This study examines the effect of managerial ownership on firm value in capital markets where outside governance mechanisms to discipline managers are weak or non-existent. We hypothesize that strong market forces in the U.S. confound the effect of managerial ownership on firm value, i.e., the convergence of interest argument. We test the hypothesis using data from 112 firms from Singapore Stock Exchange and 205 firms from the Stock Exchange of Thailand prior to the Asian financial crisis in 1997 when the market forces were weak, yet the investor protection was sufficient to prevent outright appropriation from management. For ease of comparison, we use methodologies from studies done on the U.S. sample firms during the same study period as ours. We find that, both in Singapore and Thailand, firm value is a function of managerial ownership, and the relation is of the famous inverted U-shaped. Moreover, the relation is robust under different model specifications. The results from Thai sample, with weaker market forces than in Singapore, lend support to many agency cost hypotheses advanced in the U.S. Our results provide useful implication for investors in emerging and frontier markets where outside governance mechanisms are yet to be fully developed.

Based on the theoretical underpinnings of the agency theory and liquidity theory, the purpose of this study is to show how managers who want to enhance the performance of Pakistan’s non-financial sector can use liquidity policy in relation to corporate governance. Nowadays, Pakistan is facing a severe liquidity crisis; this study contributes by examining the mediating role of liquidity on the link of corporate governance-performance. We use data from 63 firms from 2010 to 2018, excluding 17 outliers. To analyze the data, we use the Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SURE) model and nlcom-Stata test. Our findings support the mediating role of liquidity on the link between corporate governance and performance. In addition, the results show that corporate governance improves performance. Furthermore, the study supports a significant positive association of liquidity and performance. For robustness, we use two performance variables – return on assets (ROA) and Tobin’s q (TQ) – where ROA represents full mediation and TQ indicates partial mediation. This study helps to use liquidity policy to strengthen the inside and outside dimensions of corporate governance mechanisms that improve the performance of firms. Overall, these findings suggest better disclosure, transparency, and solutions to auditing issues that add value to the firms.

The purpose of this paper is to examine a financial distress premium in the emerging market. A risk-return trade-off of negative book equity (NBE) and distress firms is empirically analyzed using data from the Stock Exchange of Thailand. This research employs Ohlson’s (1980) bankruptcy model as a measurement of distress risk. The results indicate that distress firms outperform solvent firms in the Thai market and deny distress anomaly often found in the developed market. Fama-Frech (1993) three-factor model and Carhart (1997) four-factor model verify the existence of a distress premium in the Thai capital market. Risk-seeking investors demand greater compensation for bearing risks of distress firms’ going concern. This paper provides fresh evidence that default risk is a significant explanatory factor in pricing stocks in the emerging market. Also, this study sheds light on the role of NBE firms in asset pricing. Most studies eliminate NBE firms from their sample. However, NBE firms yield superior average cross-sectional returns, albeit with higher volatility. Investors are rewarded with distress risks associated with NBE firms. The outperformance of NBE firms is statistically significant when compared to the overall market. The NBE premium disappears when factoring size, value, and momentum in time-series analysis.

The main aim of the study is to test a house pricing model by combining hedonic and asset-based pricing models. An understanding of the relationship between house pricing and its return (the rental income) helps to establish houses as a significant asset class. The model tested the relationship between house pricing (dependent variable) and the house attributes (independent variables) derived from Freeman’s framework of housing attributes. This study uses a large data-set of 1,899 sample of new, high-end houses purchased between 2016 and 2019 collected from the national capital region of India (Delhi-NCR). The algorithm was built in R-Script, and stepwise multiple linear regression was used to analyze the model. The analysis of the model proves that the three significant variables, namely, carpet area, pay-off, and annual maintenance charges explain the price function. Further, the model is statistically fit. The major contribution of the study is to understand the key factors and their influence on the house pricing. The model will be helpful in risk assessment in the housing investment and enhance the chances of investment. Policy-makers can use information about the underlying valuation drivers of the house prices to stabilize the market and also in framing the tax policies.

This study investigates the short-run and long-run causal behavior of the Philippine stock market index volatility under vector error correction environment. The variables were tested first for stationarity and then long-run equilibrium relationship. Moreover, an impulse response function was estimated to examine the extent of innovations in the independent variables in explaining the Philippine stock market index volatility. The results reveal that the volatility of the Philippine stock market index exhibit long-run equilibrium relationship with Peso- Dollar exchange rate, London Interbank Offered Rate, and crude oil prices. The short-run dynamics-based VECM estimates indicate that in the short-run, increases (i.e., depreciation) in Peso-Dollar exchange rate cause PSEI volatility to increase. As for the London Interbank Offered Rate, it causes increases in PSEI volatility in the short-run. The adjustment coefficients used with the long-run dynamics validates the presence of unidirectional causal long-run relationship from Peso-Dollar exchange rate, London Interbank Offered Rate, and crude oil prices to PSEI volatility, and bidirectional causal long-run relationship between PSEI volatility and London Interbank Offered Rate. The impulse response functions developed within the VECM framework demonstrate the positive and negative reactions of PSEI volatility to unanticipated Peso-Dollar exchange rate, London Interbank Offered Rate, and crude oil price shocks.

The objective of this study is to enrich the literature by investigating the impact of introduction of index future trading on spot market returns and trading volume in Vietnam. Data used in this study mainly consist of daily VN30-Index and market trading volume series during the period from February 6th, 2012 to December 31st, 2019. Using OLS, GARCH(1,1) and EGARCH(1,1) models, the empirical findings consistently confirm that the introduction of index future trading has no impact on the spot market returns. In addition, the results of the EGARCH(1,1) model indicate that the leverage effect on the spot market volatility is existence in HOSE. Specifically, bad news has a greater effect on the market volatility than good news of the same size. Moreover, our empirical findings reveal that the introduction of index future contracts has the positive impact on the underlying market trading volume. Specifically, the trading volume of the post-index futures introduction increases by 7.5 percent compared with the pre-index futures introduction. Finally, the results obtained from the Granger causality test for the relationship between the spot market returns and the future trading activity confirm that only uni-directional causality running from the market returns to the future trading activity exists in HOSE.

This paper examines whether the combination of risk management and audit committee functions are associated with audit report lag. Audit report lag is considered an important aspect of the financial reporting. The financial reports are the main source of information for shareholders through which they make their decisions and it assists in reducing the information asymmetry. As the internal control mechanisms substitute the external ones, the internal board committees formed by the board of directors can reduce the audit work and, consequently, reduces the audit report lag. A key committee is the risk management committee. This paper examines whether the combination of risk management and audit committee functions are associated with audit report lag. We posit that a combination of such functions in one committee refereed as audit committee affects the audit report delay. Data were obtained from 198 manufacturing companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) for the years 2016-2018. A pooled OLS regression analysis shows that a combination of risk management and audit committee functions in a stand-alone committee named “audit committee” is associated with longer audit report lag. The outcomes suggest companies should prioritize the establishment of standalone risk management committee with activities separated from those of audit committees.

The study examines lagged economic effects of research and development (R&D) investment on the market value of manufacturing firms listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange or the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in China. This study applies panel data analysis methods to address the following issues: 1) There might be an adjustment lag in the impact of R&D investment on corporate market value, and 2) Unobserved firm effects must be taken into account. The balanced panel data includes a total of 1,462 observations with 34 cross-sections of manufacturing firms listed on Chinese stock markets and with 27 time-specific quarterly periods from 2007 to 2017. The results indicate that the R&D investment of Chinese manufacturing firms tends to yield favorable market value of the firm with some adjustments to time. The results show that R&D investment exhibits a strong positive impact on their market value of manufacturing firms in Chinese stock markets. Moreover, R&D investment has a positive time-lag effect on the market value of the firm. Interestingly, the R&D investment of Chinese manufacturing firms generate a relatively constant positive effect on their market value, supporting the notion that the corresponding returns of R&D investment for such firms yield lagged but added market values.

The aim of this study is two-fold. Firstly, it attempts to assess the level of management accounting practices (MAPs) in manufacturing companies in Vietnam. Secondly, it purports to explore the impact of potential contingency factors on the current level of MAPs in the sample of studied companies from the industrial sector in Vietnam. The study examines the hypotheses that MAPs in Vietnamese manufacturing firms are affected by a range of contingent variables. A quantitative research was conducted by sending questionnaires to the target respondents that comprise both accountants and managers in 160 manufacturing enterprises in the north of Vietnam. The first main findings from the study reveal that MAPs in Vietnam are mainly traditional rather than contemporary ones, and oriented toward the shortterm rather than the long-term. The second main research findings resulted from multiple regression model show that MAPs in Vietnam are significantly affected by company size, commitment of directors, advanced manufacturing technology, and distinct number of products. However, no significant associations are found between MAPs and intensity of competition from the emerging market as hypothesized in this study. Research findings are bases for recommendations to promote the application of contemporary practices and enhance management accounting functions in manufacturing companies in Vietnam.

The paper aims to investigate the impact of presenting statements of cash flow using the direct method and the indirect method on loan decision by credit officers at Vietnamese banks. The data was collected from 150 credit officers of commercial banks in Vietnam based on the questionnaire about making loan decision when the cash flow statement is presented in different methods, namely, direct and indirect methods. This research uses T-tests to check whether using the direct or indirect method affects the accurate calculation of loan criteria, affects the loan decision by credit officers, and compare these two methods in the aspects of information provision. The research has pointed out that: 1) the direct method helps the calculation of indicators related to loans more accurately; 2) credit officers say that, while the direct method of presenting cash flow statement provides clearer information, the use of either the direct method or the indirect method does not affect the banks’ loan decision. Since then, the author recommends that cash flow statements should be provided with information in a direct method to present the information needed for loan decision more accurately so as to improve the quality of cash flow statement.

The purpose of this study is to test both the alignment theory and entertainment theory on family firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. To achieve these goals, we collected secondary data from 164 non-financial family firms in various sectors during 2014-18. These family firms are classified into two categories: family control firms and family owned firms. We take the audit fee and the audit quality as dependent variables while family control firms, family-owned firms, and family CEOs as independent variables. In addition, the study uses leverage, profit and export as control variables. To test the effect of the explanatory variables on the output variables, we use two econometric models, Ordinary Least Square and the Probit regression model. In addition, Huber Sandwich test is used to check the nonnormality and heteroscedasticity of panel data. Contrary to the alignment effect, the study supports the entrenchment effect and advocates that family-controlled firms as well as family-owned firms are not conscientious regarding the selection of external auditors during their contracts with audit firms. They are less likely to pay high audit fees for good quality audit in Pakistan. Furthermore, the study shows a statistically significant and positive relationship between audit quality and audit fees.

In many countries, the Government enacts tax laws in order to manage tax collection and regulate the macro-economy. According to Noor, Jamaludin, Omar, and Aziz (2013), tax non-compliance is a growing concern because of its negative effects on the state budget. The main objectives of this article are to identify the factors affecting corporate income tax non-compliance of enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City in accordance with the current situation of Vietnamese tax administration. We use several research methods, including the exploitation of information and practical experiences from both taxpayers and tax authorities; with Probit regression model on a sample of 187 enterprises that have been inspected or examined by tax authorities in Vietnam during the period from 2013 to 2017.The article identified eight factors affecting corporate income tax (CIT) non-compliance: (1) working capital/total assets; (2) revenue/total assets; (3) total debt/total assets; (4) loss in the previous year; (5) receivables/revenue; (6) the size of enterprises; (7) tax administrative penalties/tax payable; and (8) business field. In particular, the tax non-compliance was studied as a violation of Vietnamese tax laws by enterprises declaring an insufficient amount of CIT payable to the State budget.

The purpose of this study is to provide benefits and ethically-rooted managerial implications based on theoretical underpinnings through an empirical study using correlation between wages, bank credit, government expenditure on economic growth, and employment via a case study in Indonesia. Besides that, managerial implications strive to provide benefits to the government regarding the importance of establishing effective and pro-development regulations to realize economic growth and employment through the efficient role of wages, bank credit, and government spending. This study uses secondary macroeconomic data from the period 2010-2019 with analysis using the correlation test with the Pearson correlation method. Out of eight hypotheses tested, two hypotheses do not have a significant correlation. The details of the statistical results obtained the following correlations: the correlation between bank credit and wages has a significant, but indirect (negative) correlation. However, the correlation between bank credit and economic growth has a direct and significant (positive) correlation. Government expenditure correlates positively with wages, but correlates negatively with bank credit. Wages are positively correlated with economic growth, but have no significant effect on employment. Finally, economic growth has a positive correlation with government expenditure, but does not have a significant correlation with employment.

This study is designed to investigate the impact of China exchange rate policy on its trading partners by using a country multi-dataset GVAR model. Our model includes samples of 30 countries, six from high-income, six from middle-income and eighteen from low-income countries. This study used annual time series data over the period 1992 to 2017. We constructed currency misalignment index and it provided some interesting features about the currency undervaluation and overvaluation. The results of the currency misalignment shows that China’s Renminbi is structurally more undervalued over the sample period as compared to other countries, and fluctuation in major currencies effects the global trade around the world. The overall empirical results of the GVAR model indicate that RMB undervaluation affects the trade pattern and macroeconomic performance of China’s trading partners. Overall, China’s exchange rate undervaluation has mixed effects on trading partner’s GDP, exports and imports. The devaluation of China’s RMB efficiently stimulated China’s exports and reduced imports. While, in some countries, this effect is reverse, the RMB undervaluation increases the GDP of partner countries and also increases their exports to China. The results confirm the strong and leading role of the Chinese Renminbi in the global trade.

This study aims to investigate the effect of oil price and exchange rate on the two Vietnamese stock market indices: VN index and HXN index. This study uses the daily data from August 1st 2000 to October 25th 2019 of the two Vietnamese stock indices: VN index and HNX index, the two oil price indices: BRENT and WTI, and the two exchange rates: US dollar to Vietnamese dong and Euro to Vietnamese dong. Due to the presence of heteroskedasticity in our data, we use GARCH (1,1) regression model to perform our analysis. Our findings show that the oil price has a significant positive effect on the two Vietnamese stock market indices. In terms of the stock index volatility, both the VN index and HNX index volatilities are negatively impacted by the return of oil price. While the conclusion about the impact of oil price remained consistent through all three robustness tests, the effect of exchange rate on Vietnamese stock market indices is not consistent. We find thatchanges of the USD/VND exchange rate significantly impact the return and volatility of HNX index only in GARCH (1,1) setting. Our analysis also survives a number of robustness tests.

This study aims to determine the factors influencing the community behavior in improving competitive rural tourism as well as understanding the role of economic literacy in mediating socio-economic indicators and rural competitive advantage. This research followed an explanatory research to examine the relationship between variables including socio-economic variables and rural tourism competitive advantage. The data was gathered by conducting observations and interviews with tourism businesses, stakeholders, and the local village government, and related agencies as respondents. Furthermore, the data were analyzed following inductive and descriptive statistics. The findings indicated that, from all variables used, solely the environmental impact variable did not affect economic literacy and the competitive advantage of rural tourism. The moderating variables showed that the economic literacy mediates the economic impact on rural tourism competitive advantage. In addition, socio-cultural impacts on rural competitive advantage tourism, and the stakeholder involvement affects rural competitive advantage tourism. However, economic literacy failed in mediating between environmental impacts on rural competitive advantage tourism. This is due to the increasing understanding of the economy of the community around the tourist attractions it will increase the business around the tourist attractions that have an impact on environmental damage around the tourist attractions.

This study examines the nonlinear relationship between financial development and economic growth in Pakistan using the threshold regression model for the period 1980-2017. We also employed quantile regression with 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75 quantiles of conditional distribution. The quantile regression is based on minimizing of sum of squared residuals. The result indicates that economic growth responds positively to financial development when the level of financial development surpasses the threshold value of 0.151. However, when financial development lies below the threshold value (that is, 0.151), its impact on economic growth is negative. Thus, when financial development of Pakistan surpasses the threshold level, it contributes more towards economic growth since greater level of financial development contributes more to boosts economic growth. This finding reveals that economic growth reacts differently to financial development, and the relationship between financial development and economic growth is U-shaped in Pakistan. Among the other variables, physical capital, labor force, and government expenditure exert a positive effect on economic growth. Furthermore, inflation rate and trade openness have an insignificant impact on economic growth. The results of quantile regression also confirm the non-linear relationship between financial development and economic growth in Pakistan. The finding of this study suggests revamping of financial sector policies in Pakistan.

This study explores the effect of trade of Information Communications Technology (ICT) products and government’s role, measured by three factors: Control of corruption, Government effectiveness, and Administrative tax level, on raising the economy across the East Asia- Pacific region. Secondary data were collected from the World Bank database of 21 countries over 12 years from 2006 to 2017. Applying the Panel corrected standard error model and running a robustness check based on the Dynamic panel data method, this research found that the exported ICT products, control of corruption, and government effectiveness could increase the economic income of a country in the region. The paper also provided the evidence indicating that the imported ICT products and the Administrative tax level are two harmful factors for economic growth. The major finding confirmed the useful contribution on improving government quality and its economy. First, improving the economy of a country always poses various challenges to its government. During the past decades, although much of the literature confirmed that exporting ICT products could promote an economy, very few studies investigated the role of Administrative tax level and the Government effectiveness. Second, there are only a few studies exploring the capability of government and the economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

This study examines the association between governance quality at country level and stock market performance. Specifically, the study investigates the influence of control of corruption, government effectiveness, political stability and absence of violence, rule of law, regulatory quality, and voice and accountability on all-share index of the stock markets of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. This study is anchored on two theories – the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) and Institutional Theory. The study employs panel data spanning from 2006 to 2017. The findings show that political stability and absence of violence and rule of law exhibit a significant positive impact on stock market performance, while regulatory quality and voice and accountability have a significant, but negative relationship with stock market performance. The results imply that quality of governance in terms of rule of law and political stability devoid of violence have strong impact on stock market returns. Similarly, improved stock market returns are largely dependent on the efficiency of the institutional environment of market as investors are always wary of the inherent risks associated with the uncertainty of the market. This study has crucial policy implications for the government of the GCC countries and stock market participants.

Nowadays, many construction engineering and technology enterprises are evolving to find that prosperity is driven and inspired by an open economy with dynamic markets and fierce multifaceted competition. Besides brand and product uniqueness, the ability to quickly provide customers with quotes are matters of concern. Such a requirement for prompt cost estimation of construction investment projects with the use of a construction price index poses a significant challenge to contractors. This is because the nature of the construction industry is shaped by changes in domestic and foreign economic factors, socio-financial issues, and is under the influence of various micro and macro factors. This paper presents a fuzzy decision-making approach for calculating critical factors that affect the construction price index. A qualitative approach was implemented based on in-depth interviews of experts in the construction industry in Vietnam. A synthetic comparison matrix was calculated using Buckley approach. The CoA approach was applied to defuzzified the fuzzy weights of factors that affect the construction price index. The research results show that the top five critical factors affecting the construction price index in Vietnam are (1) consumer price index, (2) gross domestic product, (3) basic interest rate, (4) foreign exchange rate, and (5) total export and import.