Essays on Financial Fraud and Tax Evasion

This dissertation focuses on the problem of misreporting in the corporate setting, where managers may commit accounting fraud, and in the public sector, where taxpayers may not truthfully report their income. Both accounting fraud and income misreporting have contributed to unprecedented financial losses to shareholders and governments respectively. As a result, policy-makers and shareholders are focused on one goal, that is, to mitigate the occurrence of accounting fraud and income misreporting. The process of achieving this goal starts with understanding how compensation contracts and tax schemes influence an agent’s willingness to misreport. This dissertation pursues these objectives using a blend of theory, experimental techniques, and exhaustive empirical analyses. Chapter 1 has a theoretical focus; this chapter evaluates the incentive effects of various contracts within the class of stock option contracts. In this chapter, we develop a principal-agent model of managerial fraud to determine whether there exists a contract that ‘dominates’ another contract by generating relatively greater effort while minimizing fraud. While there exists an infinity of stockoption contracts that induce a given level of effort, we show that within the class of stock option contracts, any two contracts that induce the same effort must necessarily induce the same level of fraud. We also characterize the schedule of implementable effort-fraud pairs. Chapters 2 and 3 have an experimental focus; in Chapter 2, we implement the theoretical model in Chapter 1 and test whether contracts that are predicted to induce the same level of effort and fraud are behaviorally equivalent. The experiment produced strong results in support of our hypothesis. The predicted equivalent class of stock option contracts induced the same level of effort and the same level of fraud. In a behavioral sense, stock option contracts are the same as simple equity contracts. Chapter 3 focuses on tax compliance behavior under the progressive and the regressive tax systems in an experimental setting. This chapter contributes to the growing literature on tax compliance by experimentally testing whether tax compliance behavior of taxpayers is sensitive to either the progressive or the regressive tax system. All else constant, experimental results showed no difference in average tax compliance between the progressive and the regressive tax systems. However, fairness, risk-aversion, inequality aversion, and gender played an important role in explaining variations in tax compliance behavior

Mother Tongue Usage in Ghanaian Pre-Schools: Perceptions of Parents and Teachers

The present study investigated the perceptions of parents and teachers on the use of the mother tongue and their preferred medium of communication and instruction for preschool children at home and in school. The sample was made up of a cross-section of parents and teachers (N=120, Female=80% for teachers and 55% for parents) of children (between ages 2 and 5) in a suburb of the Greater Accra Region, Ghana. A structured questionnaire was administered to the respondents to elicit information on their perceptions on the use of mother tongue in communicating with the children. The results indicated that both parents and teachers appreciate the importance of the mother tongue, with reasons including the promoting of cultural identity, the easy understanding of concepts and for effective communication. An appreciable number of teachers and parents also support the use of mother tongue as the language of instruction in school alongside English language. The two main arguments against the use of the mother tongue in schools are (1) the importance of English language for future learning and status growth and (2) the paucity of teaching and learning materials in the local languages. Parents support the use of mother tongue at home because it enhances children’s connection to their family, relatives, culture, history and identity. Recommendations made, include the provision of instructional materials and trained teachers in local language usage. Keywords: Mother tongue education, Medium of instruction, Ghana

Studying Phase And Morphology Of Hydrocarbon Petrochemicals In Inorganic And Organic Microdroplets Using An Electrodynamic Balance

Wastewater from the petroleum industry contains large amounts of inorganic salts, hydrocarbons, mercaptans, oil and grease, phenols, and other organic chemicals. All these compounds can be found in highly complex solutions in the petroleum industry’s discharged water, and there is no common treatment method, which precludes reuse paths in other sectors such as irrigation of farmland. In order to reuse produced water, the water must be treated and these harmful chemicals must be removed. To treat and potentially reuse oily waste outside the energy sector, researchers typically use membrane technology, photocatalytic degradation, oxidation processes, electrochemical catalysis, and other methods. The goal of this project is to introduce a novel method to measure chemical thermodynamic properties, such as water activities, of produced water. I demonstrate that the electrodynamic balance (EDB) technology is beneficial for exploring properties of produced water that can be applied to treatment and reuse in the future

Oil prices and Economic Growth: Cases of Canada and USA

The effects of oil prices on economies has been subjected to a lot of scrutiny since the 1960’s. This study conducts an analysis of the impact of oil price shocks on two oil exporting nations, Canada and USA. The transmission mechanisms of oil price changes to any economy vary from the supply effect to the demand effect. High crude oil prices impact the Canadian economy and USA through a variety of channels, in both positive and negative ways. Ceteris paribus more revenue is made when oil prices increase. In this study, I run an ordinary least square estimation with time series data from 1960-2017. The analysis showed a 0.20% increase economic growth in Canada and a 0.18% increase in USA when there is percentage increase in oil prices. Thus, there is a positive relationship between oil prices and economic growth. Keywords: Oil Prices, Economic growth, Canada, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), US

An Examination of Poverty: Dimensions, Causes, and Solutions

This article, based on the 2021 Southern Rural Sociological Association (SRSA) Presidential Address, assesses the dimensions, causes of, and solutions to poverty. It finds that the definition of poverty varies based on the criteria used, and even by which agency or institution is defining it. It also finds that poverty indices vary by state and by county. For instance, in selected SRSA states, Virginia has the lowest poverty rate and Mississippi has the highest poverty rate. There are several causes of poverty, some of which are lower levels of education, lower levels of health, unemployment, lack of livable wages, and the influence of other socioeconomic factors. Suggested solutions to minimizing poverty include government assistance programs, effective minimum wage policies, job creation, responsible behavior, and responsible policies. Overall, efforts to encourage education, improve access to healthcare, and improve shelter, among others, to boost income levels and standard of living are necessary to make ample progress. However, individual responsibility is also important

Impact of Selected Factors on Farm Income for the Alabama Black Belt Counties and Non-Alabama Black Belt Counties

The study examined the impact of selected factors on farm income in the Alabama Black Belt Counties (ABBCs) and Non-Alabama Black Belt Counties (NABBCs). Data were obtained from the 2017 Census of Agriculture and analyzed using ordinary least square regression analysis. The results revealed that for the ABBCs, average size of farms, government payments, and average farm production expenses significantly affected average cash farm income (ACFI); for the NABBCs, median size of farms, government payments, and average farm production expenses significantly affected ACFI. Furthermore, for the ABBCs, average size of farms, government payments, and total farm production expenses significantly impacted net cash farm income (NCFI); for the NABBCs, median size of farms and total farm production expenses significantly impacted NCFI. The findings suggest that the average size of farms, government payments, and expenses matter in the ABBCs; and median size of farms, government payments, and expenses matter in the NABBCs

What Works for Parents: How Parents Support Their Children with Math Homework in Rural Ghana

Family and Consumer Sciences programs target families in deprived rural and urban communities with the objective of equipping them with skills to improve family well-being, education, and relationships. In recent years, the focus of FCS in Ghana has been on parental styles and education that foster parents’ involvement in their children\u27s school work. Using a child-parent interactive model, a series of math activities were delivered to children between the ages of 6 and 10 years. Group activities were also facilitated by the FCS staff. Parents used local materials, such as small empty cans, bottles, leaves, stones, sticks, old newspapers, and sand, to explain math concepts. Staff, parents, and children used fun activities and role plays to demonstrate developmental processes that enhance effective child development. The lessons identified were tied to the understanding of appropriate parenting styles that foster acquisition of skills for basic math concepts. Parents reported increased interest and confidence in math and were more proactive in supervising their children to complete their homework. The importance of the model lies in its simplicity in conveying fundamental knowledge that relates to the interwoven aspect of developmental domains to ensure children experience maximal success with math-related activities

The state of digital heritage resources management in Ghana

In this paper, we discuss the state of digital heritage resources management in Ghana. The paper is based on a PhD research that explored contextual factors that were either enabling or hindering the management and preservation of digital cultural heritage resources in Ghana. The research employed an interpretive case research design. Data was drawn through semi-structured interviews with 27 key stakeholders from 23 institutions in Ghana. The term Digital Preservation Management (DPM) was used to refer to all the procedures, technologies, information infrastructure and processes involved in the general state of digital cultural heritage resources management and preservation in Ghana. Four main clusters of contextual factors; attitudinal-related, resources-related, policy-related, and management-related factors were found to be influencing DPM in Ghana. Although the DPM innovation was not fully diffused in Ghana, related activities occurring at the base, middle and higher levels of the Ghanaian Social System were inadvertently fostering the adoption process. In addition to the study contributing to theoretical understandings in information systems research in a developing country context, it provides policy developers in Ghana and related countries in African with an empirical base for accelerating DPM adoption