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AbstractThe empirical literature on the association of cash flow volatility and debt maturity structure is limited and inconclusive. This article investigates the impact of cash flow volatility on debt maturity structure, and the interaction effect of cash flow volatility and fixed assets on debt maturity structure. This article applies the two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) method and uses 1672 non-financial public listed firms for a 10-year period starting from 2011 to 2020. The findings indicate a significant negative association between cash flow volatility and debt maturity structure of firms in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and African countries. Moreover, the interaction of cash flow volatility and fixed assets is significantly and negatively related to debt maturity structure in MENA and African countries. These findings suggest the need for firm-managers to effectively manage the cash flow risk and consider collateral benefits of fixed assets when choosing the debt maturity structure.

This paper investigates the direct association between cash flow volatility and capital structure (i.e. debt ratio). This study further examines the moderating role of fixed assets on the association between cash flow volatility and capital structure in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and African markets. This study applies a two-step system generalized method of moment regression as the main estimation technique to minimize endogeneity concern. The data consist of non-financial listed firms in 20 MENA and African countries covering 2011 to 2020. The results reveal that cash flow volatility is significantly and positively related to capital structure of MENA and African firms. The results also reveal that fixed assets have a negative moderating impact on the relationship between cash flow volatility and the capital structures of MENA and African firms. The results are robust to different estimation techniques. The findings inform managers to consider cash flow stability as a major factor in corporate risk management and strategic decision making and consider fixed asset investment decisions and the quality of fixed assets as a significant factor in debt choice. Moreover, policymakers should formulate efficient capital structure policies that consider cash flow stability factors and encourage fixed asset investments.

The inhabitant of Ilaporu settlements solely depends on groundwater for domestic and agricultural purpose as a result of scarcity and contamination of surface water. The present study therefore aimed at investigating the physicochemical and geochemical composition of Ilaporu groundwater for domestic and agricultural suitability. Hand-dug well waters were picked randomly from thirty (30) major agricultural settlements with the aid of Global Position Satellite (GPS). The physical parameters such as Hydrogen ion concentration (pH), Electrical conductivity (EC),) and Total Dissolved Solid (TDS) were measured in-situ while the chemical compositions of cations (Ca2+, K+, Mg2+ and Na+) and anions (Cl−, F−, SO42−, NO3−and CO32−) were obtained through laboratory procedure. The water was subjected to an analytical measurement utilizing an Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (AAS) to examine seven heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Ni, Fe, Mn, Co, and Zn). This study was conducted to examine various water geochemical pollution and contamination indicators, including degree of contamination (DoC), modified degree of contamination (mDoC), enrichment factor (ER), accumulation index (Igeo), pollution loading index (PLI), ecological risk potential (ERIP), and health risks related to carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic substances. Water quality indexes such as the permeability index (PI), sodium adsorption ratio (SAR), soluble sodium percentage (SSP), sodium percentage ratio (%Na), residual sodium carbonate and bicarbonate (RSC and RSBC), Kelly's ratio (KR), and magnetic ratio (MR) were also used to evaluate the suitability of the water for irrigation. The geochemical result obtained revealed that the water has no trace of lead (Pb) contamination while other heavy metals obtained are within the acceptable limit of WHO and NSDWQ, except cadmium. The water quality index (WQI) was obtained to range between 1.11 and 23.76%. The result implies that the water falls in the excellent categories of the water quality index, thereby making it suitable for both domestic and irrigation. The PLI, DoC and mDoC water contamination/pollution index revealed PLI

AbstractThe study aims to analyze the effect of internal CSR practices on firm efficiency, focusing on the moderating role of women board members. Using a sample set of 5,997 firms from 39 countries between 2008 and 2019, this study performs Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to measure firm efficiency and applies a panel regression to investigate the moderation effect of women board members. The empirical results show that women board members play a crucial moderating role in the relationship between internal CSR and firm efficiency. In general, the link between internal CSR and firm efficiency becomes more positive as the proportion of women board members grows. Similar results were reported in the group of developed country. In the developing status group, however, the role of women board members in the positive relationship between internal CSR and firm efficiency was not significant. This study is novel since no prior research has examined the relationship between the presence of women board members in internal CSR-firm efficiency relationships. Moreover, this study employs a broader range of research data, making the conclusions more representative. We recommend investigating additional characteristics of top management, such as experience, education, and age, for future studies.

This article analyses the effect of fixed assets and goodwill assets on South African firms’ debt ratios. The difference and system generalized method of moment estimation results reveal that fixed assets and goodwill assets have significant and positive relationship with firms’ debt ratios. To secure long-term debt, fixed assets and goodwill assets are required as collateral by creditors. Our results show firms’ adjust to long-run optimal debt level, but at a slow adjustment rate. Our results suggest there are costs preventing South African firms from adjusting faster to their long-run optimal debt level. The practical implication of the paper is that policy makers should promote policies that encourage further development of the capital market. Moreover, firms need both fixed assets and goodwill assets as collateral to raise the desired optimal debt that maximizes firm value.