Using structural equation modelling (SEM) we analysed the link between corruption and effective internal audit function (EIAF) in Ghana through a survey of directors and managers of selected public sector organizations. A decade after the promulgation of the Internal Audit Agency Act (IAAA), 2003 (Act 658) as an instrument to fight administrative corruption in Ghana, there is little empirical evidence to show its impact on corruption, though anecdotal evidence suggests it has played a critical role in maintaining financial discipline and public sector accountability and transparency. We established that full implementation of Act 658, size of the internal audit department and independence of the audit department significantly affect the effectiveness of the internal audit function which negatively impact on corruption. We conclude that strict adherence to and the implementation of regulations and laws as well as independence of the internal audit function will help fight administrative corruption in Ghana.

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Instability in smallholder farmers' income in developing countries due to unstable farm prices has been a challenge for farmers and agricultural policymakers over the years. Sustained price stabilization mechanisms are mostly lacking. In some countries, output price support has been initiated to stabilize incomes and as an incentive to enhance farmer investment and boost production. This paper investigates the impacts of output price support on smallholder farmers' income in Ghana, using a household and farm-level data from 252 beneficiaries and 268 non-beneficiaries of buffer stock operations in Ghana. We applied the Coarsened Exact Matching and Propensity Score Matching methods to balance the data among the two groups. We estimate the smallholder farmer income effect from participating in buffer stock operations by combining the matching methods in a regression framework. The results affirm that buffer stock operations increase the incomes of participating smallholder farming households by at least 12%, providing evidence that output price support via buffer stocks is a critical tool for improving incomes and alleviating poverty among farmers in Ghana. The results further indicate that age, gender, access to market, and use of extension services, as well as transport and packaging costs, drive the participation of smallholder farmers in the buffer stock operations in Ghana. The findings are relevant to local policymakers and development partners who develop tailored interventions to stabilize and increase income for smallholder maize farmers in Ghana.

Background: Food price volatility poses widespread risks, from farmers to consumers, notably in developing countries. Because of its devastating effects on sustainable farming and food security, particularly for the poor, it continues to be a crucial policy priority. Governments have applied various methods of stabilizing domestic food prices including publicly held buffer stocks, import and export tariffs and production supports. This study evaluates Ghana's agricultural output price stabilization policy implemented in the context of the National Buffer Stock Program. Results: Based on data from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, we apply the coefficient of variation and the corrected coefficient of variation to analyze the volatility of output prices of maize and rice. The results show that the price volatility of maize and rice has declined in the markets where the policy has been implemented but not in the non-policy markets. Conclusion: There is, therefore, empirical evidence that the policy has been successful.

We present evidence of sector earnings gap decomposition in the Ghanaian labor market for the period 2009–2015. With a sample of 200 workers from state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) and 250 from privatized enterprises (PEs), we use the Mincerian wage equation, with the Oaxaca–Blinder and Juhn–Murphy–Pierce decompositions on earnings, and observe that the two ownership categories differ regarding personal characteristics and institutional factors, with employees in PEs receiving a wage premium (64%) over their SOE counterparts. In addition, employee observed characteristics explain only 36% of the earnings differential. The PE‐SOE differential is small at the top quartiles compared with previous studies. However, individuals at the bottom of the wage distribution in the public sector earn far lower than their counterparts in the private sector, signaling that low‐level SOE workers have not gained much despite the single spine salary structure policy initiated by the Government in 2008 to bridge the wage gap. This study contributes to wage analysis and decomposition by focusing on individual and institutional factors—personal characteristics, sector, and government policy—that are traditionally not combined in extant literature.