Tax compliance cost and international trade in Africa

International trade in Africa could be one of the antidotes to the precarious poverty and economic deficiency in which the continent finds itself. An outward orientation towards international trade opens the continent to many opportunities including an increase in productivity and the development of redistributive channels for both natural and manufactured products. Resources in Africa could also be efficiently allocated and other consumption opportunities will be exploited when international trade is encouraged and reformed. However, one of the major bottlenecks which affect the growth of international trade in the continent is tax compliance costs. Taxation and its compliance cost could be the most burdensome and costly business activity which has the potential to discourage business growth and investments. Tax compliance costs which include the cost and time involved in complying with various tax regulations in Africa could be a disincentive to trading firms. Adopting the institutional theory, this study has investigated the impact of tax compliance cost on international trade in Africa. The evidence shows that while the number of taxes paid by firms in a year and the tax rate as a percentage of commercial profit has a negative impact on international trade in Africa. However, the time taken for tax registration/compliance and post-tax filing time of firms seem not to have any immediate impact on international trade in Africa. This paper, therefore, argues that Africa needs tax reforms in the form of self-assessments, simplification of tax administration, risk-based inspections and electronic submissions of tax returns in order to reduce the current level of tax compliance burden on firms in Africa

The Diffusion of Social Media in Nonprofit Organizations

Social media platforms have become important over the last decade for nonprofit organizations to communicate with stakeholders, engage with community, and connect with donors. Despite the significance, there is a wide gap in the research on social media adoption and use among community-based nonprofits. To fill this gap, this dissertation examines the diffusion of two popular social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter) among community-based nonprofit organizations affiliated with the United Way of America in Florida. The United Way is the largest federated organization of nonprofits and its primary focus is on education, income, and health. Two questions guide this study: (i) What are the principal determinants of the adoption and use of social media in nonprofit organizations? and (ii) How do nonprofits use social media? The conceptual framework for the analysis comprises of three dimensions: technological, environmental, and organizational. These dimensions respectively draw upon three theories: diffusion of innovation theory, resource dependence theory, and institutional theory. As such, the hypothesis is that the adoption and use of social media is influenced by technological, environmental, and internal institutional factors. For the first question, I conducted a survey of nonprofits affiliated with United Way chapters in Florida, and then analyzed the results using multivariate regression analysis. For the second question, I scraped the Facebook pages of United Way chapters and conducted a content analysis of the posts. I also interviewed key officials in these organizations. The regression analysis shows that technological indicators were significant for the adoption of social media, but were not so for social media use. The findings suggest that factors affecting the adoption and use of social media are distinctive. The content analysis shows that nonprofits predominantly use social media to organize and promote events and to collaborate with other organizations. The events and collaboration enhance the organizations’ legitimacy and help with fundraising for targeted purposes. The study’s policy implication is that nonprofits should engage social media specialists to enhance adoption and train the leaders about benefits of social media use. A federated organization like United Way could adopt best practices in encouraging the use of social media

Tax compliance cost: the hidden effect on international trade in Africa

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version.International trade in Africa could be one of the antidotes to the precarious poverty and economic deficiency in which the continent finds itself. An outward orientation towards international trade opens the continent to increases in productivity and development of redistributive channels for both natural and manufactured products. However, one of the major bottlenecks affecting the growth of international trade in the continent is tax compliance cost measured by the time and cost involved in complying with various tax regulations. Adopting the institutional theory, this study investigated the impact of tax compliance cost on international trade in Africa. The evidence shows that the number of taxes paid by firms in a year, coupled with the corporate tax rate which is a percentage of the business profit has a negative impact on international trade in Africa. However, the time taken for tax registration/compliance and post-tax filing time of firms seem not to have any immediate impact on international trade in Africa. This paper, therefore, argues that Africa needs tax reforms in the form of self-assessments, simplification of tax administration, risk-based inspections and electronic submissions of tax returns in order to reduce the current level of tax compliance burden on firms in Africa