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Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives implemented by multinational oil companies (MOCs) in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of the global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on closing the social capital, through enterprising rural women's groups in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach - This paper adopted a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population. Itwas essentially crosssectional, describing and interpreting the current situation. A total of 800women respondents were sampled across the rural areas of the Niger Delta region. Findings - The results from the logistic regression model indicate that CSR of the MOCs using the GMoU model has recorded little but significant success in improving women's participation in the socio-economic activities of the region. The results also demonstratethat women's groups and other forms of collective actions can be effective in building social capital and addressing gender gaps in other areas as well, through reducing transactions cost, pooling risks, developing skills, and building confidence. Practical implications - The result suggests that building women's social capital can be an effective way to improve information exchange and resource allocation, pool risks, and ensure that women's voices are heard in decision-making at all levels. Additionally, it proposes that community-based organizations including cluster development boards (CDBs) and women's groupscan be useful for generating social capital. Social implications - The result implies that women's groups that serve as production cooperatives, savings associations, and marketing groupscan boost production and help women in maintaining control over the additional income they earn. It also indicates that achieving scale through pooling resources can help women in overcoming some of the constraints experiencedby individual farmers. Originality/value - This research contributes to the gender discourse in social capitalfrom a CSR perspective in developing countries and the rationale for host communities' desires for social projects. It concludes that businessesmust assist in solving public-interest challenges.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the multinational oil companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of the global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on gender sensitive responses to climate change in oil host communities in Nigeria. This paper adopts a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population, as it is essentially cross-sectional, describing and interpreting the current situation. A total of 1200 rural women were sampled across the Niger Delta region. The results from the use of a combined propensity score matching and logit model indicate a significant relationship between GMoU model and women, gender and climate change in the Niger Delta Nigeria. This implies that CSR of a multinational oil companies is a critical factor in the need for gender sensitive responses to the effect of climate change. It suggests that, for adaptation to climate change effects, understanding gender dimensions and taking gender responsive steps be incorporated into GMoU policies and action plans of multinational enterprises. This research contributes to gender debate in climate change from a CSR perspective in developing countries and rationale for demands for social projects by host communities. It concludes that business has an obligation to help in solving problems of public concern.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the multinational oil companies' (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of the global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on women's involvement in rural labour market in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach - This paper adopts a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population, as it is essentially crosssectional, describing and interpreting the current situation. A total of 768 respondents were sampled across the rural areas of the Niger Delta region. Findings - The results from the use of a combined propensity score matching and logit model indicate that CSR of the MOCs using GMoU model has recorded little but significant success in improving women's participation in the labour market by freeing women's time through labour-saving technologies and the provision of public services, raising women's capital through education, eliminating discriminatory employment practices and capitalizing on public works programmes. Practical implications -This suggest that the underlining causes of gender inequality in rural labour markets are institutional, including both social norms and the structure of labour market organizations; and can be holistically tackled through corporate social responsibility programmes, government policies, and building the strength of women in labour organizations. Social implications - This implies that reducing rural poverty requires not just the barriers to women's participation in decent employment, but aiming for a policy that helps to change people's perceptions of what is possible, beneficial, and fair; fosters cooperative action; and strengthens women's bargaining power in the work place, the home, and the market place. Originality/value - This research contributes to the gender debate in agriculture from a CSR perspective in developing countries and rationale for demands for social project by host communities. It concludes that business has an obligation to help in solving problems of public concern.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the national home grown school feeding programme (NHGSFP) in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of NHGSFP on rural communities in Nigeria. This paper adopts a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population, as it is essentially cross-sectional, describing and interpreting the current situation. A total of 2400 households were sampled across the six geopolitical regions of Nigeria. The results from the use of a combined propensity score matching and logit model indicate that NHGSFP makes significant contributions to improving the health and educational status of rural school children, stimulate job creation and boost rural economy. This implies that a well-designed and integrated home grown school feeding programme can make significant contributions to improving food security at the household level, spurring job creation and boosting agricultural markets. This suggests the need for a purposeful engagement and support from all stakeholders to ensure the success of home grown school feeding programmes. This research adds to the literature on school feeding in low-income countries. It concludes that school feeding programmes have been shown to directly increase the educational and nutritional status of recipient children, and indirectly impact the economic and social lives of themselves and their family.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the multinational oil companies' (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of the global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on gender difference in nutrition and health in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. This paper adopts a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population, as it is essentially cross-sectional, describing and interpreting the current situation. A total of 800 women respondents were sampled across the rural areas of the Niger Delta region. The results from the use of a combined propensity score matching and logit model indicate that CSR of the MOCs using GMoU model has made significant success in closing the gender difference in nutrition and health in agricultural household in the Niger Delta region. The findings also show that mainstreaming gender in nutrition within the field of agriculture is a critical aspect of strengthening gender and nutrition/health linkages, in recognition of women substantial contribution to agriculture production and their central role in household food collection, preservation/processing and preparation. This suggest that mainstreaming gender in nutrition offers opportunities to integrate agriculture and health approaches in GMoU projects, which will require increased collaboration and coordination between the MOCs' and CBD clusters in the field of gender and nutrition to exploit existing complementary and comparative advantages, and to apply a holistic approach in host communities. This implies that gender and nutrition/health have multiple dimensions and are highly context-specific; and the pathway towards improved food and nutrition security for all should be a gender-equitable process incorporated in CSR programmes and projects in sub-Saharan Africa. This research contributes to the gender debate in agriculture from a CSR perspective in developing countries and rationale for demands for social project by host communities. It concludes that business has an obligation to help in solving problems of public concern.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the corporate social responsibility initiatives of multinational oil companies in Nigeria. Its main focus is to investigate the impact of the global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on equipping the rural young people with essential farming skills and knowledge for adoption and application of modern agricultural inputs in the Niger Delta region. Design/methodology/approach - This paper adopts a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population, as it is essentially crosssectional, describing and interpreting the current situation. A total of 800 rural young people were sampled across the oil producing region. Findings - The results from the use of combined propensity score matching and logit model indicate that the GMoU model has a significant impact on development of informal farm entrepreneurship generally, but somewhat undermined rural young people in the targeted agricultural clusters. Practical implications - This suggests that youth-specific CSR farm projects can be effective in providing young people with the extra push needed to tackle the knowledge gap and poor agronomic that erect the below-per yield and lack of competitiveness of small-holder farmers in the region. Social implications - It implies that a coherent and integrated CSR response from business would be necessary to unlock investment opportunities on young people in farms for agricultural competitiveness and food security in Africa. Originality/value - This research adds to the literature on informal farm entrepreneurship and rural communities' debate in sub-Saharan Africa. It concludes that business has obligation to help in solving problems of youth unemployment in developing countries.

We examine the impact of multinational oil companies' (MOCs') corporate social responsibility (CSR) on traditional practices recognized as violence against women and girls (VAWG) in Nigeria's oil region. Results from the use of a combined propensity score matching and logit model indicate that MOCs' CSR play a significant role in empowering women and girls with information and education to protect their human rights. This implies that CSR offers an opportunity for MOCs to help address prevalence of child early and forced marriage, female genital mutilation/cutting, sex trafficking, virginity testing, and taboos through a business case for stakeholders' human right protection.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the agri-business/small and medium investment schemes (AGSMEIS) in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of the AGSMEIS on youth entrepreneurship development in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach - This paper adopts a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population, as it is essentially crosssectional, describing and interpreting the current situation. A total of 1,200 respondents were sampled across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Findings - The results from the use of a combined propensity score matching (PSM) and logit model indicate that AGSMEIS initiative generates significance gains in empowering youths in enterprise development, and if enhanced will help many young people become entrepreneurs. Practical implications - This suggests that AGSMEIS initiative can facilitate youth's access to credit and help them become owners of small and medium enterprises. Social implications - It implies that investing in young people for small and medium enterprises could bring Nigeria into the modern economy and lift sub-Saharan Africa out of poverty. Originality/value - This research adds to the literature on youth entrepreneurship development's debate in developing countries. It concludes that targeting the young people in AGSMEIS should form the foundation of public policy for entrepreneurship, poverty alleviation, and economic development.

Food prices in Nigeria have become significantly higher and more volatile since 2012. The purpose of this research was to find out what affects farmers' participation in the growth enhancement support scheme (GESS) in the country. We determined the effect of the GESS on the ease of access to market information and agricultural inputs that influence price volatility at farm gate level. A total of 2100 rural farmers were sampled across Nigeria's six geopolitical zones. Result from the use of recursive bivariate probit model showed that farmers depended on the GESS for the resolution of food price volatility by providing food market information and agricultural inputs that bring down the incidence and amount of anxiety-impelled price rise in Nigeria. The results advocated for the need to improve the GESS in line with the agricultural transformation agenda (ATA) by cutting down the deterrents mostly linked with the use of mobile phones, and the distance of registration and assemblage centers. In extension and contribution, the findings suggest that smallholder farmers can be part of the volatility solution when they are provided with rural roads and transportation to get their product to the market, and technology to receive and share the latest market information on prices.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the multinational oil companies (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of the global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on irregular migration urge of rural youths in the oil producing communities. Design/methodology/approach - This paper adopts a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population, as it is essentially cross-sectional, describing and interpreting the current situation. A total of 2100 households were sampled across the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Findings - The results from the use of a combined propensity score matching and logit model indicate that GMoU model has made significant impact in dissuading young people from irregular migration drive. Practical implications - This implies that if the MOCs increase the CSR intervention on young development initiatives that focus on creation of jobs and provision of financial and other resources that support local entrepreneurs, the push factors that compel youth irregular migration in sub-Saharan Africa would be deterred. Social implications - The fight against irregular migration of African youths and subsequent demise by sea, deserts and along the Mediterranean route can only succeed if cluster development boards (CDBs) of GMoUs are able to draw on young people to participate fully in the CSR intervention plans and programmes. Originality/value - This research adds to the literature on multinational enterprises' CSR initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa and rationale for demands for social projects by host communities. It concludes that business has an obligation to help in solving problems of public concern.

We test the hypotheses that fundamental characteristics in regional proximity, landlockedness, religious-domination, legal origin, and income levels affect cross-country differences in the persistence in political terror and political instability in 163 countries for the period 2010 to 2015. The empirical evidence is based on Generalised Method of Moments. The hypotheses are that the following are associated with comparatively higher levels of persistence in political terror and political instability: regions with predominantly low income countries (Hypothesis 1); landlockedness (Hypothesis 2); Christian-orientation (Hypothesis 3); French civil law (Hypothesis 4) and Low income (Hypothesis 5). The tested hypotheses are largely invalid. Only Hypothesis 5 and Hypothesis 2 are robustly investigated in the light of concerns about instrument proliferation. Hypothesis 2 is valid for political terror but not for political instability while Hypothesis 5 is neither valid for political instability nor for political terror.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the multinational oil companies (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of the global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on development of rural women's traditional enterprises in the Niger Delta region. A total of 2400 women were sampled across the region. Results from the use of a combined propensity score matching and logit model indicate that the GMoU model of the CSR has recorded significant success in supporting farming and fishing transformation generally; but has also undermined those initiatives that focused on empowering rural women in traditional enterprises, due to the cultural and traditional context in the region. This causes both direct harm to women and their children, and wider costs to African economies. It implies that if the GMoU interventions are not targeted to raise women's economic status and to deter aggression, invariably they may contribute towards reducing the participation of women in economic, political and social development and, by extension, dampen efforts in deterring poverty and achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) in sub-Saharan Africa.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the multinational oil companies' (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of the global memorandum of understanding (GMoU) on women involved in offshore and inshore fisheries entrepreneurship in the coastal communities of the Niger Delta region. Design/methodology/approach - This paper adopts a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population, as it is essentially cross-sectional, describing and interpreting the current situation. A total 800 respondents were sampled across the coastal communities of the Niger Delta region. Findings - The results from the use of a combined propensity score matching (PSM) and logit model indicate that the GMoU model is gender insensitive as extensive inequality restrains fisherwomen's participation in the offshore and inshore fisheries entrepreneurship, often due to societal norms and customs that greatly frustrate women's development in fisheries. Practical implication - This implies that if fisherwomen continue in this unfavourable position, their reliance on menfolk would remain while trying to access financial support and decision making regarding fisheries entrepreneurship development. Social implications - The inshore and offshore fisheries entrepreneurship development can only succeed if cluster development boards (CDBs) of GMoUs are able to draw all the resources and talents and if fisherwomen are able to participate fully in the GMoUs intervention plans and programme. Originality/value - This research contributes to the gender debate in fisheries entrepreneurship development from a CSR perspective in developing countries and rationale for demands for social projects by host communities. It concludes that business has an obligation to help in solving problems of public concern, and that CSR priorities in sub-Saharan Africa should be aimed toward addressing the peculiarity of the socio-economic development challenges of the countries and be informed by socio-cultural influences.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the impact of a growth enhancement support scheme (GESS) on youth development in informal farm entrepreneurship in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of the GESS on rural youths' adoption of new technologies needed to sustainably increase food security in Nigeria. Design/ methodology/ approach - This paper adopts a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population, as it is essentially cross-sectional, describing and interpreting the current situation. A total of 800 rural youths were sampled across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Findings - The result from the use of a bivariate probit model indicate that the GESS has a significant impact on rural youths' innovations in farming. Practical implication - This suggests that information and communication technology (ICT) could provide new opportunities for making farming more interesting and enterprising for rural young people. Social implication - It implies that while old male and female farmers are less likely to adopt the new farming technologies needed to achieve Nigeria's agricultural transformation agenda (ATA), a younger generation can help introduce new technologies, whilst also learning from traditional methods. Originality/ value - This research adds to the literature on informal farm entrepreneurship and rural communities' debate in developing countries. It concludes that engaging youths in GESS should form the foundation of the ATA in Nigeria, which, in turn, would offer adequate combination of new and traditional solutions to address the challenges of food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa.

The activities and violence of militants in the Niger Delta which saw the capacity for production of oil in Nigeria fall to an all-time low resulted in the federal government of Nigeria (FGN) announcing the Presidential Amnesty Programme in return for peace in the region. We examine how multinational oil companies' (MOCs') corporate social responsibility (CSR) impact on entrepreneurship development and job creation to absorb the youths. 1200 youths were sampled across the nine states of Niger Delta. Results from the use of estimated logit model reveal that GMoU interventions are prevalent in communities with greater ownership, creating room for better projects, sustainability and improved trust; yet the interventions failed to make significant impact on entrepreneurship development and job creation. Clearly, facilitating how youths get involved in skill acquisition and empowerment programmes would help them become entrepreneurs, improving their self-assurance that they can prosper outside militancy activities and violence.

This paper extends and contributes to the literature on tourism for transformative and inclusive growth from the corporate social responsibility (CSR) perspective. Specifically, we examine the impact of CSR of multinational oil companies (MOCs) on empowerment of rural women in strengthening agriculture-tourism linkages in Niger Delta region of Nigeria. A total of 800 rural women were sampled across the region. Results from the use of a logit model indicates that rural women seldom participate in the global memorandum of understandings (GMoUs) interventions in agritourism value chain projects, due to the norms and culture of the rural communities. This implies that if the tradition of the people continues to hinder direct participation of the rural women from GMoUs programmes, achieving gender equality and cultural change would be limited in the region, and rural women would remain excluded from the economic benefits of agritourism when compared with the male counterparts. The finding suggests that, GMoU interventions engaging women smallholders in the tourism value chain can be an important vehicle for advancing gender empowerment and fostering social inclusion. Also, cluster development boards (CDBs) should pay close attention to which extent the participation of rural women in the GMoUs projects may be limited by traditions.

We investigate persistence and determinants of deaths from conflicts in a sample of 163 countries for the period 2010 to 2015. The empirical evidence is based on Generalised Method of Moments. First, the findings are contingent on income levels, religiousdomination, landlockedness, regional proximity and legal origins. The persistence of deaths in internal conflict is more apparent in coastal, French civil-law and Islam-oriented countries, compared to landlocked, English common law, Christian-oriented countries, respectively. Second, the following factors are generally responsible for driving deaths from internal conflicts: homicides, conflict intensity and conflicts fought. Furthermore, incarcerations have negative effects on internal conflicts. Justifications for the established tendencies and policy implications are discussed.

This paper contributes to the literature on the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in oil extraction communities of developing countries. It specifically examines the impact of Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) interventions of multinational oil companies (MOCs) on preventing a resurgence of violence in the Ogoniland of Nigeria. One thousand, two hundred respondent households were sampled across the six kingdoms of Ogoniland. Results from the use of a combined propensity score matching (PSM) and logit model show that GMoUs of MOCs generate significant reductions on key drivers of insurgence in Ogoniland. This suggests that taking on more Cluster Development Boards (CDBs) should form the basis for CSR practice in Ogoniland with the objective of equipping young people with entrepreneurship skills, creating employment, promoting environmental clean-up, and checking the return of violent conflicts. This in turn provides the enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the Nigeria's oil producing region.

Since the first oil well was drilled in Nigeria, traditional economies have suffered neglect, and rural youths do not see a future for themselves in traditional industries livelihood (TIL). We examine the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) of multinational oil companies (MOCs) on youths' participation in TIL. A total of 1200 youths were sampled across the rural Niger Delta. Results from the use of a logit model indicate a significant relationship between CSR and TIL. The findings suggest increased general memorandum of understanding (GMoU) interventions in canoe-carving, pottery-making, cloth-weaving, mat-making, and basket-weaving to revive the traditional economic activities in Nigeria.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the impact of growth enhancement support scheme (GESS) on the enabling environment of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Its special focus is to investigate the GESS impact on access to rural farm credit and transport cost of smallholder farmers in the agricultural transformation agenda (ATA) in Nigeria. Design/methodology/approach - This paper adopts a survey research technique, aimed at gathering information from a representative sample of the population, as it is essentially cross-sectional that describes and interprets what exist at present. A total of one thousand, two hundred farmers were sampled across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Findings - Results from the use of a double-hurdle model indicate that the GESS has a significant impact on farmers' access to credit, but does not significantly affect rural farm transport cost, which subsequently influence the price of food in the country. Practical implication - This implies that if the federal government of Nigeria is to work towards an ideal agricultural transformation agenda, transport networks should be closely aligned with the GESS priorities to provide connectivity to rural areas that provide most of the country's agricultural o utput. Originality/value - This research adds to the literature on agricultural and rural development debate in developing countries. It concludes that embracing rural finance and transportation infrastructure should form the foundation of the ATA in Nigeria, which in turn would provide the enabling environment for more widespread rural economy in sub-Saharan Africa.

We assess the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) of multinational oil companies (MOCs) on HIV/AIDS prevalence in Nigeria ' s oil producing communities. One thousand, two hundred households were sampled across the rural communities of Niger Delta. Using logit model, the main result indicates that General Memorandum of Understandings (GMoUs) have not significantly impacted on factors behind the spread of HIV/AIDS in rural communities. This implies that the impact of the disease on MOCs business, employees and their families, contractors, business partners and the oil communities has not inclined downward. The findings suggest that CSR offers an opportunity for MOCs to help address HIV/AIDS prevalence through a business case for stakeholders' health in the region. It calls for MOCs to improve GMoUs health intervention on sensitization campaigns, funding testing and counselling centers, subsidizing anti-retroviral drugs, prevention of mother- to-child transmission, rehabilitation of orphaned and vulnerable children and other cares for people living with AIDS.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the multinational oil companies' (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Nigeria. Its special focus is to investigate the impact of General Memorandum of Understanding (GMoUs) on rural young people involved in non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for sustainable livelihood in Niger Delta, Nigeria. [...] Originality/value - This research adds to the literature on multinational enterprises (MNEs) CSR initiatives in developing countries and rationale for demands for social projects by host communities. It concludes that business has an obligation to help in solving problems of sustainable livelihood.

This study investigates persistence (or hysteresis) in weapons using a panel of 163 countries for the period 2010 to 2015. The following are some main findings. (i) Compared to countries that are landlocked, persistence in heavy weapons is more apparent in nations that are open to the sea. (ii) Relative to the Middle East & North Africa (MENA), heavy weapons is more persistent in the East Asia and the Pacific countries. This tendency is consistent with "weapons imports". (vi) Evidence of persistence is not very apparent in "weapons imports" with the exception of the fact that it is higher in low income countries, compared to their high income counterparts. Hence, there is less hysteresis in weapons exports when compared with heavy weapons when weapons exports. (v) The determinants of persistence employed in the conditioning information set are contingent on fundamental characteristics and panels. Policy implications are discussed.

In Nigeria, human trafficking is a hidden crime, driven by the current economic situation of the country. The Nigerian government has demonstrated significant efforts to combating human trafficking in the country by creating the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP). The incidents of human trafficking in the Nigeria’s oil-producing communities have remained among the highest in the country and higher than the national average. The objective of this investigation was to determine the impact of a new corporate social responsibility (CSR) model of multinational oil companies (MOCs) on the fight against human trafficking in the host communities. A total of one thousand, two hundred households were sampled across the rural communities of Niger Delta. Results from the use of a combined propensity score matching and logit model indicated that MOCs hold the key to combating human trafficking by fostering effective partnership across different sectors, if the highest CSR priority is assigned to reducing incidents of human trafficking in the oil-producing communities. Embracing the fight against human trafficking should form the foundation of General Memorandum of Understanding (GMoUs) practice, which in turn will provide the enabling environment for more widespread responsible business. As most of the human trafficking in the Niger Delta is exploited by relatives or friends; MOCs should involve traditional and religious leaders in the fight and set up GMoU clusters interventions specifically for anti-trafficking agencies including NAPTIP, the police and immigration to support their actions and improve efficiency.

This research investigates the incidence of enhancing external flows on inclusive human development in a panel of 48 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. It complements the literature by examining the relevance of enhancing three types of external flows, namely: development assistance, foreign investment and remittances. Ordinary Least Squares, Tobit, Fixed effects, Generalised Method of Moments and Quantile regressions are used as empirical strategies. The following main results are apparent: (i) between 60 and 150 (% of GDP) is the threshold of foreign aid; (ii) 33.333 (% of GDP) is the foreign investment threshold and (iii) 25 (% of GDP) is the critical mass of remittances. At the established critical masses or thresholds, external flows start having positive effects on inclusive human development. Countries characterized by inclusive development levels that are low need more investment in foreign aid for inclusive human development compared to their counterparts characterized by inclusive human development levels that are high.

The objective of this investigation was to assess the impact of multinational oil companies' (MOCs) corporate social responsibility (CSR) interventions in female education programmes in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. A total of 800 rural women were sampled across the region. The results from the logit model showed that rural women depended on CSR interventions of MOCs to address some of the logistical and cultural challenges associated with women's access to post-secondary education in local communities. However, despite the significant success in supporting education initiatives generally, none of the scholarships target females specifically, and compared to men, the low level of human capital in rural women has persisted. This implies that if CSR interventions are not tailored to enhance gender diversity and promote economic opportunities for women alongside education, they may perpetuate the obstruction of women's participation in economic, political and social development. By extension, this could delay the reduction of poverty and attainment of Sustainable Development Goals in the Niger Delta region.

Fertilizer use in Nigeria is estimated at 13 kg/ha, which is far below the 200 kg/ha recommended by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). The objective of this investigation was to identify the determinant factors of farmers' participation in the Nigeria's growth enhancement support scheme (GESS). In addition, we determined the impact of the GESS on fertilizer use in rural areas. One thousand, two hundred rural farmers were sampled across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Results from the use of recursive bivariate probit model indicated that GESS significantly impacted on the access and usage of fertilizer among the rural farmers; and that contact with extension agents, ownership of mobile phones, power for charging phone batteries, value output, mobile network coverage, ability to read and write were positive determinants of rural farmers participation in the GESS; whereas increased distance to registration and collection centers, and cultural constraints to married women reduced farmers' tendency to participate in the GESS. The findings suggest that farmers' participation in the GESS is a critical factor for raising fertilizer use in Nigeria. This implies that food security in sub-Saharan Africa can be achieved by increasing the participation of rural farmers in the growth enhancement support scheme.

This study investigates the relationship between social media and homicide in a cross section of 148 countries for the year 2012. The empirical evidence is based on Ordinary Least Squares, Tobit and Quantile regressions. The findings from Ordinary Least Squares and Tobit regressions show a negative relationship between Facebook penetration and the homicide rate. The negative relationship is driven by the 75th quantile of the conditional distribution of the homicide rate. The negative nexus is also driven by upper middle income countries and "Europe and Central Asia". Three main implications are apparent when the findings are compared and contrasted. First, established findings from OLS and Tobit regressions are driven by countries with above-median levels of homicide. Second, such above-median countries are largely associated with upper middle income countries and nations in "Europe and Central Asia". Third, modelling the relationship between Facebook penetration and homicide at the conditional mean of homicide may be misleading unless it is contingent on initial levels of homicide and tailored differently across income levels and regions of the world.