Volume 29 (2019): Edition 3 (September 2019)

The author studies the private equity divestments in Eastern Europe and tests a long-term relation between these divestments and the real GDP variation. This research paper focuses on a sample covering the period 2000-2013 which considers the dynamics of the private equity divestments during the last financial crisis. The empirical analysis follows the methodology developed by Granger (1969), Toda and Yamamoto (1995), Dufour and Renault (1998), Konya (2004), Foresti (2006) and Onuoha, Okonkwo, Okoro, Kingsley (2018). The analysis shows that Eastern European private equity divestment market is still emerging characterized by high volatilities. The results prove that GDP recession explains in at certain degree the evolution of private equity divestments during the crisis. However, the Granger causality test shows that the information provided by the past variation of the real GDP cannot allow us to predict the short-term movements of private equity divestments in Eastern Europe.

The insertion of graduates of higher education on the labor market is one of the problems faced by the Romanian labor market. Based on a VAR model in the panel, the number of unemployed with higher education in Romania is explained in correlation with variables related to the educational environment. As the number of graduates, the number of teaching staff and the number of faculties increase the unemployment rate among people with higher education also increases slightly, showing that they have not immediately integrated into the labor market. A shock (an innovation) in the series of unemployed numbers results in an increase in the number of unemployed and a long-term stabilization of the influence to positive values. A shock to the data series on the number of graduates, the number of faculties and teaching staff does not have an immediate effect on the number of unemployed with higher education.

Efficient market hypothesis asserts movements in asset prices are due to significant changes in information. The financial crisis of 2007-2009 originated from subprime mortgages in the United States and affected African countries through local stock markets. This study evaluates the Nigerian stock market efficiency in the pre and post financial meltdown of 2007-2009. GARCH models under three error distributional assumptions were used. The data covers January 2010 to December 2016 divided into pre and post meltdown. Findings indicate that in the pre and post meltdown, the Nigerian stock market is inefficient in the weak form while using the meltdown as event window, the market is efficient in the semi-strong form. It was recommended that prompt release of financial information by quoted firms should be on-line real time and mandatory to discourage rumour and speculative activities. Authority should not only spell out punishments but should be strict and firm about it.

Shadow economy and corruption are the two harmful activities that do not work in the favour of tax revenue performance. As a result it renders an effective government incapacitated and unable to carry out its social responsibilities. This study considers the effect of the informal economy and graft on tax revenue performance in Nigeria using secondary data that cover a period from 1996 to 2018. This period has been covered by the corruption perception index captured by the Transparency International for Nigeria. Despite the theoretical approaches available in measuring the size of the shadow economy, the ordinary least squares technique is specifically used to perform the multi-regression analysis to arrive at the empirical results which indicate that both the shadow economy and corruption have negative influences on tax revenue performance in Nigeria, although the negative impact of corruption on tax revenue is more robust and significant. Thus, the study suggests among others that the government should step up action against corruption and also address the root causes of shadow economy in order to make the participants of the informal sector willing to formalize their businesses and voluntarily comply with tax payment obligations.

The paper deals with the evaluation of the ecological innovation as a factor for economic development through the correlation and regression analysis. The paper.analysis the.total ecological.innovation index of Slovakia within the.European Union and in relationship to growth GDP of Slovakia. Correlation and. regression analysis. examines the interdependence between.total ecological innovation index and economic growth. GDP is one of the key elements of effective support for eco-innovation.

This paper provides a conceptual analysis of the dynamics of savings in Lesotho for the period 1960 to 2017. The study is motivated by the low and sometimes negative savings rate and the declining level of economic growth prevailing in Lesotho during the period from 1960 to 2017. The study analyses the behaviour of savings in Lesotho, using the savings trends for the country ever since it obtained independence in 1966. The study further examines the policies that the government of Lesotho has implemented in order to promote savings in the country. The government adopted a policy on rural savings and credit schemes as a means of promoting savings in Lesotho. The purpose of the policy is to improve access to credit for the rural population. The study has identified some challenges that impede savings mobilization in Lesotho. The major savings challenge in Lesotho is the lack of banking facilities in rural areas.