Browsing by Author "Ofori-Abebrese, Grace"

Now showing 1 - 13 of 13
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Admission path, family structure and outcomes in Ghana’s public universities: evidence from KNUST students enrolled in the social sciences
    (The International Journal of Higher Education Research, 2017) Ofori-Abebrese, Grace; Yusif, Hadrat
    At the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana, first year enrolment increased by 1466.81% from 708 in 1961/1962 to 11,093 in 2011. In the 2013/2014 academic year, the total student population was 45,897. There are now five main admission paths, comprising regular, mature, fee paying, less endowed, and protocol/staff admissions. The number of dropouts and fails has risen steeply, for example, at the end of the 2013/2014 academic year, roughly 22.11% of the 1239 students were either withdrawn or repeated at the Faculty of Social Sciences due to non-performance. This paper examined the impact of the admission path and family structure on university students’ academic outcomes. A logistic model was applied to individual-level data obtained from 1000 students enrolled at the Faculty of Social Sciences in the university. The results indicated that the regular and mature admission paths have a positive impact on performance whilst the fee-paying admission path has a significant negative influence on academic performance. It wasalsofoundthatthefamilystructure(livingwiththefatherandmotherandthemotheronly) has a significant positive influence on performance. The study recommended that lecturers should bemotivated to conductadditionalclasses foracademicallyweakstudents.Counselling units should also identify students who experienced disruption in home life and raise their aspirations.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Does Stock Market Development Enhance Private Investment in Ghana
    (International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Research, 2016) Ofori-Abebrese, Grace; Amporfu, Eugenia; Adu, George
    The paper investigates the extent to which stock market development enhances private investment in Ghana. Quarterly times series data for the period 1991(Q1) to 2011(Q4) are used. Stock market development is proxy by market capitalization. The paper adopts the Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) method of estimation. The results for deposit interest rates, GDP per capita, and public investment confirm complementarity hypothesis, accelerator principle, as well as “crowding-in” effect for Ghana in the long-run in their respective cases. Market capitalization also increases private investment in the long-run. However, inflation reduces private investment. In the short-run, one quarter lag and two quarters lag values of private investment and public investment respectively increases private investment, while one quarter lag value of market capitalization reduces current levels of private investment. The paper recommends further development of the stock market since doing so will attract more investors and ultimately enhance private investment
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Effect of Bank Specific Factors on Loan Performance of HFC Bank in Ghana
    (International Journal of Economics and Finance, 2016-06-25) Ofori-Abebrese, Grace; Pickson, Robert Becker; Opare, Eric
    The default rate of loan in the country has been on the increase and worrying to all in recent times. This study assessed the effect of bank specific factors on the loan performance in HFC Bank in Ghana. The sample period used for the study was based on a quarterly data from 2008 to 2015. The study employed the ARDL bounds test of co-integration as an estimation technique to show the evidence of long run relationship among the variables. The study found bank’s loan interest rate, loan to asset ratio and bank’s loan loss provision over reserve as bank specific factors that influenced loan performance. These therefore showed that bank specific factors do have significant impact on loan performance. Hence, there is the need for bank management and regulators to undertake policies that can ensure efficiency in banks’ operations. Keywords
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Empirical Analysis of the Potency of Fiscal Policy on Economic Growth in Ghana
    (Modern Economy, 2017-02-24) Ofori-Abebrese, Grace; Pickson, Robert Becker; Diabah, Benjamin Tsatsu
    Although the finance-growth relationship has been looked at in many African countries such as Ghana, the outcomes have been mixed while the causal direction between the two variables has particularly not been examined. This study, therefore, applied ARDL approach and Granger causality test to investigating the relationship and the causal direction between financial development and economic growth in Ghana during the period 1970-2013. The study revealed that the amount of credit from domestic sources to the private sector maintained a positively significant nexus with the growth of the economy whereas the domestic deposit was not the case. Also, the results established that there is a dependence of the Ghanaian economy to the changes in domestic credit to private sector whilst there exists a uni-directional causality running from the variations in economic growth to the domestic deposit in Ghana. Consistent with the findings, it is recommended that the authorities concentrate on improving the efficiency of the financial system to allow deposits to be channelled to growth-inducing investments to bring about the long-term growth of the economy.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Empirical Analysis of the Relationship between Industrial Performance and Macroeconomic Factors in Ghana
    (British Journal of Economics, Management & Trade, 2016-05-09) Mensah, Frederick; Ofori-Abebrese, Grace; Pickson, Robert Becker
    The conscious attempt to ascertain the wide range of macroeconomic factors that drive industrial production in Ghana necessitated this study. The main purpose of this study is to ascertain the impact that macroeconomic factors have on industrial performance in Ghana over the period 1980 to 2013. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model was employed to examine the long run and the short run dynamics of macroeconomic factors and industrial output. The study found cointegration relationship between industrial output and the macroeconomic factors. The results indicated that the major macroeconomic factors that affect industrial performance in Ghana are lending rate (+), inflation (+), employment (+) and government expenditure (+). Based on the findings, the study recommends that the government of Ghana should stabilize the macroeconomic environment of Ghana in order to achieve industrial growth and development.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Interaction between Public Sector Wage, Inflation and Exchange Rate Volatility in Ghana
    (Theoretical Economics Letters, 2017-03-27) Ofori-Abebrese, Grace; Pickson, Robert Becker; Walanyo Azumah, George Kwesi
    Continuous depreciation of the cedi has been in the orbit of concern of policy makers for time immemorial. This is because, in spite of many policy actions to restore the continuous depreciation of the cedi amidst wage hikes and inflation, the efforts of policy makers seem to thwart in vain. The ARDL method was empirically used to determine whether the rising public sector wage bill and inflation have any impact on the value of the cedi over the period 1986 to 2014. The study discovered that inflation, money supply, interest rate and public wage bill have significant impact on exchange rate in the Ghanaian economy. The outcome of this study postulated that exchange rate determination in Ghana is also a fiscal phenomenon in spite of the significant and domineering role played by monetary expansion. Based on this information, the paper proposed that equal attention must be accorded both fiscal and monetary policy in exchange rate stabilization. It, therefore, suggested that there must be a purely independent central bank; devoid of political appointments and interference to carry out its mandate with free hands. An independent non-political fiscal body like the monetary policy committee under Bank of Ghana must also be established under the same body independent of the Ministry of Finance to ensure wage sustainability through the negotiation of public sector wage adjustment subject to budgetary constraints.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Investigating the Nexus between Stock Exchange and Economic Growth in Ghana
    (British Journal of Economics, Finance and Management Sciences, 2016-03) Ofori-Abebrese, Grace; Kamasa, Kofi; Pickson, Robert Becker
    This study used ARDL model coupled with granger causality test to investigate the relationship between stock market development and economic growth in Ghana for the period from 1991 to 2011. The study revealed that stock market development has a negative impact on economic growth in the long-run and this was confirmed by the causality test that there do not exist any relationship between stock market development and economic growth in Ghana for the study period. Human capital and money supply have contributed positively to growth. Inflation and foreign direct investment have not shown to be deterministic variables to growth of the economy. The study concluded that operators of Ghana Stock Exchange should strategise well to attract more investors to the Stock Exchange. In addition, the independence of the Central Bank, further development of financial and money markets should be adhered to by the Bank of Ghana to facilitate the implementation of monetary policy in order to achieve price stability in the country.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Macroeconomic Factors and the Performance of Loans of Commercial Banks in Ghana: A Case Study of HFC Bank
    (European Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Sciences, 2016-06) Ofori-Abebrese, Grace; Pickson, Robert Becker; Opare, Eric
    With the increasing rate of default of loans in the country, this study assessed the macroeconomic factors that influence loan performance of commercial banks in Ghana using HFC bank as a case study. The sample period used for the study was based on a quarterly data from 2008 to 2015. Using the ARDL bounds test of co-integration as an estimation technique, the results showed evidence of long run relationship among the variables. The results suggested that macroeconomic factors that influenced loan performance were inflation and T-bills. These therefore show that macroeconomic instabilities do have significant impact on loan performance. Hence, there is the need for policy makers to manage the economy well, embark on fiscal discipline and reduce government domestic borrowing to reduce Treasury bill rates in order to improve on loan performance.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Nexus between Government Investment Expenditure and Private Investment in Ghana
    (European Journal of Social Sciences, 2016-02) Ofori-Abebrese, Grace
    This study employs both ARDL model and Granger causality test to examine and test the direction of causality between government investment expenditure and private investment in Ghana for the period 1970 to 2013. The study revealsthat, in both long run and short run, government investment expenditure has an insignificant negative impact on private investment. It is also established that there isa bi-causal relationship between government investment expenditure and private sector investment in Ghana. Based on the bi-causal relationship, the study advocates the need for government to invest more in physical infrastructure and human capital in order to reverse the negative and insignificant effect of government investment expenditure on private investment.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    PUBLIC SECTOR WAGE AND INFLATION IN GHANA
    (Asian Economic and Financial Review, 2017-04-10) Ofori-Abebrese, Grace; Walanyo Azumah, George Kwesi; Pickson, Robert Becker
    Achieving price stability has been in the orbit of concern of state authorities for time immemorial. This paper is therefore focused on determining empirically the impact of public wage bill on inflation in Ghana for the period of 1986-2014. Using an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) to cointegration model, it was discovered from the study that public wage bill, currency depreciation rate, money supply, and fiscal deficit all have significant impact on inflation in Ghana. The outcome of this study postulates that the rate of inflation determination in Ghana is also a fiscal phenomenon in spite of the significant and domineering role played by monetary expansion. Consequently, equal attention must be accorded both fiscal and monetary policy in the fight against the rate of inflation in Ghana for appreciable and sustained result.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Relative Impact of Various Taxes on Poverty in Ghana
    (Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2016-05-26) Ofori-Abebrese, Grace; Kordzo Adukonu, Sugar Emmanuel Frank
    Poverty and inequality are tortuous manifestation based on a grid of interconnecting social, demographic, economic and political elements which are source of worry to society. Understanding their nature and effect is essential in functioning policies to address them. Taxation which is one of the sources governments mobilize revenue to address issues affecting the poor and society also have effect on poverty and inequality. This study investigates the effect of Ghana’s tax policies on poverty. The study employed the Johansen cointegration estimation techniques using annual time series data from the period 1984 to 2013. The results show that increase in indirect tax policies worsen poverty level in Ghana. However, direct tax policies and remittances have mitigating effect on poverty. Considering the agrarian structure of the economy, reducing export taxes will promote activities in the export subsector.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Three essays on stock exchange market development in Ghana
    (2015-11-05) Ofori-Abebrese, Grace
    1. Stock markets development enables firms to acquire much needed capital quickly and reduces investment risk due to the ease with which equities are traded and facilitates capital allocation and investment. However, critics on the role of stock market in economic development concentrate more on the fact that without efficient and well-developed financial system, the acclaimed benefits may not be realised. In developing and inefficient systems, for instance, the stock market may not be able to reflect real fundamentals and may mislead investors from making optimal investment decisions. This argument has been reiterated by the studies of Montiel (1996) and Yartey and Adjasi (2007) among others. This study used annual time series data for the period 1991 to 2011 to examine whether stock market development enhances growth in private investment. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model was used to estimate the coefficients of the selected variables. The results show that in effect, a positive and significant relationship exists between stock market development and private investment growth in Ghana. It is therefore recommended that Private Enterprise Federation should intensify its education policies to its members about the benefits firms derive by getting listed on the stock market and also encourage them in this direction. 2. Stock markets mobilises long term capital for firms and thus facilitate economic growth. There however exist different conclusions on theoretical and empirical studies of the relationship between stock exchange development and economic growth. This has provided the basis for a further empirical investigation on the nexus between stock market development and economic growth in Ghana. This study uses secondary data on market size (stock market development indicator), human capital, foreign direct investment, inflation and money supply for the period from 1991 to 2011.The study reported that stock market development has not been an ingredient to long-run growth of the economy. This was confirmed by the granger causality test that there is no nexus between stock market development and economic growth in Ghana. In view of this finding, the study recommends that policy makers should embark on macroeconomic stability and friendly private sector development policies such as a resolution of the energy challenges in the country to enhance the performance of companies in the country. In addition, the study recommends that although the Ghana Stock Exchange is new, illiquid and highly concentrated, it has a great potential so authorities should intensified the mobilization of domestic savings and foreign capital to increase the demand for shares in order to enhance stock market liquidity to facilitate long-run economic growth. A further study into the negative relationship between market capitalisation and economic growth in Ghana is suggested. 3. Fluctuations in macroeconomic variables such as interest rate, exchange rate, government expenditure, money supply among others seem to impact on stock market performance. The Efficient Market Hypothesis and some empirical studies propose that macroeconomic policy actions do not influence stock market development but the Tobin’s q theory and some empirical literature have found evidence of significant impact on stock market returns. It is therefore imperative to look at how government policies and institutions affect equity-market performance across countries in order to draw the attention of policy makers to the impacts of some of the policy actions they take on the stock market. This study investigates the possible influence that macroeconomic policy has on the development of Ghana stock market. The ARDL method was used for the study. The study found a negative but significant relationship between government revenue and stock market development. The policy mix identified by the study was that, the outcomes of government expenditure and government borrowing interest rate do not impact on stock market development. Real exchange rate showed a negative relationship with stock market development. The study recommends policy makers to manage the macroeconomic variables well as the possible outcomes can cause equity investors to easily transfer their investments in response to changes in government policies among others. Based on the policy-mix identified, the study proposes that fiscal policy management can focus on government spending.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Wagner or Keynes for Ghana Government Expenditure and Economic Growth Dynamics. A ‘VAR’ Approach
    (Journal of Reviews on Global Economics, 2015) Kamasa, Kofi; Ofori-Abebrese, Grace
    This paper analysed empirically the causal relationship between government expenditure growth and GDP growth in Ghana from 1980 – 2010. The study employed vector autoregressive (VAR)/Granger causality analysis developed by Sims (1980) and Granger (1969). The cointegration results provided evidence of a unique cointegrating vector. Granger causality test conducted revealed that causality exist only from GDP growth to government expenditure growth and not the vice versa. This implication supports Wagner’s law of expanding state activities for Ghana. This result means that in estimating government expenditure, GDP growth must be taken into account so as to avoid the problem of misspecification and biasness of estimates generated. The findings also suggest that government must focus on policies that would create the enabling environment for growth to thrive rather than increasing its expenditure with the aim of increasing GDP growth.