Current Perspective to Economics and Management Vol. 1

The South African market is in search of an effective retail format that attracts customers and invokes a positive consumer behaviour. In an era of fourth industrial revolution, where retailers around the globe are manoeuvring with latest technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Robotics to help develop more successful retail store formats to invoke positive consumer responses, little evidence exists of empirical research, that explores the success of a selective store format in the South African Consumer Packaged Goods (CPGs) market or Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) market. Retail store formats are required to be aligned with the changing customer taste and preferences, and the trends in the industry to be effective. The portfolio of retail store formats available and selected may have a huge impact on the investment and consumer behaviour.

This research paper explores the impact of retail store formats decision on the consumer buyer behaviour in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPGs) industry by surveying a randomly selected sample of 96 respondents of consumers in the Sandton area of Johannesburg, South Africa. It became apparent through the survey results that the respondents are aware of the alternative retail formats, which increases their probability as customers of Consumer Packaged Goods to visit and buy from a store of their choice. It is established through empirical research that Hypermarkets followed by Convenience Stores and Super Markets are the most preferred retail stores by the customers of CPGs whereas Independent Retail Store has an insignificant impact on the customers. As a consequence the leaders and management of the retail stores in South Africa need to study and analyse the most preferred and successful retail store formats. The retailers in CPGs industry can accordingly decide to focus on the retail store formats that have shown a significant impact on the consumer behaviour. However, the retail industry is very dynamic and the effect of fourth industrial revolution has to be analysed further to enhance the customer retail experience and positively influence their buying behaviour.

The history of science is one based on revolutions and discourse where a new paradigm arrives challenging the status quo with the promise of progress and if the evidence is there to justify paradigm shift on the basis of that promise the consensus will be to shift paradigms. Apparently the shift from Adam Smith’s traditional market paradigm to the eco-economic or green market paradigm formalised in 2012/RIO conference meets all the requirements for paradigm shift listed. However, it was based on the accumulated environmental evidence for change only (e.g. pollution and degradation) leaving out the accumulated social evidence for change (e.g. poverty and inequality), but a progress towards sustainability none the less.

Not much seems to be written for sustainability about paradigm changes such as paradigm death, paradigm shift and paradigm mergers. General goals of this paper are a) to introduce a sustainability inversegram that can be used to state paradigm death and shift expectations under win-win and under no win-win situations; and b) to use this expectation framework to show the structure before and after the paradigm shift from the traditional market to the green market under win-win eco-economic conditions. It was shown that the sustainability inversegram provides a good framework for sharing ideas on what happen when sustainability gaps are created and what happens to their stability as paradigms expand and contract for ever. Second, it was highlighted how paradigm death and shift expectations and paradigm merger and shift expectations are derived and how they work under no win-win situations and under win-win situations. And finally, the generalizsations of paradigm death and shift expectations under no win-win situations were highlighted as well as some food for thoughts.

This study assessed the profitability, financial efficiency, and constraints among smallholder cotton farmers, using data from a farm household survey in Northern Ghana. Measures such as Asset Turnover Ratio, Operating Expense Ratio, Depreciation Expense Ratio, and Net Farm Income Ratio were computed from the dataset, and used to examine the financial efficiency levels of smallholder cotton farmers in the area. Moreover, constraints faced by these farmers were also identified and examined. The results revealed mixed findings regarding the financial efficiency levels of these farmers. Comparing financial efficiency ratios to the benchmark figures, Asset Turnover Ratio (20.28%), Operating Expense Ratio (74.1%) and Net Farm Income Ratio (19.14%) suggest that smallholder cotton farmers in Ghana are financially inefficient, but efficient regarding Depreciation Expense Ratio (3.29%). Constraints such as incidence of pest and diseases, poor pricing of seed cotton, untimely input supply by cotton companies, difficulty in acquiring labour, bad weather conditions, and lack of access to land, cash credit, and tractor services were identified as facing the cotton farmers in Ghana. Intensified collaborative efforts by the government, NGOs in the cotton sector, private cotton companies, and other cotton stakeholders in building farmers’ technical and financial capacities, providing input subsidies, and in setting fair cotton prices could ameliorate the constraints, while enabling them to handle the cotton production business efficiently.

Background: Literary sources contain contradictory information about energy release. Some authors describe the trend of rapid growth of this indicator, others believe that this growth is gradually subsiding.

Objective: Authors have considered a problem of worldwide consumption of energy and its effects on economic development.

Methods: The necessary parameters were determined by data of various literary sources.

Discussion: It is shown that the direct approximation of dependencies of energy release per capita, population size and inhabited territory to calculate the energy release density is inexpedient.

It is established that the energy release density first decreases with time, and then begins to grow.

Conclusion: The main sources of growth are industrialised countries. The lack of energy leads to an increase in poverty, and therefore, to difficulties in building up intellectual capital and, as a result, to the inhibition of economic development.

Aims: This study examines the growth link between privatization and macro-economic aggregates in Nigeria. The growth effects between privatization proceed (privp), government expenditure (govtexp), per capita expenditure (pexp), unemployment rate (unemr) and inflation (infl) are studied.

Scope of the study: The study covers.

Methodology: We employ structural equation models: Granger Causality Wald Test and Impulse Response Function. The Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method of estimation is employed using time series from World Bank Development Indicators (WBI) and Central Bank of Nigeria bulletin 2012.

Result: From the result, impulses from govtexp to a unit structural shock exert a positive growth on privp and other macro-economic variables. When govtexp produces impulses, the response of privp to exhr, and privp to gfcap are very low and insignificant. When privp produces impulse, the response of pexp to privp are emitted at first period but after this period, positive shocks are recorded in a fluctuating manner. The IRF result also shows that responses and shocks of exhr to impulse produced by privp are also insignificant. This is the case with privp and gfcap, privp and gdp as wall as privp and pexp. The causality test on the other hand shows that privp leads growth in all the variables except infl with a feedback relationship from unemr and gdp.

Conclusion: This implies, privatization cause’s growth in all macro-economic variables except inflation. The IRF results generally support this but reveal that the growth link between privatization and macro-economic aggregates is weak and insignificant. Privatization policy should be strengthened in a more transparent, profitable and responsive manner.

This work aims to examine and test another model of exchange determination, the exchange rate overshooting model by examining its dynamics and measuring the speed of adjustment of prices. Then, in this overshooting model it is assumed that prices are sticky; thus, there is gradual adjustment of prices after a monetary shock. If the prices are adjusted instantaneously, it will fall to the monetarist view; otherwise, to the overshooting one, due to slow adjustment of prices and consequently, a monetary shock affects all the other variables and slowly the exchange rate. On the one hand, this study outlines, here, an approach of testing the dynamic models of exchange rate determination. This approach is based upon the idea that it is difficult to measure directly the process by which market participants revise their expectations about current and future money supplies. On the other hand, it is possible to make indirect inferences about these expectations through a time series analysis of related financial and real prices. Empirical tests of the above exchange rate dynamics are taking place for four different exchange rates ($/€, $/£, C$/$, and ¥/$). Theoretical discussion and empirical evidence have emphasised the impact of gradual adjustment and “overshooting” that it is taking place. Only for the $/€ exchange rate, the monetarist model is correct. This is an indication that there is price control (price inertia) in countries that have less market oriented economies.

Nigerian economy is mono-cultural dependence on a single commodity-oil, while other sectors of the economy have been relegated or neglected since the discovery of oil, and the management of oil revenues has proven inefficacious in driving the economy to bring about the needed level of growth talk less of development. This has the serious negative implementation on the nation’s development, as good percentage of Nigerians still live in abject poverty and unemployment is on the increase in the country. In respect of this, the paper seeks possible ways to diversify productive sectors of Nigerian economy. It is revealed that considering Nigeria’s peculiar circumstances and successes recorded before the advent of oil, for Nigeria to break loose from the problems inherent in a monotype-economy dominated by oil, which is subject to depletion, international price shocks and unfavourable quota arrangement, there is need for diversification of Nigerian economy for National development. This paper therefore, utilized data generated through structured questionnaire from 36 states of the federation and the federal capital territory, descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data and it revealed that there is a positive relationship between entrepreneurship development and diversification of Nigerian economy. The paper as well depicts the importance of Entrepreneurship as a realistic mechanism for the diversification of Nigerian economic development. It discusses that entrepreneurship has been instrumental in economic development and job creation in most of the developing economies, and training on entrepreneurship is one of the possible option for diversification of the Nigerian economy. The paper recommended that government should have interest and support entrepreneurship with finance, access to licences/permit, taxes and to be included in the curriculum of studies from primary school to tertiary level. Despite the fact that the Nigerian economy has experienced a steadily growth over the last decade, that growth was however moving at a slow pace as a result of the countries dependence on a natural resource; which is exhaustible in nature and unsustainable and had experienced set back in the international market. This study revealed that economic diversification can be achieved through developing entrepreneurship with machinery put in place to empower the trained entrepreneurs. A flexible and enabling environment will go a long way to improve the quest for diversification.  

The role small businesses play in the economy of countries are very germane. They enhance the growth and development of nations through massive job creation, contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and consequently reducing poverty and crime rates. Despite their importance, small businesses all over the world especially developing countries face diverse challenges that affect their performance. The objective of this study is to investigate the environmental factors that impact the financial and non-financial performance of small businesses. A survey method was used to gather data from two hundred and four small business owners and managers located in selected cities in Nigeria. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were conducted to identify the relationship between internal and external environmental factors and the performance of small  businesses in Nigeria. The results of the study reveal that inadequate finance, inadequate infrastructure and poor managerial skills have significant and negative relationship with small businesses' performance. Meanwhile, inadequate finance is the most significant factor while, inadequate infrastructure is the least significant factor.

This study emphasizes the need for favourable government policies to support small scale businesses in easy access to finance and training. Small business owners are advised to regularly attend workshops, training and seminars for skills update. Government is also implored to fix dilapidated infrastructure in the country. In the case of this study revealed, inadequate infrastructure least affects MSEs performance. This appears to be the availability of substitutes for many infrastructural deficits. For example, there is no stable electricity in Nigeria, but most MSEs can afford at least a small generator popularly called "I pass my neighbour" to power their businesses. Also it is scarce to get pipe borne water, but many alternative exists e.g. bottled water, sachet water, buying water in large quantity from private borehole water suppliers or fetching from wells.

Aims: The role of participation in promoting sustainable economic development especially in rural communities cannot be overemphasized. Participation encourages ownership and sustainability of development efforts well beyond development interventions. However, participatory development has been more logically accepted than implemented; and participation is ordinarily used in practice to describe some involvement of all actors, irrespective of the level of involvement. We revisit some of the key theoretical issues surrounding the concept of participation, particularly the different levels of participation. We then empirically apply   some participatory rural appraisal tools, particularly access and control profiling and the triple roles framework in Cameroonian communities, in an attempt to demonstrate how gender-sensitive participation can promote sustainable rural economic development.

Results suggest that participatory approaches can unravel key relationships such gender based access and control over different resources and intra-household division of labor, which are crucial in promoting sustainable economic development, especially in rural areas of developing countries.

We conclude with the need to consistently improve the level of beneficiary participation and to include gender analyses, as prerequisites to maximizing the economic benefits of the role of participation in sustainable economic development. In spite of the criticisms, the role of participation for sustainable (economic) development, especially in rural areas in developing countries holds great potentials. Nevertheless, and in line with previous contentions, the results of the case study examined here suggests however, that a case by case approach is necessary, rather than generalization, since the role of participation and the importance of gender differences for socioeconomic development can vary from one community to another and even within the same community. If well done and if the right tools are sequenced and applied appropriately, sustainable development stands to benefit from increased local participation. Only through increasing application and sharing of experiences will the capacity of participatory approaches to contribute to the newly developed global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) be established. Until proven otherwise, and drawing from the results of this study, it seems plausible to vouch for increased participation as a lever for enhancing sustainable economic development, especially in developing countries.

Aims: Delve further into the Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme by exploring the perceptions of 300 retirees and prospective retirees on the adequacy of incomes in retirement provided by the current EPF system.

Methodology: By employing the logistic model, the perceptions of 250 retirees and 50 currently working employees, were evaluated as part of the overall assessment on the strategic pathway of the EPF system towards becoming a reliable provider of financial security for elderly workers.

Results: The study obtained relatively similar results regarding key factors of retirement income adequacy for retirees and prospective retirees. Key factors namely the number of dependent persons, average non-EPF savings, housing loan, car loan and medical expenses are found to be negatively related to retirement income adequacy.

Conclusion: Therefore, necessary improvements on the current EPF scheme need to be implemented so that the provision of accumulated financial resources for both retirees and prospective retirees aimed at ascertaining appropriate adequacy levels of retirement incomes can be monitored in a timely manner.