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The main objective of the study is to compare the Newton–Cotes methods such as the Trapezium rule, Simpson 1/3 rule and Simpson 3/8 rule to estimate the area under the Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient of income using polynomial function with degree 5. Comparing the Gini coefficients of income computed from the Polynomial function with degree 5 for the Trapezium, Simpson 1/3 and Simpson 3/8 methods using the relative errors showed that the trapezium rule, Simpson’s 1/3 rule and Simpson’s 3/8 rule show negative biases with the Simpson 1/3 rule yielding the lowest absolute relative true error of 4.230711 %.

Today, several factors has contributed to the profitability of Banks. Data collected on these factors often has several variables. It is a non-trivial exercise to determine which of the factors that significantly influences the profits of Banks. This paper adopts the use of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on the several variables expected to influence the working capital management on the profits of banks of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). Fifteen of the several variables captured by the GSE which affect working capital management on profit were grouped into four factors using the principal component analysis. Results of the PCA identifies Convertibility factors, Risk Factor, Short term Liquidity, Operational factors, and Credit Risk factors to be the determinants of bank profits. Consequently, these factors are used to fit a linear regression model in identifying the most significant factors. Apart from credit risk factors, all the other factors were found to be significant predictors of the profit of Ghanaian banks. Investors, stakeholders, and managers of banks can use these factors to monitor and evaluate their working capital in generating profits.

Aims: This paper estimates working capital management on profit using logistic regression and discriminant analysis on manufacturing and industrial firms in Ghana. Study Design: Research Paper. Place and Duration of Study: Ghana, Secondary data for 2009 to 2014. Methodology: Data in the form of ratios were computed from the audited annual financial reports of 13 manufacturing and industrial firms listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange covering the period from 2009 to 2014.The ratios were used to determine the profitability of the firms. Results: The results showed that the logistic regression of the dependent variable (Profit) on the independent variables such as the Average Collection Period, the Inventory Conversion Period, the Average Payment Period, the Growth rate, the Debt Ratio, the Current Ratio and the Company Size were found to be significant and that there was no difference in variances for two firm classifications. This result implies that the linear discriminant function is effective in discriminating between a firm which effectively managed its working capital from one which did not. Conclusion: This study showed that the binary logistic regression model estimates correctly at least 75% of firm’s likelihood of managing working capital on profit while correctly discriminating the firms as having an effective management.

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There are several factors that affect working capital management on profits of insurance companies in Ghana. The main objective of the study is to determine the factors that significantly influence the profitability of insurance companies in Ghana. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to reduce the potentially large number of variables to a smaller set of significant variables that influence working capital management on profit for 10 insurance companies listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange between 2008 and 2014 without loss of information. Five significant factors; namely Cash Conversion Cycle, Debt Ratio, Current Ratio, Sales Growth Rate and Accounts Collection Period extracted using principal component analysis were used as regressors to identify the source of causation for profitability by testing the causal effect between working capital management and profitability in the insurance companies in Ghana over the period 2008-2014. A unit root test for all the extracted variables from principal component analysis showed that a co-integration test was feasible. A co-integration panel test revealed that there was a long run relationship between the extracted variables from principal component analysis. A two-step Original Research Articleprocedure generated a panel-based error correction and a Granger causality test revealed that there is a bi-directional causal relationship between working capital management and profitability. Hence, Cash Conversion Cycle, Debt Ratio, Current Ratio, Sales Growth Rate and Accounts Collection Period together have a significant effect on the profitability of insurance companies in Ghana and the reverse is true.

Background Functional disability is a common public health problem that affects the health and quality of life of older adults. This causes them to be highly dependent on other members of their family, receive home care, or to be institutionalized. Although functional disability has been widely studied in developed country settings, very limited studies have focused on age-related functional disability in sub-Saharan Africa, and in particular Ghana. The purpose of this study is to assess various factors associated with the difficulties in performing basic and instrumental activities of daily living among older adults in Ghana. Methods This cross-sectional study used data on 1610 older adults aged 50 years and above from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) survey Wave II conducted in Ghana. Nine standard functioning difficulty tools of WHODAS II was used for the analysis. The WHODAS II offers continuous summary scores with higher scores showing higher disability, and vice versa. A multi-level regression model was used to identify individual and household level risk factors linked to the functional disability of older adults. Results Female older adults (53.7%) reported having functional disability. The mean functional disability among older adults aged 50 years and above was 5.2 (± 5.9). Results indicated that older adults who are females, aged 70 years and above, and had three or more chronic conditions had a higher functional disability. Also, older adults who have adequate fruit intake and belong to wealthier households were found to have a lower functional disability. Conclusions The study reveals that functional disability among older adults is frequent in Ghana and is associated with having three or more chronic conditions and being overweight/obese. Prevention of functional disability in old age in Ghana is therefore a matter of great social and economic concern, which calls for coordinate efforts across the board to mitigate this public health challenge.

This work was carried out in collaboration between all authors. Author KAD conceptualized the methodology of the study and also took part in the analysis. Authors ENNN and CAL worked on the literature review and also took part in the data analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.