Does business cycle matter in bank-firm relationships to overcome under-over-investment?

There is an academic discussion about investment efficiency, regarding its determinants and effects. Corporate Governance (CG) and Audit Quality (AQ) are determinants of investment efficiency The main objective of the article is to investigate the effect of CG and AQ on investment efficiency, this objective is divided into sub-objectives: to investigate the direct effect of CG on AQ, AQ on investment efficiency, and CG on investment efficiency. Moreover, the indirect effect of CG on investment efficiency through AQ as a mediator variable. This paper focuses on non-financial listed firms in the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX), especially firms recorded in EGX 100 for four years’ period (2013–2018), for 103 firms and 412 completed observations. The researcher uses Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) through SmartPLS software. The paper shows evidence that management that has good CG mechanisms obtains a suitable atmosphere to prepare transparent financial statements, which helps enhance the auditor’s role and improve AQ. Improving AQ lowering IA, which increases the trust of investors in management decisions, this leads to reduce pressure on management and improve efficiency of investment decisions. Having good CG mechanisms provides management with a good atmosphere to make right investment decisions, and having good CG mechanisms increases AQ, which helps management to have a good environment to make investment decisions with higher efficiency, or in other words, there is a significant and positive effect of integration between CG and AQ on investment efficiency.

The authors explore the reaction of US stock portfolio returns to macroeconomic announcements spanning the period from April 1998 to May 2017. Using daily returns of 25 portfolios formed on operating profitability and investment, the authors investigate the extent to which potential asymmetries permeate the stock portfolios following macroeconomic announcements. The three methodological approaches utilized in this study suggest that the ISM non-manufacturing index, employees on non-farm payrolls, retail sales, personal consumption expenditure and initial jobless claims have a significant impact on portfolio returns. Also, portfolios consisting of companies with higher operating profitability and investment level are found to be less responsive to announcements. As the particular area has received little currency over the years, this contribution is of great significance, because it provides insights into the reaction of returns in value-weighted portfolios to announcements on certain macro-indicators. At the same time, the study informs portfolio managers of the implications of macroeconomic news, which drive economic expectations and can reverberate through the expected returns in US stock portfolios.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between pay disparity and a company’s investment inefficiency, and to explore the moderating influence of investment in internal control personnel on this relationship. The global concern over pay disparity has intensified as executive compensation soars to unparalleled heights, while employee wages remain static. Utilizing a fixed-effect regression model and analyzing 5,407 observations from Korean listed companies between 2018 and 2020, the study shows a positive association between pay disparity (coef = 0.034, p-value < 0.01) and investment inefficiency, with pay disparity increasing the level of investment inefficiency by fostering overinvestment. Furthermore, the study shows that the interaction term between pay disparity and quantitative (coef = –0.246, p-value < 0.01) and qualitative (coef = –2.104, p-value < 0.01) investments in internal control personnel is negative and significant, indicating that the positive link between pay disparity and investment inefficiency is lessened when there is a higher quantitative and qualitative investment in internal control personnel. By offering a more comprehensive understanding of the conflicting evidence about the impact of pay disparity and the role of investment in internal control personnel in moderating the negative effect of pay disparity on investment efficiency, this study contributes to the existing literature. The findings of the study suggest that companies aiming to minimize investment inefficiency should consider not only addressing pay disparity but also investing in internal control personnel.