International Journal of Business and Economic Development

There have been many definitions of inclusion as it relates to the underserved and economic empowerment through entrepreneurship, but few of these definitions have focused specifically on persons with disabilities.

 Purpose of Research- Many studies have looked at increasing economic empowerment through entrepreneurship for women, minorities, youth, seniors, immigrants, and rural residents throughout literature. The gap is, however, the lumping of all these categories has led to overlooking of specific challenges faced by persons with disabilities. This oversight on economic inclusivity has been magnified especially during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Design/ Methodology- This study reviews literature in search of evidence to document programs, projects, and policies used in both developed and developing countries to address the overall challenges of inclusive entrepreneurship. The paper explores several entrepreneurial studies on the inclusivity of business ecosystems in the UK, USA, Sub-Saharan Africa, and India. It highlights public-private partnerships and impact investment as it relates to challenges in increasing inclusivity in businesses.

Results/Findings- It was evident that there are many government policies and programs to support entrepreneurship in the USA, UK, Sub-Saharan Africa, and India, but limited empirical studies have been documented to evaluate the impact of these policies on entrepreneurship for persons with disabilities. Some of the challenges cited in the literature included gender gap, cost of doing business, and the likelihood to be funded to launch a business as common dominant factors reported on the issue of inclusion. 

Practical implications and Conclusions-The authors find that there are much more empirical research and analyses warranted in the study of entrepreneurship inclusion and empowerment of the underserved, especially for persons with disabilities. A continue reviewing literature and use quantitative and qualitative research such that additional programs, projects, and policies may be developed to serve all inclusively.

Penalty rates and probability of fraud detection are among the most important factors shaping taxpayer’s compliance. While the first of those factors may be directly controlled by tax authorities the second is usually indirectly influenced by the amount and efficiency of resources employed to detect tax evasion (Allingham, Sandmo 1972, p. 330). In order to increase fraud detection rate tax authorities may implement diversified strategies. They include inter alia the application of various methods to select taxpayers for tax audits. In most of the cases these methods are used interchangeably or complement each other. Although applied quite often in practice by tax authorities they are comparatively rarely addressed by the economists in their publications. In fact, literature sources on this topic are sparse and published mainly by the OECD.

One of the methods used to select taxpayers for tax audits is based on the so-called external risk areas. In Poland, this method was introduced shortly after accession to the European Union as a tool of the external risk management strategy in the public administration. Both this strategy and audit targeting tools have evolved tremendously since its first implementation. This article attempts to evaluate the application of external risk areas to select taxpayers for tax audits in Poland. The author uses various indicators to measure the efficiency of tax audits and compare this efficiency taking into account different tax audit selection methods.

The aim of the current research is to examine how and to what extent existing e-government services in planning, managing, and delivering EU funds in Greece, can evolve into new open-government models. It also aims to examine how to effectively engage citizens and potential beneficiaries to participate in processes, such as policymaking or projects’ and funds’ allocation within the framework of the Partnership Agreement 2014/2020.  The study comprises of a combination of both secondary and primary data being selected from public bodies (managing authorities) and potential beneficiaries (public entities and citizens) searching their awareness, perceptions, concerns and attitudes on existing and possible future open government models. Findings show that respondents recognize the benefits of e-government services, yet they encounter difficulties using them, mostly due to the platforms’ technocratic language. They are uncertain however on the impact open data have had on the EU funds management and demonstrate reservations on trust and security issues, including interaction and integration of their proposals in policy- and decision-making processes.  The study concludes with proposals on future academic research and policy applications in order to further advance the openness of governance in the EU funds. 

In 2015, the inflow of international remittances to Nigeria stood at $20.5 billion (World Bank, 2016). This represents 3.5% of the global flow and 58.5% of the Sub-Saharan Africa’s estimate. In spite of this increased flow, household poverty has remained pervasive in Nigeria. Previous studies have focused on the impact that aggregate remittances have on household poverty without considering the roles of the different types of remittances (cash, food and other remittances) on household poverty in Nigeria. This study was, therefore, designed to analyse the impact of the various types of remittances on household poverty across the rural and urban areas and the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. The study was premised on consumption theory which incorporates remittances as a form of income that affects household consumption. The methodology was similar to that of Mukherjee and Benson (2003). In this study, the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) was used to estimate the mean of the per capita expenditures (which were compared with the absolute poverty line) of remittance-receiving households against households, community and regional profiles. Probit regression was used as robustness checks on the OLS estimates. In order to examine the effect of endogeneity, the Heckman’s two-stage estimation technique was deployed. The impact of aggregate, cash, food and other remittances on household poverty are chequered in rural, urban and across the six geo-political zones. These impacts are felt strongly in the rural and urban areas as well as in the North Central, South East and South West zones than in other geo-political zones of Nigeria.

The financial sector is the key player to enhance sustainable economic growth. Commercial banks play an important role to improve the performance of the financial sector of the economy and their profitability is closely connected to the soundness of the entire economy.  The purpose of this study is to determine the internal determinants (bank-specific) and external determinants (macro-economic) of profitability. In this regard, the study adopted a quantitative research design by using the panel data of 17 commercial banks of Pakistan over the period of 2014-2018. Internal factors analyzed in this study were Liquidity, Size, and Capital Adequacy. While external factors were Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Inflation. The data was analyzed by using simple OLS regression and Tobin’s Q ratio. The analysis showed that GDP has a significant impact on profitability. However, inflation has no impact on profitability.  Tobin’s Q ratio of most of the banks is increasing which depicted their equilibrium position. Based on the findings, the study recommended some policies that will encourage banks to reduce credit risk and minimize their liquidity holdings. Moreover, the Government should take the proper initiatives to enhance the confidence of investors towards the stock market.

The study investigated the application of Forensic Accounting Skills on Tax Evasion Detection in Lagos State, Nigeria. Data were sourced with the aid of structured questionnaire administered on respondents. The sample size was 301 comprising forensic accountants and Lagos State Internal Revenue officials. Multiple regression analysis results show a positive nexus between Forensic Accounting skills and tax evasion detection as the t-calculated (4.579) is greater than the t-tabulated (0.000) at 5% significance level. The forensic accounting skills proxied by Detection, Prevention, Deterrence Skills (DPDS); Forensic Audit, Investigation, Interviewing Skills (FAIIS); Arbitration, Mediation, Litigation Skills (AMLS); Honesty, High Integrity, Communication Skills (HHICS) indicated by the individual level of significance of 0.000, 0.054, 0.054 and 0.122 respectively which are less than 5% acceptable level of significance also shows that there is a significant positive relationship in the effect of forensic accounting on tax evasion detection. The finding indicates the existence of tax evasion and that the application of forensic accounting will drastically lead to the reduction. This will enhance government’s accessibility to more revenue in meeting up with its constitutional responsibilities. The study recommends among others of the need for the government to institutionalize forensic accounting in the country for effective tax administration.