1,720,966 research outputs found
EFFECT OF SOCIAL GRANTS ON HOUSEHOLD ENTERPRISE FORMATION IN SOUTH AFRICA
Full text linkSouth Africa continues to grapple with high unemployment and persistent poverty, yet the impact of social grants on household enterprise formation remains underexplored. This study investigated how grant coverage, poverty headcount, and household liquidity influence the rate of household business formation. Using a cross-sectional explanatory design, secondary data were drawn from the 2024 General Household Survey, with a sample of 1,200 economically active households analyzed through multiple linear regression in Stata 17. The results showed that grant coverage (β = 0.287, p < 0.01) and household liquidity (β = 0.305, p < 0.01) had significant positive effects on business formation, while poverty headcount (β = -0.198, p < 0.01) had a significant negative effect. The model explained 64.2% (R² = 0.642) of the variance in business formation, confirming that social protection and financial inclusion are key drivers of entrepreneurial activity. The study concludes that expanding financial access and leveraging grant systems productively can support inclusive enterprise development. It recommends integrating business training into grant programs, targeting the ultra-poor with asset-based interventions, and broadening household access to digital and savings platforms to strengthen household-level entrepreneurship in South Africa
LINKING REMUNERATION STRATEGIES TO EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY: EVIDENCE FROM MERIT PAY, BONUSES, AND GAIN SHARING SCHEMES
Full text linkThis study examines the relationship between four performance-based pay mechanisms, including merit pay, individual performance bonuses, gain sharing, and group performance incentives, and employee work behaviour. Using statistical analysis, the results reveal strong and significant correlations across all mechanisms, with coefficients of determination ranging from 0.726 to 0.898 and significance levels well below the 0.01 threshold. The findings reject the null hypotheses in all cases, indicating that performance-linked remuneration systems substantially influence employee behavioural outcomes, including work engagement, punctuality, teamwork, and reductions in counterproductive behaviour. Respondent feedback further corroborates the quantitative results, highlighting that merit pay motivates performance improvements across all employee levels, individual bonuses foster engagement and reduce absenteeism, and gain sharing promotes commitment and willingness to exceed role expectations. While group performance incentives enhance collaboration, they may also risk demotivating top performers when individual contributions are overlooked. The study concludes that integrating diverse performance-based pay strategies can positively shape employee behaviour, though organisations must manage fairness perceptions to maximise their effectiveness
DIGITAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT YOUTH EMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS IN AFRICA
Full text linkAcross Africa, rising unemployment among youth remains one of the continent’s most persistent economic challenges, compounded by rapid population growth and a shifting global labor landscape. While digital skills have emerged as critical assets for twenty-first-century employment and productivity, many African nations still lag in institutionalizing and scaling digital literacy and innovation pathways. This study investigates the dynamic link between digital skills development, youth employment trends, and the continent’s economic competitiveness from 2014 to 2024. Using a trend analysis methodology based on six tables with reliable data from sources such as the World Bank, ITU, and WEF, the paper highlights the trajectories of digital training investments, youth employment absorption, and national competitiveness indicators across selected African economies. The results reveal that countries like Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, and South Africa that made sustained investments in digital skills ecosystems recorded notable improvements in youth employment rates and climbed several ranks in global digital competitiveness. For instance, Kenya saw a 24 percent improvement in youth digital employment between 2017 and 2023, while Nigeria improved its Network Readiness Index ranking by 17 positions within the same period. The study concludes that aligning digital skills development with private sector innovation and labor market demands significantly improves both employment outcomes and national productivity. It recommends that African governments mainstream digital training into education, expand public-private partnerships, and leverage continental frameworks such as the AfCFTA to build interconnected digital economies. These measures are essential for positioning Africa’s youth as the engine of future economic growth
SHORT- AND LONG-RUN EFFECTS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY TRANSITION ON POPULATION GROWTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY: EVIDENCE FROM DYNAMIC PANEL GMM MODELS
Full text linkThis study investigates the dynamic interrelationship between population growth, renewable energy adoption, and carbon emissions within a system GMM framework, drawing on a balanced panel of countries and spanning the period 1990–2023. The analysis is motivated by Malthusian and neo-Malthusian perspectives, which emphasize the interaction between demographic expansion and environmental constraints. Empirical results reveal weak short-run effects of renewable energy and trade openness on population dynamics, yet underscore the long-term role of renewable adoption in mitigating carbon dependency and enhancing sustainable development pathways. Unit root and stationarity tests confirm the robustness of the data series, while correlation analysis suggests modest linkages between renewable energy, emissions, and economic activity. The GMM estimation indicates limited immediate impacts, but diagnostic tests highlight the importance of long-run policy consistency and institutional quality in reinforcing the population–energy–environment nexus. The findings suggest that a comprehensive mix of renewable deployment, governance reforms, and demographic-sensitive planning is essential to align economic growth with global climate objectives
EFFECT OF URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE ON DENSITY OF NEW FIRMS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Full text linkResearch Problem: Entrepreneurial growth across South African municipalities remains spatially uneven, with significant disparities linked to variations in urban infrastructure. Despite policy efforts to stimulate local economic development, limited empirical research has examined how specific infrastructural components—such as public transport access, water and sanitation reliability, and broadband connectivity—shape new firm formation. Understanding these relationships is essential for addressing persistent gaps in municipal-level entrepreneurship.
Methods/Theory: Anchored in Endogenous Growth Theory, this study employs a cross-sectional explanatory research design to analyse the influence of urban infrastructure on entrepreneurial density. Multiple linear regression was applied to municipal-level data from 156 municipalities, using secondary data sourced from CoGTA, PRASA, ICASA, and CIPC. This approach enabled the assessment of how different infrastructure indicators collectively and individually affect new firm density.
Results: The findings indicate that public transport access and broadband coverage exert statistically significant positive effects on new firm density, demonstrating their catalytic role in enabling entrepreneurial activity. While water and sanitation reliability also shows a positive relationship with new firm formation, its effect is not statistically significant. These results affirm Endogenous Growth Theory by highlighting infrastructure as a critical driver of local economic dynamism.
Conclusion: Urban infrastructure plays a foundational yet uneven role in shaping entrepreneurial outcomes across South African municipalities. Transport access and digital connectivity are particularly influential in fostering new firm formation, while basic utility reliability, though important, requires further strengthening to produce measurable economic impact.
Key Contribution to Knowledge: This study contributes to urban and entrepreneurial development scholarship by providing empirical evidence on the differentiated impacts of infrastructure components on firm creation in South Africa. It highlights how infrastructural disparities reinforce spatial inequality in entrepreneurial opportunities.
Recommendation: The study recommends strengthening integrated public transport networks, accelerating the rollout of fibre broadband, and improving the reliability of water and sanitation services to build more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems. Policymakers should position infrastructure investment as a strategic economic intervention to stimulate local innovation, reduce unemployment, and narrow urban inequality
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIAN BANKS
Full text linkCorporate Social Responsibility (CRS) is a driving tool for success and a crucial component of organizational performance. The study examines the influence of CSR on the performance of selected Nigerian banks. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 50 Nigerian branch managers; 10 each from Zenith bank, Guaranty Trust bank, First bank, Access bank, and United bank for Africa respectively to constitute the study sample. A structured closed ended questionnaire was also designed; copies of which were administered to solicit opinions from the sampled population of the study. Data analysis was performed with the aid of descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and linear regression. The study established that Nigerian bank managers recognized the importance of CSR and the need to perform their obligations to the stakeholders, both internal and external as well as society at large. The study also confirmed that adoption of CSR by Nigerian banks was influenced by the demands and expectations of other stakeholders as a source of competitive advantage and to comply with government policies. Subsequently, the study recommended that CSR is a strategic tool that should be adopted by Nigerian banks as social obligation to to the shareholders and the host community among others in the course of operating their legitimate businesses
IMPACT OF MANAGERIAL ABILITY ON FIRM PERFORMANCE AND RISK-TAKING: EVIDENCE FROM THE GERMAN INSURANCE SECTOR USING A THREE-STAGE EFFICIENCY FRAMEWORK
Full text linkManagerial ability is increasingly acknowledged as a critical determinant of firm performance, particularly in highly regulated and risk-intensive sectors such as insurance. This study examines the estimation of managerial ability within the German insurance industry through a comprehensive three-stage framework that integrates Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), regression analysis, and residual-based evaluation. The panel dataset, spanning 2014 to 2023, isolates managerial ability by identifying deviations from predicted technical efficiency levels. Adopting a quantitative, explanatory research design, the study analyzes a balanced panel of 1,200 firm-year observations drawn from licensed German insurance firms over the period 2014–2023, selected using purposive sampling based on data availability and reporting consistency. The empirical results reveal substantial heterogeneity in both managerial competence and operational efficiency across firms, with firm size and market share emerging as significant positive contributors to efficiency. Specifically, second-stage regression results show that firm size (0.112, p < 0.001) and market share (0.067, p = 0.004) significantly enhance technical efficiency, while managerial ability exhibits a statistically significant positive effect on firm performance. The study identifies a robust and statistically significant positive association between managerial ability and firm performance, as proxied by return on equity (ROE), with Generalized Additive Model (GAM) estimates indicating a positive non-linear effect of managerial ability on ROE (s(MA) = 0.12, p = 0.002). The study concludes by recommending greater integration of managerial ability metrics into governance and supervisory frameworks, alongside targeted managerial development initiatives to sustain long-term performance improvements
EMPIRICAL STUDY OF INFLUENCE OF FINANCIAL INNOVATION ON ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE OF SELECTED NIGERIAN INSURANCE COMPANIES
Full text linkDespite the proliferation of information technology, many Nigerian insurers do not deploy fully integrated computer software system. This study therefore examines the effect of financial innovation on organisational performance with specific reference to the Nigerian insurance industry. Specifically, the study examines the association that exists between process innovation, product innovation, service innovation, organisation innovation and organisational performance. A survey research approach was adopted to sample the opinion of respondents. A purposive sample technique was adopted to select 150 senior managers of the selected 69 insurance companies in Southwest, Nigeria. The data collection instruments for the study were structured questionnaires designed for the study. Path Analysis was used to analyse the data. The study concluded that process innovation, product innovation, service innovation, and organisation innovation have positive and significant association with organisational performance. Therefore, the study recommended that it is imperative for the insurance sector in Nigeria to fully implement financial innovation to enable it achieve its vision of being the industry of choice among emerging markets noted for high market capacity, transparency, efficiency and safety and to attain the position of one of the 20 largest insurance markets in the world by the year 2030
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