Staff Expenses Research Articles

Digitalization and Efficiency of the Beninese Tax Administration

This paper aims to assess the effectiveness of the Beninese tax administration in the context of digitalization. Specifically, it seeks to determine the efficiency levels of various tax centers and evaluate the impact of digitalization on the efficiency of the Beninese tax administration. Using monthly panel data spanning from 2017 to 2023, a DEA model is employed to calculate efficiency scores. Subsequently, a censored Tobit model is utilized to examine the effect of digitalization on the efficiency of tax centers in Benin. The findings reveal average efficiency scores of 77.80%, 76.79%, 72.01%, 62.72%, 58.56%, 56.11%, and 46.16% for CIME Atlantique, CIME Ouémé Plateau, CIME Borgou Alibori, CIME Zou Collines, DGE, CIME Littoral1, and CIME Littoral 2, respectively. Moreover, digitalization, tax population, and additional taxes resulting from documentary audits positively influence the efficiency of tax centers. Conversely, the number of staff, the agent's directory, staff expenses, and the coverage rate of general accounting audits negatively affect the efficiency of tax centers. Decision-makers must prioritize enhancing the efficiency of tax administrations, expanding the tax base, and ensuring comprehensive tax control coverage to fully capitalize on the benefits of digitalization.

Evaluating ASEAN and EU Banking Sector Efficiency Using DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis)

Abstract. This study compares ASEAN and EU banking efficiency using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and an intermediary approach. Three input variables (staff expense, fixed assets, total customer deposits) and two output variables (loans to customer and operating income other than interest) are analyzed using RStudio and R. EU and ASEAN banks had efficiency scores of 0.7 and 0.65, respectively, showing opportunity for improvement. Based on cost analyses, ASEAN banks are more efficient than their EU counterparts. Inefficiencies occur when output surpasses input or is much lower than another output variable. However, both regions may improve banking efficiency to do better. The 10-year trends exhibit oscillations, showing that regulatory issues affect banking efficiency. Stricter laws, higher capital requirements, and risk management changes may have hampered ASEAN credit. The dynamics and objectives of the EU and ASEAN economic blocs shape their financial systems. ASEAN is working toward regulatory convergence, while the EU has integrated and harmonized more. To maintain a stable and efficient financial industry, the region's banks must adapt to changing economic landscapes, technological advances, and mounting challenges. Keywords: ASEAN, bank performance, data envelopment analysis, efficiency, EU

Employee Compensation and Financial Performance: Evidence from Commercial Banks of Nepal

Background: The role of employee pay in financial performance is misty, with plenty of space to explore. Human resources have been discarded from the mainstream arena despite being a strategic partner.
 Objective: The study aims to investigate the association between employee compensation and financial performance.
 Methodology: The study uses econometric analysis, descriptive analysis, correlational analysis, and trend analysis to disclose the relationship between employee compensation and financial performance. Employee compensation is measured in terms of staff expenses, and ROE and ROA measure financial performance.
 Results: Employee compensation positively impacts the financial performance of BFIs. Quantitatively, a 1 percent rise in employee compensation increases ROA by 0.02 percent point and ROE by 0.20 percent point. Likewise, the size of a firm negatively affects financial performance. Revenue diversification has a positive effect on financial performance. Similarly, the cost-to-income ratio negatively affects financial performance.
 Implications: BFIs must invest in employees to develop their skills and focus on providing mercenary and non-mercenary benefits to employees, enhancing their performance by discouraging them from shrinking on the job. Also, BFIs shall enhance their competitiveness and focus on increasing non-interest income while simultaneously reducing interest expenses.

The \u201cGeneral practitioner learning stations\u201d\u2014development, implementation and optimization of an innovative format for sustainable teaching in general practice

BackgroundTeaching general practice in a university setting is still challenging. In our department we have developed a teaching format with content from a previous lecture-style-teaching into an interactive small group format taught by frontline general practitioners (GPs). The “GP learning stations” introduce students to the skills and attributes of a GP working in primary care in a university setting. Our main objective was to understand whether the teaching format had proven itself sustainable in a university setting over eight years. Furthermore, we wanted to better understand the role of the GP as a medical educator.MethodsMore than eight years of experience in organizational and staff expenses were collected and analyzed. In addition, the grade point average of the students’ evaluation was calculated and their free text answers were categorized and evaluated descriptively. During two teach-the-teacher seminars attending GPs were asked why they teach and if they feel equipped to teach the format.ResultsThe initially high organizational and staff expenses were significantly reduced. The recruitment of GPs, their didactic contribution, and their joint creation of content went smoothly throughout the whole period. A total of 495 students participated in the regular evaluation. The analysis yielded a grade point average of 1.9, on a scale from 1 = very good to 6 = insufficient. In the free text answers students praised the educators, the format and the practical relevance. The interactive transfer of the content, the didactic competence of the educators and the spatial environment were viewed critically. Reasons for GPs to teach were the joy to pass on knowledge and experience, and to make the work of GPs more attractive to students. Most GPs felt prepared to teach through their experience as a physician although some felt unprepared to teach through their lack of didactic knowledge.ConclusionDespite reducing the costs of the format, a grade point average of 1.9 could be achieved in the long term. This supports the teaching concept of learning stations and its “mixture of discussion, scientific background and role play, combined with (…) experiences and exciting individual cases from (GPs) everyday life”, hopefully making general practice more attractive to the students.

Accounting at your service: university survival, recovery and revolution from COVID-19

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the roles of accounting for university survival, recovery and revolution from the COVID-19 pandemic. It constructively critiques the use of compliance and cost-centric accounting to inform crisis response and proposes roles for accounting to better serve decision-making in a crisis. Design/methodology/approach This paper discusses limitations about how accounting information was used in a university’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper describes potential roles for accounting across crisis phases. These proposals recognise requirements arising from the university’s regulatory environment and apply concepts from intellectual capital accounting and service-dominant logic. Findings This paper proposes that in the survival phase, accounting can mitigate rash responses by clarifying the crisis’s impact and stakeholder alignment. In the recovery phase, accounting can inform resourcing decisions by balancing signals from accounting about staff expense and capital investment. In the revolution phase, accounting helps develop the business models needed to adapt to changing student needs, hybrid teaching delivery and importance of intellectual capital. Research limitations/implications The case study discusses the early stages of a university’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It does not provide a comprehensive analysis of success or failure of accounting in a crisis. The case raises directions for accounting to clarify the ambiguities in objectives and cause-and-effect relationships from the pandemic. Practical implications This paper proposes actions for accounting to support the survival, recovery and revolution of the university sector from the pandemic. The actions cover stakeholder engagement, university sector governance and strategic planning. Originality/value This paper proposes a lifecycle of accounting roles at different stages of the COVID-19 response that reflects requirements from the university’s regulatory environment and draws on intellectual capital and service-dominant logic literature.

How Efficient are Islamic Banks in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom?

This research aims to analyze the efficiency level of 13 Islamic Banks in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom from 2015 to 2019. The calculation of the efficiency level in this study is relative, not absolute. This study uses the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method and source data from Bankscope and Bank Focus. This research consists of 3 input variables that are Total of Assets (X1), Staff Expenses (X2) and Total Deposit (X3), and 2 Output that is Income (Y1) and Loan (Y2). This research finds that the overall efficiency level of 13 Islamic banks in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom are fluctuating. According to the result, the Islamic banks in Saudi Arabia is more efficient than in Indonesia and the United Kingdom. There are some inefficient variables—the solution for this inefficiency problem achieve by employing managerial simulation generated by DEA. This study implies that Islamic banks should reduce wasteful variables and optimize the variables that improve the efficiency.JEL Classification: C1, F30, G20, G21How to Cite:Suhail., & Nurzaman, M. S. (2020). How Efficient are Islamic Banks in Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom?. Etikonomi: Jurnal Ekonomi, 19(2), xx – xx. https://doi.org/10.15408/etk.v19i2.15862.

The nexus of judicial efficiency, social burden and default risk: Cross-country evidence

The paper investigates heterogeneous institutional costs related to firm bankruptcy and default risk over a comprehensive sample of 65 economies between 2003 and 2016. We find that corporate default risk is decreasing in judicial efficiency whereas it is increasing in potential social costs related to high unemployment rate. In the cross-sectional comparison, we find that firms with less cash reserves are more likely affected by judicial efficiency. Similarly, the impact of potential social costs induced by employment regulation is more pronounced in firms with higher staff expenses. Our main findings indicate that creditor protection is a crucial channel to lower corporate default risk, through which judicial efficiency alleviates the pressure from accelerating debt repayment. Besides, pro-labor regulations imposed by local governments facing high unemployment make it difficult for firms to reconcile the conflicts of labor input. It is conditional on contextual factors that whether the two types of institutional costs are complementary on default risk.

THE IMPACT OF OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE ON VIETNAMESE COMMERCIAL BANKS’ PROFITABILITY

This study aims to check whether ownership structure affects Vietnamese commercial banks' profitability or not and identify factors influencing Vietnamese commercial banks' profitability as well. Utilizing the Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) model applying for 21 commercial banks in the period 2010-2017, the authors found that bank ownership is statistically significant and the sign of the correlation coefficient is negative, indicating that state-owned commercial banks are less efficient than other commercial banks. Also, the empirical findings show that there are some factors affecting the profitability of commercial banks in Vietnam such as credit risk, capital adequacy ratio, cost-income ratio, staff expenses, and asset growth rate, where credit risk and cost-income ratio have a negative relation to banks' profitability.Keywords: Bank profitability, Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA), Commercial, Ownership structure, VietnamJEL Classifications: G15, G21, G28DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.9760

AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AND INDICATORS OF ACQUISITIONS

Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) has been used as a growth strategy not only in developed markets but also increasingly in emerging markets. Turkey, as one of the leading emerging markets in the world, has been home to huge number of M&As. In this empirical study, we try to shed light on the outcomes of M&As that have occurred in Turkey between 1990 and 2017. In addition to compare post-acquisition with pre-acquisition, we use other Turkish companies as benchmark to see the effect of M&As on Turkish companies. Our findings indicate that acquisitions have a positive effect on Turkish firms` financial performance. We also find that Turkish acquirers are more aggressive in terms of growth than non-acquirer companies are and have higher values on capital expenditures, research and development and staff expenses. When we compare these acquirers with their pre-acquisition periods, we also find an increase in these financial indicators, which who that acquisitions affect Turkish companies significantly.

Features of financing NATO's armed forces

The aim of the article is to investigate the peculiarities of financing NATO's armed forces. The following methods were used in the study process: comparative analysis method, correlation analysis, content analysis. The current state of defense financing in the world and in NATO countries has been clarified. Sources of funding for civilian and military budgets and NATO security investment programs are highlighted. The civilian budget covers staff costs, operational costs, capital expenditures and expenses for the International Secretariat's programs at NATO Headquarters. The military budget covers the costs of operating and maintaining the structure of NATO military management bodies. The procedure for the payment of direct and indirect contributions to NATO content by the Allies is disclosed. The tasks of the bodies responsible for financial control over the formation and use of NATO finances are described: the North Atlantic Council, the Resource Policy and Planning Council, the Budget Committee, the Investment Committee, the NATO Independent International Audit Board. Shares of financing of civilian and military budgets, as well as NATO programs by NATO member countries, the ratio of defense expenditures to GDP in NATO countries, the share of capital expenditures in the structure of defense expenditures of NATO countries are analyzed. The volumes and structure of defense financing expenditures in Ukraine are compared with NATO countries. It is revealed that during 2014-2018 Ukraine significantly increased the amount of defense financing, at the same time the share of capital expenditures in the structure of defense spending in Ukraine remains insignificant. It is proposed to increase the share of expenditures on military investments and innovations, purchase of armaments and military equipment, construction of military facilities and, at the same time, limit the share of current expenditures on the maintenance of the armed forces.

The Nexus of Judicial Efficiency, Social Burden and Default Risk: Cross-Country Evidence

Abstract The paper investigates heterogeneous institutional costs related to firm bankruptcy and default risk over a comprehensive sample of 65 economies between 2003 and 2016. We find that corporate default risk is decreasing in judicial efficiency whereas it is increasing in potential social costs related to high unemployment rate. In the cross-sectional comparison, we find that firms with less cash reserves are more likely affected by judicial efficiency. Similarly, the impact of potential social costs induced by employment regulation is more pronounced in firms with higher staff expenses. Our main findings indicate that creditor protection is a crucial channel to lower corporate default risk, through which judicial efficiency alleviates the pressure from accelerating debt repayment. Besides, pro-labor regulations imposed by local governments facing high unemployment make it difficult for firms to reconcile the conflicts of labor input. It is conditional on contextual factors that whether the two types of institutional costs are complementary on default risk.

What are the outcomes of emerging markets mergers and acquisitions Evidence from Turkey

Emerging markets have become home to an increasing amount of acquisition activity. However, we do not know much about how domestic and international acquisitions differ in terms of their outcomes. The objective of this study is to compare these acquisitions in the context of an emerging country. To do so, we analysed all acquisitions that occurred in Turkey between 1989 and 2017. We found that domestic acquirers significantly outperformed foreign acquirers of Turkish companies. Our analysis of financial indicators suggests that foreign acquirers are larger in size, have greater leverage and intangibles, and engage in bigger deals. However, growth in leverage, capital expenditures, and administrative and staff expenses are greater in domestic acquirers. Overall, our findings suggest that domestic acquirers are affected more significantly by acquisitions compared to foreign acquirers and based on the financial outcomes of acquisitions there are several differences between these two groups of acquirers.

Counteracting Tax Evasion when Splitting a Production Process

The subject of the research is processes of reducing tax payments using various tax schemes. The relevance of the problem is due to the fact that both legal and illegal tax schemes are used in the optimization of tax payments. In illegal tax schemes, huge financial resources are concealed from taxation, and, consequently, removed from control of supervisory bodies, which creates the prerequisites for abusing the financial security of the country. One of the ways to dodge taxes is to use various forms of reorganization of economic entities, in particular, splitting the production process. The purpose of the paper was to develop mechanisms for counteracting tax evasion when splitting a production process. The paper provides the author’s definition of the term “tax evasion” understood as the use of specially developed tax schemes for economic transactions performed with violation of the order of formation of individual taxation system elements making it possible to reduce the amount of tax payments to respective budgets. It is concluded that when the production process is split in parts, the main economic goal should be to optimize the current management staff expenses and improve the business process management efficiency.

STAFF EXPENSES AND ITS EFFECT ON THE BANK'S NET PROFIT

The aim of the study is to explore the relationship between a net profit of Nepalese commercial banks with staff expenses and staff bonus. This study is based on panel data which is collected from five sampled banks through the review of the annual report during the study period of fiscal year 2012/13 to 2016/17. These collected data are analyzed by using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, and log-log multiple regression models. The Mini-Tab software is used for the analysis of data. The results indicate that the predictor variable staff expenses do not significantly impact on net profits of the bank even though they are positively correlated. On the other hand, the response variable (net profit) is significantly affected by the predictor variable staff bonus. Researcher: A Research Journal of Culture and SocietyVol. 3, No. 3, January 2018, Page: 63-71

A Study on Merger and Operating Performance of Commercial Banks of Nepal

<p>This study aims to find the impact of mergers on operating performance of sample merged banks. To attain the research objective, this study has taken 8 independent variables; operating profit margin, net profit margin, return on assets, return on equity, debt equity ratio, return on loan loss provision, return on staff expenses and return on operating expenses. Three cases have been taken for the study as a sample to examine whether merger has led to a profitable situation or not. Research mainly focuses on quarterly secondary data which is analyzed using paired sample t-test, correlation analysis, VIF test and regression analysis. From the analysis it is deduced that merger has no significant role in case of Nepal Bangladesh Bank and NIC Asia Bank in terms of various operational ratios, since many operational ratios have been found weaker in post-merger period than pre-merger period. But merger plays a significant role in case of Machhapuchchhre Bank where almost all operational ratios have improved in post-merger. While analyzing the situation of overall commercial banking sectors, with the help of sampled data, it is observed that largely the merger isn’t able to produce positive results for the merged entities. The study shows the reason for negative result of merger as the poor financial position of the target banks. Further the merger will somewhat act as a solution for the current problems of Nepalese BFIs. Merger will be a wise option to bring BFIs in strong and growing position and to meet the requirement of current paid up capital as per the latest NRB directive. But it also must be considered that merger in itself is not the ultimate solution to strengthen the financial position of BFIs. A lot of factors must be taken into account before finding the right partner to merge with and executing the merger.</p><p>Journal of Business and Social Sciences Research, Vol. 2, No. 1 & 2, pp. 85-107</p>

How and why do political parties differ in their spending patterns? An empirical analysis of expenditure on party payroll staff

Despite the pivotal role of payroll staff within political parties’ central offices, research on the staff expenses of parties remains scarce. In this article, we study the relative staff expenses of political parties, that is staff costs as a percentage of total annual expenses. We analyse which factors explain the differences between parties’ relative staff expenses, based on a dataset of 590 individual observations representing 52 parties from seven European countries. The multivariate model shows that relative staff expenses are higher among left-oriented parties and that they increase with party age, party membership figures and the number of years a party has been in government, while they decrease with party income. Relative staff expenses also decrease with the effective number of parties in the party system, and they are lower in election years.

Frugal Innovations Health Care Programs at the Community Level

Recent experience in some countries has suggested that the use of frugal innovations can be valuable. These initiatives can reduce health care expenses by substituting less costly services for more expensive ones and by limiting the organizational costs of maintaining these programs. These approaches have been defined as doing more with less. This study described the use of frugal approaches to improve the efficiency of care by providers in the metropolitan area of Syracuse, New York. In these programs, numbers of hospital patient days were reduced by discharging patients to long term care services. Hospital emergency department utilization was also monitored and managed at the community wide level. The utilization of hospital admissions per population was also limited. The three programs described in this study were implemented with annual staff expenses of $127,000. This amounted to only about $42,000 annually per hospital. The development and use of these frugal innovations was made possible through cooperation among providers and use of a single organization, the Hospital Executive Council to coordinate the programs.

Deposit money banks’ efficiency in three years after, during and before the 2004–2005 consolidation in Nigeria: the puzzle on size

In this paper, the authors examined the efficiency of deposit money banks (DMBs) in Nigeria in three years after, during and before the 2004–2005 capital consolidation in Nigeria. This consolidation period was the last period the Central Bank of Nigeria implemented an official recapitalization policy of the deposit money banks in the country. The authors predicated the study on a modified intermediation and efficiency measurement frameworks. It utilizes deposits, fixed assets and employees as inputs, whose costs are interest payments, depreciation and staff expenses. Performing loans and advances, investments and liquid assets constituted the output variables. The authors computed the efficiency scores, using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach. The data used were obtained from the DMBs that retained their identities and controlled over 75% of the banking industry’s total assets. They were purposively selected to maintain data consistency, and were size-classified by total assets. The findings show that small banks tend to be more cost efficient than medium and big banks. More so, medium sized banks tend to be more cost efficient than big banks, while big banks take the lead in cost efficiency score in post consolidation period. Cost efficiency of the banks was the highest during consolidation, followed by pre-consolidation and least in three years after consolidation.

Cost effectiveness in a supportive care unit.

e18326 Background: Supportive care in cancer (SCC) may create a financial burden, compared to a standard cancer department. In 2011, a specific SCC inpatient unit was developed in an academic hospital, based on a multidisciplinary approach in order to anticipate patient’s disability and limit emergency hospitalization. Assess the cost effectiveness of the SCC unit expenses and benefits compared to Medical (MO) and Gastro-Intestinal (GI) oncology departments. Methods: Data were analyzed over a six year period (2011-2016). Cost of hospital stays and cost per year were calculated based on the hospital’s standard cost accounting method. Hospital benefits were calculated as the difference between total incomes and total expenses (cost and Diagnosis Related Group tariffs for the stay) and results were compared (period available for comparison 2011 to 2014). Results: Total costs for the hospital, primarily due to staff expenses, were lower for the SCC unit compared to MO and GI in 2011 and 2014, as well as the daily cost per stay (DCS). Benefit per year was also higher for the SCC unit permitting it, to benefit financially compared to the two other oncology units (Table). Incomes reimbursed by the National Health system for SCC unit were 1,632,601 euros in 2015 and 2,096,285 euros in 2016 with a total of 357 and 408 patients admitted in the 8 bed SCC unit in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Conclusions: The SCC unit was less expensive to operate compared to our other oncology units. Our results suggest that its development permitted the oncology department to enhance its quality of care without any additional expenses. [Table: see text]

The Role of Service Operations Management in New Retail Venture Survival

While the factors related to the survival of established retail firms are well researched, current understanding of drivers of new retail venture survival is limited. We assess the influence of retail operations characteristics on the survival of new retail ventures. Based on data from 15,901 Portuguese retail ventures that were founded between 2006 and 2010 and followed until 2014, the new retail ventures with faster inventory turnover or higher staff expenses per employee had a higher likelihood of survival while higher investment in intangible assets had a negative but negligible effect on survival. The implications of these findings for entrepreneurs of new retailing ventures are discussed.