Search

With reference to Ohlson' model, we optimise earnings persistence model and express earnings persistence measure as a function of return on equity (R.O.E.), dividends payout ratio and other factors. Our theoretical model reveals that dividends payout ratio has little effect on the earnings persistence, while R.O.E. has a decisive effect on earnings persistence. Using quarterly earnings data of 872 listed firms in China over 2011–2020, we calculate the Revised Persistence value of earnings (RPer value) of our earnings persistence model, and find that the Rper value of our model have more explanatory power than that of Kormendi and Lipe' model. Our study also suggest that quarterly earnings are useful and have information content. Both the theoretical model and empirical results of our research are of great significance to understand and support the implementation of semi-compulsory cash dividends rules in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the financial performance and economic impact of British investment in the Colombian National Railway Company, the largest British direct investment in Colombia during the first period of globalisation. It aims to ascertain the railway's impact on the regional economy and explain why it failed as a going concern. It explores three dimensions: the use of guaranteed railway bonds, the financial performance of the company, and the economic impact within different sectors of the local economy. The article implements existing methods such as financial analysis, internal rate of return, social savings, counterfactual analysis, and tailors these to a case study methodology for a micro business history of a single company. The article provides three main conclusions. Railway bond guarantees were critical to completion of the railway but detrimental to its long-term financial viability. The company was operationally profitable but stymied by construction delays. The railway contributed to growth of the export sector, internal agricultural trade, and government revenues. Contributions include tailoring the social savings method to a local rather than national focus, re-evaluation of the role of railways in Colombian economic growth, and exploring the influence of railways on internal trade within Latin American economies. Supplemental data for this article is available online at .This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overview: Storytelling is critical to innovation success, yet most innovators are not equipped to wield it effectively. In this vtheir work week storytelling, yet most don't do so efficiently or effectively. We present the importance, impact, return on investment, and best practices of innovation storytelling, which companies can leverage to increase strategic alignment, team collaboration, and market success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures influence the performance of listed Saudi Arabian companies. The study used unbalanced panel data obtained from the Bloomberg database (2010–2020). The results show that ESG has significantly reduced TOBINSQ but has an insignificant association with return on equity (ROE). Concerning the ESG components, environmental disclosure has an insignificant negative association with TOBINSQ but is significantly and positively related to ROE. Social disclosure has a significantly reduced TOBINSQ but is insignificantly and negatively associated with ROE. Meanwhile, governance disclosure significantly improved and reduced TOBINSQ and ROE, respectively. Besides, the findings offer helpful implications for regulatory bodies and policymakers toward providing practical guidelines and policies that ensure the implementation of ESG activities maximizes shareholders' wealth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study employs a two-step system GMM technique within a panel data framework to investigate the effects of capital buffers on the profitability and risk behavior of Indonesian commercial banks from 2010 to 2020. The findings reveal that capital buffers serve a dual role, acting as a safety net against potential losses while also promoting increased financial stability and stronger shareholder engagement. This ultimately benefits the bank and its stakeholders in the long run. However, the positive effects of capital buffers come at a cost, as they are associated with reduced returns on assets and return on equity. The study emphasizes the importance of managing risk effectively, striking a delicate balance between risk-taking and prudent risk management to achieve optimal profitability. It underscores the need for banks to prioritize robust risk management practices and proper capitalization to avoid pursuing profitability at the expense of these critical factors. The study further highlights the significance of policymakers finding the right equilibrium between promoting financial stability through capital requirements and fostering a competitive banking industry that can generate profits and support economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article was conducted to evaluate the impact of CEO characteristics on the performance of Vietnamese commercial banks. Variables representing the performance of commercial banks are return on total assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). Data was collected from 30 Vietnamese commercial banks from 2012–2020. By the regression methods of Pooled OLS, Fixed Effects Model (FE), Random Effects Model (RE), Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS), the research results show that CEO duality and CEO age positively impact the performance of Vietnamese commercial banks. In contrast, the female CEO factor has a negative impact on ROE. In addition, the study did not find evidence of the impact of the CEO's financial background and the CEO tenure on the performance of Vietnamese commercial banks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to evaluate the epidemiological impact and return on investment of the pediatric immunization program (PIP) in Poland from the healthcare-sector and societal perspectives. A health-economic model was developed focusing on the nine vaccines, targeting 11 pathogens, recommended by the public health authorities for children aged 0–6 years in Poland. The 2019 birth cohort (388,178) was followed over their lifetime, with the model estimating discounted health outcomes, life-years gained, quality-adjusted life-years, and direct and indirect costs with and without the PIP based on current and pre-vaccine – era disease incidence estimates, respectively. Across 11 targeted pathogens, the Polish PIP prevented more than 452,300 cases of disease, 1,600 deaths, 37,900 life-years lost, and 38,800 quality-adjusted life-years lost. The PIP was associated with vaccination costs of €54 million. Pediatric immunization averted €65 million from a healthcare-sector perspective (benefit–cost ratio [BCR], 2.2) and averted €358 million from a societal perspective (BCR, 7.6). The BCRs from both perspectives remained >1.0 in scenario analyses. The Polish PIP, which has not previously been systematically assessed, brings large-scale prevention of disease-related morbidity, premature mortality, and associated costs. This analysis highlights the value of continued investment in pediatric immunization in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the impact of market sentiment on firm-level equity returns in Malaysia by hypothesising that market sentiment is a relevant risk factor. Understanding how the market sentiment reflects the equity return is crucial to market participants managing their portfolio investment risks. In modelling for firm-level equity return determinants using augmented Fama and French (1992, 1996) three-factor model, this study used data from a sample of 608 publicly listed firms for 2010–2019 and the dynamic panel GMM estimation technique. The findings revealed that market sentiment indices, namely Business Conditions Index (BCI) and Consumer Sentiments Index (CSI), strongly and positively influenced firms equity returns. Excellent market sentiment encouraged a bullish strategy, increasing share prices and, consequently, stock returns. In addition to market sentiment, other related variables, namely domestic market returns, international market returns, small minus big (SMB), high minus low (HML), and firms' liquidity ratio, are also found to be statistically significant in influencing firms equity returns. The policy implication provides a vital strategy to market participants, particularly fund managers and investors, to accordingly manage their risks and returns on their portfolio investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted every facet of life globally. Business and commerce are key areas where the monetary crunch has been acutely felt. This study aims to analyze the various key changes in entities' activities to evaluate the level of business performance in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For this purpose, we use panel data analysis on 218 Romanian listed companies of different sizes (big and small) and belonging to different business sectors for the period June 30, 2019–June 30, 2020. We find that the net profits of the overall market decreased by 37.43% over the analyzed period. However, small companies engaged in agriculture, commerce, construction, IT R&D, and transport and storage witnessed better financial performance. In addition, our results show that equity financing, proper liquidity management, and an increased company size consolidate the economic performance of entities regarding return on equity and return on assets. Our findings are useful for policymakers such as managers and investors and can help them make the best decision for their managing or investing activities. Moreover, governments need to know how companies respond to the pandemic to identify the sectors of activity that are more vulnerable to the crisis' effects and the main financial management decisions that must be adopted by companies during times of crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial ratios are ratios that are used to measure a company's performance by analyzing its financial records. In light of this claim, this study investigates the effect of IFRS on the financial ratios among seventeen (17) Ethiopian commercial banks. The research hypotheses are addressed by comparing financial ratios computed under Ethiopian GAAP with those computed under the IFRS regime from 2016 to 2020 using Wilcoxon Signed Rank and the Normality Test. The finding revealed that IFRS has a significant effect on the liquidity ratio of commercial banks in Ethiopia, and banks reported higher liquidity under IFRS than under Ethiopian GAAP. The finding also revealed that IFRS has a significant effect on commercial banks' return on equity and that banks recorded a higher return on equity under IFRS than under Ethiopian GAAP. Moreover, the study found IFRS has a significant effect on the leverage ratio of commercial banks in Ethiopia, and banks reported lower leverage under Ethiopian GAAP than under IFRS. However, the finding revealed that IFRS has an insignificant effect on the return on assets of commercial banks in Ethiopia, and banks recorded a lower return on assets under IFRS than under Ethiopian GAAP. The study concluded that the difference in return on equity, liquidity, and leverage of commercial banks following the adoption of IFRS is significant. Therefore, investors and financial analysts should pay close attention to the return on equity (ROE), liquidity ratio (LR), and leverage (LEV) because they are significantly affected by the adoption of IFRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aims to provide empirical evidence for a one-way relationship between corporate environmental responsibility (CER) and financial performance (FP) in the banking industry, with special consideration into the moderating role of legal regulations and ownership structures. Net interest margin (NIM), return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) are selected to measure FP while the content analysis method is adopted to examine CER. The study used regression analysis with the two-step system generalised method of moments (Sys-GMM) on a sample of 29 Vietnamese commercial banks from 2012 to 2019, and the positive impacts of CER on banks' FP were identified. Analysis of these data revealed that listed banks have a higher level of information disclosure than unlisted banks, but the positive relationship between CER and FP is weaker in listed banks. Similarly, while state-owned banks have a higher degree of disclosure than privately-controlled banks, the relationship between their CER and FP is weaker. The paper also provides some recommendations and suggests future research implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of Bacillus subtilis PB6 supplementation on productive performance, egg quality and hatchability of broiler breeder hens. A total of 20,000 broiler breeder hens (ROSS 308), 57 weeks old, were assigned to the two equal groups as follows: The first group was fed a basal diet and the second group was fed the basal diet that supplemented with the Bacillus subtilis PB6 (2 × 107 cfu/g) at the rate of 1 g/kg of diet. Results indicated that adding Bacillus subtilis significantly improves egg production (P < 0.05). The body weights and egg weight were not affected by the dietary treatments (P > 0.05) but Bacillus subtilis improved the egg haugh unit (P < 0.05). Adding Bacillus subtilis significantly increased hatching egg, eggshell thickness and egg hatchability (P < 0.05). A highly significant improvement was noticed in the faecal score of the group fed with Bacillus subtilis (P < 0.01). Adding Bacillus subtilis increased the level of total cholesterol (P < 0.01) and decreased the blood heterophil to lymphocyte ratio (P < 0.01) in breeders' serum. It is concluded that Bacillus subtilis PB6 supplementation at the level of 1 g/kg of broiler breeder diet, significantly improve the egg production, egg quality, hatchability, faecal score and return on investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: For over a decade, resistance to newly synthesized antibiotics has been observed worldwide. The challenge of antibiotic resistance has led to several pharmaceutical companies to abandon the synthesis of new drugs in fear of bacteria developing resistance in a short period hence limiting initial investment return. To this effect, alternative approaches such as the use of bacteriophages to treat bacterial infections are being explored. This review explores the recent advances in phage-mediated antibacterial applications and their limitations. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive literature search of PubMed, Lib Hub and Google Scholar databases from January 2019 to November 2019. The search key words used were the application of bacteriophages to inhibit bacterial growth and human phage therapy to extract full-text research articles and proceedings from International Conferences published only in English. Results: The search generated 709 articles of which 95 full-text research articles fulfilled the inclusion guidelines. Transmission Electron Microscopy morphological characterization conducted in 23 studies registered Myoviruses, Siphoviruses, Podoviruses, and Cytoviruses phage families while molecular characterization revealed that some phages were not safe to use as they harbored undesirable genes. All in vivo phage therapy studies in humans and model animals against multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infection provided 100% protection. Ex vivo and in vitro phage therapy experiments exhibited overwhelming results as they registered high efficacies of up to 100% against MDR clinical isolates. Phage-mediated bio-preservation of foods and beverages and bio-sanitization of surfaces were highly successful with bacterial growth suppression of up to 100%. Phage endolysins revealed efficacies statistically comparable to those of phages and restored normal ethanol production by completely eradicating lactic acid bacteria in ethanol fermenters. Furthermore, the average multiplicity of infection was highest in ex vivo phage therapy (557,291.8) followed by in vivo (155,612.4) and in vitro (434.5). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socially responsible companies whose values are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) contribute to creating wealth and long-term economic and social value. This alignment leads to a competitive advantage based on the triple bottom line that enhances financial performance. In this paper, fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is used to identify the configurations of conditions that lead to high or low financial performance (return on equity) for a sample of companies in the IBEX 35. Firms should adopt business models that embrace the SDGs because sustainability-based models can ensure not only the present but also the future of generations to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite enthusiasm for inpatient ward redesign, coordinated models require high effort with uncertain return on investment. Objective: We aimed to reduce mortality and achieve a benchmark of zero preventable deaths by committing to an interprofessional model, including partnered nurse-physician unit leadership, geographic localization, and structured interdisciplinary bedside rounds (SIBR). Methods: An observational pre-post design with 5-year follow-up studied the transition of a medical unit to an Accountable Care Unit (ACU). This geographic model enables partnered nurse-physician leadership and patient-centered workflows, including daily interdisciplinary bedside rounds. Potentially additive or confounding hospital-wide safety initiatives were tracked. Yearly mortality was compared using multivariable logistic regression and reported as odds ratio (OR). For the pre-specified goal of no preventable deaths, we report unexpected deaths, defined as those occurring without documentation of comfort as the goal of care. Results: 12,158 inpatients (55.1% female, mean [sd] age 62.2 [19.7]) were observed over 6 years. Reduction in the risk-adjusted mortality was observed following ACU implementation, with Year 2 significantly lower than the pre-implementation year (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.58 [0.35–0.94]). Risk-adjusted mortality was similar in Year 3 (aOR = 0.64 [0.39–1.0]) but returned to baseline for Years 4 and 5. Unexpected deaths reached zero in Year 3 and plateaued in Years 4 and 5 at a rate below pre-implementation year (~0.1% vs. 0.38%). Conclusions: A geographic ACU with nurse-physician partnered leadership and daily structured interdisciplinary bedside rounds can reduce total and unexpected mortality. However, maintenance requires constant effort and, in the real world, multiple confounders complicate study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potato late blight (Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) De Bary) is the major constraint of potato production in Ethiopia. The field experiment was done at Meket district during 2018 cropping season, to determine appropriate spraying frequency combined with different levels of resistance variety. The experiment had 15 treatments with a combination of three potato varieties (Belete, Gudene, and Jalene) and five spraying frequencies (zero, one, two, three, and four times spray). The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design in factorial combination with three replications. The combination of potato varieties and spraying frequencies of Ridomil applications showed statistically significant on the disease, yield, and yield component parameters. The highest disease severity (84.76%) was obtained from untreated Jalene variety. The maximum tuber yield (29.62 t ha −1) was obtained from Belete variety sprayed with two-time spraying. Whereas the lowest tuber yield (12.93 t ha−1) was recorded from untreated Jalene variety. Moreover, the highest (1774.65%) marginal rate of return was obtained from Belete variety treated with one spray. Finally, it is concluded that for moderately resistance one spray, moderately susceptible two sprays and four sprays for susceptible varieties were found better management options and get the highest cost-benefit as compared with other treatment combinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faba bean is an important pulse crop in area coverage and volume of annual production in Ethiopia. However, the productivity is still far below its potential mainly due to the emerging faba bean gall disease. This study, therefore, aimed to evaluate and demonstrate the integrated disease management options of using a combination of Noble 25 WP fungicide and moderately disease-resistant varieties. The treatment arrangement was designed as an un-replicated simple block considering farmers as replications. Foliar application of Noble 25 WP fungicide was used at a rate of 1 kg ha−1 using 400 l ha−1 water. The agronomic, economic, and farmer preference data were collected and analyzed in descriptive statistics. The result revealed that the highest grain yield of 3.96 tons ha−1 was obtained from a sprayed plot of Gora variety and had an overall yield advantage of 130.8% over farmers' unsprayed local variety under the existing practice. Besides, the highest final faba bean gall disease percent severity of 45.6% was recorded from the unsprayed control plots. Using a combination of Gora improved variety with foliar application of the fungicide reduced the severity of the disease by 59.3% compared with that of the sprayed local variety. Similarly based on the partial budget analysis result, the highest (783.8%) marginal rate of return was obtained from the use of Gora variety with three times sprays of Noble 25 WP. The results of this study suggested that the proper application of fungicides combined with improved varieties is important for the economic management of faba bean gall disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sector investing aims to guide investors in identifying undervalued securities. Knowing which sectors flourish at different phases of the business cycle, investment returns may be boosted by increasing holdings in securities from strengthening sectors and reducing holdings in weakening ones. As the business cycle phase changes, security rotation can continuously improve portfolio returns. Sector investing is, however, heavily dependent upon accurate phase identification and therefore highly vulnerable to phase misidentification. Investing in securities which do not thrive at the phase identified could lead to inferior portfolio returns or even losses. There is ample precedent in the literature regarding the usefulness of Fourier analysis in identifying business cycle frequencies. This article contributes by installing this approach for the first time to augment existing sector investing methodology. We confirm that the sector rotation approach does generate statistically significant outperformance (relative to local market index performance) in South Africa. This work adds to the current dearth of theoretical and empirical research regarding sector rotation in emerging economies, so it can also be beneficial for researchers interested in similar milieus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the linear and non-linear relationship between Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and firm performance while focusing on how operational status (financial and non-financial listed firms' status) affects this relationship in Ghana. Analysis of 30 listed firms on Ghana Stock Exchange between 2010 and 2016 in a robust fixed effect and random effect estimation techniques, presented new insights into ERM literature. We showed that ERM propels firm performance at both the firm level (return on assets and equity) and market level (Tobin Q) performance of listed firms in Ghana. A non-linear inverted U-shape is observed when return on equity is employed as a performance indicator while a non-linear direct U-shape is observed when return on assets and Tobin Q are employed as performance indicators. A non-linear relationship exists between ERM and performance of listed firms in Ghana whether the non-linearity is an inverted U shape or direct U shape depends on the firm performance. This paper recommends that firms should implement fundamental robust measures and dynamic risk management techniques to get better ERM outcome. Enterprise Risk Management should be implemented in both financial firms and non-financial firms because firms which practice ERM are more likely to perform better than Non-ERM counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to empirically examine the relationship between the extent of voluntary disclosure level and profitability of Yemeni Islamic banks. This article adopted a self-constructed disclosure index, composed of 266 items, to measure the level of voluntary disclosure information and its association with the profitability of 30 annual reports of Yemeni Islamic banks, over a ten-year reporting period from 2005 up to 2014. The results with regard to return on assets (ROA) show that background about the Islamic bank, corporate governance information, corporate social disclosure, bank size, and bank age have a negative and significant relationship with return on assets. Concerning return on equity (ROE), the outcomes reveal that background about the Islamic bank, financial ratios, corporate governance information, corporate social disclosure, zakat information, and bank size have a negative and significant effect with return on equity. With respect to profit after tax (PAT), the results indicate that background about the Islamic bank, corporate social disclosure, and bank age has a negative and significant effect with profit after tax. The research mentions that regulatory bodies and managers should develop a guideline for disclosure of information to enhance the relationship between disclosure and profitability among Yemeni Islamic banks, leading to reasonable economic decision-making. This article provides important insights into the largely unexplored voluntary publication of Islamic banks ' annual reports in Yemen. The research also represents the first empirical inquiry into the correlation in the context of Yemen between the rate of voluntary disclosures and the attributes of profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluating criteria selection has significant impacts on data envelopment analysis (DEA) efficiency estimates. Selecting the proper evaluation criteria lead to successful and meaningful results of decision-making. This study aims to use the Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method to evaluate the most important constructs and criteria and also establish causality relationships among others for financial holding companies (FHCs) of banks' operating ability in Taiwan. In this research 15 criteria were confirmed through reviewing various articles associated with this issue. Then, the information from the questionnaire was turned into the DEMATEL questionnaire and was distributed among nine experts and also members of the FHCs of Taiwan. The research results show that employees, total assets, total liabilities, non-interest income, income on investments, net profits before tax, net worth, and EPS are eight causal criteria. Furthermore, operating expenses, capital, interest expenses, interest income, operating income, return on assets (ROA), and return on equity (ROE) are seven effect criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyse the impact of behavioural biases on asset pricing by hypothesising that sentiment and momentum are relevant risk factors in Pakistan equity market. The paper also examines the influence of sentiment and momentum factors on market risk, size, and value premiums by estimating the interacted asset-pricing model. To carry out the empirical analysis, monthly stock returns of firms listed on Pakistan Stock Exchange are used for the period 2000–2013. The empirical results indicate that both investor sentiment and momentum factors have a significant impact on the required rate of returns. Specifically, it is found that the premium for both factors is positive and statistically significant. Further, the estimated results provide evidence that the inclusion of these two factors in the Fama-French three-factor model considerably increases the prediction power of the model. The results also reveal that the inclusion of sentiment factor in the Carhart four-factor model significantly increases the prediction power of the model. Yet, the estimation results indicate that the prediction power of the model further increases when the interaction terms are added to the model in order to examine the indirect effects of sentiment and momentum. The results of the interacted model provide evidence of a significant impact of investor sentiment and momentum factors on market risk, size, and value premiums. Although investor sentiment negatively affects all the three premiums, the effect of momentum is positive for both market risk and size premium, whereas, it is negative for value premium. The findings are helpful in explaining and understanding the effects of behavioural biases on stock returns in Pakistan. The findings of the indirect effects suggest that investor sentiment and momentum factors significantly increase the chance of mispricing in Pakistan equity market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking into account the current trends and opportunities in the financial markets of developing countries, the subject of the research is to analyse, test and quantify the impact of the holiday effect on the daily return rates from investing activities for the observed financial markets of Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary. The aim of the research is to gain a concrete, empirically tested and quantified knowledge of the capabilities and effectiveness of autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (A.R.C.H.) and generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (G.A.R.C.H.) models, in order to quantify the impact of the holiday effect on the rates of return from investing activities in the observed financial markets. The time period covered by the research is 2003–2016, where the length of the research time horizon makes possible model effectiveness testing in the periods before, during and after the global financial crisis. The methodology also includes S.I.C.–A.I.C. (Schwarz and Akaike) model selection criteria and a number of tests suitable for or adapted to the specific characteristics of financial markets in developing countries. The research results confirm the role and importance of the application of econometric models in order to quantify the risks of investing activities in the financial markets of developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new empirical model for the production function of the hospital incorporating two types of information systems (IS) is developed. One type of IS is representative of information technology (IT) used in primary, clinical, value-chain activities, and the other is representative of the IT used in support (administrative) value-chain activities. The model innovation is that it accommodates up to a seven-year lag for each type of IS. The output variables for the production function are hospital output and medical labor productivity. Using data spanning from 1979 to 2006 from several hospitals, it was found that clinical IS improve hospital output in the short run (of two years). Administrative IS were found to be negatively associated with organizational performance in the short run, but positively associated with these performance measures over the long run (over four years). These results highlight the importance of timing IT investments and the sequencing chosen for the implementation of IS presenting various value-chain activities, and the resulting pattern of business value over time. Differential lag length of the types of IS is to be considered in estimating the rate of return of new IT projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite their potential to significantly reduce transaction costs for both buyers and sellers, e-marketplaces have struggled. Recent literature has examined the value propositions of e-marketplaces and proposed conceptual frameworks for their analysis. In this research, we move beyond conceptual analysis by developing a game-theoretic model of return on-investment (ROI)-driven e-marketplace participation growth. This model provides insights into expected e-marketplace growth and participation, and can be used to determine both the viability and expected long-run size of a given e-marketplace. Our results indicate that the pricing policy of the e-market-place intermediary can affect the rate at which participation grows and, therefore, sentiment about its prospects. We focus on e-marketplaces that add value to buyers and sellers by increasing the efficiency of administrative tasks but also simultaneously add value to buyers and reduce value to sellers by lowering prices for goods purchased. Value to participants in these e-marketplaces is determined by the volume of transactions that can be conducted using the e-marketplace, resulting in a two-sided network effect-buyers reacting to sellers and sellers reacting to buyers. The game-theoretic model identifies an e marketplace equilibrium at which participation growth is predicted to stop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software systems integrate key business and management processes within and beyond a firm's boundary. Although the business value of ERP implementations has been extensively debated in trade periodicals in the form of qualitative discussion or detailed case studies, there is little large-sample statistical evidence on whether the benefits of ERP implementation exceed the costs and risks. With multiyear multi-firm ERP implementation and financial data, we find that firms that invest in ERP tend to show higher performance across a wide variety of financial metrics. Even though there is a slowdown in business performance and productivity shortly after the implementation, financial markets consistently reward the adopters with higher market valuation (as measured by Tobin's q). Due to the lack of mid- and long-term post-implementation data, future research on the long-run impact of ERP is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historians have long debated the role of imperialism and colonialism in the development of modern capitalism. Overall, Rönnbäck and Broberg challenge the notion that returns were significantly higher in the colonies than in other parts of the world. Here, Rönnbäck and Broberg effectively illustrate the complex factors affecting the return on investment of each region. [Extracted from the article]

A variant of John Roemer's accumulation economy is studied in which agents have identical payoff functions characterized by decreasing marginal impatience (DMI), such that time discount rates are decreasing in individual wealth levels. The implications of DMI for the existence and persistence of positive rates of profit and exploitation in the presence of capital accumulation, as well as for the dynamic redistribution of wealth, are derived. It is demonstrated that with DMI, differential ownership of productive assets is sufficient to ensure ongoing capital scarcity, and thus persistently positive rates of return and exploitation, as well as eventual redistribution of productive assets to the wealthiest agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generally speaking, markets serve as provisioning mechanisms, facilitating the supply of goods and services to customers. Extensive supply chains with specialist intermediaries create a flow of diverse items to consumers. However, market institutions can also serve as a de-provisioning technology, taking things away from customers. That is, markets can work in reverse. One example is the repossession of a vehicle. The process is often detrimental to low income and minority individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the study is to develop a mathematical model to measure the quality cost and economic benefits of the implementation of the quality improvement program within a business process of manufacturing companies. The economic benefits are obtained from saving quality costs resulting from achieving operational performance targets. The research methodology is used; firstly, the authors developed a conceptual model as a basis for a mathematical model. Secondly, they used a numerical experiment to illustrate the measurement of the effect of the change of the model parameters' values (e.g. number of performance indicators, and level target of performance target) toward the performance target achieved, cost savings obtained, and economic benefits. If the value of the model parameters increases, then the economic benefits will increase as well, and give a shorter return period of investment. And vice versa, if the value of the model parameters decreases, then the economic benefits will decrease as well and give a longer return period of investment. The model describes the dynamics of the quality costs and economic benefits periodically obtained from a quality improvement program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field experiments were carried out to evaluate the productivity of tef under different tillage practices during 2016–2017 at Alem Tena and Minjar in Central Ethiopia. The experiment was carried out using split-plot design with three replications. The treatments consisted of two tef varieties (Boset and Kora) assigned in the main plot and four tillage practices (conventional tillage, reduced tillage with residue retained, reduced tillage without residue retained and zero tillage) assigned as sub-plots. The results showed that the main effect of tillage practices and variety was significant on grain yield and biomass at Alem Tena. However, at Minjar, only main effect of variety had a significant effect on grain yield. At both locations, the Variety × Tillage interactions were absent; the tef variety, Kora, performed better in yield and than Boset. At Alem Tena, the highest yield (2673 and 2343 kg/ha) and biomass (16,713 and 13,518 kg/ha) were obtained in farmer practice and reduced tillage with residue retained, respectively. Similarly, at Minjar, the highest biomass (9439 kg/ha) was obtained in farmer practice, but was not significantly different from reduced tillage with residue retained and zero tillage. The economic analysis revealed that reduced tillage with residue retained gave highest net benefit and marginal rate of return (MRR) as compared to other practices at both locations. Zero tillage gave lowest net benefit and MRR at both locations. Therefore, reduced tillage with residue retained can be recommended as an alterantive tillage practice for resource poor farmers in central Ethiopia without significantly affecting yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite dryland areas are diverse in agro-ecology; technological recommendations are summative and based on researchers' on-station genetic traits, which deprived the farmers' preference, the economic and technical efficiencies. Participatory sorghum technologies evaluation was thus initiated to compare dryland sorghum technologies (Misikir and Girana-1) against the local practice in a wider scale, comprising 450 farmers from marginal districts of Wag-lasta. The agronomic, economic and preference data were collected and analysed in descriptive statistic, ANOVA, partial budgeting and weighted ranking matrix. The combined result indicated that Misikir, Girana-1 and the local sorghum provided mean grain yields of 2.9, 1.6 and 1.5 ton ha−1, respectively. Accordingly, Misikir technology has 81.3% and 93.3% yield advantage over Girana-1 and the local, respectively. The marginal rate of return (MRR) of Misikir is 477.6% but insignificant for Girana-1 by the cost higher than the local practice. The weighted ranking matrix also shows that Misikir was preferred by its earliness, seed setting performance, grain and biomass yields. Dissemination of Misikir technology is thus safely recommended. The finding further revealed that technological recommendations using on-station plot trials is dwarfing the adoption rates since farmers would hesitate to uptake as if they did not evaluate the technologies on their local context. The paper concludes that scale wide farmers' participation is vital in future experiments for sustainable and demand-driven technology development and diffusion on top of providing feedback to the concerned agricultural scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the behavior of firms in Indonesia in relation to the life-cycle and catering theories under the assumption that investors expect optimum returns on stock investments through dividends, capital gains, or both. To this end, we examine 212 firms listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange during 2010 to 2016 and investigate dividend policy, our dependent variable, in terms of: (1) dividend payers and non-payers and (2) higher, lower, and non-dividend payers. The independent variables in the basic model of this study are retained earnings-over-total-equity, return-on-assets, market-to-book value, firm size, and dividend premium, and the control variables are systematic and idiosyncratic risks. For hypothesis testing, this study conducts two analyses, namely logistic regression and its extension to multinomial regression. The findings confirm that pseudo R-squared and confidence improve under the dividend policy when controlling for risk and dividend payers. We find that mature Indonesian firms pay higher dividends as they are larger and more profitable, with more free cash and insignificant growth opportunities. Conversely, growing Indonesian firms with significant future opportunities pay lower dividends. The findings of this study imply that the dividend policy of mature Indonesian firms supports the life-cycle theory and is inconsistent with the catering theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the momentum effect in country-level anomalies in global equity markets. By using a sample of 78 countries for the period from 1995 to 2015, we test a set of potential 40 cross-sectional inter-market anomalies, some of which had never been examined before. Based on the findings, according to which half of these return patterns serve as reliable and robust sources of returns, we provide convincing evidence that the anomalies with good performance over the past 6-12 months tend to outperform in the future. Furthermore, returns on individual country-level strategies are weakly correlated. Consequently, developing a portfolio consisting of past top-performing strategies may constitute a valuable approach for international investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Annual net cash returns and net capital gains provide farmers with their actual and potential monetary rewards, respectively. This article reports on a national farm survey showing both actual and potential returns, on average, are not as high as might be imagined. This is supported by the findings of earlier studies and has implications for rural societies and their associated economies. Data on income, expenses and profit is presented as is data on farm value changes over the life of each farm. The information is adjusted for inflation to provide ‘real’ data. The profit and net capital gain figures are divided into groupings based on a range of criteria such as total farm capital, and labour compliment as a reflection of farm size. Statistically significant differences occur for some groupings such as farm type and farm size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the strategic importance of information technology (IT) has increased, the decision of where and when to allocate resources to IT programs has become more risky and more difficult. Executives are tempted by the opportunities for strategic impact, but struggle with the massive expenditures and uncertainties involved. Evaluating the opportunity afforded by a system and judging its strategic impact in advance have proven difficult, and even when analyses are performed well, they are frequently done on an ad hoc basis. IT can confer advantage under appropriate conditions, and equally important, even when it fails to confer advantage, it may still prove crucial. Both concepts--competitive advantage and strategic necessity--confound traditional financial analysis. We offer seven principles on which to base an evaluation of a strategic IT venture. Although we have not performed a statistically validating study, these principles are expressed as guidelines we believe to be true, based on experience. The guidelines range from modeling the investment decision, through managing risk, to preparing for unanticipated upside and downside implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have raised executive management's awareness, and expectations of the strategic role of information systems technology. Teams of managers are commonly involved in workshops or planning processes designed to identify such applications. Conceptual frameworks to assist in such "idea-generation" sessions are widely cited in the literature and used in practice. Less well understood is the process used to evaluate the sustainability of proposed applications. We present a framework for evaluating sustainability based on the competitor's anticipated response time, differences among competitors, and the potential of the application to preempt competitive responses. Such an analysis is proposed as an evaluation tool for intended strategic applications of information technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Revenue produced for advertising should be considered by advertising managers when planning their media schedule. Woodside and Reid present the application of a survey research method to aid in choosing magazines for tourism promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The competitive environment hypothesis is one of the basic ideas in mainstream economic theory. It states that the competitive process eliminates all economic profits and losses in the long-run so profits do not persist. This article studies the competitive environment hypothesis of 125 Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) quoted manufacturing firms that survived during the period of 2009:1–2010:4, which can be considered as the short-run. Net income after tax to total assets (return on assets [ROA]) and net income after tax to total equity (return on equity [ROE]) are both used as profit measures. Starting with Levin et al. and Im et al.’s panel unit root tests, pooled Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), panel fixed effects and cross-sectional analysis are employed. The results indicate that competitive environment hypothesis is viable and profits do not persist in the short-run. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the context of a severe economic crisis and austerity, new ideas were put forward to reform cohesion policy to enhance its effectiveness and the return on investment. Among them, financial engineering instruments, such as JESSICA, expected to offer a means to 'do more with less' in this difficult budgetary context. In the case of such instruments, EU funds are not offered as grants co-financing investment projects, but rather are used to provide repayable assistance to projects, a form of support. Such revolving funds approach is in stark contrast with the grant-based assistance typically offered as part of EU cohesion policy and was expected to increase the sustainability and effectiveness of interventions. But does it fulfil those expectations? This paper examines JESSICA through the conceptual lens of policy instruments literature. It verifies whether JESSICA is actually fit for its purpose of supporting sustainable urban development. It also gauges the impacts of instrument on the behaviour of the actors involved in its implementation at the sub-national level. The findings indicate that JESSICA is a flawed and overly complex instrument that instead of doing 'more with less' only allows for achieving 'less with less'. However, it still exerts a positive influence on the sub-national authorities involved by promoting cross-sectoral interactions and facilitating learning. It also promotes a change in the approach to EU cohesion policy and public investment more generally, putting more emphasis on economic viability of investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hotel feasibility studies play an important role in the hotel development process as hotel developers, lenders, and operators all require an analysis of a hotel's projected operating performance and the ensuing financial returns. Such studies are rarely effective, however, at predicting future performance. Although scholars and practitioners have repeatedly recommended numerous improvements to correct their methodological weaknesses and improve their accuracy, few changes have been incorporated. This study's purpose was to identify the underlying reasons why the methodological improvements identified in previous studies have not been undertaken. The research employed a qualitative methodology based on interviews with leading hotel owners, developers, lenders, and consultants. The key findings of the research demonstrated that the way in which feasibility studies are used, the value the stakeholders place on them, cost and time constraints, and the limited incentives and accountability associated with improving underlying assumptions and methodologies are key drivers behind the marginalization and stagnant evolution of the hotel feasibility study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The socially responsible investment (SRI) funds performances remain inconclusive. Hence, more studies need to be conducted to determine if SRI funds systematically underperform or outperform conventional funds. This paper has employed dynamic mean-variance model using shortage function approach to evaluate the performance of SRI and Environmentally friendly funds (EF). Unlike the traditional methods, this approach estimates fund performance considering both the return and risk at the same time. The empirical results show that SRI funds outperformed conventional funds in EU and US. In addition, the results of EU are among the top-performing categories. EF do not perform as well as SRI, but perform in manners equal or superior to conventional funds. These results show statistically significant in some cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rise of Internet sales, retailers witness increases in returned products, generally because website pictures and specifications tend to be insufficient for customers to determine the right size, colour or suitability of a product. Efficient processing of the return flow can improve inventory management and increase the utilisation of warehouse capacities. Moreover, short response times to customer orders and on-time delivery are critical and shape warehouse operations. To address the problem of integrated order and return job batching, this article proposes two optimisation models with constraints on the delivery time. We propose different objectives in offline and online contexts which require unique solution approaches. Time constraints also need to be taken into account to exploit the different characteristics of order and return jobs, as well as to incorporate response time-oriented objectives. Computational examples confirm the effectiveness of included returns and the impact of consumer-oriented objectives. Finally, a comparison of the proposed solution approaches with batching procedures used by a library warehouse indicates significant savings in travel distance through integrated order and return job processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop production must continuously be adjusted according to economic return and fluctuating prices on inputs versus harvested plant products and calls for continuous revision of the crop rotation and flexible management systems. This study describes grass seed production of three different types, respectively, of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenneL.) and red fescue (Festuca rubraL.) and their optimum number of growing seasons in terms of yield, selected yield components and economic gain. Three harvest years gave the maximum yield in the red fescue type with long stolons (cv. Pernille) and the highest number of fertile tillers in all three red fescue cultivars. Four harvest years gave the maximum yield for types with short stolons (cv. Suzette) and without stolons (cv. Tamara). The fifth year significantly reduced the yield compared to the highest obtained yield within each cultivar. The diploid amenity cv. Allegro and forage type cv. Borvi of perennial ryegrass can be harvested in five consecutive years without a significant yield reduction. The tetraploid type cv. Tivoli had the highest thousand seed weight and a significant yield decrease from the first to the second year of seed harvest and a continuous decline in seed yield is observed from the first to the fifth harvest year in this cultivar. Yet, when the economic incentive was calculated it was found that optimum harvest years cannot be determined by yield considerations alone. A combination of high grass seed price and low cereal price shows that red fescue can be grown up to four years and perennial ryegrass up to five years with high economic returns. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Accurate estimation of cost of equity is critical when making capital investment decisions to allocate valuable corporate resources. While the importance of proper estimation of required rate of return of an investment project is well documented, challenges surrounding estimation of the cost of equity still abound. This paper empirically evaluates the viability of common cost of equity models to estimate required rate of return for the U.S. restaurant industry for the 1996-2010 period. The full model, which consists of five risk factors, emerges as the soundest cost of equity model for the U.S. restaurant industry. We recommend that future studies assess the performance of cost of equity models in other countries and other segments of the hospitality industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a conference paper on research on the Group of 8 (Go8) University libraries in Australia. It cites a report commissioned by Go8 to Outsell led by Vic Eliot, then University of the Australian National University. It offers a history of studies on the value of library services using activity-based costing methodology and benchmarking for process models. It presents research on economic value of libraries using the Return on Investment and Contingent valuation methodologies.

We present a common analytical framework for evolutionary and institutional economics, conceived as the study of systems that do not tend toward, nor necessarily fluctuate around, a steady state. Using an evolutionary equation, we derive an analytical theory of the relation between resource abundance and the rate of return available under differing institutional structures. We suggest that the recent political and financial turmoil around the world reflects incompatibilities between existing institutional structures and the increasing scarcity of resources. We apply this idea to the most fundamental determinant of any society's prosperity, profitability and even long-term survival, namely its fertility and rate of population growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various estimates, both ex ante and ex post, have been produced of the accounting rate of return on investments in the late nineteenth-century coal industry, with some ex post figures also being calculated for individual firms engaged therein, such as the Consett Iron Co. Ltd. No one, however, has previously tried to calculate the economic rate of return from investing in a single coal mine over the duration of its life. In this article we examine both accounting and economic rates of return for the Carlton Main colliery, from its sinking during the 1870s through to its closure in 1909. Our results enable us to judge the accuracy of previous estimates of returns for the late nineteenth-century coal industry, and of contemporary estimates of the potential rate of return in coal mining. We also offer insights into the efficacy of using accounting rates of return as an indicator of the economic rate of return during that period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historical literature on Bryant and May, market leaders for many years in the English match trade, is rich and interesting although it contains little on the connections between labour and technology-related managerial practices and the economic returns that they engendered. This is surprising given the importance of profit considerations to business behaviour in general and to Bryant and May's functioning in particular. This paper accordingly examines the connections between the firm's approach to technological innovation and labour relations and the financial returns it was able to generate and distribute to its owners across the period 1884 to 1927. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OVERVIEW: Firms make significant investments in R&D projects, yet the economic return is often difficult to predict because of significant technological and commercial uncertainty. We present an innovative and practical method for managing R&D projects, and we discuss its application to a large R&D investment by Philips Lighting. The method, which we call the project portfolio option-value (PPO) method, provides an innovative way to represent, discuss, and value uncertainty in R&D projects. The PPO method is not about "perfect" or "complete" valuation models, but rather about providing a comprehensive but not-too-detailed view of major challenges and key criteria for success. The method is designed for a complex setting in which many uncertainties exist about technology and the market; in which the order in which uncertainties are resolved and decisions will be made cannot be specified in advance; in which interdependencies exist among R&D projects; and where transparency is vital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]