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Impact of Economic and Noneconomic Factors on Inflow of Remittances into Bangladesh: Application of Robust Least Squares Method
Get PDFPurpose: Remittance plays an important role in the economy of Bangladesh. It also contributes to the change in the social structure and standard of living. The purpose of the study is to identify the economic and non-economic determinants of the remittance inflow into Bangladesh.
Methodology: The study considered two types of variables as the determinants of the remittance inflow: economic and non-economic. Economic determinants of remittances inflows included exchange rate, education, economic growth rate, and market interest rate. The non-economic determinants covered control of corruption, government effectiveness, and political stability. Monthly data were used for the case of economic determinants from 2014 to 2020 and annual data were used in the case of non-economic determinants from 1996 to 2018. The marginal effect of each variable has been analyzed by using the Robust Least Squares (RLS) method.
Results: The estimated results of this study state that, economic determinants like capital formation and education factors have a positive and significant impact on remittances inflows in both static and dynamic cases. However, the exchange rate does not create a positive impact due to volatility. The RLS estimation shows the control of corruption has a positive impact on remittances inflows whereas government effectiveness and political stability hurt remittances inflows in Bangladesh.
Implications: The current study identified the significant determinates of remittances inflows in Bangladesh. The findings have implications for policy formulation as regard remittances and non-resident Bangladeshis
Do Financial Sector Reforms Influence Manufacturing Sector Performance in Nigeria?
Get PDFPurpose: The study empirically investigates whether or not financial sector reforms influence manufacturing sector performance in Nigeria.
Method: A weighted index covering the gradual progression, scope, dimensions, and institutional changes involved in the reform and regulation of the financial sector is constructed for the study. Annual time series data covering the period 1986-2020 were used for the study. Cointegration and error correction modeling techniques were utilized for the empirical analysis.
Results: The empirical results show evidence of a short-run dynamic and a long-run equilibrium relationship between financial sector reforms and manufacturing sector performance in Nigeria. Specifically, financial sector reforms, credit to the private sector, electricity supply, and capacity utilization positively drive manufacturing sector performance in Nigeria. Further findings show that the exchange rate and interest rate variables are negatively and significantly related to manufacturing sector performance.
Implications: Based on the empirical evidence, the continuous reforms of the financial sector are imperative to enhance its credit intermediation role to the real sector of the economy, particularly, the manufacturing sector. The provision of accessible, reliable, and stable electricity supply, as well as sound, stable and competitive macroeconomic policy environment and appropriate institutional framework are also imperative.
Originality: The study is unique in the sense that it utilized a weighted index of several key dimensions of the progression and institutional changes involved in the reform of the financial sector, thereby sufficiently capturing the whole process of financial reforms in Nigeria
Application of “Travelling Salesman Problem” in Dynamic Programming for Efficient and Cost Effective Route Design for Distribution: Case of Chifles Distribution of ORFI Company, Ecuador
Get PDFPurpose: The present study is designed to optimize a route for the distribution of chifles of the ORFI Company in school bars within the Río Verde parish of the Santo Domingo City, Republic of Ecuador.
Methodology: Time and distance data were collected regarding the route of the vendors, then distance matrices were developed between distribution points, and a graph was designed to find the best route using the Bellman-Hell-Karp algorithm.
Results: The sector graph had 46 nodes and the optimal route was found by applying dynamic programming with the Held-Karp mathematical algorithm, the optimal route for the ORFI company chifles distribution is: 1-2-3-4-5-8-7-6-10-9-12-11-13-14-15-16-18-17-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-31-27-28-29-30-32-33-34-38-35-36-37-39-40-41-42-43-44-45-46-1, with 23089 meters of distance, optimizing in travel time 15% and travel distance 11%.
Implications: The application of the findings is expected to reduce the cost and time of distribution expended by the OFRI Company. Similar approaches also can be applied by other companies operating in the city
The Shrimp Industry of Bangladesh: A Supply Chain Issue
Get PDFPurpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the shrimp industry of Bangladesh in terms of Porter’s 5-forces model. It also aims to trace the supply chain of the shrimp industry.
Methods: The study uses both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected through an in-depth interview of the executives working for the shrimp industry. Secondary data was acquired through a literature survey from related publications, magazines, reports, etc.
Results: The rapid expansion of shrimp aquaculture throughout the southwestern coastal region of Bangladesh has led to both significant economic benefits and serious environmental impacts, thereby creating a hot debate over the pros and cons of developing an industry that has a great potential for growth, though not without certain problems.
Implications: If it is going to survive, the industry will have to embrace changing trends in the global market with a strategy to meet a growing world demand for high-quality shrimp, produced in an environmentally and socially sound way. This will necessitate some form of transparent and recognized certification program
Mr Bank Specific Determinants of Nonperforming Loans in Kenya
No full textPurpose: This paper aims to explore the bank-specific determinants of Nonperforming Loans in Kenya. To achieve this objective, the study considers four bank-specific variables that are expected to affect the magnitude of non-performing loans. These variables are bank size as measured by banks\u27 total assets, loan-to-deposit ratio, capital adequacy ratio, and interest rates.
Methodology: The study used a causal research design. Aggregated data on all 43 Kenyan banks were collected from secondary sources. Time series regression was applied to the data.
Results: The study finds that there is a positive relationship between bank size and non-performing loans. It also observes that there is a negative relationship between loans-to-deposit ratio and non-performing loans. The study further observes that there is a negative correlation between capital adequacy ratio and non-performing loans in Kenya. Finally, the study establishes that there is a positive relationship between the interest rate and non-performing loans in Kenya.
Implications: The study recommends that banks should revise their interest rates downwards to enable borrowers to afford the loans and avert the cases of default. Banks should also invest in proper infrastructure for screening borrowers to avoid cases of loan default
Lacking Entrepreneurship and Small Business Thrust in Business Education in Developing Countries: Case of Bangladesh
Get PDFPurpose: Business Education is everywhere. But is business and management education modeled mostly in the North American model or corporate business model, suited for a developing country like Bangladesh, where most of the businesses are small businesses? Who teaches what to whom for whom, using what resources, and following what approaches? Is the need for entrepreneurial and small firms being fulfilled by current business education and management graduates? If not, what to improve? Where to start? This article explores these issues and draws a concrete scenario of business education in a developing country like Bangladesh.
Methods: This is an ethnographic reflection of eighteen years of corporate and academic experience. The author consolidates experiences from \u27direct observant participation\u27 including observations coming through continuous interactions with other stakeholders. Thus, the \u27going native\u27 syndrome has been minimized through peer validation from both industry and academic professionals.
Results: Business education has a gap or mismatch in expectation and orientation. Teachers are recruited fresh out of universities without any exposure to the industry. Research and journal articles by faculties are hardly relevant and read by industry practitioners. Textbooks are foreign, mostly North American, or copycat translations. Graduates are blindly taught theories, and examples of multinationals. Business schools are nurturing this corporate blindness without any homegrown exercise or comprehensive local need analysis. So, industry, particularly, huge and varied SME sectors are not getting \u27person-job\u27 fit management graduates with realistic orientation. All know some of it for sure but none knows the entirety. So, the paper also made actionable propositions for all stakeholders - who could do what from their respective positions.
Implications: Current situation of business education in a developing country like Bangladesh is analyzed in detail. To initiate improvement in a meaningful way, all should have a starting big picture consolidation or situation analysis, on which a broad consensus can be developed, and synergistic progress can be made. This study consolidates that big picture of business and management education in one place, and it can be used one of those springboards from where stakeholders can take away their imperatives, and also work in collaboration with other actors.
Originality: All issues are partly known and discussed partly, in a range of papers, seminars, and dialogues. But consolidation in one place, drawing a summary of all actors and stakeholders, along with the context they operate, is rare. This paper attempts to do that
Procedures Used in Developing and Validating the Quality of Life Scale in the Context of the Ethno-Political Conflicts in Mathare and Kibra, Nairobi City County, Kenya
Get PDFSlight differences in standard of living, issuing from horizontal inequalities between ethnic groups, are a predicate of ethnopolitical violence in Kenya. Developing and validating a scale to estimate the quality of life differences, between warring ethnic groups, can deepen our understanding of an important precursor of ethnopolitical conflict. From a careful review of poverty and developmental literature, the 16 items used in the Quality of Life Scale emerged. In subsequent exploratory factor analysis, a three-factor solution surfaced, and this was subjected to confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The CFA model scale met the criteria for composite reliability, construct validity, and strict factorial invariance. The scale has enriched our understanding of the three latent dimensions of quality of life that matter most in characterizing the quality of life. First, the indicator "proud about your life" was the strongest factor for latent factor social and physical wellbeing. Second, “can save income”, a proxy for quality of employment. This was the leading indicator for latent factor disposable income. Third, and the indicator “house comfortable to live in” was the notable indicator of latent factor living standards. The Quality of Life Scale can track trends in quality of life of ethnic groups that have a history of ethnopolitical conflict in places like Mathare and Kibra. The scale can be used in other known hotspots of violence in Kenya too where ethnic groups are susceptible to ethnopolitical conflict borne of quality of life differences
The Effect of Governance on International Trade and the Mediating Role of Business Regulations
Get PDFThe purpose of the study is to investigate the mediating role of business regulations in between the relationship of governance and international trade. Data were collected from 181 countries and the partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypotheses. It was found that the business regulations practiced by a country significantly influence its international trade, but the governance of the country has a significant indirect influence on its international trade. A full mediation was evident from the results, where the indirect effect of governance on international trade was observed to be fully mediated by business regulations. The study will contribute to guiding governments and regulatory bodies to improve governance and business regulatory environment to facilitate international trade
HR Professionals’ Intention to Adopt and Use of Artificial Intelligence in Recruiting Talents
Get PDFPurpose: The present study is an attempt to explore the antecedents of behavioral intention to use artificial intelligence (AI) in recruiting talents by the HR professionals in Bangladesh. Drawing on the principle of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), which was built on the premise of technology acceptance model, the theory of planned behavior, the theory of reasoned action, and so forth, the current study has been conducted in the context of Bangladesh.
Method: Building on the understanding of the deductive reasoning approach, the investigation followed the positivism paradigm via a quantitative research strategy. We collected 226 replies from the end-users of AI through a self-administrative survey. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) via SmartPLS.
Results: Henceforth, the results in the findings filmed that all the hypotheses were supported.
Implications: One of the important implications of the present study is the use of the intervention mentioned in this study for the manufacturing and service firms.
Limitation: The major limitation is the use of cross-sectional data which implies that future research must use both cross-sectional and longitudinal data for the generalizability of the observed findings
Impact of Transport Infrastructure on Gross Regional Products: Evidence from Chinese Provinces under the “Belt and Road Initiative”
Get PDFPurpose: This paper analyzes the impact of transport infrastructure on Gross Regional Products in Chinese provinces under the “Belt and Road Initiative”.
Methods: The impact of the key elements of transport infrastructure on Gross Regional Products is analyzed based on the data related to development levels of transport infrastructure and economic development. Correlation and regression analyses were used for data analysis.
Results: It is found that railways and highways, which are the key elements of transport infrastructure, have a strong correlation with Gross Regional Products, and their effects are diverse among provinces under study.
Implications: The findings demonstrate the position and role of diverse infrastructural elements in enhancing the economic benefits of infrastructural investment and promoting economic growth. Thus, it is expected to facilitate decision-making related to infrastructural investment under the “Belt and Road Initiative”