Studies in Business and Economics

Front Matter

ojsadmin production — 2024-09-30

Editorial Foreword

ojsadmin production — 2024-09-30

Cyclinaclity Effects of Exchange Rates and Oil Prices

Jassim Aladwani — 2024-09-30

Understanding the concept of time scales is crucial when modeling economic and financial decisions. Within the time-frequency domain, this study delves into the relationship between fluctuations in oil prices and exchange rates across major oil-importing and exporting countries. The investigation employs various cross-wavelet techniques within the continuous wavelet transform framework, with a particular focus on wavelet coherence and phase-difference over the period 2000 to 2020. The results underscore a notable diversity in the connection between the oscillations of oil prices and exchange rates across diverse countries. This relationship is subject to temporal variations and is contingent upon the specific time horizon under consideration. In particular, our analysis reveals strong co-movements between oil prices and exchange rates across various time intervals and frequencies. Importing oil countries like New Zealand, Singapore, Brazil, and Taiwan exhibit particularly pronounced co-movements. Similarly, exporting oil countries such as Kuwait, Mexico, Russia, and Canada also display strong associations between oil prices and exchange rates. These correlations are intricately tied to key macroeconomic events, further highlighting the complex interplay between oil prices and exchange rate movements in different global regions. While a robust connection is evident in numerous countries, the strength of the relationship appears significantly weaker in several others. This variance underscores the nuanced nature of the association between the fluctuations in oil prices and exchange rates across the global landscape.

Dynamics of Productivity in Oman: An Ordered Logistic Regression

Nuha Sultan Al-Harithi — 2024-09-30

This study investigates the nuances of labor productivity in Oman, set against the backdrop of decreasing productivity trends in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC) regions since the 1980s. Albeit Oman's strategic initiatives like Vision 2040 to counteract this decrease, several challenges persist. Applying Order logistic regression, this research analyzed cross-sectional data gathered from 301 respondents to understand the impact of myriad factors: work ethics, cultural differences, skills, will, education, gender, marital status, and experience on productivity. It emerged that the work ethics and cultural nuances in the Omani scenario are sparsely researched. The finding of this study emphasizes the profound role of work ethics, skills, will, and educational qualifications in shaping productivity, with gender not presenting as a significant influencer. These findings can guide policymakers, HR professionals, and employers in devising strategies that accentuate work ethics, skill development, and cultural integration. Hence, the research is constrained by its cross-sectional nature, potential overlooked factors, and its specificity to the Omani milieu. Future researchers should endeavor to bridge these gaps for a holistic understanding of labor productivity in varied contexts.

Human Sustainability and the Competitiveness of Jordanian Industrial Companies: The Mediating Effect of Employee Participation

Najm A. Najm — 2024-09-30

There is much discussion about sustainability and its dimensions at the macro level (sustainable development) and at the micro level as important additional dimensions, including human sustainability. In this context, the contribution of this study comes in addressing the research gap in expanding the dimensions of sustainability to include a fourth dimension, represented by the human dimension with its four components: effective learning, sustainable innovation, functional sustainability, and sustainable teamwork. Human sustainability still needs to be rooted as a concept, representative components, and their effect on the two main determinants of the company’s competitiveness. Accordingly, this study aimed to determine the effect of human sustainability components (effective learning, sustainable innovation, functional sustainability and sustainable teamwork) on the competitiveness of industrial companies in its two determinants: competitive ability and competitive performance. The current study also sought to investigate the effect of employee participation on the relationship between human sustainability and company competitiveness.

Do Micro Finance Banks Influence The Performance Of Small Scale Business Entrepreneurs In Ijebu North Lga, Ogun State, Nigeria?

Michael Segun OGUNMUYIWA, Ph.D — 2024-09-30

This paper contributes to the debate on the impact of Microfinance financial and non-financial services on the development of small-scale entrepreneurs. This study actually investigated the influence of Access to Microfinance Credit and Microfinance services on the development of small-scale entrepreneurs in Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Survey research design using simple random sampling technique was employed to select 90 out of 175 registered small-scale entrepreneurs in Ijebu North LGA. Applying regression analysis on the primary data collected showed that a positive and significant relationship exists between Access to Microfinance credit and performance of small-scale entrepreneurs in the sampled areas. In addition, Microfinance service was also found to exert a significant influence on small-scale entrepreneurs’ performance, albeit, the correlation coefficient and the coefficient of determination were below average. This notwithstanding, the study concludes that Microfinance provision of credit; financial services, business support, and empowerment have positively influenced business performance, income generation, asset accumulation, and overall well-being of small-scale entrepreneurs in the sample area. It is recommended that microfinance institutions should continue to focus on expanding access to credit and other financial and advisory services to small-scale entrepreneurs to continuously improve their overall performance.