No abstract

Post-2015 Development Agenda put financial inclusion as a key objective for United Nations member countries. This objective seeks to improve people's livelihoods, reduce poverty, and advance economic development in member countries. It is asserted that there is a significant relationship between financial inclusion and economic development, which Post-2015 Development Agenda seek to achieve. To corroborate a panel data were collected from 2000 to 2017 for 41 countries in Africa. Using a GMM estimation technic, the article corroborates the reviewed literature, which asserts appositive relation. Of the three attributes (financial access, financial stability, and financial efficiency) of financial inclusion considered in this article, financial access turned out to be significant in explaining economic development in Africa. Even though Africa is far behind the rest of the continent in financial inclusiveness, some countries like South Africa and Seychelles have financially inclusive societies in terms of financial access. If Africa can build a financially inclusive society, the continent would block financial linkages in commercial banks' ability to create money for economic development. Policies that seek to maintain the soundness and stability of banks and other deposit-taking financial institutions are hitting the nail on the head.

The purpose of this study was to establish whether tax compliance intentions of tax-registered selfemployed persons are still influenced by economic variables instead of non-economic variables which are now at the centre stage in tax compliance research. A quantitative research design based on a survey of 453 self-employed persons randomly selected from 15 Small Taxpayers' Offices across the Greater Accra region was used. Data was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 software complemented with a correlation analysis and validated using multiple regression and one-way analysis of variance. Results indicate that if the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) conducts frequent audits on business records and activities, and imposes lower tax rates on self-employed persons, a moderate but positive effect on tax compliance could be achieved. The results also indicate that higher fines could have a moderate negative effect on tax compliance decisions. Lastly, the level of income of self-employed persons was found to have weak but positive effects on their tax compliance intentions. The overarching results from this study indicate that economic variables do have positive but moderate effects on tax compliance intentions of self-employed persons in developing economies. It was recommend that the tax administration authority should not place too much emphasis on higher fines and imposition of higher income tax rates to encourage voluntary compliance, but instead, should place more emphasis on auditing of records and returns, and engage and provide holistic support to enable self-employed persons to grow and expand their businesses.

This article seeks to fill the gap of severe data limitations on the link between macroeconomic variables and stock market performance. A panel data of 41 emerging countries for the period 1996 to 2011 was used to estimate the results. The model used by Sangmi and Mubasher (2013) was adopted and modified to determine the effect of macroeconomic variables on stock market capitalization. The four techniques to investigate the effects were robust ordinary least squares (OLS), FGLS, dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and then Newey-West. It was discovered that depreciation in exchange rate in dollars and reduction in consumer price index affects stock market development negatively, while increase in money supply does influence stock market positively. The findings highlight the significance of macroeconomic factors such as consumer price index, exchange rate, money supply and GDP in explaining the stock market performance in emerging stock economies.

The purpose of this study is to provide empirical evidence on the effect of institutional quality on stock market performance. In order to evaluate the effect of institutional quality on stock market performance, Calderon Rossell models have been estimated using generalized method of moment's technique. A panel data of 41 emerging countries for the period 1996 to 2011 is used to estimate the results. The results suggest that institutional quality has a positive and significant influence on stock market performance. Policy makers in emerging countries must follow a parallel policy agenda of improving the quality of their institutions as well as education. These are paramount to the performance of stock markets performance in emerging countries.