Mo’taz Kamel Al Zobi

This study aims to examine the effect of sustainability accounting disclosure on the financial performance of banks operating in Jordan during the period of 2013–2017. The study focused on the effect of economic, environmental and social disclosures on financial performance.
To achieve the study objective, the content analysis method was used. The dimensions of sustainability accounting disclosure were measured through indicators that have been developed for this purpose, which are in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) (G4-2013).
The study results revealed that there is a statistically significant effect of sustainability accounting disclosure on the financial performance. In addition, the study results revealed that the disclosure of the economic and social dimensions had a positive effect on return on equity (ROE). While the environmental dimension did not affect the return on equity (ROE). In addition, the results of the study revealed that the disclosure of sustainability dimensions (economic, social and environment) had a combined effect on the return on assets (ROA). This means that the banks operating in Jordan give more priority to the economic dimension disclosure, than to the social and environmental dimensions.
In reviewing previous studies in the accounting literature, it has been found that there is a paucity of studies that examine the concept of sustainability accounting, especially in the Jordanian banking sector. Therefore, this study constitutes value to this field.

The published financial statements are considered one of the most important sources of information that investors rely on in forecasting stock performance or even judging the organization’s ability to cover short-run liabilities. Cash flows play a core role in maintaining a high market value for its shares. Hence, this study came to analyze the explanatory value of the cash flow statement in explaining stock volatility (SV) in the Qatar financial market. Study data were collected using published financial statements from a sample of 44 Qatari-listed companies throughout 2013–2019. A panel cross-sectional data technique using the E-views program was used to analyze the data. The study results show there is a positive and significant impact of cash flows from operating CFO activities on SV, indicating that the higher change in CFO increases stock volatility. This means that operating cash flows give significant information to investors, and it is reflected in the stock price movements directly. Also, the cash flow from CFF financing activities has a positive and significant effect on SV. This means that CFF affects stock prices, causing greater changes and fluctuation in stock returns. This is because one of the major components of CFF is dividends, which affect directly stock prices and stock returns. In contrast, there is an insignificant effect of CFI on SV, which may indicate that investors do not build their investment decisions based on CFI. Accordingly, the cash flow from investing activities failed to explain the stock volatility of the listed Qatari companies.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of capital structure decisions on firm performance in Jordan (2010–2018), as well as the extent to which firm size matters in the capital structure-performance relationship. The dependent variable was market share. The main independent variables were the book value of total debt ratios, and firm-specific factors such as firm size, firm age, firm growth, and market-to-book value of equity served as control variables. This study used a quantitative research method using panel data analysis of 830 firm-year observations. Random effects model was employed to analyze the capital structure-performance nexus. To infer correctly, the main analysis was re-examined using the generalized method of moment estimator to overcome possible endogeneity concerns. After controlling for endogeneity and firm heterogeneity, this study finds that the book value of capital structure has a significantly positive relation to a firm’s market share. Hence, every one unit increase in the book value of total debt ratios will increase market share by 4.77%. The firm size, sales growth, and market-to-book value of equity had a significantly positive association with market share. Hence, every one unit increase in firm size, growth and market-to-book equity ratio will increase a firm’s market share by 8.84%, 2.06%, and 2.15%, respectively, but surprisingly, firm age did not meaningfully contribute to operating performance. Another important finding was that the strength of a positive relationship between the book value of total debt ratios and market share depends on the size of a firm and is mostly higher for larger-sized firms. Hence, every one unit increased in the book value of total debt ratios for large firms will increase market share by 10.58%.