Oliver Masakure

Performance of microenterprises in Ghana: a resource‐based view

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the financial performance of microenterprises in Ghana by applying the resource‐based theory of the firm. Specifically, it is tested that if firm‐specific resources dominate sector and market‐wide effects in explaining microenterprise performance, as suggested by the resource‐based theory.Design/methodology/approach – The relevant literature for both microenterprise performance and the resource‐based theory is reviewed. Data from the 1998/1999 Ghana Living Standards Survey are analysed using ordinary least squares, followed by robustness checks.Findings – Factors embodied in firm‐specific resources jointly impact enterprise performance. However, sector/market factors also play a role, suggesting that the interaction between microenterprise, sector, and market factors helps explain enterprise performance.Research limitations/implications – All the constructs of the resource‐based theory cannot be tested due to data limitations.Originality/value – Small enter...

Factors affecting the incidence and intensity of standards certification evidence from exporting firms in Pakistan

This article explores the incidence and intensity of certification of Pakistani exporting firms across a range of quality assurance programs. Using firm-level data, the firms certification status is modelled using Heckmans two-step procedure. The first-stage results using a probit model show that the likelihood of certification is determined by the sector, the firms awareness of trade standards, the level to which the firms markets are diversified, external pressure for certification and the firms primary export market. The intensity of certification is treated as the number of standards a firm has invested in, which can be seen as ordered into distinct categories, such that an ordered probit model can be applied, correcting for sample selection bias. The results show that the number of standards to which a firm is certified is influenced by firm size, a firms primary export markets, level of awareness of trade standards and level of market diversification. Overall, the results suggest that certification can be enhanced through increased private and institutional incentives, such as reducing transactions costs in the fisheries and agro-processing sectors, as well as increased regulatory enforcements in supply chains and support for raising the technical capacity of the sector.

Poverty and Physical Well-being among the Coloured Population in South Africa

ABSTRACT We review the social construction of race and the experience of relative poverty and ill-health among South Africas Coloured population. We argue that childhood deprivation among Coloureds and race-based inequality in physical well-being, which is still visible today, began at least as early as the 1870s. The historical literature points to differences in morbidity and mortality between Whites and Coloureds before World War Two. New evidence from military reports of stature points to regional, socio-economic and urban influences on physical well-being which differed between Coloureds and Whites. Coloureds were much shorter even after adjusting for potentially confounding influences. The gap in stature changed very little between men born in the 1870s and those born in the 1920s.

Education and entrepreneurship in Canada: evidence from (repeated) cross-sectional data

This paper estimates the causal effect of education on entrepreneurship choice in Canada taking into account the endogeneity of education. The data come from the General and Social Surveys (2000–2009). We consider the effect of two extreme education levels: university and some/no education. Regressions are based on fixed effects with two-stage least squares. We find that university education positively impacts entrepreneurship but some/no education reduces self-employment propensity. Implications for entrepreneurship are discussed.

Understanding consumer choices for Ontario produce

Research has demonstrated growing public interest in local food and that this interest is driven by a number of factors including supporting local farmers, reducing the distance food travels, sustaining the environment, and food safety and quality. However, there has been very little research relating factors to actual purchase behavior. This study begins to fill that gap by relating consumer beliefs and values toward local foods with activities that support local foods as well as the actual purchase behavior for 22 fresh produce items. Data were collected through an Ontario-wide, web-based survey that is part of a longitudinal panel regarding food issues. Results from 1879 completed surveys indicated consumers had positive perceptions of local food and felt responsible for buying local, but also experienced barriers when trying to do so. Positive perceptions toward local food and a greater sense of personal responsibility to buy local were positively associated and higher barriers negatively associated with the likelihood of engaging in activities related to supporting local food as well as buying fresh produce items that were produced in Ontario. Implications of these findings are discussed in the context that consumers seem to have an overall orientation or schema to buying local in general, rather than a highly specific schema directed to one or a few particular products.

Disrupting an imposed racial identity or performing the model minority? The pursuit of postsecondary education by young African immigrant men in Southern Ontario, Canada

ABSTRACT This article examines how young African immigrant men in Southern Ontario cope with the dominant racial identity at school in an effort to improve their academic performance and access postsecondary education (PSE). Critical race theory in education is employed to explain how the young men distance themselves from stereotypes about Black masculinity by regulating their own behaviour and differentiating themselves from their Caribbean immigrant peers. Sixty-seven young men who had immigrated to Southern Ontario from several African countries over the last 10 years were interviewed individually and in focus groups for the study. The findings suggest that the research participants adopted a model minority status within an educational system that clearly embodies racist and systemically oppressive frameworks.

Employee Commitment and Wages in the Private Sector

This paper evaluates the link between employee affective commitment and wages using a theoretical model predicting that affective commitment and wages can be complements. We estimate simultaneous quantile regressions based on a matched worker–employer sample of private sector workers from the UKs Workplace Employment Relations Survey 2004. Our results suggest that wages increase with increasing levels of affective commitment, consistent with the idea that the two are complements.

Employee Commitment and Wages in the Private Sector (ID #2013039)

This paper evaluates the link between employee affective commitment and wages using a theoretical model predicting that affective commitment and wages can be complements. We estimate simultaneous quantile regressions based on a matched worker–employer sample of private sector workers from the UKs Workplace Employment Relations Survey 2004. Our results suggest that wages increase with increasing levels of affective commitment, consistent with the idea that the two are complements.

An empirical test of Lazear's leadership theory using evidence from Ghana

This article tests Lazears theory of leadership which suggests that leaders emerge by acquiring a wide range of publicly demonstrable skills. I use cross-sectional data from a labour force survey in Ghana covering small, medium and large firms and find that individuals with more roles in their previous jobs are more likely to hold a leadership role in their current occupation. This confirms Lazears theory which he tested using data from Stanford MBA graduates.