Odunayo Magret Olarewaju

An increase in electricity production is proportional to environmental risks due to continuous energy production. The paper aims to quantitatively estimate the environmental costs and mathematically model the marginal social cost associated with the lifespan of the coal power plants. Results revealed South Africa Tier 1 company optimum level of electricity production per annum at around 2.15 gigawatts, considering the emission costs and reasonable profit. 85% of the total emissions during the combustion phase average cost of the C02 emission discharged by coal is calculated as 0.23c/KWh, 0.085c/kWh is calculated for NO2, while SO2 is 0.035c/KWh. Total emission cost represents 69.2% of the total cost of producing 1 MGW of electricity. The results confirmed the company losses to be insignificantly considerable to the evaluated environmental costs and capital investment. However, the use of this newly developed mathematical model depends on the source of energy production to confirm the feasibility and profitability of investment in coal-powered stations using environmental management accounting and marginal social cost approaches.

Acknowledgment
The authors would like to acknowledge the National Research Foundation and Durban University of Technology for financial support.

Like any other business, commercial banks are greatly affected by the micro and macro-environment that operate in, no matter how large they are. Capital adequacy ratio, credit risk, money supply, inflation, the exchange rate, and the national gross domestic product have been noted to be the key determinants of bank operational efficiency. This research study looked at the operational efficiency of four large South African banks, namely, Standard Bank, Absa, Nedbank, and First National Bank. A quantitative, descriptive, correlation design was employed, and the System-Generalized Method of Moments (SYS-GMM) techniques were used and revealed that operational efficiency was positively correlated with capital adequacy ratio, credit risk, inflation, and exchange rate, and negatively correlated with profitability, money supply and GDP. SYS-GMM estimates show that capital adequacy ratio, credit risk, inflation and exchange rate positively influenced operational efficiency, while profitability, money supply (M3) and GDP had a negative influence. Thus, it is concluded that bank management should decrease administrative costs, evaluate customers’ creditworthiness before issuing loans, raise bank size as operational conditions require, boost intermediation, and anticipate inflation to operate more efficiently.

This study assessed the factors that determine the financial management behavior of administrators in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Nigeria. The rising cases of financial mismanagement, which was associated with the financial management behavior of top administrators in these SOEs, prompted this study. It is believed that identifying the factors that determine the financial management behavior of these administrators would help to find solutions to the problem. Based on the multistage sampling technique, 385 top administrators from the SOEs at the federal level in Nigeria participated in the survey. Quantitative analysis was used to analyze the data and the results show that income, family size, and financial literacy are the most important factors affecting the financial management behavior of the administrators. It is recommended that there should be an improvement in income and other working conditions of the administrators in the SOEs since income has been confirmed to be an important shift factor of financial management behavior. In the same vein, given the role of family size, it is recommended that efforts on population reduction should be intensified. Finally, financial literacy should be given priority in checkmating irresponsible financial management behavior.

The inadequacy of research engagement among accounting academic staff, who predominantly hold affiliations with professional bodies and exhibit limited interest in research pursuits, has been identified as a significant contributor to suboptimal quality and diminished research productivity within the field. This study aims to investigate the intricate relationships among research attributes, research motivation, research enablers, and the perception of research output among accounting academics in African universities of technology. Drawing on a sample of 92 academics from accounting departments in the top 13 universities of technology in Africa, Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling is employed to empirically test the formulated hypotheses. Four distinct constructs are derived from the selected items through Exploratory Factor Analysis. The findings reveal that individual researcher attributes and research enablers exert a substantial influence on the perception of research outputs. In contrast, research motivation exerts a significant impact only when fully mediated by research enablers. Consequently, the study recommends the establishment of collaborative initiatives between accounting research, accounting scholarship, and accounting practices. Additionally, policies governing research operations in Universities of Technology should be designed to empower and facilitate researchers in realizing tangible returns from their research findings.

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
This study investigates the nexus between Intellectual Capital efficiency (ICE) components and firm value in Sub-Saharan African (SSA) insurance companies. The study employed a modified Value-Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC™) model, incorporating components such as Value-Added Capital Coefficient (VACA), Structural Capital Value-Added Coefficient (SCVA), Value-Added Human Capital Coefficient (VAHC), and Innovation Capital Efficiency (VAHC2). These components were integrated to calculate the VAIC, offering a holistic assessment of value-creation efficiency within SSA insurance firms. Static and dynamic panel data analyses were employed to estimate the relationship between the ICE components and Tobin’s Q ratio, serving as a proxy for firm value. A positivist approach and descriptive quantitative methods were used in this study. The study analyzed panel data from 122 insurance firms across 46 SSA countries over the period 2010–2022, sourced from databases including Wharton Research Data Services, S&P CapitalIQ, and Refinitiv Eikon. The VAIC™ model was applied by integrating various ICE components to comprehensively evaluate the value creation efficiency in SSA insurance firms. The findings indicate significant variation in the impact of ICE components on firm value across SSA insurance companies. Specifically, higher VAIC™ values are associated with enhanced firm performance, underscoring the critical role of intellectual capital in value creation within this sector. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by demonstrating the applicability of the VAIC™ Model in SSA’s insurance sector and underscoring the relevance of intellectual capital management in driving financial outcomes. Practical implications include informing policymakers, executives, and investors about optimizing intellectual resources to foster sustainable growth and resilience in SSA insurance.