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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.

Banking sector plays an important role in economy and has significant impact on country’s economic growth. The purpose of this seminar paper is by utilizing empirically analyses to identify the key determinants of commercial banks’ profitability by case study, Republic of North Macedonia. Performance evaluation of commercial banks is grounded on the banks specific factors, exploiting data for the period 2012 -2018 for 13 commercial banks. For this purpose, the return on assets (ROA) is taken as a dependent variable, whereas capital adequacy (CAP), bank size (SIZE), credit risk (CR), revenue diversification (DIV), liquidity (L) and leverage (LEV) represent the independent variables. The regression analysis indicate that that commercial banks profitability in Republic of North Macedonia has been driven mainly by factors such as liquidity and size.

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.

This paper investigates the impact of institutional quality and investors’ objectives on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows using the system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) for the sample period of 1996–2019. The empirical findings confirmed that institutional quality does not determine FDI inflows in the selected countries across the five (5) African regions while, investors’ objectives were found to influence FDI inflows across the selected countries. The magnitude of the coefficients of political stability, control of corruption and rule of law are less significant. This study therefore concluded that institutional quality was not pungent to endogenously work with other macroeconomic variables to attract FDI inflows in the five (5) African regions during the period of investigation. However, market seeking objectives crowd-out FDI inflows negatively while efficiency seeking objective have positive impact on FDI inflows in the five African regions. Hence, the analysis inferred that investors’ objectives are the core determinants of FDI inflows in the five African regions.

South African small, micro and medium enterprises (SMMEs) display a rather poor performance despite their importance in developing economies. The global Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and recession in South Africa have proved the need for comprehensive risk management perception and sound risk management practices in SMMEs. This paper aims to analyse the risk management perception of SMMEs in the Sedibeng District area to identify the possible reasons for their failure. Additionally, the study aims to provide SMMEs in the Sedibeng District with a more pronounced perception of risk management through a thorough explanation of risk management theories and the importance of risk management as a whole. The results indicated that in the Sedibeng District, SMMEs do not employ adequate risk management practices and do not follow the risk management process correctly. It was also found that SMME owners and risk managers do not proactively identify risks early enough, which might pose significant pressure on risk management processes later on. The theoretical relationship that should exist between risk identification and risk management was very weak and can lead to SMMEs that are vulnerable and more susceptible to failure. The lack of this relationship proves that SMME managers d/o not have a sound risk management perception that will lead to poor risk identification and management thereof. This is detrimental not only to the survival and growth of SMMEs, but also to the South African economy as a whole.

A good performance of the manufacturing sector is germane to the development of any economy. Hence, this study examined the relationships between trade openness and manufacturing sector output in 12 selected countries in West Africa. Specifically, it investigated whether trade growth, employment growth, investment growth, exchange rate growth and inflation rate impacted on manufacturing sector performance in the selected countries over the period from 1980 to 2019. Most of the earlier studies had been a time series analysis but this study differs in that the panel data series were analyzed using econometric techniques which included Dynamic Ordinary Least Square (DOLS) and Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS). This was to determine the magnitude of impacts of the explanatory variables on the manufacturing sector. The results of FMOLS and DOLS therefore, revealed that all the coefficients are positively associated and significant with manufacturing sector output except for trade openness that is not significant and inflation rate is negatively significant. This paper based on the findings of this study, therefore, recommends that the region needs to strengthen its involvement in trade liberalization and also sustain foreign policies that would attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows.

The banking industry is being overhauled by robots. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the most recent technological breakthrough made in the banking industry. There is a wide range of variables that influence investor risk tolerance which has previously been examined, however, the influence of technological advancements on investor risk tolerance in a South African context remains unsolved. This paper aims to investigate the influence of technological advancements on investor risk tolerance. The results of this study found technological factors contributed significantly towards explaining high risk tolerance behaviour to a rather moderate degree. Evidence suggests investors employing Roboadvisors for assistance when making investment decisions, tend to become more risk-tolerant. The results of this study procured that certain demographic variables included in this study have a significant influence on the individual investor risk tolerance levels of South African investors. It is recommended that the research study be utilised by individual investors, financial planners, investment companies and current or future researchers originating from both frontiers to be acquainted with how technological advancements influence investor risk tolerance. Therefore, ensuring technological advancements are used accordingly, to the benefit of the investor privately or in practice.

For many decades, the relationship between the gold market and the US dollar has dominated the international economy. In times of economic and policy uncertainty, the gold price traditionally increased, while in periods of growth and certainty, the US dollar usually appreciated compared to other currencies. This paper aims to re-assess this classic relationship and determine the causality between the gold market and the US currency. To achieve the objective of the study, a quantitative econometric methodology was utilised for the period 1995 to 2020. A Vector Autoregression model was estimated, including three variables: the gold market, US dollar index, and real GDP for the US. Interesting relationships and causalities between the three variables were estimated. The relationship between the gold market and real GDP seems stronger than the relationship between the gold and US dollar indexes. An important implication of this study is that changes in the gold price are not a significant indicator on its owns to track changes in the US currency. The value of the research is in the renewed analysis and updated coefficients on the long and short-run between the classic variables.

The pandemic situation caused by coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has affected the global and Kosovo economy. Because of the restricted measures applied to prevent the spread of the virus, SMEs have faced worsening financial results. The article aims to assess the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on these businesses and provide policy recommendations to help reduce business losses and survive through the crisis. We have adopted an explanatory methodology for comprehensively reviewing the available literature, including policy documents, research papers, and reports in the relevant field. To add empirical evidence, we collected data from 70 Kosovo’ SMEs by administrating an online questionnaire. Based on the study findings, the financial results deteriorated, and the drop in output and liquidity obstacles are not statistically significant. We recommend different policies to ease the adverse effects, although our suggestions may not be sufficient to help SMEs go through the ongoing crisis.

The paper examines the influence of supervision on financial stability and profit performance of insurance firms in Nigeria. Time series data spanning from 2011 – 2017 were sourced from structured research questionnaires, financial reports, industry reports, and the Nigerian insurers association (NIA) Digests. The data collected were analyzed using correlation matrix and regression analysis (OLS technique). Results from the data analyzed suggests that Insurance supervision significantly influences profit performance. Based on these findings, it is therefore recommended that Nigeria’s insurance regulatory agency should strengthen insurance operational guidelines issued to insurance firms via the execution of efficient and effective enforcement strategies.

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 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.

The paper investigated the effect of economic injections components (exports, government expenditure and domestic investment) on South African employment growth. The study employed quarterly secondary data for the period 2002-2021. The ARDL, ECM and Granger causality approaches were utilized to determine the long run, short-run and causality relationships amongst variables. The results indicated that the long-run growth in both exports and government expenditure leads to employment growth whilst a rise in domestic investment reduces employment levels. Irrespective of long run results, the domestic investment significantly creates jobs in the short term. Additionally, the study results suggested a bidirectional causality between employment exports and a unidirectional from government spending towards employment. Based on the aforementioned results, the study concluded that economic injections play a crucial role in curbing unemployment growth in South Africa. Therefore, the South African government should induce and strengthen exports oriented policies and increase its spending on production-related activities rather than consumption expenditure.

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.

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.

This paper presents the functioning of an AND logic valve, by developing a pneumatic model in the FluidSim modelling-simulation program. Also, the research by simulation will constitute the basis for implementing and developing on a test bench, the pneumatic actuation system. AND logic valves are mostly used in factories, on technological assembly lines, for an increase in security and protection of the working personnel, because the functioning of such logic valves implies that the operative uses both hands or executes two operations at the same time. Therefore, a practical example for the usage of such valves is when there is actuated a press, when, for labour protection reasons, in order to eliminate the possibility that the operative may harm himself, the press can only be actuated by pressing the actuation element with both hands.Yet again, another application of an AND logic valve is when the pressure within the circuit comes from two separate circuits.

Shai Tech is a Romanian company, which commercializes its personal care products in the United States through its online store. The company wants to expand in Europe, first in one of the Baltic countries. The aim of this paper is to study how a beauty company like Shai Tech evaluates the attractiveness of countries and target markets when it decides to sell its products in foreign markets. In order to achieve this purpose, the attractiveness of the Baltic countries from the perspective of demographic, economic, and labor market, also target market characteristics will be compared. The applied methodology involves 30 variables from the three dimensions analyzed and the awarding of scores for the three Baltic countries. The results reveal that Lithuania is best positioned in both the demographic dimension and economic and labor market aspects. In addition, Lithuania and Estonia have similar scores regarding the target market indicators.

Failure of classical statistical methods to model the behavior of stock market prices determined, in a domino effect, the failure of the classical paradigm of regarding markets as efficient systems. Alternative to this simple interpretation, markets should be regarded as far from equilibrum dynamical systems, complex evolving structures that encompass millions of participants, holding into their memory events that happened long time ago. This more realistic approach was developed by Fractal Market Hypothesis, as an alternative to Efficient Market Hypothesis. R/S Analysis is a robust tool for testing whether markets follow a Brownian motion or some memory effect is implied. The aim of the paper is to determine the Hurst Exponent, for company ALRO S.A., for the period of time since listing, until 16/07/2021. Results may generate indications about in the nature of the system represented by the prices of ALRO S.A. Conclusion may be that the Romanian capital market, as ALRO is one of the most representative companies listed at Bucharest Stock Exchange, has evolved from a very low stability market to a more stable investment environment.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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 face of high levels of poverty and unemployment, there is need to dissect and turn upside down any possible explanations that can assist in discovering a working formula. The most recent data collected by statistics office of Malawi, has information on the employment status of individuals and some important social economic characteristics. This paper uses the data to uncover the socioeconomic and household level antecedents of employment status of individual using the individual set of data. The main variables used were age, gender, literacy, religion, and education level to properly profile the nature of individuals that are employed, to see if this is an issue of the supply side of the labour force or the demand side of labour from the industry. An understanding of this dynamic can go a long way in finding lasting solutions to the unemployment questions and subsequently the poverty question. The study used descriptive analysis, cross tabulation, and a binary logistic regression model to analyse the data. The results showed that males had a higher chance of getting employment as compared to the counterpart women, being literate also had a higher chance of getting employment than those who were illiterate. Age of an individual showed that older people had a better chance of getting employed and on education level, those with at-least some form of education had a better chance of being employed that those without. Lastly the study recommended policy makers to emphasise on the policy of increase in school attendance across gender to improve the literacy levels in the country and the level of education. Policies on gender discrimination in workplaces should also be emphasised. Government should introduce and increase the number of incubators of SMMEs to enhance entrepreneurship in the country.

This paper examined the influence of financial development on tourism growth in selected emerging markets with the aid of panel data (2001-2019). The influence of the combination between financial and development of human capital on tourism growth in selected emerging markets was also investigated. Fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), fixed effects, pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) and the random effects were the econometric estimation methods employed in this study. In a nutshell, factors such as financial sector development, foreign direct investment, trade openness, development of human capital and economic growth and the complementarity variable had a significant positive influence on tourism growth in selected emerging markets. To enhance tourism growth, selected emerging markets are urged to design and implement policies and programmes earmarked at increasing financial development, foreign direct investment, trade openness, economic growth and development of human capital. Threshold panel regression analysis could be another avenue through which the influence of financial development on tourism is examined in future.

The automotive industry is one of the manufacturing sub-sectors that play a vital role in countries' economies. However, this industry is not exempt from the effect of fuel price and financial risk components. This study investigates the effect of fuel price and financial risk components on the South African motor trade sales for the period 2008-2021. The research is built on previous work and research on the linkage between fuel price and country risks. Auto-regression Distributed Lag (ARDL) model was applied to monthly financial data (exchange rate, interest rate), fuel price and motor trade sales. Findings suggested the presence of a long-run relationship among these variables. Findings suggested the presence of a long-run relationship among these variables. It was found that both interest rate and exchange rate have negative impacts on long-run motor trade sales. Nonetheless, the fuel price was found to be statistically insignificant to influence motor-trade sales in the long run. The results also indicated that both interest rate and exchange rate cannot impact motor trade sales in the short run. Based on these results, the study stressed that policies that strengthen and stabilise the South African currency (exchange rate) are imperative to increase sales in the automotive industry and economy in general. Easing and lowering interest rates can also assist in boosting motor trade sales irrespective of the fuel price. The paper uniquely provides the interactions between fuel price, financial risk and sales within the South African automotive industry. It also suggests strategies that can be implemented to improve sales within the aforementioned industry.

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.

In the face of high levels of poverty and unemployment, there is need to dissect and turn upside down any possible explanations that can assist in discovering a working formula. The most recent data collected by statistics office of Malawi, has information on the employment status of individuals and some important social economic characteristics. This paper uses the data to uncover the socioeconomic and household level antecedents of employment status of individual using the individual set of data. The main variables used were age, gender, literacy, religion, disability, and education level to properly profile the nature of individuals that are employed, to see if this is an issue of the supply side of the labour force or the demand side of labour from the industry. An understanding of this dynamic can go a long way in finding lasting solutions to the unemployment questions and subsequently the poverty question. The study used descriptive analysis, cross tabulation, and a binary logistic regression model to analyse the data. The results showed that males had a higher chance of getting employment as compared to the counterpart women, being literate also had a higher chance of getting employment than those who were illiterate. Age of an individual showed that older people up to a certain age had a better chance of getting employed than the younger generation and on education level, those with at-least some form of education had a better chance of being employed than those without, the disabled had a lower chance of getting employed than those not disabled. Lastly the study recommended policy makers to emphasise on the policy of increase in school attendance across gender to improve the literacy levels in the country and the level of education. Policies on gender discrimination in workplaces should also be emphasised. Government should introduce and increase the number of incubators of SMMEs to enhance entrepreneurship in the country which later may have.

This paper examined the influence of financial development on tourism growth in selected emerging markets with the aid of panel data (2001-2019). The influence of the combination between financial and development of human capital on tourism growth in selected emerging markets was also investigated. Fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), fixed effects, pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) and the random effects were the econometric estimation methods employed in this study. In a nutshell, factors such as financial sector development, foreign direct investment, trade openness, development of human capital and economic growth and the complementarity variable had a significant positive influence on tourism growth in selected emerging markets. To enhance tourism growth, selected emerging markets are urged to design and implement policies and programmes earmarked at increasing financial development, foreign direct investment, trade openness, economic growth and development of human capital. Threshold panel regression analysis could be another avenue through which the influence of financial development on tourism is examined in future.

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. Based on the study outcome, the study acclaims the need for continuous improvement of the asset quality of the bank by management to ensure a decline in the non-performing loan. More so, sound credit culture, policies, and corporate governance are needed to reduce the incidence of non-performing loans that can threaten the survival of the banks.

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 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 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.

Traditional retail banks face fierce competition from disruptive mobile innovations, consequently driving these conventional banks to invest more resources in mobile channels to maintain and sustain a competitive edge. Among the mobile innovations that revolutionised retail banking is mobile banking, which offers considerable convenience as financial services can be used without the physical access requirements of traditional banking. A validated scale is required to grasp better South African consumers' behavioural intention to use mobile banking. Therefore, this paper aimed to validate a scale measuring mobile banking behavioural usage intention, which, following a comprehensive search of the major academic databases, currently lacks in the South African context. To breach this literature gap, a survey questionnaire was completed by mobile banking consumers (N=334) who use mobile banking. The data was then analysed using analysis of moment structures (AMOS) software. The confirmatory factor analysis results produced in AMOS showed that the behavioural-intention-to-use mobile banking scale is a reliable, valid and well-fitting six-factor structure comprising attitude, perceived behavioural control, self-efficacy, trust, behavioural intention and structural assurances. As the first validated mobile banking behavioural usage intention scale in South Africa, this six-factor scale or structure can be used in path analysis to assess further which factors directly or indirectly predict mobile banking consumers' behavioural tendencies to use mobile banking.

This paper empirically examines the impact of defence and security on foreign direct investment (FDI) in Nigeria using quarterly historical data covering the period of 1994q1-2019q4 and an ARDL and VAR econometric techniques are adopted as tools of data analysis. The results from both econometric approaches revealed that foreign direct investment responds negatively to the exogenous occurrence of security threats both in the short and long runs. Also, economic instability and uncertainty are shown to cause drag in foreign direct investment inflow in Nigeria. This study further shows that economic liberalization, proxy with trade openness, and economic progress, proxy with the growth of gross domestic product per capita contribute immensely to the flow of foreign direct investment into Nigeria. The study recommendations drawn from the findings are that national security challenges should be addressed without delay by the government at all the tiers levels to change the course of the downward trend of FDI in Nigeria; establish risk adverting policy to reduce economic uncertainty; promote price stability policy to reduce economic instability; diversifying the economy to further increase economic progress which greatly drives FDI inflow, and encourage economic liberalization which brings benefit through market expansion.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.