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The study empirically examines the factors affecting the financing decisions of non-financial listed companies in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Using static and dynamic two-step generalized method of moments techniques, it analyzes unbalanced panel data from 364 non-financial companies across six GCC countries from 2011 to 2021. The findings partially support optimal capital structure theories, highlighting significant internal factors such as profitability, market-to-book ratio, firm size, earnings volatility, and growth opportunities that influence financing decisions. While no single theory fully explains the financing choices, the association of internal factors with book and market leverage is consistent. The study provides robust and generalizable results, aiding financial institutions and policymakers in formulating pro-development policies and regulations. This research facilitates better coordination between corporate managers and financial institutions, supporting the region's economic transition. It is the first study to use extensive data from GCC non-financial firms to investigate financing decisions, offering valuable insights for investors and a basis for further analysis of capital structure choices in the region and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The study empirically examines the factors affecting the financing decisions of non-financial listed companies in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Using static and dynamic two-step generalized method of moments techniques, it analyzes unbalanced panel data from 364 non-financial companies across six GCC countries from 2011 to 2021. The findings partially support optimal capital structure theories, highlighting significant internal factors such as profitability, market-to-book ratio, firm size, earnings volatility, and growth opportunities that influence financing decisions. While no single theory fully explains the financing choices, the association of internal factors with book and market leverage is consistent. The study provides robust and generalizable results, aiding financial institutions and policymakers in formulating pro-development policies and regulations. This research facilitates better coordination between corporate managers and financial institutions, supporting the region’s economic transition. It is the first study to use extensive data from GCC non-financial firms to investigate financing decisions, offering valuable insights for investors and a basis for further analysis of capital structure choices in the region and beyond.

This study seeks to investigate the potential effects of the recent pandemic (COVID-19) on capital structure dynamics. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a fascinating topic for this study because of its distinct economic characteristics. The analysis draws upon a cross-country dataset covering 208 non-financial listed firms across five GCC countries, with data spanning the years 2010 to 2022. Capital structure is a dependent variable and is measured by total debt to equity, equity multiplier, and short-term debt ratios, while the COVID-19 pandemic, firm size growth, return on assets, tangibility, and growth were applied as independent variables. Using the generalized least squares (GLS) method, findings demonstrated that COVID-19 has a significant and positive influence on debt-to-equity and equity multiplier ratios but a negative one on short-term debt ratio. Thus, non-financial firms increased their debt financing and transferred debt from short-term to long-term funding. In addition, firm-specific factors, such as firm size, tangibility, and macroeconomic factors, such as GDP growth, positively and significantly impact capital financing. Conversely, profitability has a negative relationship with financial leverage. There is a lack of empirical research on how COVID-19 affects the financial structure of non-financial listed companies in GCC nations. Consequently, by filling the previously specified gaps, this study provides proof to support the idea of using debt financing to raise capital for economic recovery. GCC policymakers need to give priority to ensuring that firms have convenient access to inexpensive finance in light of the financial consequences caused by COVID-19. This will guarantee that companies have the resources necessary to bounce back and support economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Economic Research & Business Administration is the property of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract Distressed companies create panic among the investors, and the overall effect comes on the economy and leads to a degraded image and value of the companies. Transparency and disclosure involve disclosing the operational as well as the financial performance and corporate governance practices employed by the firms. A corporation or person is said to be in a financial distress (FD) if they are unable to keep their pledge to make payments on time. The current study seeks to shed light on the effects of Financial Distress (FD) and Transparency and Disclosure (T&D) on the value of non-financial firms operating in India. The study makes use of panel data analysis (PDA). The authors of the study used secondary data of non-financial companies included in the S&P BSE 100 index for five fiscal years, from 2015–2016 to 2019–2020. Altman Zscore for FD measure and Tobin's Q, MCAP, and MTB for the firm's valuation is considered. Our study established that Financial Distress (FD) negatively impacts a firm's valuation because a positive association between Zscore (financial soundness) and a firm's value is found. However, Transparency and Disclosure (T&D) have no significant impact on the firm’s valuation. We also find evidence that financial distress significantly impacts the value of firms under the influence of T&D. With the help of information about financial distress provided in our study, companies can analyze and take required steps to minimize the probability of being in a state of insolvency or being bankrupt. Investors can also gain knowledge of the business factors and their effect on a company's valuation so that they can cautiously choose and include healthy companies in their targeted list of companies to invest in. No such study has been conducted till now in any of the developing countries that include finding the impact that (FD) as well as (T&D) have on the value of the firms in the non-financial sector.

Abstract This paper analyzes the nonlinear relationship between corporate ownership structure and income manipulation through accrual-based earnings management in the Egyptian context. To do so, we develop a sample of 78 listed non-financial firms, covering the period 2008–2017. Using the dynamic panel threshold analysis approach (Seo and Shin in J Econom 195: 169–186, 2016), we found a nonlinear relationship between ownership structure and earnings manipulations. This proves the presence of an optimal ownership structure threshold below which the ownership structure generates an entrenchment effect on earnings management. However, above this threshold, the ownership structure has an alignment effect. Certainly, these results confirm the theoretical predictions in relation to managerial ownership, governmental ownership, and earnings management (agency, political and development theories, respectively). These results yield important policy implications. It is recommended to set an optimal threshold of ownership structure to control the firm`s managers. This is likely to avoid earnings management.

This paper quantifies the systemic importance of non-financial firms by assessing their contribution and vulnerability to systemic shocks. We apply two firm-specific measures, namely Delta CoVaR (ΔCoVaR) and Marginal Expected Shortfall (MES), to evaluate the systemic risk of 205 non-financial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange over the period from 2005-2021. We apply quantile regression methodology to quantify (ΔCoVaR). We confirm that a significant number of firms contribute to both system-wide shocks and are vulnerable to systemic risk of the whole system. We find that firms with a high-risk score in one area are not always high-risk in another. Measures of systemic risk vary significantly across time, between firms and industries. Energy and transport industries are top contributors to systemic risk however, tobacco and pharmaceuticals are among the top industries that are vulnerable to systemic risk of the whole system. We conclude that non-financial firms are systemically important and this risk should be mitigated. This research offers significant insights for policymakers and other relevant stakeholders both domestically and internationally. It aims to help policymakers examine their macro-prudential policy, which now solely takes into account financial firms, to limit the risk that can spread throughout the entire system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earnings management still become a phenomenon both in Indonesia and abroad. Many cases of earnings management practices have occurred and the company's amount of leverage is one of the drivers of earnings management practices. This research aims to examine and describe the relationship between various debt policy, profitability, and company size on earning management moderated by firm age. The selected samples were 102 companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in 2010-2018. The independent variables in this study include DER, bank debt, short-term debt and long-term debt, age, and company size. Earnings management as the dependent variable in this study uses the Modified Jones Model. The results of the regression equation analysis show that all debt policy proxies consistently have a negative and significant effect on earnings management. Furthermore, the company's experience as a proxy for firm age strengthens the relationship between debt policy and earnings management practices. More interestingly, specifically among the three debt policies, bank debt is the policy that is most able to represent the influence on earnings management practices. This indicates that the most effective monitoring of earnings management practices comes from banking institutions. Overall, the profit information shown in financial statements is the product of earnings management, so the level of quality of financial reports is deserving of close inspection and prudence when making decisions based simply on profit information.

This study seeks to investigate the potential effects of the recent pandemic (COVID-19) on capital structure dynamics. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is a fascinating topic for this study because of its distinct economic characteristics. The analysis draws upon a cross-country dataset covering 208 non-financial listed firms across five GCC countries, with data spanning the years 2010 to 2022. Capital structure is a dependent variable and is measured by total debt to equity, equity multiplier, and short-term debt ratios, while the COVID-19 pandemic, firm size growth, return on assets, tangibility, and growth were applied as independent variables. Using the generalized least squares (GLS) method, findings demonstrated that COVID-19 has a significant and positive influence on debt-to-equity and equity multiplier ratios but a negative one on short-term debt ratio. Thus, non-financial firms increased their debt financing and transferred debt from short-term to long-term funding. In addition, firm-specific factors, such as firm size, tangibility, and macroeconomic factors, such as GDP growth, positively and significantly impact capital financing. Conversely, profitability has a negative relationship with financial leverage. There is a lack of empirical research on how COVID-19 affects the financial structure of non-financial listed companies in GCC nations. Consequently, by filling the previously specified gaps, this study provides proof to support the idea of using debt financing to raise capital for economic recovery. GCC policymakers need to give priority to ensuring that firms have convenient access to inexpensive finance in light of the financial consequences caused by COVID-19. This will guarantee that companies have the resources necessary to bounce back and support economic growth.

This paper quantifies the systemic importance of non-financial firms by assessing their contribution and vulnerability to systemic shocks. We apply two firm-specific measures, namely Delta CoVaR (ΔCoVaR) and Marginal Expected Shortfall (MES), to evaluate the systemic risk of 205 non-financial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange over the period from 2005-2021. We apply quantile regression methodology to quantify (ΔCoVaR). We confirm that a significant number of firms contribute to both system-wide shocks and are vulnerable to systemic risk of the whole system. We find that firms with a high-risk score in one area are not always high-risk in another. Measures of systemic risk vary significantly across time, between firms and industries. Energy and transport industries are top contributors to systemic risk however, tobacco and pharmaceuticals are among the top industries that are vulnerable to systemic risk of the whole system. We conclude that non-financial firms are systemically important and this risk should be mitigated. This research offers significant insights for policymakers and other relevant stakeholders both domestically and internationally. It aims to help policymakers examine their macro-prudential policy, which now solely takes into account financial firms, to limit the risk that can spread throughout the entire system.

AbstractThe current study aims at examining the impact of earnings management on equity liquidity in the Vietnam stock market when considering the direction of earnings management. We used two proxies of equity liquidity, namely quoted spread and effective spread, and analyzed the data using ordinary least squares (OLS), fixed and random effect models (FEM, REM), and regression with generalized least squares (GLS) to determine the most suitable model. The findings of the study indicate that when downward earnings management increases, the quoted spread also decreases, thus the bid-ask spread is low, meaning that the liquidity is high. This can be explained by the fact that when firms conduct downward earnings management to reduce taxes, investors may expect to buy stocks from these firms at a better price, leading to an increase in trading demand on the market. Whereas upward earnings management has no impact on quoted spread. Our results also showed that there is no evidence to suggest that earnings management has an impact on the effective spread. This means that, in the absence of other factors, an increase in earnings management in either upward or downward directions does not affect the difference between buying and selling prices.

Distressed companies create panic among the investors, and the overall effect comes on the economy and leads to a degraded image and value of the companies. Transparency and disclosure involve disclosing the operational as well as the financial performance and corporate governance practices employed by the firms. A corporation or person is said to be in a financial distress (FD) if they are unable to keep their pledge to make payments on time. The current study seeks to shed light on the effects of Financial Distress (FD) and Transparency and Disclosure (T&D) on the value of non-financial firms operating in India. The study makes use of panel data analysis (PDA). The authors of the study used secondary data of non-financial companies included in the S&P BSE 100 index for five fiscal years, from 2015–2016 to 2019–2020. Altman Zscore for FD measure and Tobin's Q, MCAP, and MTB for the firm's valuation is considered. Our study established that Financial Distress (FD) negatively impacts a firm's valuation because a positive association between Zscore (financial soundness) and a firm's value is found. However, Transparency and Disclosure (T&D) have no significant impact on the firm's valuation. We also find evidence that financial distress significantly impacts the value of firms under the influence of T&D. With the help of information about financial distress provided in our study, companies can analyze and take required steps to minimize the probability of being in a state of insolvency or being bankrupt. Investors can also gain knowledge of the business factors and their effect on a company's valuation so that they can cautiously choose and include healthy companies in their targeted list of companies to invest in. No such study has been conducted till now in any of the developing countries that include finding the impact that (FD) as well as (T&D) have on the value of the firms in the non-financial sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the nonlinear relationship between corporate ownership structure and income manipulation through accrual-based earnings management in the Egyptian context. To do so, we develop a sample of 78 listed non-financial firms, covering the period 2008–2017. Using the dynamic panel threshold analysis approach (Seo and Shin in J Econom 195: 169–186, 2016), we found a nonlinear relationship between ownership structure and earnings manipulations. This proves the presence of an optimal ownership structure threshold below which the ownership structure generates an entrenchment effect on earnings management. However, above this threshold, the ownership structure has an alignment effect. Certainly, these results confirm the theoretical predictions in relation to managerial ownership, governmental ownership, and earnings management (agency, political and development theories, respectively). These results yield important policy implications. It is recommended to set an optimal threshold of ownership structure to control the firm's managers. This is likely to avoid earnings management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the impact of corporate governance on working capital management, which has been relatively overlooked despite its significance on corporate performance. Using the Ordinary Least Square regression model, a model was developed to assess the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Secondary data from the annual reports of 42 non-financial firms listed on the Frankfort and Oslo stock exchanges from 2017 to 2021 were collected. The dependent variable, working capital management, is indicated by cash holding, while the independent variable, corporate governance, is measured through five proxies: board meeting, board remuneration, the board size, CEO remuneration, and CEO tenure. Leverage and firm size are involved as control variables. The findings revealed that board meetings, board remuneration, CEO remuneration, and CEO tenure exhibit a positive and significant relationship with working capital management. However, board size demonstrated a negative but insignificant relationship. Additionally, the study showed that leverage has a negative relationship, while firm size has a positive relationship with working capital management. In conclusion, the study suggests that future research should focus on the financial sector to conduct comparative analyses with other sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study has examined the effect of liquidity risk on performance of non-financial firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The main objective was to assess the degree of influence liquidity risk measured by (standard deviation of quick ratio and current ratio) have on performance (return on assets) of the non-financial firms in Nigeria. Data from all the 87 non-financial firms listed on NSE were extracted through financial reports and analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation and regression through STATA version 16. The findings revealed that current ratio have negative and significant effect on performance, while the quick ratio was not significant in influencing performance. The result implies that an increase in liquidity risk (difficulty in running the operations and offsetting short term maturing obligations), leads to a significant decrease in performance of the firms. The result also confirms that the standard deviation of current ratio provides better measurement of liquidity risk. It was however concluded that, liquidity risk has negative and significant effect on performance of firms in Nigeria. The study recommends that more attention should be given to liquidity management to minimize the risk of insolvency or bankruptcy of firms in Nigeria as such will help in reducing liquidity risk issues and improve performance of the non[1]financial firms in Nigeria.

Faulty board configurations associated with risk management practices are alleged to be the primary sources of most corporate failures. Therefore, experts have suggested that firms should adopt holistic risk management practices. This study investigates the interactive effect of board characteristics with risk management activities on the performance of listed Nigerian non-financial firms. The study is anchored on the agency theory perspective. It is designed as ex post facto inquiry with a population of 113 companies, from which a sample of 96 firms was drawn from firms with a complete set of data. Secondary data were extracted from the NSE Factbook and Thomson Reuter’s DataStream for 2010–2019. The static panel regression technique was utilized to analyze and estimate the interaction between the variables. The findings show that all the independent variables positively impacted ROA of the listed firms. Nevertheless, concerning market evaluation (Tobin-Q), except for board financial experts and audit committee meetings, risk management committee meetings and the presence of chief risk officer showed an insignificant impact. The combined implication is that although firms have complied with the provision of the CG codes on risk governance structure, the improvements associated with risk management aimed at enhancing market evaluation are nonetheless not deeply embedded in these firms. Firms are suggested to implement effective risk management practices to achieve competitive advantages and substantiality. More studies are advocated to extend the literature by expanding the scope.

• The property rights-intangible investment nexus is examined in the African context. • The study uses the local projections methodology. • The sample covers non-financial firms for twelve countries between 1996 and 2020. • We find that propery rights protection increases the intangible investment. This empirical study examines the impact of property rights on intangible investments in sub-Saharan African (SSA) non-financial firms using firm-level data. The study employs a local projections methodology for twelve SSA countries over the period 1996–2020. Our empirical results show that property rights protection increases intangible investment in non-financial firms in the SSA region. This effect is significant for the SSA region in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis research assesses the effect of capital adequacy on the corporate performance of quoted non-financial firms operating in Nigeria. Several studies on the influence of capital adequacy on corporate performance have been conducted without specific focus on non-financial entities despite their growing contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The study utilized the ex-post facto research design using secondary data obtained for the period 2011–2020. A sample of thirty-eight (38) out of sixty-three (63) listed non-financial firms were purposively selected while data obtained were analyzed using multivariate regression. The study found that while capital adequacy ratio, equity capital/total assets ratio and cost income ratio negatively affected corporate performance, debt equity ratio and firm size positively influenced corporate performance of quoted non-financial firms operating in Nigeria. It therefore concluded that firm size and profitable use of debt capital in the capital mix of non-financial firms are key factors that can positively drive their corporate performance. Consequently, it recommended that the management of non-financial firms should explore opportunities inherent in profitable use of debt capital to further improve their performance and hence returns to their respective stakeholders. Additionally, regulators of non-financial firms operating in Nigeria should strengthen the risk management monitoring framework to ensure market discipline and balanced growth and development of the firms.

The global economic crisis in 1997 significantly impacted all corporate firms. Measuring valuation is becoming increasingly important in corporate firm analysis. Transparency in disclosures enables a company to meet market expectations while also adhering to regulatory requirements. The study's primary purpose is to measure the impact of transparency and disclosures on the valuation of non-financial firms in India and explore the role of Environmental, social and Governance (ESG) as a moderator variable in determining the firm's value. Panel data regression is the methodology adopted for the data analysis in the study. Panel Data of seventy-six non-financial firms was collected for ten years (2011–2020). Market capitalization is considered as a proxy variable for the valuation. The study results indicate that transparency and disclosures (TD) have a negative and significant influence on the value of the firms. Inferring that a higher degree of TD reduces the firm value. At the same time, the interaction term of TD and ESG show a positive significant association. This finding implies that high ESG reduces the negative impact of high TD on the valuation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study examined effect of break-even analysis on decision making of listed non-financial firms in Nigeria, between 2010 and 2020. Specifically, the study examined the effect of selling price, production cost and sale volume on profit after tax of listed non-financial firms in Nigeria. The study adopted an ex-post-facto research design and secondary data was gathered to analyze the relationship between the variables. The population of the study consisted fifteen (15) industrial companies listed on Nigeria Exchange Group; however, only five (5) samples were selected from the population. The data was collected from annual reports of 5 sampled listed non-financial firms covering a period of ten (10) years (2010-2020). The collected data were analyzed using correlation analysis, panel regression and other post estimation techniques. The decision making was measured with profit after tax. From the results of the findings, it was revealed that profit after tax is positively impacted by the break-even analysis of the listed non-financial firm in term of selling price and sale volume. Thus, cost of production reported negative effect on profit after tax. The study concluded that breakeven analysis has positive effect on decision making of non-financial firms in Nigeria, especially when measured in term of profit after tax. Based on the findings, it was recommended that management of nonfinancial firms in Nigeria needs to put all possible strategies in order to lower the production cost to maximizing profit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examining Chinese non‐financial firms between 2016 and 2019, this study documents that the new accounting standard for financial instruments imposes severe implementation costs on affected firms, as evidenced by a significant rise in the selling of available‐for‐sale (AFS) equity investments and increased audit fee premiums. We also find that the disposal of AFS is more prominent in state‐owned enterprises (SOE) and firms issuing corporate bonds. The increase in audit fees is more severe for non‐SOEs, bigger audit firms and firms with a higher total account balance affected by the new standard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese and Korean financial systems are distinct from those in the western economies. Considering this, we examine how the dividend policy of the firms in two of the largest economies of East Asia is determined by the internal attributes of firms. Firm-level data from 1,773 Japanese and 1,035 Korean firms were evaluated using panel data techniques, and some interesting similarities and differences in the dividend policies of both countries were unearthed. For example, in both countries, larger firms pay higher dividends, whereas those firms with volatile earnings pay low dividends. It was also determined that Korean firms pay more dividends when their profitability surges. On the other hand, cash dividends in Japanese firms decline when there is an increase in their profitability level. Overall, the dividend policy of Korean firms resembles more to those in Anglo-Saxon countries, while the dividend policy of Japanese firms bears little resemblance to other established financial systems. This study is the first to compare and contrast the internal dynamics of dividend policy for both the Japanese Keiretsus and Korean Chaebols while evaluating a huge universe of firms from both countries. Transnational studies are important to draw parallels and differences. The findings of this study offer important implications for various stakeholders, including managers, investors, and policymakers. Also, the results pave the way for a theoretically enriched understanding of dividend policy by comparing and contrasting diverse financial systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The data set of this article is related to the paper “Do Board of Directors’ Characteristics Matter in Restraining Earnings Manipulation? Empirical Evidence from Pakistan Stock Exchange” Khan and Kamal, (2021) [1]. This data article presents the raw data of 315 non-financial listed firms of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (hereafter, PSX). The data relating to the Board of Directors has been manually extracted from 1890 annual reports of the concerned companies and the financial data were extracted from State Bank of Pakistan sources, business-recorder1 and PSX Data portal2. The dataset is an unbalanced panel data consisting of 1882 firms’ year's observations from 2014 to 2019 based on 315 non-financial listed firms consists of 20 variables. This paper's dataset is valid and useful for researchers/scholars in many ways such as linking the board of directors to corporate governance, internal governance vs external governance, audit quality, financial reporting quality, firm performance, industry performance, corporate social responsibility and government regulation.

The interdependency between capital structure (financing decision), profitability, and ultimately the going concern of firms either financial and non-financial has ripple effect on the overall economy and this has made it imperative for finance experts and academic researchers to continue to dig deep into its influencing factors to scientifically contribute to this ever topical and germane issue. This study examined the firm-specific and macro-economic determinants of capital structure of financial and non-financial firms listed on the exchange. The study obtained data from eighteen (18) financial firms and forty-four (44) non-financial firms for the period 2010 and 2017. The study employed the panel fully modified ordinary least square method after carrying out the stationarity test and test of cointegration. Findings from the study revealed that earnings per share, liquidity, firm size, and revenue growth are the key firm-specific determinants of capital structure for both financial and non-financial firms are. The paper also found that macroeconomic determinants of capital structure for non-financial firms include real effective exchange rate and banking sector development while that of financial firms are GDP growth rate, inflation, and real effective exchange rate and banking sector development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of debt financing to firms as a basis for decision-making cannot be over-emphasised. This implies that the maturity structure of debts becomes important for understanding the outcomes of firms’ decisions. There is a dearth of evidence from the Nigerian context in the current body of literature on factors that determine debt maturity structure of listed firms. We observed a persistent and steady decline in the average ratio of length of maturity period among non-financial firms among listed non-financial firms in Nigeria. This study examined the extent to which non-debt tax-shield, liquidity, assets intensity, diversification, investors’ confidence, growth opportunity, firm size, profitability and dividend policy determines the debt maturity structure of non-financial firms in Nigeria. The secondary data collected from the annual reports of a sample of 92 listed non-financial firms were analysed using the Two-stage Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) regression model for the period between 2010 and 2015. The results indicate that the non-debt tax-shield, liquidity, assets intensity, diversification, growth opportunity, firm size and the dividend policy significantly determine the debt maturity structure among the listed non-financial firms in Nigeria. However, the evidence is not enough to conclude that profitability and investors’ confidence determine the debt maturity structure among the non-financial firms in Nigeria. Firm diversification and liquidity appeared to have the most profound negative effect on the debt maturity structure in line with predictions of special use of debt hypothesis and the pecking order theory. Overall, it is concluded that the firm-specific factors determine the choice of debt maturity structure among Nigerian listed non-financial firms. Although the findings of the study are robust, future studies in the areas can extend the literature by identifying and investigating institutional and macroeconomic factors that drive debt maturity structure in Nigeria.

This study analyzes the effect of intellectual capital and firm performance in non-financial firms. The firm performance comprises of market performance and financial performance of the firm. This study also breakdown the non-financial firms between three sectors that are the primary sector, manufacturing sector, and service sector. The three sectors are the three main sectors in the economy. This study measures intellectual capital in different ways using the intellectual capital index. The data were analyzed with unbalanced panel data regression and multiple regression. This study found that intellectual capital positively affects market performance and financial performance in non-financial firms. This study also found that intellectual capital positively affects market performance and financial performance in manufacturing and service firms, but in primary sectors, this study found inconclusive results when analyzed and used two different measurements. This study contributes to the firms in non-financial firms about the development of intellectual capital in the knowledge-based economy because intellectual capital is an asset that can create market performance and financial performance.

Copyright of Journal of Economic Research & Business Administration is the property of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Capital structure and firm's efficiency have been one of the major topics discussed in corporate financial parlance due to its importance for the survival and sustainability of firms. Several theories such as the pecking order theory, trade-off theory, agency cost theory, and capital structure irrelevant theory have been employed to delineate the relationship between capital structure and firm efficiency. This study examined the moderating effect of firm size on capital structure and firm efficiency of listed firms on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The data for eighteen (18) financial firms and forty-four (44) non-financial firms was obtained for the period 2010 and 2017. For this study, the panel fully modified ordinary least square method (PFMOLS) was employed because all the variables are stationary at a first difference and are cointegrated. More so, the PFMOLS can rectify the problem of serial correlation and heteroscedasticity and give an optimal estimate. The outcome of the study revealed that firm size has a moderating effect on the relationship between capital structure and efficiency of non-financial firms, while it has no moderating effect on the relationship between capital structure and firm efficiency of financial firms in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between the mandatory adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and the disclosures of corporate risk among nonfinancial firms in Saudi Arabia. Based on the observation of 320 firm-year from 2015 until 2017, this study reveals a positive relationship between the mandatory adoption of IFRS and the corporate risk disclosures. The relationship holds when we decompose corporate risk disclosures into financial and non-financial risk disclosures. The results are consistent for both the pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and random effects estimations. Additionally, the result is steady with all primary categories except risk management. We also provide evidence that large firms are more likely to adopt IFRS and reveal more risk information than small firms. This study's findings are relevant for market regulators in their attempt to improve corporate risk disclosures among listed firms in Saudi Arabia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the last few decades, the firms have shifted their focus towards risk management from traditional risk management practices to enterprise risk management. For this purpose, the current study is designed to investigate the critical firm's characteristics that influence firms to adopt enterprise risk management practices. The data for this study comprises of 65 non-financial firms during the period 2009 to 2017. Binary Logistic and robust least square method was administered to determine the relationship among variables. Empirical results revealed that large firms, firms with a higher return on assets, and firms having more independent directors on board leads towards the implementation of enterprise risk management. The study also found a significant encouraging relationship between implementing of this risk management and Tobin's Q both in the short and long run. The implementation of an enterprise risk management system augments the performance of the firm soon after the induction of this system as revealed by the results.

This study investigates the capital structure decisions in presence of asymmetric information. It attempts to capture the effect of asymmetric information on capital structure by utilizing the equity data of 280 firms listed at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), comprising of 155 firms from agriculture-allied sectors and 125 firms from other non-financial sectors for 19 years from 2000 to 2018. This research finds that asymmetric information shows a significant impact on capital structure decisions of the firms and plays a significant but highly negative role in agriculture-allied firms as compared to those of other non-financial firms. The study concludes that asymmetric information prevails in manufacturing firms working in Pakistan. It further suggests that managers of the firms prefer debt instead of equity financing to mitigate the effect of asymmetric information [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates Financial Performance and Corporate Social Responsibility in listed Non-financial firms in Nigeria from 2009 to 2018. CSR practice by companies is virtually affected by their operations and performance. Therefore, companies with better performance are expected to engage more in CSR and consider public interest in corporate decision making. The population of this study covers all the seventy-five (75) listed non-financial firms in Nigeria from January 2009 - 31st December, 2018, from these a sample of fifty six (56) listed non-financial firms were selected by filtering. Narrowing down, the study to more specific term, it examines the effect of return on investment and net profit margin using leverage as control variables on CSR of listed non-financial firms in Nigeria. The Researcher employs correlational and expo-facto research designs using panel multiple regression as techniques of data analysis. Quantitative approach was adopted in the study and the study aligns to positivist paradigm. The study reveals that return on investment positively, strongly and statistically determines CSR measured at 1% level of significance respectively. Also, net profit margin positively influences the CSR of listed non-financial firms in Nigeria measured at 5% level of significance. The result implies that financial performance determines the CSR of non-financial firms in Nigeria. The study concludes that nonfinancial firms with high performance invest more in Corporate Social Services than low performing once. Therefore, the study recommends amongst others that managers of nonfinancial companies in Nigeria should improve their internal control mechanism for cost reduction and increase of net profit margin. While for return on investment, the management of listed non-financial firms should maintain quality assets that are durable. This is necessary because of the potential of companies that have such assets to vote more funds towards CSR.

This article covers comprehensive data on firm-level corporate governance practices as imposed by the Jordan Securities Commission (JSC). The study includes panel data for 95 non-financial Jordanian listed firms (industrial and service sector) in Amman Stock Exchange (ASE). The time frame used for this study is from 2012 to 2017. Data presented were extracted from the annual reports of each firm. The annual reports had been downloaded from the official website of the ASE. The data can be used easily by the researcher to develop and calculate a corporate governance index that involves thirty-two internal governance attributes and is comprised of three equally weighted sub-indices. The first sub-index which is “Disclosure and Transparency” consists of 15 unique attributes. While the second sub-index, “Board Effectiveness and Composition” consists of 9 unique attributes. The last sub-index which is “Shareholders Rights” consists of 8 unique attributes. Thus, the un-weighted corporate governance index has an important feature that is easily replicated and modified, enabling the researcher to rate firms based on an aggregate index score or by using the sub-indices score also.

The study examined corporate governance and the performance of non-financial firms in Nigeria within the canonical correlation analytical framework. The study validated the relationship between set of corporate governance variables and set of firm's performance variables using relevant data extracted from the firm's published annual financial statements and various issues of the Nigerian stock exchange fact books spanning 2011-2018. The results from this study provided evidence to prove the existence of a statistically significant association between sets of corporate governance and sets of firm's performance variables using the Wilks' Lambda, Pillai's trace and Lawley-Hotelling trace at the 5 percent significance level and Roy's Largest root at the 1 percent significance level. The implication of this study is that corporate governance is highly instrumental in improving the performance of non-financial firms in Nigeria. In other words, an improvement in corporate governance indices will inevitably boost the profitability of non-financial firms in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the last few decades, the firms have shifted their focus towards risk management from traditional risk management practices to enterprise risk management. For this purpose, the current study is designed to investigate the critical firm's characteristics that influence firms to adopt enterprise risk management practices. The data for this study comprises of 65 non-financial firms during the period 2009 to 2017. Binary Logistic and robust least square method was administered to determine the relationship among variables. Empirical results revealed that large firms, firms with a higher return on assets, and firms having more independent directors on board leads towards the implementation of enterprise risk management. The study also found a significant encouraging relationship between implementing of this risk management and Tobin's Q both in the short and long run. The implementation of an enterprise risk management system augments the performance of the firm soon after the induction of this system as revealed by the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Digital transformation exacerbates shadow banking by non-financial firms. • Digital transformation will dampen shadow banking by non-financial firms. • There is a certain scale of shadow banking among non-financial listed enterprises in china. Using an unbalanced panel dataset from Chinese non-financial firms spanning 2008–2021, this research explores the relationship between digital transformation and shadow banking. Contrary to expectations, the evidence indicates that digital transformation accelerates shadow banking rather than suppressing it. A result resilient to potential endogeneity, proxy variables, and outlier exclusion. Furthermore, shadow banking exacerbates operational risk, a pattern particularly prominent among firms with underdeveloped digital capabilities, intimating that digital maturity may alleviate the detrimental impacts. This study elucidates the economic repercussions of shadow banking in the digital transformation epoch, yielding valuable insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of market sentiments on the bankruptcy risk propensity of firms has been extensively explored in the literature. However, less attention has been paid to whether the corporate life cycle plays any role in this nexus. The purpose of this research is to unveil how the corporate bankruptcy risk propensity responds to market sentiments, and whether this sentiments–risk relationship varies over different stages of the corporate life cycle. Using a sample of 301 Pakistani non-financial listed firms for 2005–2014, we employ two-step generalized method of moments (GMM) regression estimation to address the issue of endogeneity. Empirical evidence reveals that managers tend to escalate a firm’s bankruptcy risk during high market sentiments. Further analysis indicates that during the period of positive market sentiments, introduction stage firms prefer to assume the highest bankruptcy risk followed by decline and growth firms, while mature firms continue to be risk-averse. This research contributes to the corporate finance literature by suggesting that managerial risk-taking is influenced by market sentiments and corporate managers show a different attitude towards risk at different stages of the corporate life cycle. Therefore, to ensure enterprise sustainability, capital market regulators should have a robust risk management framework in place to discipline the excessive risk-taking by firm managers over different stages of the corporate life cycle. Moreover, investors and creditors shall take into consideration the respective life cycle stage of the firm to minimize the risk exposure of their investment portfolios. Our results are robust to alternate econometric specifications and alternate variable specifications.

This study attempts to investigate the impact of trade credit on the growth of non-financial firms of Pakistan. Most of the businesses move from traditional business transactions to automated and sophisticated credit transaction methods. As large firms have better access to financial institutions and markets but still, they are interested to seek firm growth by adopting the trade credit policies. This study collects information from non-financial firms of Pakistan. Panel data is used to explore the impact of trade credit on firms growth. The data collect from the year 2001- 2015 of 257 non-financial firms of Pakistan. A technique of panel data analysis, generalized method of moment used to analyze the data. The results suggest that the trade credit and GDP have a positive significant impact on firms’ growth. Moreover, Firm’s age, its size and inflation in the economy have also impacted the firm’s growth but in negative direction. Finally, the non-financial listed firms of Pakistan can achieve their growth targets by adopting trade credit policies

We set out in this study to determine whether there are any discernible variations in the relationship between accounting quality and the cost of capital that may be attributable to the level of institutional ownership. Our analysis involves a flexible econometric approach, based upon a 'panel smooth transition regression' (PSTR) analysis, using data on 64 listed firms in Taiwan covering the period from 2000 to 2017. Our results provide clear evidence to suggest that the relationship between accounting quality and the cost of capital does indeed vary with changes in the level of institutional ownership, a finding which, having relaxed the assumption that the interpretations of accounting information amongst investors are homogeneous, goes beyond the general finding within the extant literature of a linear relationship between accounting quality and the cost of capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflecting the unsolved tensions regarding the transition from micro to macro results in Minsky's Financial Instability Hypothesis (FIH), there are many 'Minskian' interpretations of how financial fragility builds up reflecting the unsolved tensions regarding the transition from micro to macro results in Minsky's FIH. Using firm-level and macroeconomic data to comply with the variety of FIH's interpretations, we empirically assess the relations between leverage and financial fragility in the US economy (1970–2014). To evaluate firms' financial fragility, we deploy Minsky's scale—from the financially sounder to the more fragile firms: hedge, speculative and Ponzi. The main findings are the following: (i) the evolution of the aggregate leverage ratio does not account for the systemic financial fragility, measured by the frequency of speculative and Ponzi firms, and (ii) within the biggest firms, the leverage has increased along with the incidence of hedge financing, and for the smallest firms group the opposite has happened. We conclude that a positive relation between leverage and financial fragility cannot be deemed to be a general outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a comparative analysis of manufacturing and services industry is conducted to test the relationship between corporate governance and cash holdings of non-financial listed firms in Pakistan. Several proxies for corporate governance were used, such as the institutional ownership, directors’ ownership, ownership concentration, board size and board independence. To avoid omitted variable bias in explaining cash holdings of these firms, seven control variables were also included namely growth, dividend, size, leverage, capital expenditures, net-working capital and cash flows. The study reveal that for manufacturing firms the growth is found to be positively related with cash holdings, while size of firm, leverage and networking capital are negatively related with the cash holdings. On the other side, for servicing firms, board independence and dividend are directly related to cash holdings while leverage and net-working capital are negatively related to cash holdings by these firms. However, most of the proxies are found to be insignificant, which is an indication of weak corporate governance in Pakistan in determining the cash holding decision.

In this research paper we have investigated the key factors which make it easier for non-financial firms to arrange financing from commercial banks. We have collected the data from the year 2001 to 2011 from 220 non-financial firms in Pakistan. We have used two measures of firm-bank relationship. First, if a non-financial firm has a board of director who is at the same time board of director of a commercial bank. Second, if a commercial bank has an equity stake in a non-financial firm. After using Fixed Effect model we have found that firm-bank relationships always matter for arranging bank loan for non-financial firms in Pakistan.

This paper examines how equity liquidity affects firms’ investment decisions. We use an unbalanced panel data for a sample of 360 non-financial firms of Pakistan for the period 2001-2016. We apply the Hausman specification test to identify whether fixed or random effects model is appropriate. Using two alternative measures of equity liquidity, we find that equity liquidity has a significant positive impact on firms’ investment decisions. We also show that several firm-specific factors are significant in determining firms’ investment policy. The findings of the paper have significant implications for both policymakers and firm managers. Our results support the liquidity premium hypothesis.