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Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of financial development on international trade in Upper-middle-income countries. The paper focuses on financial stability as a key element of the financial system and investigates whether economic growth is a conduit through which banking sector development and stock market development influence international trade. Thus far, the impact of financial development on international trade has received limited attention. The study adopts the generalized methods of moments (GMM) approach, employing balanced panel data from 13 upper-middle-income countries for a period ranging from 2006–2017. Using the z-score as a proxy for financial stability, evidence suggests that banking sector development has a positive and significant influence on international trade, while stock price volatility as a proxy for financial market stability, was found to have had an insignificant influence on foreign trade. The study recommends that upper-middle-income countries implement policies or adopt monetary policy approaches that enhance financial stability. Further research should be conducted to investigate other channels as possible transmission mechanisms. This paper contributes to the global discourse of whether economic growth is a conduit through which financial development can influence international trade. Overall, the paper suggests that financial development plays a role in stimulating economic activities, but its impact or effect is subject to the choice of financial proxies use which may be unique based on economic circumstances of a given country.

automobile product recall has increased in recent years albeit attendant impact on stock price. Objective: the objective of this paper is to analyse the stock price effect and the stock price response time to automobile product recall for Toyota, GM and Tesla. Prior Work: the paper inclines on prior work on efficient markets and product recall effects on corporate financial value but takes a slightly different stance to focus on automobile recall effect on stock price and reaction time gap. Approach: the paper applied a t-test statistics for difference in mean stock price following automobile product recall announcements. Results: the results show that following the recall announcements, the stock prices reacted negatively at a highly significant value of P

There is evidence that a change in accounting regulation can stimulate global access to a country’s capital market, thereby increase financial performance of firms. Corresponding to the change from the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to the mandatory adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Nigeria, this paper examines available information in order to confirm whether the change has created desired improvement in the firms’ performance after the adoption in 2012. Three financial performance indicators related to productivity (asset turnover, ATO) and profitability (returns on assets, ROA, and return on equity, ROE) are examined on univariate tests of significance differences in the mean, median and variance of sample for the ‘prior to’ IFRS adoption period (2003‐2011) and the post‐IFRS adoption period (2012‐2020). Accordingly, the Satterthwaite-Welch t-test, Wilcoxon/Mann-Whitney t-test and ANOVA-F-test are applied for the mean, median and variance, to verify the conjectured hypotheses. The results find that slight increase was perceived after adoption for average value of the ATO and ROA, but the considered tests are unable to indicate sufficient evidence to identify the improvement as significant. Contrary, the evidence supposes undesired significant decline in the ROE. The evidence finds the change in the variability, due to the transition to IFRS, for the indicators as significant. The findings have implications for the capital market and regulation; hence, the paper suggests that regulators should monitor firms’ compliance to the standards and extend the use of IFRS to other non-listed companies in Nigeria.

automobile product recall has increased in recent years albeit attendant impact on stock price. Objective: the objective of this paper is to analyse the stock price effect and the stock price response time to automobile product recall for Toyota, GM and Tesla. Prior Work: the paper inclines on prior work on efficient markets and product recall effects on corporate financial value but takes a slightly different stance to focus on automobile recall effect on stock price and reaction time gap. Approach: the paper applied a t-test statistics for difference in mean stock price following automobile product recall announcements. Results: the results show that following the recall announcements, the stock prices reacted negatively at a highly significant value of P

There is evidence that a change in accounting regulation can stimulate global access to a country’s capital market, thereby increase financial performance of firms. Corresponding to the change from the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to the mandatory adoption of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Nigeria, this paper examines available information in order to confirm whether the change has created desired improvement in the firms’ performance after the adoption in 2012. Three financial performance indicators related to productivity (asset turnover, ATO) and profitability (returns on assets, ROA, and return on equity, ROE) are examined on univariate tests of significance differences in the mean, median and variance of sample for the ‘prior to’ IFRS adoption period (2003‐2011) and the post‐IFRS adoption period (2012‐2020). Accordingly, the Satterthwaite-Welch t-test, Wilcoxon/Mann-Whitney t-test and ANOVA-F-test are applied for the mean, median and variance, to verify the conjectured hypotheses. The results find that slight increase was perceived after adoption for average value of the ATO and ROA, but the considered tests are unable to indicate sufficient evidence to identify the improvement as significant. Contrary, the evidence supposes undesired significant decline in the ROE. The evidence finds the change in the variability, due to the transition to IFRS, for the indicators as significant. The findings have implications for the capital market and regulation; hence, the paper suggests that regulators should monitor firms’ compliance to the standards and extend the use of IFRS to other non-listed companies in Nigeria.

Investors are humans and are sensitive to rumours of war and actual war events, which appear to have different impacts on stock market performance. Objective: this paper evaluates a two-stage differential effect of the current Russian invasion in Ukraine on stock market volatility in EU, UK and US stock markets. Prior work: the paper inclines on related prior works on the effect of international conflicts on stock markets. Method: the paper uses stock market data for EU, US and UK for 21 days before Russian troop build-up on Ukraine boarders in 2021 and 21 days during the troop build. It also collected 21 days stock market data for 21 days in 2022 before Russian invasion in Ukraine and for 21 days during the Russian invasion. Data were analysed using the t-test statistics and line graphs for trends. Finding: results show that Russian invasion in Ukraine has significantly caused stock market volatility for EU(FTSE EU), UK (FTSE London) and US (S&P500). However, the EU stock market (FTSE EU) has suffered higher volatility compared to UK and US. In the same vein results show that, the US stock market (S&P500) remains the less volatile and safest investment haven to safeguard stocks during the ongoing war in Ukraine. Implication: The results contribute latest stock market investment information to investors and stock market hedgers to make risk and investment decisions in this conflict times. It also offers an important new case study for business economic classes in higher education business schools, and highlights an agenda for further research. Value: the paper contributes a twostage differential analysis approach (stage 1 troop build-up stage, and stage 2 actual war stage) – and reveals divergent implications of a two stage application and results for stock market analysis.

The quest for sustainable economic development alternatives is revolutionising the automobile industry toward a more economic and sustainable products. This paper examines the relationship between green (electric) vehicle products and stock market performance. The prior work inclination is on the innovation and diffusion theories, which provides a lens to examine green innovation in auto industry. The paper adopts a fusion of review and quantitative approach. Data were from the International Energy Agency and Investing databases. A fixed effect panel analysis examine how the stock market reacts to two main types of electric vehicles – the Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV). The result adds to new knowledge namely, the BEV product relates to the stock market significantly at P=0.00002 but negatively. However, the PHEV has a positive and significant relationship with the stock market at a P=0.00001. The results offer practical implications including inter alia, manufacturers’ introduction of more PHEV products into the consumer market has a high propensity to improve the stock market performance; this provides a useful information for stock market analysis and auto industry strategic planning. It also offers a good innovation case material for business schools. This paper contributes the first modelling of two main types of green car on stock market performance.

This paper analysed the impact of interest rate and exchange rate volatility on banking sector stock returns in South Africa considering the Covid-19 pandemic. This paper employed daily secondary data for the period 01 January 2011 - 19 August 2021. The OLS and GARCH approaches were utilized to analyse the relationship between the variables. The results indicate that the interest rates have a positive and significant relationship with bank stock returns as four out of five banks showed positive coefficients in the OLS estimator. Moreover, a high foreign exchange rate leads to a negative bank stock returns as the coefficients from the OLS estimator were negative. The ARCH and GARCH models' results indicate that bank stock returns are determined by their past volatility. The study has managerial implications for the banking sector because interest rate and exchange rate volatility increase the risks associated with the returns, implying that banks should consider various hedging strategies in mitigating these risks. Therefore, banks should consider various hedging strategies while the investors could attentively consider monetary policies during the investment decision process.

Objectives Acute leukaemia is the most common type of cancer in the paediatric population and the myeloid form represents only 15 percent. In this paper we aim to emphasize the management difficulties of this pathology in pediatric patients. Prior Work Studies addressing the costs and burden of acute myeloid laeukemia (AML) in children are sparse in the international literature, due to the low incidence rate, high mortality and some rare clinical aspects, such as polyuria-polydipsia syndrome. Hematologic tests usually can be relevant. Less common complications, that may require urgent intervention, include central nervous system involvement, hyperleukocytosis, and tumor lysis syndrome. There for, the total amount of resources used for the management of these patients represent an important burden for the medical systems all over the world. Approach In the current paper we present two clinical cases of paediatric patients diagnosed with AML, associated with leukostasis syndrome, neurologic impairment. ResultsIn both cases it was more cost effective to use a rational corroboration of basic diagnostic tools adapted to each clinical form. Due to the fulminant evolution of these patients towards a negative outcome, we focused the most effort and resources on intensive care treatment methods to prolong the survival rate of our patients. Implications Such atypical cases may represent a strenuous management challenge for pediatric medical professionals and financial health system responsible. Value Clinical presenting aspects described in these two cases are extremely rare in pediatrics and represent an effective way to improve medical practice and share a local clinical management experience and resources usage.

The emergency of several online travel agents (OTA) has come with several benefits for the potential travellers. Many accommodation establishments especially hotels find OTA helpful in this age of technological innovations and are using them as distribution channels for their products. This paper examines why hotel customers opt to book indirectly via OTA rather than making direct booking with the hotel. The paper also determines why hotel customers in Cape Metropole think it is cheaper and more convenient to make reservations through travel agents. Hotel customer behaviour when booking accommodation is also reviewed to establish the motivations in choosing a specific booking method. Three-hundred hotel guests participated in the study, and data analysed descriptively using the IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study revealed a more inclination to OTA rather than direct reservation with the hotel, and this was mainly attributed to convenience and affordability. The study is of importance to hotels and OTAs as it advances understanding of booking behaviour of hotel customers. Recommendations on how hotels can attract and convince customers to book directly to help evade commissions to OTAs were discussed.

The banking sector has undergone considerable changes since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) as the countries no longer operate in isolation, owing to globalization (Viegi, 2008). Yesteryear, banks were easily recognizable as a brand. Today brand bank is wanning, and profit margins are being squeezed. In the contest of South African Banking market this paper investigates whether the emergency of Non-Banking Financial Institutions is threatening the brand of a bank. Using a guided questioner, this paper asserts that the emergency of Non-banking institutions has eroded the banks’ brand and has impacted on patronage and loyalties to traditional models of banking. Based on Cronbach’s alpha criterion, results from the study reveal that the survey instrument used to collect data from participants was statistically reliable. Overall, results on frequency statistics and factor loadings computed based on the exploratory factor analysis technique reveal that respondents largely concurred with the assertion that brand bank is on its way to the grave due to the emergence and growth in non-banking financial institutions in South African banking market. The results will benefit banks ‘s efforts in re-aligning their products with market trends and assist policy makers and regulatory authorities in tracking banking practices in their economies

The overshooting theorem as pioneered by Rudiger Dornbusch has aided monetary policy conduct for many years. However empirical evidence on its validity is mixed. This paper re-examined the validity of the overshooting phenomenon using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound test approach. To achieve the main object the paper firstly examined if the United States/Malawi Kwacha (USD-MWK) exchange rate overshoots or undershoots its long run exchange rate. In addition, the research paper tested if there exist any fundamental macroeconomic fluctuations (money supply, real gross domestic product (GDP), interest rates and inflation rates) that may alter the spot exchange rate in a theoretically derived price-flex model. The study used a forty-one-year span of yearly nominal (USD-MWK) exchange rate data and that of monetary fundamentals data from World Bank development indicators (WDI) and the National statistical office (NSO) Malawi. The other data for each country were sourced from the International Financial Statistics (IFS). All the exchange rate used was from the Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM). The results indicated that empirically only the inflation rate differential is economically significant in triggering spot rate rapid movements in the Price-Flex model. Conclusively, exchange rate overshooting has tested to be evident in Malawi. Solely attributed by the significant inflation rate differential where the other fundamentals are not statistically significant at 5% level of significance. This has been due to the constrained workability of the specified Price-Flex mathematical model in our economic environment.

This paper analyses the response of stock markets to vaccine availability. The objective of this paper is to examine the differential effect of information about the arrival of COVID vaccine on the stock price performance of five main global stock market indexes. The paper relies on the prior theory of Efficient Market Hypotheses (EMH). Data on stock price performance, seven months before vaccine arrival, and seven months within the vaccination period were from Trading Economics stock indexes archives for five main market indexes namely (Dow Jones, Shanghai, S&P, FTSE, and EURONEXT). The data were analysed using the t-test of mean difference in stock prices before and during vaccine at 5% alpha level. Results for the five indexes analysis show that stock prices during the arrival of vaccine significantly outweigh the stock prices before vaccine arrival at p-values below 0.01. The mean stock price increases during vaccine arrival ranges from 7% to over 20% for the different indexes. The paper provides practical information for investors who need to know how sensitive the various indexes are to vaccine information. The paper also provides an avenue for future research to expand this initial research on vaccine effect on stock prices. Furthermore, the paper presents a veritable case study for economics and finance postgraduate students in the universities. This paper fills existing gap in knowledge by being the first to analyse the effect of COVID vaccine arrival on the stock price of five main global stock indexes and contributes by indicating that stock indexes are sensitive to vaccine production with diverse percentages of sensitivity.

Romania can make a huge leap in development in the coming years using EU financial assistance, which is around 80 billion euros over the next 7 years. These funds will come through Cohesion Policy, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and other European instruments. This paper highlights the funding opportunities for the 2021-2027 programming period, that a city benefits from, the aim of the paper being to create an integrated vision on the type of investments and actions that are needed in order to build a smart future for Romanian cities. The transition to a clean, circular economy and the stimulation of the efficient use of resources in urban areas in the long run can only be achieved through strong cooperation between local public actors and other urban actors, from the private or non-profit environment. Thus, this paper offers a long-term development vision on how to transform the Romanian cities in accordance with the current requirements of society, the intended implication being to raise awareness of all the stakeholders about their potential involvement in developing successful projects for their community so as not to miss any chance of development.

In the present paper we aim to analyze several important aspects regarding the methods in which political parties obtain their finances and to present the amounts and the private financial sources of Romanian parliamentary political parties in the last legislature (2016-2020). Political parties are necessary elements for any democratic society. The exercise of fundamental human rights is only possible in democracies and democracies require a group of representatives in order to govern the society. The political parties provide these representatives and, there for, the good functioning of political parties is essential in a democratic society. In the present paper we discuss the financial resources of political parties, and the Romanian legal provisions in this matter and also, we will present and analyze data regarding the financing of parties. The political parties are financed by the state and also have private resources like: membership fees, donations, loans and other resources. In our case study we referred to the case of Romania, more specifically of the amount of financing the parliamentary political parties in the 2016 – 2020 legislature. The method used is scientific research and data analysis.

Objectives this paper investigates the effects of wealth taxes on the South African economy by analysing the relationship between wealth taxes and the gross domestic product (GDP). Prior Work Although other factors such as investment, government expenditure, labour (unemployment), population and capital (education and technology) can also have an impact on economic growth, the idea was to isolate the effects of the taxation, in this case wealth taxes, and to do a test run on current wealth taxes. Approach It considers the Engle and Granger cointegration technique on annual tax data of the current forms of wealth being taxed (donations tax, transfer duty and estate duty), to determine the empirical relationship between wealth taxes and GDP. Results The study suggests that wealth tax increases GDP in the long run, with no impact in the short run. Value The proposed wealth tax is a continuous annual tax and will therefore cause individuals to make changes to their economic activities. The paper contends that the introduction of a comprehensive wealth tax in South Africa by the government would not yield favourable results and is thus not recommended.

This paper sought to investigate the influence of fiscal imbalance on inflation and economic growth in Nigeria for the period 1981 to 2019. In this paper, we utilized the ordinary least squares (OLS) approach in achieving the set objective. The correlation analysis was also utilized to ascertain the nature of the relationship between fiscal imbalance and inflation and economic growth. The correlation analysis revealed that fiscal imbalance has a positive relationship with economic growth, but a negative relationship with inflation. From the regression analysis, it was discovered that fiscal imbalance has a positive and significant effect on economic growth. However, the effect of fiscal imbalance on inflation was negative and statistically significant. Though fiscal imbalance may propel economic growth, it tends to accelerate inflation in the Nigerian economy over the study period. The policy implication of these findings for national development is that fiscal imbalance should be augmented with the appropriate discretionary monetary policy to achieve economic growth and price stability simultaneously.

The article aims at analyzing the influence of inflation on economic growth in South Africa using quarterly data spanning from 2000-2018. The paper focuses on quantitative research, exploratory research design and a positivism research philosophy with the variables of the consumer price index, inflation, gross domestic product, interest rate and unemployment. The data set comprises quarterly data from 2000 to 2018, extracted from the Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) website and also from the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). The Augmented Dickey-Fuller, Phillips-Perron (PP) and Kwiatkowski, Phillips, Schmidt and Shin (KPSS) tests were conducted. The serial correlation, diagnostic tests, normality test and heteroscedasticity passed expectations of the assumptions. The optimal lag selection was carried out by means of the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and the optimal lag length of two was selected. The existence of long-run equilibrium amongst the variables was tested using the Johansen co-integrated test. The VECM results showed that GDP is explained by lagged values of GDP, inflation and the consumer price index control variable in the short run. The relationship between economic growth and inflation targeting found to exist. The analyses in this paper reflected that there is a long-run relationship between inflation targeting and economic growth in South Africa, The study suggests that the monetary policy should be formulated with measures that are innovative to stabilize the exchange rate at a level that can be sustained. Further, the study recommends that the government of South Africa should continually align its economic policies and maintain control measures over the fiscal policy for sustainability.

The full value of any strategic objective is achieved through effective strategy implementation. However, globally, strategy implementation is arguably the most significant drawback of the strategic management process, with failure rates as high as 90%. This article is aimed at determining the extent to which stakeholder agility contributes to successful strategy implementation in public tertiary education institutions in Zimbabwe, so that, they may contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of the nation. The study was motivated by the lack of prior research on the nexus between stakeholder engagement and strategy implementation in public education. Data was analysed from 486 questionnaires that were randomly distributed to the senior management of tertiary education institutions. Correlations, and regression analyses techniques were used to determine the extent to which stakeholder agility predicts strategy implementation. The results indicated that external stakeholder agility positively influences successful strategy implementation, whilst internal stakeholder agility does not. The study provides guidance to tertiary education institutions on enhancing strategy implementation through external stakeholder agility. This paper also provides evidence in the African context on the reduction of the strategy implementation failure through stakeholder agility practices relevant to the public education sector.

The appearance of new notions in economic theories is due to the dynamic and applied nature of the economy regarding the involvement of studies and researches in the solution of pressing problems. The notion of economic resilience appears as a new concept provided by the community of scientists from various continents, a fact that confirms the synergy and rationale of economic thinking on the phenomena that are increasingly being approached at the global level. The author's interest in this phenomenon comes in the context of the joint study initiated by a team of researchers from the National Institute of Economic Research in the Republic of Moldova concerned with the issues of adapting the national economy to current challenges. In this context, we would like to present this study as an analysis of the concepts of the world's scientists, who had in their study objectives the element of economic resilience and on which they expressed their own opinion. This study is of particular importance for the researches initiated by clarifying the diversity and size of the concept and the conclusions of all those cited in this paper as reference points to some formulations and the process of developing the subject in the context of the Republic of Moldova.

The full value of any strategic objective is achieved through effective strategy implementation. However, globally, strategy implementation is arguably the most significant drawback of the strategic management process, with failure rates as high as 90%. This article is aimed at determining the extent to which stakeholder agility contributes to successful strategy implementation in public tertiary education institutions in Zimbabwe, so that, they may contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of the nation. The study was motivated by the lack of prior research on the nexus between stakeholder engagement and strategy implementation in public education. Data was analysed from 486 questionnaires that were randomly distributed to the senior management of tertiary education institutions. Correlations, and regression analyses techniques were used to determine the extent to which stakeholder agility predicts strategy implementation. The results indicated that external stakeholder agility positively influences successful strategy implementation, whilst internal stakeholder agility does not. The study provides guidance to tertiary education institutions on enhancing strategy implementation through external stakeholder agility. This paper also provides evidence in the African context on the reduction of the strategy implementation failure through stakeholder agility practices relevant to the public education sector.

This paper evaluates the connection amid oil and financial innovation in Nigeria. The study employed quantitative technique (ARDL method) for the period of 1985-2019. The results signify that long-run coefficients show no significant connection amid oil rent and financial innovation in Nigeria. Furthermore, a negative connection is established between the pair of variables. The study recommends that financial regulatory body should review and regulate the participation of financial institutions, especially the deposit money banks participating in oil and gas business.

This study investigates the influence of financial and macroeconomic variables on non-performing loans using 27 countries from sub-Saharan Africa. The study sourced data for the period 2012 to 2021. To ascertain financial influences, bank-related variables representing bank operations and bank quality were chosen. For the macroeconomic influences, monetary policy variables and variables representing the macroeconomic conditions were chosen. Based on the preliminary data investigation results and subsequent findings in the course of the study, three estimators- Dynamic Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), System GMM (SYS-GMM) and system Seemingly Unsure Regression (SYS-SUR) - were used to analyze the data. The results confirm that bank quality; monetary policy and bank operations were significant determinants of the variations in non-performing loans in the region. The paper concludes that nonperforming loans do respond to environmental both financial and economic environmental influences. It then recommends that monetary authority should use monetary tools such as interest rates or required reserve ratio instead of the money supply since those tools do not have any impact on NPLs. Strict monitoring of commercial banks is also recommended.

The main objective of this study is to examine unemployment, health outcome and inclusive growth on Nigerian economy over the period 1990-2021. Extant literature only captured a part of the whole as they either concentrate on the relationship between unemployment and inclusive growth or health outcome on inclusive growth. Consequently, the tripartite relationship among these concepts seems missing in the body of literature. This study utilized the auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) Bound Test technique to examine the correlation and long run relationship among variables. The empirical findings indicated a long run relationship among inclusive growth, unemployment and health outcome. Also, unemployment and health outcome have a negative and significant relationship with inclusive growth in Nigeria within the study period. Based on the findings, the paper recommended the need for the government to develop plans and policies that will expand employment opportunities and also enhance inclusive growth through increased health expenditure that will instigate the desired health outcomes.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the factors that will influence the economic growth. Factors that have impeded investment and economic development in these nations include political unrest, weak institutions, and restricted access to credit and finance. (OECD 2021). The region’s current socio-economic conditions provide an impetus for Balkancountries governments to induce more foreign investment as a mechanism for fostering economic growth FDI promotes economic growth in both the host country and the country of origin. The host country benefits from FDI by financing projects planned, developing new technologies and generating new jobs. Investing companies benefit from the expansion of markets and, consequently, the growth of their shares in international markets. The world is full of development opportunities, be it for countries that have just begun to modernise to the richest countries. Overall, the region's economic growth and development still have a lot of room for improvement, even though some Balkan nations have made strides in recent years. Higher rates of economic growth and development in the Balkans may be facilitated by policies aimed at enhancing political stability, bolstering institutions, decreasing corruption, encouraging investment, and expanding access to finance.

This paper investigated the influence of foreign aid on income inequality in selected emerging markets using panel data (2004-2019) analysis methods such as fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), fixed effects and pooled ordinary least squares (OLS). The study also examined whether human capital development is a channel through which foreign aid influenced income inequality or whether human capital development is one of the conditions which must be fulfilled in the recipient country before foreign aid can have a significant reduction effect on income inequality in selected emerging markets. Foreign aid was found to have non-significantly reduced income inequality across all the three estimation methods. Pooled OLS and FMOLS show that human capital development significantly reduced income inequality. Under the fixed effects and FMOLS, human capital development was found to be a factor which be available in the recipient country before foreign aid can significantly reduce income inequality in selected emerging markets. Foreign direct investment and unemployment significantly led to the increase in income inequality across all the three econometric estimation methodologies. Trade openness and financial development produced similar results but only under the pooled OLS. Trade openness significantly reduced income inequality under the FMOLS and the fixed effects. Responsible authorities are therefore urged to implement policies that increases human capital development, financial development and trade openness to enhance income inequality reduction in selected emerging markets.

In this paper, the COVID -19 induced socio-economic hardship in Nigeria was appraised in the face of Naira devaluation and the need for a living wage rate was advocated. The appraisal shows that the COVID-19 pandemic had deleterious effects on the Nigerian economy. By occasioning a plunge in oil price by 25%, the COVID-19 plague induced a government resolves on lockdown of over 200 million Nigerians whose per capita income was previously as low as $2,396.3, together with the embargo on interstate journeys, to quarantine the contagious impact of the pandemic, the Nigerian economy had to suffer negative growth rates of -6.10% and -2.48% for both Q2 and Q3 of 2020 in that order. And so, the Nigerian economy contracted easily resulting in an outcome of economic recession. Many Nigerians are presently more financially poor, and financially distressed and so wallow in hunger and socioeconomic hardship as exacerbated by the recent COVID-19 contagion. This has made the living cost excessively high and so becoming more difficult to live beyond poverty with a meager minimum wage of ₦30,000. Even when expenses are higher in Nigeria, salary levels have not been structured to make provision for income re-distribution so that people can afford to live in Nigeria. Hence, we advocate for a living wage of at least ₦312,928 per month which translates to a dollar equivalence of $680.28 per month for a full-time worker to cushion the negative effect of COVID-19 pandemic as it exceeds the poverty headcount amount.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the factors that will influence the economic growth. Factors that have impeded investment and economic development in these nations include political unrest, weak institutions, and restricted access to credit and finance. (OECD 2021). The region’s current socio-economic conditions provide an impetus for Balkancountries governments to induce more foreign investment as a mechanism for fostering economic growth FDI promotes economic growth in both the host country and the country of origin. The host country benefits from FDI by financing projects planned, developing new technologies and generating new jobs. Investing companies benefit from the expansion of markets and, consequently, the growth of their shares in international markets. The world is full of development opportunities, be it for countries that have just begun to modernise to the richest countries. Overall, the region's economic growth and development still have a lot of room for improvement, even though some Balkan nations have made strides in recent years. Higher rates of economic growth and development in the Balkans may be facilitated by policies aimed at enhancing political stability, bolstering institutions, decreasing corruption, encouraging investment, and expanding access to finance.

This paper investigated the influence of foreign aid on income inequality in selected emerging markets using panel data (2004-2019) analysis methods such as fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), fixed effects and pooled ordinary least squares (OLS). The study also examined whether human capital development is a channel through which foreign aid influenced income inequality or whether human capital development is one of the conditions which must be fulfilled in the recipient country before foreign aid can have a significant reduction effect on income inequality in selected emerging markets. Foreign aid was found to have non-significantly reduced income inequality across all the three estimation methods. Pooled OLS and FMOLS show that human capital development significantly reduced income inequality. Under the fixed effects and FMOLS, human capital development was found to be a factor which be available in the recipient country before foreign aid can significantly reduce income inequality in selected emerging markets. Foreign direct investment and unemployment significantly led to the increase in income inequality across all the three econometric estimation methodologies. Trade openness and financial development produced similar results but only under the pooled OLS. Trade openness significantly reduced income inequality under the FMOLS and the fixed effects. Responsible authorities are therefore urged to implement policies that increases human capital development, financial development and trade openness to enhance income inequality reduction in selected emerging markets.

In this paper, the COVID -19 induced socio-economic hardship in Nigeria was appraised in the face of Naira devaluation and the need for a living wage rate was advocated. The appraisal shows that the COVID-19 pandemic had deleterious effects on the Nigerian economy. By occasioning a plunge in oil price by 25%, the COVID-19 plague induced a government resolves on lockdown of over 200 million Nigerians whose per capita income was previously as low as $2,396.3, together with the embargo on interstate journeys, to quarantine the contagious impact of the pandemic, the Nigerian economy had to suffer negative growth rates of -6.10% and -2.48% for both Q2 and Q3 of 2020 in that order. And so, the Nigerian economy contracted easily resulting in an outcome of economic recession. Many Nigerians are presently more financially poor, and financially distressed and so wallow in hunger and socioeconomic hardship as exacerbated by the recent COVID-19 contagion. This has made the living cost excessively high and so becoming more difficult to live beyond poverty with a meager minimum wage of ₦30,000. Even when expenses are higher in Nigeria, salary levels have not been structured to make provision for income re-distribution so that people can afford to live in Nigeria. Hence, we advocate for a living wage of at least ₦312,928 per month which translates to a dollar equivalence of $680.28 per month for a full-time worker to cushion the negative effect of COVID-19 pandemic as it exceeds the poverty headcount amount.

This study examined the impact of unemployment on economic growth in Nigeria. And based on the literature reviewed, the identified gaps were found in the scope, appropriate control variables and estimation techniques for the robustness of the findings. Data was sourced from the publications of World Bank-World Development Indicator, International Labour Organisation and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN Statistical Bulletin) from 1980 – 2019 and various diagnostic tests such as Unit Roots and Bound Tests were carried out. Consequently, ARDL model was utilized to address the objective of this study. It was found out that unemployment had a positive and significant impact on economic growth both in the short run and in the long run. Furthermore, based on the findings, the paper recommended the introduction of programmes and policies that will promote enabling business environment to enable the teeming unemployed population to contribute to economic growth in Nigeria.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of workplace diversity and inclusion on organisational productivity using United Bank for Africa (UBA), Ikeja as a case study. A well-structured questionnaire was utilised to collect data from a sample of UBA, Ikeja's selected workers using convenience sampling method. Using the Cronbach Alpha statistic, the test of validity determined that the acquired answers were adequate and dependable. The obtained data was analysed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis to assess the impact of employee diversity and inclusion on organisational performance, as well as the impact of the obstacles associated with employee diversity and inclusion on organisational performance. The findings demonstrated that the coefficients for employee diversity and employee inclusion are positive; however, the p-value for employee inclusion is statistically significant while the p-value for employee diversity is not. This demonstrates that although employee diversity and inclusion have good effects on organisational productivity at UBA, only employee inclusion has a significant effect. This suggests that the challenges of diversity and inclusion have a detrimental impact on UBA's organisational productivity. Consequently, these findings indicate that participating in employee diversity and inclusion increases organisational productivity.

Abstract: Given that no other study has conducted the same empirical work in Uganda, the study examined Fisher's (1930) effect in this particular country. While inflation and the money supply served as the explanatory variables, the nominal interest rates served as the dependent variable. Through the use of data collected between 2011M7 and 2021M3, the ARDL model was employed in the study. The results showed that nominal interest rates indeed, in the long term, respond to predicted inflation rates on a one-to-one basis, with positive and statistically significant results. This indicates that Uganda is where Fisher's effect is strongest. These findings demonstrate the validity of inflation targeting and make it easier for economic agents to predict inflation and the nominal interest rate. Granger causality, which has a unidirectional causality extending from inflation to nominal interest rates, likewise confirmed the same findings. The paper suggests that Uganda's monetary policymakers shift to a full-fledged inflation targeting regime at the second level of inflation targeting in order to anchor the commercial agents that will produce the highest amount of investment-driven growth.

Abstract: Given that no other study has conducted the same empirical work in Uganda, the study examined Fisher's (1930) effect in this particular country. While inflation and the money supply served as the explanatory variables, the nominal interest rates served as the dependent variable. Through the use of data collected between 2011M7 and 2021M3, the ARDL model was employed in the study. The results showed that nominal interest rates indeed, in the long term, respond to predicted inflation rates on a one-to-one basis, with positive and statistically significant results. This indicates that Uganda is where Fisher's effect is strongest. These findings demonstrate the validity of inflation targeting and make it easier for economic agents to predict inflation and the nominal interest rate. Granger causality, which has a unidirectional causality extending from inflation to nominal interest rates, likewise confirmed the same findings. The paper suggests that Uganda's monetary policymakers shift to a full-fledged inflation targeting regime at the second level of inflation targeting in order to anchor the commercial agents that will produce the highest amount of investment-driven growth.

This study examined the impact of unemployment on economic growth in Nigeria. And based on the literature reviewed, the identified gaps were found in the scope, appropriate control variables and estimation techniques for the robustness of the findings. Data was sourced from the publications of World Bank-World Development Indicator, International Labour Organisation and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN Statistical Bulletin) from 1980 – 2019 and various diagnostic tests such as Unit Roots and Bound Tests were carried out. Consequently, ARDL model was utilized to address the objective of this study. It was found out that unemployment had a positive and significant impact on economic growth both in the short run and in the long run. Furthermore, based on the findings, the paper recommended the introduction of programmes and policies that will promote enabling business environment to enable the teeming unemployed population to contribute to economic growth in Nigeria.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of workplace diversity and inclusion on organisational productivity using United Bank for Africa (UBA), Ikeja as a case study. A well-structured questionnaire was utilised to collect data from a sample of UBA, Ikeja's selected workers using convenience sampling method. Using the Cronbach Alpha statistic, the test of validity determined that the acquired answers were adequate and dependable. The obtained data was analysed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis to assess the impact of employee diversity and inclusion on organisational performance, as well as the impact of the obstacles associated with employee diversity and inclusion on organisational performance. The findings demonstrated that the coefficients for employee diversity and employee inclusion are positive; however, the p-value for employee inclusion is statistically significant while the p-value for employee diversity is not. This demonstrates that although employee diversity and inclusion have good effects on organisational productivity at UBA, only employee inclusion has a significant effect. This suggests that the challenges of diversity and inclusion have a detrimental impact on UBA's organisational productivity. Consequently, these findings indicate that participating in employee diversity and inclusion increases organisational productivity.

The paper analyzes the manner in which the Diffusion of Innovation Theory can be used in the adoption of social entrepreneurship as an innovative form of entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship is an innovative concept, which relies on the development of an innovative idea meant to answer a social problem identified by the social entrepreneur. Based on the theoretical framework developed in order to determine the factors influencing the acceptance and diffusion of innovation, there have been drafted assumptions for making a model based on the Diffusion of Innovation Theory so as to determine the factors with a decisive role in an individual's decision to become a social entrepreneur. The personality traits of a social entrepreneur positively impact innovation, and communication and collaboration between social enterprises lead to the development of associations and collective social economy structures. The social entrepreneur as an individual, but also the collective efforts of the members of the developed social businesses, contribute to innovation in social enterprises. With the purpose of innovating the entrepreneurial process, but also of continuously improving its competitive advantage, it is important to encourage the social entrepreneurial culture and to further participative management.

The regular training of teachers on the latest developments in the ICT-assisted education sector is becoming a necessity, generated by the digital revolution and driven by the pandemic crisis. Among the current technological opportunities to improve the quality of the learning process and to make it more flexible in direct correspondence with the training needs and with the personal pace of learning, we find gamification. Improving teaching methods as well as the curriculum, especially by implementing gamification techniques in the teaching process, requires a high level of digital literacy among teachers so that they can (re)design their educational materials in digital format. This was achieved within the Danubius University of Galati (Romania), through the MEDIIA project (project code POCU/320/6/21-122859) carried out between 2019-2021, a project that will be the subject of the case study of this paper.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of capital adequacy and asset quality on banking sector performance in Nigeria using annual panel data in the period 2010 to 2019. The study employs the system generalized method of moments (SGMM) in analysing data obtained from audited financial statements of twelve banks listed on the floor of the Nigeria stock exchange for the period 2010 to 2019. The twelve banks used control about 95% share of the market. The outcome of the study revealed that capital adequacy and asset quality both affect bank performance positively in Nigeria. Thus, suggesting that capital adequacy and asset quality enhance and stimulate banking sector performance in the country. Also, the findings of the study indicate that adequate capital and sound asset quality translate to improved earnings and performance of the banks.

The study analyses the implication of governments in providing financial support for the growth of the renewable energy sector, reveals some aspects of novelty, by analysing the relationship between the specific framework of sustainable public finances, the spectrum of fiscal measures capable of influencing renewable energy consumption and explore the fiscal-budgetary incentives to support the transition to renewable energy consumption. The paper generates awareness for policymakers and retrospective analysis the status of public grants and development funding as well as provides insights to improve financial support for renewable energy without increasing the number of public funds.

This study investigates symmetric, asymmetric, and structural models of exchange rate passthrough to inflation in Nigeria over the monthly period of 2000: Month 01- 2021: Month 05. The percentage change in the price of import-competing goods (traded goods) that is ascribed to a particular percentage change in the exchange rate (which is the price of one country’s currency in terms of another country’s currency) is referred to as exchange rate pass-through. This paper is set out to examine the impact of monetary environment in exchange rate pass-through to inflation in Nigeria using monthly time series data. The method adopted included inter-alia the use of both the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) unit root test and the Breaking point unit root test for relative comparison. The results of unit root tests from both ends indicate the existence of both stationary and non-stationary variables which made adoption of bounds cointegration test plausible and Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag(NARDL) methodologies applicable, this method allows the incorporation of possible asymmetric effects of positive and negative changes in explanatory variables on dependent variable unlike the conventional Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) models where the possible impact of explanatory variable changes remain unaccounted for on dependent variable. Further, the results from cointegration test confirm the existence of short-run situations among the variables of interest in all the models considered. Also, three models were estimated under the framework of linear and nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) models. The model estimate findings revealed that inflation modeling in Nigeria is both autoregressive and adaptive in character. In the short run, pass-through estimates are larger, though declining, due to asymmetric behaviours of exchange rate changes as confirmed by Wald test. This justifies the existence of asymmetric effect in the behavour of exchange rate over times. It was also discovered that inflation is seldom a monetary occurrence in this new normal as industrial production index was found to reduce consumer prices drastically and exchange rate found to explain inflation better than money supply. However, structural policy of land border closure exerts positive but insignificant pressure on inflation in Nigeria during the period under investigation, this may be because of lag effect between the policy stance and reaction of economic agents in the economy. Finally, by policy recommendation, Nigerian government is thus advised to invest heavily in productive sectors of economy, specifically, by building capacities of local producers.

What comes to mind when we hear the phrase “financial market frictions” are taxes and transactions costs which are obvious examples, but market frictions are diverse and widespread. This paper models the various components of financial market friction and how they affect the Nigerian capital market with emphasis on variables like transaction cost, taxes and regulations, asset indivisibility, non-traded asset and agency with information problems. The study employed use of econometric analysis like unit root test, co-integration test, correlation and regression with time series data from 1981-2018. It was discovered that the various components affect the stock market performance in different ways and also are real determinants of the various responses to issues in the stock market. Considering the results of econometric analysis, the study recommended among others proper management of the transaction costs, while the taxes paid by investors in the country should provide opportunity for investment and the capital market should operate in such a way as to make access to information valid while the number of instruments traded on the stock exchange should be increased to make investors have options.

The paper demonstrates how the conditional extremes of the functions of fundamental symmetric polynomials, in the case of the positivity of variables, are obtained either by canceling the partial derivatives in relation to the polynomials, or by the equality of all variables.

Tourism is a way of life in the contemporary world that represents an important force for the development, prosperity and well-being of nations. Over the last two decades, wine tourism has experienced a continuous expansion, with average annual growth rates of between 5 and 10%, thus becoming a sector of major importance for both the world's major powers and developing countries. It is important to note that tourism, as a branch of economic interference, drives and stimulates the production of other economic areas. The research carried out in this paper has shown that the activity of some fields is largely determined by the needs of tourism and tourists, which are very varied and constantly changing. Under these conditions, there is a need to adapt the tourism industry to the increasingly diverse and complex requirements of tourists, causing the state and private economic agents to modernize the technical and material base and infrastructure, while developing new forms of tourism one of them being wine tourism.

Creative accounting emerged at the beginning of the last century in the economies of Anglo-Saxon countries to respond to the increasingly varied requirements of users of accounting information in the context of the growing complexity of economic reality. Financial interests and business pressures have led to the use of specific policies and treatments by accounting professionals to cosmetise financial statements and thus, at the limit of legality, to provide accounting information consumers with the "truth" they want. In order to present the information users want, accounting professionals draw on their specialist knowledge, accumulated experience and professional judgement, thus demonstrating their skill and expertise in handling 'figures'. This paper aims to present the role of professional judgement in the emergence and development of creative accounting in contemporary society. In this regard, it will analyse how professional judgement is used to obtain relevant information on the financial position and performance of the economic entity, premises, techniques and methods of creative accounting, all accompanied by case studies on the evaluation of financial indicators using creative accounting techniques and methods and the impact of creative methods on the decisions of users of accounting information, especially in the process of evaluating annual financial indicators.

Indeed, the significance of career development in contemporary workplace practices is salient as many reports of frustration about poor career growth surge. Although the issue of security and safety of any country is accorded great priority across the world, in the previous millennium organisations in the security and safety industry particularly in South Africa have been reluctant to continuously upgrade the competencies of their employees which results in serious deficit of skills as corporate ladder rises. The crux of this paper is to investigate the degree to which employee training impact career development at South African Police Service. A descriptive research design and quantitative research method used in this research. The sample for this study was 139 employees. Self-structured questionnaire was utilised to gather the data. The multi-linear regression analysis was utilised and key results of the study indicated that the employee training is a catalyst for career development. Understanding of employee training and its implications for career development at the workplace is critical in that it allows organisations to design interventions that prevent the escalation poor growth of employees and manage their consequences when they arise.

COVID-19 remains an income shock of significant economic consequence to many households across the world. The situation among refugees can be pathetic due to their inherent economic deprivations and vulnerability to income shocks. This paper analyzed the dynamics of poverty among refugees in Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic and determined their correlates. The data were the first five waves of the were the COVID-19 Rapid Response Phone Surveys that were conducted among refugees. The data were analysed with heteroscedasticity consistent Ordered Probit model. The results showed that with only 8.14% never entering poverty within the survey periods, majority of the refugees were transiently (46.27%) and chronically (45.59%) poor. The error variance differed across household sizes, and heteroscedasticity properly corrected. Movement from never being poor to chronic poverty was significantly promoted by urban residence, household size, educational levels, and camp of residence (Kakuma, Dadaab and Kalobeyei), while asset disposal income, amount of credit, remittance, and other gifts reduced it. It was concluded that efforts to reduce poverty vulnerability among refugees should among others address maternal fertility and promotion of policies to allow formally educated refugees to be gainfully engaged in the Kenyan labour markets.

COVID-19 is reversing the global development progresses already attained over the past few decades. Attainment of zero hunger in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is being threatened, and comprehensive approach in managing the pandemic is urgently required. This paper analyzed the determinants of food insecurity status during COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. The data were the second, fourth and seventh rounds of COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (NLPS), that were carried out in June, August and November 2020, respectively. Food insecurity status was computed with questions on Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), and analyzed with Random Effects Ordered Probit Regression. The results showed that food security improved from 12.19% in June to 24.65% in November. There was a decline in the percentage of severely food insecure households in urban areas from 54.67% in June to 44.53% in November, while that in rural areas declined from 60.69% in June to 45.34% in November. The Panel Probit regression showed the presence of significant heterogeneity across the panels. Household size, age, male, tertiary education, North West residence, public administrator, business or traders and construction job showed statistical significance (p

The North Sea is one of the largest seas in Europe in terms of maritime traffic. It is positioned between Norway, England, France, Germany and Denmark, a position that positively favours the maritime sector and the energy sector. Also, the North Sea area is a rich and important natural area for fishing. Due to the exchange of water with the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea, this sea is constantly changing and developing a complex ecosystem, which scientists are constantly studying to understand. The energetic potential places the North Sea on the first position in the European seas, and because of this in this area they are found in most wind turbines, in proportion of 70%. In this paper, a study was performed on the characteristics of the North Sea and maritime traffic in this area, as well as the exploitation potential both in terms of oil and wind turbines. The wind and wave conditions for the last twenty years, based on ERA5 data, from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) were also studied.

This paper presents some graphical methods used to solve different misalignment problems of mechanical transmissions. For this purpose, it was created a mechanical transmission composed of an electric motor with a driving shaft, a coupling and a driven shaft mounted on two pillow block bearings. With the use of two dial indicators, there were measured both parallel and angular misalignment of the constituent elements and follow-up, it was realised a graphic display of the measured values, in order to determine the needed adjustments. Such alignment method has a high level of precision and it does not imply expensive devices. Misalignment of mechanical transmissions represents a broad issue in all factories, and the working personnel is constantly interested in ways to remedy such problems.