Macroeconomic Behaviour and Economic Growth in Ghana

This study tries to ascertain the behaviour of some major macroeconomic factors that would drive Ghana's economic growth using Johansen approach to cointegration. The study uses quarterly data from 1980:Q1 to 2013:Q4. The data were first analyzed using the Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF and Philips-Perron (PP) tests which indicate that all the variables of interest were stationary after theifirst differencing. The study found cointegration relationship between real GDP (economic growth and its macroeconomic factors. The study found that in the long run physical capital, labour force, real effective exchange rate, stock market prices have positive effects on real GDP growth while consumer price index, interest rate, money supply, and government expenditure have negative effects on real GDP growth .In the same way, in the short run, physical capital, labour force, real effective exchange rate, stock market prices have positive effects on real GDP growth while consumer price index interest rate, money supply, and government expenditure still had negative effects on real GDP growth. Based on the study findings, it recommended that the Government together with the Bank of Ghana should develop and pursue prudent both fiscal and monetary policies that would aim at stabilising the macroeconomic indicators

Effect of capital inflows on financial development in Ghana

The study examines the effect of capital inflows on financial development in Ghana. The study employs the Johansen and Juselius multivariate cointegration approach in analysing the interactions between the variables using annual data spanning 1970 to 2014. The results show foreign direct investment (FDI), external debt, and remittance inflows have significant negative impact on financial development in the long run. Furthermore, there was significant negative relationships between external debt, remittance inflows, and financial development in the short run. However, the relationship between FDI and financial development in the short run was not significant. The study was only limited to Ghana. However, the study will help countries particularly developing countries in analysing inflows of capital and their effect on the development of financial sector for policy purposes. Furthermore, this study provides avenues for policy makers to properly formulate policies containing capital inflows for effective financial sector development. Also, the study will help policy makers in terms of how issues of capital flight must be addressed and how to take pragmatic steps to channel remittances inflows to productive sectors of the economy

A Comparative Exploration of Community Pharmacists' Views on the Nature and Management of Over-the-Counter (OTC) and Prescription Codeine Misuse in Three Regulatory Regimes: Ireland, South Africa and the United Kingdom

Misuse of codeine containing preparations is a public health concern given the potential for associated harms and dependence. This study explores the perspectives of community pharmacists in three regulatory regimes on issues of customer misuse of over-the-counter (OTC) and prescribed codeine. A qualitative design comprising six focus groups (n = 45) was conducted in Ireland, United Kingdom, South Africa. Transcripts were analysed using the constant comparative method of content analysis. Pharmacists described popular codeine-containing products and the need for improved medicine information and warning labels. Issues around legitimate availability of codeine and regulatory status; presence of therapeutic need; difficulties in customer–pharmacist communication; business environments and retail focus were raised. Participants also discussed how they identified customers potentially misusing codeine and difficulties in relationships between pharmacists and prescribers. A number of recommendations were put forward as ways to manage the issues. The study highlights the difficulties encountered by community pharmacists operating under various regulatory regimes when supplying codeine containing preparations in negotiating patient awareness and compliance and potential ways to deal with misuse and dependence

Environmentally Responsible Investing in the Nordic Stock Market

The study uses positive screening technique to select equities with high environmental scores in the Nordic Stock market. Variant portfolios of the top 10 to 40 stocks were formed using di↵erent weighting schemes and their returns and risk measures compared to that of the OMX Nordic 40 Index. From 2007 to 2014, the strategy of weighting the largest 40 Nordic firms’ stocks with their aggregate environmental scores earned a highly significant four-factor Carhart (1997) risk adjusted return of 8.2% per year and a raw return of 14.8% over the entire period of observation. That is, the environmentally friendly portfolio had higher return with lower risk than the benchmark index. Decarbonizing the top 40 portfolio with the same strategy achieved a statistically significant risk adjusted return of 7.9% per year and annualized return of 14.5%.MSc in Financ

Leader effectiveness – the missing link in the relationship between employee voice and engagement

Purpose— Voice and engagement studies have drawn scholars’ attention to examine how they are related. However, it appears the mechanisms that connect these two constructs are understudied. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine leader effectiveness as the mechanism through which employee voice translates into engagement. Design/methodology/approach— A cross-sectional data were collected from 106 employees in the 24 Rural and Communities Banks (RCBs) that qualified for the seventeenth edition of the Ghana Club 100 awards. A covariance-based structural equation modelling (SEM) with maximum likelihood (ML) estimation was used with a 95% confidence interval (CI) bootstrapping analysis to examine our hypotheses. Findings— The result shows that leader effectiveness fully mediated the relationship between employee voice and engagement. This is supported by our estimated fully mediated structural model which indicates a good fit to the data χ2(52) = 61.24, p = 0.18, AIC = 113.24. The 95% CI bootstrapping analysis further lends support to the fully mediated structural model. Practical implications— Since defensive silence is detrimental to the wellbeing of both employees and the firm, this paper suggests that RCB managers and HR professionals should exhibit effective leadership behaviours that inspires employees to channel their creative ideas and misgivings by speaking up and speaking out in order to enhance and sustain their level of engagement. Originality/value— The findings of this paper suggest leader effectiveness as the missing link between voice and engagement relationship. Thus, contrary to previous research that theorises a direct relationship between voice and engagement, this paper provides leader effectiveness as a novel mechanism that explains how employees’ voice behaviour is transmitted into their levels of engagement

Ecologies of innovation among small and medium enterprises in Uganda as a mediator of entrepreneurial networking and opportunity exploitation

This paper examines the mediating effect of ecologies of innovation on the relationship between entrepreneurial networking and opportunity exploitation among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Uganda. The study design was a cross-sectional survey, data were analysed using SPSS and Analysis of Moment Structure on a sample of 228 SMEs. The mediated model provides support for the hypothesis that ecologies of innovation partially mediate the relationship between entrepreneurial networking and opportunity exploitation. This confirms that the presence of ecologies of innovation significantly acts as a conduit in the association between entrepreneurial networking and opportunity exploitation. The practical implications are that opportunity exploitation can be understood and predicted through ecologies of innovation, entrepreneurial networking can also predict opportunity exploitation directly. Business owners and managers need to fully understand and utilise the ecologies of innovation to exploit opportunities effectively. Social implications, a deeper understanding of how entrepreneurial networking and ecologies of innovation affect employee relations will not be fully realised until employers create a platform for rational thinking, creativity and learning about this interaction. This study utilises social network theory to extend the existing research on opportunity exploitation

“I Am Here to Fly, but Better Get the Environment Right!” Passenger Response to Airport Servicescape

This study deploys environmental and positive psychology models to develop and test the influence of substantive and communicative staging of airport servicescape (i.e., SSoS and CSoS) on passengers’ emotional and subsequent behavioral responses. Furthermore, we examined the extent to which the strength of these associations is contingent upon passengers’ travel frequency (passengers’ familiarity with airport facilities and processes). The study’s sample (n = 387) was drawn from passengers departing from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA). The results indicate that airport servicescape robustly engenders passengers’ positive emotion and satisfaction (with SSoS having more potent effects), facilitating intentions to repurchase, recommend, pay more, and partly, spend more. The interaction effects demonstrate that while pleasant CSoS induces higher satisfaction in frequent flyers, pleasing SSoS generates higher satisfaction in infrequent flyers. In addition, positive emotion appears more vital in predicting infrequent passengers’ behavioral intentions to repeat purchase, recommend, and pay more. Passenger satisfaction seems relevant for different passengers regarding their familiarity levels depending on the kind of behavioral response under consideration. Thus, satisfied frequent travelers are more inclined to repeat purchase and pay more; however, satisfied infrequent travelers are more likely to recommend and spend more at airport terminals. The summary, interpretation, and implication of the results conclude the study

Monkeypox Vaccine Acceptance among Ghanaians: A Call for Action

Background: Ghana ranked 31st worldwide and 3rd in Africa in the number of confirmed cases worldwide. We aimed to assess the intention to receive the monkeypox (MPOX) vaccine and its associated psychological antecedents among the Ghanaian population. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in Ghana from November to December 2022. Snowball sampling was used to recruit participants via social media platforms, such as WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Facebook. The validated 5C scale was used to assess five psychological factors that influence vaccination behavior and intent: confidence, complacency, constraints, calculation, and collective responsibility. Results: The study drew 605 participants; their mean age was 30.0 ± 6.8; 68.1% were single; 60.8 % were males, and 51.9% were living in Greater Accra (The capital and largest city of Ghana). About 53.9% of the studied Ghanaian population did not intend to receive the MPOX vaccination. Vaccine acceptance among non-healthcare workers (non-HCWs) was significantly lower than among HCWs (41.7 vs. 55.3, p p = 0.049), urban residence (AOR = 0.63, 95% CI, 0.41–0.96, p = 0.033), refusal of coronavirus 2019 vaccine (AOR = 0.29, 95% CI, 0.16–0.52, p p p = 0.034)). Conclusions: The participants in this study did not show high levels of intention to accept the MPOX vaccination. Consequently, tailoring the efforts aiming to promote MPOX vaccination is needed especially among non-HCWs through increasing their confidence in vaccine effectiveness and safety and promoting the importance of self-vaccination to protect others

Monkeypox Vaccine Acceptance among Ghanaians: A Call for Action

Background: Ghana ranked 31st worldwide and 3rd in Africa in the number of confirmed cases worldwide. We aimed to assess the intention to receive the monkeypox (MPOX) vaccine and its associated psychological antecedents among the Ghanaian population. Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in Ghana from November to December 2022. Snowball sampling was used to recruit participants via social media platforms, such as WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Facebook. The validated 5C scale was used to assess five psychological factors that influence vaccination behavior and intent: confidence, complacency, constraints, calculation, and collective responsibility. Results: The study drew 605 participants; their mean age was 30.0 ± 6.8; 68.1% were single; 60.8 % were males, and 51.9% were living in Greater Accra (The capital and largest city of Ghana). About 53.9% of the studied Ghanaian population did not intend to receive the MPOX vaccination. Vaccine acceptance among non-healthcare workers (non-HCWs) was significantly lower than among HCWs (41.7 vs. 55.3, p < 0.001). The determinants of vaccine acceptance were male gender (AOR = 1.48, 95% CI, 1.00–2.18, p = 0.049), urban residence (AOR = 0.63, 95% CI, 0.41–0.96, p = 0.033), refusal of coronavirus 2019 vaccine (AOR = 0.29, 95% CI, 0.16–0.52, p < 0.001), confidence in vaccination ((AOR = 2.45, 95% CI, 1.93–3.15, and p < 0.001), and collective responsibility (AOR = 1.34, 95% CI, 1.02–1.75, p = 0.034)). Conclusions: The participants in this study did not show high levels of intention to accept the MPOX vaccination. Consequently, tailoring the efforts aiming to promote MPOX vaccination is needed especially among non-HCWs through increasing their confidence in vaccine effectiveness and safety and promoting the importance of self-vaccination to protect others