This study analysed dynamic pricing data of Hong Kong hotels within the last-minute 1-week booking window to determine patterns and direction of room rate changes and their association with hotel characteristics regarding tangible attributes, reputational variables and contextual factors. Findings show that room rates are more likely to increase than decrease or stay constant, and that, holding demand and market conditions constant, the likelihood of price increases (decreases), based on standard binomial probit regression, is positively (negatively) associated with size (tangible attribute), chain affiliation and star rating (reputational attributes), and seller density and location accessibility (contextual factors). These results confirm the importance of differentiation in pricing hotel rooms and indicate how hotel customers and revenue managers can combine these characteristics with predicted demand to anticipate the direction of room rate change in the last-minute booking window as the booking horizon approaches check-in.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate gender differences in risk aversion and determine the effect of personality traits on risk aversion from an African country context. Design/methodology/approach The study combined both descriptive and analytical designs, and employed t-test, Pearson’s χ2 and binary logistic regression as the main analytical techniques. Data for the analysis were obtained from the World Bank’s Skills toward Employment and Productivity survey on Ghana. Findings Results of the study revealed systematic differences in personality and gender and their associations with risk aversion. Specifically, women were found to be more risk averse than men. Differences in personality also showed that females reported higher levels of personality in all but one of the Big Five personality traits – extraversion. In addition to gender, age and education, the personality traits of conscientiousness and stability were the main predictors of the likelihood of being risk averse. Although personality differences existed between male and female, the interaction terms between gender and personality factors were not statistically significant. Originality/value The paper departs from the extant literature on developed countries and western cultures to add to the understanding on how individual differences account for variation in revealed risk preferences.

In an extensive review of wage determination papers, it is concluded that the standard demographic and human capital factors explain little of earning differentials. Consequently, there is a growing interest among economists to include non-cognitive skills measured by personality traits in recent empirical literature to explain variations in earnings. In a bid to contribute empirical evidence to this strand of literature, this study examines the associations between the Big-Five personality traits (i.e., agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, extraversion and neuroticism) and earnings, using the World Bank’s Skills towards Employment and Productivity (STEP) data on Ghana. The study employed regression techniques to estimate a series of semi-logarithmic wage equations that include demographic and human capital factors and the Big-Five personality traits to determine how important these factors are in explaining wage and self-employment earnings. Furthermore, the estimations of the wage equations are done separately for males and females to highlight any gender differences in the way personality traits contribute to earnings. Findings are largely consistent with the literature but uniquely demonstrate that in a power-distant culture like Ghana, where, traditionally, girl-child education has been relegated to the background, agreeable females, and not males, are rewarded in the formal wage employment labour market. However, in the informal self-employment labour market, conscientious males, and not females, are positively rewarded with higher earnings. These unique findings contribute to our understanding of the gender differences in the relative importance of non-cognitive skills in the formal and informal labour markets. JEL Codes: J31, J24

Purpose: The study investigates the effect of corruption on FDI inflows to West Africa, and also establishes a threshold level of corruption for the sub-region. Design/Methodology/Approach: Using secondary data for the period 1999-2018, the study adopted a panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model to carry out regression analysis. However, to ensure results accuracy and validity, a cross section dependence test, panel unit root test and panel cointegration test was carried out. Findings: The results indicated that in the long-run, corruption adversely affects the inflow of FDI to West Africa, thus lending support to the grabbing hand hypothesis. The study found the long-run threshold level of corruption for West Africa to be 6.3, indicating that below this level FDI inflow cannot be discouraged by corruption otherwise, FDI inflows could be discouraged. Research limitations/Implications: The findings from the study suggests that governments from West Africa should focus on mechanisms that will strongly discourage people from engaging in corruption, such as reducing the delays in business registration, strengthening and ensuring of effective monitoring of public institutions, as well as introducing the practice of penalty and exhortation in the public sector. Quality/Value: The present study contributes to the literature by investigating the effects of corruption on the inflow of FDI to West Africa using a more appropriate macro panel estimation technique, the panel Autoregressive Distributive Lag (ARDL) technique. Furthermore, it provides a threshold level for corruption on FDI inflows in West Africa.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the impact of mobile money access on internal remittances received, per capita consumption expenditure and welfare of household in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study used data from the latest round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 7) and employed the propensity score matching technique to estimate average treatment effect between users and non-users of mobile money transfer services.FindingsThe study finds that using mobile money is welfare enhancing, particularly for poor households and the channel by which it impacts on welfare is through higher internal remittances received and per capita expenditure. The results from the average treatment effect indicate that mobile money users receive significantly higher remittances and consequently spend averagely higher on consumption than non-users.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the data employed in this study is limited to one country, the findings support the financial inclusion role and developmental impact of mobile money transfer services. Hence, mobile money transfer services should be promoted and facilitated by the telecommunication and financial sector regulators.Originality/valueIn addition to making original contribution to the literature on the welfare impact of mobile money, the study's use of the propensity score matching is unique.