Sunday B. Akpan

Determinants of Food Consumption Expenditure among Agro-Based Firms Workers in Southern Nigeria: Simultaneous Equation Approach

The study determines factors that affect food consumption expenditure of agro based firm workers in Cross River State, Southern Nigeria. Cross-sectional data were collected from 250 randomly selected workers of five rubber estates in the region. Descriptive statistics and two-stage least squares method of simultaneous equation model was used in the analyses. Results of the descriptive analysis of the socio-economic characteristic of respondents reveal that, the rubber sub- sector is dominated by the middle age workers who are predominantly males. More than 70% of workers in the industry had some years of formal education; while majority of them had moderate family size. In addition about 97% of the workers have invested more than one year in the sampled estates. Also, 76.8% of respondents belong to the local cooperative society; while only 6% depended solely on their salaries. Furthermore, the results of the regression analysis reveal that

Analysis of economic capacity utilization in the Nigerian sugar industry (1970 - 2010)

The study analyzed economic capacity utilization rates in the sugar industry for the period 1970 to 2010 in Nigeria. Secondary data obtained from sugar firms; Central Bank of Nigeria; National Bureau of Statistics and the Federal Ministry of Finance were used in the study. Stochastic Cobb-Douglas cost functions for the sugar industry were estimated from which indices of economic capacity utilization rates were obtained. Trend in the economic capacity utilization rate showed undulated pattern with an average index of 60.30% and excess economic capacity of 39.70%. Multiple-regression of various forms based on the ordinary least squares technique was used to determine factors that influence the performance indicators in the industry. Empirical results revealed that economic capacity utilization rates in the sugar industry was influenced by the inflation rate, per capita real GDP, energy consumption of the industry, federal government expenditure on the sugar industry and the period of liberalization. The result of the regression and descriptive analyses revealed that the sugar industry in Nigeria was constrained by insufficient production inputs. Policy measures aimed at reduction or maintaining a steady or less fluctuated inflation rate in the country, expansionary aggregate demand, increase funding to agencies that have direct dealings with the sugar production and adequate provision of electricity to the industry as well as the adoption of the liberalization industrial policy on sugar industry were recommended.

Investigating the Trend and Sources of Economic Efficiency in the Sugar Industry in Nigeria

This study analyzed economic efficiency indices in the sugar industry in the period 1970 to 2010 in Nigeria. Secondary data were obtained from the sugar firms, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) as well as the federal Ministry of Finance. Stochastic Cobb-Douglas cost function for the sugar industry was estimated from which indices of economic efficiency were obtained. Trend in the estimated economic efficiency indices showed time invariant fluctuations across the study period with an average index of 41.80% and excess cost efficiency of 58.20%. Multiple-regression of various forms based on the ordinary least squares technique was used to determine factors that influence the economic efficiency in the industry. Empirical result revealed that economic efficiency in the sugar industry was influenced positively by the industry’s sales growth and capital-labour ratio. On the other hand, the industry’s expenditures on research and training, physical capacity utilization rates and the real exchange rate of naira for US dollar impacted negatively on the economic efficiency of the industry. It is recommended that capital intensive method of production should be adopted as a means of promoting economic efficiency of resource use in the industry. Also, effective marketing policy on the sugar industry manufactures is

Seasonal Festive periods and Meat Price Transmission and Market Integration in Akwa Ibom State, Southern Nigeria

The study analyzed the dynamics of meat (pork, goat meat, beef, exotic chicken, local chicken and snail meat) price transmission and market integration in Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria. Average monthly prices (measured in naira per kilogram) of meats in rural and urban markets were used in the analysis. The data covered the period from January 2005 to September 2013, and was obtained from the quarterly publications of the Akwa Ibom State Agricultural Development Programme (AKADEP). The trend analysis showed that, prices of sampled meats in the rural and urban markets have positive significant relationships with time. The descriptive analysis revealed that, the standard deviation and coefficient of variation of rural price of each meat was similar to its urban counterpart and this was substantiated further by the respective pair linear graph of each meat. This result suggested possible co-movement of meat prices in rural and urban market in the study Original Research Article Akpan et al; AJAEES, Article no. AJAEES.2014.4.006 332 area. The Pearson correlation coefficient of each of the respective pair of rural and urban price of meats revealed significant linear symmetric relationships. The bivariate Granger causality test revealed bi-directional relationships between the rural and urban price of all sampled meats in the State. The co-integration test revealed the presence of cointegration relationship between the rural and urban meats used in the analysis. The coefficients of market integration in the rural meat price equations converge to unity or law of one price which connotes high degree of market integration in the long run. The results of the error correction model (ECM) confirm the existence of the short run market integration between the rural and urban prices of meats in the study area. The rural prices of meats adjusted faster to the stable state in the long run than their respective urban prices. The index of market connection (IMC) supported the existence of the short run market integration between meat prices in rural and urban markets. Based on the findings, it is recommended that, the Akwa Ibom State government should continue to provide marketing infrastructures and reduce sources of externality cost in order to improve further the symmetric nature of information flow among meats markets in the state. Also, individuals, trade unions, NGOs’ and government should established market information units and awareness programmes on mass media to facilitate efficient communication or flows of meat market information in the state.

Assessment of price transmission and market integration of pawpaw and leafy telfairia in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

The study investigated the dynamics of price transmission and market integration of pawpaw and leafy fluted pumpkin in the rural and urban markets of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Monthly market prices (measured in naira per kilogram) of pawpaw and leafy fluted pumpkin in the rural and urban markets were used in the analysis. The data covered the period from January 2005 to September 2013. The data was obtained from the quarterly publications of the Akwa Ibom State Agricultural Development Programme (AKADEP). The trend analysis showed that, prices of pawpaw and leafy fluted pumpkin in the rural and urban markets have positive significant relationships with time and positive exponential growth rate. The Pearson correlation coefficient of each of the respective pair of rural and urban price of pawpaw and leafy fluted pumpkin revealed significant positive and symmetric relationships. The result implies the existence of symmetric price information flows on pawpaw and leafy fluted pumpkin in the rural and urban markets of the state. The bivariate Granger causality test revealed bi-directional relationships between the rural and urban price of pawpaw and leafy fluted pumpkin in the State. This further substantiates the strong co-movement of prices of pawpaw and leafy fluted pumpkin in the rural and urban markets and strong evidence of market integration. The equation for the law of one price revealed the presence of significant long run market