Cotton farmers’ willingness to pay for pest management services in northern Benin

This study was carried out to assess cotton farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for pest management services in northern Benin. Targeted staggered control (TSC) has been introduced to reduce pesticide use in cotton cropping and generate an estimated benefit of FCFA48,800 (€74.40) per cotton hectare accruing from increased productivity and reduced pesticide cost. However, TSC application requires extra time for pest identification and scouting, and its adoption remains low due to the lack of funding to boost farmers’ awareness and cover training costs. An interval regression model was used to analyze responses to a double‐bounded contingent valuation survey with data collected from 300 cotton farmers. The results showed that 87.3% of cotton farmers were willing to pay for TSC services. Annual WTP per cotton hectare was estimated at FCFA16,962 (€25.80), revealing an existing demand for TSC adoption. Respondents' WTP was driven by farm and socio‐economic characteristics. Financial mechanisms managed by farmers could thus potentially foster technology adoption, and in turn, generate economic and environmental benefits.     

Inflation Targeting Framework and Interest Rates Transmission in Ghana: An Empirical Investigation

This paper investigates the long-and short-run rate of transmission of the prime rate to interest rates since the implementation of inflation targeting policy in Ghana. Monthly data covering the period January 2002 to March 2016 is used. The Johansen and Hansen parameter instability cointegration, the FMOLS and DOLS estimation procedures were used. The long-run results show incomplete pass-through of the prime rate to commercial banks’ lending and deposit rates but over pass-through to the 91-day Treasury bill rate. The short-run adjustment shows relatively slow transmission of the prime rate to the respective interest rates. Given the findings, relevant policy suggestions are provided.     

An Analysis of the Effect of Culture and Religion on Perceived Corruption in a Global Context

This study examines the role of both religion and culture [as measured by the cultural clusters of countries in the GLOBE study of House et al. (Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies, 2004)] on the levels of perceived corruption. Covering the period from 2000 to 2010, the study uses three different measures of perceived corruption: (1) the World Bank’s Control of Corruption measure, (2) Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, and (3) Heritage Foundation’s Freedom from Corruption Index. A system of three simultaneous equations is used, with the jointly endogenous variables being (a) perceived corruption, (b) perceived government legitimacy, and (c) perceived government effectiveness. The results show that both cultural and religious differences are incrementally related to perceived corruption, even after controlling for other economic and political factors. Specifically, relative to the Protestant Christian religion, the non-Protestant Christian religion, the Islamic religion, and Other Religion/No Religion are positively associated with higher corruption (or negatively with anti-corruption), but the Buddhist and Hindu religions appear to be not significantly different from the Protestant Christian religion. On the cultural side, compared to the Anglo-Saxon cultural tradition, the other European clusters are incrementally positively associated with higher corruption, but this tendency is offset by more effective political governance, thus leading in the case of the German and Nordic cultures to levels of corruption not statistically different from the Anglo cluster. All the non-European cultural clusters are associated with significantly higher corruption tendencies, but the overall effect is mitigated partially by either greater perceived political legitimacy (Latin-American, Middle-Eastern, Caribbean, and Pacific Islander), or greater political effectiveness (Confucian and South-East Asian).     

A reply to Randall E. LaSalle: “The civil justice system and going-concern audit reports: Comments on ‘Auditors’ decision-making under going-concern uncertainties in low litigation-risk environments: Evidence from Hong Kong’ ”

In a dissent from the conclusion reached in Lam and Mensah [Lam, K, Mensah, Y.M., 2006. Auditors’ decision-making under going-concern uncertainties in low Litigation-risk environments: Evidence from Hong Kong. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 25 (6), 706–739], Lasalle has proposed a number of alternative plausible explanations for our findings that Hong Kong auditors issued disclaimer of opinions in a manner associated with the eventual outcome to the clients. We examine these explanations and attempt to relate them to relevant empirical evidence in the literature. We find that none of his plausible explanations is consistent with the limited empirical evidence available. Thus, we continue to believe that a high litigation-risk environment is not a necessary pre-requisite for high quality audits.     

Does the Use of Mobile Phones by Smallholder Maize Farmers Affect Productivity in Ghana?

ABSTRACT

This study evaluates the effects of mobile technology on productivity and the channels of transmission of these effects. Using propensity score matching procedures, the results show that mobile phone ownership and use significantly improves agricultural productivity. Specifically, the mobile phone improves the productivity of user-farmers by at least 261.20 kg/ha per production season. Further, we find that phone ownership and use impacts productivity more than phone use only. The identified channels of effect are extension services, adoption of modern technology and market participation. These results have key policy implications for Ghana and developing economies at large.     

The Determinants of Investor Valuation of R&D Expenditure in the Software Industry

This paper examines the cross-sectional variability in the market valuation of R&D expenditures in the pre-packaged computer software industry. Consistent with some prior research, this paper argues that R&D spending is valued heterogeneously by the stock market, and derives hypotheses regarding the determinants of the cross-sectional heterogeneity in the market valuation of R&D. The empirical tests use an extensive database containing product level information of software firms between 1994 and 1998, along with accounting and stock price data of the same period. The test results, consistent with our hypotheses, show that R&D spending is more valuable for firms with larger market shares, higher percentage of technical employees, and those that have diversified into different product categories. The results also indicate that market valuation of R&D spending is a function of product life cycle.     

An empirical evaluation of analysts’ herding behavior following Regulation Fair Disclosure

This study examines whether analysts’ forecasts exhibited increased herding behavior following the adoption of Regulation Fair Disclosure. A recent model by Arya et al. [Arya, A., Glover, J., Mittendorf, B., Narayanamoorthy, G., 2005. Unintended consequences of regulating disclosures: The case of Regulation Fair Disclosure. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy 24 (3), 243–252], using a discrete-time information cascade-based model, projects that one potential consequence of Regulation Fair Disclosure might be increased herding by financial analysts, although previous studies examining the economic consequences of Regulation FD have generally not found any averse consequence for investors. We examine financial analysts forecasting behavior before and after the adoption of Regulation FD in order to determine if such herding of forecasts occurred empirically. Our general finding is that increased herding behavior cannot be detected among either the firms most directly impacted by Regulation FD (those which used to hold closed press conferences), or those least affected (i.e., firms that used to either hold open or no press conferences). However, because analysts face diverse incentives for engaging in either herding or anti-herding behavior, our results are not interpretable as an empirical test of the Arya et al. (2005) theoretical model.     

Private Sector Participation in the Provision of Quality Drinking Water in Urban Areas of Ghana: What Do Households Want and Can Afford?

This study conducts a survey among households in three cities in Ghana on how water delivery should be managed. The contingent valuation method was used to estimate the willingness to pay for improved water delivery under private sector participation. Results indicate that most households will remain connected to their current water supplies if private sector is engaged to improve water delivery at higher monthly water bills. Given that the mean household monthly water bill of GH¢10.82, the results indicate that there is demand for water quality improvement, and private sector engagement is likely to provide these services. However, this policy measure marginalises the poor in terms of access to water. Therefore, private sector participation in water delivery may require a complementary programme to promote access to water.