Theses and Dissertations

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Accounting Changes and Budgeting Practices in the Tanzanian Central Government: A Theory of Struggling for Conformance
(University of Southampton, 2011-07) Mkasiwa, Tausi Ally
This research investigates the phenomenon of budgeting practices in the Tanzanian Central Government. It seeks to understand how budgeting systems under the New Public Management (NPM), World Bank- and IMF-exhorted systems were adopted and implemented. There were several motives for this research: the significance of budgeting in financial management, the sparsity of empirical studies on NPM in developing countries, and a call for an understanding of the local contexts of the country and an evaluation of the reforms themselves. Additionally, the complexity of NPM reforms and the mixed results of previous empirical studies, indicated the need for a more appropriate methodology. The study adopts interpretive research and executes a grounded theory strategy. It develops a substantive grounded theory on budgeting practices and a formal grounded theory on accounting changes in organizations (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Strauss, 1987). Fieldwork was undertaken in three Tanzanian Ministries. Struggling for conformance is the central phenomenon of the substantive and the formal grounded theory. The substantive grounded theory explained a process through which the Tanzanian Central Government actors were determined to implement budgetary reforms, despite difficulties. Struggling for conformance was illustrated by the establishment of rhetorically applied (rhetorical) rules and regulations, followed by budgeting attempts and games in their implementation, due to the uncertain environment, complex budgeting systems, the donors‟ influence, and cultural and administrative practices. The process of struggling for conformance had positive and negative impacts on budgeting operations and budgeting allocations. The formal grounded theory proposes that organizations adopt and implement accounting changes in order to achieve legitimacy, efficiency and self-interests. Rhetorical rules on accounting changes are established and implemented through accounting attempts and games, which may reveal the coexistence of instrumental and ceremonial aspects of accounting (Covaleski and Dirsmith, 1991), and even fulfill individual, rather than organizational, interests (strategic deterioration). Struggling for conformance is caused by conflicting and enabling power, complex rules, and a fragmented environment. Its consequences reflect the extent of the acquisition of efficiency and legitimacy. This research contributes to the limited amount of empirical accounting research on NPM in developing countries, to grounded theory and interpretive accounting research, and to the expansion of New Institutional Sociology. It further provides a framework of struggling for conformance, which produces possible explanations for the complexities of budgetary and NPM reforms, the adoption and implementation of accounting changes in organizations, and loose coupling
Ownership concentration and corporate performance in East African Community (EAC): the role of technical efficiency on foreign ownership among publicly listed companies
(Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, 2018-01) Jumanne, Bilali Basesa
The poor protection of minority shareholders among the publicly listed firms in partner states of East African Community (EAC) is associated with ownership concentration owing to a laxity to enforce legal and regulatory frameworks. This study integrates the agency theory and resource dependency theory to examine the role of foreign ownership when interacted with efficiency scores towards protection of minority shareholders in the publicly listed firms in East African Community. Using the balanced panel data of 58 non-financial publicly listed companies in EAC over the period of 2007-2015, the study measures corporate performance using Tobin’s Q, Return on Assets and Return on Equity. The panel unit root tests by Im-Pesaran-Shin and Fisher-ADF are performed and the results show that the data are stationary at first difference. The Pedroni co integration tests show that variables have long-run relationships. Efficiency scores are developed using Data Envelopment Analysis technique. Moreover, this study employs the Generalized Method of Moments estimator to overcome endogenous problems for developing consistent and unbiased estimates to circumvent the likelihood of reporting spurious results. The major finding of this study is that the ownership concentration is negative and statistically significant determinant of corporate performance. This result implies that majority shareholders divert company assets at the expense of minority investors to demonstrate poor corporate performance and poor protection of minority shareholders. Also, monitoring and expropriation behaviour executed by majority shareholders demonstrates the existence of the U-Shaped, namely, the nonlinear relationship between ownership concentration and corporate performance among the listed companies in the partner states of EAC. This result suggests that, interests of all shareholders can be aligned with corporate objectives achieved at higher level of ownership concentration. Moreover, the positive and significant influence of foreign ownership and the interactive variable on corporate performance suggests that foreign ownership can promote protection of minority shareholders. Furthermore, the results show that at least a threshold of 0.66 of efficiency scores is required for foreign ownership to excite superior corporate performance deliberately for protection of minority shareholders and henceforth poverty reduction. Acknowledging the importance of minority investors for meticulous capital market developments and economic outcomes on country and company levels, results of this study recommend to the authorities to enforce the ownership structure diversity for efficacy corporate governance practices. Meanwhile, the authorities are urged to build and reinforce quality institutions in their jurisdictions for proper corporate governance practices. The importance of institutions emanates from their ability to stimulate corporate efficiencies and for enhancing spill over benefits of attracting potential FDI inflows henceforth promote growth. Moreover, the authorities are advised to weigh the adoption of minority shareholders watchdog technique from Malaysia which demonstrated success since 2000.
Intention to adopt microfinance services among smallholder farmers in Tanzania: can perceived benefits and perceived barriers sharpen the theory of planned behavior?
(Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, 2018-06) Macha, Julius Joseph
In Tanzania, the government promotes microfinance services to assist local citizens who are not qualified for conventional banking services. In response to government’s policy, more financial institutions are providing microfinance services but the response from smallholder farmers is not encouraging. To solve the problems; the influence of perceived barriers, perceived benefits and the TPB constructs’ (attitude, subjective norms and perceived behaviour control) on intention to adopt microfinance services were examined. Quantitative approach using drop-off and pick-up self-administered questionnaire was employed to collect data. Probability sampling technique was used to select 600 smallholder farmers and 489 of the collected questionnaires were useful for analysis. The study’s hypotheses and mediation effects were tested by using structural equation modelling (SEM). The results suggest that all studied variables could influence the smallholder farmers’ behavioral intention. Furthermore, their attitude could mediate the effect generated by perceived benefits on intention to adopt microfinance services. Nevertheless, their attitude could not mediate the effects created by perceived barriers on intention to adopt microfinance services. The government should organize more training sessions to enhance farmers’ financial knowledge; disseminate the microfinance’s benefits more efficiently; introduce financial products that match rural farmers’ needs; reduce the interest rate; and revise group lending models. Problems in comprehending the questionnaire message and the conduct of research in a secular state could limit generalization of the present results to population. Finally, Future researchers are suggested to investigate how respondents with different language background could understand the questionnaire message and widen the data collection areas.
Complex corporate ownership and control in UK listed companies
(University of Strathclyde, 2012) Lotto, Josephat
This thesis sets out the empirical evidence on complex ownership and control using data for UK listed firms adapted from Faccio and Lang (2002) for the period 1996-1999. Using OLS estimation method, the thesis links corporate financial policies and performance with ownership and control. It reports a negative relationship between control concentration of the largest shareholder and dividend pay- out ratios in companies which separate ownership from control, and a positive relationship between ownership concentration of the largest shareholder and dividend payout ratios, in companies which do not. I show that higher control-rights grant larger shareholders incentives (lower cash-flow rights) and ability (higher control-rights) to extract private benefits, for companies which separate ownership from control. Supportive evidence emerges of a positive relationship between the largest shareholder’s ownership concentration and debt ratio; when ownership concentration of the largest block holder increases, so does the possibility of collusion with management. It is further reported that, family companies employ more debt in their capital structures to prevent dilution of control and have significantly higher debt ratios and lower pay-out ratios than companies controlled by financial institutions. It may be argued that, the absence of strong external monitors makes it easy for family companies to pass control between generations. Finally, I test the relationship between voting rights of the largest shareholder and firm performance and report a negative relationship, suggesting reduction of corporate values. I demonstrate that firms whose control is shared among two family block holders accumulate more debt and perform worse than firms where the largest family block holder shares control with the second largest financial institution. This suggests that the incentives to collude with the largest shareholder or to monitor the largest shareholder are significantly affected by the type of block holder. It is also shown that firms with control coalition having more than two block holders perform better than those with only two block holders, especially those of the same type.
Micro insurance in Tanzania: demand perspectives.
(University of Central Lancashire, 2012) Saqware, Abdallah Naniyo
This study addresses three distinct but interrelated areas in the micro insurance sector in Tanzania a) demand perspectives of micro insurance in the informal sector b) examining strengths and weakness of current risk coping strategies in the informal sector c) examining household‘s characteristics that influence demand for micro insurance. The study analyses data from a primary survey and focus group discussion derived from informal sector households‘members of the VIBINDO1 society in three districts of Ilala, Kinondoni and Temeke in Dar es Salaam. The analysis involves three steps; first, household‘s major risk exposures were analysed, secondly risk coping strategies which were in place were examined and thirdly, a probity regression analysis was conducted to establish the relationship between households‘ characteristics and demand for micro insurance in the informal sector. There are three major findings from this study: Firstly, the results indicate that employment, marital status, use of financial services, education, risk exposure and insurance knowledge are significant determinants of micro-insurance demand. Insurance knowledge and trust of insurers were found to have a positive and significant impact on the demand for micro insurance. Contrary to expectations, the empirical analysis shows that income is a significant determinant with a negative impact on micro insurance demand. Secondly, the findings suggest that demand for micro insurance in the informal sector depends on the competitive advantage between formal insurance services and available informal techniques. Informal techniques have important informational advantages due to their close physical proximity and frequent, repeated interactions. This implies that some inferences can be drawn from the design and development of micro insurance. The analysis highlights different approaches to be taken by insurers in designing micro insurance products. Thirdly, there is evidence to suggest that pre-existing informal sharing networks affect demand for micro insurance. The low demand for micro insurance can be explained by available informal arrangements which are characterized by closely knit social networks and groups that provide security in exchange for loyalty to the group. Also, uncertainty avoidance culture is low within the households in Tanzania, hence households seem to be more tolerate to different situations. The findings recommend strategies for micro insurance expansion in the informal sector, which is therefore useful for the expansion of financial services.
Does IFRS improve the usefulness of accounting information in African capital markets?
(Leeds University Business School, The University of Leeds, 2012) Ngole, Shaban Juma
This thesis examines whether IFRS adoption improves the usefulness of accounting information in African capital markets. Consistent with the IASB (2010) conceptual framework which focuses on shareholders, I define usefulness as the increase in value relevance of earnings and book value of equity, asymmetric earnings timeliness and conditional conservatism and the predictive ability of earnings and cash flow. I use a relatively large sample of 347 firms listed in five African capital markets namely; Johannesburg, Nairobi, Cairo and Alexandria, Botswana and Casablanca Stock Exchanges. The thesis derives its motivation from the contemporary debate on fair value versus historical cost accounting, illiquidity of African markets and the adoption of IFRS in Africa. Although IFRS is widely adopted in Africa there are relatively few studies examining its usefulness. In Africa, capital markets are relatively small and illiquid (Smith et al., 2002 and Kenny and Moss, 1998), there are no sound IFRS enforcement mechanisms (Daske et al., 2011, Anandarajan and Hasan, 2010, World Bank, 2010a, and Prather-Kinsey, 2006), culture is secretive and conservative (Dahawy et al., 2002 and Gray, 1988) and many accounting systems are based on government or bank capital models of corporate governance (Chamisa, 2000). Since, IFRS characterized by fair value accounting principles requires liquid and active markets for its appropriate use (Ball, 2008) and focuses on market led principles of measurement and disclosures (Walker, 2010) it is unclear how useful it is to market participants in illiquid markets particularly African capital markets. The research objectives are fourfold; to examine whether IFRS increases (i) the information content of earnings and book value of equity as measured through the earnings response coefficient (ERC), the book value response coefficient (BRC) and adjusted R2 (ii) the asymmetric earnings timeliness and conditional conservatism as a measure of stewardship role of management to capital providers, (iii) the predictive ability of earnings and cash flow and (iv) to examine the conditioning roles of culture and legal origin on the above research sub-themes. The results are summarized as follows; (i) IFRS increases the valuation role of book value of equity and overall value relevance but not earnings. These findings are consistent with the IASB (2010) conceptual framework' focus on the statement of financial position rather than the statement of financial performance in financial reporting. The results are also consistent with prior studies such as Hung and Subramanyam (2007) and Francis and Schipper (1999) which document the declining (increasing) value relevance of earnings (book value of equity), (ii) IFRS is incrementally more value relevant in code law than common law countries and (iii) the secretive culture prevalent in African countries is associated with greater BRC (lower ERC) after IFRS Moreover, consistent with prediction, the results indicate that IFRS leads to reduced gains, loss, incremental loss and overall earnings timeliness. Also, common law earnings are timelier (untimely) in recognizing bad news (good news) than code law earnings. However, this symmetric earnings timeliness decreases after IFRS adoption. Furthermore, the results indicate that a conservative culture is associated with greater (lower) gains (loss and incremental loss) recognition timeliness. In terms of earnings and cash flow predictability, IFRS results in reduced predictive ability of cash flow and earnings. Also, cash flow dominates earnings in predicting future cash flow. Conservative culture is associated with lower (greater) predictive ability of cash flow (earnings). Moreover, results do not support the contention that IFRS increases the predictive ability of earnings and cash flow more in common than code law countries. This is the first comprehensive study examining the decision usefulness (as defined by the IASB conceptual framework, 2010) of IFRS in Africa. The conclusion is that IFRS has not improved financial reporting in Africa.
A modified anonymisation algorithm towards reducing information loss
(School of Computing, Dublin Institute of Technology, 2013) Tinabo, Rose
The growth of various technologies in the modern digital world results in the collection and storage of huge amounts of individual's data. In addition of providing direct services delivery, this data can be used for other non-direct activities known as secondary use. This includes activities such as doing research, analysis, quality and safety measurement, public health, and marketing. These activities enhance services experiences for individuals, expand knowledge and making appropriate decisions, strengthen understanding about the effectiveness and efficiency of the systems, support public education and aid organizations in meeting customers' needs. The collected data may contain personal-specific and sensitive information, such as medical records and financial records that may cause privacy breaches if compromised. The process of ensuring an individual's privacy results in information loss which renders data less useful. This problem is everywhere were data is collected, but the problem is critical in the healthcare domain due to the sensitive nature of the healthcare data and their importance for several secondary uses. Therefore, in order to increase sharing of the collected data, approaches that ensure an individual's privacy with reduced information loss that renders the data useful are needed. There are number of approaches used to ensure an individual's privacy such as removing Personal Identifiable Information (PII), encryption, and statistical databases. But most of the existing approaches results in substantial information loss or the anonymisation level achieved may still results in the identification of the individual's sensitive information. This research investigates the problem of ensuring an individual's privacy while reducing the amount of information loss. Thus, the research attempts to answer the problem of how the data holders, such as hospitals, private, and government agencies, can ensure an individual's privacy while sharing data which is still useful. This research proposes an anonymisation algorithm, named kl-redInfo that ensures individual's privacy with a reduced amount of information loss that renders data useful. The kl-redInfo algorithm ensures individual's privacy by achieving the main two privacy requirements, k-anonymity and l-diversity, that aim at ensuring an individual's privacy against both identity and sensitive attribute disclosures. The information loss is reduced by using the three proposed modified approaches that reduce the values of the information loss metrics, which indicate a reduction of the information loss. These approaches are; systematic incorporation of the remaining records in the group that result in lower information loss, using both the group-creation part of the anatomization approach and cell-based generalization, and sorting the records according to the attributes that can be linked to identify an individual, also known as quasi-identifier attributes. The research shows that, each of the proposed modified approaches contribute in reducing the amount of information loss with the approach of systematic incorporation of the remaining records in the group that results in a lower value of the information loss metric being the most important. The research find that, even though each of the proposed modifications contributes in reducing the amount of information loss, the amount of information loss resulting from the application of the combined three proposed modifications is significantly reduced. Therefore, the research uses the three proposed modifications to design the proposed kl-redInfo algorithm. The research shows that, the proposed kl-redInfo algorithm results in significant reduction of the information loss compared to the widely used privacy-preserving data publishing algorithms that proved to result in lower information loss. This was indicated by the lower values of the three information loss metrics; Normalized Certainty Penalty (NCP), Discernibility Penalty (DP), and Kullback_Leibler divergence (KL divergence), that implies reduction in the amount of information loss. The reduction of the information loss resulting from the application of the kl-redInfo algorithm was due to the use of the three proposed modified approaches, systematic Incorporation of the remaining records in the group that result in a lower amount of information loss; using both group-creation part of the anatomization approach and cell-based generalization; and sorting the records according to quasi-identifiers.
Diversification, financial performance and the destruction of corporate value? An application of fuzzy set analysis
(University of Strathclyde, 2013) Mabonesho, Ernest Francis
FSA techniques appear to offer valuable complementary theoretical and empirical insights to conventional finance research methods in order to better understand the financial impact of corporate diversification strategies. FSA can provide a conceptual framework to integrate the often confusing and conflicting theoretical explanations and empirical results of past research. This thesis explores the potential usefulness of FSA in addressing finance research problems or paradoxes that are characterized by large numbers of inter-connected variables, complex causality and where different configurations lead to similar outcomes. Specifically fuzzy set analysis is used on cross-sectional data from firms listed in London stock exchange FTSE All-share index (2001-2010) in order to address a gap in the literature as to “how corporate diversification necessarily and sufficiently leads to favorable financial performance”. The results of this research show that there is no simple answer to this question nor is there a simple theoretical explanation. It appears that a diversification strategy per se is neither a necessary nor a sufficient indicator of favorable or unfavorable financial performance. The FSA results showed multiple configurations of corporate diversifications and other firm attributes which are usually or more often than not sufficiently associated with favorable firm value, profitability, and risk-return performance. This indicates presence of complex causality, asymmetric causality, and equifinality in examining determinants of financial performance. The results are partially explained by elements of standalone theories but better explained by the construction of a series of hybrid theoretical frameworks. The usefulness of FSA in helping understand and improve decision making processes that rely on complex financial or numeric information has been demonstrated, and it is hoped that this research acts as a “stepping stone” to legitimate a new set of analytical techniques for accounting and finance researchers to use. This would help corporate managers/CEOs, analysts, and investors in decision making processes.
Directors and firm performance: evidence from British soccer corporations
(Leeds University Business School, The University of Leeds, 2011) Mnzava, Bernard Elieza
The purpose of this research is to analyze the importance of the interrelationship between directors and firm performance in UK soccer corporations. In doing so the analysis enriches the existing literature in corporate governance in several ways. The primary innovation contained in this thesis is that it analyses productivity performance in the field of corporate governance for the first time. My empirical analysis considers two distinctive elements of firm performance. The first element is productivity performance, which is measured by on-field football success that includes winning percentage, percentage of league points and attendance. To my knowledge, this has not been addressed elsewhere in the corporate governance research. The second element is financial performance, which is measured by off-field economic success which includes profitability and the ratio of turnover to total assets. Overall, the findings of this research suggest that productivity performance is the principle criterion used to judge corporate decision making. The first element of the empirical analysis examines determinants of directors’ remuneration under three categories, namely; board remuneration, executive remuneration and CEO remuneration. My main findings can be summarized as follows. Firstly, I find evidence that in all categories of directors’ remuneration productivity performance is the chief determinant; concomitantly, there is little evidence of a link between CEO remuneration and financial performance. Secondly, I document that directors’ remuneration is substantially affected by firm size and managerial ownership. Finally, I find that the proportion of non-executive directors significantly reduces board and executive compensation. The second empirical analysis investigates the determinants of executive turnover, through using multiple theoretical approaches. My analysis compares the relative importance of productivity compared to financial performance on executive turnover decisions. My main finding is that productivity performance is more important than financial performance in driving executive turnover. Furthermore, my analysis demonstrates that executive turnover is considerably influenced by managerial ownership and industry experience. Overall, my results suggest a stronger relationship between performance and turnover in listed corporations than in FA Premier League corporations. This implies that quoted firms adhere to corporate governance directives more than FA Premier League firms. The final empirical analysis investigates the impact of multiple directorships, ownership structure and managerial industry experience on productivity and financial performance. My main findings are as follows. First, the results reveal that directors with multiple directorships improve productivity performance by enhancing the firm’s net spending, this having the effect of worsening financial performance. Second, I find that managerial ownership tends to seriously worsen productivity performance, whilst block holder ownership enhances financial performance. Third, managerial industry experience promotes productivity performance but worsen financial performance. Overall, in the contemporary relationship football firms are characterized by a trade-off effect between financial and productivity performance measures. Finally, I document evidence that productivity performance depends on financial performance and vice-versa.
Governance and Accountability: an exploration of Chairs-CEOs Relationships in Large Scottish Charities
(Business School, University of Aberdeen, 2013) Fadhil, Omary Idd
Charities have been growing in numbers and visibility in many parts of the world over the past two decades. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of charities in the United Kingdom since the 1980s. Government withdrawal from direct involvement in certain service delivery programmes saw charities filling the void. The importance of charities can be reflected in the expenditures which are classified as ‘culture, sports and recreation’, ‘education, training and research’, ‘health and medical’, ‘social services and relief’ and ‘conservation and protection’. Others include ‘housing and community affairs’, ‘civil rights, law and order’, ‘philanthropic intermediation’, ‘international activities’, ‘business and professional’ and ‘religion’ (CaritasData, 2009). Despite their economic importance, limited academic research and professional development have been directed to charities. Laws and regulations for charities have been in place for decades, with Scotland enacting the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 to regulate all charities operating in Scotland. This research focuses on governance and accountability in ‘large’ charities registered in Scotland. The research looks into the working relationships between Chairs and CEOs of charities following the 2008 economic recession. The main sources of data are questionnaires as well as annual reports and accounts. A combination of theories has been used from previous research on both for-profits and non-profits organisations to explain internal governance of charities. The research uses these theories to explain responses from both Chairs and CEOs on charity issues and how they also relate to the financial vulnerability status of a charity. Major findings of this research include the existence of very few differences in responses between Chairs and CEOs when it comes to general issues regarding governance and accountability in charities. Charities focus on having members with specialist expertise on their Boards. There is evidence that charities are engaging in signalling behaviour due to information asymmetry in charities and that the existing economic downturn has increased pressure on charitable operations. The research also found that the financial vulnerability status of a charity has limited or no effect on the responses from Chairs and CEOs; however, the research found significant differences in responses on the importance of legacies and public funding between charities that are financially vulnerable and those that are not.

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