Empirical analysis of the effect of exchange rate volatility on share returns: Evidence from mining companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, South Africa

The impact of research and development (R&D) expenditure is crucial for understanding contemporary economic development strategies. This study investigates the relationship between R&D spending as a percentage of GDP and economic growth, focusing on the South Caucasus countries (Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia) and Israel, which is notable for its substantial R&D expenditure (5.71% of GDP in 2020). The objective is to evaluate the impact of R&D expenditure on economic development through the application of rigorous empirical methods. By employing a quantitative approach, this study aims to offer a detailed analysis of the impact of R&D investment on economic growth across various countries. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyzes the association between R&D expenditure and GDP levels. Granger causality tests are utilized to investigate the causal relationships. The results demonstrate a significant positive relationship between R&D expenditure and GDP across all studied countries. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that GDP growth stimulates increased R&D investments in Azerbaijan and Armenia, as evidenced by Granger causality tests. To sum up, this paper underscores the critical role of R&D spending in driving economic development and highlights the necessity for policy initiatives focused on strengthening R&D frameworks.

Adopting International Financial Reporting 9 is critically relevant as it significantly transforms accounting practices, particularly in credit risk management, for banks in Jordan. The primary purpose of this study is to examine the impact of implementing International Financial Reporting 9 on the financial performance and credit risk management practices of Jordanian banks. A quantitative analysis was conducted using the Difference-in-Differences approach and Fixed Effects models on data from 19 banks operating between 2012 and 2022.
The results indicate that the adoption of International Financial Reporting 9 led to a substantial increase in loan loss provisions, with a mean increase of 0.25 (t-value = 18.00). This increase in loan loss provisions negatively affected profitability metrics such as Return on Assets and Return on Equity, which showed mean decreases of 0.0857 (t-value = 4.22) post-implementation. Despite the negative impact on profitability, the findings also highlight improvements in financial transparency and stability due to more accurate credit risk assessment.
While the adoption of International Financial Reporting 9 imposes operational and financial challenges, it enhances the robustness and clarity of financial reporting in Jordanian banks.

The selection of financing is a top priority for businesses, particularly in short- and long-term investment decisions. Mixing debt and equity leads to decisions on the financial structure for businesses. This research analyzes the moderate position of company size and the interest rate in the capital structure over six years (2013–2018) for 29 listed Pakistani enterprises operating in the sugar market. This research employed static panel analysis and dynamic panel analysis on linear and nonlinear regression methods. The capital structure included debt to capital ratio, non-current liabilities, plus current liabilities to capital as a dependent variable. Independent variables were profitability, firm size, tangibility, Non-Debt Tax Shield, liquidity, and macroeconomic variables were exchange rates and interest rates. The investigation reported that profitability, firm size, and Non-Debt Tax Shield were significant and negative, while tangibility and interest rates significantly and positively affected debt to capital ratio. This means the sugar sector has greater financial leverage to manage the funding obligations for the better performance of firms. Therefore, the outcomes revealed that the moderators have an important influence on capital structure.