Based on China’s stock market, this study investigates how firms’ geographic distance from a financial center affects the sensitivity of stock prices to investor sentiment. I find that firms located closer to a financial center are more affected by investor sentiment than firms located far from a financial center. This distance effect holds for different geographic cutting boundaries and after excluding firms located in financial centers. Besides, using China’s High Speed Railway (HSR) as an exogenous shock, I find that HSR connection significantly decreases the effect of geographic distance on the sentiment-driven stock price relationship. In addition, firms with shorter travel times to financial centers are more affected by investor sentiment than firms with longer travel times. Moreover, firms located in provinces with a high stock market participation rate are more affected by investor sentiment than other firms. And Analysts increase the frequency of favorable recommendations for firms that are located closer to financial centers when investor sentiment is high. Furthermore, firms located closer to a financial center do not have higher institutional ownership than other firms. Last but not least, firms located in more economically developed provinces are not more affected by investor sentiment than firms located in less developed provinces. Overall, my findings highlight the importance of geographic distance in explaining the effects of investor sentiment on stock prices.

Are institutional investors informed to the political promotion events? This paper examines the informed trading of institutional investors in the context of political promotion. Institutional investors have superior information environment compared to retail investors. It can establish private information channel with firm management, financial analysts, regulatory bodies and other types of institutions. Since contemporary economic activities are more or less influenced by politics, promotion of important officials can bring favorable local economic development opportunities to companies. If institutional investors are informed to the political promotion events, they are supposed to react in advance of the occurrence of promotion events. We test this proposition in the setting of China where political power is believed to be strong. In our research, we treat the promotion of Chinese provincial politicians as a private signal to institutional investors to examine their trading pattern. Through a difference-in-difference approach, we find that institutional investors accelerate their purchase of shares of the firms exposed to the promotion events before the promotion activities actually happens and increase their shareholding in listed firms after the promotion events. The institutional investors earn a higher cumulative stock return by adjusting their portfolio to the promotion events. We also find this difference in institutional shareholding primarily occurs to firms with low state-own share percentage.

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Many Nigerian firms have faced working capital management (WCM) inconsistencies, which have remained a source of tremendous concern in the face of high competition. In this study, the research problem explored was how inefficient working capital policies are still negatively affecting shareholders' wealth several years after the economic crisis, constraining sustainable development. The purpose of this quantitative research study was to examine how corporate governance has affected WCM within Nigerian organizations. The research question was about how corporate governance practices expand WCM efficiency. A random sample of 89 Nigerian organizations was used, and publicly available ethical ratings and financial information data on the companies involved were obtained. This quantitative study utilized a multiple regression methodology to determine the extent to which CEO duality, CEO tenure, board size (BS), and an audit committee (AC) can predict WCM performance. The findings specifically determined that board size and audit committee size were significantly related to WCM, while CEO tenure and CEO duality were not related to WCM. The results were consistent with previous studies suggesting that the impact of corporate governance in Nigerian organizations relates to WCM. The results of this study may help Nigerian organizations adopt and operate an appropriate corporate governance structure that will enhance their organizational effectiveness, aid business managers in allocating resources, and allow them to continue their corporate social responsibility missions of providing services to their communities and transforming society.

Online degree holders in Nigeria have poor acceptability during recruitment and promotion decisions because of reliability and legality perceptions of online degrees. There is little knowledge about how human resource (HR) managers identify employability skills in online degree holders. Guided by Bills's screening conceptual framework, the purpose of this case study was to explore how Nigerian recruiters identify employability skills in online degree holders. The participants for this study consisted of 2 participants from each of 10 sectors covering the government and nongovernmental organizations; participants had at least 5 years' experience in working with online degree holders. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with 20 participants. Yin's 5-step data analysis process was used with triangulation and member checking to analyze the findings. The findings of this research indicate that, contrary to earlier suggestions of low rating and poor acceptability of online degrees, HR experts in Nigeria have a high regard for the employability skills in online degree holders. The study produced 4 major findings: the possession of relevant skills by online degree holders, degree type does not form the determinant factor in recruitment, discovery strategies, and going beyond mere perception. The findings of this study may bring about positive social change toward policy changes in Nigeria regarding the adoption of online education. The results of the study can lead to positive recommendations for online degree holders, seekers of online degrees, online higher institutions, employers, and public policy makers.

Retail company managers face challenges that include how to protect their companies from theft, embezzlement, and fraud. Retail companies lose up to 5% of their revenue to frauds annually. However, in most cases, managers' understanding, design, and implementation of strong internal control systems could minimize the problem. The purpose of this case study was to explore strategies managers used to strengthen internal control. The purposive sample included 5 experienced company managers from large and medium-size retail companies in Virginia. The conceptual framework consisted of the treadway committee of sponsoring organizations model and the criteria of control. Participant interviews, document reviews, and observation led to rich data. Interview data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed using the modified Van Kaam method to identify themes such as control, technology, evaluation, adaptability, efficiency, and accountability. Findings showed that deficiencies caused changes in the control systems, personnel, and evaluation that figure centrally in internal control reviews. Managers' use of technologies emerged as the key strategy for minimizing risk. Business leaders could use these findings to strengthen operational practices and inculcate in employees' ethics of internal control. Business leaders may thereby produce civil members within their operating communities. Resultant lower product prices could benefit consumers, improve community-company relationships, and make the community safer.

In sub-Saharan Africa, only 13% of new businesses show profitability and survive beyond start-up. Such a low rate of success has an adverse impact on the region economy as small and medium enterprises comprise 90% of African businesses. Understanding the cause of business failure can help existing and new entrepreneurs to focus on factors that may help to overcome barriers to business growth and increase entrepreneurs' chances of success. The purpose of the correlation study was to examine the relationship between business ownership characteristics, resources and professional management, timing, and profitability. The resource-based theory served as the theoretical lens for the study. A random sample of 238 micro-, small, and medium enterprises in Ouagadougou, the capital city of Burkina Faso, completed the questionnaire via the Survey Monkey website. Analysis revealed R-² (15, N = 238) = 94.9, p < .005 (p = 0.000) supported the validity of Lussier's model in predicting profitability. The data analysis showed that 14 out of 15 independent variables made a unique statistically significant contribution to the model at p < 0.05. The implications for positive social change may include the potential to reduce entrepreneurship failure, increase employment opportunities, improve standards of living, and increase economic growth. New or existing businesses may benefit from the findings of the study in increased entrepreneurship success and job creation due to greater awareness of effective business success and failure models. Sustainability of micro-, small, and medium enterprises may increase the number of successful entrepreneurs who can provide regular meals for the families and send the children to school, which may lead to an increase in educational attainment.

This study examined the effectiveness of the Fadama III, National Program for Food Security and International Fund for Agricultural Development programs in reducing poverty and income inequality in Yobe State, Nigeria. Agricultural funding in the state has increased by 670.7% between 2004 and 2013. Despite this trajectory, the state ranks among the worst in Nigeria in terms of poverty and income inequality according to UNDP report, reinforcing the need to investigate the impact of agricultural funding on the state's welfare. Previous studies in this area have been on a country-wide basis and have not disaggregated the funding sources. This study disaggregating the funding sources of Yobe State in order to establish the effectiveness of each funding source. Field survey data from the fund beneficiaries and secondary data from the Central Bank of Nigeria, National Bureau of Statistics, and the World Bank provided empirical evidence. The first-best resource allocation theoretical framework was applied to understand the impact of funding sources on the welfare effect of the beneficiaries. The Ordinary Least Square, analysis of variance, and t test revealed that agricultural funding significantly and positively impacts on recipients' standard of living, asset base, and agricultural output, without any significant impact on income. Results indicate that FADAMA III is the most effective in improving the overall welfare of beneficiaries. It is recommended that other funding programs should adopt the models of FADAMA III, and should also require counterpart funding in order to maximize the benefit for a larger segment of the population. These findings may bring positive social change by reducing poverty, expanding economic opportunities, and improving quality of life, leading ultimately to sustainable peace and economic prosperity in Yobe State.

Lack of performance improvement strategies contributes to poor employee performance and increases the potential for business failure. Some insurance business leaders lack strategies to improve employee performance. The purpose of this case study was to explore strategies that successful insurance business leaders use to improve employee performance. The classical management and transformational leadership theories served as the conceptual frameworks for this study. Using a semistructured interview technique, 9 purposefully-selected insurance senior managers in Atlanta, Georgia were interviewed on how they successfully improved employee performance. Through open coding and thematic analysis, 4 themes emerged: goal setting and performance review; effective communication; training, coaching, and counseling; and good working environment and teamwork. Sixty-seven percent of participants cited effective communication, and 56% of respondents cited training, coaching, and counseling as well as a pleasant working environment and teamwork as strategies to improve the performance of employees. Findings for the 4 themes revealed that goal setting and performance review had positive effects on employee performance. Study findings show that a good working environment and teamwork have a positive effect on employee engagement. The findings of this study may contribute to positive social change by providing local insurance business leaders with additional strategies for improving employee performance. With improved employee performance, business leaders could generate extra revenue that they could use to advance community welfare.

Ghanaian microfinance banks (MFB) experience a high collapse rate, with more than 100 MFBs failing between 2015 and 2016. Grounded on Porter's competitive strategy theory, the purpose of this case study was to explore successful strategies used by selected participants to achieve business sustainability. Fourteen participants from 6 successful MFBs in the Greater Accra Region, including managers and MFB owners with more than 5 years of professional and industry experience, participated in semistructured interviews. Observations and company documents served as a secondary source of data collection. Through thematic analysis, 5 themes emerged: cash and liquidity management, capacity building, monitoring, compliance, and corporate governance. MFB owners and leaders will benefit from the findings of the study by gaining insights on how to implement strategies, which lead to business sustainability. Implications for positive social change include the potential for an improved standard of living through the financial resources provided by MFBs to entrepreneurs for business startups, which could lead to reducing unemployment and poverty within the working class population of Ghana.