This study explores how small business owners in Africa talk about their tax responsibility, using Nigeria as a case study. Data were collated through interviews, focus group sessions, and online chats. The study identifies two main types of tax responsibility talks amongst these business owners: (1) duty-based and (2) right-based discourses. The duty-based talks see taxation primarily as the citizens' responsibility to governments, which should always be fulfilled unconditionally, while right-based talks see taxation primarily as the government's responsibility to citizens, which should be fulfilled first, in order for the government to earn the trust of citizens for higher tax compliance. Further analyses reveal that these talks are anchored on four common discursive themes - i.e. socioeconomic development, and legal, moral, and philanthropic themes, which business owners respond to in different ways. The paper argues that understanding these diverse responses will help tax regulators respond to taxpayers' attitudes effectively.

Privatisation is often seen as the key to achieving efficiency in infrastructure service delivery. In most cases, however, the model of privatisation and the right institutional environment under which they perform best are ignored in addressing the privatisation-to-efficiency debate. Recognising this, we seek to underscore the contractual and institutional factors influencing infrastructure post-privatisation efficiency in Landlord port models as applied in Nigeria’s port reform. In so doing, the study explores the Landlord port privatisation model in Nigeria. The paired t-test and Wilcoxon signed rank sum test are employed to determine if there are significant improvements in port output (general cargo throughput, liquid bulk throughput, number of vessels, gross registered tonnage and container traffic) and efficiency (average waiting time, turnaround time, berth occupancy rate) proxies between the pre-concession, transition and post-concession periods in Nigeria. The result of these tests indicates that although there are significant improvements in the port output proxies, efficiency in the port did not improve significantly. The study identified lack of appropriate legal framework, weak regulatory capacity, absence of efficiency targets in concession contract and non-adherence to investment targets as the major constraints to efficiency gain in the Landlord port model.

Sustainable finance is gradually gaining a centre stage in contemporary corporate social responsibility (CSR) discourse, especially through the...

Spatially explicit land use/cover models are indispensable for sustainable rural land use planning, particularly in southern African countries that are experiencing rapid land use/cover changes. Using Zimbabwe as an example, we simulated future land use/cover changes up to 2030 based on a Markov-cellular automata model that integrates Markovian transition probabilities computed from satellite-derived land use/cover maps and a cellular automata spatial filter. A multicriteria evaluation (MCE) procedure was used to generate transition potential maps from biophysical and socioeconomic data. Dynamic adjustments of transition probabilities and transition potential map thresholds were implemented in the Markov-cellular automata model through a multi-objective land allocation (MOLA) procedure. Using the normalised transition probabilities, the Markov-cellular automata model simulated future land use/cover changes (up to 2030) under the 2000 calibration scenario, predicting a continuing downward trend in woodland areas and an upward trend in bareland areas. Future land use/cover simulations indicated that if the current land use/cover trends continue in the study area without holistic sustainable development measures, severe land degradation will ensue.

Using primary survey data from two agro-ecologically distinct rural communities in eastern Nigeria, this paper examines the determinants of livelihood diversification away from agriculture and the manner in which agro-ecological differences affect such diversification. The probability of participating in non-agricultural activities was estimated in an endogeneity-controlled, probit model employing data on household assets, demographics, human capital, as well as a proxy for differences in agro-ecology. Results show that not many households remain undiversified as they combine activities within farming, commerce, skilled non-farm and low skilled non-farm sectors. Both human capital and the agro-climactic variables were found to determine the nature of diversification. Against the deagrarianisation thesis, the study found that despite high incidence of diversification, agriculture is not in any significant decline. Policies thus should be aimed at both agricultural and non-agricultural activities. Policies based on the assumption that agriculture is no longer relevant will hurt farming and retard development.

Not only from outside economics, scathing criticisms of the rational choice and rationality assumptions on which much of the economists' models are based have also come from within economics and have constituted a major source of disagreement among economists. Especially, the Austrian school of economics and philosophy distinguishes itself from mainstream economics on this basis. Various theories such as critical realism, holism, Marxism, historicism, functionalism, semiotics, or the praxeology of the Austrian school, have appeared to be alternatives to rational choice and a heated debate have waged on which should be seen as representing a more realistic paradigm of the study of acting human subjects, interacting with others and their environment. The aversion to rational choice stems from its alleged orientation to subjective rationality, instrumental rationality, mechanistic, logical and mathematical formalism, utility maximization etc. Pushed to extreme, rational choice posits a distorted picture of reality that is both mechanistic and destructive. But the same accusations could well be levied against each of the theories that seek to replace rational choice. This paper takes the radical position that the alleged distinctions between rational choice and its rival theories are more imagined than Using a metaphysical hermeneutic deconstruction of the conceptualization of theoria, this paper shows that the modern (theoria) of knowledge takes as its foundational axiom, the agency of the subjective intellect which presupposes rationality: Rationality is inseparable from and both are articulated in the scientific method. We argue that a true alternative to rational choice must therefore, be in effect, an alternative to the scientific method, which as Heideggar pointed out, is itself the theory of the real. The paper therefore, explores the essentiality of rationality in the modern conceptualization of and argues the impossibility of any modern to escape from subjective rationality of science insofar as it remains a - a of the So far as the scientific method is not simply a method, but the modern theory of the real, constructed in the aftermath of Cartesian and Kantian Copernican Revolution, any of science, whether relative to the or the natural, qua theory, is necessarily scientific, methodic and turns on subjective rationality. Therefore, the distinction among competing theories of social science on the basis of rational choice and mathematical formalization have but little validity. We argue in this paper that any distinction worth making in epistemology of science should be between the primeval theoria of the pre-Cartesian and pre-Kantian metaphysics of being and the post-Cartesian and post-Kantian epistemology of science.

The charged debate on the C-S-R-ization of organisational practices seems to have produced two opposing and seemingly incompatible explanations for why organisations should engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR); one, the normative rationale based on idealistic or normative appeal to ethics, and the other, the instrumental rationale, based on an appeal to business pragmatism. This paper argues that a missing link in this debate is the failure to recognize that the normative and instrumental approaches to corporate social responsibility are underpinned by substantively, differentiating, relative logics of emotional rationalism on the one hand, and instrumental rationalism (rational choice) on the other. The paper makes a case that for CSR as a management practice, to be practicable and actionable within a sustainable business agenda, it will need to be stripped of its current normative undertone and reconstructed in the instrumentally, pragmatic (utlish) language of business. Otherwise, the whole concept of CSR may continue to dwell in the realm of abstract theorizing without yielding much beneficial and practicable outcome. The paper concludes that such an approach that situates CSR within a pragmatic business lingua, rather than a non-business lingua, will help in legitimizing CSR as a 'neutral' management practice.

Using GTAP's CGE Model, this paper implements a comparative analysis of bilateral and regional free trade arrangements between Japan and partner countries within Asia-Pacific region with which negotiations are currently under way. These countries include Singapore, Mexico, Korea, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, China, and Indonesia. Some of these negotiations have already been concluded giving rise to the Japan-Singapore FTA (concluded in 2002), Japan-Mexico FTA (2004), Japan-Philippines FTA (2005) and Japan-Malaysia FTA (2005). Negotiations are still advancing with other countries. At the same time, negotiations are ongoing with ASEAN bloc of countries towards a regional trade agreement. The scenarios employed in this paper involve a complete elimination of tariff in all tradeable commodities between Japan and the partner countries. We employed both Version 5 (1997) and Version 6 (2002) of GTAP base data for the simulations. Simulation results with the different base data show that there is a significant decrease in gains (both in welfare and GDP expansion) over the two years—a situation that points to the aftermath of the 1997 Financial Crises. Comparing the bilateral and regional options, simulation results show that, in tune with now established theory, the benefits accruable from a regional or multilateral free trade regime far outweigh that from a bilateral trade strategy.JEL classification : D58, R13, F13

The recent revolution in the field of biotechnology has triggered off another round of controversy between the developed countries of the North and the developing countries of the South concerning access to genetic resources and equitable sharing of its benefits. Developed countries assert ownership claims on associated technologies, while developing countries claim ownership of genetic resources. The heart of the matter, however, lies in the application of conflicting conventions and protocols in respect of genetic resources and biotechnology: genetic resources are treated as public goods, while biotechnology is treated as a private good. Developing countries that claim ownership to a large reserve of the earth's pool of genetic resource feel that this exposes them to the exploitative tendencies of multinational corporations (MNCs) that are mainly owned by developed countries of the North. MNCs exploit the advantages as well as the weaknesses in the various conventions increasingly to monopolize the seed and germplasm industry, without due consideration for farmers and developing countries. This paper analyses these developments and proposes that a better regime of benefit sharing that recognizes farmers' or indigenous rights alongside patents and plant breeders' rights will go a long way to introducing a more even playing field that is mutually favourable to both parties.

Drawing empirical evidence from indigenous firms, this study explores the meaning and practice of CSR in Nigeria. It was found that indigenous firms perceive and practise CSR as corporate philanthropy aimed at addressing socioeconomic development challenges in Nigeria. This finding suggests that CSR is a localised and socially embedded construct, as the waves’, ‘issues’ and ‘modes’ of CSR practices identified among indigenous firms in Nigeria reflect the firms’ responses to their socioeconomic context. It is anticipated that this paper will add to the body of knowledge on CSR, especially as it relates to Africa, which has a relative dearth of literature on CSR, and provide some insights to multinational firms operating in Nigeria.

The question has been asked severally: Can Africas moral economy, that is, Africas present economic situation, support large scale capital accumulation that can create wealth and economic prosperity? The answer to this question has never been simple, nor direct, nor without ambiguity. In the past, the established position is that African development within its own cultural and historical antecedents is a mission impossible. Africa can develop so far as it is willing to adopt modernization which is inherently self - alienating. But the new thesis advanced by Mkandawire and Soludo (1999) challenges this pessimism and argues that market capitalism is possible in Africa despite its moral economy. This paper exposes this debate to new light by taking an insightful look at the present realities of the moral economy in Africa, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. This offers the basis for re-considering the prospects of capitalist accumulation within the moral economy. Given the interest the moral economy is recently generating, we deem it necessary to question whether it is possible for this economy to support capital accumulation, which of course, is the sine qua non for economic development or is the moral economy just the refuge of the poor? In the light of these, we will attempt to reconsider the role of International Financial Institutions, such as the World Bank and IMF, in providing assistance to this economy to overcome the obstacles to development.

The eighteenth-century introduction of the scientific method of the natural sciences to the study of social phenomena draws a line between moral philosophy - that aspect of ancient and medieval philosophy that dealt with social issues - and the social sciences as known today. From the onset, the emerging social science, or rather, its epistemological orientation to 'social scientism,' was vigorously challenged by many critics who see it as a reductionist and mechanistic understanding of human beings and their society. In recent times, this criticism has narrowed down to the critique of the rationalist assumptions or rational choice theory on which much of social scientism is built. Critics of the natural science ideal in the social sciences argue that the subject matter of the social sciences - human beings, their society and interactions - is so complex and different a system that subjecting it to the crucible of the scientific method of the natural, positivist sciences not only limits its understanding but leaves it with an abrasive and distorting impact. In the same manner, critiques of rational choice theory argue that it is a reductionism that does not account for a significant proportion of human actions and motives. What seems to be advocated for is a sort of social science method that addresses the shortcomings of the scientific method applied to social phenomena and employs a more robust model of human action that supersedes the rational choice model. This paper however posits that rationalist assumptions or rational choice theory is not peculiar to social scientism but lies at the foundation of modern and contemporary science and its method. We trace out the centrality of individual rationality assumptions in the general epistemology of the scientific method and social scienticism within the context of the centuries-old debate on the limitations of the scientific method in the social sciences. Our thesis hints at the impossibility of a modern and contemporary scientific model of either nature (physics) or society that does not assume individualist or subjective rationality.

The question has been asked severally: Can Africa's moral economy, that is, Africa's present economic situation, support large scale capital accumulation that can create wealth and economic prosperity? The answer to this question has never been simple, nor direct, nor without ambiguity. In the past, the established position is that African development within its own cultural and historical antecedents is a mission impossible. Africa can develop so far as it is willing to adopt "modernization" which is inherently self - alienating. But the new thesis advanced by Mkandawire and Soludo (1999) challenges this pessimism and argues that market capitalism is possible in Africa despite its moral economy. This paper exposes this debate to new light by taking an insightful look at the present realities of the moral economy in Africa, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses. This offers the basis for re-considering the prospects of capitalist accumulation within the moral economy. Given the interest the moral economy is recently generating, we deem it necessary to question whether it is possible for this economy to support capital accumulation, which of course, is the sine qua non for economic development or is the moral economy just the refuge of the poor? In the light of these, we will attempt to reconsider the role of International Financial Institutions, such as the World Bank and IMF, in providing assistance to this economy to overcome the obstacles to development.