Krakatoa Management Research Journal

Improving the Efficiency and Transparency of the Farm Input Subsidy Programme in Malawi through Digital Beneficiary Targeting and Timely Input Distribution

2026-07-08T02:04:24+00:00

Purpose: This study examines why Malawi's Farm Input Subsidy Programme has continued to lose a substantial share of its value to elite capture, ghost beneficiaries, and late input delivery despite two decades of reform attempts, and it evaluates whether a digitally enabled beneficiary targeting and distribution model can correct these failures.

Methodology: The study relies on a qualitative, comparative document analysis of peer reviewed literature, programme evaluations, and secondary government data published mainly between 2021 and 2026, supplemented by a smaller set of foundational studies on the programme's early years. Sources were retrieved from Scopus, Google Scholar, and institutional repositories and analyzed thematically against three propositions concerning biometric targeting, mobile money based e vouchers, and logistics transparency.

Results: The evidence indicates that biometric registration linked to an independent proxy means test can meaningfully reduce duplicate and fictitious beneficiary records, that mobile money e voucher redemption lowers leakage and shortens distribution timelines when paired with adequate network coverage, and that public dashboards strengthen accountability by exposing bottlenecks in real time.

Conclusions: A phased, three pillar digital reform anchored in registration, redemption, and logistics can plausibly restore a large share of the programme's fiscal and social value.

Limitations: The absence of primary household survey data and the reliance on cross country secondary evidence limit causal claims.

Contributions: The study offers policymakers a synthesized, evidence based roadmap for sequencing digital reform in a resource constrained agricultural subsidy system.

The Effect of Digital Targeting on Subsidy Efficiency and Welfare Outcomes: Towards a Reform Roadmap for Malawi's Farm Input Subsidy Programme

2026-07-08T06:35:13+00:00

Purpose: This study evaluates whether digital beneficiary targeting, comprising biometric registration, proxy means test selection, and mobile money e-voucher redemption, can improve
the efficiency of Malawi's Farm Input Subsidy Programme and the welfare of its beneficiary households, and it proposes an econometric evaluation strategy that future research can apply once the reform is implemented.

Methodology: The study synthesizes evidence from peer reviewed literature, independent programme evaluations, and comparative digital subsidy reforms in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Tanzania, and it develops four hypotheses concerning targeting accuracy, distribution timing, welfare outcomes, and infrastructure moderation.

Results: The synthesized evidence supports the hypothesis that biometric registration under an independent targeting commission reduces elite capture and ghost beneficiary rates relative to community administered selection, that mobile money
e-voucher redemption compresses distribution timelines, and that timely input delivery is a necessary condition.

Conclusions: A phased three-pillar digital reform, if
implemented with adequate telecommunications coverage and safeguards against exclusion, can plausibly restore a large share of the programme's fiscal and welfare value.

Limitations: The absence of Malawi-specific household
outcome data limits causal inference.

Contributions: The study offers a testable econometric roadmap and a comparative evidence base for sequencing digital agricultural subsidy reform in Malawi.

The Role of Independence in Mediating Competence, Time Pressure, Technology, and Audit Quality

2026-07-10T02:44:05+00:00

Purpose: This study examines the effect of competence, time budget pressure, and information technology on audit quality with auditor independence as an intervening variable at the Regional Inspectorate in Riau Islands Province.

Methodology: This study employed a quantitative
approach involving 122 auditors from Provincial and
Regency/City Regional Inspectorates in Riau Islands Province selected through purposive sampling. Primary data were collected using questionnaires and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with the Partial Least Square (PLS) approach through SmartPLS 3.0.

Results: The findings reveal that competence, time budget pressure, and information technology have a positive and significant effect on audit quality. These variables also positively influence auditor independence, which subsequently improves audit quality. Furthermore, independence significantly mediates the relationship between competence, time budget pressure, and information technology on audit quality.

Conclusion: Auditor competence, effective time management, and technology utilization are important factors in enhancing audit quality, with independence serving as a key mechanism in strengthening these relationships.

Limitations: This study was limited to Regional Inspectorate auditors in Riau Islands Province and examined specific variables related to audit quality.

Contributions: This study provides empirical insights into the mediating role of auditor independence and offers practical implications for improving regional audit practices.

The Impact of Leadership, Integrity, and Performance on Compliance in Regional Apparatus Organizations with Organizational Commitment as an Intervening Variable

2026-07-10T02:45:54+00:00

Purpose: This study examines how leadership, integrity, and performance affect compliance among employees of Regional Apparatus Organizations in the local government of Karimun Regency, and whether organizational commitment mediates these relationships.

Methodology: A quantitative survey design was used. Primary data were collected from 105 civil servants at Echelon II, III, and IV positions across regional apparatus organizations, selected using the Slovin formula from a population of 320 employees.

Results: Integrity and performance had a positive and significant effect on organizational commitment and, in the case of performance, also on compliance directly, while leadership showed no significant direct effect on either organizational commitment or compliance. Organizational commitment had a strong positive effect on compliance and significantly mediated the effect of integrity and performance on compliance, but did not mediate the effect of leadership on compliance.

Conclusions: Compliance in this local government setting is driven mainly by employees' integrity and performance operating through organizational commitment, rather than by leadership alone.

Limitations: The study was confined to structural positions within one regency and relied on an online, self reported questionnaire, which may limit generalizability and introduce response bias.

Contributions: The findings offer regional inspectorates and local government managers practical guidance on strengthening organizational commitment as a lever for improving compliance with
audit and administrative recommendations.