Budgeting and Its Effect on the Financial Performance of Listed Manufacturing Firms: Evidence from Manufacturing Firms Listed on Ghana Stock Exchange

Organizations in both developed and developing countries face high competitions in the business sector. It is essential that businesses that want to remain competitive develop the desire of identifying the role of budgeting and its effect on their financial performance. In this regard, this study explored the role of budgeting and its effect on financial performance of listed manufacturing firms on the Ghana Stock Exchange as a case study. Specifically, the study sought to examine the role of budgeting and to analyze the impact of budgeting on the financial performance of these firms. Both cross-sectional and convenient sampling techniques were used to select fifty-one (51) respondents as the sample size of the study. Questionnaires were used to obtain data from the respondents. The correlation matrix was used to establish a positive relationship between budgeting and financial performance. The study discovered that budgeting plays imperative roles in the financial performance of listed manufacturing firms. The study again unveiled that there is a strong positive correlation between budgeting and financial performance. The study also concludes that planning; monitoring and control; coordination and evaluation plays a vital role and has a positive effect on the financial performance of manufacturing firms. The study recommends that managers must produce comprehensive budgetary plans to enable the employment of long-term plans. Annual budgeting review must also be incorporated permanently to enable the manufacturing firms to identify key financial indicators for their business and how and when to monitor them and to plan for future operations, refine existing strategic plans and considers how they can respond to current competitions. Keywords: Budgeting, Financial Performance, Manufacturing Firms, Ghana Stock Exchang

Effect of Social Media on Perceived Students Academic Performance of Higher Institutions: A case of Public Universities in Accra, Ghana

It is an undisputable fact that the advancement of technology has taken over all activities in the world. Being it business, education or church activities. The popularity of social media is relatively recent and the effect of Online Social Networking (OSN) on students’ performance has not received much scholarly attention. The aim of this study is to examine the role of social media on perceived students’ academic performance of higher educational institutions focusing on public universities in Accra, Ghana. The study adopted a descriptive survey. Purposive sampling technique was used to select three public universities within greater Accra Region. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaires which were administered personally. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select the sample size of 298 students from the three public universities. Data was presented by the use of frequency tables then analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques such as frequencies and percentages. A multiple regression analysis was also conducted to investigate the effect of social media platforms on students’ academic performance. The study ascertained that there is positive correlation between social media and academic performance and social media can be used to predict academic performance of tertiary students. The study concludes that most of the students use social media platforms to entertain themselves during lecture period when lectures is boring. It’s recommended that, tertiary institutions should make it a point connecting academic activities with social media platforms in order to get the attention of students to improve upon their academic performance. Keywords: Social Media, Perceived Students, Academic Performance and Public Universities in Ghan

Peripheral insulin resistance rather than beta cell dysfunction accounts for geographical differences in impaired fasting blood glucose among sub-Saharan African individuals: findings from the RODAM study.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The aim of this study was to assess the extent to which insulin resistance and beta cell dysfunction account for differences in impaired fasting blood glucose (IFBG) levels in sub-Saharan African individuals living in different locations in Europe and Africa. We also aimed to identify determinants associated with insulin resistance and beta cell dysfunction among this population. METHODS: Data from the cross-sectional multicentre Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants (RODAM) study were analysed. Participants included Ghanaian individuals without diabetes, aged 18-96 years old, who were residing in Amsterdam (n = 1337), Berlin (n = 502), London (n = 961), urban Ghana (n = 1309) and rural Ghana (n = 970). Glucose and insulin were measured in fasting venous blood samples. Anthropometrics were assessed during a physical examination. Questionnaires were used to assess demographics, physical activity, smoking status, alcohol consumption and energy intake. Insulin resistance and beta cell function were determined using homeostatic modelling (HOMA-IR and HOMA-B, respectively). Logistic regression analysis was used to study the contribution of HOMA-IR and inverse HOMA-B (beta cell dysfunction) to geographical differences in IFBG (fasting glucose 5.6-6.9 mmol/l). Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to identify determinants associated with HOMA-IR and inverse HOMA-B. RESULTS: IFBG was more common in individuals residing in urban Ghana (OR 1.41 [95% CI 1.08, 1.84]), Amsterdam (OR 3.44 [95% CI 2.69, 4.39]) and London (OR 1.58 [95% CI 1.20 2.08), but similar in individuals living in Berlin (OR 1.00 [95% CI 0.70, 1.45]), compared with those in rural Ghana (reference population). The attributable risk of IFBG per 1 SD increase in HOMA-IR was 69.3% and in inverse HOMA-B was 11.1%. After adjustment for HOMA-IR, the odds for IFBG reduced to 0.96 (95% CI 0.72, 1.27), 2.52 (95%CI 1.94, 3.26) and 1.02 (95% CI 0.78, 1.38) for individuals in Urban Ghana, Amsterdam and London compared with rural Ghana, respectively. In contrast, adjustment for inverse HOMA-B had very minor impact on the ORs of IFBG. In multivariate analyses, BMI (β = 0.17 [95% CI 0.11, 0.24]) and waist circumference (β = 0.29 [95%CI 0.22, 0.36]) were most strongly associated with higher HOMA-IR, whereas inverse HOMA-B was most strongly associated with age (β = 0.20 [95% CI 0.16, 0.23]) and excess alcohol consumption (β = 0.25 [95% CI 0.07, 0.43]). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Our findings suggest that insulin resistance, rather than beta cell dysfunction, is more important in accounting for the geographical differences in IFBG among sub-Saharan African individuals. We also show that BMI and waist circumference are important factors in insulin resistance in this population

Eficiencia en el uso de recursos en la producción de maíz: el caso de pequeños agricultores en Ghana

This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency with which smallholder maize farmers use their input resources such as land, labor, capital, fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and improved seed in maize production. The study used the multi-stage sampling technique to collect cross-sectional data from 600 smallholder maize producers from the northern, Brong-Ahafo, eastern, and central regions of Ghana. This study employed the marginal value product (MVP) to marginal factor cost (MFC) ratio (MVP/MFC) of the input resources. The results revealed an increased return to scale, meaning smallholder maize farmers in the pooled sample and the studied regions should enlarge their production scale by about 3.2%, 2.2%, 7.6%, 6.8%, and 2.8%, respectively, to maximize productivity. The results also revealed that resource inputs like fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, improved seed, and land were underutilized. Therefore, these resources need to be increased if smallholder maize farmers in the pooled sample want to be efficient in their production. Labor and capital were over-utilized and needed to be reduced to increase efficiency in the farmers' maize production.El objetivo de este estudio consistió en evaluar la eficiencia con la que los pequeños agricultores de maíz utilizan sus insumos tales como la tierra, mano de obra, capital, fertilizantes, herbicidas, plaguicidas y semilla mejorada en la producción del maíz. Para ello se empleó una técnica de muestreo de multietapas con el fin de recolectar datos seccionales cruzados de 600 productores de maíz de las regiones del norte, Brong-Ahafo, oriente y centro de Ghana. Se empleó también el cociente entre el producto de valor marginal (PVM) y el factor de costo marginal (FCM) (PVM/FCM) de los recursos de ingreso. Los resultados obtenidos revelaron un aumento en el ingreso de retorno, lo que significa que los pequeños agricultores de maíz de la muestra y en las regiones mencionadas deberían aumentar su escala de producción en cerca de 3.2%, 2.2%, 7.6%, 6.8% y 2.8%, respectivamente, con el fin de maximizar la productividad. Los resultados mostraron también que los insumos tales como los fertilizantes, herbicidas, pesticidas, semillas mejoradas y la tierra fueron subutilizados. Por lo tanto, estosinsumos deben incrementarse si los pequeños agricultores de maíz en la muestra quieren ser eficientes en su producción. El trabajo y el capital resultaron sobreutilizados y por lo tanto hay una necesidad de reducirlos con el fin de hacer más eficiente la producción de maíz por parte de los agricultores

Resource-use efficiency in maize production: the case of smallholder farmers in Ghana

This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency with which smallholder maize farmers use their input resources such as land, labor, capital, fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and improved seed in maize production. The study used the multi-stage sampling technique to collect cross-sectional data from 600 smallholder maize producers from the northern, Brong-Ahafo, eastern, and central regions of Ghana. This study employed the marginal value product (MVP) to marginal factor cost (MFC) ratio (MVP/MFC) of the input resources. The results revealed an increased return to scale, meaning smallholder maize farmers in the pooled sample and the studied regions should enlarge their production scale by about 3.2%, 2.2%, 7.6%, 6.8%, and 2.8%, respectively, to maximize productivity. The results also revealed that resource inputs like fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, improved seed, and land were underutilized. Therefore, these resources need to be increased if smallholder maize farmers in the pooled sample want to be efficient in their production. Labor and capital were over-utilized and needed to be reduced to increase efficiency in the farmers' maize production

The impact of credit accessibility on rural households clean cooking energy consumption: The case of Ghana

This study examined the impact of credit received on rural household clean cooking energy consumption. The study pays more attention to clean energies, such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene. Due to the endogenous issue of credit, we employed an instrumental variable approach (IV-Probit and IV-Tobit). We analyzed the survey data collected from four regions, Savannah, Bono East, Eastern and central, in Ghana. The result of the econometrics model depicted that household head relationship with an individual in the city, education level, access to off-farm employment, age, household size, and amount of credit received influences the household's probability of consuming and spending on clean cooking energies Concerning the amount of credit received impact on clean cooking energy expenditure, rural households in the eastern region compared to their counterparts were more pronounced. Our findings explored the importance of credit on energy consumption and provided policy implications to enhance clean cooking energy consumption

The Impact of Cooperative Membership on Fish Farm Households’ Income: The Case of Ghana

The emergence of agricultural cooperatives is extensively viewed as a necessary institutional arrangement that can help farmers in developing countries overcome the constraints that impede them from improving sustainable agricultural production and acquiring new marketing opportunities. Therefore, this study examines the determinants of cooperative membership and its impact on fish farm household income, using data collected from two regions in Ghana. An endogenous switching regression (ESR) model is utilized to address the potential sample selection bias issue. The results show that household heads’ decisions to join cooperatives are affected by their access to credit, off-farm work, education level, and peer influence. Cooperative membership can increase both household and farm income by 28.54% and 34.75%, respectively. Moreover, we show that different groups of households’ cooperative impacts on farm and household income are heterogeneous. Our findings highlight the importance of cooperative patronization and provide implications that can improve households’ welfare

The Impact of Cooperative Membership on Fish Farm Households’ Income: The Case of Ghana

The emergence of agricultural cooperatives is extensively viewed as a necessary institutional arrangement that can help farmers in developing countries overcome the constraints that impede them from improving sustainable agricultural production and acquiring new marketing opportunities. Therefore, this study examines the determinants of cooperative membership and its impact on fish farm household income, using data collected from two regions in Ghana. An endogenous switching regression (ESR) model is utilized to address the potential sample selection bias issue. The results show that household heads’ decisions to join cooperatives are affected by their access to credit, off-farm work, education level, and peer influence. Cooperative membership can increase both household and farm income by 28.54% and 34.75%, respectively. Moreover, we show that different groups of households’ cooperative impacts on farm and household income are heterogeneous. Our findings highlight the importance of cooperative patronization and provide implications that can improve households’ welfare