Search results for: corporate financial crisis

Authors: Oktofa Y. Sudrajad, Didier V. Caillie

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Association of Southeast Asian Countries Nations (ASEAN) is moving forward to the next level of regional integration by the initiation of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) which is already started in 2015, 8 years after its declaration for the creation of AEC in 2007. This commitment imposes financial integration in the region is one of the main agenda which will be achieved until 2025. Therefore, the commitment to financial integration including banking integration will bring new landscape in the competition and business model in this region. This study investigates the effect of competition on bank business model using a sample of 324 banks from seven members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam). We use market power approach and Boone indicator as competition measures, while income diversification and bank funding strategies are employed as bank business model representation. Moreover, we also evaluate bank business model based by grouping the banks based on the main banking characteristics. We use unbalanced bank-specific annual panel data over the period of 2003 – 2015. Our empirical analysis shows that the banking industries in ASEAN countries adapt their business model by increasing non-interest income proportion due to the level of competition increase in the sector.

Keywords: bank business model, banking competition, Boone indicator, market power

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Authors: Ahmad Afif, Teuku Yuri M. Zagloel

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Sustainable supply chain management is a new pattern that has emerged recently in industry and companies. The procurement process is one of the key factors for efficiency in supply chain management practices. Partnership is one of the procurement strategies for strategic items. The success factors of the partnership must be determined to avoid things that endanger the financial and operational status of the company. The current supplier partnership research focuses on the selection of general criteria and sustainable supplier selection. Currently, there is still limited research on the success factors of supplier partnerships that focus on strategic items in the coal mining industry. Meanwhile, the procurement of coal mining has its own characteristics, and there are regulations related to the procurement of goods. Therefore, this research was conducted to determine the categories of goods that are included in the strategic items and to design the success factors of supplier partnerships. The main factors studied are general, financial, production, reputation, synergies, and sustainable. The research was conducted using the Kraljic method to determine the categories of goods that are included in the strategic items. To design a supplier partnership success factor using the Hybrid Multi Criteria Decision Making method. Integrated Fuzzy AHP-Fuzzy TOPSIS is used to determine the weight of the success factors of supplier partnerships and to rank suppliers on the factors used.

Keywords: supplier, partnership, strategic item, success factors, and coal mining industry

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Authors: Shorena Tsiklauri, Avtandil Sulaberidze, Nino Gomelauri

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In the years followed independence, an economic crisis and some conflicts led to the displacement of many people inside Georgia. The growing poverty, unemployment, low income and its unequal distribution limited access to basic social service have had a clear direct impact on Georgian population dynamics and its age-sex structure. Factors influencing the changing population age structure and urbanization include mortality, fertility, migration and expansion of urban. In this paper presents the main factors of changing the distribution by urban and rural areas. How different are the urban and rural age and sex structures? Does Georgia have the same age-sex structure among their urban and rural populations since 1950s?

Keywords: age and sex structure of population, georgia, migration, urban-rural population

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Authors: Sandra Rigot, Samira Demaria, Frederic Lemaire

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The starting point of this research is the contemporary capitalist paradox: there is a real scarcity of long term investment despite the boom of potential long term investors. This gap represents a major challenge: there are important needs for long term financing in developed and emerging countries in strategic sectors such as energy, transport infrastructure, information and communication networks. Moreover, the recent financial and sovereign debt crises, which have respectively reduced the ability of financial banking intermediaries and governments to provide long term financing, questions the identity of the actors able to provide long term financing, their methods of financing and the most appropriate forms of intermediation. The issue of long term financing is deemed to be very important by the EU Commission, as it issued a 2013 Green Paper (GP) on long-term financing of the EU economy. Among other topics, the paper discusses the impact of the recent regulatory reforms on long-term investment, both in terms of accounting (in particular fair value) and prudential standards for banks. For banks, prudential and accounting standards are also crucial. Fair value is indeed well adapted to the trading book in a short term view, but this method hardly suits for a medium and long term portfolio. Banks’ ability to finance the economy and long term projects depends on their ability to distribute credit and the way credit is valued (fair value or amortised cost) leads to different banking strategies. Furthermore, in the banking industry, accounting standards are directly connected to the prudential standards, as the regulatory requirements of Basel III use accounting figures with prudential filter to define the needs for capital and to compute regulatory ratios. The objective of these regulatory requirements is to prevent insolvency and financial instability. In the same time, they can represent regulatory constraints to long term investing. The balance between financial stability and the need to stimulate long term financing is a key question raised by the EU GP. Does fair value accounting contributes to short-termism in the investment behaviour? Should prudential rules be “appropriately calibrated” and “progressively implemented” not to prevent banks from providing long-term financing? These issues raised by the EU GP lead us to question to what extent the main regulatory requirements incite or constrain banks to finance long term projects. To that purpose, we study the 292 responses received by the EU Commission during the public consultation. We analyze these contributions focusing on particular questions related to fair value accounting and prudential norms. We conduct a two stage content analysis of the responses. First, we proceed to a qualitative coding to identify arguments of respondents and subsequently we run a quantitative coding in order to conduct statistical analyses. This paper provides a better understanding of the position that a large panel of European stakeholders have on these issues. Moreover, it adds to the debate on fair value accounting and its effects on prudential requirements for banks. This analysis allows us to identify some short term bias in banking regulation.

Keywords: basel 3, fair value, securitization, long term investment, banks, insurers

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Authors: Alese Boniface K., Adu Michael K., Owa Victor K.

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Security can be defined as the degree of resistance to, or protection from harm. It applies to any vulnerable and valuable assets, such as persons, dwellings, communities, nations or organizations. Cybercrime is any crime committed or facilitated via the Internet. It is any criminal activity involving computers and networks. It can range from fraud to unsolicited emails (spam). It includes the distant theft of government or corporate secrets through criminal trespass into remote systems around the globe. Nigeria like any other nations of the world is currently having their own share of the menace that has been used even as tools by terrorists. This paper is an attempt at presenting cyber security as an issue that requires a coordinated national response. It also acknowledges and advocates the key roles to be played by stakeholders and the importance of forging strong partnerships to prevent and tackle cybercrime in Nigeria.

Keywords: security, cybercrime, internet, government, stakeholders, partnerships

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Authors: Glenn A. Palmer, Lorenzo Bowman, Juanita Johnson-Bailey

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The ubiquitous economic upheaval that has gripped the global environment in the past few years displaced many workers through unemployment or underemployment. Globally, this disruption has caused many adult workers to seek additional education or skills to remain competitive, and acquire the ability and options to find gainful employment. While many learners have availed themselves of some opportunities to be retrained and retooled at locations within their communities, others have explored those options through the online learning environment. This paper examines the empirical research that explores the various strategies that are used in the adult online learning community that could also foster transformative learning.

Keywords: online learning, transformational learning, adult education, economic crisis, unemployment

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Authors: Abdulbasit Musa Ahmad Karkarku

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Knowledge is the best asset you can leave for your child, especially the knowledge of Islam because it facilitates success in this life and the next. This made it necessary for every Muslim male and female to acquire Islamic education. The objective of this research is to highlight the role played by Muslim scholars in promoting Islamic education in Katsina State, Nigeria. There are so many problems facing Muslim scholars in the area of study; some of these problems include a lack of government support for Muslim scholars, a lack of community support, and a lack of financial support from wealthy individuals and philanthropists. In this research, two methods were used concurrently, i.e., library and interview methods. In the library method, the researcher consulted books and other academic works. In the course of this research, parents and religious leaders were interviewed in order to collect needed data information from them. The major findings of this research have shown that the Muslim scholars in area of study have contributed tremendously toward the development of Islamic education. Also, Muslim scholars played a vital role in the promotion of Islamic education in the area of study and beyond. In view of the above, some suggestions were highlighted with the view toward solving the associated problems; the government at every level should come to the aid of these Muslim scholars in order to provide them with basic amenities. The Philanthropists and wealthy individuals should help the Muslim scholars by giving them financial assistance. Also, communities have a vital role to play in order to improve the condition of Muslim scholars by giving them more donations.

Keywords: education, Islamic, Muslim, scholars

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Authors: Mai Yen Nhi Doan, Viet Le, Chamindika Weerakoon

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Social enterprises have emerged as sustainable organisations that deliver social achievement along with long-term financial advancement. However, recorded financial barriers have urged social enterprises to divert to other financing methods due to the misaligned ideology with traditional financing capitalists, in which crowdfunding can be a promising alternative. Previous studies in crowdfunding have inadequately addressed crowdfunding for social enterprises, with conflicting results due to the unsuitable analysis of signals in isolation rather than in combinations, using the data from platforms that do not support social enterprises. Extending the signalling theory, this study suggests that crowdfunding success results from the collaboration between costly and costless signals. The proposed conceptual framework enlightens the interaction between costly signals as “organisational information”, “social entrepreneur’s credibility,” and “third-party endorsement” and costless signals as various sub-signals under the “campaign preparedness” signal to achieve crowdfunding success. Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis, this study examined 45 crowdfunding campaigns run by Australian social enterprises on StartSomeGood and Chuffed. The analysis found that different combinations of costly and costless signals can lead to crowdfunding success, allowing social enterprises to adopt suitable combinations of signals to their context. Costless signal – campaign preparedness is fundamental for success, though different costless sub-signals under campaign preparedness can interact with different costly signals for the desired outcome. Third-party endorsement signal was found to be the necessary signal for crowdfunding success for Australian social enterprises.

Keywords: crowdfunding, qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), signalling theory, social enterprises

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Authors: Bagam Venkateswarlu

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NMDC Limited, Indian multinational mining company operates under administrative control of Ministry of Steel, Government of India. This study is undertaken to evaluate how sustainable mining practiced by the company fulfils the provisions of Indian Constitution to secure to its citizen – justice, equality of status and opportunity, promoting social, economic, political, and religious wellbeing. The Constitution of India lays down a road map as to how the goal of being a “Welfare State” shall be achieved. The vision of sustainable mining being practiced is oriented along the constitutional responsibilities on Indian Citizens and the Corporate World. This qualitative study shall be backed by quantitative studies of National Mineral Development Corporation performances in various domains of sustainable mining and ESG, that is, environment, social and governance parameters. For example, Five Star Rating of mine is a comprehensive evaluation system introduced by Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India is one of the methodologies. Corporate Social Responsibilities is one of the thrust areas for securing social well-being. Green energy initiatives in and around the mines has given the title of “Eco-Friendly Miner” to NMDC Limited. While operating fully mechanized large scale iron ore mine (18.8 million tonne per annum capacity) in Bacheli, Chhattisgarh, M/s NMDC Limited caters to the needs of mineral security of State of Chhattisgarh and Indian Union. It preserves forest, wild-life, and environment heritage of richly endowed State of Chhattisgarh. In the remote and far-flung interiors of Chhattisgarh, NMDC empowers the local population by providing world class educational & medical facilities, transportation network, drinking water facilities, irrigational agricultural supports, employment opportunities, establishing religious harmony. All this ultimately results in empowered, educated, and improved awareness in population. Thus, the basic tenets of constitution of India- secularism, democracy, welfare for all, socialism, humanism, decentralization, liberalism, mixed economy, and non-violence is fulfilled. Constitution declares India as a welfare state – for the people, of the people and by the people. The sustainable mining practices by NMDC are in line with the objective. Thus, the purpose of study is fully met with. The potential benefit of the study includes replicating this model in existing or new establishments in various parts of country – especially in the under-privileged interiors and far-flung areas which are yet to see the lights of development.

Keywords: ESG values, Indian constitution, NMDC limited, sustainable mining, CSR, green energy

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Authors: Zahid Ahmad, Samia Yousaf

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The main purpose of this study is to evaluate and assess the financial position, operating performance, and recent outlook of the companies. This study investigates the impact of capital structure, dividend policy and sustainability on the value of firms of textile spinning sector of Pakistan which is listed on Pakistan stock exchange. The panel data technique has been applied to this group of textile sector which is textile spinning. This study covers the last ten years of time period. All the data related to the variables have been collected from the annual reports and financial statements of the textile sector firms. There are differently related determinants to measure the capital structure which are fixed assets turnover ratio, debt ratio, equity ratio, debt to equity ratio, assets tangibility, and shareholder’s equity. Dividend policy is being measured by two determinants which are earning per share (EPS) and dividend payout ratio. Sustainability is being measured by three suitable factors which are sales growth, gross profit margin ratio and firm size. These are three independent variables and their determinants of this study. Value of firm is measured through the return on asset (ROA). Capital structure is at the top of the list among all the three variables. According to the results of this research work, somewhere all the three variables generates positive and significant effect on the firm’s performance and its growth.

Keywords: capital structure, dividend policy, panel data, sustainability

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Authors: Jayanta Bora, Sukhvinder Kaur, Ashok Agarwal, Sangeeta Kaul

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Background: It is important for targeted interventions to consider vulnerabilities of female sex workers (FSWs) such as poverty, work-related mobility and literacy for effective human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention. This paper examines the association between vulnerability and behavioural outcomes among FSWs in Thane district, Maharashtra under USAID PHFI-PIPPSE project. Methods: Data were used from the Behavioural Tracking Survey, a cross-sectional behavioural study conducted in 2015 with 503 FSWs randomly selected from 12 TI-NGOs which were functioning and providing services to FSWs in Thane district prior to April 2014 in Thane district of Maharashtra. We have created the “vulnerability index”, a composite index of literacy, factors of dependence (alternative livelihood options, current debt), and aspects of sex work (mobility and duration in sex work) as a dependent variable. The key independent measures used were program exposure to intervention, service uptake, self-confidence, and self-identity. Bi-variate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to examine the study objectives. Results: A higher proportion of FSWs who were in the age-group 18–25 years from brothel/street /home/ lodge-based were categorized as highly vulnerable to HIV risk as compared to bar-based sex worker (74.1% versus 59.8%, P,0.002); regression analysis highlighted lower odds of vulnerability among FSWs who were aware of services and visited NGO clinic for medical check-up and counselling for STI [AOR= 0.092, 95% CI 0.018-0.460; P,0.004], However, lower odds of vulnerability on confident in supporting fellow sex worker in crisis [AOR= 0.601, 95% CI 0.476-0.758; P, 0.000] and were able to turn away clients when they refused to use a condom during sex [AOR= 0.524, 95% CI 0.342-0.802; P, 0.003]. Conclusion: The results highlight that FSWs associated with TIs and getting services are less vulnerable and highly empowered. As a result of behavioural change communication and other services provided by TIs, FSWs were able to successfully negotiate about condom use with their clients and manage solidarity in the crisis situation for fellow FSWs. Therefore, it is evident from study paper that TI prevention programs may transform the lives of masses considerably and may open a window of opportunity to infuse the information and awareness about HIV risk.

Keywords: female sex worker, HIV prevention, HIV service uptake, vulnerability

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Authors: Fabienne Fel, Eric Griette

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Reshoring, whether concerning back-reshoring or near-reshoring, is a quite recent phenomenon. Despite the economic and political interest of this topic, academic research questioning determinants of reshoring remains rare. Our paper aims at contributing to fill this gap. In order to better understand the reasons for reshoring, we conducted a study among 280 French firms during spring 2016, three-quarters of which sourced, or source, in China. 105 firms in the sample have reshored all or part of their Chinese production or supply in recent years, and we aimed to establish a typology of the motives that drove them to this decision. We asked our respondents about the history of their Chinese supplies, their current reshoring strategies, and their motivations. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS 22 and SPAD 8. Our results show that change in commercial and financial terms with China is the first motive explaining the current reshoring movement from this country (it applies to 54% of our respondents). A change in corporate strategy is the second motive (30% of our respondents); the reshoring decision follows a change in companies’ strategies (upgrading, implementation of a CSR policy, or a 'lean management' strategy). The third motive (14% of our sample) is a mere correction of the initial offshoring decision, considered as a mistake (under-estimation of hidden costs, non-quality and non-responsiveness problems). Some authors emphasize that developing a short supply chain, involving geographic proximity between design and production, gives a competitive advantage to companies wishing to offer innovative products. Admittedly 40% of our respondents indicate that this motive could have played a part in their decision to reshore, but this reason was not enough for any of them and is not an intrinsic motive leading to leaving Chinese suppliers. Having questioned our respondents about the importance given to various problems leading them to reshore, we then performed a Principal Components Analysis (PCA), associated with an Ascending Hierarchical Classification (AHC), based on Ward criterion, so as to point out more specific motivations. Three main classes of companies should be distinguished: -The 'Cost Killers' (23% of the sample), which reshore their supplies from China only because of higher procurement costs and so as to find lower costs elsewhere. -The 'Realists' (50% of the sample), giving equal weight or importance to increasing procurement costs in China and to the quality of their supplies (to a large extend). Companies being part of this class tend to take advantage of this changing environment to change their procurement strategy, seeking suppliers offering better quality and responsiveness. - The 'Voluntarists' (26% of the sample), which choose to reshore their Chinese supplies regardless of higher Chinese costs, to obtain better quality and greater responsiveness. We emphasize that if the main driver for reshoring from China is indeed higher local costs, it is should not be regarded as an exclusive motivation; 77% of the companies in the sample, are also seeking, sometimes exclusively, more reactive suppliers, liable to quality, respect for the environment and intellectual property.

Keywords: China, procurement, reshoring, strategy, supplies

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Authors: Ammal M. Metwally, Dalia M. Elmosalami, Walaa A. Fouad, Abla G. Khalifa, Lobna A. El Etreby, Mohamed AbdelRahman

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People with hepatitis C are likely to experience psychological distress related to adjustment issues following diagnosis. Objective: The study was conducted to determine the psycho-social stressors accompanying Hepatitis C virus (HCV) chronic infection. The study focused on immediate and later on reactions to being diagnosed as infected HCV patients. Effect of HCV on disruption of patients’ relationships in term of family relationship and friendship, employment and financial status was assessed. The magnitude and causes of the social stigma and its relation to awareness about illness, level of education were also assessed. Methods: During this study the subjective experiences of people having HCV was explored through a designed questionnaire targeted 540 cases; 359 males and 181 females from ten out of 21 National Treatment Reference Centers of National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institutes of Ministry of Health (MOH) hospitals. The study was conducted along a period of six months from September 2011 to March 2012. Results: The study revealed that the financial problems are the commonest problems faced by 75.5 % of the cases. More than 70% of the cases suffered from immediate sadness versus 67.4% suffered from worry. Social stigma was reported by 13 % of HCV +patients, the majority of which were females. Conclusions: Exploring the psychosocial consequences of HCV infection can act as pressing motivators for behavior change needed for limiting HCV endemicity in Egypt.

Keywords: Egypt, HCV infection, psycho-social adjustment, stigma

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Authors: Ismatilla Mardanov

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There are three types of countries, the first of which is willing to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in enormous amounts and do whatever it takes to make this happen. Therefore, FDI pours into such countries. In the second cluster of countries, even if the country is suffering tremendously from the shortage of investments, the governments are hesitant to attract investments because they are at the hands of local oligarchs/cartels. Therefore, FDI inflows are moderate to low in such countries. The third type is countries whose companies prefer investing in the most efficient locations globally and are hesitant to invest in the homeland. Sorting countries into such clusters, the present study examines the essential institutions and economic factors that make these countries different. Past literature has discussed various determinants of FDI in all kinds of countries. However, it did not classify countries based on government motivation, institutional setup, and economic factors. A specific approach to each target country is vital for corporate foreign direct investment risk analysis and decisions. The research questions are 1. What specific institutional and economic factors paint the pictures of the three clusters; 2. What specific institutional and economic factors are determinants of FDI; 3. Which of the determinants are endogenous and exogenous variables? 4. How can institutions and economic and political variables impact corporate investment decisions Hypothesis 1: In the first type, country institutions and economic factors will be favorable for FDI. Hypothesis 2: In the second type, even if country economic factors favor FDI, institutions will not. Hypothesis 3: In the third type, even if country institutions favorFDI, economic factors will not favor domestic investments. Therefore, FDI outflows occur in large amounts. Methods: Data come from open sources of the World Bank, the Fraser Institute, the Heritage Foundation, and other reliable sources. The dependent variable is FDI inflows. The independent variables are institutions (economic and political freedom indices) and economic factors (natural, material, and labor resources, government consumption, infrastructure, minimum wage, education, unemployment, tax rates, consumer price index, inflation, and others), the endogeneity or exogeneity of which are tested in the instrumental variable estimation. Political rights and civil liberties are used as instrumental variables. Results indicate that in the first type, both country institutions and economic factors, specifically labor and logistics/infrastructure/energy intensity, are favorable for potential investors. In the second category of countries, the risk of loss of assets is very high due to governmentshijacked by local oligarchs/cartels/special interest groups. In the third category of countries, the local economic factors are unfavorable for domestic investment even if the institutions are well acceptable. Cluster analysis and instrumental variable estimation were used to reveal cause-effect patterns in each of the clusters.

Keywords: foreign direct investment, economy, institutions, instrumental variable estimation

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Authors: İlhami Karahanoglu, Oguz Ceylan

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As its well-known definitions; systemic risk refers to whole economic system down-turn movement even collapse together in very severe cases. In fact, it points out the contagion effects of the defaults. Such a risk is can be depicted with the famous Chinese game of falling domino stones. During and after the Bear & Sterns and Lehman Brothers cases, it was well understood that there is a very strong effect of systemic risk in financial services sector. In this study, we concentrate on the existence of systemic risk in Turkish Banking Sector based upon the Halkbank Case during the end month of 2013; there was a political turmoil in Turkey in which the close relatives of the upper politicians were involved in illegal trading activities. In that operation, the CEO of Halkbank was also arrested and in investigation, Halkbank was considered as part of such illegal actions. That operation had an impact on Halkbanks stock value. The Halkbank stock value during that time interval decreased remarkably, the distributional profile of stock return changed and became more volatile as well as more skewed. In this study, the daily returns of 5 leading banks in Turkish banking sector were used to obtain 48 return distributions (for each month, 90-days-back stock value returns are used) of 5 banks for the period 12/2011-12/2013 (pre operation period) and 12/2013-12/2015 (post operation period). When those distributions are compared with timely manner, interestingly; the distribution of the 5 other leading banks in Turkey, public or private, had also distribution profiles which was different from the past 2011-2013 period just like Halkbank. Those 5 big banks, whose stock values are monitored with sub index in Istanbul stock exchange (BIST) as BN10, had more skewed distribution just following the Halkbank stock return movement during the post operation period, with lover mean value and as well higher volatility. In addition, the correlation between the stock value return distributions of the leading banks after Halkbank case, where the returns are more skewed to the left, increased (which is measured in monthly base before and after the operation). The dependence between those banks was stronger under the case where the stock values were falling compared with the normal market condition. Such distributional effect of stock returns between the leading banks in Turkey, which is valid for down sub-market (financial/banking sector) condition, can be evaluated as an evidence for the existence of contagious effect and systemic risk.

Keywords: financial risk, systemic risk, banking sector, return distribution, dependency structure

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Authors: Rahmoune Abdelhaq

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Systemic Islamic banking has been in practice for long but started receiving due attention and high popularity since last decade. It has received a warm welcome from all over the world and these banks operating on Islamic principles have been able to get a sizeable business not only in Islamic countries but in non-Islamic countries too. Despite exemplary advancements and achievements, there remains number of controversies over various underlying concepts and practices. This paper basically explores and highlights all those controversies and challenges which are in minds of different school of thoughts and are needed to be addressed and overcome if Islamic banking continues flourishing the way it is at present. The authors have also tried to suggest suitable remedies to overcome these challenges where appropriate. As well, This paper makes an attempt to review major principles surrounding the working of Islamic banking and its historical growth. A brief overview of main differences between the Islamic banking and the conventional banking. In addition, references are particularly made to implications arising from the emergence of e-commerce and the realities that the Islamic Shari’ah law has to consider in adopting the new phenomenon into its banking system. This paper shows, whilst the conventional banking and financial system is based on the principle of rationality and interest, the Islamic financial system is based on morality and social justice which prohibits interest as a means of speculation and injustice. The concepts of e-business such as e-commerce and e-banking are acceptable in Islam as since in Islam anything is halal unless prohibited by Shari’ah, dealing with business by internet is considered as Shari’ah compliant. This paper, therefore, provides the latest thinking of e-business from an Islamic viewpoint, thus creating a reference point and valued information for a future research.

Keywords: Islamic Finance, principles of Islamic banking, Islamic commerce, Shari’ah compliant

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Authors: Cristian Pauna

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With few steps away from the 2020, investments in financial markets is a common activity nowadays. In the electronic trading environment, the automated investment software has become a major part in the business intelligence system of any modern financial company. The investment decisions are assisted and/or made automatically by computers using mathematical algorithms today. The complexity of these algorithms requires computer assistance in the investment process. This paper will present several investment strategies that can be automated with algorithmic trading for Deutscher Aktienindex DAX30. It was found that, based on several price action mathematical models used for high-frequency trading some investment strategies can be optimized and improved for automated investments with good results. This paper will present the way to automate these investment decisions. Automated signals will be built using all of these strategies. Three major types of investment strategies were found in this study. The types are separated by the target length and by the exit strategy used. The exit decisions will be also automated and the paper will present the specificity for each investment type. A comparative study will be also included in this paper in order to reveal the differences between strategies. Based on these results, the profit and the capital exposure will be compared and analyzed in order to qualify the investment methodologies presented and to compare them with any other investment system. As conclusion, some major investment strategies will be revealed and compared in order to be considered for inclusion in any automated investment system.

Keywords: Algorithmic trading, automated investment systems, limit conditions, trading principles, trading strategies

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Authors: Muhamad Badri Bin Othman

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As a role model and leading country in the world that establishes and promotes Islamic banking and finance, Malaysia has set up and come up with a set of standards and frameworks to govern its Shari’ah function towards implementing the desired outcome of Islamic banking and finance as new source of wealth creation. This paper, examines and highlights, at the very minimum, the importance and application of Shari’ah governance in Islamic banking and finance in Malaysia as a leading country in Islamic banking and finance. This paper also, compares on Shari’ah governance, which is being adopted between Malaysia and other selected countries namely, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar. This paper also, aims at highlighting the current challenges and issues faced by the scholars in Shari’ah Supervisory Board (SSB) in deliberating their opinions and fatwa towards the implementation of new products in Islamic banking industry to promote innovation among the industry players. The author of this paper will highlight the major challenges and issues faced by the SSB members of Islamic banks in Malaysia, taking into account the complexity of the operation wise and products of Islamic banking, and how they overcome those challenges and issues identified. This will be done through a series of face-to-face interview sessions which will be conducted with a few prominent figures of Islamic banking and finance scholars in Malaysia to highlight the issues and challenges they are facing towards Islamic financial innovation and subsequently finding solutions for the identified issues and challenges.

Keywords: Shari’ah governance, Shari’ah supervisory board (SSB), Issues and challenges, Islamic financial innovation

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Authors: Ilknur Çevik Tekin, Serdar Öge

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As a result of globalization and changing consumer preferences, the number of shopping malls has increased significantly in recent years. Consumers prefer shopping malls to both do comfortable shopping in a short time and benefit from the social facilities there. Employees, who are obliged to behave to the consumers in the way the company wants them to do, often spend intensive emotional effort because companies buy the emotions the employees must display to customers in order to ensure customer satisfaction. The emotions the employees constantly try to contain may lead to the phenomenon of burn-out in time. This study was conducted to reveal the relationship between the emotional labor and burn-out levels of shopping mall employees, who work in shopping malls and are supposed to reflect the corporate culture.

Keywords: emotional labor, burnout, shopping mall employees

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Authors: Michaela Vašková

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The paper is focused on the application of the security audit method on the selected objects of the critical infrastructure. The emphasis is put on security audit method to find gaps in the critical infrastructure security. The theoretical part describes objects of the critical infrastructure. The practical part describes using the security audit method. The main emphasis was put on the protection of the critical infrastructure in the Czech Republic.

Keywords: crisis management, critical infrastructure, object of critical infrastructure, security audit, extraordinary event

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Authors: Abdelbaset M. Elghriani, Abdelsalam M. Maatuk, Isam Denna, Amira Abdulla Werfalli

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Electronic prescription software (e-prescribing) benefits patients and physicians by preventing handwriting errors and giving accurate prescriptions. E-prescribing allows prescriptions to be written and sent to pharmacies electronically instead of using handwritten notes. Significant factors that may affect the adoption of e-prescription systems include lacking technical support, financial resources to operate the systems, and change resistance from some clinicians, which have been identified as barriers to the implementation of e-prescription systems. This study aims to explore the trends and opinions of physicians and pharmacists about e-prescriptions and to identify the obstacles and benefits of the application of e-prescriptions in the health care system. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at three Libyan public hospitals. Data were collected through a self-constructed questionnaire to assess the opinions regarding potential constraining factors and benefits of implementing an e-prescribing system in hospitals. Data presented as mean, frequency distribution table, cross-tabulation, and bar charts. Data analysis was performed, and the results show that technical, financial, and organizational obstacles are the most important obstacles that prevent the application of e-prescribing systems in Libyan hospitals. In addition, there was awareness of the benefits of e-prescribing, especially reducing medication dispensing errors, and a desire of physicians and pharmacists to use electronic prescriptions.

Keywords: physicians, e-prescribing, health care system, pharmacists

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Authors: Ildikó Balatoni, Nikolett Kosztin

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In this study the importance of maintaining the mental and physical health of employees was examined from the perspective of the employers. To this end companies in Hajdú-Bihar county of Hungary that are within in the TOP 100 based on their net revenue were interviewed. Economic sectors that were represented the most in this survey were processing, services, trade, agriculture, and construction. We examined whether or not companies provided any benefits to their employees concerning health awareness. Among respondents those who offered various services of medical specialists and/or discounted gym or swim passes in addition to compulsory medical examinations were hard to find, however more employers organize health and sports days. Nevertheless, a significant albeit very shallow positive correlation were found between the number of offered benefits vs. total gross income and vs. number of employees (r2=0.2555, p<0.001 and r2=0.1196 and p<0.05, respectively). In conclusion, while workplace health promotion is necessary it requires a change in employers’attitudes.

Keywords: corporate health promotion, employees, employers, health

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Authors: Marwa H. Salah

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Modern consumption culture represents a widespread phenomenon that affects young people, as it affects all age groups in both urban and rural societies. It has been helped by globalization, specifically cultural globalization, also internal and external migration, and the immense development in information technology as well, these factors have led to the appearance of the conspicuous consumption pattern among young people. This research firstly interested in identifying the nature of this pattern of consumption among young people in the countryside, which represents a society with a special nature, was characterized by the pattern of traditional consumption. Secondly to find out whether the rural character has an impact on the conspicuous consumption of youth. Finally to identify the reasons for the rural youth's tendency to such type of consumption and if it contributes in satisfying certain social needs. The research used the anthropological method. Observation and open-ended interviews were used as tools to collect data and an interview guide was applied on a selective youth sample (40:20 male and 20 female) aged between 17to 34 in an Egyptian village located in Dakahlia governorate. The research showed that rural youth has impacted with the modern consumption culture and not isolated from it despite the lack of financial abilities. The conspicuous consumption is a dominant pattern of consumption among the Egyptian rural youth and it has been practicing by rural youth regardless of their educational & financial levels. Also, the wish to show the social and economic status, bragging and show off is the main reason for the rural youth to adopt the conspicuous consumption, moreover to face the inferior view from their counterparts’ urban youth.

Keywords: consumption culture, youth, conspicuous consumption, rural society

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Authors: Yih-Wenn Laih

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In recent times, the dependence and co-movement among international financial markets have become stronger than in the past, as evidenced by commentaries in the news media and the financial sections of newspapers. Studying the co-movement between returns in financial markets is an important issue for portfolio management and risk management. The realization of co-movement helps investors to identify the opportunities for international portfolio management in terms of asset allocation and pricing. Since the election of the new Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, in November 2012, the yen has weakened against the US dollar from the 80 to the 120 level. The policies, known as “Abenomics,” are to encourage private investment through a more aggressive mix of monetary and fiscal policy. Given the close economic relations and competitions among Asia markets, it is interesting to discover the co-movement relations, affected by the depreciation of yen, between stock market of Japan and 5 major Asia stock markets, including China, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. Specifically, we devote ourselves to measure the co-movement of stock markets between Japan and each one of the 5 Asia stock markets in terms of rank correlation coefficients. To compute the coefficients, return series of each stock market is first fitted by a skewed-t GARCH (generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity) model. Secondly, to measure the dependence structure between matched stock markets, we employ the symmetrized Joe-Clayton (SJC) copula to calculate the probability density function of paired skewed-t distributions. The joint probability density function is then utilized as the scoring scheme to optimize the sequence alignment by dynamic programming method. Finally, we compute the rank correlation coefficients (Kendall's  and Spearman's ) between matched stock markets based on their aligned sequences. We collect empirical data of 6 stock indexes from Taiwan Economic Journal. The data is sampled at a daily frequency covering the period from January 1, 2013 to July 31, 2015. The empirical distributions of returns indicate fatter tails than the normal distribution. Therefore, the skewed-t distribution and SJC copula are appropriate for characterizing the data. According to the computed Kendall’s τ, Korea has the strongest co-movement relation with Japan, followed by Taiwan, China, and Singapore; the weakest is Hong Kong. On the other hand, the Spearman’s ρ reveals that the strength of co-movement between markets with Japan in decreasing order are Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. We explore the effects of “Abenomics” on Asia stock markets by measuring the co-movement relation between Japan and five major Asia stock markets in terms of rank correlation coefficients. The matched markets are aligned by a hybrid method consisting of GARCH, copula and sequence alignment. Empirical experiments indicate that Korea has the strongest co-movement relation with Japan. The strength of China and Taiwan are better than Singapore. The Hong Kong market has the weakest co-movement relation with Japan.

Keywords: co-movement, depreciation of Yen, rank correlation, stock market

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Authors: Randa Ismail Sharafeddine

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The Islamic economic system is distinctive in that it implicitly recognizes money as a separate, independent component of production capable of assuming risk and so entitled to the same reward as other Entrepreneurial Factors of Production (EFP). Conventional theory does not identify money capital explicitly as a component of production; rather, interest is recognized as a reward for capital, the interest rate is the cost of money capital, and it is also seen as a cost of physical capital. The conventional theory of production examines how diverse non-entrepreneurial resources (Land, Labor, and Capital) are selected; however, the economic theory community is largely unaware of the reasons why these resources choose to remain as non-entrepreneurial resources as opposed to becoming entrepreneurial resources. Should land, labor, and financial asset owners choose to work for others in return for rent, income, or interest, or should they engage in entrepreneurial risk-taking in order to profit. This is a decision made often in the actual world, but it has never been effectively treated in economic theory. This article will conduct a critical analysis of the conventional classification of factors of production and propose a classification for resource allocation and income distribution (Rent, Wages, Interest, and Profits) that is more rational, even within the conventional theoretical framework for evaluating and developing production and distribution theories. Money is an essential component of production in an Islamic economy, and it must be used to sustain economic activity.

Keywords: financial capital, production theory, distribution theory, economic activity, riba avoidance, institution of participation

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Authors: N. Šarlija, S. Pfeifer, M. Jeger, A. Bilandžić

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Enterprise growth is generally considered as a key driver of competitiveness, employment, economic development and social inclusion. As such, it is perceived to be a highly desirable outcome of entrepreneurship for scholars and decision makers. The huge academic debate resulted in the multitude of theoretical frameworks focused on explaining growth stages, determinants and future prospects. It has been widely accepted that enterprise growth is most likely nonlinear, temporal and related to the variety of factors which reflect the individual, firm, organizational, industry or environmental determinants of growth. However, factors that affect growth are not easily captured, instruments to measure those factors are often arbitrary, causality between variables and growth is elusive, indicating that growth is not easily modeled. Furthermore, in line with heterogeneous nature of the growth phenomenon, there is a vast number of measurement constructs assessing growth which are used interchangeably. Differences among various growth measures, at conceptual as well as at operationalization level, can hinder theory development which emphasizes the need for more empirically robust studies. In line with these highlights, the main purpose of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to compare structure and performance of three growth prediction models based on the main growth measures: Revenues, employment and assets growth. Secondly, to explore the prospects of financial indicators, set as exact, visible, standardized and accessible variables, to serve as determinants of enterprise growth. Finally, to contribute to the understanding of the implications on research results and recommendations for growth caused by different growth measures. The models include a range of financial indicators as lag determinants of the enterprises’ performances during the 2008-2013, extracted from the national register of the financial statements of SMEs in Croatia. The design and testing stage of the modeling used the logistic regression procedures. Findings confirm that growth prediction models based on different measures of growth have different set of predictors. Moreover, the relationship between particular predictors and growth measure is inconsistent, namely the same predictor positively related to one growth measure may exert negative effect on a different growth measure. Overall, financial indicators alone can serve as good proxy of growth and yield adequate predictive power of the models. The paper sheds light on both methodology and conceptual framework of enterprise growth by using a range of variables which serve as a proxy for the multitude of internal and external determinants, but are unlike them, accessible, available, exact and free of perceptual nuances in building up the model. Selection of the growth measure seems to have significant impact on the implications and recommendations related to growth. Furthermore, the paper points out to potential pitfalls of measuring and predicting growth. Overall, the results and the implications of the study are relevant for advancing academic debates on growth-related methodology, and can contribute to evidence-based decisions of policy makers.

Keywords: growth measurement constructs, logistic regression, prediction of growth potential, small and medium-sized enterprises

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Authors: Tatiana V. Korsakova

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The cognitive methodology in management is considered: Cognitive structuring - the formation of ideas about the functioning of a developing organization; Cognitive modeling - heuristic construction of existing actions (zone of successful actions); and Cognitive construct - the formation of filters for converting external information into specific events of managerial reality. The major findings of the study are the identification of areas of successful actions in the organization, harmonization of criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of company management, and the frame-description that indicates the connection of environmental elements with the elements of the organization. It is stated the development of specific events of managerial reality in the direction of the further development of the organization depends on the personal cognitive construct of the development-subjects when it is used in the zone of successful actions.

Keywords: cognitive construct, focus of applicability, knowledge corporate culture, zones of successful actions

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Authors: Gebrehiwot H., Giorgis Bahita

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Firms in Africa experience less financial market in comparison to other emerging and developed countries, thus lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of innovation and growth. Though there are different factors to be considered, underdeveloped financial systems take the lion's share in hindering firm innovation and growth in Africa. Insufficient capacity to innovate is one of the problems facing African businesses. Moreover, a critical challenge faced by firms in Africa is access to finance and the inability of financially constrained firms to grow. Only little is known about how different sources of finance affect firm innovation and growth in Africa, specifically the formal and informal finance effect on firm innovation and growth. This study's aim is to address this gap by using formal and informal finance for working capital and fixed capital and its role in firm innovation and firm growth using firm-level data from the World Bank enterprise survey 2006-2019 with a total of 5661 sample firms from 14 countries based on available data on the selected variables. Additionally, this study examines factors for accessing credit from a formal financial institution. The logit model is used to examine the effect of finance on a firm’s innovation and factors to access formal finance, while the Ordinary List Square (OLS) regression mode is used to investigate the effect of finance on firm growth. 2SLS instrumental variables are used to address the possible endogeneity problem in firm growth and finance-innovation relationships. A result from the logistic regression indicates that both formal and informal finance used for working capital and investment in fixed capital was found to have a significant positive association with product and process innovation. In the case of finance and growth, finding show that positive association of both formal and informal financing to working capital and new investment in fixed capital though the informal has positive relations to firm growth as measured by sale growth but no significant association as measured by employment growth. Formal finance shows more magnitude of effect on innovation and growth when firms use formal finance to finance investment in fixed capital, while informal finance show less compared to formal finance and this confirms previous studies as informal is mainly used for working capital in underdeveloped economies like Africa. The factors that determine credit access: Age, firm size, managerial experience, exporting, gender, and foreign ownership are found to have significant determinant factors in accessing credit from formal and informal sources among the selected sample countries.

Keywords: formal finance, informal finance, innovation, growth

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Authors: Chao Fang

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Due to the Confucian emphasis on filial piety and an undeveloped social welfare system in mainland China, adult children are both socially and legally obliged to care for their parents, including financial assistance and physical care as well as emotional and social support. Thus a family-centred care pattern for elderly people has been firmly established in China. However, because of the nationwide ‘One Child Policy’, over one million parents are excluded from such care because of the death of their only child and, therefore, their primary caregiver. Without their child’s support, these parents must manage the day to day challenges of growing old alone, with little support from society. By overturning established expectations of a ‘good’ elderly life, the loss of an only child may be accompanied by social and self-stigmatization, pushing these bereaved parents to the margin of society and threatening their economic, physical, emotional and social well-being. More importantly, since the One Child Policy was implemented from the late 1970s and early 1980s, the first generation of bereaved or ‘Shidu’ parents has reached an age at which those parents need elderly care. However, their predicament has been largely ignored. This paper reports on a qualitative interview study that found elderly care to be the main concern for Shidu parents’ everyday life. The paper identifies and discusses the concerns these bereaved parents raised about the prospect of having nowhere to turn at a time of increased need for financial, physical, social and emotional support in old age. The paper also identifies how Shidu parents have been coming together in grief and negotiate to make their predicament known to the government and wider society and to re-define their elderly life by rebuilding a sense of ‘family’.

Keywords: culture, bereavement, China, elderly care

Procedia PDF Downloads 260

Authors: Onur Kaya, Ilknur Tukenmez

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In this study, we consider vehicle routing problems on networks with alternative direct links between nodes, and we analyze a multi-objective problem considering the financial, environmental and social objectives in this context. In real life, there might exist several alternative direct roads between two nodes, and these roads might have differences in terms of their lengths and durations. For example, a road might be shorter than another but might require longer time due to traffic and speed limits. Similarly, some toll roads might be shorter or faster but require additional payment, leading to higher costs. We consider such alternative links in our problem and develop a mixed integer linear programming model that determines which alternative link to use between two nodes, in addition to determining the optimal routes for different vehicles, depending on the model objectives and constraints. We consider the minimum cost routing as the financial objective for the company, minimizing the CO2 emissions and gas usage as the environmental objectives, and optimizing the driver working conditions/working hours, and minimizing the risks of accidents as the social objectives. With these objective functions, we aim to determine which routes, and which alternative links should be used in addition to the speed choices on each link. We discuss the results of the developed vehicle routing models and compare their results depending on the system parameters.

Keywords: vehicle routing, alternative links between nodes, mixed integer linear programming, triple bottom line accounting

Procedia PDF Downloads 391