Oluyomi Ola-David Insights

This post is devoted to sharing preliminary results from the survey on ‘determinants of purchase decisions on pineapple’ powered by Research Policy Shop. The objective of the Survey was to examine factors influencing purchase decisions between imported pineapples from Cotonou, Benin Republic and locally cultivated Nigerian pineapples.  Factors examined by the Survey include consumer income, tastes and preferences, habitual consumption and location of purchase. Target respondents were individuals of different age categories who consume pineapples, sell pineapples, farm pineapples or use pineapples in furtherance of their business objectives. Research Policy Shop deeply appreciates everyone who took a few minutes out of their busy schedules to participate in the Survey.   Thankfully, 87 per cent of the respondents were habitual consumers of pineapple, with varying degrees of frequency in purchase, for the purpose of personal as well as household consumption. Respondents in t

In the modern day office environment, administrators and managers seek to maximize the use of scarce resources in the process of production and service delivery.  In addition, the proliferation of service firms and rising costs of the urban space has led to increased use of space management techniques in office accommodation – cubicles and open spaces.  However, in pursuance of space management objectives, most administrators are oblivious of the productivity effects of using such space-saving forms of office accommodation.  Since the use of cubicles and open space has come to stay, it is important to evaluate the current and potential effects on firm-level productivity for both indigen ous and foreign-vested firms.     It is also imperative to appraise the effect of current organizational practices on indoor environmental quality and broad-based implications for the urban labour market. Albeit some studies within the African context have examined factors that co

I was greatly priviledged to be part of the 2013 African Economic Conference which held in Johannesburg, South Africa within the enchanting confines of the Montecasino complex!  I  recently came by a press statement released by United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) on the session within which  our paper  was presented and thought to share it here.  The summary of the session was that - there is a need to upgrade investment in physical infrastructure and remove non-tariff barriers in order to facilitate regional trade across the continent.  Below are extracts from the press statement. [During a session dedicated to Regional Integration in the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), chaired by Janvier Litse, Director of NEPAD, Regional Integration and Trade at the African Development Bank, scholars observed that bridging the existing infrastructure gap among countries including improving the quality of roads and investing in telecommunication infra

According to conventional wisdom, structural transformation involves transfer of labour skills from low-productivity agriculture to high-productivity sectors, especially manufacturing. Notably, even though Africa is home to about 60 per cent of the world’s fastest growing economies, the patterns of growth have not resulted in dramatic changes in the structure of African economies.  In response to Africa’s paradoxical scenario, development experts investigate factors that could explain why growth of African economies has not been accompanied by improvements in the ratio of manufacturing value added to GDP. Amongst other things, in today’s knowledge economy, the role of education, more education and quality education in development is pointed. Given the currency of the skills-structural transformation debate, the 2014 edition of the African Economic Conference was centred on the role of knowledge and innovation in Africa’s transformation. Hitherto, studies on the schoo