Does Consolidation have any effect on the Operational Efficiency in Nigerian Insurance Firms?

The effect of consolidation on the operational efficiency in Nigerian insurance firms is being assessed in this study. The model of the study was underpinned by the regulatory and efficient market monitoring hypothesis. The secondary data were gotten from the financial statements of the insurance firms. This study covered the period of years between 2009 and 2016. The Pooled Least Square Method, Fixed Effect Model, Random Effect Model and Hausman Test were employed as the estimation techniques. The results of the Random Effect Model showed that capital base is positively significant, while total assets have negative and insignificant effect on operational efficiency.  In addition, liquidity and total premium have positive and insignificant effect on operational efficiency. Based on the findings of the study, it is suggested that Nigerian insurance firms should consider assets reconstruction. They should also ensure that the total premium received is optimally employed in income generating assets. In addition, the liquid assets, especially cash, should be invested where interests would be earned while the cash remains easily accessible. Overall, consolidation exerts a significant positive effect on the operational efficiency of Nigerian insurance firms because the capital base is the most important element of the consolidation exercise

External Debt, Economic Growth and Investment in Nigeria

This study examines the impact of external debt on the level of economic growth and the volume of investment in Nigeria between 1980 and 2008. We adopt the Debt Cum-Growth model along with the Investment model while the econometrics analysis techniques of multiple regressions were employed. The result of the analysis indicates that there exists a positive relationship between external debt, economic growth and Investment; this was confirmed by the coefficient of determination (R2­) of about 79.8% .While the findings reveal that the current external debt ratio of GDP stimulates growth in the short term, the Private Investment which is measure of real and tangible development shows a decline. The study recommends among others that government should ensure that appropriate measures are put in place to achieve optimal use of borrowed funds so that servicing such funds will not invoke economic crises and erode the level of private investment which is central to the overall economic growth and development. KEYWORDS: Debt overhang, debt rescheduling, debt burden, Investment, Consumption, Illiquidit

A Causal Model of Selected Non-Cognitive Learner’s Variables and Achievement in Junior Secondary School Mathematics

This study investigated a causal modelwas used to investigate and explain the direct and indirect effects of eight non-cognitive learner’s variables (gender, socio-economic status, self-concept, gender-stereotype, motivation, attitude towards mathematics, self-confidence and problem solving habits) on students’ mathematicsachievement. The sample consists of 312 Junior Secondary School Two (JSS II) students drawn from four co-educational schools using purposive sampling technique. Two research instrumentsnamely Student Affective Variable Questionnaire (SAVQ) and Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) were constructed and validated for data collection.Pathanalysis technique was applied to estimate the coefficients of the structural equations of the hypothesized causal model. The results of the study revealed that the hypothesized causal model is tenable and that socio-economic status,gender-stereotype, motivation, self-confidence and problem solving habits contributed through both direct and indirect effects to students’ achievement in mathematics. Finally, attitude towards mathematics only contributed through direct effect to students’ achievement in mathematicswhile gender and self-concept contributed to students’ achievement in mathematics through indirect effect only. Keywords: Causal model, direct effect, indirect effect, mathematicsachievement, junior school mathematics

SENSITIVITY OF MACROECONOMIC VARIABLES TO EXCHANGE RATE SHOCK IN NIGERIA AND SOUTH AFRICA: A STRUCTURAL VECTOR AUTO REGRESSION APPROACH

This study investigates the sensitivity of macroeconomic variables to exchange rate shocks in Nigeria and South Africa between 1982 and 2018. Specifically, the study investigated the response of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), Gross Domestic Product growth rate (GDPGR), Import rate (IMPORTR), Export rate (EXPORTR) and Inflation rate (INFR) to exchange rate shock in these Countries. The data used for analysis is secondary by nature and was obtained from the World Development Bank Indicators. The estimation technique employed was structural Vector autoregression (SVAR), impulse response function (IRF), and variance decomposition function (VDF). The Structural Var result revealed that exchange rate shock had negative effect on FDI in the countries but insignificant. The result on GDPGR revealed that the effect is only positive in South Africa but insignificant in both economies. For IMPORTR and EXPORTR, the effect is positive in all the zones but significant only in Nigeria. For INFR, the effect is significantly positive in South Africa at 5% significant level but insignificantly negative in Nigeria. Impulse response result revealed that in Nigeria and South Africa, all the variables were negatively sensitive to exchange rate shock but temporal except INFR that was positive and permanent in South Africa. However, the variance decomposition function for the zones revealed that apart from own shock, exchange rate shock had relatively high contributions to variations in IMPORTR, EXPORTR, and INFR in Nigeria. Also, in South Africa, exchange rate shock contributed the largest variations in EXPORTR and INFR. Based on the findings, this study concludes that the macroeconomic variables of the countries are sensitive to exchange rate shock more in the short run but undecided in the long run. Moreover, the permanent response of INFR to exchange rate shock in South Africa calls for serious attention by the regulatory authorities in this economy. Therefore, this study recommends that conscientious effort be made by policy makers in ensuring exchange rate management in the zones for better performance of the macroeconomic variables. JEL: F31, F41, N1, N10, N17 Article visualizations

Financial Reforms and Industrial Productivity Growth in Nigeria

The effective performance of industrial sector of every economy depends largely on the level of development in the financial system of the country and also on the intermediation between the surplus and the deficit units of the economy. Based on these assertions, the study empirically investigated the impact of financial reforms on industrial productivity growth in Nigeria. A vector auto-regression analysis with impulse-response and variance decomposition was employed, using a time series data between the period of 1986 and 2013. The study however found out that the various financial services reforms put in place since the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) in Nigeria have not significantly brought about the needed improvement in the level of industrial productivity growth in the country. It is imperative for the financial reform operations to specifically target the industrial sector of the economy through a growth engendering reform policy capable of ensuring a sizeable and economically viable lending interest rates regimes. The provision of expansionary grants for the real sector of the economy would also serve as opportunity to increase the percentage contribution of industrial sector to the country’s gross domestic product. Keywords: Industry, GDP, VAR Model, Financial Reforms and Nigeria

A validated methodology for the prediction of heating and cooling energy demand for buildings within the Urban Heat Island: Case-study of London

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Solar Energy. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2010 Elsevier B.V.This paper describes a method for predicting air temperatures within the Urban Heat Island at discreet locations based on input data from one meteorological station for the time the prediction is required and historic measured air temperatures within the city. It uses London as a case-study to describe the method and its applications. The prediction model is based on Artificial Neural Network (ANN) modelling and it is termed the London Site Specific Air Temperature (LSSAT) predictor. The temporal and spatial validity of the model was tested using data measured 8 years later from the original dataset; it was found that site specific hourly air temperature prediction provides acceptable accuracy and improves considerably for average monthly values. It thus is a very reliable tool for use as part of the process of predicting heating and cooling loads for urban buildings. This is illustrated by the computation of Heating Degree Days (HDD) and Cooling Degree Hours (CDH) for a West–East Transect within London. The described method could be used for any city for which historic hourly air temperatures are available for a number of locations; for example air pollution measuring sites, common in many cities, typically measure air temperature on an hourly basis.EPSR

The influence of socio-cultural factors on knowledge-based innovation and the digital economy.

The knowledge economy, fostered by knowledge-based innovation, has been linked to entrepreneurial and economic success, especially in OECD countries. Studies have shown the influence of socio-cultural factors on almost every area of economic behavior. However, few studies have attempted to connect these factors to the knowledge economy. Our research bridges this gap. We investigated the impact of socio-cultural factors on knowledge-based innovation, then we also examined whether digitalization impacted knowledge-based innovation, regardless of the influence of socio-cultural factors. Using official data from Russia's statistical office, we developed a correlation regression model using a linear graphical test and Pearson correlation. Our results show that certain socio-cultural factors significantly influenced knowledge-based innovation. We also found that digitalization could mitigate the negative effects of socio-cultural factors. Digitalization had a positive influence on knowledge-based innovation across all regions and socio-cultural characteristics. Our research provides pioneering analysis of the topic within post-Soviet economies and has huge implications for business practice, policy making, and academic research

The Effects of Monetary Policy on Bank Lending and Economic Performance in Nigeria

The study investigated the effects of monetary policy on bank lending and economic performance in Nigeria for the period of 35 years which covered 1984 to 2018. The study addressed broad money supply, monetary policy rate, prime lending rate and inflation rate as monetary policy indicators while real gross domestic product was regressed as economic performance. The data were gathered from Nigeria Central Bank Statistical Bulletin and National Bureau of Statistics. The study employed two models to analyse the effect of monetary policy on bank lending and economic performance respectively by applying the estimation techniques of Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) stationarity test and regression analysis. Evidence from model one positioned that money supply and inflation rate have significant influence on bank lending while and monetary policy rate had insignificant influence on bank lending. The second model discovered that money supply has significant influence on economic performance whereas other variables of prime lending rate, monetary policy rate and inflation rate have negative and insignificant effect on economic performance under the study period. However, the study concluded that monetary policy positively and significantly influenced economic performance in Nigeria. It was therefore recommended that Nigeria’s banks should align to government vision of price stability, as well as facilitating the regulatory and supervisory frameworks to secure a strong financial sector for efficient intermediation