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Commodity Indices Risk and Return Analysis Against Libor Benchmark
55-66Views:284This study analyze the risk and return characteristics of commodity index investments against the LIBOR benchmark. Commodity-based asset allocation strategies can be optimized by benchmarking the risk and return characteristics of commodity indices with LIBOR index rate. In this study, we have considered agriculture, energy, and precious metals commodity indices and LIBOR index to determine the risk and return characteristics using estimation techniques in terms of expected return, standard deviation, and geometric mean. We analyzed the publicly available daily market data from 10/9/2001 to 12/30/2016 for benchmarking commodity indices against LIBOR. S&P GSCI Agriculture Index (SGK), S&P GSCI Energy Index (SGJ), and S&P GSCI Precious Metals Index (SGP) are taken to represent each category of widely traded commodities in the regression analysis. Our study uses time series data based on daily prices. Alternative forecasting methodologies for time series analysis are used to cross-check the results. The forecasting techniques used are Holt-Winters Exponential Smoothing and ARIMA. This methodology predicts forecasts using smoothening parameters. The empirical research has shown that the risk of each of the commodity index that represents agriculture, energy, and precious metals sector is smaller compared to its return, whereas LIBOR based interest rate benchmark shows higher risk compared to its return in recession, non-recession and overall periods.
JEL Classification: C43, G13, G15
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Board diversity and firm value; mediating effect of CSR of listed oil firms in Nigeria
Views:477In this empirical study, the mediating effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the nexus between corporate value and board diversity is investigated. However, hypotheses developed for this study were tested with annualized panel dataset of eight (8) Nigerian listed oil and gas firms in the upstream sector spanning 2012 to 2019. Stakeholder theory was used to underpin the study. The study employed three indicators for board diversity (board professionalism, board nationality and board gender), Tobin’s Q and amount spent on CSR. The panel regression results show that looking at the indirect effect in Model One; board diversity has no significant effect on firm value. However, empirical findings indicated that CSR exerts a significant and positive relationship with corporate value. Considering Model Two, the results show that CSR plays a pertinent role in establishing the nexus between corporate value and board diversity, this finding is congruent with stakeholder theory. The study recommends that environmental sensitive firms should maintain an appropriate and balance diverse board as it plays a pertinent and significant role in establishing the nexus between stakeholder relationship and the firms, which can also serve as a mechanism to mitigate manager's opportunistic tendencies behind CSR investment.
JEL code: L95, M14, M41
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The role of mental budgeting in healthy financial behavior: a survey among self-employed entrepreneurs
15-25Views:605Self-employed entrepreneurs (without personnel) manage their business and household finances at the same time. Both domains tend to interact with each other. In this study, it is studied whether and how self-employed entrepreneurs manage their finances. More specifically, the role of mental budgeting and time orientation in healthy financial behavior is studied. Mental budgeting is a way to manage expenses. It entails setting budgets, making reservations on budgets, compensating after too much spending on a budget, and non-fungibility (treating money as earmarked and categorized). It can be expected that self-employed entrepreneurs using mental budgeting strategies behave in a more healthy financial manner. Survey data were collected among self-employed people without personnel in The Netherlands. The survey contained, among others, questions about the company, time orientation, financial management, tax attitude, reported tax compliance, and concern or worry about the future. Questions were factor analyzed using principal component analyses. The resulting scales were used for further analyses. Regression analyses were performed to predict concern or worry about finances, financially restricting to and exceeding budgets, and reporting tax compliance. In this paper, two components of time orientation are distinguished: awareness of consequences and carelessness about the future. From these components, four orientation types of self-employed people were obtained. The orientation type focusing on long-term consequences shows more healthy financial behavior, whereas the orientation type focusing on the present and less on consequences shows less healthy financial behavior. Responsible and healthy financial behavior of self-employed entrepreneurs is related to focusing on long-term consequences, using mental budgeting, and keeping one’s budgets. Aspects of mental budgeting are predicting worry about business finances. Differential effects of mental budgeting were found on restricting one’s budgets, and exceeding budgets, respectively. Of two measures of future circumstances (work disability, pension), only pension measures were predicting worrying about finances. Mental budgeting was not related to tax compliance, except for fungibility. Past tax behavior is predictive of other (past) tax behaviors. Fiscal history measures prove to be correlated with present measures.
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MARKET CONCENTRATION AND DEMAND FOR ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES IN MAJOR MOTOR PARKS WITHIN IBADAN METROPOLIS, OYO STATE, NIGERIA
Views:375The value addition to alcoholic beverages through packaging in small nylon and increase in the introduction of new brands has led to its high demand and many Nigerians earning their means of livelihood through the sales. The study showed that the average consumption per day was 6.1 sachets per week. The study revealed that 28.6% of the consumers’ monthly income was spent on alcoholic beverages per month. Seaman brand had the highest market share (73.4%); this was followed by Chelsea (66.2%). The study affirmed that 62.9% of the consumers based their choice on high alcoholic content while 3.1% claimed the choice was based on the medicinal (cures pile) value. Also, Captain Jack had the highest market concentration (0.35). The age of respondents, marital status, household size, and the quantity consumed per week were the factors that influenced consumers’ monthly expenditure on alcoholic beverages. It is recommended that efforts should be made by the government to reduce the rate of consumption of alcoholic beverages at the motor parks by enforcing the existing (FRSC Act cap 141 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria) law banning/regulating the sales or increasing tax on the brands to make it out of reach for most consumers.
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Total Quality Management in the food industry – Current situation and potential in Germany
83-87Views:672The requirements in terms of information availability, risk precaution and control in the food industry continue to increase. In this context the interest of companies in the Total Quality Management (TQM) approach is also increasing. This development attracts notice to Business Excellence and connected systems. Similarly, various quality management tools and techniques are available. In this regard a research project analyzed to what extent the companies in the food industry apply different activities of the TQM scheme. The research calculates the importance that the companies attach to different requirements of TQM and how they implement them. Additionally, statistical analysis provides evidence that there is a positive correlation between the implementation of the activities of TQM and the medium- to longterm success of a company. In this article the methodology and major findings of this research project are presented.
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A Quantitative Assessment of the Rurality and an Efficiency Analysis of Emigration in Romania
39-46Views:356In Romania, as in many other Eastern European countries, the early 1990s were marked by a significant emigration from the countryside as a consequence of the transition from a centralised economy to an open one and due to key changes in the political framework. The permanent emigration has predominantly been concentrated in rural areas where multiple socio-economic variables such as GDP per capita, unemployment, and public financial subsidies aimed at supporting people at risk of severe deprivation and poverty have all had a direct effect on rural depopulation. The rurality is a complex theoretical construct comprising many items and variables and is, therefore, difficult to define in a concise manner. The aim of this paper is to assess the evolution of emigration in Romania between 2001 and 2016 through a quantitative approach, estimating an index of rurality for the same period composed of a set of socio-economic variables having a direct or indirect nexus to it. In the first phase of research, a matrix of correlation and a multiple regression model has been used in order to estimate the direct links among all investigated variables. Following the quantitative methodology, in the second phase Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) has been used in order to assess the main cause-effect relationships among a few selected endogenous variables and a set of socio-economic items. Furthermore, using a non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) output-oriented model, this research has assessed the efficiency in terms of permanent emigration from Romania estimated as an output to minimise and not as an output to maximise, as investigated by traditional efficiency approaches. In terms of efficiency, financial subsidies allocated by national authorities and the level of per capita Gross Domestic Product have acted directly on the level of emigration. The index of rurality in 2016 has been influenced in particular by he pluriactivity in farms in terms of agritourism, the dimension of farms in terms of land capital endowment, and the level of GDP per capita.
JEL Classification: Q10; Q18
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Empowerment of rural women farmers and food production in Rathnapura district in Sri Lanka: a household level analysis
105-112Views:421Women empowerment and gender equity are two significant aspects of the sustainable development of a country. As Sri Lanka is on the way towards sustainable development, this study was conducted to assess the situation of women farmers’ empowerment and food production in Rathnapura district of the country. A sample of 300 women farmers was randomly selected for the study, from two selected Divisional Secretariat (DS) of Rathnapura district. Data was collected from a field survey using a pre-tested, self-administered questionnaire survey from April to July 2019. Empowerment was analyzed using the empowerment framework used by RAHMAN AND NAOZORE in 2007 in the study of “Women Empowerment through Participation in Aquaculture” with necessary modifications. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. Results revealed that majority of the women farmers were middle aged, married and had children. Furthermore, most of them had education up to secondary level. While average family size was four, average farm size was 1.25 acres. They had around 16 years of farming experience. The average monthly income of them was 25,000.00 LKR whereas 20% of it was from agriculture. The main sources of empowerment of women farmers were the Agrarian Service Center (55%) followed by village organizations/societies (30%) and microfinance institutions (26%). Furthermore, women empowerment index was 0.65. It is a moderate level of empowerment. However, there were women farmers under three categories of empowerment levels: low empowerment (4.1%), medium empowerment (58.5%) and high empowerment (36.1%). Out of the socio-economic factors; age, education, family size, land size, number of training programs participated, monthly income, experience in agriculture and number of organizations participated, education and number of training programs attended had significant and positive effect for the empowerment. Accessibility of credit facilities and agricultural extension program participation showed that there was a considerable impact on food production rather than the cultivable land size and utilization of modern farming technologies for food production. Therefore, proving of timely important agricultural education and training programs, enhance awareness level of modern farming technology utilization, better micro finance programs and agricultural credit facilities will be able to enhance the empowerment level of the women farmers of this area furthermore.
JEL CODE: Q01, Q12
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INTEGRATING SERVICE VALUE CHAIN GOVERNANCE ON SMALL SUNFLOWER PROCESSING INDUSTRIES IN DODOMA, TANZANIA
Views:116Small-scale sunflower oil processors dominate Tanzania’s sunflower value chain but face persistent performance challenges. This study examines how service value chain governance – defined by factors such as transaction complexity, service characteristics, technological capabilities, market transparency, market structure, and institutional frameworks – influences the capabilities and performance of small sunflower processing industries in Dodoma. Drawing on global value chain and transaction cost economics theories, we hypothesize that high transaction complexity and service intangibility negatively impact processors’ technological and human resource capabilities, while robust technological capacity and market transparency improve logistics and marketing performance. A cross-sectional survey of 275 sunflower oil processors in Dodoma was conducted, and six multiple regression models were used to test each specific hypothesis. Results show that all six governance factors significantly affect the processors’ operational capabilities in the expected directions. High transaction complexity and service heterogeneity are associated with lower technological competency and workforce efficiency, whereas greater technological capability and market transparency yield improved logistical coordination and market access. Fragmented market structures (many small suppliers) correlate with weaker financial performance, and a strong institutional framework is linked to better regulatory compliance. These findings highlight critical governance-related barriers and enablers for small agro-processors. We discuss practical and managerial implications for improving value chain integration – including investing in technology, training, and policy support – and outline theoretical contributions.
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PERCEPTIONS, PROFITABILITY AND DETERMINANTS OF GRANULATED CASSAVA PACKAGING IN KUMASI METROPOLIS, GHANA
Views:452Packaging does not only protect a product but also provides directions for using the product, as well as relevant information about its content and nutritional value. This study was undertaken to assess Granulated Cassava (Gari) sellers’ perception, profitability and determinants of packaging in Ashanti Region. The study area was purposively selected because of the active participation and contribution of marketing activities. A structured questionnaire was administered in the form of interview to obtain primary data from the respondents. Data was generated using binary and multinomial logit regression model and Garret ranking technique. The results showed that there is 0.11% difference in the gross margin of both ventures which is also statistically significant at 1%. Years of education, legal requirement, and durability of the packaging material and cost of packaging material were the significant factors that influence sellers’ choice of packaging. Lack of technical know-how, cost of capital equipment and lack of knowledge on packaging equipment and/or material were the most limiting constraints affecting Gari packaging. The study recommends that investors should invest in the Gari packaging business since it has a relatively higher rate of returns as compared to the unpackaged one.
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Using DEA to evaluate efficiency of higher education
79-82Views:809The aim of the higher education reform process both in Hungary and in the European countries is establishing a competitive, qualitative higher education with efficiently operating institutions. The question of efficiency needs increased attention not only because of the decline of the state support but also the rapid raise of the student mass. In the educationsystemit’snot easy to measurethe output of the services.The situation is more complicated if an organisation or a sector has multiple inputs and outputs. In this case a possible method of determining efficiency is Data Envelopment Analysis. In my paper I’d like to introduce this method and use it to compare the efficiency of higher education systems. urthermore I am examining whether their efficiency is influenced by the extent of the contribution of the state and the private sector or socio-economic factors like GDP per capita and education level of parents.
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THE INFLUENCE OF COVERAGE ATTRIBUTES ON COMMUNAL FARMERS' WILLINGNESS TO ADOPT CATTLE INSURANCE IN LUPANE DISTRICT, ZIMBABWE
Views:120This study examines the role of coverage attributes specifically, their scope, clarity, and relevance in influencing the willingness of communal farmers to adopt cattle insurance. The research was guided by the Stakeholder Networking Theory. Employing a mixed-methods approach in Lupane District, Zimbabwe, the research utilized a sample of 219 communal farmers, selected via multistage sampling for quantitative data, and 25 key informants, selected using purposive sampling for qualitative data. The Probit regression analysis revealed a statistically significant positive coefficient of 0.242 (p<0.001) for the relationship between Coverage Attributes and Willingness to Adopt. This indicates that farmers' decisions are significantly driven by the comprehensiveness of covered risks and the simplicity of the policy's terms. The findings highlight that existing products fail to meet farmer expectations regarding risk coverage and ease of understanding. This study concludes that insurance schemes must be designed to be both comprehensive and user-friendly, providing practical insights for creating policies that are genuinely attractive and relevant to the specific needs of this vulnerable demographic.
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Diversification strategies and their impact on farm performance
57-61Views:337The objective of this study is to identify factors determining the economic performance of agricultural holdings in Italy, with specific attention to the impact of the adoption of on-farm diversification strategies, namely income diversification and product differentiation. The adoption of these kinds of strategies has been increasingly recognised as a viable business option in agriculture as they allow better allocation of farm resources and an increase in the quota of value added retained on farms and therefore not passed on to other agents operating at the end of the food supply chain. By using a panel of professional Italian farms over the time period of 2003-2009, we estimate random effect, ordinary least square and quantile regression models to estimate the impact of income diversification and product differentiation strategies on the levels of farm income per unit of labour income. Our findings show that scale economies are important positive determinants of farm economic performance. On the contrary, when the family play an important role in the farm business, economic performance is worse. Finally, we do not find evidence of a statistically significant impact of the adoption of income diversification and product differentiation strategies. This latter result may be interpreted as a signal that farms use these strategies as risk management tools rather than as income increasing ones.
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EXPLORING CONSUMER INTENTION FOR FUNCTIONAL FOOD PRODUCTS IN HUNGARY: THE ROLE OF HEALTH CONSCIOUSNESS, NUTRITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES
Views:605Background: The potential health advantages of functional food products have increased their appeal. Their reception and implementation are greatly influenced by consumer attitudes and purchasing intentions. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is used in this study to examine how attitudes toward and intentions to buy functional food products in Hungary are influenced by health consciousness (HC) and nutritional knowledge (KN).
Methods: From March to May 2023, 396 adult Hungarian volunteers took part in an online survey. The poll measured respondents' intentions to buy functional food products as well as their health consciousness, nutritional knowledge, attitudes, and subjective norms (SN). Through pilot research, the questionnaire's reliability and validity were determined. Multiple regression analyses, one-sample t-tests, and Cronbach's alpha were all included in the statistical analysis.
Results: The majority of participants were female, working students. In support of hypotheses H1 and H2, health consciousness significantly influenced attitudes and purchase intentions. H3 and H4 are supported by the findings that nutritional knowledge strongly influenced attitudes and purchase intentions. Both perceived behavioral control and subjective standards had a beneficial impact on purchase intentions supporting H5 and H6.
Conclusion: This study provides important insights into Hungarian consumers' preferences for functional food items. It highlights the beneficial effects of health awareness, information, attitudes, arbitrary standards, and perceived behavioral control on buying intentions. It was discovered that attitudes play an important role in mediating the link between nutritional knowledge, health consciousness, and purchase intentions.
It was discovered that attitudes play an important role in mediating the link between nutritional knowledge, health consciousness, and purchasing intentions. The dynamic functional food market's marketers and legislators should take these findings seriously. The subtleties of these attitudes and their implications for promotional tactics can be explored in greater detail in future research. Promoting healthier food options and informing policy and marketing decisions require an understanding of consumer perceptions and behaviors.
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THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL FARM RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ON REDUCING CREDIT RISK IN TANZANIA AGRICULTURAL LENDING
Views:138Agricultural financing enhances food security, job creation, a transition from subsistence to commerce farming, and strengthens the overall economy. However, due to unfavorable weather and market conditions there is limited financing directed towards agriculture especially in developing countries. Despite smallholder farmers' high adoption rate of traditional risk management strategies to minimize these risks, little has been done to examine its moderating role on the relationship between agricultural risks and credit risks. Thus, this study examines the role of farm business risk management strategies on minimizing the influences of production and market risk on smallholder farmers loan repayment capacity. The quantitative study used pooled cross-sectional data from a Tanzanian commercial bank from 2019 to 2021, covering 1,277 smallholder farmers from different administrative regions. Using binary interaction effect logistic regression analysis model, the study's results indicate that irrigation, mechanization, and off-farm diversification significantly minimizes the effects of production and market risk amongst smallholder farmers in Tanzania, an indication that traditional risk management strategies are effective tools amongst smallholder farmers. On the contrary, on-farm diversification strengthens the influence of production and market risk on loan repayment amongst the smallholder farmers in Tanzania, the results that can be influenced by a number of factors, including poor diversification knowledge among smallholder farmers. In light of these findings, the study recommends that policy makers and other development partners to develop agricultural infrastructure and provide more extension agents that can educate smallholder farmers on the best practices on traditional risk management.
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Comparing parametric and semiparametric error correction models for estimation of long run equilibrium between exports and imports
19-23Views:346This paper introduces the semiparametric error correction model for estimation of export-import relationship as an alternative to the least squares approach. The intent is to demonstrate how semiparametric error correction model can be used to estimate the relationship between Ghana’s export and import within the context of a generalized additive modelling (GAM) framework. The semiparametric results are compared to common parametric specification using the ordinary least squares regression. The results from the semiparametric and parametric error correction models (ECM) indicate that the error correction term and import variable are significant determinants of Ghana’s exports. On the basis of Akaike Information Criteria and Generalized Cross-Validation (GCV) scores, it is found that the semiparametric error correction model provides a better fit than the widely used parametric error correction model for modeling Ghana’s export-import relationship. The results of the analysis of variance provide further evidence of nonlinearity in Ghana’s export and import relationship. In effect, this paper demonstrates the usefulness of semiparametric error correction model in the estimation of export – import relationship.
JEL code: C14, C18, C22, F10, F14
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