ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Exchange Rate Behaviour in Ghana

ABSTRACT Exchange rate is a key economic variable all around the world due to its multi faceted nature and its effect on the lives of every individual in many ways. However, the non-linear and the non-stationary characteristics of exchange rates make them difficult to understand their dynamics as well as factors that drive exchange rates. Therefore, the behaviour of the GHS/USD exchange rate from 2000 to 2019 was examined in this research work. The study adopted the heterogeneous market hypothesis (HMH) to explain the intrinsic characteristics of the GHS/USD exchange rate. To achieve the objectives of the study, the ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) technique was employed to determine the factors influencing the GHS/USD exchange rate. Using the EEMD, the GHS/USD exchange rate was decomposed into intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) and a residue. Secondly, the IMFs and the residue were classified into high-frequency, medium-frequency, low frequency and trend components. These were then analysed and it was found that the macroeconomic fundamentals were the main drivers of GHS/USD exchange rates. Finally, the rescaled range analysis (R/S analysis) and the autoregressive fractionally integrated moving average (ARFIMA) were used to also investigate and analyse the existence of long memory in GHS/USD exchange rates. It was observed that the GHS/USD exchange rates possessed long memory characteristics. It is, therefore, recommended that policymakers, as well as investors, should closely monitor the movement of the exchange rates and macroeconomic fundamentals when formulating exchange rate policies and adopting investment strategies.

Source: UCC
Exchange rate dynamics in South Africa

The structure of the nominal exchange rates in South Africa is examined by using fractional integration. We investigate the levels and the volatilities against the US dollar, the British pound, the Euro, the Japanese yen, the Chinese yuan, the Australian dollar, and the Botswanan pula. The results indicate that most series are unit root, I(1) and though there is some evidence of mean reversion, the orders of integration are close to 1, implying high levels of persistence. However, there is evidence of mean reversion for Bostwana Pula in various subsamples. For the volatilities, the stationary long memory is observed in all cases

Source: UCC
Exchange Rate Fluctuations and Domestic Investment in Ghana

Exchange rate fluctuations is one of the critical determinants of domestic investment. Though exchange rate fluctuations can have an asymmetric effect on domestic investment, other studies assumed a symmetric relationship between these variables. Using an annual data from the period of 1980-2017, the Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag model (NARDL) was used to investigate the asymmetric effect of exchange rate fluctuation on domestic investment by creating two new variables to substitute exchange rate fluctuation (appreciation and depreciation variables). The Linear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (LARDL) model was use to examine the effect of income on domestic investment. The first objective confirmed the asymmetric effect of exchange rate fluctuations on domestic investment; the second objective also showed that income has a positive effect on domestic investment. The other explanatory variables included in the study were foreign direct investment, interest rate differential and they were found to be detrimental to domestic investment while domestic credit to the private sector had a positive effect on domestic investment. The study recommends that the Bank of Ghana should put in place long-lasting, effective and efficient measures to stabilise the exchange rate.

Source: UCC
Exchange rate risks and profitability of auto parts dealers in Ghana.

Exchange rate volatility has a direct impact on import and export trade. The adoption of a flexible exchange rate regime after the demise of the Bretton Woods system of exchange has become a major source of risk to trade and therefore, negatively affects imports which are critical to the development and growth of third world countries. This study therefore, examined the impact of exchange rate risks on the profitability of auto parts dealers (importers) in Ghana who have carried on their businesses from 2000-2015. The study used qualitative methodology hence descriptive statistics which reveals that the exposure of auto parts importers to exchange rate risks are caused by domestic currency depreciation, excessive demand for foreign exchange, type of foreign exchange market, source of supply, credit sales, credit period, default payment and type of vehicular parts. Auto parts importers in Ghana are thus exposed to exchange rate risks and exchange rate volatility impacts on firms` cash flows, profitability and therefore market value. It is thus recommended that the financial markets should be well developed to accommodate and support the operations of auto parts importers considering the economic importance of the road sector to Ghana`s economy. Also, policy makers should work to control inflation and stabilize the value of the cedi.

Source: UCC
Exchange Rate, Government Expenditure and Export Performance in Ghana

A number of countries have pursued major policies aimed at increasing their dominance in the international market to earn foreign exchange and to boost their balance of payment through increasing exports. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of exchange rate movements and government expenditure on export performance in Ghana. The study used explanatory design, quantitative approach and positivism philosophy. Annual time series secondary data from 1987 to 2020 was sourced from world development indicators. The ADF and PP tests were deployed to examine the stationarity and order of integration of the concerned variables whilst (the GARCH 1, 1) approach was employed to estimate exchange rate volatility in Ghana. The data analysis method used the ARDL technique. Findings showed a negative association between exchange rate volatility and export performance in both the long and short run. Akin to conventional findings, the study discovered a positive significant effect of government expenditure on export performance both in the long and short run periods. The control variables credit to private sector and gross domestic product growth showed a positive relationship with export performance. Notwithstanding, trade openness demonstrated a negative impact on export performance in Ghana. It is therefore recommended that the Bank of Ghana should step-up its exchange rate stabilization drives to minimize the exchange rate risk imposed on trade players. In addition, the Bank of Ghana should sensitize trade players on the need to patronize forward contracts.

Source: UCC
Exchange rate, interest rates, inflation rate and gross domestic production (GDP) in Ghana

This study aimed at examining the effects of exchange rate, interest rate and inflation rate on Gross Domestic Product in Ghana between the periods of 1990 to 2015. Quarterly Data was collected from the World Bank Development Indicators and Bank of Ghana websites. The research made use of the Autoregressive Distributed Lag and Vector Error Correction Model for data estimation and analysis using the E-views 9.0 package. The results for the study showed that there exist significant effects of the exchange rate, interest rate and inflation rate on GDP in Ghana. This implies that, the variable are highly related and change in any of the variables would have an impact on the GDP of Ghana. From the Vector Error Correction Model, all the variables were significant with the exception of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), using the rule of the thumb. The real effective exchange rate was found to have a negative effect on GDP in the long run analysis. Interest rate (MPR) which is also an explanatory variable had a negative impact on GDP. Inflation also recorded a negative effect on GDP. In addition, other control variables introduced name; gross fixed capital formation, household consumption and Government expenditure all had a positive effect on the GDP. The study recommends that stakeholders in macroeconomic planning take into serious account the dynamics and consider the effects of all the variable that matter on the GDP of the country. In order to achieve this, the key players in the formulation of macro-economic policies will have to take into account, the various effect of the variables namely, exchange rate, interest rate, inflation rate, Government expenditure, household consumption and gross fixed capital formation on GDP of Ghana.

Source: UCC
Exchange rate, price - incentive to Smuggle and Cocoa Beans export in Ghana

The study sought to empirically examine the effects of real exchange rate on price incentive to smuggle and the effect of price-incentive to smuggle on cocoa beans export in Ghana. Autoregressive Distributed Lag model (ARDL) was employed in analyzing the data. The study used secondary data from 1986 to 2016, gathered from sources including the Food and Agricultural Organization, World Development Indicators, Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, and the International Monetary Fund. The study found that price-incentive to smuggle is influenced by the real effective exchange rate. Accordingly, appreciation of the exchange rate reduced the price-incentive to smuggle while depreciation increased it. Also, the study showed that cocoa beans export was negatively influenced by price-incentive to smuggle, implying that, an increase in the price-incentive to smuggle reduced the volumes of cocoa beans export. As depreciation in the exchange rate increased the price-incentive to smuggle, the latter in turn reduced the volumes of cocoa beans exports. The study therefore recommends that COCOBOD must correctly forecast exchange rates movements to avoid wide differences between the prices of cocoa in neighboring countries which creates the incentive to smuggle.

Source: UCC
Excitatory and Inhibitory Priming by Attended and Ignored Non-Recycled Words with Monolinguals and Bilinguals

Experiments examining identity priming from attended and ignored novel words (words that are used only once except when repetition is required due to experimental manipulation) in a lexical decision task are reported. Experiment 1 tested English monolinguals whereas Experiment 2 tested Twi (a native language of Ghana, Africa)-English bilinguals. Participants were presented with sequential pairs of stimuli composed of a prime followed by a probe, with each containing two items. The participants were required to name the target word in the prime display, and to make a lexical decision to the target item in the probe display. On attended repetition (AR) trials the probe target item was identical to the target word on the preceding attentional display. On ignored repetition (IR) trials the probe target item was the same as the distractor word in the preceding attentional display. The experiments produced facilitated (positive) priming in the AR trials and delayed (negative) priming in the IR trials. Significantly, the positive and negative priming effects also replicated across both monolingual and bilingual groups of participants, despite the fact that the bilinguals were responding to the task in their non-dominant language.

Source: UCC
Executive functioning profiles of adult and juvenile male sexual offenders: A systematic review

Evidence regarding biological correlates of sexual offending, which might enhance the understanding, research, and treatment of these offenders, is rather emerging or in the embryonic stage. In this study, our main objective is to identify specific executive functioning (EF) processes that are commonly impaired in sexual offenders, and to further determine whether these differ as a function of offender subtypes. A search is conducted in ProQuest, Criminal Justice Abstract, EBSCOhost, and Social Science Citation Index electronic journal databases for studies published spanning the period 1990–2015. Google Scholar and Google search engines were also searched and the reference lists of the retrieved papers were searched for additional papers. A total of 1303 papers were retained for consideration. After removing duplicates, and subjecting the retrieved papers to inclusion and exclusion criteria, 24 papers (19 published and 5 unpublished) were deemed appropriate for the review. While several EF processes have been investigated, the available evidence implicates deficits in cognitive flexibility and inhibition of interference as commonly reported among adult male sexual offenders. This finding may be due to the sensitivity of tests of cognitive flexibility (e.g. the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test) and inhibition of interference (e.g. the Stroop Test) to frontal lobe lesions, and also because these tests are among the most frequently administered EF tests as revealed by this study. Juvenile sexual offenders, however, exhibit no distinct EF profiles. The findings of the study, implications for treatment, and recommendations for future studies are succinctly discussed.

Source: UCC
Exercise, Overweight and Obesity in Rural Communities, the Situation of Some Communities in the Central Region of Ghana

Objective: The study aimed at finding the level of physical activity and the evidence of overweight and obesity and associated its sociodemographic factors in some rural communities in the central region of Ghana. Subjects: The study was a cross sectional survey involving a total of 470 respondents aged 18 to 91years (337 females and 133 males) in 7 rural communities in the Central Region of Ghana. Findings: Our study found that 42.1% of respondents engaged in some from of physical exercise and that the exercise of choice was walking. The incidences of obesity and overweight were 3.1% and 13.0% respectively in male and 14.9% and 26.6% respectively in females. Significant associations were found between the Body Mass Index (BMI) of respondents and the following factors; regular participation in physical activity (p=0.032), sex (<0.0001) and educational level in female (p=0.033). There were also significant associations between exercising and factors such as level of education (p<0.0001) and sex (<0.0001). Conclusion: A number of sociodemographic factors were found to have association with the BMI and regular participation in physical activity. Our findings also seem to suggest an increasing trend in weight gain particularly in the female rural population.

Source: UCC
Exile and postcolonial national redemption in Ben Okri’s The Famished Road and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus

This paper explores the link between exile and national redemption in Ben Okri’s The Famished Road (1991) and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus (2003). Although exile constitutes the dominant interpretive concept as it relates to the scandalous and the breaking of a vicious cycle of violence and hopelessness in both novels, the connection between exile and postcolonial national redemption has gone unexplored. Drawing on Walter Benjamin’s notion of becoming-traitor and on exile as ex salire, the paper argues that contrary to Edward Said’s and Walter Mignolo’s conceptualisation of exile as the idiom for rethinking location and identity beyond the imaginary of the nation as territoriality, Okri and Adichie re-present exile as an ethico political act of radical refusal and epistemic disobedience to the existing norms of violence and nonbeing, and a precondition for postcolonial redemption. The paper reveals two things: that novelty, in both novels, can be located at the conceptual level wherein the transformation of exile into a strategy of rebellion and subversion becomes the precondition for postcolonial agency and redemption; and that the scandalous event is a site of contestation, epistemic disobedience and futurity

Source: UCC
Existence and uniqueness of solutions for neutral periodic integro-diferential equations with infnite delay

We prove the existence of solutions for the neutral periodic integro-diferential equation with infnite delay x 0 ( t) = G(t, x(t), x(t − τ (t))) + d dt Q(t, x(t − τ (t))) + Z t −∞ Xn j=1 gj (t, s) x(t + T) = x(t). A Krasnoselskii and Banach’s fxed point theorems are employed in establishing our results

Source: UCC
Existence of bounded solutions for almost linear Volterra difference equations using fixed point theory and Lyapunov functionals

We obtain sufficient conditions for the boundedness of solutions of the almost linear Volterra difference equation n 1 Ax(n) = a(n)h(x(n)) + L c(n,k)g(x(k)) k=0 using Krasnoselskii’s fixed point theorem. Also, we will display a Lyapunov functional that yield boundedness of solution and compare both methods

Source: UCC
The Existing Culture of Mathematics Teaching and Learning: A Case of the Senior High Schools in Ghana

One of the goals of the 1987 education reforms in Ghana is to enable all school going-children in the country to have the practical skills in mathematics, understanding the concept, and to help them to overcome the day to day challenges involving calculable situations. Among the major causes of fears in students learning mathematics at secondary levels is the culture of mathematics teaching and learning. Students’ acquiring practical skills in mathematics learning had an influence on their views. The formation of their views also have an impact on their learning situations, which one way or the other determine how mathematics is learnt. The purpose of the current study is to assess the existing culture of teaching and learning mathematics in the Second cycles’ schools in the context of students’ perceptions. The descriptive survey design was used for the study. Questionnaire was used to collect data from 1288 respondents using systematic sampling procedure. Data was analysed using frequency, percentages, reliability index and correlation coefficient. Results of the study revealed that the teaching of mathematics have had an impact on the graduates’ performance over the years. It also depicts substantial trends of changes and attitudes towards learning mathematics across class levels. The study recommends that teachers should give enough homework/class exercise to students, mark them and give feedback to students as early as possible. In service training should also be given to mathematics teachers to up-date their skills. Finally the Monitoring and Evaluation teams in the Ghana education Service should intensify their supervision roles.

Source: UCC
The existing linkages of household water quality and sanitation systems at Denu in Ketu South Municipality, Ghana

The study sought to investigate the household water quality & sanitation systems. The data gathered (questionnaire and laboratory analysis) were analyzed using Microsoft excel. The study revealed that the main water sources of the respondents was hand-dug/open well representing 91% and the least water sources was borehole/well with hand pump of 9%. The location of the main sources of water; 88% were within the compound, 9% were outside the compound/yard and 3%. For the reasons for the location of the main sources of water; 66% just decide to site anywhere while 34% were constructed by contractors. Majority of the respondents use pit latrine of 20(39%), KVIP/VIP of 16(31%), Flush/WC toilet with septic tank of 13(26%) and Flush/WC toilet with biofilm/digester of 2(4%). For the setting of the toilet facility; 38(76%) just decided to site anywhere, 8(16%) were site by Environmental officer and 4(8%) were site by contractor. For the location of the liquid effluent, 82% were buried underground and 18% were discharged on the land surface. The values of pH ranged from 4.893 to 5.647. Site E recorded the highest value of 5.647 and Site A recorded the lowest of 4.893. Turbidity values ranged from 1.56 to 9.85. Again, Site C recorded the highest of 9.85 and Site D recoded the lower of 1.56. EC ranged from 151.10 μS/cm to 358.37 μS/cm. The highest value was recorded by Site B of 358.37 μS/cm and the lowest by Site D of 151.10 μS/cm. TDS ranged from 79.78 to 184.24. The highest value was recorded by Site B of 184.24 and the lowest by Site D of 79.78. Nitrate ranged from 0.1544 to 0.3667. The highest value was recorded by Site B of 0.3667and the lowest by Site E of 0.1544. Phosphorus ranged from 0.0100 to 0.04063. The water and sanitation programme of the Municipal Assembly should enforce by-laws on the minimum lateral distance of 20 m between a latrine and well water.

Source: UCC
Exogenous high-mobility group box 1 inhibits apoptosis and promotes the proliferation of Lewis cells via rage/tlr4-dependent signal pathways

Upregulated high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) has been found in many diseases. Nevertheless, the function of HMGB1 on modulating the proliferation of lung cancer cells (Lewis cells) and inhibiting apoptosis is poorly understood, as well as the involved intracellular signaling. In the resent study, we firstly found the apoptosis of Lewis was increased following Hanks’ balanced salt solution (HBSS)-induced starvation, while it was rescued after exogenous HMGB1 protein was added; furthermore, the receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) and Toll-like receptor (TLR4) could coordinately improve the proliferation of tumour cells in vitro, and HMGB1 could enhance the phosphorylation of PI3K/Akt and Erk1/2, inhibit the expression of ro-apoptosis protein Bax and promote the expression of anti-apoptosis protein Bcl-2. These findings clearly demonstrated that HMGB1–RAGE/TLR4- PI3K-Akt/Erk1/2 pathway contributed to the proliferation of Lewis. Moreover, our observations provide experimental and theoretical basis for clinical biological therapy for cancers; it also may be a new target for intervention and treatment of lung cancer

Source: UCC
Expanding the Bounds of Literature: Electronic Literature for Children in Africa

ABSTRACT Researchers investigating Children’s Literature have observed the emerging perspectives from the advancement in technology becoming a part of our lives. Electronic Literature becomes an emerging field of study with the admittance to technological innovation. There is an inherent limitation that needs recognition because the development is seen to be lagging in its impact on cultural production for children, especially in Africa. This current research seeks to explore the development of Electronic Literature. It also sets the parameter for the production of digital materials for children with different cultural backgrounds, especially for children in Africa. It employs a qualitative research design to analyze some selected children’s electronic literature written by continental Africans and Africans from the Diaspora. Multimodality as propounded by Jewitt, Bezemer & O'Halloran (2016) is adopted as a methodology to provide a practical and descriptive framework for the analysis of the various components of the Children’s Electronic literature. The finding shows that e-lit can have a greater impact if it responds to the cultural demands of its young one.

Source: UCC