Issue #2 (cont. 1) (Volume 13 2016)

The authors examine the relationship between net interest margin, a measure of banks’ pricing power, and lending market shares in the environment of regulation changes in Taiwan from 1991 to 2009. Specifically, the effect on net interest margins from mandatory industry consolidation is studied in depth. The authors find that firm market shares in the first period have positive and highly significant impacts on the bank profitability, but for the second period, the authors find increased non-performing loans. During the second period, the credit lending market share became a main profit component but with a negative impact on profitability. Additionally, the focus of lending type shifted from collateralized to credit lending, a type of lending that has much higher profitability, but such lending has negative and significant effects on banks’ profitability. The results suggest a mandatory industry-wide consolidation affected the bank lending types, with banks focusing more on increasing short-term market share through credit lending than on profitability

In this paper, the authors examine the illegal insider trading volume and cumulative abnormal return by the relative variables of the amendment, the change of the securities price, the number of defendants, the penalty and the fine for insider who committed a crime, and the quality of concealed important information. Illegal insider trading is prohibited by the article 157-1 of Securities and Exchange Act in Taiwan. It has been amended three times to provide a sound and rigorous law and completely protect investors. The authors examine the illegal insider trading volume after the amendment to explore whether the Securities and Exchange Act is efficient enough to lower illegal insider trading. The authors find that the change of the securities price and the quality of concealed important information are the critical factors which affect the illegal insider trading volume and cumulative abnormal returns. Nevertheless, the relative variables of the amendment do not show significant effects

Syrian banks have witnessed an important change since 2002 with applying the advanced technology. Industrial bank played a crucial role in developing the industrial sector which provides about 25% to the GDP and this sector is the main engine of the national economy in Syria. This research aims to apply total quality management (TQM) to industrial banks of Syria. A random sample of 120 bank employees from higher and middle management were selected to investigate the current situation of TQM in the bank and to develop a new suitable TQM Model. The results show the levels of implementing TQM criteria in the industrial bank, and provide a proposed TQM Model with an implementation plan that could help other Syrian banks to apply TQM in an effective way

This is the first empirical study related to the linkage between distributed profit taxation and company valuation. In this paper we present the results of a survey of Estonian valuation practitioners. The main purpose of this study is to clarify the valuation practices of Estonian analysts with emphasis on fundamental analysis-based valuation methods. We elucidate whether and how practitioners treat certain aspects of corporate income taxation when valuing Estonian companies, and how they adjust conventional models taking into account the peculiarities of the Estonian distributed profit taxation system. As distributed profit taxation allows Estonian companies to postpone their income tax liability, it should lead to a positive impact on the value of Estonian companies compared to non-Estonian ones. The survey also included hypothetical valuation cases seeking to determine the difference in analysts’ views on equity value in a simplified framework. Results show that free cash flow to the firm and EV/EBITDA multiples are the most popular valuation models among analysts, with the majority of analysts using these models together. Analysts adjust models primarily when calculating the cost of capital and forecasting corporate income tax liability. However, many respondents did not make any adjustments when valuing Estonian companies, but proceeded from the same grounds when valuing Estonian and non-Estonian businesses. The equity valuation of hypothetical companies revealed highly diverse estimates and an unawareness of the positive aspects of distributed profit taxation vis-à-vis traditional profit taxation on a company’s value

This study was part of a larger study that sought to find out why businesses tended to imitate one another. However, this particular study focused on the challenges faced by micro and small entrepreneurs in the Bulawayo Metropolitan Province in Zimbabwe as a result of business imitations. A case study design was adopted and individual interviews were used as data collecting instruments. Qualitative data were collected from 30 purposively selected micro and small business entrepreneurs. Findings revealed that while micro and small business entrepreneurs used imitation as a business entry strategy, they also faced challenges of imitation by other players. Recommendations are that capacity building workshops be conducted to educate these entrepreneurs on appropriate strategies to remain relevant in the market

This paper presents the first study on the measurement and determinants of tracking errors using the daily figures for gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in China. This study employs three methods to measure tracking errors – one that involves calculating the absolute error measure, one that involves calculating the differences between the standard deviation of the benchmark index and that of the ETF, and a regression analysis of empirical returns. In general, the results suggest that the tracking errors of these ETFs in China are lower than those of equity-based ETFs in Hong Kong, the United States, and Australia. We also observe that distinct ETFs have different determinants. Our results provide valuable insight for both institutional and retail investors, as well as opportunities for them to be exposed to a wide range of commodity ETFs in China

Due to the threat of recorded business failures arising from weak corporate governance and low financial reporting quality on the Nigerian economy, this study investigates the effects of corporate governance variables on earnings management among selected listed firms from the manufacturing and banking sectors. A sample of 24 listed companies from the 2 sectors’ population of 63 was examined to gather empirical data from 2008 to 2013 using multiple regression tools. Employing the panel data analysis approach, board independence, audit committee independence and audit committee size are insignificantly positively correlated with earnings management. Board size is insignificantly negatively correlated with earnings management while ownership structure is insignificantly negatively correlated with earnings management. Audit quality is positively correlated with earnings management, though not statistically significant. Based on these findings, the study concludes that corporate governance structures, as it were, have not helped to address earnings management. The study recommends, among other things considering the first 4 hypotheses that investors should invest in companies with moderate-to-high debt-to-equity ratios as lenders are able to externally monitor companies. It also recommended that regulatory bodies should frequently discharge their supervisory roles by monitoring the companies’ activities to ensure compliance

This study examines the relative importance of the Shariah-Compliant Dow Jones market indexes to capture the dynamic behavior of stock returns at economy and industry levels. The analysis indicates that ethical investment has only an insignificant influence on the performance of stock market returns for both the economy and industry levels. Further, alternative measures of investment performance including the Carhart and Habit Formation models have been used to examine the behavior of the Shariah-Compliant Dow Jones market indexes. The findings suggest a negative market timing ability with both Islamic and conventional indexes. While Islamic indexes are growth focused, conventional indexes are value focused. Further, when investigating the performance of Islamic and conventional Dow Jones indexes during the recent financial crisis, there is evidence supportive of Islamic indexes against conventional ones. For sector groupings, the results indicate that parameter estimates are not consistent, suggesting that Islamic indexes are sector oriented. These results are explained to be a consequence of less diversification in Islamic indexes, leading to higher risk in some sector groupings such as technology and consumption services

The author examines the manner in which risk is governed within higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa by formulating risk governance statements based on the requirements of the King III Report on Corporate Governance and other relevant literature. The formulated risk governance statements are used to develop the risk disclosure measurement index. Disclosure measurement method is accepted as a flexible method to use when extracting the pre-determined information in the annual reports.
The developed risk disclosure index is used to extract the information from South Africa’s higher education institutions’ annual reports. The information disclosed in these annual reports is deemed a proxy of risk management practices within the higher education institution concerned. The results obtained indicate that South Africa’s higher education institutions have not embraced risk management as a key process in their activities. This is apparent in the assessed annual reports as compliance with the pre-determined set of statements was around 50%. For those that have not demonstrated these practices, it is stated that the concern is around the manner in which their highest decision makers make decisions, as it appears that risks may not necessarily be taken into account. As higher education institutions in South Africa continues to face challenges and they would possible be revising their strategies to take into account the recent events, every strategic decision being undertaken should be accompanied by a proper risk assessment to identify potential pitfalls (threats) and/or take advantage to achieve results promptly (opportunities)

This study develops a non-traditional measure of risk, an exposure-based volatility, for the non-financial company and applies this measure to capture both the downside potential of cash-flows and the probability of requiring additional external financing under most foreseeable conditions. The empirical analysis is applied on a particular Bulgarian transport company and concludes that the proposed measure of exposure-based volatility manages to capture effectively the peaks and troughs in the variance of cash-flows, thus, significantly outperforming the historical standard deviation. This non-traditional downside risk estimate is by itself extremely useful as it contains significant information about a given company. Furthermore, it can be used as a valuable input in several risk management tools; in the current paper, a robust measure of CFaR and an original interpretation of Merton’s credit risk model are presented

One of the most pressing problems facing the South African economy is unemployment, which has been erratic over the past few years. This paper analyzed the impact of economic growth on unemployment, using quarterly South African time series data from 1994-2012. The results of Johansen cointegration reflected that a long run equilibrium or relationship exists among the variables. In ascertaining the effects of macroeconomic variables thus REER, LP, GDP and BUG on unemployment in South Africa, the study utilized vector error correction model (VECM). The results of VECM indicated that GDP, BUG and REER have positive long run impact on unemployment whilst LP negatively impact unemployment. The study resulted in the following policy recommendation: South African government should redirect its spending towards activities that directly and indirectly promote creation of employment and decent jobs, a conducive environment and flexible labor market policies or legislations without impediments to employment creation should be created, and lastly government should prioritize industries that promote labor intensive. All this will help in absorbing large pools of the unemployed population thereby reducing unemployment in South Africa