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This paper reflects on conferences of the first five years of the International Academy of African Business and Development (IAABD: 2000-2004) focusing specifically on the conference proceedings. The papers presented at the five conferences and published in their proceedings were reviewed and analysed in terms of functional areas covered, the research methodologies employed, as well as the geographical spread and country focus of the authors. The analysis demonstrates a number of significant achievements for IAABD and identifies a number of challenges for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The involvement of women in business in developing countries has become a subject of great interest for many researchers. In particular, female involvement in microfinance institutions has received special attention from governments and development institutions given its potential impact on poverty alleviation. This paper assesses the effect of gender on the credit risk and performance of microfinance institutions in sub-Saharan Africa. A sample of 43 microfinance institutions from 19 sub-Saharan African countries was selected and data was collected over the period 2010–2016. Seemingly unrelated regressions (SURs) were performed to examine how gender affects the credit risk and performance of microfinance institutions. The findings do not show any significant impact of female loan officers on credit risk, financial performance or social performance. Thus, all else being equal in the countries analyzed, female loan officers do not impact the credit risk and performance differently compared to male credit officers. The contribution of this paper is to shed light on the debate on the impact of gender on the performance of microfinance institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines how corruption-induced inhibitions influence business-related corruption from the perspectives of business leaders in Ghana. Data were collected through focus group discussion with Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of multi-national and local companies operating in Ghana. The findings show that business leaders encounter multiple regulatory agencies with duplicated and overlapping functions, multiple charges for virtually the same and duplicated services, multiple law enforcement agencies also performing regulatory functions at the Ports of entry, inadequate information on processes and costs of services, and inadequate channels for reporting corrupt activities in Ghana. The paper argues that these challenges trigger corruption-induced inhibitors which in turn, negatively affect the growth of the private-sector in Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper principally explores the determinants of successful information technology entrepreneurship in Nigeria's IT sector. It further examines the moderating effect of mentorship (either by an IT practitioner or a non-IT practitioner) in the correlation between the independent variables of interest and dependent variable. Literature from the developed markets underscores a positive relationship between training and successful entrepreneurship. However, such relationship is seldom explored within the context of developing markets such as Nigeria. Thus, this paper explores the impact of specific factors such as IT-focused entrepreneurial training, being born by entrepreneur parents, business school training, faith in a supernatural and mentorship on IT entrepreneurial success A quantitative research design involving a web-based survey was used to collect data among 297 participants. All collected data were screened and analyzed using binary logistic regression and Exploratory Factor Analysis. The results showed that IT entrepreneurs who are born by entrepreneur parents are more likely to succeed than those without such family backgrounds. Also, the attendance of a business school is a significant predictive factor for IT entrepreneurial success in Nigeria. Surprisingly, no significant correlation exists between formal education in the IT field and IT entrepreneurial success. Further, no significant moderating effect of mentorship was present. This implies that IT entrepreneurs in Nigeria need to harness the benefits of entrepreneurial family background and business school education to sustainably grow their businesses and become successful. Also, committed federal government backing is needed to introduce innovative entrepreneurial initiatives to improve competence among IT entrepreneurs in Nigeria. General business/management training is needed besides conventional IT training as the former is a better predictor of success among IT entrepreneurs. Finally, trainings need to focus on building competencies for relationship management to aid access to resources for innovation and growth. Future studies should consider a qualitative approach to investigating the mediating impact of mentorship on IT entrepreneurship success in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we reexamine the determinants of nonperforming loans through the impact of supervisory devices in credit risk management in Africa. The paper employs bank-specific, macroeconomic and institutional data for a panel of 14 universal banks over the period 2009 to 2020. We develop models that capture the role of regulatory supervision on credit risk. Findings from the Panels Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) and the system GMM shows that previous year's NPL and inflation significantly affect NPLs in the banking space of Gana. Bank size and financial development are inversely associated with NPLs. The interactive term of regulatory quality and government effectiveness on NPLs has net negative effect. This suggest that regulatory quality enhances the reductive effects of government effectiveness on NPLs. Our findings in general lends credence to the financial instability theory as NPLs in the Ghanaian context has been the outcome of activities of speculative borrowers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the business models and theories available to assist organizations in adapting their strategies to today's dynamic business environment are based on the Anglo-Saxon worldview. Yet most scholars acknowledge that these theories have limited application in cultures outside of the Anglo-Saxon world. There is a dearth of research that infuses Western conceived theories of management with indigenous ontologies. To close this gap, this paper discusses managing change from an African perspective with specific reference to sub-Saharan Africa. It utilizes the philosophy Ubuntu that pervades the subcontinent as the bedrock on which change management can be anchored, asserting that embracing the Ubuntu values offers the best outcomes for managing organizations in Africa. Using Kurt Lewin's change management model, the paper shows how incorporating the indigenous ontologies based on ubuntu in its execution can lead to sustainable change management in the sub-continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article announces that the article "Firm-Specific Managerial Experience and Social Capital -Performance Relationship in a Sub-Saharan African Transition Economy," by Moses Acquaah and Joseph Appiah-Nkrumah was announced as the winner of the 2011 Best Paper Award by "Journal of African Business."

In this paper, we model the relationship between oil price and exchange rate for Nigeria using monthly data from January 1997 to December 2019. The contributions of this paper are twofold: (i) we employ both the Symmetric ARDL and Asymmetric ARDL, and (ii) we also account for multiple structural changes in regression models. The following findings are apparent from our analyses. First, an increase in oil prices leads to depreciation of the Naira relative to the US dollar. Second, oil price asymmetries seem to matter both in the short run and in the long run. Third, the findings indicate evidence of structural breaks in the oil and exchange rate markets which coincides with the 2000 US invasion of Iraq, 2005 Asian demand soars, 2008 global financial crisis and 2015 Arab springs. Finally, we establish that disregarding the role of structural breaks and asymmetry will lead to serious biases and misleading results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurship is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon that is associated with value creation and considered a driver of economic development. While Africa exhibits a strong upsurge in the number of women entrepreneurs, the continent is still struggling in terms of gender equality and women's empowerment. The region is entrepreneurially disadvantaged, with a low degree of female participation in this field and a large gender gap in favor of men. Therefore, this paper aims to present original insights into female entrepreneurship from the context of Morocco, exploring the motivations and barriers to women entrepreneurs in the service sector. It adopts a multi-level integrative framework and combines feminist and institutional theory to capture the agency and enabling factors along with institutional regulative and normative constraints associated with female entrepreneurship. The paper adopts an interpretative qualitative research approach capitalizing on in-depth interviews with twenty women entrepreneurs in the service sector. The data is analyzed using thematic coding and identified factors are classified into micro-meso-macro levels. The findings highlight the importance of integrating multiple lens and levels of analysis to capture the complexity of the phenomenon and illustrate the imbrication and interplay of enablers and constraints and contribute theoretically and empirically to knowledge on female entrepreneurship in the North African context and a factor-driven economy through the case of Morocco. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the evidence that women in Sub-Saharan Africa become entrepreneurs faster than any other group globally, more studies are needed to understand the motivation(s) for their decision to pursue entrepreneurship. This paper aims to contribute to research on what motivates Sub-Saharan African women to become entrepreneurs. A case study approach was utilized to understand the experiences of 20 women entrepreneurs from Sub-Saharan African countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. All the study participants had tertiary-level education and left their corporate careers to pursue entrepreneurship. Pull and opportunity factors were the main factors that motivated the women interviewed to become entrepreneurs. Push and necessity factors accounted for a few cases. The level of education did not dictate the pull and opportunity factors of motivation. These findings are important because previous studies have stereotyped Sub-Sahara African women entrepreneurs with the generalization that they are motivated to become entrepreneurs by push and necessity factors and are often uneducated and on the fringe of economic activity. The paper makes specific policy recommendations for harnessing motivations and linking them to broader economic development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the possibility of asymmetry in the reaction of output growth to inflation shocks in South Africa by making use of the Markov-switching vector autoregressive model. Using quarterly data from 1969Q1 to 2013Q4, the empirical finding suggests that the reaction of output growth to inflation shocks is not only regime dependent but is also contingent on how the monetary authority reacts to such shocks. Two important regimes are identified; the high and low inflation volatility regimes. Consistent with the signal extraction theory, the output effect of inflation shocks is found to be significantly lower in the high inflation volatility regime compared to the low inflation regime. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the promotional activities embraced by informal clothing manufacturing micro-enterprises (CMMEs) in the informal economy of an emerging market. Informal micro-enterprises are both income and job-generating alternatives for unemployed people in South Africa's townships. Recent research has highlighted the need to develop unique marketing strategies to address challenges in emerging markets and help CMMEs realize their true potential. A qualitative case study, which included personal interviews with 13 CMME owners and observations at a workshop with five participating CMMEs, was undertaken at a business incubation hub. The findings from this study suggested the prevalence of opportunistic self-started promotional activities and assisted promotional activities. CMMEs selectively embrace some of the methods and activities contained in the conventional, innovational and fashion entrepreneur promotional mix strategies. The opportunistic use of promotional methods resulted in the survivalist promotional mix particular to the informal CMME in an African context. This paper makes a theoretical contribution to the knowledge base of marketing literature within the informal economy context, and literature about informal clothing micro businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the economic potential of music streaming in a developing African economy. It aims to know whether, in emerging African countries, the economic value of music streaming can significantly improve the world's music market revenue growth. Hence, the study uses two marketing theories, product and marketing concepts, to conceptualize a hypothesized model based on survey data from Nigeria. Specifically, it achieves its objective by analyzing the factors that correlate with premium music streaming using the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). Our findings suggest that music sampling and consumer attitude are crucial for determining purchase intention and premium streaming. Additionally, we find that stringent anti-piracy measures and low streaming costs can influence optimal music purchase intention and premium music streaming behavior. Overall, while the study fosters an understanding of the economic potential of music streaming in emerging African markets, its evidence supports the literature with valuable insights for decision-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to finance is perceived as one of the major problems facing businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the structures that support them in their development. This paper aims to measure the probability that a support structure with given characteristics, specific services to entrepreneurs and some technical capacities will face large-scale financial problems. We estimate a multinomial logistic model using a pool of disaggregated data collected by the Nkafu Policy Institute in a survey of 80 business support structures in Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Ghana in 2021. Our results show that the financial health of a business support structure is not fundamentally dependent on the duration of support, but rather on other factors related to the quality of services offered to entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customers have become active and engaged with multiple actors outside the hotel, raising new challenges to theory and practice. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the external actors with which customers interact to ascertain which ones foster/hinder customer engagement and value co-creation/destruction. We used qualitative methods (16 in-depth interviews, document analysis, and four participants' observations) gathered from seven regions in Ghana. Data were analyzed using Nvivo12 within a thematic analysis framework designed to identify, analyze, and describe patterns found in data. The study revealed that guests' interactive engagement with multiple actors beyond the hotel environment influences their experience, either fostering or hindering value co-creation. Positive and negative engagement fosters/hinders guests' interactions and the potential for value co-creation/destruction. The study offers a novel connection between customer interactions, engagement, and value co-creation to discover and depict the external actors' actions that foster or hinder customers' experience in the hotel setting. Industry players can use the developed customer interactive engagement framework and value co-creation/destruction actors in tourist and hotel settings to assess their businesses and explore the value they aim to generate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates how regulatory policy modulates the complex relationship between market power and bank lending. The empirical evidence is based on the seemingly unrelated panel regressions by employing a dataset of 52 African countries for the period, 2006–2018. The study finds a U-shaped relationship between market power and bank lending. The study shows that the estimated thresholds fall within the range of -4.38 to 9.67 of market power. It observes that the thresholds of market power in countries with stringent regulatory policies are relatively greater than countries operating in low regulatory policy regimes. The study shows a negative and direct effect of market power on lending. In the light of interactions, the conditional effects are estimated to provide meaningful interpretations. This is relevant to policymakers because our established conditional effects, imply that regulatory policy is a sufficient complementary condition for reducing the negative effect of market power on bank lending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Business strategy literature argues that firm survival and growth in any competitive environment depend on the adaptation of suitable competitive business strategies. Despite the growing interest in strategic management within the fish farming industry, there is a notable lack of empirical evidence exploring how the competitive environment influences companies’ business strategy and performance. This paper examines the direct effect of competitive strategy and the moderating effect of competitive intensity on business strategy-performance relationship. Using hierarchical regression to analyze 306 samples gathered from fish farming firms of south-Benin, empirical evidence shows that competitive strategy including cost-leadership, and both product quality and marketing differentiation strategies impact positively firm financial performance. This research highlights the relative importance of product quality differentiation strategy. In addition, findings indicate that competitive intensity structure contribute to firm success. Surprisingly, findings show that competitive intensity does not significantly moderate the effect of cost-leadership and product differentiation strategies. Besides, the effect of marketing strategy on firm performance becomes more negative under high competition in the domestic market. Study recommends that firms should gain organizational economic outcomes by pursuing cost-leadership strategy and product differentiation strategy whatever competitive intensity states in the domestic market of fish farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relying on the World Bank Enterprise Survey dataset in 2012/13, this paper applies the unconditional quantile regression and decomposition estimation techniques to examine the hypothesis that workers in exporting firms receive higher wages than those in non-exporting firms. The results show that the relationship between export and firm's wage bill is indirect and is transmitted through technology and firm size. Remarkably, these indirect relationships are much more pronounced at the more upper quantiles of the wage bill distribution. However, the net relationships of the interaction between export and technology are relatively larger and positive as compared to that of the interaction between export and firm size which are marginal and mixed. The decomposition analysis indicates that much of the present exporter wage premiums are largely due to the differences in the returns to the characteristics between exporting and non-exporting firms. The findings from this paper suggest directions for future work that can be directly useful for policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Broadly, the African Diaspora includes anyone with roots in the African continent. The World Bank estimates that this is around 140 million people. This paper focuses on the diaspora in the English-speaking/Commonwealth Caribbean. It reviews existing research, both quantitative and qualitative, on culture and management, including recent results of the LEAD research. The paper provides a new and more complete understanding of the implications of culture for managers in these countries. The paper synthesizes the results from research projects to reach conclusions about practical implications for management. The paper also suggests avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's agro-food supply chains have become increasingly complex and vulnerable to risks, which affect their performance. Nevertheless, research on agro-food supply chain performance (SCP) is reportedly limited. And the mechanism through which supply chain orientation (SCO) builds SCP, especially in developing economies is less understood. Therefore, this paper explores the relationship between SCO and SCP, and incorporates the mediating role of supply chain risk management (SCRM) capabilities. Cross-sectional survey data collected from 247 agro-food processing firms in Uganda are analyzed by using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling. The findings reveal that SCO positively and significantly influences both SCP and SCRM capabilities. Furthermore, SCRM capabilities partially mediate in the relationship between SCO and SCP. The novelty of this research is twofold: First, it establishes the relationship between SCO and SCP in a unique context of agro-food processing firms in a developing country. Second, it reveals the partial mediating role of SCRM capabilities, thereby addressing the gap of the need to explore the mechanisms through which SCO influences SCP. The fundamental implication of the study findings for practicing managers and other relevant stakeholders in agro-food processing firms in Uganda and other contextually similar economies is that, a focus on SCO can improve SCP, but it is important to further emphasize building SCRM capabilities as mechanisms for maximizing the overall SCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Choosing the most effective language is critical when advertising to multilingual audiences as the success of any advertising campaign depends on whether the audience "gets" the message. This paper argues that in Africa, "getting the message" is partly dependent on language given that indigenous languages, colonial legacy languages and blends between them compete for audience attention. Using Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) arguments, the study examines this possibility among a 1000 multilingual audience members in five cosmopolitan cities in Ghana. Findings show that advertisements are not consumed in a language vacuum and that language blends are the most appealing to the multilingual audience. The study also finds that attention to, and belief in advertisements are partly shaped by language preference. Besides these empirical contributions, the study positions the ELM as a viable theoretical lens for analyzing the implications of advertising language. Its use of an African sample to test the ELM's assumptions also introduces novel evidence to the theory's body of scholarship. Recommendations are made on how advertising practitioners and brand communicators may take advantage of language as an important segmentation criterion in advertising strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between ethical behavior of firms and foreign direct investments in African countries and tests whether the judicial independence moderates this association. The sample includes 108 country-year observations over a period of 2014–2017. Findings show that the ethical behavior of firms is positively associated with foreign direct investment. Similarly, judicial independence has a positive and significant effect on the same variable. When testing for the moderating effects of judicial independence, the association between ethical behavior of firms and foreign direct investment remains positive and significant for high judicial independence sub-sample, while it becomes insignificant for countries characterized by low judicial independence. The findings highlight the importance of business ethics in attracting foreign direct investment inflows in African countries. It also emphasizes the need to consider the role played by high judicial independence in strengthening this association. These results signal to policy makers in African countries the importance of adopting enforcing rules obliging firms to act ethically and strengthening judicial independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While studies on corporate philanthropy have blossomed in recent times, little is known empirically about its practice formalized through foundations. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with seven corporate foundations, this paper explored the giving strategies, opportunities, and challenges of corporate foundations in Ghana. Our findings based on thematic analysis revealed that corporate foundations rely on a combination of strategies (request, media-lead, adoption, and contest) to identify potential beneficiaries and implement their giving programs. Further evidence indicates that giving of corporate foundations presents opportunities to the foundations themselves (serve society, get partnership offers from other companies, and obtain goodwill from the public) and their parent companies (indirect business and advertising opportunities). Nonetheless, corporate foundation giving is constrained by insufficient funding, lack of support from stakeholders, managing expectations of individuals, poor maintenance culture, and cultural rites. The findings have implications for practitioners as it present insights that could serve as a model to guide new entrants into the corporate foundation landscape of developing economies. In addition, the findings could assist the development of government interventions necessary to foster more formalized corporate giving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at investigating the various factors driving technological and non-technological innovations in the manufacturing and service sectors in Ghana. We argue that numerous previous studies have shown that digitalization, firms' collaborations, access to finance, engaging in research and development and certain firm characteristic such as age, size and ownership influence firms' aptitude and incentives to be innovative. However, in the context of developing countries like Ghana, we do not know whether these same determinants also have positive effects on stimulating innovations at the firm-level. Using a sample of 549 firms sourced from the World Bank Enterprises Survey conducted between 2007 and 2013, this study finds that the adoption of digitalization promotes non-technological (organizational) innovations than technological innovations. We also find that firms' innovation collaboration with consultants and universities rather exert no impact on technological and non-technological innovations. Our finding show that internal R&D enhance technological innovations and not non-technological innovations. The main practical implications of the study are that attempts to boosting firm-level and developing countries innovation potentials should mainly focus on improving internal R&D and innovation support activities, expanding access to finance, and upgrading Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure to enhance digitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research on 'mobiles for development' focuses on outcomes and impact of services. This paper focuses on the underlying business models. It draws on two case studies as part of a UK Aid funded evaluation of the GSM Association led mNutrition programme. Vodafone Farmers Club in Ghana provides agricultural and nutrition information via SMS and Wazazi Nipendeni in Tanzania is a maternal and child health SMS service. The paper presents the salient points of the two contrasting business models, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of both. The merits of the different approaches depend on the principle motivation, but when it comes to delivering positive outcomes among the poorest, the weight of evidence appears to be in favor of an independent, third party driven model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite substantial research on exporting in Africa, there has been negligible if any empirical research on a choice between regional and extra-regional markets as the locus of firms' expansion. Using multiple-case studies, this paper provides an in-depth analysis of the drivers of exports revenue from extra-regional markets. The paper also explores whether two main theories, transaction cost economics (TCE) and resource-based view (RBV) compete or complement each other in explaining the choice of this market category. Data and information from an open-ended interview with four firms and five supporting institutions show that country-specific advantages attract investors with superior resources and capabilities to lucratively exploit preferential market opportunities in extra-regional markets, particularly USA. When choosing the latter over regional markets, firms anchor their operations in the global value chains, the TCE and RBV intertwine in providing further explanations. In conclusion, this study urges governments and business managers targeting high-value markets outside Africa to tie buyer-driven industries such as clothing to similar value chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the debate about Africa's financial stability by focusing on the prevalence of systemic risk in 40 listed derivatives user-banks over 2011–2017, employing the systemic risk index (SRI), and subsequently exploring how it links to the continent's financial market development. The systemic risk buildup within the industry is mainly depicted as an unstable, diluted, and possibly depleting process. Gloomy predictions persist in the subsequent attempts to uncover plausible causes of systemic risk formation. Mainly, conventional defining factors for risk exhibit irrelevance toward systemic risk development, as threats to financial stability remain confined within the industry, supported by a lack of diversification in financial services. The investigated markets may be individually subject to internal vulnerabilities that could be exacerbated by financial shocks, feedback effects, and the likelihood of contagion and failure among financial institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Credit union is considered as an alternative solution for global poverty and financial inclusiveness for social development. However, to achieve this goal, first and foremost a credit union must be sustainable. The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic literature review on the key determinants of sustainability of credit unions and its measurements through comprehensive literature search and assessment based on the PRISMA-P guidelines. The findings reveal standard quantitative measures such as operations of self-sufficiency ratio, financial sustainability score, return on assets and pearl index (two studies qualitatively assessed governance structure and membership rate as measures). Additionally, key factors such as efficiency, loan management factors, deposit mobilization, portfolio at risk, credit risk, regulatory environment, and asset factors are significant determinants of sustainability of credit unions. The findings suggest a great need for complementarity of role and responsible conduct of the key stakeholders (members), staff, management and enabling regulatory environment for sustainable credit union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares BAT's business environment in Kenya and Uganda in light of the World Health Organization's (WHO) tobacco control initiative. It also illustrates the use of tobacco tax by Sub-Saharan African countries to address tobacco related conundrums. The comparison revealed elements of government ambivalence towards tobacco business and a possible recourse to tobacco tax to mollify global pressure against big tobacco. The paper uses the partial correlations between tobacco tax and basic economic development indicators across Sub-Saharan Africa and previous World Bank data as indicative of tobacco tax efficacy in controlling consumption in the region. It suggests that Sub-Saharan Africa may find regionally designed tax-based policy guidelines a palatable strategic alternative to global firms (such as BAT) that face a hostile global business environment. A united policy front that fits within the region's institutions can reduce complexity and create efficiencies through lower administrative costs across the region. Such action will make the region relatively more attractive (than it is currently) to foreign investors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite an increase in the share of female-owned existing and new start-up firms in Senegal, there is still wide belief that female entrepreneurs are discriminated against in the credit market. This paper empirically investigates such gender-based discrimination, and the extent to which it might be translated into lower performance. Using firm-level data and a methodological approach that consists of the data envelopment analysis, an endogenous switching regression and a propensity score matching, the paper suggests that there is no such thing as gender-based discrimination, and to the extent that they benefit from credit, female reap equal returns from the funds, efficiency-wise. These results do not however call for the abandonment of gender-biased public policies aiming at promoting access to credit and entrepreneurship, but suggest they be grounded on more robust footings such as managers' education, firms' ownership, sectorial activities, and geographical locations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of bank competition on access to credit by informal firms in 14 Sub Saharan African countries using World Bank enterprise survey data. Access to credit is one of the main factors identified as hindering the growth of these opaque borrowers with poor financial transparency. This study uses a binary choice probit model to estimate the probability or likelihood of accessing finance conditional on the level of bank competition and other firm-level characteristics. Results show that the impact of competition measured using the recent and empirically robust Boone indicator is negative and significant in line with the market power hypothesis. These results suggest that improving the competitiveness of the banking sector by encouraging entrance of more players and curbing anti-competitive conducts should be promoted without compromising the soundness of the sector. Reducing or minimizing information asymmetry using public credit registries is good for enhancing financial access and governments should invest resources on maintaining, updating and increasing the coverage of these registries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to test and examine the interrelationships amongst customer satisfaction, customer service, innovation, and competitive pricing in the laundry industry in Ghana using the covariance approach of Structural Equation Modeling. Quantitative research design was adopted for this study. The data set used to meet this paper's main objectives was collected using face to face meeting of laundry customers and requesting them to fill out a 1–5 point Likert scale questionnaire. The results demonstrate the mediating effects and moderating effects that customer service, competitive pricing, and innovation has on customer satisfaction in the laundry service industry in Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the consequences of Mauritania's exit from the West African regional trade agreement with respect to the region and in comparison, to the general effects on the performance of trade determinants. The selected trade determinants include alliances and regional trade agreements (RTA)-which are bilateral factors envisaged to foster international trade. Using a gravity model, the paper adopts PPML vis-à-vis difference-in-impact technique to evaluate the changes in performance of trade determinants from pre-exit to post-exit periods. The magnitude of impact of RTA on trade determination is reduced upon the exit of Mauritania, prompting overall negative difference-in-impact. But similar result is not statistically significant with specific consideration of Mauritania and West African region even though the coefficients reduced in post-exit. The impact of non-reciprocal general system of preference (GSP) significantly reduced as Mauritania exited ECOWAS. It is established that not all alliances influence trade positively. Overall, military alliance produces negative difference-in-impact; imbued with mixed reactions from other variables. It is therefore affirming that the exit of an alliance and regional trade agreement would require assessing their performance relative to trade determination. Alternative negotiation for trade preference is suggested if exit is unavoidable; thereby providing meaningful and useful lesson for implementation of alliance or RTA entrance and exit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews some key models and best practices used in the financing of small businesses with Sub-Saharan Africa as a focus. For a region where poverty is the highest in the world, the need to develop sustainable microlending schemes is of paramount importance if Sub-Saharan Africa is to eradicate poverty. Over the last twenty years, donor agencies had been the key drivers in the microlending sector. However, there is now evidence to suggest that the approach by donor agencies in the financing of small businesses has not been sustainable. This paper examines some of the successful models in use and outlines some of the reasons why some of these models have been largely unsuccessful. The paper proceeds to identify the necessary steps to be taken by governments and other stakeholders in a bit to promote sustainable microlending models. The significance of venture capital in small business development is also discussed. From a managerial perspective, the key models outlined in this study are of significant importance in the promotion of sustainable microlending schemes. One of the key problems facing managers in this sector is in the area of training and research. Not many staff in this sector are trained enough to manage sustainable microlending projects. There is also lack of adequate research and managers therefore rely on outdated and, largely, unsuccessful schemes for future projects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Unreliable electricity supply is a widespread problem in developing countries. This paper examines the impact of power outages on firm productivity in East Africa, considering the effect of generator ownership in general and during blackouts. The results show large negative effects of power outages on productivity and a mitigating effect of self-generating during power outages of approximately the same size. However, self-generation is also found to generally reduce productivity due to the idle capital effect of unused generators during blackout-free times. This finding highlights that self-generation is only profitable for firms if the experienced power outages are severe enough. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the crucial role that multinational enterprises (MNEs) can play in advancing sustainability, progress toward meeting the United Nations' Agenda for Sustainable Development by 2030 has been slow. MNEs are partly responsible, and even though they recognize that they are part of a larger social, economic and ecological ecosystem, and that sustainability can enhance their long-term growth and viability, they have been slow to embrace it. The sustainability and MNE literature initially focused on the sustainability priorities found in developed market multinational enterprises (or DMNEs). Increasingly, "home-grown" (or indigenous) multinationals from emerging market regions have garnered more attention but research on sustainability in the emerging market context is still lagging, despite the fact that emerging markets – and its businesses – have potentially much to gain from embracing sustainability. This paper examines the sustainability discourse in South Africa and identifies the sustainability priorities of its largest indigenous firms. The sustainability reports of South Africa's largest public firms in 2019 were analyzed using Centering Resonance Analysis (CRA). Results indicate that South African MNEs focus on business and societal aspects of sustainability, more so than on environmental protection initiatives. This finding likely reflects: 1) South Africa's context and its sustainability priorities, 2) a diverse sectoral sample, 3) geographic dispersion of South African MNE subsidiaries (presence in other emerging, developed or developing markets with different sustainability priorities by market profile), or 4) a combination of these factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a well-established practice of many Sub-Saharan African (SSA) governments to aid entrepreneurs within both the formal and informal sectors to enhance their performance and growth. Unfortunately, there is no agreed method by which governments can differentiate between entrepreneurs and target them with the appropriate promotion policies. Thus, despite the good intentions, entrepreneurship policy initiatives have been incorrectly targeted, poorly implemented, and without the desired results, since different entrepreneurs may require different forms of assistance. Some scholars have suggested that without a context-specific classificatory guide, policymakers are unlikely to be accurate in their assessment of the growth capabilities of prospective candidates for specific promotion initiatives and this can explain some of the policy failures. This observation has motivated the present paper. Our objective is to provide a framework that helps identify the different contextual dimensions influencing formal and informal enterprise creation processes in SSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of corruption on economic development have been extensively examined. There is overwhelming evidence that corruption is detrimental to economic progress. This, in turn, has provided the rationale to combat corruption. With the insistence of international development partners, many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have put in place anticorruption strategies to fight corruption. This paper looks at the strategies adopted by some Sub-Saharan African countries to combat corruption with a view to identifying the strengths and weaknesses. Based on the successes or failures of the strategies in the cases examined, the elements that constitute a successful anticorruption strategy are identified. Of the ingredients of anticorruption strategy examined in the paper, the political will to fight corruption appears to be the overriding factor in mounting a successful anticorruption campaign. Besides identifying the necessary factors for a successful anticorruption strategy, the paper also serves as an update on the state of corruption in Sub-Saharan Africa and the literature on the causes of corruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a systematic review of challenges to doing business in Africa. It complements the extant literature by answering two critical questions: what are the linkages between the ease of doing business and economic development; and what are the challenges to doing business in Africa? In providing answers to these questions, the nexus between the ease of doing business and economic development is discussed in six main strands, namely: wealth creation and sharing; opportunities of employment; balanced regional and economic development; Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and GDP per capita; standards of living and exports. Moreover, challenges to doing business are articulated along the following lines: (i) issues related to the cost of starting a business and doing business; (ii) shortage of energy and electricity; (iii) lack of access to finance; and (v) high taxes and low cross-border trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine the existence of herding behavior in the Moroccan Stock Exchange for the period 2007–2017. Thus, we analyze the existence of herding behavior in the overall market and in each one of the four portfolios created according to firms' capitalizations. We also estimate the impact of liquidity, volatility and asymmetric market states on herding behavior. Results obtained show the existence of herding behavior in the overall market and in all size-based portfolios. Also, results show a positive impact of liquidity and volatility on investors' herding behavior for the four portfolios and for the overall market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between institutional pressures, supply chain integration and supply chain performance in the wooden furniture industry. Cross-sectional survey data collected from 86 registered wooden furniture firms in Uganda were analyzed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling. The study revealed that institutional pressures are positively and significantly related with supply chain performance and that supply chain integration plays a partial mediating role in the institutional pressures-supply chain performance relationship. Further, our component level analysis of institutional pressures reveals that whereas coercive pressure has a discernible positive influence on both supply chain integration and supply chain performance, mimetic pressure does not, while normative pressure positively influences only supply chain integration. These results underline the need to understand the role of individual components of institutional pressures and integration requirements in strategic supply chain management practice in order to boost supply chain performance of the wooden furniture firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intellectual capital is a significant determinant of firm performance heterogeneity. However, research into the direct relationship between this knowledge base asset and a firm's performance has produced contradictory results. This paper uses contingency theory to argue that a firm's age and debt are moderators in this relationship. The study sought to investigate the moderating effects of age and debt on the relationship between intellectual capital and firm performance measures from the perspective of a developing country. The study used data from the financial statements of companies listed on the Nigerian stock exchange between 2014 and 2018. According to the regression results, age and debt are significant moderators of this relationship. The findings show that older companies outperform younger companies in using intellectual capital as a performance driver. Companies with higher financial capabilities outperform companies with fewer capabilities. The study concluded with a discussion of the study's implications, contribution, and future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the existence of an extensive literature on determinants of bank profitability, there exists no paper which comprehensively weaves through this literature. We humbly undertake such a review by painstakingly discussing all the potential proxies to end up with a holistic model. We keep abreast of the evolving dynamics by proposing two new metrics, namely aging population and digitization to cope with the detrimental sequels of COVID-19. Our full-fledged model consists of bank-specific, macroeconomic-specific, crisis dummies and interacting variables. Operational risk is found to be an area that will need to be further developed in the literature. Our proposed model can be applied to a specific country or a group of countries with researchers being able to flexibly tweak our blueprint model to suit their own specific applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of local workers’ communication skills (CS) on the transfer of soft and hard skills, and the effect of CS vis-à-vis practical skills (PS) on earnings, drawing on economic sociology. It also investigates the continued importance of CS after a significant reduction in expatriate managers. The findings indicate that CS influences the transfer of soft skills, but not hard skills. Expatriate managers significantly contribute to soft skills transfer, while local supervisors are more prominent in transferring hard skills. CS is important for earnings, regardless of the operator’s PS level, but the returns to PS depend on the CS level. As firms mature and expatriate manager numbers decline the influence of CS diminishes, although it remains crucial in affecting earnings. Enhancing workers’ effective communication and shared language skills, as well as regulating recruited expatriate managers’ CS, or the assigning interpreters, can facilitate both skills transfer and earnings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Job Demands-Resources Model as a theoretical framing, the paper aims to investigate the association between job characteristics and burnout of the Tunisian police officers, taking the potential moderating role of self-efficacy as a key individual resource. To ensure more parsimonious research, we conducted a pilot study as a preliminary step in order to identify job characteristics that are specific to police work in the Tunisian context (Delphi technique). To test our research hypotheses, we carried out a confirmatory quantitative study using data from a sample of 245 Tunisian police officers using Structural Equations Modeling. Contrary to the common assumption, the results indicated that police officers are more sensitive to the job resources than to the job demands. More importantly, burnout seems to be a matter of job characteristics (social phenomenon) rather than an individual issue. This study offers a better understanding of the burnout phenomenon among police officers in an African country and especially in the post-revolutionary Tunisian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trust among actors plays an important role in contracting decisions and cooperative membership. There is, however, a concern to understand trust development and the determinants of trust perception. In this paper, trust perception is explained by emotions and calculative self-interest along with other predictors, namely transaction costs in the value chain exchange. We assume that emotional non-calculative trust and calculative self-interest are both present in local rural economies, making this context appropriate to test our hypothesis regarding the importance of emotional links in networking and contracting along the value chain. We used a sample of breeders in a local community to construct the emotional non-calculative self-interest and the calculative self-interest components and investigated how these two indicators contribute to generate trust perception. In addition, transaction costs related to opportunism, uncertainty and, dependency have strong effect on trust perception. The results provide support that emotional non-calculative self-interest fosters trust perception; despite opportunistic behavior and distrust, breeders are able to build trusty links using close relationships. Smallholder dairy farmers could use existing social networks to control high transaction costs, to foster trust and institute sustainable contracts as a way to coordinate transactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examines the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and audit risk in firms listed on the Tunisian Stock Exchange (TSE). The study covers the period 2006–2013. Panel regression analysis was used to estimate the relationship between corporate governance variables and audit risk. The results show that board size, board independence and institutional ownership were negatively related to audit risk. It is also discovered that audit risk index level increases as poor corporate governance. These findings may have important implications for analysts, investors, regulators and academics. First, the identifying factors that may influence the audit risk can help guide the reforms to improve the functioning of the financial market. Second, the study provides ample evidence of risk governance problems in the Tunisian market, highlighting the necessity of new corporate governance requirements. This study is unique in providing Tunisian evidence on the effect of corporate governance on audit risk. This paper is also relevant as it develops an index of audit risk and risk corporate governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micro-entrepreneurship literature underscores the role of individual perceptual factors in structuring the social inclusion of women while considering the social systems which shape it. However, untangling the way individual perceptual factors relate to the entrepreneurial outcome, remains a challenge, due to the social systems of women. Based on responses of 459 women micro-entrepreneurs operating in Madina, Nungua, and Tema, this paper examines the influence of women micro-entrepreneurship on social inclusion with entrepreneurial self-efficacy, fear of failure and resilience as moderators. The value of this study lies in providing significant insights on micro-entrepreneurship increasing the probability of women's social inclusion with a better strengthening of the relationship based on fear of failure and resilience. The study provides some useful academic insights and offers some practical suggestions for improving policy aimed at using women micro-entrepreneurship as a strategy for social inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]