African Journal of Economics and Business Research

Determinants of farmers’ willingness to pay for crop insurance in Ankober Woreda, North Shewa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

2024-09-27T09:39:16+00:00

This study examines the Determinants of Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for Crop Insurance in Ankober Woreda, North Shewa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia. The study used cross-sectional data from 245 randomly selected farm households from seven Ankober kebeles. It used binary Logit model to identify the main determinants of farmers’ willingness for crop insurance. The result showed that the maximum mean willingness to pay (WTP) for crop insurance in the study area is 272.5ETB (6.054$)/season / 0.25hectar and their WTP ranges from 0 ETB to 3000 ETB/ha/per season. From empirical findings, 15 explanatory variables are used in logit regression model; nine variables have shown key determinants for farmer’s willingness to pay for crop insurance in the study area. Accordingly, age of farmer’s, farmer’s education level, TLU, Credit access, income from crop production, saving habit, Awareness for Crop Insurance and Information access are statistically significant variables that determines farmers’ willingness to pay crop insurance in the study area at 1% and 5% significant level. Thus, the policy makers should work on providing education and training, expansion of credit deliver institutions, encouraging saving habit, accessing more information for crop insurance schemes and different activities for knowing crop insurance implementation in the study area.

Employee retention and organizational performance in Higher Learning Institutions: Case of the University of Rwanda

2024-09-27T09:51:19+00:00

The study aims to analyze the influence of employee retention on an organization’s performance at the University of Rwanda. The study used quantitative design, and a survey questionnaire was administered among a sample of employees. Data were analyzed using frequencies, percentage, analysis of variance and correlation. Independent variables such as attractive remuneration packages (0.882), training and development (0.782), and rewards and recognition (0.811) have strong relationship with the organizational performance. Thus, employee retention remains one of the biggest challenges for the sustenance of organization and the leaders as well. The survey has identified the key factors that lead to the retention of employees in Higher Learning Institutions.

Individual and organisational determinants of work-life balance and quality of work-life (Qwl) among nurses and pharmacists in government hospital

2024-09-27T09:58:09+00:00

Discovering the right mix between an individual’s work domain and other areas of life’s domain is crucial for nurses and pharmacists to maintain the right frame of mind and enjoy a sustained quality of work-life. This study investigates the determinants of both work-life balance and quality of work-life among public healthcare facilities and individual employees. The study evaluated this with five hypotheses on longitudinal research design to survey 198 nurses and pharmacists in Federal Medical Center, Ebute Meta, Lagos. The study utilized a simple random strategy to administer its questionnaires to these participants. The study used a multivariate multiple regression technique to underscore the hypotheses. The study demonstrated that refined workload, opportunity for managing stress, and self-management are predictors of work-life balance germane to nurses and pharmacists in the public healthcare facility. Time management, technology, and change management are organizational factors that predict work-life balance in the Federal Medical Center. While rewards and compensation, nurses' and pharmacists’ development and well-being are individual factors that are critical for elevating their quality of work-life. Organisational support, a healthy work environment, and organizational culture are organizational paradigm shifts that promote quality of work-life from an organizational lens. The study concluded that the management of public hospitals should maintain a reduced workload and work pressure on healthcare employees if robust performance, quality of work-life and patient outcomes are to be achieved among professional healthcare
employees.

Exploring the role of Artificial Intelligence capabilities on small and medium sized enterprises growth in Nigeria

2024-09-27T10:43:32+00:00

This study examined the relationship between Artificial Intelligence (AI), innovation, employment andgrowth of SMEs in Nigeria. Principal component analysis (PCA) and the structural equation model (SEM) were used to examine the role of AI on SMEs growth in Soutwest, Nigeria. The population of the study focused on SMEs firms engaging in manufacturing, hospitality, information and communication, and administrative and support services sectors. A sample size of 322 was adopted using Krejcie and Morgan method. Results of study showed that AI innovation indicators have positive relationship with SMEs growth. It was also observed that AI employment indicators exert a direct relationship with the latent factor. Overall results showed that applications of AI construct indicators remain (direct, indirect and total effect) strong on SMEs growth. Implications of the research results will offer a deeper insight for owners of SMEs, entrepreneurs, academic researchers and stakeholders to promote economic growth and development.

Anticipation of reaction of stock markets to anticipated rating announcements by the market in a crisis context and investor behaviour: The case of MENA countries

2024-09-27T10:49:05+00:00

The study explores the reaction of stock markets to anticipated or unexpected rating announcements by the
market in a crisis context by conducting an empirical study on the MENA (Middle East and North Africa)
stock market over the period from December 2010 to August 2022. The results show that the crisis context
support the anticipation of bad ratings and neutral ratings as opposed to good ratings. These results
validate the asymmetry in investor reaction to announcements of anticipated rating downgrades compared
with announcements of upgrades in times of crisis. This reaction highlights the irrational behave of
investors in times of crisis. In fact, when investors detect a risk concerning the financial situation of a stock,
they anticipate a downgrade and react quickly, even before the official announcement of the downgrade,
by selling their shares on masse. This action will cause the share price to fall. Similarly, the market’s weak
reaction to early good announcements is explained by the fact that this type of announcement does not
provide them with any unknown information to guide their financial decisions.

Effects of taxpayer’s attitudes on tax evasion among SMEs in Tanzania: A case of Singida Tax

2024-09-27T10:53:45+00:00

Paying taxes is essential to attaining sustainable economic growth and national economic independence, hence tax evasion is a concern for the economies of both wealthy and developing countries. This study examined how tax payer attitudes, particularly in the Singida Tax Region, affect tax evasion in Tanzanian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). This study employed a survey method in which data collection comprised both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. A multiple regression model was employed in combination with a descriptive study approach to ascertain the outcomes. 145 SMEs taxpayers made up the sample size. The findings demonstrate that, among SMEs in the Singida Region, peer influence, tax awareness, tax morale, and tax evasion have statistically significant relationships with the taxpayer’s attitude. This association is supported by statistics. Consequently, the United Republic of Tanzanian government needs to consider how taxpayer attitudes including peer pressure, tax knowledge, and morale affect tax evasion. This will contribute to the goal of reducing tax avoidance by all taxpayers, including SMEs Taxpayers.

The impact of financial technology (Fintech) on economic growth: Evidence from Tanzania

2024-09-27T10:56:19+00:00

This research is driven by the rapid spread of fintech, and its contributions to Tanzania’s economic growth. This study uses quantitative quarterly time series data from Tanzania from 2008 to 2022. The Augmented Dicky Fuler (ADF) is used for the stationarity test, Johansen Cointegrations for the hypothesis and Cointegrations test, VAR and VECM for testing both short-run and long-run causality relationships, and Granger Causality for testing variable causality. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model is used for parameter estimation, modelling and significance testing. The results show that the model is statistically significant and the independent variables in the regression accounted for around 89% of the overall variation in GDP. Fintech variable subscriptions have a positive impact on Tanzania’s economic growth. Thus, unemployment in Tanzania may be alleviated by the growing sector of financial technology. Fintech has involved many people from all over the world, including Tanzania, and has had a positive impact on both the national economy and per capita growth. Since TTCL and ZANTEL have witnessed a sharp decline in subscriptions, the government, as a fixed-wired broadband service provider, must take the necessary steps to increase the subscriptions.

Is coffee cooperatives performance decided by the human capital proficiency in Ethiopia?

2024-09-27T11:01:45+00:00

Advancement in revenue generation and growth for a nation is thought to be based on its human capital. The developing markets include Ethiopia and others. In a number of empirical researches, the impact of effective utilization of human capital on coffee cooperatives performances taken into account. The existing literature, especially when using the SEM model, has largely stressed on the impact of optimization of coffee cooperatives performance in human capital context and Ethiopia coffee markets. This work employs the generalized EFA, CFA, and SEM methodologies. The empirical findings in this research cooperatively establish the association among human capital proficiency and coffee cooperatives performance in Ethiopia. The research presented in this study also shows that, contrary to popular belief, human capital accumulation is not as high in the coffee cooperatives as it once was. In the Ethiopian economy, the effectiveness of human capital differs among coffee cooperatives. It was founded by SEM, when the human capital grows by one standard deviation while the other independent variables remain constant; the coffee cooperative performance often increases by a 70.3%. In this paper, we present the policy ramifications of our findings