1116 research outputs found
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CONJUGATION OF GENERALIZED GAMMA PRIOR WITH POISSON AND GENERALIZED POISSON LIKELIHOODS FOR DISEASE MAPPING
No full textThis article focused on the use of generalized Gamma distribution as conjugate prior with Poisson and generalized Poisson likelihoods to handle dispersion in small samples. Based on this conjugacy, Poisson-Generalized Gamma model (PGG) and Generalized Poisson-Generalized Gamma model (GPGG) are developed for Bayesian disease mapping and compared with the existing Poisson-Gamma model. The efficiency of these models was investigated using both simulated and real data applications. The deviance information criterion (DIC), dispersion test (DT), Monte Carlo error (MCE) and relative efficiency (reff) were used for comparison. All indicated that GPGG model provided the best precision and model efficiency to handle dispersion and relative risk estimation for disease mapping in small and large samples under uncontaminated and contaminated data. Thus, GPGG and PGG models served as alternative models in providing reliable mapping of diseas
The Impact of Risk Exposure and Management on the Survival of Small and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria.
No full textIn this paper, an attempt has been made to investigate the impact of risk exposure and its management on the survival of small and medium scale enterprises in Nigeria. Consequently, the specific focus of the study has been to examine the impact of operational risk on the survival of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the effect of credit exposure on SMEs and the effect of market risk on SMEs in Nigeria. Primary data were used for this study sourced through the questionnaire administered on respondents and responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics of the KMO and Bartlett’s test. It was found that return on assets and return on equity are inversely related risk and that market risk leads to liquidity crisis while operational risk impacts negatively on governance and labour turnover. It was observed that the objective setting helped in enterprise risk management among SMEs. It was therefore recommended that to hedge risk, strategic management is imperative hence SMEs must go beyond conventional risk management approaches and use other approaches such as brand popularity, owning strategic assets, high volume production, customers support services and owning convertible financial instruments. 
New Multi-valued Contractions with Applications in Dynamic Programming
No full textIn this paper, two well-celebrated results in metric fixed point theory due to Jaggi and Dass-Gupta are revisited. To this end, the concepts of Jaggi and Dass-Gupta type bilateral multivaluedcontractions are introduced and suitable conditions for existence of fixed points forsuch mappings are established. A nontrivial example is provided to support the hypothesesof our main results. Moreover, a few consequences which dwell upon the generality of theideas presented herein are pointed out and discussed. Finally, one of our theorems is appliedto investigate sufficient conditions for existence of solutions of nonlinear functional equationsarising in dynamic programming and in optimization theory
PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF LISTED INSURANCE COMPANIES IN NIGERIA: A STOCHASTIC DOMINANCE APPROACH
No full textThis study undertakes a comparative performance analysis of listed insurance companies in Nigeria for the period 2005 – 2015, using stochastic dominance analysis. For all intents and purposes, the stochastic dominance analysis of the twenty-four (24) listed insurance firms in Nigeria was carried out based on their profit or loss for the period of the study. Also, the top ten (10) insurance companies with the highest performance rate, complemented by the 11-year average performance, were selected for further comparative assessments. The comparative assesment results show that, Lasaco Assurance, Sovereign Trust Insurance, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance, Axamansard Insurance, Nem Insurance, Prestige Assurance, Staco Insurance, Aiico Insurance, Mutual Benefits Assurance and Regency Assurance emerged the top ten (10) performing insurance companies in Nigeria for the period of study. The findings from the stochastic dominance analysis revealed inter alia that, Axamansard Insurance stochastically dominates the Nigerian insurance market. This is closely followed by Lasaco Assurance, NEM Insurance as well as Sovereign Trust Insurance, Prestige Assurance and Aiico Insurance respectively. The empirical findings of this study suggest three likely circumstances that can drive the decision of any rational economic agent. First, individual or organization will tend to go for the insurance firm(s) that first-order stochastically dominate(s) the most, given all conceivable pair comparison. Second, the individual or organisation may be a risk-averse entity, in this regard, such individual or organization will go for the firm or firms that second-order stochastically dominate (s) the most. Finally, there are situations that neither makes the individual or organization better-off, nor worse-off. In this regard, the individual or organization will remain indifferent. This occurs when the outcomes returned inconclusive. In this respect, the individual or organization can choose either of the pair with no relative advantage
Insurance and Financial Performance of Selected Oil and Gas Companies in Nigeria
No full textThis study empirically investigates the impact of insurance on oil and gas industry in Nigeria using data from seven oil firms over the period from 2013 to 2018. Return on Asset (ROA) - the dependent variable is regressed on five explanatory variables which include insurance premium, insurance benefit (indemnity), oil and gas firm revenue, oil firm size and board independence. Employing panel data econometric technique, the empirical findings show that insurance premium and insurance benefit are positively and significantly related to the Return on Asset (ROA) of oil and gas firms in Nigeria. The study also finds that Board independence (a measure of corporate governance) and size have positive and significant impact on performance (return on asset).The findings also reveal that revenue is positively related to the return on asset of oil and gas companies in Nigeria. Against the backdrop of the foregoing findings, the study recommend increased participation of oil and gas firms in insurance activities by subscribing to insurance policies and payment of premium for which the firms will be indemnified (compensated) when the need arises, all things been equal. Strong corporate governance particularly board independence is also imperative to enhancing the performance of firms in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. These should be supported with policies to increase firm size and growth in order to enhance the performance oil and gas companies in Nigeria
Efficiency of Insurance Industry in Nigeria: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis
No full textThe study sought to establish whether listed insurance firms in Nigeria are technically and scale efficient. To achieve this goal, the study employed the Non-parametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with input variables that include total equity, fixed asset and number of staffs while the output variables are revenue, other income and profit before tax. The study period was 2015 - 2016. The STATA DEA software was used to calculate the efficiency score. Findings from the study indicate that in 2015; 5 insurance firms out of the 13 in our sample were efficient based on a constant return to scale (CRS), while 6 are variable return to scale (VRS) efficient whereas, 6 insurance firms were scale efficient. Furthermore, in 2016 the result indicates that 3 insurance firms out of the 13 in our sample were efficient based on constant return to scale (CRS), while 5 are variable return to scale (VRS) efficient whereas, 9 insurance firms were scale efficient. This means that majority of the sampled insurance firms are not successful in converting their inputs to outputs. The study concludes that insurance firms in Nigeria are not optimally performing in terms of converting their inputs to outputs. It is therefore recommended that there is need for the insurance firms to scale down cost of production through appropriate strategy. Also, the operation of the efficient insurance firms can be the benchmark by the inefficient insurance firms
Cohesion in English Biblical Narratives: A Study of ‘The Prodigal Son’
No full textCohesion as a means of tying a text together to support the flow of its narrative has received the attention of narrators and researchers in linguistics. However, meaning is still often lost in many narratives owing to lack of cohesion. This paper examines the different methods that writers/speakers employ in making English narratives coherent. It points out reasons why many texts are considered disjointed/disorganized thereby making such texts lose the desired radiance. The objectives are to describe how meanings are worked out through cohesion and how cohesive devices employed as communicative tools in English narrative texts are determined. Drawing from Halliday and Hasan’s Cohesion in English, an offshoot of ‘textual metafunction’ in Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), the paper analyses ‘The Prodigal Son’ (King James Version) - one of the most recited narratives of the Christian scripture - to situate text, context, texture and grammatical concepts of ellipsis, reference (anaphora and cataphora), substitution (proforms), repetition (partial and full recurrence), subordination, coordination (conjunction, disjunction and contrajunction), etc. as the essential elements required in making a piece of writing coherent. Given the analysis of grammatical and lexical cohesion in the studied data, the paper provides evidence to show that the narrator employed adequate cohesive items to establish the narrative discourse as one united text through the interconnectivity of the various thematic preoccupations of the Christian literature. It concludes that the unity of a text is enhanced by adherence to appropriate usage of grammatical and lexical ties in English narratives
‘Madam Due Process’: The Public Life of Obiageli Ezekwesili
No full textThe Nigerian political sphere dominated by males has often viewed the emergence of amazons like Obiageli Ezekwesili as a break from the norm. The more women are marginalized, the louder and more aggressive female spokespersons become. The post-colonial period in Nigeria has witnessed the rise of many of such women on the political scene. This paper attempts to analyse the public life of Obiageli Ezekwesili with a bid to provide insights into the lifestyle of the exemplary woman and analyse the major forces that spurred her interest in politics. Existing literature on Nigerian women in politics tend to focus on women during the colonial period. However, this paper takes a different approach by identifying and analysing the work life of a contemporary woman. The paper provides a biography rich enough to inspire Nigerian women to aspire for political positions and become change agents. It presents an overview of the early life, educational background, and career of the subject, highlighting the key forces that shaped and ensured her active participation in Nigerian politics. It also identifies, evaluates and reviews, through the lens of Ezekwesili’s life, the achievements and obstacles women face in the political sphere in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. The study employs the use of official reports, documentaries, journal and newspaper articles and books
On Solution of First Order Initial Value Problems Using Laplace Transform In Fuzzy Environment
No full textThis study aimed at solving a nonhomogeneous linear first order initial value problem by means of Laplace transform method in fuzzy environment. The conditions for a fuzzy function to beH−differentiable and gH−differentiability are well established. Finally, example is constructed to test the applicability or otherwise of the established results
Pollution-Development Tradeoffs in Nigeria: An Agent-based Model
No full textLike many developing countries, Nigeria, is faced with a number of tradeoffs that pit rapid economic development against environmental preservation. Environmentally sustainable,“green" economic development is slower, more costly, and more difficult than unrestricted, unregulated economic growth. In this paper we develop an agent-based computational model of agents (who can be individuals or organizations) in a population who make successive choices that have economic and environmental impacts. Simulations based on the model suggest that widespread public awareness of environmental issues is insufficient to prevent the tendency towards sacrificing the environment for the sake of growth. Even if people have an understanding of negative impacts and always choose to act in their own self-interest, they may still act collectively in such a way as to bring down the quality of life for the entire society. We conclude that besides raising public awareness, economic intervention by the government (in the form of incentives or penalties) may be the only way to achieve an optimal balance between economic and environmental factors