South Africa’s interest rate behaviour: Investigating the influence of the indicators of financial openness

This study seeks to investigate the influence of financial openness variables on South Africa’s interest rate during the period between1980-2020. The study used both Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Philip-Perron (PP) tests to determine the order of integration of the variables, while the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test was used to investigate both the short and long-run impact of the independent variables on the dependent variable. The findings of the study revealed that in the short-run both foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and FDI outflows impacted the interest rate positively. However, portfolio investment, exchange rate and capital account openness did not have any significant impact on interest rate within the duration of this research. The long-run results revealed that FDI inflows had a positive and significant impact on interest rate. Also, while capital account openness had a significant and positive impact on the interest rate, FDI outflows, portfolio investment, and the exchange rate had no significant impact on interest rate. The study concludes that apart from portfolio investment which did not exert significant impact on interest rate, other financial openness indicators used in the study had a significant impact on South Africa’s domestic interest rate. The paper argues that, appropriate monetary policy measures targeted to lessen the monetary impact of excess capital inflows should be considered.  Additionally, capital account liberalization policy should be encouraged, but it needs to be regulated if it places an excessive amount of liquidity pressure on the economy

Economic openness, institutional quality and per capita income: Evidence from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

The controversy surrounding the actual impact of institutional quality and economic openness on economic growth is among the motivating factors for this study. The study seeks to investi- gate this relationship in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) by using the panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) test with annual series covering the period from 2000 to 2020. Findings indicate that in the short-run, regulatory quality and FDI outflows had an adverse impact on the economic performance of the ECOWAS bloc. Furthermore, the long-run results show that trade openness, political stability and FDI outflows had an adverse impact on the economy of the bloc, while regulatory quality positively affected the economy. Consequently, the paper recommends that member countries in the ECOWAS bloc should put in place effective regulatory framework in the short and medium term to attract FDI inflows, while building a strong and stable political environment in the long term

ASSESSMENT OF WORKPLACE DIVERSITY ADOPTION IN ACADEMIC STAFF RECRUITMENT BY THE ENUGU STATE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ENUGU, ENUGU STATE

The focus of the study was on workplace diversity is implemented in the recruitment process for academic staff at Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu. The specific objectives were included to: evaluate the level of ethnic diversity in the recruitment of academic staff, examine the degree of gender diversity in the recruitment of academic staff and assess the extent of religious diversity in the recruitment of academic staff. A survey approach was adopted. Sample size was determined using Freund and Williams's formula, resulting in a sample of 462 out of a population of 712. Out of the distributed questionnaires, 366 staff members accurately completed and returned them, resulting in a response rate of 79 percent. Content analysis was employed to assess the validity of the instrument, yielding satisfactory results. The reliability of the instrument was assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient (r), which indicated a good reliability coefficient of 0.76. For hypothesis testing, the data were analyzed using the Z-test, with the assistance of statistical software, specifically the Special Package for Statistical Software (SPSS). The findings revealed that the adoption of ethnic diversity in the recruitment of academic staff at Enugu State University of Science and Technology is not significantly low (Z(95, n=366) = 4.011 < 5.101, p<.05), gender diversity is not significantly incorporated in the recruitment of academic staff at Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu (Z(95, n=366) = 2.610 < 3.564, p<.05) and the recruitment of academic staff at Enugu State University of Science and Technology demonstrates significant adoption of religious diversity (Z(95, n=366) = 4.353 < 5.233, p<.05). We concluded that workplace diversity, particularly in terms of ethnicity, gender, and religion, significantly influences the recruitment of academic staff at Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu. Embracing a diverse workforce enhances innovation, creativity, and overall performance. The study recommended that Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) should implement flexible and appropriate strategic planning practices to foster ethnic diversity in the recruitment of academic staff, which will contribute to enhancing the overall performance of the universit