Search

This study examines the local government reforms embodied in the Medical Teaching Institution (MTI) Act of 2015 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (KP), Pakistan. The aim of the Act was to improve employee performance in the province’s public teaching hospitals, and this research explores the reforms from the perspectives of key stakeholders, especially with regard to the introduction of performance-related pay. This research fills gaps in the current body of knowledge on performance-related pay in developing countries and makes a significant addition to the few existing studies on this topic. It addresses the contradictory theoretical stance between the discourses of New Public Management and Public Service Motivation on performance-related pay in the public sector. The theoretical concepts are derived by integrating New Public Management, Institutional Theory, Public Service Motivation Theory and Cross-cultural Theory. The study uses a mico-meso-macro framework of analysis to investigate the actions and reactions of those affected by the reforms in three of the public teaching hospitals. The underlying philosophy is one of critical realism. Following the case study approach, a multiple case study involving three public teaching hospitals was designed. The data were collected in three phases from participants at the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), Peshawar, KP, Pakistan. The respondents were doctors, ward managers, members of the boards of governance and the provincial health minister. The semi-structured interviews, as the main data collection tool, were corroborated by participant observation, field notes, memo writing and MTI reforms documents. The MTI reforms were a political initiative by the newly elected government in KP province to address problems of performance, poor service structure and the corrupt appraisal system. Changes included decentralisation, autonomy, a new system of accountability and the introduction of performance-related pay in the case hospitals. Poor communication, conflict of interest, lack of consultation with local actors, poor planning and dismissive behaviour by the higher leadership were the main reasons for doctors’ resistance to the reforms. The research findings show that performance-related pay was acceptable to the study participants due to institutional and social realities in KP, Pakistan and that it did not undermine their public service motivation due to high professional standards and strong religious belief. The research makes a number of contributions. First, it provides rich empirical material on employees’ reactions to public-sector healthcare reform and offers valuable insight into how policy from a secular individualist culture can successfully integrate with a religious collectivist culture. Second, it addresses the contradictory stances of New Public Management and Public Service Motivation on performance-related pay in the public sector by taking an inter-disciplinary approach. Third, this research adds to the body of empirical research on public healthcare reform in a developing country, and fourth, it yields findings which, we hope, will inform and influence the academic community as well as public-sector policy-makers.

Sukuk are an important mode of financing in the Islamic financial system. As usury (interest) is prohibited in Islam, conventional bonds are not suitable for investors in Islamic countries. Since their launch in the 1980s, Sukuk have gained recognition and popularity as a substitute for conventional bonds. However, their unique features mean that Sukuk are not always clearly understood. The aim of this study is to analyse the differences and similarities between Sukuk and conventional bonds in terms of their risk and return characteristics.

This research assessed market efficiency, volatility behaviour, asset pricing, and oil price risk exposure of the oil and gas companies quoted on the London Stock Exchange with the aim of providing fresh evidence on the pricing dynamics in this sector. In market efficiency analysis, efficient market hypothesis (EMH) and random walk hypothesis were tested using a mix of statistical tools such as Autocorrelation Function, Ljung-Box Q-Statistics, Runs Test, Variance Ratio Test, and BDS test for independence. To confirm the results from these parametric and non-parametric tools, technical trading and filter rules, and moving average based rules were also employed to assess the possibility of making abnormal profit from the stocks under study. In seasonality analysis, stock returns were tested for the day-of-the-week and month-of-the-year effects. Volatility processes, estimation, and forecasting were undertaken using both asymmetric and symmetric volatility models such as GARCH (1,1) and Threshold ARCH or TARCH (1,1,1) to investigate the volatility behaviour of stock returns. To determine the effect of an exogenous variable on volatility, Brent crude oil price was used in the models formulated as a variance regressor for the assessment of its impact on volatility. The models were then used to forecast the price volatility taking note of the forecasting errors for the determination of the most effective forecasting model. International oil price risk exposure of the oil and gas sector was measured using a multi-factor asset pricing model similar to that developed by Fama and French (1993). Factors used in the asset pricing model are assessed for statistical significance and relevance in the pricing of oil and gas stocks. Data used in the study were mainly the adjusted daily closing prices of oil and gas companies quoted on the exchange. Five indices of FTSE All Share, FTSE 100, FTSE UK Oil and Gas, FTSE UK Oil and Gas Producers, and FTSE AIM SS Oil and Gas were also included in the analysis. Our findings suggest that technical trading rules cannot be used to gain abnormal returns, which could be regarded as a sign for weak form market efficiency. The results from seasonality analysis have not shown any day-of-the-week or monthly effect in stock returns. The pattern of stock returns’ volatility can be estimated and forecasted, although the relationship between risk and return cannot be generalised. On a similar note, the relationship between volatility attributes and the efficient market hypothesis cannot be clearly established. However, we have established that volatility modelling can significantly measure the quantum of risk in the oil and gas sector. Market risk, oil price risk, size and book-to-market related factors in asset pricing models were found to be relevant in the determination of asset prices of the oil and gas companies.