Mohammad Naushad

The purpose of the present study is to test how do the four important psychological antecedents, namely need for achievement (nAch), propensity to risk (PtR), self-confidence (SeC), internal locus of control (IlC) are mediated by the entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) to predict the entrepreneurial intention (EI) in a traditionally oil-based Saudi economy striving for economic diversification. Hypotheses are tested by applying the partial least square (PLS) structural equation modeling (SEM) to a sample of 282 undergraduate business students (male and female) collected from a public university of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The results suggest that psychological variables and self-efficacy play a fundamental role in enhancing entrepreneurial intention (EI) of Saudi students. Personality-related variables have direct influence over EI in other context, but in Saudi context, psychological variables are necessary but not sufficient to develop entrepreneurial intention unless combined with self-efficacy. Self-efficacy has a strong mediating effect between psychological variables and entrepreneurial intentions in Saudi context.

The current study is aimed at analyzing the impact of intellectual capital on the performance of Sharia-compliant banks in Saudi Arabia for the period 2013–2018. The intellectual capital efficiency has been measured by applying a widely-used proxy to intellectual capital, i.e., Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC). A multiple linear regression method, based on panel data using the pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), was exerted. Regression equations were obtained to determine the impact of VAIC and its components (Human Capital Efficiency (HCE), Structural Capital Efficiency (SCE), and Capital Employed Efficiency (CEE)) on the financial performance of banks, designated as Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Equity (ROE). The study has found out that VAIC has a statistically significant impact on the financial performance of Sharia-compliant banks in Saudi Arabia. But VAIC components fail to have a significant impact on ROE. However, these components significantly affect ROA. The study concludes that Sharia-compliant banks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia should pay particular attention to Intellectual Capital (IC) in general and Human Capital (HC), Structural Capital (SC), and Employed Capital (EC) in particular to increase Return on Assets and financial performance as a whole.