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Objectives Diagnosing patients with ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) can be challenging owing to its rarity and complexity. Diagnostic delay can have severe consequences, such as chronic organ damage or even death. Given that few studies have addressed diagnostic pathways to identify opportunities to improve, we performed a clinical audit to evaluate the diagnostic phase. Methods This retrospective, observational study of electronic medical records data in hospitals focused on diagnostic procedures during the first assessment until diagnosis. Results We included 230 AAV patients from nine hospitals. First assessments were mainly performed by a specialist in internal medicine (52%), pulmonology (14%), ENT (13%) or rheumatology (10%). The overall median time to diagnosis was 13 [interquartile range: 2–49] days, and in patients primarily examined by a specialist in internal medicine it was 6 [1–25] days, rheumatology 14 [4–45] days, pulmonology 15 [5–70] days and ENT 57 [16–176] days (P  = 0.004). Twenty-two of 31 (71%) patients primarily assessed by a specialist in ENT had non-generalized disease, of whom 14 (64%) had ENT-limited activity. Two hundred and nineteen biopsies were performed in 187 patients (81%). Histopathological support for AAV was observed in 86% of kidney biopsies, 64% of lung biopsies and 34% of ENT biopsies. Conclusion In The Netherlands, AAV is diagnosed and managed predominantly by internal medicine specialists. Diagnostic delay was associated with non-generalized disease and ENT involvement at presentation. Additionally, ENT biopsies had a low diagnostic yield, in contrast to kidney and lung biopsies. Awareness of this should lead to more frequent consideration of AAV and early referral for a multidisciplinary approach when AAV is suspected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates calendar anomalies in eight Islamic frontier markets. Our sample consists of the daily closing prices of their stock indices for the period of January 2006 to September 2019. The data are categorized with respect to day-of-the-week and month-of-the-year according to both the Gregorian and Islamic calendars. We control for time-varying systematic risk using Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) index as the proxy for the market portfolio and apply Bonferroni correction to reduce the occurrence of false-positive results. We find little support for the proposition that any of the Islamic calendar months generate abnormal returns, bar a slight negative abnormal return during the holy month of Rajab for Kuwait. We find evidence of a small negative Monday effect for the stock markets of Bangladesh and Pakistan and a small positive January effect for the stock market of Morocco. The results support weak-form market efficiency, suggesting that investors in frontier stock markets should not expect to outperform the market on a consistent basis when trading on particular days of the week or months of the year according to the Islamic or Gregorian calendar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The authors investigate the role of gender in the way firms evaluate and resolve the ethical dilemma founded on the corporate social responsibility–corporate financial performance (CSR–CFP) nexus. This study is premised on Gilligan's "two voices" theory and the social role theory that there is a gender-based difference in moral thinking. Design/methodology/approach: The authors adopt the two-stage least squares (2SLS) and generalized method of moments (GMM) approach to control for simultaneity between female representation on boards, CSR and financial performance. The sample consists of 9,569 firm-year observations from 1,527 US firms for the period 1996–2014. Findings: The authors find that CSR initiatives and activities undertaken by US firms are profit maximizing. However, the return on investment in CSR decreases with the proportion of female directors on the board. This study underscores the importance of considering gender in furthering the understanding of how firms address the CSR–CFP nexus. Research limitations/implications: This research is not without limitations, which includes the way the authors operationalize CSR. The CSR scores from the MSCI ESG database have been criticized for being relatively weak predictors of actual CSR outcomes. Since the CSR–CFP nexus is likely to be far more complex than that portrayed by the KLD scores, the authors encourage future research to explore metrics of other social rating agencies which perhaps better capture the quality of a firm's CSR. Practical implications: In the face of the long and unresolved debate on the effect of gender diversity on the board's monitoring efficacy and decision- making process (Adams and Ferrera, 2009), the authors' finding that female directors' moral orientation and investment in CSR affect firms' bottom-line figures has important implications for shareholders and regulators, helping them to see how gender may play an important role in addressing this relationship. Originality/value: Although prior studies provide useful insights into the nexus between CSR and CFP, little is known whether gender affects this relation. This research provides empirical support for Gilligan's "two voices" theory that there is a gender-based difference in moral thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to address the critical issue of optimal credit allocation. Predicting a borrower's probability of default is a key requirement of any credit allocation system but turning it into labeled classes leads to problems in performance measurement. In this paper the connection between the probability of default and optimal credit allocation is established through a conceptual construct called the Kelly criterion. Conflicting performance measures in dichotomous classification are replaced with coherent criteria for judging the performance of credit allocation decisions. Extensive testing on peer-to-peer lending data shows that the Kelly strategy enables consistent outperformance and efficiency in processing information relative to alternative credit allocation approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a conceptual modeling framework based on category theory that serves as a tool to study common structures underlying diverse approaches to modeling credit default that at first sight may appear to have nothing in common. The framework forms the basis for an entropybased stacking model to address issues of inconsistency and bias in classification performance. Based on the Lending Club's peer-to-peer loans dataset and Taiwanese credit card clients dataset, relative to individual base models, the proposed entropy-based stacking model provides more consistent performance across multiple data environments and less biased performance in terms of default classification. The process itself is agnostic to the base models selected and its performance superior, regardless of the models selected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the mediating role of capital structure in the perceived relationship of uncertainty, corporate social responsibility (CSR), stakeholder interest and financial performance. We collect data through questionnaires, and survey the Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) of the service sector of Pakistan. We apply Structure Equation Modeling (SEM) for data analysis. We find that CFOs perceive uncertainty, CSR and stakeholder interest to have both direct and indirect impacts on financial performance. In particular, we find evidence of the mediating effect of capital structure in the relationship. Our findings imply that firms screen out uncertain situations while making capital structure decision and pursuing CSR-related activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we examine the effectiveness of corporate governance in mitigating dilution in the economic and voting interests of existing nonparticipating (retail) shareholders in private placements. Based on a sample of 2420 private placements in Australia from 2001 to 2012, we find support for this proposition through the influence of corporate governance on pricing negotiation and firms' choice of issuing method in private placements. Specifically, firms with better corporate governance offer private placements with a smaller discount, and are more likely to include a share purchase plan, which protects nonparticipating shareholders from ownership dilution in the placement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides evidence that after several decades of fighting for equal pay for equal work, an unexplained gender pay gap remains amongst senior executives in ASX-listed firms. After controlling for a large suite of personal, occupational and firm observables, we find female senior executives receive, on average, 22.58 percent less in base salary for the period 2002-2013. When executives are awarded performance-based pay, females receive on average 16.47 percent less in cash bonus and 18.21 percent less in long-term incentives than males. The results are robust to using firm fixed effects and propensity-score matching. Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition results show that the mean pay gap cannot be attributed to gender differences in attributes, including job titles. Instead, the results point to differences in returns on firm-specific variables, in particular firm risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether ethical screening affects portfolio performance is an important question that is yet to be settled in the literature. This paper aims to shed further light on this question by examining the performance of a large global sample of Islamic equity funds (IEFs) from 1984 to 2010. We find that IEFs underperform conventional funds by an average of 40 basis points per month, consistent with the underperformance hypothesis. In line with popular media claims that Islamic funds are a safer investment, IEFs outperformed conventional funds during the recent banking crisis. However, we find no such outperformance for other crises or high volatility periods. Based on fund holdings-based data, we provide evidence of a negative curvilinear relation between fund performance and ethical screening intensity, consistent with a return trade-off to being more ethical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a sample of publicly listed firm in Korea from 2002 to 2006, this article examines the impact of board monitoring on firm value and productivity. We use outsider's attendance of board meetings as a proxy for board monitoring. Consistent with the commitment hypothesis, we find that outsider's attendance rate increases firm value, suggesting that attending board meeting itself is a strong signal that reflects outsider's intention to monitor insiders. While ownership of controlling shareholders negatively affects firm value, this relationship is not moderated by increased monitoring by outsiders. Our findings provide further evidence that the outside director system is less effective in chaebol-affiliated firms. Results also indicate that the effect of outsider's board monitoring activity on investor's valuation of the firm is greater than on productivity improvement of the firm. Our conclusions are robust for possible endogeneity in the relationship between firm value and board attendance by outside directors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taxes play an important role in determining after-tax investment risk and returns, but many practitioners still make investment decisions based on pre-tax values. The apparent complexity of dealing with deferred capital gains and the question of how these implied future tax liabilities should be valued are central to this problem. The authors use a simple arbitrage argument to show that a risk-free discount rate is appropriate for calculating the present value of future tax liabilities. This lets analysts adjust risk and returns for effective tax rates and present a more accurate picture to the investor. The results show a taxation-induced preference for holding equities over bonds and a location preference for holding equities in a taxable account and bonds in retirement accounts. These important findings contrast with traditional investment advice that suggests a greater capacity for risk in retirement accounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dividend initiations are an economically significant event that has important implications for a firm’s future financial capacity. Given the market’s expectation of a consistent payout, managers of IPO firms must approach the initial dividend decision cautiously. We compare the long-run performance of IPO firms that initiated a dividend with that of similarly matched non-payers, and find robust results that firms which initiated a dividend perform significantly better up to five years after the initiation date. Further tests show that the post-initiation firm performance is explained mostly by dividend theory of signalling rather than free cash flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to document and explain the allocation of takeover purchase price to identifiable intangible assets (IIAs), purchased goodwill, and/or target net tangible assets in an accounting environment unconstrained with respect to IIA accounting policy choice. Using a sample of Australian acquisitions during the unconstrained accounting environment from 1988 to 2004, we find the percentage allocation of purchase price to IIAs averaged 19.09%. The percentage allocation to IIAs is significantly positively related to return on assets and insignificantly related to leverage, contrary to opportunism. Efficiency suggests an explanation: profitable firms acquire and capitalise a higher percentage of IIAs in acquisitions. The target's investment opportunity set is significantly positively related to the percentage allocation to IIAs, consistent with information-signalling. The paper contributes to the accounting policy choice literature by showing how Australian firms make the one-off accounting policy choice in regards allocation of takeover purchase price (which is often a substantial dollar amount to) in an environment where accounting for IIAs was unconstrained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We review accounting and finance research on corporate governance (CG). In the course of our review, we focus on a particularly vexing issue, namely endogeneity in the relationships between CG and other matters of concern to accounting and finance scholars, and suggest ways to deal with it. Given the advent of large commercial CG databases, we also stress the importance of how CG is measured and in particular, the construction of CG indices, which should be sensitive to local institutional arrangements, and the need to capture both internal and external aspects of governance. The 'stickiness' of CG characteristics provides an additional challenge to CG scholars. Better theory is required, for example, to explain whether various CG practices substitute for each other or are complements. While a multidisciplinary approach to developing better theory is never without its difficulties, it could enrich the current body of knowledge in CG. Despite the vastness of the existing CG literature, these issues do suggest a number of avenues for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on genetic programming approach to technical trading. The article discusses about small-cap stocks, and their share of responsibility for incorrect pricing and a sufficient condition for profitable technical trading. It also explores the results of applying the technology of genetic programming (GP) to three popular U.S. stock portfolios namely, the large-cap Russell 1000 index, the small-cap Russell 2000 index, and the broad-based Russell 3000 index respectively.

This research explores the empirical association between takeover bid premium and acquired (purchased) goodwill, and tests whether the strength of the association changes after the passage of approved accounting standard AASB 1013 in Australia in 1988. AASB 1013 mandated capitalization and amortization of acquired goodwill to the income statement over a maximum period of 20 years. We use regressions to assess how the association between bid premium and acquired goodwill varies in the pre-AASB and post-AASB 1013 periods after controlling for confounding factors. Our results show that reducing the variety of accounting policy options available to bidder management after an acquisition results in a systematic reduction in the strength of the association between premium and goodwill. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2001, Malaysia undertook important corporate governance reforms, which saw the integration of the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG) into Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) Listing Rules and the establishment of the Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG), which aims to enhance institutional investor activism. Following this development, this study investigates the relationship between corporate governance and institutional ownership in Malaysia. Our panel analysis of 434 firms listed on Bursa Malaysia during 1999-2002 finds that institutional ownership is positively and significantly related to corporate governance. However, we find that the relationship becomes less positive after 2001, suggesting that the monitoring effects of institutional ownership and corporate governance arise simultaneously and endogenously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to understand how dividend policy is related to ownership and control structure in Hong Kong, where family-controlled firms are widespread. Using data from a sample of 324 listed Hong Kong firms in 2005, our results show that a firm's propensity to pay dividends and the amount of payout decrease with divergence of the controlling shareholder's cash flow rights from control rights. Small to medium size family-controlled firms are significantly more likely to pay dividends and have higher dividend payouts than large family-controlled firms; however, this is moderated by the discrepancy between the controlling shareholder's cash flow rights and voting rights. This study provides empirical support for the expropriation hypothesis. Important academic implications include the need for a more accurate measure of potential expropriation and the need to control for firm size in tests of the relationship between payout policy and ownership structure and control. This study offers insights to policy makers interested in enhancing the legitimacy of corporate governance within their nation. In particular, it highlights that improvements in corporate governance will be most beneficial in smaller firms, where potential expropriation is greatest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines whether Islamic financing can explain three important bank risks in Malaysia. Because of the perceived link between banks' financial stability and the performance of the economy, it is not surprising that the amount of risk faced by banks is of substantial concern to policymakers. The article focuses on three important bank risks: credit risk, interest-rate risk, and liquidity risk. It studies these risks by studying a sample of 23 commercial banks in Malaysia over the period 1988-1996. The focus is on the Malaysian banking system, as it is unique in having both conventional and Islamic interest-free mechanisms operating side by side. Also, Malaysia has developed the most sophisticated and successful transition of its banking sector to accommodate Islamic banks. Despite the growing interest in Islamic banking and finance in both the international business and academic communities, Islamic financial markets are deficient in both liquidity and risk management tools. There has been a broadening and deepening of the financial structure in Malaysia as the economy grew in size, complexity, and sophistication and the demand for new financial services and instruments arose.

Environmental sustainability is a major concern of contemporary societies, businesses, and governments. However, there is a lack of knowledge as to how countries can achieve the goal to end poverty, whilst protecting the planet. It is the objective of our study to examine the moderating role of institutional quality on the financial development and environmental quality nexus in South Asia. Our sample consists of panel data of five South Asian countries (India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan) from 1984 to 2018. We find that financial development increases CO2 emissions in this region, implying that countries in South Asia have utilized financial development for capitalization, instead of improving production technology. Institutional quality moderates the negative impact of financial development on environmental sustainability. An implication of our findings is that efforts to improve institutional quality may help to promote sustainable development in South Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]