Henry Inegbedion

Stock markets over the world have become more interconnected due to activities of foreign investors in search for alternative financial assets and markets to invest in order to diversify their portfolio. Stock market indices and index returns have been known to reflect linkages between different markets. This study assesses the extent of correlation of stock market index returns in West Africa and those of the United States of America (US) and United Kingdom (UK) from 2008 to 2016. The correlation between the index returns for the entire sample period and yearly samples were considered for Nigeria, Ghana, the BRVM, the USA and the UK. The indices selected for the five countries considered are the Nigerian All-Share Index, Ghanaian Composite Index, the BRVM Composite Index, the Financial Times 100 Index and the Standards and Poor’s 500 Index. Daily index returns data were used for the study and analyzed using correlation and multiple regression analysis. Findings revealed that the returns of the pairs of the United States of America (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) exhibited stronger positive correlation with each other than the other market pairs in the study both in the entire sample period and the yearly sub-period analysis. The correlations between the other market pairs were either positively or negatively weak or very weak indicating more diversification opportunities.

This study examined how electronic tax system (E- tax system) reduces tax evasion in Nigeria. The survey sample was drawn from Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) staff and small and medium-scale enterprise taxpayers registered in F.C.T., Abuja, Nigeria. Primary data was derived from a questionnaire administered to a population of 60 officials and employees of the FIRS and taxpayers at a small and medium-scale enterprise registered in F.C.T., Abuja, Nigeria. The secondary data used was extracted from the tax revenue collection report on the FIRS platform for 2000–2019 (20 years). The conclusive research design was used. General linear model and linear regression were used to analyze the data collected. The E-tax system was measured using actual tax revenues and the level of electronic tax services. In contrast, tax evasion was measured using tax compliance and mind-set of taxpayers towards E-tax system. Taxpayers’ attitudes towards E-tax system, actual tax revenue, tax compliance and the level of electronic tax services were used as mediating and control variables; thus, results established a significant relationship, and this relationship is an adverse one. The work shows that an effective electronic tax system will significantly reduce tax evasion. Therefore, the proper implementation of the electronic tax system helps mitigate the problem of tax evasion that causes economic and social detriments in the tax administration system.

Entrepreneurial activities seek to fill the gaps created by the government’s inability to employ their citizens globally. However, design thinking, which is a human-centered and solution-based approach to problem-solving can enhance entrepreneurial success. This study investigates design thinking and business success in Nigeria. The purpose was to determine how design thinking influences business success using the five-stage model of design thinking as its framework. The study employed a quantitative methodology. The design was a cross-sectional survey of 224 out of 350 randomly selected online respondents that were invited. The respondents, who were either entrepreneurs or people with knowledge of entrepreneurial education at the undergraduate or postgraduate levels, were contacted through social media (Facebook and WhatsApp) and a structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from them. The data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling technique. Empathy, problem definition, ideation, prototyping, and product testing were found to be positively related to business success. However, while the positive relationships between empathy, problem definition, prototyping, and product testing were found to be significant at a 1% level, that of ideation was not significant at all; thus, empathy, problem definition, prototyping, and product testing are predictors of business success. Consequently, at a 99% confidence level, it is concluded that empathy, problem definition, prototyping, and product testing, and by implication, entrepreneurial design thinking, are significant predictors of business success.