National Social Investment Programmes in Nigeria:A Descriptive Analysis of the Socio-Economic Contributions of N-Power Programme in Benue State

This study analysed the socio-economic contributions of N-Power programme amongst the beneficiaries of the scheme in Benue State.Prior to the introduction of N-Power programme,successive administrations in Nigeria have made concerted efforts towards improving the standard of living of the citizenry through the execution of various welfare or social intervention programmes,but not much successes were recorded.Learning from the mistakes of the past regimes,and by way of deliberate state policy,the Buhari’s government initiated a multi-pronged social investment policy,one of which is the N-power programme that came onboard in 2016,which also doubles as the subject of this study.To achieve the goal of this study,a combination of desktop research and survey design was employed.Questionnaires were administered to 390 respondents through a combination of stratified and random sampling techniques.The results of the survey were matched with that of the secondary data obtained through online websites and other related sources.The result indicated that N-Power made positive contributions to the socio-economic life of the beneficiaries in Benue State:specifically,the scheme contributed in poverty eradication,employment generation,skills acquisitions and capacity building.However,some aspect of our findings revealed that the programme has a number of challenges such as:inadequate cash support,delay in monthly cash transfer to beneficiaries,distance participants had to move to their work stations,absence of posting in N-Teach scheme,and lack of adequate working tools amongst others.To salvage this problem the paper recommended the following solutions:expansion of the scheme to cover N-Teach and other aspects,increment in the monthly cash transfer to cushion the high rate of inflation,support for the participants/beneficiaries in transportation and logistics,enrolment of more youth into the various schemes,proper monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the schemes amongst others.

Software,Social Networking,Interactive:New Trends in Multinational Investment

As far as international venture capital is concerned, three sectors that deserve big injections of cash this year are energy, media and the Internet.

Assessment for Social Security Pilot in Jilin and Hei Longjiang of China

The present paper reviews the social security pilot in Jilin and Hei Longjiang that was carried out between 2004 and 2005. The pilot in the two provinces has basically achieved its main objectives, but there are still some unsolved problems, the most severe being lack of effective investment of the funds accumulated by individual accounts. During periods of high economic growth and high growth in average wages, this problem might undermine the partially-funded security system. To this end, the paper makes some suggestions, one of which is to introduce the notional defined contribution system.

Institutional Root Cause of the Irregularity of Social Security Funds in China

This paper analyzes institutional defects in the Chinese social security system, based on irregularities in social security funds revealed in the Audit Report by the China National Audit Offce. The author divides the irregularities into five categories according to the nature of fimd use. The results show that the institutional root cause of the irregularities lies in the unreasonable design and operation of the social security system, which currently faces management and institutional risks, This paper argues that simple rhetoric about strengthening regulation and supervision cannot help to reduce illegal practices, or to realize risk control. The only solution is to reform the social security system. Specifically, the Chinese Government should regulate the administrative cost of the social security system, and the behavior of its agencies, through legislation, reform the investment regime to increase rate of return of pension assets, and adjust and reshape the existing social security system, so as to elevate its pooling level.

Social responsibility portfolio optimization incorporating ESG criteria

Social responsibility investment(SRI)has attracted worldwide attention for its potential in promoting investment sustainability and stability.We developed a three-step framework by incorporating environmental,social,and governance(ESG)performance into portfolio optimization.In comparison to studies using weighted ESG rating scores,we constructed a data envelopment analysis(DEA)model with quadratic and cubic terms to enhance the evidence of two or more aspects,as well as the interaction between the environmental,social,and governance attributes.We then combined the ESG scores with financial indicators to select assets based on a cross-efficiency analysis.The portfolio optimization model incorporating ESG scores with selected assets was constructed to obtain a social responsibility investment strategy.To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach,we applied it in the United States industrial stock market from 2005 to 2017.The empirical results show that the obtained SRI portfolio may be superior to traditional investment strategies in many aspects and may simultaneously achieve the consistency of investment and social values.

The Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Performance： An Application of Quantile Regression

This study empirically examines the relationship between a firm＇s fulfilling of corporate social responsibility （CSR） and performance. We developed a CSR index （CSRI） to quantitatively evaluate CSR, which consists of four dimensions measuring a firm＇s contributions to the economy, society, environment, and corporate governance, respectively. With data from publicly-listed firms in Taiwan during the period of 2004--2009, results of quantile regression show that fulfilling CSR has a significantly positive impact on firm performance, and that the impact in a more profitable firm tends to be significantly greater than that in a less profitable firm. Specifically, when a firm is more profitable, its management would be more willing to implement CSR. The implication is that a firm could pursue better performance while serving as a good corporate citizen.