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Using a sample of South African state‐owned enterprises (SOEs), we examine the pre‐ and post‐period impact of King III on non‐executive director (NED) compensation with emphasis on financially distressed SOEs. This paper adopts a difference‐in‐differences analysis technique with repeated measures as the basis for testing the hypotheses. The revised Altman Z‐score model which incorporates features unique to emerging markets is used to measure financial distress. Our findings indicate that SOEs that adopted King III will increase NED compensation when the firm has a positive performance and will severely penalize NED when the firm faces financial distress. This study highlights the importance of well‐crafted corporate governance policies. It further sheds light on the importance of King III and how its implementation may prove vital for the success of an enterprise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the multinational oil companies (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of the global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on development of rural women's traditional enterprises in the Niger Delta region. A total of 2,400 women were sampled across the region. Results from the use of a combined propensity score matching and logit model indicate that the GMoU model of the CSR has recorded significant success in supporting farming and fishing transformation generally, but has also undermined those initiatives that focused on empowering rural women in traditional enterprises, due to the cultural and traditional context in the region. This causes both direct harm to women and their children, and wider costs to African economies. It implies that if the GMoU interventions are not targeted to raise women's economic status and to deter aggression, invariably they may contribute towards reducing the participation of women in economic, political and social development and, by extension, dampen efforts in deterring poverty and achieving the sustainable development goals in sub‐Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes characteristics of nonfarm enterprises, their employment growth patterns, and constraints in doing business in rural Tanzania. Using unique survey data, we describe a low-return sector struggling to compete in a challenging business environment. However, about one-third of rural enterprises are growing fast. Most enterprises engage in agricultural trade. Due to a rapidly growing agricultural sector in recent years, limiting demand-side constraints, rural enterprise constraints in Tanzania mainly operate from the supply-side, suggesting that in particular access to finance, road infrastructure and rural cell phone communication is associated with employment growth. A major finding is that subjective and objective measurements of business constraints are broadly comparable. We discuss a number of factors that would help to unleash the full potential of private sector-led growth in rural areas. Marginal improvements of the rural investment climate matter for growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to estimate the productivity change of Nigerian insurance companies and to rank the companies analysed in the sample according to their productivity score. This benchmark exercise provides the companies analysed with a view of how their relative productivity can be upgraded. For this purpose, the non-parametric Luenberger productivity model is used. For comparative purposes, the non-parametric Luenberger–Hicks–Moorsteen productivity indicator is also used. The companies are ranked according to their total productivity for the period 1994–2005, using both models, which produce variations in the respective results. Economic implications arising from the study are derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper examines the efficiency of firms within the structural adjustment period in four sub-sectors in Malawian manufacturing industry: food processing, tea processing, clothing and footwear, and pharmaceuticals and soaps. We first estimate stochastic production frontiers for each sub-sector and predict firm level efficiencies using panel data between 1984 and 1988. Secondly, we attempt to associate predicted firm level efficiencies with firm-specific and industry characteristics using a censored Tobit regression analysis. Results reveal that the average annual technical efficiency ranges from 53 per cent in the pharmaceuticals and soaps sub-sector in 1984 to 83 per cent in the clothing and footwear sub-sector in 1984. Technical efficiencies decline over time in the food processing, tea processing, and clothing and footwear sub-sectors while those in the pharmaceuticals and soaps sub-sector increase over time. We also find that technical efficiency significantly declines with firm size, domestic monopoly power and tariffs, while it is a positive function of factor intensity and skills of workers. Cet article examine l'efficience des entreprises en période d'ajustement structurel dans quatre sous-secteurs de l'industrie manufacturière au Malawi: agroalimentaire, transformation du thé, vêtements et chaussures, produits pharmaceutiques et savons. Nous estimons d'abord pour chaque sous-secteur des frontières stochastiques des possibilités de production et nous prédisons le niveau d'efficience des entreprises sur la base des données recueillies au moyen d'un panel entre 1984 et 1988. En second lieu, nous tentons d'associer le niveau d'efficience prédit à des caractéristiques propres à l'entreprise ou au métier en utilisant une analyse de régression censurée. Les résultats montrent que l'efficience technique varie en moyenne de 53% dans le sous-sec [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been identified to promote exports of host countries by augmenting domestic capital for exports, helping to transfer technology and new products for exports, facilitating access to new and large foreign markets, providing training for the local workforce, and upgrading technical and management skills. However, little is known on the role of FDI in the export behaviour of firms in developing countries. The main questions raised in this study are: how does FDI affect the export decisions of firms? How does FDI affect export performance of firms? This study examined the export-decision and export performance within the Ghanaian manufacturing sector on a panel of plants from 1991 to 2002. Using a probit model, the results show that FDI has a positive effect on firms' decision to export. The random effect results also reveal a positive relationship between FDI and export performance. Clearly, the results of this study indicate that FDI is very relevant in influencing the export decisions and export performance of Ghanaian firms. The findings have significant implications for policy in terms of promoting initiatives to encourage more FDI inflows in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine whether foreign-owned firms pay higher wages and have higher employment than domestically owned firms using survey data from 19 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Our results indicate that foreign-owned firms pay higher average wages than domestically owned firms, with the wage premium found to be higher for white-collar workers. We find little evidence of a positive employment effect of foreign ownership, though the evidence suggests a positive employment effect of Chinese ownership on workers in manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We survey, using international criteria, the institutional record for quality corporate governance in Africa. The record leads us to the conclusion that corporate governance in Africa is enriched by expanding the framework of analysis beyond the conventional criteria (homo economicus) to incorporate moral sentiments – the influence of norms and values. Such considerations, we argue, can improve our understanding of boardroom dynamics and the characteristics of the decision management and decision control they engender in ‘Business Africa’. En utilisant des critères internationaux, nous passons en revue les antécédents institutionnels en matière de gouvernance de qualité dans les entreprises en Afrique. Sur la base de ces antécédents, nous pouvons conclure qu’en Afrique, la gouvernance institutionnelle est enrichie par l’élargissement du cadre d’analyse au-delà des critères conventionnels (homo economicus), et l’inclusion des sentiments moraux, l’influence des normes et des valeurs. Nous soutenons que ces considérations nous permettront de mieux appréhender la dynamique des réunions de conseil d’administration ainsi que les caractéristiques de la gestion et du contrôle des décisions qu’elles engendrent dans “les affaires en Afrique”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]