The impact of interest rate on the demand for credit in Ghana

This article investigates the impact of financial liberalization on the demand for credit in Ghana. It contributes by making suggestions pertaining to questions on the effectiveness of interest rate liberalization in driving private sector demand for credit both in the short and the long‐run, as well as the speed of adjustments to equilibrium after the implementation of the financial liberalization programme. The study results indicate that interest rate has no significant impact on the demand for credit both in the short‐run and long‐run. Moreover, inflation has a negative significant effect on the demand for credit in the short‐run. The results also suggest that about 66% of disequilibrium from the preceding year is corrected in the current year. However, these findings seem to indicates that the financial market in Ghana is not fully competitive. The oligopolistic and noncompetitive financial system may be attributable to the extreme minimum capital requirement and the emerging consolidation of commercial banks through government takeovers as well as the various credit rationing practices by banks aimed at reducing the risk of adverse selection and insolvency.     

Dark side of social media and academic performance of public sector schools students: Role of parental school support

Students are regularly engaged in several things at the same time during class and school time. They are using smartphones, tablets, laptops, and using social media on these devices while learning and attending class. However, there are some situations likely influenced by this, current study tests the influence of technostress, cyberbullying, and media multitasking in the context of students in technology‐saturated classrooms and how this is affecting their academic performance. This study further explored the buffering effects of parental school support on the relationship between technostress, cyberbullying, and student's performance. By using the person‐environment fit model, this study surveyed 248 public sector school students in two waves and examined the impact of these variables on student's academic performance. Results show that technostress, cyberbullying, and media multitasking have a negative impact on student performance, and school parental support moderates the negative relationship between technostress and student performance. Implications and contributions have also been discussed.     

Academia and the Legitimising of International Politics: studies of democratisation and world politics

This article aims to highlight the connection between academic studies and international politics and to provide an academic justification of foreign policies with particular reference to the case of democratisation studies. It embodies a two-way relationship. On the one hand, the conjunctures of international politics influence the nature of academic studies in the discipline of Political Science; on the other hand, academic studies may sometimes be employed as sources of legitimisation of the foreign policies of states. The article discusses these connections, providing particular examples of academic studies of the democratisation process during the Cold War and the post-cold war era.     

De-Radicalization Initiatives in Egypt: A Preliminary Insight

This article provides a preliminary insight to the ideological revision of the two principle Islamist militant groups in Egypt, the Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiyya and Al-Jihad Al-Islami. Several leaders of these groups have taken steps to renounce violence and promote peace co-existence with the government and society. They have also repented and apologized for the past terror attacks in Egypt that led to the killing of many innocent civilians, government officials and tourists. In addition, they have gone to great lengths to counter and argue against Al Qaeda's violent ideology and to restrict its influence on the Muslim population. The ideological revision of these two groups reflects a significant shift in the efforts of the Egyptian authorities and community to address the problem of ideological extremism and terrorism in the country.     

The South African telecommunications environment: a brief assessment of regulatory change

Abstract

Communications play a critical role in transforming society. Governments as the custodians of communications therefore have a serious obligation to ensure that all the people of their country have access to basic telecommunications services. Access to basic communication services is a right because communications is an enabler of social interaction across time and geographic space, a creator of economic development and prosperity for even the most dispersed populations. In South Africa, under apartheid, vast populations of people were excluded from this basic right of having access to communications, resulting in a serious backlog of basic communication services. One of the major objectives of the Afican National Congress (ANC) government when it came to power in 1994 was to ensure that communications were made available to all people even those in the most remote areas of South Africa. These objectives were constrained by a number of factors such as: telecommunications policy that favoured a monopolistic telecommunications environment. To re-engineer the South African telecommunications landscape, telecommunications policy has since 1994 evolved in a revolutionary way.     

Trust and Tax Compliance Among Malaysian Working Youth

A high level of tax morale is necessary in promoting tax compliance among the public, including youth who tend to have a low sense of responsibility. The current tax system and working youth segment of Malaysia are first explained. Based on the relevant literature on taxation, important factors that influence trust and the resulting tax compliance are conceptualized in a research model. An online survey was administered on youth throughout Malaysia that resulted in 2,030 usable responses, of which 500 were used in testing the model. The empirical results from using partial least squares analysis show that one of the two trust variables and tax knowledge are significant determinants of tax compliance. In addition, youth in the registered taxpayers group exhibited a greater level of compliance intention than non-registered youth.     

Space Technology Applications for Maritime Intelligence,Surveillance, and Reconnaissance

ABSTRACT

Outer space, as the ultimate high ground, offers potential for contributing towards maritime domain awareness, which is dependent on Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR). This research discusses several utilizations and limitations of space technologies in the realm of maritime ISR through use of electronic intelligence, and electro-optical and radar imagery payload sensors. Technological and financial options for nascent and smaller space powers through dual-purpose commercial and civilian space technologies towards sea surveillance are elaborated as well. Finally, from an operational perspective of ISR, the methodology of frame-by-frame mosaicking of satellite images utilizing commercial remote sensing satellites towards space-based maritime ISR is explained using hypothetical scenarios.