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This study seeks to investigate how the sustainability disclosure influence the financial performance of companies listed in the Top 100 Global Energy Leaders. The Refinitiv Eikon database in the main source where the data was collected for the 2017-2021 period, resulting in a data set of 361 observations for 71 companies. The analysis examined global and regional variables, and the results obtained using the SPSS statistical package were found to be mixed. The findings revealed that the ESG score had a significant negative impact on both Return on Equity (ROE) and Return on Assets (ROA) for the overall sample and Asia. In contrast, the impact was negative but statistically insignificant for Europe and positive but insignificant for North America. Furthermore, the environmental score had a negatively impact on ROA for the overall sample, while its influence was statistically insignificant in Asia, Europe and North America for both ROA and ROE. Additionally, the social score demonstrated a significant negative impact on the overall sample and Asia, while its impact was not significant in other regions. In terms of governance score, it significantly negatively affected ROE for the overall sample, Asia, and Europe, but had a positive and significant impact in North America. This existing literature in the field is completed in new results from the companies acting in the energy sector in different regions of the world. These findings have also some practical implications, being valuable for stakeholders in the decision-making process and for team management who seek to incorporate sustainable practises into corporate strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Managers are concerned about how the macroeconomic environment affects business profit. Focusing on banks, this study aims to investigate the effect of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on bank profitability in 22 advanced countries. Design/methodology/approach: The study used the panel fixed effect regression methodology to assess the effect of EPU on several measures of bank profitability for 22 advanced countries from 1998 to 2017. The measures of bank profitability are net interest margin, lending-deposit spread, non-interest income (NII) ratio, after-tax return on asset, before-tax return on asset, after-tax return on equity and before-tax return on equity. Findings: The findings reveal that high EPU negatively affects bank NII. Real gross domestic product growth rate, nonperforming loans and regulatory capital ratio are negatively related to profitability in times of high EPU. The findings also reveal that high EPU has a positive effect on bank profitability in Asia and the region of the Americas, as these regions witnessed high return on equity in times of high EPU. Practical implications: The implication of the findings is that, although EPU has a depressive effect on some indicators of bank profitability, regional characteristics can ameliorate the depressive effects of EPU on bank profitability. Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature that examine the economic consequences of EPU on firms. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is among the first to examine how regional characteristics affect the relationship between EPU and bank profitability using cross-country data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the global systemic shock associated with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus Covid-19 to assess the risk-return relationship in the cross-section of real estate equities in the US and in selected Asian countries. I construct regional Covid-19 Risk Factors (CRFs) to assess how the risk exposure of stocks to the pandemic affects their performance. I find substantial differences between stocks in Asia and the US as a result of the pandemic. During the early stages of the pandemic, the sensitivity of Asian real estate companies to the market becomes negative, while it remains positive and increases in the US. Real estate sectors experience strong divergence in performance in the US while little sectoral difference is observed in Asia. The most affected sectors in the US are retail and hotels, while in Asia it is office. A Fama–MacBeth regression shows evidence for a low-risk effect during the Covid period: while insignificant prior to the pandemic, the return-risk relationship becomes significantly negative during the Covid period, with valuation effects driving the results in both regions. Firms in the US perform significantly worse if their exposure to the pandemic is higher, which is not the case in Asia. The results point towards strong divergence of expectations between US and Asian real estate companies in the onset of Covid-19, which may be associated with the level of prior experience to similar pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper examines the effect of bank-specific, financial structure and macroeconomic factors on the profitability of banks in Asian economies during 1995–2017. Design/methodology/approach: It uses the data of 2,446 banks across 47 Asian countries between 1995 and 2017 (41,582 year observations). The static and dynamic panel generalized methods of moments (GMM) estimation techniques are applied. Findings: The results show that banks that are highly dependent on nontraditional activities have lower net interest revenue and net interest margin but higher return on assets, return on equity and profit before tax. Higher opportunity cost, capitalization, demand deposits and market risk result in a better bank profits. Furthermore, banks with higher loan exposure and growth have more profit. However, nonperforming loans have negative and significant impact on bank profitability. Asian banks do not suffer from diseconomies of scale and scope. The author also finds that banks located in countries with high gross domestic product, inflation rates and high rates of interest or in financially developed economies offer better profits. High credit to the private sector reduces the bank profitability. This study finds evidence to support the structure-conduct-performance (SCP) hypothesis. It also provides evidence that the impact of financial turmoil on the profitability of the Asian banking sector is negative and significant and has severely weakened the Asian banking system. Originality/value: As Asia has become an important economic area and the Asian topic has not earned enough discussions, this paper is the first to examine Asian banks with the latest and a wider range of panel data that cover 2,446 banks at 47 Asian countries over the period 1995–2017. The present study is among the first to address the influence of financial turmoil on bank profitability in this region. It also studies new variables, such as demand deposits, opportunity cost and off-balance sheet activities, which have not been examined in relation to bank profitability. It also applies both static techniques and dynamic panel estimation techniques to analyze the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microfinance institutions play a crucial role in poverty alleviation and provide financial services to low-income households. Microfinance growth rate is quite high in Asia but an undesirable development achieved due to high borrowing cost and inadequate reserves. Capital structure is being affected by lack of funds and interest rates charged by commercial institutions. For microfinance institutions, there is a need to determine a suitable mix of financing to stay sustainable. This study examines the impact of capital structure on the performance of microfinance institutions in Asia. Using a unique unbalanced panel data set of 253 microfinance institutions from 2000 to 2015, performance is measured in terms of sustainability, financial performance, social performance and efficiency. It is evident from the findings that capital structure and micro finance characteristics play a significant role in the performance. Grants to assets increase operational self-sufficiency and debt to equity increases the financial self-sufficiency of microfinance institutions. Microfinance characteristics like borrowers, loan intensity, and size of institutions upsurge sustainability. Banks and NGOs positively affect the financial and social performance of microfinance institutions. Deposit to asset ratio, debt to assets, and debt to equity impact outreach and return on the asset while grants decrease financial self-sufficiency and return on equity. At macroeconomic level, gross domestic product contributes to sustainability and management efficiency. However, inflation declines financial performance. Implications emerge from the findings are a crucial element in the performance of financial institutions. Microfinance institutions should maintain an optimal capital to ensure that their going concern is assured at all times. Therefore, managers should appropriately justify capital structure to stay sustainable. It also provides some managerial suggestions for microfinance institutions that help stakeholders to make decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: In this study, we sought to quantitatively describe the survival outcomes, incidence rates, and predictors of survival after paediatric traumatic out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA).Methods: We systematically searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, EMCARE, and CINAHL to identify observational or interventional studies reporting relevant data for paediatric traumatic OHCA. The Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tool for prognostic studies was used to assess study quality. We analysed the survival outcomes and pooled incidence rates per 100,000 person-years using random-effect models.Results: Nineteen articles met the eligibility criteria involving 705 Emergency Medical Service (EMS)-attended and 973 EMS-treated traumatic paediatric OHCAs across an estimated serviceable population of 15.2 million. Four studies were conducted in the Asia-pacific region, seven in Europe, and eight in North America. Nine studies were assessed as low quality. Overall pooled survival to hospital discharge or 30-day survival for the EMS-treated cases was 1.2% (n = 6 studies; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.1%, 3.1%; I2 = 26.1%). The pooled rate of return of spontaneous circulation in four studies was 22.1% (95% CI: 18.4%, 26.1%; I2 = 0.0%), and the pooled rate of event survival was 18.8% (n = 3 studies; 95% CI: 15.2%, 22.7%; I2 = 0.0%). The pooled incidence of EMS-treated paediatric traumatic OHCA was 1.6 cases per 100,000 person-years (n = 10 studies; 95% CI: 1.1, 2.2; I2 = 98.1%). No study reported on the impact of epidemiological or clinical factors on survival.Conclusion: Survival outcomes of paediatric traumatic OHCA are poor and existing studies report varying incidence rates. The absence of large prospective and international registry data hinders the development of novel strategies to improve survival rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the relationship between firm size and growth under the framework of Law of Proportionate Effect (LPE) for Asian firms. Design/methodology/approach: An unbalanced panel data for about 12,001 unique non-financial listed and active firms from 1995 to 2016 for 12 industrial and emerging Asian economies was examined. Total assets and net sales were used as size variables. Firm-specific variables such as return on equity, leverage and liquidity ratio were used along with macroeconomic variables such as GDP growth and two financial development indicators. The fixed effects and random effects approach were used to estimate the dynamic growth model after taking into account econometric issues such as correlation between the cross-country-specific error component and the regressors and heteroscedasticity. Findings: The estimated coefficient of firm size was found to be always significant and negative rejecting the Gibrat's law for Asian firms confirming that the small-sized firms are growing faster than larger-sized firms. Also, the persistence of growth coefficient suggested that a positive persistence of firm growth does not exist for the selected Asian firms. Gibrat's LPE was also rejected across small, medium- and large-sized companies. For the aggregate sample, the coefficient of leverage was found to be negative and significant, whereas liquidity ratio, GDP growth, banking sector and stock market variables are found to have positive and significant relationship with growth of firms. For individual economies, a mix of positive and negative (significant and insignificant) estimated coefficient was observed. Practical implications: At macro-level, the examination of firm growth is likely to have significant policy implications for the regulators and various government agencies as firm growth may increase economic activity in general and employment opportunities in particular. The policymakers can control economic and employment activity by designing specific firm growth policies. At micro-level, the study will have significant implications for managerial decision-making. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first studies to test the validity of Gibrat's LPE for large Asian economies and firms using recent data under a dynamic growth framework using firm-specific and macroeconomic variables. Also, persistence of growth of firms under LPE (that growth does not persist from one period to the next) is uniquely examined for Asian firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We set out in this study to examine (a) whether "socially responsible investment" (SRI) portfolios can outperform less‐SRI portfolios in the emerging Asian stock markets and (b) whether investors within these emerging markets achieve awareness of SRI through publicly available news. On the basis of 2009–2013 data, we find that SRI portfolios tend to perform better in Japan. However, firms in the emerging Asian markets do not earn rewards for superior corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. We also find that investors in the emerging Asian markets are indeed aware of SRI through public CSR news releases; in particular, investors in these markets reward high environmental‐, social‐, and governance‐rated firms for their good CSR practices advertised through such news releases, relative to those with no news releases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the downside risk and loss profiles of hedge funds in North America and Asia to identify any sig­nificant differences between the geographic markets and to determine how these differences have converged or diverged over time. An attempt is made to understand the performance drivers that differentiate Asian from North American hedge funds. In the downside-risk analysis of 2,631 North American and 994 Asian hedge funds from January 1995 to February 2013, event-driven investment strategies for both geographic regions perform better than the other hedge fund investment strategies in relation to both risk and return and downside risk. More diversified funds, such as multistrategy hedge funds, do not necessarily perform better than single­-manager strategies in relation to downside risk, while relative value strategies exhibit the most similar characteristics across the two geographies. Following their lackluster performance during the Asian financial crisis, Asian hedge funds improved their risk-adjusted performance, particularly during the recent global financial crisis when their loss profile reached a level similar to that of their North American peers. Lastly, nearby funds (i.e., funds whose managers are located in the same investment geography) have slightly worse loss profiles than distant funds in both geographic markets, a result that is slightly contrary to extant empirical evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article extends the current literature on currency carry trades by investigating the first and second moment interactions between carry trade returns and changes in sovereign credit default swap spreads. Using a VAR-EGARCH model and a sample of nine Asia-Pacific currencies, we examine the relation between sovereign spreads and carry trade returns with and without the inclusion of the 2008 global financial crisis period. Our results show that carry trade returns and sovereign spread changes are negatively correlated, with Granger causality running in both directions. We also find significant volatility spillover effects. High conditional correlation between the currency component of carry trades and sovereign spreads is documented, which is amplified if the crisis period is considered. Global risk affects carry trade volatility more during turbulent periods. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 35:1067-1087, 2015 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internationalization of capital markets offers diversification opportunities to the investors. This generates interest in the study of interlinkages among stock markets. The present paper studies the inter-linkages between stock markets of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Maldives. Daily closing levels of the benchmark indices in the three countries are taken for a period of July 2004 to June 2010. Line charts, correlogram and unit-root test are applied to check the stationary nature of the series. Granger's causality, Vector Auto Regression (VAR) and Variance Decomposition Analysis are performed to find out the linkages between the markets under study. The paper finds that the returns at National Stock Exchange (India) and Colombo Stock Exchange (Sri Lanka) are inter-linked. Other than India-Sri Lanka vector, the linkages between the South Asian stock exchanges are not confirmed, which means that the opportunities for diversification do exist in the South Asian region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the link between firm-specific variations in stock returns and firm fundamentals in the context of a simple present value framework and test the effect of market openness and firms' industry belonging on stock price informativeness in Korea. Using detailed accounting data and an extensive control for firm-specific characteristics, we find that alternative proxies of cash flow shocks explain a significant part of the variation in firm-specific returns. The effect, however, is not uniform across market sectors. Although greater foreign shareholding in a firm is important to establish a stronger positive linkage between cash flow shocks and stock returns variation prior to the Asian financial crisis, this condition is not necessary after the Korean market was fully opened up to the foreign investors in the post-crisis period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]