Louis Kusi Frimpong, Martin Oteng-Ababio, George Owusu and Charlotte Wrigley-Asante
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between neighbourhood characteristics and fear of crime, and further explore how this relationship is mediated by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between neighbourhood characteristics and fear of crime, and further explore how this relationship is mediated by collective efficacy. The background to this is that while research, mainly based on the experiences of western countries is conclusive on how collective efficacy plays a mediating role between neighbourhood structural characteristics and fear of crime, the situation in developing countries remains poorly researched.
Design/methodology/approach
The study drew from a baseline survey conducted in different socio-economic neighbourhoods in four cities in Ghana. With regards to the analysis, results from a series of ordinary least square multiple regression models were used to develop a path diagram to explain the direct and indirect relationships at the various study neighbourhoods.
Findings
Results from the study showed variations of the extent of neighbourhood effect on fear of crime and collective efficacy in the different socio-economic neighbourhoods. More importantly, the study revealed that collective efficacy mediated the effect of a number of neighbourhood characteristics on fear of crime in low-income neighbourhoods compared to middle- and high-income neighbourhoods.
Practical implications
The conclusion of the study brings to the fore the relevance of collective efficacy as a vehicle for building safer communities in Ghana since it relies on local initiatives in addressing criminogenic problems. More importantly, it is suggested that formal crime prevention efforts should be integrated with informal crime control measures, particularly in low-income neighbourhoods.
Originality/value
Using extensive survey data collected in Ghana, the study examines the applicability of collective efficacy, a western-based socio-ecological theory in a developing country context.
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Peter Quartey, Michael Danquah, George Owusu and Abdul Malik Iddrisu
Using the 2010 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) survey data, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the contributing factors of entrepreneurial propensity among males…
Abstract
Purpose
Using the 2010 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) survey data, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the contributing factors of entrepreneurial propensity among males and females in Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a measure of entrepreneurial propensity that takes into account individuals who are involved in starting a new business (nascent entrepreneurs) as a dependent variable and socio-demographic characteristics, and perceptual variables as explanatory variables, the study adopts robust empirical estimation techniques to examine how these variables influence the probability of starting a new business among men and women in Ghana.
Findings
The probability of being a male nascent entrepreneur is significantly dependent upon a wide range of factors including demographic, economic, perceptual and contextual elements, albeit with important variations across gender. An individuals’ subjective assessment of fear of failure in starting a business and of having the requisite entrepreneurial capabilities; the age of the individual; gender of the individual; work status and contextual factors matters for entrepreneurial propensity in Ghana. However, important differences exist in the drivers of entrepreneurial propensity for males and females with females’ entrepreneurship attributed largely to conditions of necessity relative to their male counterparts.
Originality/value
The main value of this paper is to use the GEM survey (which is nationally representative) for Ghana to analyze the contributing factors of the entrepreneurial propensity among men and women in Ghana.
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Lord Mensah, Godfred Alufar Bokpin and George Owusu-Antwi
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the day of the week effect on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) by using the GSE all-share index from November 1990 to August 2012. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the day of the week effect on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) by using the GSE all-share index from November 1990 to August 2012. The presence of the day of the week effect has been reported on several markets.
Design/methodology/approach
The study utilizes one-sample t-test, dummy variable regression, autoregressive and generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic models to investigate whether day of the week effect exist on the GSE.
Findings
The study reveals the presence of day of the week effect on the GSE, specifically, highest returns on Tuesday and lowest on Thursday. Monday, Wednesday and Friday also record significant positive returns, however, the significance returns is captured by a strong auto-regression in the returns. Therefore, investors may not have the opportunity to increase their returns by timing their investments. Further, the significance of the anomalies is not robust across time since different sub periods with different trading days per week shows different results.
Originality/value
The study provides additional evidence on the day of the week effect by using utilizing frontier market data.
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Abigail Naa Korkor Adjei, George Tweneboah and Peterson Owusu Junior
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the interdependence between economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and business cycles within and among six emerging market economies (EMEs…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the interdependence between economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and business cycles within and among six emerging market economies (EMEs) from January 1999 to December 2018.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts the wavelet multiple correlations and wavelet multiple cross-correlation (WMCC) based on the maximal overlap discrete transform estimator. This methodology simultaneously investigates how two or more time series variables move together continuously at both time and frequency domains.
Findings
The empirical results show that business cycles comove with EPU for both intra- and inter-country analysis, with the long term showing the greatest degree of interdependence. In intra-country comparisons, EPU has a positive correlation with consumer price index and a negative correlation with share price index. According to the WMCC results, EPU does not have any leading or lagging power within each EME, but rather import has both lead and lag power. The inter-country WMCC results are all significant, with Korea’s EPU leading/following all EMEs across all scales.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the ongoing debate about what causes business cycles to comove by investigating business cycle indicators (leader/follower) using a robust wavelet methodology. The authors propose new variables that can clearly reflect the outcome of economic policy actions and translate information about EPU shocks. The inclusion of the variables has altered the understanding of the relationship between EPU and business cycle fluctuations. Policymakers also gain new insights into the trends and patterns of EPU and business cycles, which will help them formulate and implement fiscal and monetary policies more effectively.
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Scot Wortley and Akwasi Owusu-Bempah
Black Canadians have a historically tenuous relationship with the police. Negative perceptions of the police held by Black people have traditionally resulted from high levels of…
Abstract
Purpose
Black Canadians have a historically tenuous relationship with the police. Negative perceptions of the police held by Black people have traditionally resulted from high levels of police contact and perceived negative treatment during these encounters. Well-publicized instances of police violence involving Black civilians have also fostered hostility and mistrust of the police, often resulting in social unrest. Recently, in the wake of George Floyd's death at the hands of American police, people across Canada rallied in support of the Black Lives Matter social movement and calls to defund the police entered mainstream political consciousness. At the same time, police leaders have vehemently argued that racial bias within Canadian policing has been greatly reduced as the result of various reform efforts.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper explores the police racism debate in Canada through an analysis of three waves of survey data collected between 1994 and 2019.
Findings
Despite well-publicized reform efforts, the authors' findings demonstrate that little has changed over the past 25 years. Black people still report much higher rates of police stop and search activity than people from other racial backgrounds. Furthermore, racial disparities in negative police contact remain strongly significant after controlling for other theoretically relevant factors, including self-reported deviance and community crime levels. Finally, reflecting their negative experiences, most Black people still perceive Canadian law enforcement as racially biased. Nonetheless, the data do reveal one significant change: the proportion of white people who perceive police discrimination against Black people has increased dramatically over this same time period. The paper concludes by discussing the prospects of meaningful reform in light of the current findings.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature on race and policing through an examination of 25 years of survey data across three waves of collection.
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Abigail Naa Korkor Adjei, George Tweneboah and Peterson Owusu Junior
This study aims to investigate the amount and direction of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) spillover among six emerging market economies (EMEs), and to also ascertain arguments…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the amount and direction of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) spillover among six emerging market economies (EMEs), and to also ascertain arguments on the increased volatilities of uncertainty in most EMEs.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a recent methodology developed by Baruník and Krehlík’s (2018) methodology to measure pairwise, composite and net spillover. This methodology helps investigate the size and direction of EPU spillover in EMEs. The unique feature of this methodology is its ability to capture frequency domain as well as time-frequency dynamics.
Findings
Inter-country static spillover connectedness among the EPU of the selected EMEs show that Korea-EPU is the main transmitter and recipient of spillover shocks among the EMEs across all frequency bands. The findings from this study also show evidence of spillover between EPU, GDP and SPX across the EMEs. The time-varying total spillover index analysis shows evidence of overall connectedness across the selected EMEs. Overall connectedness is highest in the short term. We document that global economic and financial events intensify the volatility of the total spillover across the selected EMEs.
Originality/value
This study extends the literature on studies conducted on EMEs as studies on EPU spillover has mainly focused on advanced economies. To address the limitation of previous empirical studies that were unable to address the amount and direction of spillover from a country to other countries, this study offers new insight on country-specific spillover amounts and causal patterns “to” and “from” the selected EMEs. The findings throw more light on the network connectedness across EMEs and hence aids investors to undertake precise investment decisions and intelligently plan their portfolio diversification strategies. We then introduce two new variables to the analysis and record evidence of high connectedness between EPU, gross domestic product and share price index in all the frequency bands.
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De-Graft Owusu-Manu, Augustine Senanu Kukah, Frank Boateng, George Asumadu and David John Edwards
Conditions of inadequate and asymmetric information when an agent is hired by a principal have resulted in the problems of moral hazard and adverse selection (MHAS) in…
Abstract
Purpose
Conditions of inadequate and asymmetric information when an agent is hired by a principal have resulted in the problems of moral hazard and adverse selection (MHAS) in public–private partnership (PPP) construction projects. The purpose of this study is to explore strategies to reduce MHAS in PPP construction projects.
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaires were used to elicit responses from respondents. Mean score ranking was used to rank these strategies while reliability analysis was conducted using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and level of agreement tested using Kendall’s concordance. Factor analysis grouped the strategies into eight components.
Findings
From the mean score ranking, monitoring; transfer of risks; screening; managing of construction risks; and increased incentives to control costs were the most significant strategies. The eight components were transparent process and contract, incentives and monitoring, screening and technical assistance, unbundling and benchmarking, funding and small liabilities, information clarification and signaling, risk and contract management and cooperation and finance factors.
Practical implications
The findings of this study have identified the most significant strategies to reduce MHAS on PPP construction projects to serve as a guide to PPP practitioners in reducing MHAS.
Originality/value
The output of this research contributes to the checklist of strategies that reduce PPP project failures arising from MHAS and contributes to the development of the agency theory.
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Godfred Matthew Yaw Owusu, Theodora Aba Abekah Koomson and George Nana Agyekum Donkor
This paper aims to review corporate fraud, as a concept, and the emerging research trends in corporate fraud research from 1957 to 2022 using bibliometric analysis techniques.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review corporate fraud, as a concept, and the emerging research trends in corporate fraud research from 1957 to 2022 using bibliometric analysis techniques.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 7,750 publications from the Scopus database were first assessed using performance analysis to explore the descriptive nature of the bibliographic data, and subsequently, citation, co-citation, co-occurrence and bibliographic coupling analyses were conducted using the VOSviewer software.
Findings
The results indicate there has been increasing growth in fraud research over the years, especially since the global corporate scandals of 2008. Although fraud is a global issue, the results suggest that most extant studies originate from developed economies, with a high level of collaboration amongst scholars in these countries. In addition, the co-occurrence analysis indicates that research into corporate fraud has largely focused on its determinants and corruption. The determinants identified are further clustered in the paper as individual, organizational and national-level factors.
Practical implications
The findings should inform practitioners and policymakers of the state of knowledge on corporate fraud which could be useful in developing strategies and policies to mitigate its occurrence.
Social implications
The study points to the need for research collaborations among scholars in developing economies to increase investigations into the occurrences of fraud.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to holistically assess the intellectual structure of corporate fraud studies from its inception and the trends over time.