Human error with regards to ship handling is the main cause of maritime accidents. The error happens because of the psychological problem of distraction. Despite the use of modern equipment, standard working procedures and competent crews, still accidents occur because of the physical and psychosocial stresses during the working period on board the ship. This creates undesirable results such as injuries, ill health and even loss of life. The aims of this study are to analyse the possible root causes for distractions and the affected areas for three groups of Malaysian seafarers, 1) Senior Deck Cadets, 2) Senior Deck Officers and 3) Junior Deck Officers. A Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method has used for ranking the alternatives in the order of how affected they are. A Malaysian seafarers’, Senior Deck Cadets (SDC) has recorded as the most affected by distractions when they are engaged in the ship’s operation. The outcome of this study will help both seafarers and shipping companies to establish some solutions around this matte.

The aim of this study is to find out the time-series nexus of public debt and economic growth in Malaysia. For an upper-middle income country, Malaysia had experienced over 50% ratio of debt to GDP since 2009 until now. The question arises is whether this trend is healthy to the economy. With a focus into the debt-to-GDP ratio from 1970-2015, this study investigates the short-run and long-run relationship between public debt and economic growth in Malaysia. This study used secondary data by collecting time-series data (1970-2015) from the World Bank Data and Bank Negara Malaysia. Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model is applied in this study to examine the relationship between debt and economic growth. Based on ARDL framework, it shows that there is a long-run effect between the debt and economic growth in Malaysia. While the significance value of Error Correction Term shows that there is a long-run adjustment in the short run. Generally, this study found government expenditures, in the long run, strongly influence the GDP per capita. Through the findings, the government expenditures could increase the GDP per capita. The study also reveals that any increment of the debt ratio will result in reduction of the GDP per capita.

This study examines the impact of corporate tax, a fiscal measure along with trade liberalization and research and development on total factor productivity for a panel of 153 industrial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange over the period 1997-2017. For empirical analysis, we employ the system generalized method of moment estimator. In the first step, we estimate industrial production function and the results reveal that raw material, industrial labour force and energy play vital role in enhancing industrial production. Whereas, industrial capital exerts negative impact on industrial output. We also measured total factor productivity using the production elasticities. In the second step, we examine the impact of corporate tax, trade liberalization and research and development on total factor productivity. The results indicate that higher level of corporate tax exerts negative impact on total factor productivity. The findings reveal that higher corporate taxation discourages industrial firms to undertake research and development thereby exerting adverse impact on total factor productivity of firms. The impact of trade liberalization proxied by average tariff is positive while customs duty and sales tax negatively impact firm-level total factor productivity. These findings provide useful insights for managers, investors and policy makers in Pakistan.

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.

The study aims to provide some evidence of the effects of CSR practices on financial-based brand equity in Malaysia. Nowadays, many companies have embraced corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices because CSR is a vital component of the current competitive and complex business arena. It contributes greatly to social, environmental, and economic condition. With CSR practices, companies are able to achieve many benefits and there is evidence that CSR practices predict higher brand equity. However, little evidence has been produced concerning the effects of CSR practices on financial aspects of brand equity in developing countries such as Malaysia. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the effects of CSR practices on financial based brand equity among Malaysia Top 100 brand. A CSR checklist instrument was used in the current study to examine the extent of CSR practiced. The results indicated that PLCs that were actively involved in CSR practices such as environmental, community, workplace and marketplace, found that this involvement enhanced their brand equity. The findings provide useful support and evidence for the management of PLCs in Malaysia, as well as companies in other developing countries, to engage more in CSR practices as a core element of their strategic and brand management.