MAKE MOST OF THE KNOWLEDGE NETWORK, JOIN ACADEMIC RESEARCH FOUNDATION

The study is about the informal sector taxation and revenue generation, the dwindling oil revenue to the government has led to reduction in government performance over time. However, with the ever growing and increasing activities in the informal sector where the small and medium scale business exist additional revenue to the government is possible. The challenge of poor financial record system and weak tax administration of the informal sector have remained the bane of tax revenue in the system. The study explores the primary source of data collection using the survey method. The scarcity of data and where available the accuracy and reliability of such data remain an issue in point. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection, judgmental sampling technique was adopted for the questionnaire distribution and administration. The study result shows that the informal sector would provide a good and strong alternate sources of tax revenue to the government. It also revealed that the informal sector tax potential has not been fully exploited by the government, the study also discovered that poor tax administration is the bane of tax revenue generation from the informal sector. The study concluded that the informal sector possesses the potentials of contributing to the growth of the government tax revenue. The study also concluded that tax administration in Nigeria has not been designed to explore the tax revenue potential of the informal sector. The study recommended that government should redesign the tax administration system and refocus it to explore tax revenue potential of the informal sector.

Keywords: taxation, informal sector, swarm locust, SMEs. Tax administration

The study examined the effect of market risk on the performance of brewery industry in West African region from 1997 to 2023.Market risk, otherwise known as systematic risks are those risks which cannot be eliminated through diversification. Market risk is a function of uncertainties occasioned by the inflation rate, interest rate, and, exchange rate in this context. The study adopted ex-post facto research design. The population of the study comprise of brewery firms in West Africa. The study used purposive sampling to select the six countries from West African region. The relevant data for this study were obtained from the firm’s annual report and statement of account, the Central Bank statistical bulletin of Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia and Sierra Leone, Senegal and cod voire covering the period of 1997 to 2023. The study applied was auto regressive distributed lag model (ARDL) to test the hypotheses stated at 0.05 level of significance. Several studies have been conducted on market risk and corporate performance of quoted service oriented firms in Africa as a continent however, much of their findings showed that market risks have a significant effect on corporate performance of financial institutions and other service-oriented firms in the world. Based on this, the study took a paradigm shift from these works to study the effects of market risk on corporate financial performance of quoted manufacturing organizations in selected Anglophone and Franco phone countries in West Africa region. Th e aim of this study was to examine the effect of market risks on the performance of brewery firms across West African Countries. The specific objectives of the study were to: (i) examine the effects of inflation rate on asset turnover of quoted brewery firms, (ii) determine the effects of inflation on earnings per share of selected breweries firms. The study revealed that: (i) Asset turnover have a positive response to Inflation rate. (ii) Earnings per share have a positive response to Inflation rate of quoted manufacturing firms in West Africa. The study recommend that: (i) Implement cost control measures to reduce waste and improve operational efficiency.(ii) Develop a flexible pricing strategy that can be adjusted in response to inflationary pressures

Keywords: Market risk, Inflation rate, Asset Turn Over, ARDL, Earnings Per Share.

The paper empirically investigates the impact of the external-induced shocked of COVID-19 pandemic on the stock market volatility for 15 African countries. Stock returns volatility is generated using the GARCH approach and is regressed on infection-induced shock and death-induced shock, respectively. The pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and System-GMM estimation procedures were adopted. The empirical findings show that these COVID-19 pandemic generated severe negative shocks that led to strong volatiles in the stock markets of the countries examined. The paper recommends strong economic interventionist policies and resilience to mitigate external shocks associated with uncertainties like the COVID-19.

Keywords: External-induced shock, COVID-19 pandemic, Stock market volatility, Economic vulnerability
JEL Classification: I10, I15, F1

This study examines the impact of oil price shock (OSS), and foreign exchange rate misalignments on industrial output in four oil-exporting economies of OECD: Denmark, Finland, Germany, and Ireland. The U.S. economic policy uncertainty (EPOU) serves as a moderating/control variable in the analysis. Using quarterly data from 2008 to 2024, the Copula-GARCH procedure was used in the study to explore the nexus between these key economic variables. The findings reveal that OSS and EPOU are significant drivers of industrial output in Denmark and Finland, being more vulnerable to external shocks. Foreign exchange rate misalignments do significantly influence industrial production some countries. Denmark’s economy exhibits strong correlations between OSS and EPOU, with substantial tail dependence coefficients indicating that extreme negative shocks, such as oil supply downturns, significantly correlates with adverse policy changes. Finland’s industrial production is similarly influenced by these factors, though the relationship with FXM is weaker, reflecting the less direct impact of foreign exchange market misalignments on industrial output. The interaction of oil supply shocks and forex market misalignments reveal substantial association with industrial production, given significant Kendall values with robust tail dependence in Ireland and Germany respectively. There is a considerable industrial output effect of joint influence from oil supply shocks and the uncertainty arising from economic policy. The joint effect of policy uncertainty and foreign exchange rate misalignments was also robust for all countries. While both Germany and U.K. are also affected by oil supply shocks, the detrimental influence becomes stronger in Denmark and Finland as policy uncertainties that characterized the monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. rises. The study underlines the importance of economic diversification, and improved policy frameworks. In addition, it highlights the necessity for funding green power to strengthen manufacturing to enhance industrial productivity. This research contributes to the empirics of dynamic interdependencies amongst oil supply shock, forex market misalignments and industrial growth.

Keywords: OECD, industrial output, Copula-GARCH model, oil-producing economies
JEL Classification: A20, B30, C34.

This study empirically investigates the impact of government expenditure, disaggregated into capital and recurrent components, and private investment on the unemployment rate in India over the period 1990–2024. Employing time series econometric techniques, unemployment is modeled as a function of capital expenditure, recurrent expenditure, real GDP growth, Gross Capital Formation (as a percentage of GDP), and private investment. The stationarity of the data is assessed using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test to ensure the robustness of the empirical results. Findings reveal that capital expenditure exerts a statistically significant negative effect on unemployment in both the short run and the long run, highlighting its pivotal role in employment generation and macroeconomic stabilization. Conversely, recurrent expenditure does not demonstrate any statistically significant influence on unemployment, suggesting that current spending is less effective in addressing labor market challenges. Based on these insights, the study proposes several policy recommendations: (i) reallocation of budgetary resources by systematically reducing recurrent expenditure in favor of productive capital investment; (ii) market liberalization through the removal of price controls and structural rigidities to encourage private sector participation; (iii) the implementation of sustainable, targeted subsidies to enhance private investment in productive sectors; and (iv) the formulation of sector-specific incentive packages for agriculture, transportation, energy, telecommunications, manufacturing, and mining to stimulate broad-based employment growth. These policy interventions are expected to enhance the employment elasticity of economic growth, foster private sector dynamism, and support the structural transformation of the Indian economy. The study contributes to the empirical literature by reaffirming the critical role of capital expenditure in promoting inclusive growth and labor market resilience in emerging economies like India.

Keywords: Unemployment; Capital Expenditure; Recurrent Expenditure; Real GDP Growth Rate; Private Investment.
JEL Classification Codes: E24; J21; O47.