Stephen Oseko Migiro

Information and communication technologies adoption in SMEs: literature review

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the driving forces, challenges benefits, barriers and strategies to decrease barriers to information and communication technologies (ICTs) adoption and assimilation by small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in this era of globalization.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a review of literature, both online and print.Findings – The paper concludes that, ICTs adoption and assimilation in SMEs is critical to enhance their competitiveness. In addition, ICTs usage in SMEs will enhance accessibility into the international markets.Research limitations/implications – The major limitation of this paper is that it only reviews relevant literature and that empirical findings are not obtained to give an insight and holistic view of ICTs adoption and assimilation by SMEs.Practical implications – Effective use of ICTs in SMEs has great impact on its competitiveness and sustainability. In addition, owners/owner managers, policy makers and other stakeh...

Does Supply-leading Hypothesis Hold in a Developing Economy? A Nigerian Focus☆

Abstract The financial sector provides services that have been identified as germane for the growth of an economy. The principal function of the financial sector is the movement of financial resources between different units in an economy through the process of financial intermediation. An economy suffers if the financial sector is not efficient. An efficient financial sector can only exist when development occurs in the financial sector. However, the supply-leading hypothesis assumes that financial development is the driver of economic growth. Thus this study inquires into whether the supply-leading hypothesis can be upheld in a developing economy, with particular reference to the Nigerian economic growth between 1981 and 2013. Using the Granger Pairwise causality test, it reveals that there is weak evidence in support of supply-leading hypothesis; rather, the demand-following hypothesis is dominant in the economy. However, the study suggests that there is bi-directional causality between financial development variables and indices of economic growth which thus confirms the existence of their interdependence in Nigeria context.

Dividend Payout, Retention Policy and Financial Performance in Commercial Banks: Any Causal Relationship?

Abstract Dividend policy remains one of the top ten unresolved issues in corporate finance including in the banking sector. Hence, this study explores data from 250 commercial banks in 30 Sub-Saharan African countries to establish the causal relationship between the use of two major dividend policies in the sector and financial performance for the period 2006 to 2015. The empirical results of the vector error correction block exogeneity Wald test and Pairwise Granger causality test reveal that only retention policies Granger cause performance (ROA), even though both major policies posit a positive relationship with performance (ROA) in the Vector Error Correction Model estimate. Therefore, commercial banks in Sub Saharan Africa and also in the entire world should use their free cash flows wisely by exploring all available viable investment opportunities. By doing this, not only owners’ profit but wealth is fully maximised such that their survival, value creation, and future growth is fully justified.

Asymmetric Information and Volatility of Stock Returns in Nigeria

This paper investigates the effect of asymmetric information on volatility of stock returns in Nigeria using the best-fit Asymmetric Power Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity, APARCH (1,1) model, under the Generalized Error Distribution (GED) at 1% significance level from 3 January 2000 to 29 November 2016. The descriptive statistical results showed that the returns were not normally and linearly distributed, with strong evidence of a heteroskedasticity effect. The results of the analysis also confirmed the effect of asymmetric information on the volatility of stock returns in the Nigerian stock market. The asymmetric parameter (γ) was negative at (-1.00), which is statistically significant at 1% level. This confirms that there is an asymmetric or leverage effect where bad news had a more destabilizing effect on the volatility of stock returns than good news. The total impact of bad news on volatility was explosive at 2.0, during the period under review. Also, the volatility persistence which is measured by the sum of ARCH(α) and GARCH(β) stood at 1.695950. This is above unity and suggests that volatility takes a long time to attenuate in Nigeria. This could be largely ascribed to the persistent effect of the 2008 global financial crisis, which probably eroded investors’ confidence in the market.

Factors Impacting on Family Business Succession at Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal

ABSTRACT This paper investigated the factors that impact on family business succession in Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal – a notable economic province of South Africa. Using a quantitative study and a snowball sampling technique, it was discovered that there is inadequacy in management skills in the Newcastle family businesses.This impacts on effective business succession due to incapable leadership. Eighty-eight percent of the respondents also pointed out that succession is never discussed in family business meetings, thus pointing to a lack of succession preparedness. However, in terms of available potential for talent, of note is that 84.9 percent of the family business members are relatively young (18-50 years). This study highlights factors impacting on succession in family businesses in Newcastle. Recommendations and a proposition for further research are made.

The nexus between stock price and foreign exchange rate: validating the portfolio-balance model in Nigeria

The relationship between stock price and foreign exchange (forex) rate has been a controversial issue over the years. This study examines the nexus between stock prices and forex rates in Nigeria from January 1985 to December 2014. It applies the Johansen co-integration, Toda-Yamamoto Granger non-causality and correlation tests. The empirical results reveal that there is presence of co-integration between stock prices and forex rates and unidirectional causality from forex rates to stock prices with positive correlation. This study did not validate the proposition of the portfolio-balance model in Nigeria but it provides substantiated evidence in favour of the traditional-flow model.