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This study explores financialization's effects on corporate innovation using data on 711 firms taken from the KIS-Value database (1994–2019) and the generalized method of moments (GMM) model. Scholars warn that aiming solely to maximize shareholders' interests and short-term financial investments places non-financial firms' entrepreneurship at risk. Long-term R&D and real investments decline as a result, leading to stagnant growth. This study investigates whether empirical findings from the US and the UK, where financialization negatively affects corporations' real and R&D investments, apply to the South Korean market. We find that the financialization of South Korean non-financial firms has damaged both real and R&D investments. The first channel of financialization, increased financial investments, reduces real investments and R&D spending. Furthermore, the second channel of financialization, profit-sharing, reduces corporate innovation. The more that South Korean non-financial firms adhere to dividend payments and stock buybacks, the greater the negative impacts on real and R&D investments are. [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.

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]

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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.

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]

Accounting for financial instruments has been subject to much controversy, particularly accounting practices related to derivatives held for hedging purposes. For cash flow hedges, poor matching may result when fair-value accounting is prescribed for the hedging instrument and historical cost is prescribed for the assets that generate the “highly probable forecast transaction” to be hedged. Fair-value accounting may therefore induce excess variations in earnings, which could make a firm appear to be more risky than it actually is. The alternative to fair-value accounting offered by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) to firms with hedging programs, hedge accounting, is allowed only if the designated hedge passes a test for prospective hedge effectiveness. We develop a model for the prospective hedge effectiveness of cash flow hedges and find that the “highly effective” criterion of the FASB and IASB fails to recognize the scope of variation of the hedge effectiveness of pure hedges for different types of risk exposures. Prospective hedge effectiveness is not a reliable signal of a speculative component in a derivative portfolio and, consequently, the current “highly effective” screening mechanism cannot effectively separate pure hedges from derivative portfolios that are partly or fully influenced by speculation. We link these and other findings to the current efforts of the FASB and IASB to reform accounting for financial instruments. [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 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.

Risk taking by the firm is very important for the firm to maximizing its economic resources its value. However, taking huge risk may leads to crisis and other economic problems. The primary objectives of our study is to explore the relationship between ownership structure (Family ownership, institutional ownership and ownership concentration) with risk taking behavior of the firms in listed firms of the Pakistan. Our study uses the data of 270 firm’s data for the period of 2011-2018 that is list in PSX. In this study pooled OLS with Random Effect Panel regression method are used to examine the relationship between the risk-taking behavior and ownership structure. Overall results suggest that institutional ownership has significant and negative relationship with risk taking behavior of the firm. Family ownership and ownership concentration has significant and negative relationship with risk taking behavior of the firms. Firm size has negative relation it means that large firms has various resources in shape of the human resource that has skillful in maintain the risk by also taking the advices of the experts. Growth opportunity has significant and positive relationship with risk taking. In Pakistan there is few researches works on the ownership structure and risk behavior especially on the ownership concentration and family ownership. In our research family ownership, ownership concentration and institutional ownership is taken because in mostly Asian countries has family and institutional owned firms. My suggestion is that some further study should be conducted on corporate governance other factors such as board expertise and knowledge, gender diversity and board qualification that make strong corporate governance and has impact on the risk-taking behavior of the firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

The sudden disruption of academic activities by Covid-19 in the year 2020, compelled government to introduce total lockdown in Nigeria. It is on this premise that this study examined private schools' management strategies amidst lockdown. Four questions were generated to guide the study. The research resign of descriptive and correlation type were used for the study. The study population comprises of proprietors of nursery, primary and secondary schools across the six geo-political zones in Nigeria. An instrument tagged "Private School Management Strategies Questionnaire (PSMSQ)" was employed to collect comprehensive information from the respondents. Findings revealed different strategies employed for managing schools during the lockdown differs. While some perceived no significant difference on income and teaching strategies on the basis of gender, some perceived differences on the basis of population and communication. In the same vein, a significant difference exists on income generation and teaching strategies based on school type and geo-political zones. The study concluded that different strategies employed by proprietors for managing schools during lockdown helped to ensure seamless teaching and learning despite the lockdown. The study recommends that private schools should have uniform strategies that can be used to ensure continuous teaching if there is any pandemic in the future. Lastly, online teaching and learning should be integrated into the school curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study seeks to ascertain the effect of tax avoidance on accounting conservatism of listed non-financial firms in Nigeria. The independent variable, tax avoidance was proxied by Generally Accepted Accounting Principle Effective Tax Rate (GETR), Cash Effective Tax Rate (CETR) and Book Tax Difference (BTD), while the dependent variable accounting conservatism was measured using Negative Accruals (NA). The control variables utilized were leverage, Return on Asset (ROA) and Firm Size (FS). The study covered a period of seven years (2014-2020) and a population of forty-eight listed non-financial firms on the Nigerian stock exchange. The data was analysed using panel regression technique. From the findings, it was discovered that GETR and BTD significantly affect unconditional conservatism with a negative relationship between the variables. Overall, this paper shows that taxation is a determinant of financial reporting conservatism in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to develop an index of asymmetric information that not only captures the information environment but also determines the level of asymmetric information around the firms. The index is constructed through the Principal Component Method (PCM) by incorporating trading volume, price impact measures, relative bid-ask spread, volume coefficient of variation, discretionary accruals, and abnormal returns. Equity data of 280 firms, which comprises 155 firms from agriculture allied sectors and 125 firms from other non-financial sectors of Pakistan is extracted from DataStream and Worldscop for the period of 19 years from 2000 to 2018. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and PCM are used for data analysis. Year by year statistics is calculated to check the level of asymmetric information over the sample period for the full sample, agriculture allied firms, and other non-financial firms. Mean values of the asymmetric information show no specific pattern; however, it increases from 2007 to 2008, the period of financial crises. The pattern of asymmetric information index in agriculture allied firms' data set is different from the two data set. There is less variation in the mean of the data and shows an increase over the time-period with less decrease in some years. The results of the study describe that asymmetric information prevails around the firms and there may be technological advancement as well as the improvement in disclosure policies, to minimize the level of asymmetric information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the contribution of non-financial firms to systemic risk in the entire financial system and the corresponding firm-specific determinants. Thus, we develop a new measure of systemic risk with a test of our hypothesis that separates systemic risk from systematic risk. We also consider the firm-level determinants of contributions to systemic risk using a fixed-effects model and a logit model. Using data on companies in the CSI 300 index from 2008 to 2016, we find that our extreme value theory (EVT)-copula method is a good fit for testing the joint probability distribution of extreme returns as well as diverse dependence patterns with asymmetry and non-linearity characteristics. The empirical results provide evidence against the marginal expected shortfall (MES) method without a mechanism to test the statistical significance of determination. Several non-financial firms, though not all financial institutions, can generate significant spillover effects on the financial system. Our regression results suggest that, among firms with a significantly positive contribution to systemic risk, smaller firms have greater spillover effects on the financial system in China. Moreover, economy-wide systemic risk information and dynamic identification on systemically important firms deserve more attention in terms of macro-prudential regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

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

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.

Financial independence is one big puzzle that many firms struggle to unravel. This is due to the scarceness of economic resources. Very many enterprises get various investment projects but some of these projects are not able to be implemented by the management of these enterprises because of insufficient investment funds. The specific objective of this research study was to investigate the mediating effect of financial leverage on the relationship between investment decisions and Financial Standing of non-financial firms listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kenya. The main theory supporting this research study was the financial constraint theory of Investment. This research obtained data of 30 non-financial firms from the Nairobi Securities Exchange hand books and Capital markets authority annual reports by use of document guide review, for the period 2013 to 2018. This research study analyzed data using stepwise regression analysis. From the stepwise regression hypothesis test results, it was observed that Financial Leverage does not mediate the association between Investment choices and Financial Standing of the non-financial firms listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kenya. Therefore, this research study recommends that the managers of the firm should consider borrowings as an important asset to the firm as it has a significant effect on the return on assets ratio and market share price to book share price ratio of non-financial firms and therefore decide whether to use it to make investment decisions. [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]

The decision to replace the assets of the firm with new ones has been troubling many decision makers across firms. Replacement choices arise from technological and statutory changes. The fixed assets of the firm wear out as they continuously get used during production. If it also happens that the assets of the firm are replaced before the end of their economic lifespan, then the firm is likely to incur a loss. This loss arises as a result of the failure to optimally use the asset. However previous studies indicate that timely replacement choices lead to good financial standing of firms. The specific objective of this research study was to investigate the impact of Replacement choices on Financial Standing of non-financial firms listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, Kenya. The main theory supporting this research study was the Q theory of Investment. This research obtained data of 30 non-financial firms from the Nairobi Securities Exchange hand books and Capital markets authority annual reports by use of document guide review, for the period 2013 to 2018. This research study analysed data using descriptive and panel data regression analysis. From the Panel data regression hypothesis test results, it was observed that Replacement choices have a negative non-significant outcome on the return on assets and fixed assets turnover ratio of the non-financial firms. However, it was observed that Replacement choices have a negative significant outcome on the market share price to book share price ratio of the non-financial firms. Therefore, this research study recommends that, by assessing the behaviour of Replacement choices of non-financial firms, the investors can be able to monitor when new assets are being bought to replace existing assets that are still productive for the firm. Therefore the firm can hence make the decision to invest in a firm that utilizes invested funds viably. Shareholders can also monitor their firms using Replacement choices in order to know whether their funds are being invested wisely or not by the management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Cash holdings has always remained a key issue in the field of corporate finance, investment and financing decisions. However, the evidence from the past studies regarding cash holdings and its determinants lacks the ability to present a detailed examination of the subject matter. Majority of the research analysis is being carried out in the developed economies like UK and USA and the results obtained are not generalizable to the developing countries, like Pakistan. According to the research authors in the field of finance such Shah and Hijazi (2004) and Akbar et al. (2013) accounting procedures, tax laws, leadership styles, reporting systems and institutional structures of both developed and developing countries have striking differences, which justify the reason for further research, to investigate the determinants of cash holdings. To achieve our goal, the study used fixed effect regression model. The study has taken 349 non-financial Pakistani firms listed on KSE100 index for the time period 2005 to 2012. The results reveal that capital employed and leverage has positive impact on cash holdings. However, the result is statistically insignificant for the capital employed. Cash flow, networking capital and size has negative and significant impact on cash holding. The global financial crisis has negative impact but the result is not statistically significant indicating that it has no statistically significant impact on cash holding of non-financial firms of Pakistan. [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]

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.

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.

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.

Jagolinzer et al. (The information content of insider trades around government intervention during the financial crisis. Working paper, 2014) examine insider trading at banks that were bailed out by the U.S. taxpayers. They provide evidence that insiders of bailed-out banks profitably purchased their banks' shares over a 9 month period after the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) was announced in October 2008. They find that the purchases were profitable for up to 12 months after the purchases. However, Liu et al. (J Bank Finance 37:5048-5061, 2013) find that shareholder gains at the bailed out banks occurred only after the banks paid back the TARP funds, which in most cases occurred after 2010. In this paper we extend Jagolinzer et al.'s (2014) analysis to financial institutions that did not receive TARP funding as well as to non-financial firms. We find that insiders of the non-TARP financial and the non-financial firms traded their shares profitably after the TARP program was announced. Insider share purchases at these firms were highly profitable for up to 12 months after the purchases. However, insider purchases at the bailed-out banks were slightly profitable only for a month after the purchases, after which the shares that were bought declined in value. Our results for the TARP banks do not corroborate Jagolinzer et al.'s (2014) results, but are consistent with the evidence in Liu et al. (2013) and several other papers that examine the wealth effects of TARP program announcements and fund repayments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tunneling, the most severe practice in non-financial firms, harm a firm's performance, bring lose to minority shareholders and discourage potential investors. Agency conflict between minority and majority shareholders causes tunneling activities to take place. This study is aimed at examining the influence of CEO compensation and cash holding on tunneling in the non-financial firms in Pakistan. Several statistical techniques and models (regression, Hausman model, fixed effect model etc.) have been applied to examine the subject phenomenon. Finding of the study shows that both cash holdings and CEO compensation have significant positive impact on tunneling and thus cause minority shareholders' expropriation. Firms usually pay good compensation and hold more cash to safeguard the benefits of controlling shareholders. Finding also confirms gradual increase in tunneling over a period. Study provide detailed examination of tunneling phenomenon to reshape the regulatory policies regarding concentrated firms and hence to flourish the new ventures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the role of voluntary adoption of corporate governance mechanisms in mitigating the financial distress status of firms. Using the sample of 52 firms from non-financial sector listed at Karachi Stock Exchange and selecting time period of 10 years from 2006 to 2015, the study finds out the practices that are beneficial for firms and helps them in reducing the financial distress. Results of the study show that there is a negative significant relationship of blockholder ownership, director ownership and audit committee with the probability to financial distress. The causal relationship is also tested, and results show that voluntary adoption of corporate governance structures leads towards lower level of financial distress.

This study investigates the association between income smoothing and stock market price volatility of non-financial firms listed on Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) for the period extending from 2011 to 2017. Utilizing a sample of firms listed on the ASE and controlling for four variables (firm sector, size, profitability, financial leverage, and trading volume), the results indicated that there is no significant relationship between the firm's income smoothing and stock market price volatility. The results also indicated that firm size is the only variable with significant association with volatility, where larger firms have less volatile stock price than smaller ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between audit firm rotation and tax avoidance. Modified auditor opinions were used as an audit quality. The findings of the study suggest that mandatory audit firm rotation has not an indirect effect on temporary and permanent book-tax differences via modified auditor opinions. Moreover, voluntary and no-audit firm rotation was found to have an indirect relationship with temporary book-tax differences via the modified auditor opinions. The nonBig4 audit firm findings suggest that voluntary and no-audit firm rotations have an indirect relationship with the temporary book-tax difference via modified auditor opinions. We also find strong evidence that voluntary and no-audit firm's rotation increase tax avoidance via modified auditor opinions in non-SOEs. The findings of this study suggest that voluntary and no-audit firm rotation increases tax avoidance via modified auditor opinions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tests the Pecking Order Theory for the capital structure of listed firms in Pakistan. As per Pecking Order Theory in capital structure formulation, internally generated resources would have first priority, followed by debt issuance where equity is used as a last resort. In its strong form, the Pecking Order Theory sustains that equity issues would never occur, whereas in its weak form, limited amounts of issues are acceptable. The methodology adopted in this empirical study involves cross-section regressions and the testing of hypotheses stemming from the underlying theory in its strong and weak forms. A sample of capital structure of non-financial firms listed at KSE is considered from 2001 to 2008. A statistical tool of panel data regression analysis is used to test different firms’ data. The value of R2, t-test and F-Stat indicate firms in KSE supporting the weak form of pecking order theory, i.e., the option of using internal equity and debt is more preferred and a limited amount of external equity is used for reinvestment and fund raising purposes.

This paper aims to identify the financial ratios that are most significant in bankruptcy prediction for the non-financial sector of Pakistan based on a sample of companies which became bankrupt over the time period 1996-2006. Twenty four financial ratios covering four important financial attributes, namely profitability, liquidity, leverage, and turnover ratios, were examined for a five-year period prior bankruptcy. The discriminant analysis produced a parsimonious model of three variables viz. sales to total assets, EBIT to current liabilities, and cash flow ratio. Our estimates provide evidence that the firms having Z-value below zero fall into the “bankrupt” whereas the firms with Z-value above zero fall into the “non-bankrupt” category. The model achieved 76.9% prediction accuracy when it is applied to forecast bankruptcies on the underlying sample.