What Factors Influence the Intentions of Individuals to Engage in Tax Evasion? Evidence from Ghana

ABSTRACT

This study examines the views of students on the ethics of tax evasion, their intentions to evade tax, and investigates the factors that predict such intentions. Relying on the extended version of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the study investigated whether attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and moral obligation may be good predictors of the intention to evade tax. Data were gathered from 662 students of University of Ghana Business School using questionnaires. The hypotheses were tested using the structural equation modelling technique. Results indicate that the intention to evade tax among the students is low and most respondents generally perceive tax evasion as an unethical practice. The results also demonstrate that attitude, subjective norms and moral obligations have important implications on the intention to evade tax. The evidence we provide should be useful to governments and tax agencies interested in promoting responsible tax compliance behaviour among individual taxpayers.     

Livelihood strategies and performance of Ghana's health and education sectors: exploring the connections

The public sector in Africa is riddled with widespread ineffectiveness. Although some countries have implemented various reform programmes with the support of international development agencies, the results so far have been disappointing. One reason for the failure is that the policies have focussed more on achieving macroeconomic stability than making the organisations effective. This article explores a fundamental problem of the policies—the need to focus on the human component of organisational performance. Using education and health organisations in Ghana as examples, the article advances a hypothesis that the livelihood strategies of public sector employees and the performance of their organisations are interconnected. Specifically, it is argued that as public sector employees have become more dependent on multiple sources of income, they have developed multiple social identities, which influence the culture of their organisations. The organisational culture may have encouraged employee effectiveness in some cases, but for most organisations, it has resulted in practices that perpetuate inefficiency and poor performance. To be successful, public sector reform policies must therefore involve deliberate efforts to change organisational cultures. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The doctrine of ultra vires and the protection of shareholders,creditors and third parties in Ghana: a balancing act

The doctrine of ultra vires was at common law invoked to frustrate expectations of innocent parties that entered into transactions with companies outside their object clause. The common law doctrine of ultra vires is applicable in Ghana but with necessary modification under the Companies Code and it is an effective tool for the protection of shareholders, creditors and third party's interest in the company. Whilst third parties acting in good faith and without notice are protected under the law, shareholders and creditors may restrain the company from dealing with the third party in the case of future transactions. This ensures balance and in any event when an action is instituted the court is obliged to look at the equities involved.     

Factors Influencing Domestic and Marital Violence against Women in Ghana

Using the most recent version of the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey and employing complementary log-log models, this study examined the causes of both physical and sexual violence among married women in Ghana. Results indicate that wealth and employment status that capture feminist explanations of domestic violence were not significantly related to both physical and sexual violence. Education was however, related to physical violence among Ghanaian women. Women who thought wife beating was justified and those who reported higher levels of control by their husbands had higher odds of experiencing physical and sexual violence. Also, compared to those who had not, women who witnessed family violence in their lives were significantly more likely to have experienced physical and sexual violence.     

Peer Relations,Violence and School Attendance: Analyses of Bullying in Senior High Schools in Ghana

Abstract

This article focuses on bullying among students and explores the ways it affects the attendance of senior high school students in Ghana. It explores whether having emotional problems, in addition to being bullied, incrementally affects the relationship between bullying and school attendance and the mitigating influence of peer friendships on these relationships. The results show gender differences in which absenteeism associated with bullying was mitigated by the support of friends for boys but not to the same degree for girls, especially those girls who had reported being psychologically bullied. Our findings suggest a school environment in which peer friendship and emotional wellbeing are intertwined in complex ways.     

Public confidence in the police: tests of instrumental and expressive models in a developing country city

This paper examines the effect of instrumental and expressive concerns on public confidence in the police in three different residential areas in Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana’s third largest city. The study was important because of the knowledge vacuum that existed in regard to the empirical validity of the instrumental and expressive theoretical framework within the Ghanaian context. Data for the study was drawn from a baseline survey conducted in three residential areas in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis. The findings revealed that instrumental factors played a more significant role in influencing confidence in the police in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis compared to expressive factors. More importantly, instrumental factors played a more significant role in influencing confidence in the police at Anaji compared to the other two residential areas used in the study. The paper recommends that there should be more investment in police infrastructure and services to enhance police effectiveness and efficiency. Additionally, the authors also suggest that interventions aimed at improving security at the community level should be guided by periodic safety audits since this will provide a better understanding of the criminogenic problems within these residential settlements.     

Help-Seeking Behavior of Female Victims of Intimate Partner Violence in Ghana: The Role of Trust and Perceived Risk of Injury

Although several studies have investigated the socio-cultural underpinnings of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Ghana, few explore the help-seeking behavior of the victims. This study examined the help-seeking behavior of female victims of IPV in Ghana. Specifically, it explored the role of perceived risk of injury and trust in determining whether and where victims seek help and their likelihood of seeking help in the event of future abuse. The study used nationally representative cross-sectional data (N =?1689) and logit regression techniques to address these research objectives. The majority of respondents who had suffered IPV had not sought help after experiencing violence. However, of these, a substantial proportion said they would do so in the future. Respondents with high perceived risk of injury from physical and emotional violence were significantly more likely to seek help from both formal and informal support networks than those who saw themselves at no risk. Those with high levels of trust in formal and informal institutions were more likely to seek help from these networks. Compared to those who did not, respondents who thought IPV should be kept private were less likely to seek help, especially in future abuse. Finding suggest policy makers should educate women about IPV, especially their risk of violence.     

Mainstreaming climate change into local governance: financing and budgetary compliance in selected local governments in Ghana

Through an interpretive research paradigm, we investigated the extent to which six local governments across three administrative regions of Ghana have complied with mandated climate change financing and budgeting guidelines. Five interesting findings emerged. First, there is enormous evidence of climate change budgeting compliance across all six local governments despite weak compliance incentives. Second, local governments that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change are more willing to comply and also allocate more resources for adaptation-related activities than those that are less vulnerable. Third, local governments that complied least are likely to take ad hoc adaptation actions which are often uncoordinated and poorly monitored. These local governments are least likely to attract auxiliary funds that could provide additional resources for adaptation financing. Lastly, the evidence of compliance is only quantitative, presented in various local governments’ fiscal documents, with no qualitative or other relevant explanatory factors on the extent of impact on adaptation.