Business and Economic Management Review

Access to Financial Credit Facilities by Farming Households in Uganda

2019-11-13T17:44:21+00:00

This study set out to examine the determinants of credit access among farming households in Uganda. The study using data extracted from the FINSCOPE Uganda survey data 2013. Descriptive results revealed that access to credit is still very low particularly formal credit access in Uganda. Econometrics results on determinants of credit access based on multinomial logit model revealed that financial literacy, years of education, ownership of land title, location, perception about lending behavior of the bank, distance to the nearest bank and income level are important factors influencing the demand for formal credit. Gender, age and income level were also found to have significant influence on probability of using semi-formal services and while financial literacy, gender, age and income were found to have significant influence on demand for informal credit. These results are pertinent if we want to include over 70% of the farming households who are excluded from credit access and over 90% who are excluded from formal credit services. Since the majority farmers who do not access credit reside in rural areas, the study recommends that credit policies and supportive interventions that target farmers need to be emphasized. For example, policy support interventions aimed at improving credit access as well as interventions that address the constraints and limitations to formal education and extension services should be supported to increase farming households’ access to formal credit.

Effects of Public Private Partnerships on Education Service Delivery in Uganda

2019-11-13T17:44:21+00:00

In many countries globally including Uganda, governments have partnered with the private actors to deliver education services traditionally delivered by the private sector. This paper explored whether secondary schools under Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement are more efficient in respect to pass rate and enrollment. The study adopting a comparative research design compared secondary schools under Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement and those schools which are not under PPP arrangement. The analysis was based on sample of 95 secondary schools randomly selected from Mukono district. The results show that Non-PPP schools were more efficient than secondary schools under PPP arrangement in respect to pass rates. However, in respect to enrollment, secondary school schools under PPP were found to be more efficient. This implies that PPP arrangement impacts school enrollment by increasing the number of supported students to join the private school but this does not translate into school performance. Thus, although government efforts to partner with private secondary schools increases student enrollment, it has implications on school efficiency in respect to pass rate. The study recommends that PPP arrangement between government and private sector schools need to be revised to reflect the realities of the schools with respect to enrollment and performance outcomes.

The Impact of Access to Agricultural Services on Maize Productivity in Uganda

2019-11-13T17:44:22+00:00

Over the years, the government has continuously increased funding to the agricultural sector through providing agricultural services to farmers. Therefore, the study’s broad objective was to examine the influence of access to agricultural services on maize productivity in Uganda. Specifically, the study analysed the access to credit services, extension services and access to markets and their influence on maize productivity. The analysis was based on Uganda Census of Agriculture data collected in 2008/2009 by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBoS). Employing regression analysis, results show that access to credit services, extension services and market significantly increase maize productivity. Therefore, study recommends that government need to strengthen farmer’s to access credit, extension services and markets is necessary to improve low levels of farm yields in maize production in Uganda.

Employee Engagement, Antecedents and Turnover Intent in Selected Firms in Uganda

2019-11-13T17:44:22+00:00

This study set out to examine the relationship between employee engagement, its antecedents and turnover intent in selected firms in Uganda. Cross-sectional survey design was employed to collect data from 1,773 employees from four purposively sampled firms in Kampala, Mukono, and Buikwe districts. Hypotheses were tested using correlation and hierarchical regression analysis. Results show that all the nine antecedent variables studied were positive and significantly correlated with employee engagement. Employee engagement was negative and significantly correlated with turnover intent. The hierarchical regression results shows that only five of the nine antecedents were significant predictors of turnover intent - employee development, compensation fairness, perceived social support, reward/recognition and collaboration. The study also found that employee engagement is not a partial mediator between the antecedents and turnover intent because the hierarchical regression analysis shows that after controlling for the antecedents, employee engagement did not contribute unique variance to turnover intent. It is recommended that even if engagement was not found to be a significant predictor of turnover intent, collaboration, reward & recognition, perceived organizational support, compensation fairness, and development are significant predictors and should be deliberately promoted in organizations.