Healthcare spending and health outcomes: evidence from selected East African countries

The study aimed to compare the effect of sound corporate governance on manufacturing companies in South Africa, Nigeria, and Ghana on financial performance. The study used a purposive sampling method to select 60 manufacturing companies, of which twenty-nine (29) were from South Africa, 17 were from Nigeria, and 14 were from Ghana. The study employed GMM and FMOLS to estimate the effect of corporate governance on the firm’s financial performance. According to the study, South Africa has the longest average board tenure at 7.85 years, followed by Nigeria at 4.7 years and Ghana at 3.9 years. The average board tenure was found to have a positive and statistically significant effect on the return on invested capital (ROIC) of the firms in South Africa and Ghana, and a positive and statistically insignificant effect was found for the firms in Nigeria. The study indicated that the firms in South Africa have the highest percentage of female directors at 24.26%, followed by Ghana at 17.8% and Nigeria at 17.3%. The study showed that female representation on the corporate board has a positive and statistically significant effect on all firms’ return on net operating assets (RONOA). The study provides policy implications for shareholders, boards of directors, and other stakeholders by enabling them to build confidence in the corporate governance structure of manufacturing companies in the three countries.

The recognition of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as a source of funding to foster economic development in both developed and developing countries has been in ascendancy. The prime purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the determinants of FDI for the “landlocked countries” in Sub-Saharan Africa over the period 1995–2013. By employing panel data analysis, the result of the study revealed that domestic investment, trade (openness), human capital, political constraint, natural resource endowment and the market size (with the GDP growth as proxy) as having positive impact on determining FDI flow into the sample countries with only the countries’ tax policies seen otherwise. Our study not only contributes to existing literature on FDI determinants by investigating landlocked countries of Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) for the first time but also includes natural resources that the landlocked countries are endowed with, tax policies and political constraints in such countries for the stipulated period.

This study examines the dynamic interrelationship and volatility spillover among stainability stock indices (SSIs), international crude oil prices and major stock returns of European oil-importing countries (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and The Netherlands) and oil-exporting countries (Norway and Russia). We employ the DCC-MGARCH model and use daily data for the sample period from 28 September 2001 to 10 January 2020. We find that the dynamic interrelationship between SSIs, stock returns of European oil importing/exporting countries and oil markets is different. There is higher correlation between SSIs and oil-importing countries, while oil-exporting countries have higher correlation with the oil market. Notably, the correlation between oil and stock returns became higher during and after the global financial crisis. This study also reveals the existence of significant volatility spillover between sustainability stock returns, international oil prices and the major indices of oil importing/exporting countries. These results have important implications for investors who are seeking to hedge and diversify their assets and for socially responsible investors.

The objective of this study was to examine the impact of corporate governance on the financial choices of non-financial companies operating in the Australian Securities Exchange. A purposive sampling technique was employed to select a total of 113 firms representing 14 sectors listed in the Australian Securities Exchange during the period from 2008 to 2021. The findings of the study revealed a positive and significant relationship between the size of the board, gender diversity among board members, board member affiliation and board compensation with the financial decisions of the corporations. Additionally, the study identified that the presence of experienced and non-executive board members had a negative and significant impact on internally generated funding. Furthermore, it was observed that board gender diversity, board size, board member affiliation and board compensation displayed a positive and significant association with debt financing, internally generated financing and equity financing. Most organisations displayed a preference for internal and debt financing over equity funding. Aligning governance with financial decisions enhances firms’ cost of capital. Governance quality affects capital market access, debt and equity costs. Effective governance leads to favourable financing terms.