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Under the unstable environments, firms should have well-prepared slack resources to meet future investment opportunities, and cushion impacts of changing external environments, especially financial crises. The study tries to investigate the effect of financial slack and operational slack on firm performance (ROA) by using samples of 125 listed real estate companies. The study also examines the moderating effect of episodes of financial crises on relationship between slack resources and ROA. The empirical results of the study show that financial slack has U-shape relationship with ROA, whereas operational slack has no relationship with ROA. Secondly, the subprime financial crisis of 2008-2009 causes inhibiting effect on relationship between of financial slack and ROA, while the crisis causes facilitating effect of operational slack and ROA. In addition, the European debts crisis causes facilitating effect on relationship between financial slack and ROA.

The article discusses the company’s oil and gas investment opportunities. Abroad, venture capital companies provide opportunities for direct investment in the growing oil and gas industry. With extensive experience in developing horizontal oil and natural gas fields, venture capital firms use long-term industry knowledge to provide their partners with high-yield investment opportunities that allow them to diversify their investment portfolios and ensure a stable cash flow while simultaneously getting the right to benefits and significant tax. Venture companies are constantly working to reduce the risks associated with oil and gas projects by partnering with the best operators in the industry. This article discusses the company’s oil and gas investment opportunities. Abroad, venture capital companies provide opportunities for direct investment in the growing oil and gas industry. With extensive experience in developing horizontal oil and natural gas fields, venture capital firms use years of industry knowledge to provide their partners with high-yield investment opportunities that allow them to diversify their investment portfolios and ensure stable cash flow and simultaneously entitle benefits and significant tax. Venture companies constantly working to reduce the risks associated with oil and gas projects by partnering with the best operators in the industry.

Although the negative effects of geopolitical events get more attention, geopolitical events also create positive investment opportunities. From globalization to free trade, international cooperation has complex implications for investing.

Digital innovation hubs (DIHs) are a strategic means to drive European Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) digital transition. The European Commission has envisioned four main functions characterizing DIHs' service portfolios (“Test before invest”; “Support to find investments”; “Innovation eco-system and networking”; and “Skills and training”). However, DIHs target different functions, e.g. focusing on helping launch novel digital technologies to market, or directing investment opportunities. DIHs are also at different maturity levels, interact with different actors and exist in regions with different conditions for innovation. There might not be an equal need for all four functions, and they might not be equally well served. This study aims to explore and derive implications for the deployment of the four main functions by DIHs. It builds on the activities of DIHs involved in the DIH initiative through several innovation actions, including FED4SAE and HUBCAP. QC 20211122 FED4SAE HUBCAP SOMI

This paper examines how firms adjust cash holdings following horizontal mergers in the industry. Using a sample of 16,597 horizontal mergers between US firms from 1984 to 2016, we find that in the three-year period following horizontal mergers, the marginal value of cash decreases for the rivals with lower investment opportunities. Rivals with low Tobin’s Q reduce cash while the rivals with high Tobin’s Q hold more cash. These results suggest that rival firms adjust cash holdings in a way that is more consistent with their investment opportunities. Using a control group of firms exposed to withdrawn horizontal mergers, we argue that the relations between horizontal mergers and the cash adjustments are likely to be causal. Overall, these results imply that horizontal mergers are likely to increase the non-merging rivals’ competitive pressure.

Stock prices reflect firm performance and aggregate investor information about investment opportunities. We show that these dual roles are in tension: when prices are more informative about future investment, they are less effective at incentivizing managerial effort. Overall firm value need not increase with price informativeness; both decreasing transparency and allowing for ex-post inefficient investment can increase firm value. We show that standard empirical measures of price efficiency are incomplete and derive testable predictions for the price-sensitivity and composition of managerial compensation.

The idea that a nation cannot have a thriving economy whilst protecting the environment has long been discarded. The idea that a nation cannot have a thriving economy whilst protecting the environment has long been discarded. The growing sustainability advocacy has inspired the growth of enterprises with green objectives and created investment opportunities for every nation. One of such economic innovations of this growing advocacy is “green financing”. Green financing basically aims to increase financial flows, through investors and financial institutions, to aid entities with green objectives in fulfilling developmental priorities. However, the potentials of this practice are far from being realized in Nigeria. In embracing green financing, Nigeria can thrive economically and sustain her environment. Why then is this trend not an enviable reality in Nigeria? This article posits that the existence of a proper framework that facilitates the creation and existence of entities with developmental priorities, incorporates green financing instruments into the activities of current financial institutions and guarantees the protection of investors, is key to transforming Nigeria’s current reception to traditional and Islamic green finance, making her a global hub for these trends. Sustainability advocacy has inspired the growth of enterprises with green objectives and created investment opportunities for every nation. One of such economic innovations of this growing advocacy is “green financing”. Green financing basically aims to increase financial flows, through investors and financial institutions, to aid entities with green objectives in fulfilling developmental priorities. However, the potentials of this practice are far from being realized in Nigeria. In embracing green financing, Nigeria can thrive economically and sustain her environment. Why then is this trend not an enviable reality in Nigeria? This article posits that the existence of a proper framework that facilitates the creation and existence of entities with developmental priorities, incorporates green financing instruments into the activities of current financial institutions and guarantees the protection of investors, is key to transforming Nigeria’s current reception to traditional and Islamic green finance, making her a global hub for these trends.

Prominent institutional investors argue that climate transition - moving from a high-carbon economy to a low-economy - creates investment opportunities in green assets and casts doubt on the viability of brown assets. This simplistic view overlooks the fact that an asset's impact on climate change does not determine its expected returns. Expected returns depend, as always, on payoffs, probabilities, and preferences. Contrary to the promises of climate-themed investment sellers, simple financial analysis suggests that brown firms may outperform green firms in a large number of scenarios, whether or not the low-carbon transition succeeds or fails.

We study firms' hiring decisions in a world in which both managers and investors are prone to expectation errors. We show that high managerial sentiment increases employment growth, especially at firms with worse investment opportunities and low-quality corporate governance, and during times of low investor sentiment. Using data on U.S. publicly traded companies and CEO option holdings, we find evidence consistent with these predictions. The results unveil a new channel through which managerial sentiment affects firms' operations, and suggest that managerial optimism can counter the negative effect of pessimistic investors on labor markets.

This study aims to analyze how the company's internal funds and investment opportunities impact the company’s investment decisions conditional to the financing constraints experienced. We classify companies into three categories based on the SA Index; low, neutral, and high-financing constraints. We analyze 278 non-financial companies listed on the Indonesia Stock. Exchange during 2014-2018 using multiple regression methods. There is an indication that companies experiencing a financing constraint have a higher investment-cash flow sensitivity than companies with a low financing constraint. We found that internal funds and investment opportunities positively and significantly affect companies' investment with high financing constraints and companies with the neutral category. Meanwhile, we did not find a statistically significant relationship between independent variables - the internal fund and investment opportunity - and investment for companies with low financing constraints.

This chapter focuses on financial investments, coming either from public or private asset managers and institutions. It has two main targeted readers (without any exclusion): (i) public and private capital providers, with the objective of presenting traditional and alternative financial instruments and schemes capable to align risk-return profiles of several investment opportunities in the clean energy sector, (ii) project developers, in order to increase awareness of the financial mechanisms available in the market.

This paper studies the relation between economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and the marginal value of corporate cash holdings. We find that the markets place a lower value on firms’ cash holdings under high level of EPU. Our quasi-experiment tests relating to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the gubernatorial elections support the causal relationship between EPU and the value of cash holdings. Further, we show that this relation is more pronounced for firms with less redeployable capital assets, more investment opportunities, poor corporate governance, or positive excess cash. Overall, our evidence suggests that cash is not always king especially in periods of high uncertainty of policies.

A firm’s investment responds to the stock valuations of other firms headquartered nearby. This response is stronger among financially constrained firms, is robust to controlling for the investment of other firms in the region, and is driven by the valuations of large firms. These findings are difficult to reconcile with existing theories that link investment opportunities to firm valuations, but instead suggest that a firm’s access to credit rises and falls with the valuations of other firms located nearby. Consistent with this explanation, financially constrained firms issue more debt and receive lower loan spreads when neighboring firms have higher valuations.

The port is well endowed with numerous opportunities that is continually tapped by players of the sector which includes but not limited to; freight forwarders, exporters and importers, shipping lines, customs etc. thus contributing to job creation, increased global value chain and development at the ports. The times of global disruption requires a re-think and bold decisions to invest in areas such as ports to propel the economy for the future. Regardless of time, investments remain constant and therefore a proactive approach to our ports with the AFCFTA coming into effect will help create investment opportunities for the country

This paper examines the role of a related bank in the investment efficiency of business-group firms. We show that a bank is associated with less investment sensitivity to investment opportunities for family group firms, especially in financially dependent industries. There is evidence of inefficient related lending in that the weakened investment sensitivity for family firms is linked to related-bank net-charge-offs. Alternatively, a bank is associated with greater investment sensitivity for family group firms in well-developed banking systems, and for non-family group firms in financially dependent industries. Ownership type and financial development seem pivotal for the role of a related bank.

Crowdfunding is a new form of both investment opportunities and source of raising capital. The aim of this chapter is to explore the understanding of the newly invented crowdfunding, types of the existing platforms of the industry. Authors investigated crowdfunding platforms that are registered in securities commission Malaysia and Kapitalboost platform of Singapore and their mode of investment. Authors also looked in depth and reviewed a current literature on crowdfunding. An investment model of crowdfunding that will be suitable for the Muslim investors who are looking into an ethical investment that will contribute to the wellbeing of the societies as whole through Mudharabah and Musharakah investment. The findings explored that equity crowdfunding could bring more benefit and less harm to entrepreneurs. Consequently, there are two types of models that are based on equity-in and equity-out; hence, the chapter recommends the equity crowdfunding over the debt-based through Islamic investment method of Musharakah and Mudharabah investment.

There is a class of cyclical stocks in the financial markets whose share price fluctuations are highly correlated with product prices, the empirical part of the article also provides strong evidence for this view, and in essence, such fluctuations are related to the supply and demand of products, which are mainly related to supply-demand imbalances, competition, slow adjustment of supply-side capacity, low barrier characteristics and hoarding psychology. At the same time, it is important to identify investment opportunities and risks in the causes of the cyclicality.

The paper discusses the relationship between the People's Republic of China and Angola in the 21st century in the broader context of Chinese economic activity in Africa. I discuss the effectiveness of the “Angola Model” of this relationship as a gateway for cooperation with Africa. The main research question is whether the “Angola Model” is an effective way to increase China's involvement in Africa and whether it has been applied to other countries on the continent? I hypothesise that the implementation of this model allows China to intensify economic cooperation with African countries because this model brings mutual benefits to partners. China gains access to energy resources, new markets and investment opportunities, while African states obtain loans, revenues from the sale of raw materials and assistance in infrastructure development. To some extent, the Angola Model also allows China to spread political influence, but the example of Angola shows that it has several limitations. China has implemented elements of economic cooperation characteristic of the Angola Model in many African countries.

We examine whether diversification is valuable in reducing the cost of debt for COVID-19-exposed firms. We find that although the pandemic has increased firms’ borrowing costs, both business and geographic diversifications reduce bond yield spreads for COVID-19-exposed firms. This highlights that the coinsurance features and enhanced investment opportunities of diversified firms are valuable during difficult times. We also find that unrelated diversification and diversification in countries with low COVID-19 uncertainty have a more substantial effect on reducing the bond spreads of COVID-19-exposed firms. These findings are essential for building a complete picture of the effect of COVID-19 on borrowing costs.

In contrast to traditional investment markets, in P2P lending platforms it is more difficult for individuals to assess the risk of the available investment opportunities. Because of this difference, it is unknown in the literature how the news of fraud on a platform affects other legitimate platforms. By using data from a natural experiment, the 2015 Ezubao scandal in China, we show that as a consequence of negative news about a platform, all players operating in a different platform (borrowers, lenders, and the platform itself) are worse-off due to the contagion. Moreover, we present evidence that high-income individuals and those that contracted loans with investment purposes are disproportionally affected by contagion from negative news.

This study focuses on terrorist attacks as exogenous shocks on business uncertainty, specifically whether terrorist attacks affect the value of a firm's cash holdings. We find that firms with excess cash have higher cash holding values when a terrorist attack occurs near their locations; these results also hold for the excess stock returns of firms that increased their cash holdings. Furthermore, the results strengthen when firms face more financial constraints, fewer agency conflicts, and better investment opportunities. Overall, this study suggests that cash is a more valuable asset under the circumstance with high uncertainty such as terrorist attacks.

This monograph looks at three case studies from Australia. Two cases come from Sydney. The third features entrepreneurs from Perth. All case studies come from Australia’s leading sharing economy accelerator, The Sharing Hub. Since it was established in 2016, The Sharing Hub has mentored sharing economy start-ups and allowed collaboration on investment opportunities. The hub is the brainchild of some of Australia’s most successful entrepreneurs.

Prior studies document increased share repurchase activity after the temporary tax holiday under the American Jobs Creation Act (AJCA) of 2004. Our study examines the moderating effect of financial statement readability on share repurchases in response to a temporary reduction in repatriation tax. Building on prior literature, we argue that firms with excess cash overseas, despite the lack of investment opportunities, produce less readable financial statements to hide bad news. We find that firms with less readable financial statements initiated higher levels of share repurchases after the AJCA. Our results contribute to the existing literature showing (1) firms hold excess cash overseas mainly for tax reasons rather than for nontax reasons such as precautionary motives or empire-building concerns and (2) firms return excess funds to investors rather than squander the funds once the tax cost of repatriation is reduced. Firms that suffer from the overinvestment problem using hard-to-read financial statements to hide the bad news of a lack of investment opportunities are more likely to benefit from the tax cut. Our study provides timely evidence of potential firm response to the 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act, which permanently removes the repatriation tax.

The objective of this article is to better understand the decision to distribute dividends to shareholders and to determine the impact of growth opportunities on them in Cameroonian SMEs. To achieve these objectives, we borrowed a combined (mixt approach), thus qualified as a “harmonious methodological marriage” The results from the qualitative study allowed us to have a panoramic vision of the different dividend distribution practices in Cameroon. This study was able to highlight new variables little dealt with in the literature such as the influence of the personality of the leaders, the corporate culture, the questioning of the explanatory power of the signal theory and confirmed the way in which dividend distribution cultures are carried out like the predictions of the agency theory. In addition, this qualitative study coupled with the quantitative study, benefited from secondary data through statistical and Fiscal Statements (DSF) over a period of 6 years; question to examine the subject’s relationship. In this sense, our empirical validation matches the work of Rozeff (1982); Bajaj and Vijh (1990); Wang and al., (1993), Agrawal and Jayaraman (1994); La Porta and al., (2000); Fama and French (2001); Mancinelli & al., (2006); Kim and Gu, (2009) and contradicts the work of Walter, (1956); Brennan, (1970)., L’objectif de cet article est de mieux appréhender les décisions de distribution de dividendes aux actionnaires et de déterminer l’impact des opportunités de croissance sur celles-ci dans les PME camerounaises. Pour atteindre ces objectifs, nous avons emprunté une approche méthodologique combinée (approche mixte), qualifiée ainsi de «mariage méthodologique harmonieuse». Les résultats issus de l’étude qualitative nous ont permis d’avoir une vision panoramique des différentes pratiques de distribution de dividendes au Cameroun. Cette étude a pu mettre en avant de nouvelles variables peu traitées dans la littérature comme l’influence de la personnalité des dirigeants, de la culture d’entreprise, la mise en doute du pouvoir explicatif de la théorie du signal et a confirmé la façon dont sont menées les cultures de distribution de dividende à l’instar des prédictions de la théorie de l’Agence. Par ailleurs, cette étude qualitative couplée à l’étude quantitative, a bénéficié des données secondaires au travers les Déclarations Statistiques et Fiscales (DSF) sur une période de 6 ans; question d’examiner la relation du sujet. En ce sens, notre validation empirique rejoint les travaux de Rozeff (1982); Bajaj et Vijh (1990); Wang et al., (1993); Agrawal et Jayaraman (1994); La Porta et al., (2000); Fama et French (2001); Mancinelli et al., (2006); Kim et Gu (2009) et contredise les travaux de Walter (1956); Brennan (1970).

Green investment opportunities can help to close the country's infrastructure funding gap and also meet its climate commitments. The Green Infrastructure Investment Opportunities - Brazil 2019 was developed to facilitate the engagement between project owners and developers, and investors. The report analyses the development of the sustainable finance market in Brazil, and the investment opportunities in green infrastructure across four key sectors: low carbon transport, renewable energy, sustainable water management, and sustainable waste management for energy generation. Moreover, it also lists alternatives for unlocking the country's potential in sustainable infrastructure investment as well as identifying a range of actual projects that are in the pipeline for development and which could potentially access green finance.

EnglishThis article aimed to analyze the effects of dividend smoothing on the relevance of accounting information. By estimating Lintner's partial adjustment dividend model (1956), the variable dividend adjustment speed ( ) proxy for dividend smoothing was extracted, which was included in the relevance model of the accounting information of Collins, Maydew & Weiss (1997). As a result, it was possible to point out that there is little dividend smoothing in Brazil and that this variable has positive and negative effects, respectively, on earnings and shareholders' equity. From these results, it is possible to infer that, due to their aversion to the risk of expropriation, minority investors would tend to demand the maximum possible dividends and the minimum retained earnings, regardless of investment opportunities. The results observed converge towards the acceptance of the outcome model, which implies that the dividend smoothing should be considered as a monitoring instrument as a way of increasing the explanatory power of accounting information and minimizing the risk of expropriation of minority shareholders. portuguesO objetivo deste artigo foi analisar os efeitos da suavizacao de dividendos sobre a relevância da informacao contabil. Por meio da estimacao do modelo de ajustamento parcial de dividendos de Lintner (1956) foi extraida a variavel velocidade de ajustamento dos dividendos (c_i) proxy para a suavizacao de dividendos, a qual foi incluida no modelo de relevância da informacao contabil de Collins, Maydew & Weiss (1997). Como resultados, foi possivel apontar que ha pouca suavizacao de dividendos no Brasil e que esta variavel tem efeitos positivo e negativo, respectivamente, sobre o lucro e o patrimonio liquido. A partir desses resultados e possivel inferir que, por conta de sua aversao ao risco de expropriacao, os investidores minoritarios tenderiam a exigir o maximo possivel de dividendos e o minimo de retencoes de lucros, independentemente das oportunidades de investimentos. Os resultados observados convergem para a aceitacao do efeito resultado, o que implica dizer que a suavizacao de dividendos deve ser considerada como instrumento de monitoramento como forma de aumentar o poder explicativo da informacao contabil e de minimizar o risco de expropriacao dos minoritarios.

Context: several methods for evaluating real options have been extensively studied and published. But recombining binomial trees, known as lattices, are perhaps one of the most practical and intuitive approaches to model uncertainty and price project managerial flexibilities for real options applications. Although the Cox, Ross, and Rubinstein (1979) lattice model is simple to implement for financial options, modeling real options lattices requires a different approach such as the one proposed by Copeland and Antikarov (2001), which considers project cash flows as dividends in the lattice model. Objective: in this tutorial, we propose a code in an open-source software with intuitive guidelines to help researchers and practitioners model real options lattices from project cash flows. Method: our code considers the correct project’s volatility estimation, dividend yield modeling, and lattice building. Results: the results show how real options can affect the value of projects. Conclusions: as a contribution, this tutorial provides a simple mechanism for analyzing investment opportunities in projects that have uncertainty and flexibility. RESUMO Contexto: diversos métodos para avaliação de opções reais foram extensivamente estudados e publicados. Mas as árvores binomiais recombinantes, conhecidas como treliças, talvez sejam uma das abordagens mais práticas e intuitivas para modelar incertezas e precificar flexibilidades gerenciais de projetos. Apesar de o modelo de árvore binomial de Cox, Ross e Rubinstein (1979) ser de simples implementação para opções financeiras, essa modelagem para opções reais requer uma abordagem diferente, como a proposta por Copeland e Antikarov (2001), que considera os fluxos de caixa do projeto como dividendos. Objetivo: neste tutorial, propomos um código em software aberto com diretrizes intuitivas para ajudar pesquisadores e profissionais a modelar malhas binomiais de opções reais a partir de fluxos de caixa de projetos. Método: nosso código considera a estimativa correta da volatilidade do projeto, a modelagem do rendimento de dividendos e a construção da treliça. Resultados: os resultados mostram como as opções reais podem afetar o valor de projetos. Conclusões: como contribuição, este tutorial fornece um mecanismo simples para analisar oportunidades de investimento em projetos que possuem incerteza e flexibilidade.

This study examines the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on capital investment by Australian firms. Following a replication of prior US evidence (Gulen and Ion 2016), we show that EPU has a persistent and negative effect (up to four years) on capital investment by Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) listed firms, in contrast to the more short-lived effect of EPU in the US. The different results are consistent with the high proportion of ASX-listed firms in the resources and mining industries, where investment projects frequently proceed in stages and have time-to-build considerations. In accordance with real option theory, the findings reinforce the notion that EPU can dampen investment opportunities due to investment irreversibility.

Using a novel pairwise measure of firms’ acquisition of rivals’ disclosures, we show that investment opportunities drive interfirm information flows. We find that these flows predict subsequent mergers and acquisitions as well as how and how much firms invest, relative to rivals. Moreover, firms’ use of rivals’ information often hinges on the similarities of their products. Our results suggest that rivals’ public information, far from being unusable, helps facilitate investment and product decisions, including acquisitions and product differentiation strategies. The findings also support a learning mechanism that could partly underlie the emerging literature on peer investment effects.

We study how pension fund (out)performance is influenced by a) a pension fund’s activity, i.e., how much the pension fund deviates in its stock allocation from typical pension fund behavior, and b) whether the pension fund is patient in exploiting investment opportunities (measured by stock holding duration). We do not find that high activity or higher holding duration, separately, lead to higher risk adjusted returns on average. However, if high activity is paired with long-term holdings, the pension fund’s performance increases. Quantitatively, if an active pension fund increases its duration by one standard deviation, annual returns tend to increase by 2.3%. Our findings indicate that some pension funds are patient enough to exploit long-term investment opportunities.

The article focuses on the features of crowdfunding in Russia. The method of research is PEST analysis. The objective of the study was to analyze opportunities as well as problems and unsolved issues that are connected with crowdfunding in Russia. The main drivers of the development of crowdfunding in Russia, revealed in the paper, are as follows: new legislation, devoted to the crowdfunding; real need of small and medium enterprises as well non-governmental organizations in additional financial resources; demand from individual and institutional investors for new investment opportunities, especially under the conditions of lowing of the interest rates; active use of financial technologies. The most serious factors, that constrain crowdfunding in Russia, identified in the paper, are as follows: some unsolved regulatory issues; poor investors’ protection and possibility of fraud; low levels of real income and savings; low profitability of many businesses. The analysis provides a basis for different participants (projects’ founders, investors, policy makers) to exploit opportunities and minimize threats of this new approach in the sphere of finance.

В статті визначено необхідність активного залучення інвестицій у розвиток інноваційної діяльності задля виробництва енергії з альтернативних джерел, розвитку використання АДЕ та підвищення енергоефективності країни. Проаналізовано інвестиційний потенціал підприємництва з позицій розвитку інноваційної діяльності у виробництві енергії з альтернативних джерел. Досліджено структуру виробництва та постачання енергії різними видами електростанцій в Україні. Розглянуті заходи щодо підтримки інноваційної діяльності державою. Проілюстровано, на прикладі інтерактивної мапи, зручність та доступність для потенційних інвесторів інформації щодо наявності потенціалу для створення нових підприємств (потужностей) виробництв енергії з альтернативних джерел. Досліджено можливі точки підключення об’єктів біоенергетики до функціонуючих ТЕС на території України. Для оцінки інвестиційних можливостей підприємництва проаналізовано прямі іноземні інвестиції і капітальні інвестиції, а також їх динаміку, в тому числі у регіональному розрізі. Досліджено технічно-досяжний потенціал вироблення енергоносіїв з альтернативних джерел енергії та альтернативних видів палива. Проведено аналіз розподілу основних джерел енергії у виробництві та у загальному постачанні первинної енергії в Україні. Розглянуто структуру альтернативних джерел енергії в Україні. Проведено оцінку інвестицій в економіку України, що здійснені завдяки програмам енергоефективності та зеленої енергетики. Визначено, що хоч в Україні і нараховуються десятки електростанцій, що працюють на альтернативних джерелах енергії, проте країна все ще значно відстає від провідних європейських країн за рівнем їх потужностей. З метою аналізу рівня розвитку інноваційної діяльності у виробництві енергії з альтернативних джерел розглянуто основні показники інноваційної діяльності.

Imperialism is one of the most significant phenomena in human history. It resulted in magnificent empires that lasted for centuries as territories were annexed and became colonies. On one hand, this practice created the conditions for a few nations to emerge as economic powerhouses by capitalising on the trade and investment opportunities made possible by the process of colonisation. On the other hand, a number of nations were relative victims of colonial policies that prioritised the commercial goals of entrepreneurs who were prominent throughout the colonial encounter. Amongst the latter, Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is one of the Asian nations whose history has been shaped by the significance of commerce in the context of establishing and ruling of a particular colony. Whilst exploring her history, this paper details the importance of trade in general, and trade in cinnamon in particular, as the most significant feature of the process by which Ceylon was exposed to colonisation. It further identifies investment in the plantation sector as the subsequent method by which the colonial grip over the island was tightened.

Arabic Abstract: تعتبر المشاريع الصغيرة أحد أهم دعائم الدول النامية لأنها توفر فرص عمل للعديد من المواطنين وتعزز روح الإبتكار لديهم وتحد من ظاهرة البطالة وتستثمر الموارد المحلية المتاحة بالإضافة الى أنها تزود الصناعات الكبيرة بالمواد الأولية من خلال منتجاتها. يعتبر تمويل المشاريع الصناعية الصغيرة من أهم العوائق في تطوير هذا القطاع ولذلك تهدف هذه الورقة البحثية الى مناقشة أهم أساليب تمويل هذه المشاريع وأكثرها كفاءة والتي من شأنها دعم المشاريع الصناعية في محافظة نينوى من أجل النهوض بواقع القطاع الصناعي كما يستعرض الباحثان أهم التجارب الدولية والأقليمية في هذا المجال مع محاولة تكييفها لتتوافق مع الوضع السياسي والإقتصادي لمحافظة نينوى. توصل الباحثان الى عدة نتائج كان من أهمها إن تطبيق تمويل المشاريع الصناعية الصغيرة في المصارف الإسلامية من شأنه زيادة أرباح المصارف الإسلامية من خلال تقليل مخاطر التمويل وذلك بتجزئته و بالتالي تقليل الخسائر المتوقعة وزيادة فرص الإستثمار التمويلي وإدخال عوائد مالية للإقتصاد العراقي الذي يعاني من عجز نتيجة إنخفاض أسعار النفط دوليا وبشكل أساس دعم القطاع الصناعي في محافظة نينوى. يوصي الباحثان بضرورة دعم الحكومة للمشاريع الصناعية الصغيرة لما لها من آثار إقتصادية وإجتماعية كبيرة على النسيج الإجتماعي في محافظة نينوى من خلال تشجيع المصارف التجارية والإسلامية على تمويل المشاريع الصناعية الصغيرة وفق سياقات نظامية. English Abstract: Small projects are considered one of the most important pillars of developing countries because they provide employment opportunities for many citizens and enhance their innovation spirit and reduce unemployment and invest available local resources in addition to providing large industries with raw materials through their products. Financing small industrial projects is considered one of the most important obstacles in the development of this sector. Therefore, this research paper aims to discuss the most important and most efficient methods of financing these projects, which would support industrial projects in Nineveh Governorate in order to advance the reality of the industrial sector. The researchers also review the most important international and regional experiences in this. The field with an attempt to adapt it to suit the political and economic situation in Nineveh Governorate. The researchers reached several results, the most important of which was that the application of financing small industrial projects in Islamic banks would increase the profits of Islamic banks by reducing financing risks by splitting it and thus reducing expected losses and increasing financing investment opportunities and introducing financial returns to the Iraqi economy that suffers from a deficit as a result of a decrease International oil prices, mainly to support the industrial sector in Nineveh Governorate. The researchers recommend that the government should support small industrial projects because of their significant economic and social impacts on the social fabric in Nineveh Governorate by encouraging commercial and Islamic banks to finance small industrial projects according to systematic contexts.

This paper shows how FPE affects RPE. It offers evidence that stock under- and over-valuation signaled by corporate events change stock RPE by changing the information collection behavior of informed investors. Corporate events, performed not only by a firm but also by its peers, that signal over-valuation (Over-Value events) predict RPE negatively, whereas those signal under-valuation (Under-Value events) predict RPE positively. After Over-Value events, RPE decreases more for firms with worse investment opportunities, poor corporate governance, more entrenched managers, and higher short sale constraints. After Under-Value events, RPE increases more for firms with better investment opportunities and managers who listen to prices and during boom times. Results are stronger when Over-Value events are performed when a firm has high Q or high Price-to-Value (P/V), and Under-Value events when the firm has low Q or low P/V. The Broader implication of these findings is that market under-valuations are corrected more quickly than over-valuations, implying that market over-valuations are stickier and more prevalent in the economy.

The transmission mechanisms of fiscal policy are significantly affected by informality in the labour market. Extending a narrative database of fiscal consolidations in 14 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean between 1989 and 2016 in order to account for heterogeneity in terms of commitment to the reforms, I show that tax-based and spending-based multipliers are both recessionary and do not significantly differ one from another in this region. Furthermore, these multipliers decline in absolute value as the level of labour informality increases in the economy, although evidences are less robust for spending-based consolidations. An analysis of the effects of tax-based consolidations on private demand suggests that labour market informality constitutes a short-term social buffer that attenuates the contractionary effects of this type of policy by increasing investment opportunities through tax evasion and entrepreneurial alternatives to unemployment for dismissed workers.

We experimentally investigate how income redistribution shapes support for economic inclusion, i.e., a policy that creates equality of opportunity for income generation. We study a setting in which low-endowment subjects are excluded from investment opportunities unless those with high endowments transfer resources to the low-endowment subjects. We find that support for economic inclusion is stronger among high-endowment subjects when incomes are known to be redistributed in the future compared to when redistribution is precluded by design. Income redistribution spreads both risks and returns of investments in the population, which in turn induces a higher rate of profitable investments, and this prospect tends to foster support for economic inclusion. Income redistribution thus induces more equal and efficient outcomes by boosting popular support for economic inclusion.

The firm’s investment opportunity set (IOS) reflects the prospective growth opportunities related to physical and human capital investments. IOSs are largely firm specific, embedded in assets‐in‐place, or generated by experience curves, learning‐by‐doing, and other similar phenomena. However, the value of an IOS can be destroyed if a firm does not exercise the option to invest. In this study, we theorize that a firm’s ability to invest in R&D is conditional on the availability of a favorable IOS. We test our theoretical propositions in the European business environment using a sample of large publicly traded firms with concentrated ownership. Our findings support the notion that the IOS is a significant determinant of corporate R&D investments, but the magnitude of this effect depends on the identity of the ultimate owner. Specifically, the sensitivity of R&D investments of family‐ and state‐owned corporations is higher to favorable IOS than that of widely held corporations, suggesting these firms are more responsive to favorable IOS than others. By introducing the IOS dimension, our results have interesting implications for both theory and practice.

I examine how the robustness of investment opportunities influence firm payout policy and cash holdings. By exploiting new measures, the perturbations of q, a novel counterintuitive yet reasonable fact emerge: low robustness of investment opportunities (high perturbations of q) is able to spur firm propensity to pay dividends, lower repurchase shares, and decrease the cash a firm holds simultaneously. Specifically, firms that are likely to hold fewer amounts of cash when the robustness of investment opportunities is low, which is distinct from the standard channel of uncertainty. These results are consistent with firms' liquidity management policies being significantly shaped by robustness concerns.

Мировая пандемия коронавирусной инфекции является по состоянию в настоящее время самой актуальной и наиболее обсуждаемой среди новостных, экономических, политических, здравоохранительных и социальных порталов и источников информации. В данной статье рассматриваются основные вопросы касательно влияния пандемии COVID-19 на приоритетные отрасли экономики, а так же анализ текущей ситуации мирового экономического развития данных сфер и направлений.

This thesis deals with the characteristics of investment opportunities of an investor and compares them according to selected indicators, profitability, risk and liquidity. Firstly, the basic terms of investment characteristics and selected indicators are explained and characterized. This thesis examines various investment options and their suitability for specific types of investors. Then it is focused on evaluation of profitability, risk and liquidity of the selected investments. The specific rating methods based on the indicators are applied to some investment products. Based on the performed calculations, the suitability of individual investment products as well as the creation of a portfolio for selected types of investors are evaluated and the ideal investment strategy is chosen in the final part.

The objective of the study is to understand the dynamic relationship between Shariah-compliant stocks and the Google search value index (GSVI). The search strength is identified by the search volume of Shariah-compliant stocks on Google. The sample for the study consists of Shariah-compliant stocks commonly available in all the three Shariah indices in India, sample stock data has been extracted on a weekly basis from Sept 2014 to Sept 2019. The results of the study are based on the diagnostic analysis suggests that there is no serial correlation as demonstrated by LM residual test, CUSUM test shows stability in data, coefficient Wald test is showing there is no short-run causality running between selected Shariah-compliant stocks and GSVI. The outcome suggests that there is a long-run equilibrium relationship existing between Shariah-compliant stocks and the Google search value index. Trace statistics has five co-integration equations and Max-Eigen statistics has one co-integration. The vector error correction model (VECM) suggests the acceptability of the model. There are many potential investment opportunities for investors in the Islamic stock market of India. The motive of Shariah is to provide an avenue for ethical and viable investment to the investors. This study will not only be advantageous for the Muslim investors but also the other investors, industrialist, Shariah-compliant advisor as well.

This study examines the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the economic value of innovation. Using the stock market reaction to patent grants as a measure of the economic value of innovation, we find that a higher level of CSR leads to a higher value of innovation. In addition, we show that different types of stakeholders, such as employees, customers, and creditors, play important roles in determining these outcomes. In particular, we document that high CSR performance magnifies the degree to which innovation relaxes financing constraints; high CSR performance magnifies the role of innovation in expanding growth options or the set of positive-NPV investment opportunities; and high CSR performance increases not only the innovation output level but also innovation efficiency. These results are consistent after a series of robustness tests.

In the past two decades, significant public investments in cultural infrastructure and events encouraged the private sector to consider new investment opportunities in Valletta, particularly in short-term rental accommodation, catering establishments and boutique hotels. In recent years, there was a sharp increase in boutique hotels, tourism rentals and catering establishments. Increased tourism activity reduced liveability for Valletta residents. The research finds that there are the initial signs of overtourism and that this is a source of concern, mainly to Valletta residents and to persons with an interest in urban heritage. If no action is taken to mitigate, it is likely that some of the negative impacts will become severe and unacceptable., peer-reviewed

Russian Abstract: Криптовалюты сравнительно недавно стали привлекать самое пристальное внимание инвесторов. Первичные размещения монет (Initial Coin Offering – ICO), являясь по сути одной из форм крауд-фандинга, в то же время зачастую предлагают возможности инвестирования, близкие к традиционным ценным бумагам. Криптовалюты на сегодняшний день торгуются на специализированных биржах, появляются первые фонды, специализирующиеся на инвестирование в криптовалюты. Тем не менее, у данного вида инвестирования есть большое количество «подводных камней»: правовая неопределенность касательно статуса данного рынка, крайне высокая волатильность цен на криптовалюты, высокая доля неуспешных ICO, отсутствие каких-либо гарантий. С другой стороны, пока существует крайне малое количество исследований, посвященных данной теме. Это делает настоящую работу крайне полезной в плане понимания процессов на новом рынке криптовалют. English Abstract: Cryptocurrencies have recently begun to attract attention of investors. Initial Coin Offering (ICO), being essentially one of the forms of crowdfunding, offer investment opportunities that are close to traditional securities. Cryptocurrencies are currently being traded on specialized exchanges, also the first funds focused on investing in cryptocurrencies are emerging. Nevertheless, this type of investment has a large number of “pitfalls”: legal uncertainty regarding the status of this market, extremely high price volatility, a high percentage of unsuccessful or scum ICOs, and the absence of any guarantees. On the other hand, there is still an extremely small number of studies on this topic. This makes the present work extremely useful in terms of understanding the processes in the new cryptocurrency market.

This chapter is devoted to global equity ETFs, permitting investors to obtain the broadest and often the most diverse possible exposure to the global stock market through listed passive instruments. It provides rationales for global geographical portfolio diversification, based on the results of numerous studies, but also outlines the potential threats arising from this approach. This chapter also describes selected broad global equity indexes offering the highest degree of portfolio diversification—in terms of countries, sectors, and individual holdings. Finally, there are presented some investment opportunities related to global equity ETFs, mostly tracking broad global indexes comprising stocks from both developed and emerging countries.

Analysts claim that we are on the brink of mass Internet of Things (IoT) adoption. This implies a shift from technical challenges towards those that are business oriented. This means, instead of being solely occupied with questioning whether or not IoT is technically feasible or how the technologies can be optimized to better suit the needs of clear use cases, the question if and how much companies should invest in this new technology wave becomes more prominent. Therefore, this chapter emphasizes three reasons why thoroughly assessing the IoT business case viability is essential. As IoT technology continues to advance and an increasing number of firms planning to adopt the technology, such IoT cost-benefit analysis will become increasingly important.