A Multivariate Analysis of Determinants of Profitability: Evidence from Selected Manufacturing Companies Listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange

This study seeks to examine the determinants of profitability of manufacturing companies in Ghana. The study covered the period 2005- 2015 using data gathered from five selected manufacturing companies listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). The Study employed the Multivariate Regression Analysis Technique. Return on Assets, a measure of profitability, was used as the dependent variable whereas leverage, liquidity, firm size, tangibility, GDP, inflation and interest rate were used as the predictor variables. The findings of the study established that there is a statistically significant positive relationship between profitability, liquidity and firm size whereas leverage and interest rate show a statistically significant negative relationship with profitability. The macroeconomic environment in Ghana plays an essential role in the survival and profitability of manufacturing companies in Ghana as evident in the empirical results. Thus, it is vital that managers of the economy keep a close eye on the implications of their policies and their impact on the manufacturing sector in their attempt to grow the economy. Future research should consider the other equally important sectors of the economy. It should also include more variables such as taxation and regulation indicators, exchange rates, management quality and corporate governance to give room for a more robust result and findings

The Effect of Debt Policy on Firms Performance: Empirical Evidence from Listed Manufacturing Companies on The Ghana Stock Exchange

Adopting a Debt Policy is considered as a momentous decision that influences the firm's value. The purpose of this Study is to empirically investigate the effect of Debt Policy (Short-Term Debt, Long-Term Debt, and Total Debt) on firms’ performance. Annual data was collected from five (5) manufacturing companies listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) between 2005 to 2015. The panel data regression model was used to test if there was a significant relationship between the debt ratios and the performance indicators. The financial performance indicators employed in this Study are Gross Margin Profit, Return on Assets (ROA), Tobin's Q Ratio, and Debt Ratios employed are (Short-Term Debt, Long- Term Debt and Total Debt). Firm size and growth opportunity are considered as control variables. The results revealed that listed manufacturing firms in Ghana use 14% equity capital and 86% debt capital to finance their operations. The debt structure is made up of 49% long-term debt and 37% short-term debt. It was also found that debt (Short- Term Debt, Long Term Debt and Total Debt) has a negative effect on firms’ performance. It is, therefore, recommended that listed manufacturing firms should increase the level of equity finance and exploit the advantages of leverage. The Ghanaian government should take concrete steps to develop the country's capital market to enable businesses access long-term capital necessary for the financial performance of the firm in the long run

Combining work and child care: The experiences of mothers in Accra, Ghana

Work-family research has focused predominantly on Western women. Yet the forms of economic labour in which women are typically involved and the meaning of motherhood are context-specific. This paper aims to explore the experience of combining economic activity and child care of mothers with young children using urban Ghana as a case study. Semi-structured interviews (n=24) were conducted in three locations in the Accra Metropolitan Area. Transcripts were analysed using the general inductive approach. The results found women’s experience of role conflict to be bi-directional. With regard to role enhancement, economic activity allowed women to provide materially for their children. The combination of work and child care had negative consequences for women’s wellbeing. This research questions policy makers’ strategy of frequently targeting women in their roles either as generators of income, or as the primary care-takers of children by highlighting the reality of women’s simultaneous performance of these roles

Comparative efficacy of low-dose versus standard-dose azithromycin for patients with yaws: a randomised non-inferiority trial in Ghana and Papua New Guinea

Background: A dose of 30 mg/kg of azithromycin is recommended for treatment of yaws, a disease targeted for global eradication. Treatment with 20 mg/kg of azithromycin is recommended for the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem. In some settings, these diseases are co-endemic. We aimed to determine the efficacy of 20 mg/kg of azithromycin compared with 30 mg/kg azithromycin for the treatment of active and latent yaws. Methods: We did a non-inferiority, open-label, randomised controlled trial in children aged 6–15 years who were recruited from schools in Ghana and schools and the community in Papua New Guinea. Participants were enrolled based on the presence of a clinical lesion that was consistent with infectious primary or secondary yaws and a positive rapid diagnostic test for treponemal and non-treponemal antibodies. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either standard-dose (30 mg/kg) or low-dose (20 mg/kg) azithromycin by a computer-generated random number sequence. Health-care workers assessing clinical outcomes in the field were not blinded to the patient's treatment, but investigators involved in statistical or laboratory analyses and the participants were blinded to treatment group. We followed up participants at 4 weeks and 6 months. The primary outcome was cure at 6 months, defined as lesion healing at 4 weeks in patients with active yaws and at least a four-fold decrease in rapid plasma reagin titre from baseline to 6 months in patients with active and latent yaws. Active yaws was defined as a skin lesion that was positive for Treponema pallidum ssp pertenue in PCR testing. We used a non-inferiority margin of 10%. This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02344628. Findings: Between June 12, 2015, and July 2, 2016, 583 (65·1%) of 895 children screened were enrolled; 292 patients were assigned a low dose of azithromycin and 291 patients were assigned a standard dose of azithromycin. 191 participants had active yaws and 392 had presumed latent yaws. Complete follow-up to 6 months was available for 157 (82·2%) of 191 patients with active yaws. In cases of active yaws, cure was achieved in 61 (80·3%) of 76 patients in the low-dose group and in 68 (84·0%) of 81 patients in the standard-dose group (difference 3·7%; 95% CI −8·4 to 15·7%; this result did not meet the non-inferiority criterion). There were no serious adverse events reported in response to treatment in either group. The most commonly reported adverse event at 4 weeks was gastrointestinal upset, with eight (2·7%) participants in each group reporting this symptom. Interpretation: In this study, low-dose azithromycin did not meet the prespecified non-inferiority margin compared with standard-dose azithromycin in achieving clinical and serological cure in PCR-confirmed active yaws. Only a single participant (with presumed latent yaws) had definitive serological failure. This work suggests that 20 mg/kg of azithromycin is probably effective against yaws, but further data are needed

Advancing methods for research on household water insecurity: Studying entitlements and capabilities, socio-cultural dynamics, and political processes, institutions and governance

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. Household water insecurity has serious implications for the health, livelihoods and wellbeing of people around the world. Existing methods to assess the state of household water insecurity focus largely on water quality, quantity or adequacy, source or reliability, and affordability. These methods have significant advantages in terms of their simplicity and comparability, but are widely recognized to oversimplify and underestimate the global burden of household water insecurity. In contrast, a broader definition of household water insecurity should include entitlements and human capabilities, socio-cultural dynamics, and political institutions and processes. This paper proposes a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods that can be widely adopted across cultural, geographic, and demographic contexts to assess hard-to-measure dimensions of household water insecurity. In doing so, it critically evaluates existing methods for assessing household water insecurity and suggests ways in which methodological innovations advance a broader definition of household water insecurity

Board-CEO friendship ties and firm value: Evidence from US firms

This study examines the impact of board-CEO friendship ties on firm value and explores potential channels through which changes in firm value may be conveyed, based on a sample of 1696 publicly listed firms in U.S. over the period of 2000–2014. The study reveals that board-CEO friendship ties have a negative and economically meaningful impact on firm value, as measured by Tobin's Q and Total Q. Regarding potential channels of firm value, we show that the negative influence of board-CEO friendship ties on firm value is reduced in firms with greater board advising requirements but intensified in firms with higher board monitoring needs. We also find social ties tend to destroy firm value whereas professional ties do not. Our results are robust to endogeneity concerns, and after controlling for board-CEO professional ties

The PREDICTS database: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts

Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species’ threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project – and avert – future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups – including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems – www.predicts.org.uk). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015

123-128Outcomes of Management of Cholera outbreak among IDPs and Non-IDPs in a Complex Emergency Setting of South Sudan

Abstract Displaced communities barely have access to safe drinking water and sanitation, therefore the risk of communicable diseases like cholera, acute watery diarrhea, and acute bloody diarrhea increasing exponentially. Since the outbreak of the conflict in 2013 in South Sudan, an estimated 1.87 million people have been displaced and are living in Internally Displace Persons Camps (IDPs). Consequently, outbreaks which include cholera have been reported in 2014 and 2015. We retrospectively analyzed the data from these two outbreaks to compare risks and other characteristics among the IDPs and non-IDPs. It was noted that the risk of cholera was higher among the IDPs compared to non-IDPs. Cholera cases in IDPs were more likely to be children under five years compared to older persons from non-displaced populations. Even though cases of cholera in IDPs were 1.45 times likely to seek care after 48hrs, this was not statistically different from Non-IDPs. Cholera cases in the IDPs were more likely than those in the host communities to have received zero doses of oral cholera vaccine. The burden of cholera cases among sexes, duration of admission of admission and survival rates were not significantly different among IDPs and Non IDPs. In the context of timely response to protect vulnerable populations and coupled with the limitations of the global oral cholera vaccines stockpile management, it is recommended that children less than five years in IDPs should be prioritized for oral cholera vaccination