PurposeThis study investigates the impact of total health expenditure on life expectancy in a panel of 43 African countries from 2000 to 2018.Design/methodology/approachThe dynamic panel generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation method developed by Arellano and Bond (1991) is used in this study. This approach generates estimates that are heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation consistent, as well as controls for unobserved time-invariant country-specific effects and eliminates any endogeneity in the panel model.FindingsThe results reveal that health expenditure on its own has a positive significant influence on life expectancy. However, health expenditure via the moderating effect of government effectiveness reduces life expectancy. The authors also observe that school enrollment and the level of economic activity significantly drive life expectancy.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited to 43 out of 54 African countries, and it covers a period of 18 years: 2000 to 2018.Practical implicationsThe authors argue that larger health expenditure will aid in improving the life expectancy rate in Africa. However, in practice, this would be difficult given the needs of other priority sectors.Social implicationsSince most developing countries' health expenditures are small, a policy option is that healthcare services should be subsidized such that the poorest people can also access them.Originality/valueThe study differs from the previous attempts, and with this, the authors contribute significantly to the literature. First, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the authors are unaware of any study considering the role of government effectiveness as a moderating factor in investigating the effect of health expenditure on life expectancy in the African context. Thus, the authors fill a yawning gap in the literature. Second, the authors employ a recent dataset with larger sample size. Finally, to address the problem of endogeneity and simultaneity bias, the authors use the system GMM technique.
This research investigates the effect of board characteristics and corporate life-cycle on the performance of listed firms in Ghana covering the period 2009–2018. The paper adopts the approach propounded by Dickinson (2011) to cater to proxy measures of firms’ life cycle stages. Using the pooled estimated generalized least squares (EGLS), the findings reveal that chief executive officer (CEO) tenure has a positive significant effect on performance. The presence of inside directors negatively and significantly influences performance. The results further indicate that at different levels of statistical significance, the various stages of the firm’s life cycle have a negative impact on the main dependent variable (ROA). With the alternative firm performance proxy (ROE), the results report that aside from the decline stage which negatively drives performance, the rest of the stages (i.e., introduction, growth, and maturity) have a positive influence on performance. However, only the growth and maturity stages exert a significant effect on performance. As part of the suggestions, the study proposes that firms should reduce the proportion of executive directors and appoint more non-executive directors to the board to boost performance. Also, firms should endeavor to increase investment in research and development at every stage of their production to ensure steady profit growth.
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