of interest rate in an emerging country.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the individual contribution of intellectual capital elements to competitive advantage. It aims to explore the extent to which intellectual capital elements can explain competitive advantage in Uganda's microfinance industry.

Hierarchical regression was used because of its capacity to indicate precisely what happens to the model as different predictor variables are introduced.

This study confirms that the three intellectual capital elements are strong predictors of competitive advantage and they account up to 44 percent of variance in competitive advantage. Their order of importance in explaining the variance in competitive advantage (basing on their standardized beta values) is: structural capital, human capital and relational capital.

Only a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate. Furthermore, the findings from the present study are cross‐sectional, future research should be undertaken to examine the effects of these variables across time.

The managers of microfinance firms need to appreciate that the rise of intellectual capital in the industry is unavoidable, given the competitive and technological forces that are sweeping the twenty‐first century.

This is the first study that focuses on testing the individual influence of intellectual capital elements on competitive advantage in Uganda microfinance industry.

The paper examined the mediating effect of social capital in the relationship between social intermediation and financial services in Ugandan micro finance industry. The purpose of this paper is to establish the role of social capital in the relationship between social intermediation and financial services access.

The paper adopted the MedGraph program, Sobel tests and Kenny and Baron approach to test for mediation effects.

It is clear that the true drivers of access to financial services in the micro finance industry are social intermediation and social capital. However, social capital exhibits partial form of mediation in the relationship between social intermediation and access to financial services.

A single research methodological approach was employed in the study. Owing to limitations associated therein, future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate.

Since social capital is found to be a causal chain in the relation between social intermediation and financial serves access in this study, managers in the micro finance industry should endeavor to reinforce agents of social capital (i.e. trust and social networks) since the lending relationships between the micro‐finance operators and marginalized communities are driven by social collateral.

This is the first study that focuses on testing the mediating effect of social capital in the relationship between social intermediation and financial services access in the Ugandan microfinance industry.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which social intermediation influences access to financial services in Uganda's microfinance industry.

The paper adopts analysis of moment structures (AMOS), a form of structural equation modeling (SEM) to test hypotheses.

It was established that social intermediation together with antecedents of social capital and managerial competence, account for 32 percent of the variance in access to financial services in the microfinance industry.

Only a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate. Furthermore, the findings from the present study are cross-sectional, future research should be undertaken to examine the social intermediation and its effects on access to financial services across time.

In order to boost the wealth of the active poor and microfinance institutions in Uganda, Uganda should always endeavor to build the human and institutional capacities through social intermediation so as to encourage the marginalized people to fully participate in formal financial intermediation in the microfinance industry.

This is the first study that focuses on testing the influence of social intermediation on access to financial services in Uganda's microfinance industry.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of competitive advantage in the relationship between intellectual capital and financial performance in Uganda's microfinance institutions. The major aim is to establish the role of competitive advantage in the relationship between intellectual capital and firm performance.

The paper adopts MedGraph program (Excel version), Sobel tests and the Kenny and Boran approach to test for mediation effects.

Competitive advantage is a significant mediator in the association between intellectual capital and financial performance and boosts the relationship between the two by 22.4 percent in Ugandan microfinance institutions. Further findings confirmed a partial type of mediation between the intellectual capital, competitive advantage and financial performance.

Only a single research methodological approach was employed and future research through interviews could be undertaken to triangulate. Furthermore, the findings from the present study are cross‐sectional. Future research should be undertaken to examine the mediation effects studied in this paper across time.

In order to have a meaningful interpretation of the results of the relationships between study variables, it is always vital to assess the role of the third variable (competitive advantage) in the relationship. This enables practitioners and scholars to comprehend and make legitimate decisions and conclusions that can foster business growth.

This is the first study that focuses on testing the mediating effect of competitive advantage on the relationship between intellectual capital and financial performance in Ugandan microfinance institutions.