Search

New brand launches are notoriously risky, with high failure rates. Yet, most research focuses on the out-of-store factors inherent to their success/failure, overlooking strategies that can be employed in-store. The present research addresses this oversight by examining the influence of two in-store factors, distraction and shelf position, and their impact on a new brand's visibility on the shelf. We draw on a unique data set featuring a real-life new brand entrant into the Australian market. Using an experimental design in a shopper laboratory, and mobile eye-tracking, we find that the new brand stands a greater chance of being noticed and visually attended to on the shelf when shoppers are distracted. This is attributed to shoppers dwelling longer in front of the fixture, being more open to new-to-the-consumer brands, and by negatively affecting the top-down processing of existing brands on the shelf. We also find that optimising shelf position, which is a common in-store marketing tactic for existing brands, may not produce the same return on investment for a new brand. The findings offer valuable theoretical and practical implications for improving the success rates of new brand launches, including selection of distribution channels, allocation of marketing resources, and the interplay between in-store and out-of-sore factors driving shopper behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant legume crop in Ethiopia, chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.) have several advantages, including high nutritional value and the capacity to improve soils deficient in nitrogen through biological nitrogen fixation using several endosymbiotic Mesorhizobium spp. strains. However, the host variety, the soil's capacity to hold nutrients, and the endosymbiont's innate physiological traits all affect how efficient the strains are. The primary obstacles to its cultivation in the research area are inadequate agronomicmethods and low soil fertility [low nitrogen (N), low soil organic matter (OM), low accessible phosphorous (P), sulfur (S), and boron (B)], which results in ineffective nodulation. To evaluate the effects of NPSB fertilization and inoculation, a field experiment was carried out in Buchach Kebele's Cheha area during the primary cropping season of 2021/22. The trial included two chickpea kinds (Local and Arerti), twoNPSB levels (zero and 121 kg NPSB ha-1), and four levels of Mesorhizobium strains (CP-M41, CP-EAL 029, CP-M20b, and un-inoculated control). A randomized complete block design (RCBD) was used to organize the treatments in a factorial form with three replications. In comparison to the single application and the control, the interaction impact of strains, NPSB fertilizer, and variety greatly increased nodulation parameters, growth parameters, yield, and yield components. The Arerti variety combined with the CP-M41 Mesorhizobium strain andNPSB fertilizer had themaximum grain production (3177.16 kg ha-1). It yielded 15.96%, 24.06%, and 37.93%more than the Arerti with CP-M41 strain, Arertiwith NPSB, and the control treatments, respectively. The partial budget analysis of the study treatments showed that the Arerti varietywith the combined application of 121 kg NPSB ha-1 and Mesorhizobium strain CP-M41 inoculation produced the highest net return (102,092.6 ETB ha-1) with an acceptable marginal rate of return (618%). It has been found that the CPM41 strain and the Arerti variety, when combined with 121 kg NPSB ha-1 application, is a suitable treatment combination to achieve increased chickpea crop yield and profit in the studied area. However, the results need further validation in the farmer's field before recommending to farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the United States largest learning health system. The Diffusion of Excellence (DoE) program is a large-scale model of diffusion that identifies and diffuses evidence-informed practices across VHA. During the period of 2016-2021, 57 evidence-informed practices were implemented across 82 VHA facilities. This setting provides a unique opportunity to understand sustainment determinants and pathways. Our objective was to characterize the longitudinal pathways of practices as they transition from initial implementation to long-term sustainment at each facility. Methods: A longitudinal, mixed-methods evaluation of 82 VHA facilities. Eighty-two facility representatives, chosen by leadership as points-of-contact for 57 DoE practices, were eligible for post-implementation interviews and annual sustainment surveys. Primary outcomes (implementation, sustainment), and secondary outcomes (institutionalization, effectiveness, anticipated sustainment) at four time-points were collected. We performed descriptive statistics and directed content analysis using Hailemariam et al.'s factors influencing sustainment. Results: After approximately five years post-implementation (e.g., 2021 sustainment outcomes), of the 82 facilities, about one-third fully sustained their practice compared to one-third that did not fully sustain their practice because it was in a "liminal" stage (neither sustained nor discontinued) or permanently discontinued. The remaining one-third of facilities had missing 2021 sustainment outcomes. A higher percentage of facilities (70%) had inconsistent primary outcomes (changing over time) compared to facilities (30%) with consistent primary outcomes (same over time). Thirty-four percent of facilities with sustained practices reported resilience since they overcame implementation and sustainment barriers. Facilities with sustained practices reported more positive secondary outcomes compared to those that did not sustain their practice. Key factors facilitating practice sustainment included: demonstrating practice effectiveness/benefit, sufficient organizational leadership, sufficient workforce, and adaptation/alignment with local context. Key factors hindering practice sustainment included: insufficient workforce, not able to maintain practice fidelity/integrity, critical incidents related to the COVID-19 pandemic, organizational leadership did not support sustainment of practice, and no ongoing support. Conclusions: We identified diverse pathways from implementation to sustainment, and our data underscore that initial implementation outcomes may not determine long-term sustainment outcomes. This longitudinal evaluation contributes to understanding impacts of the DoE program, including return on investment, achieving learning health system goals, and insights into achieving high-quality healthcare in VHA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between gender diversity and the corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance of companies using a sample of 810 French firms from 2011 to 2019. We focus on specific dimensions of CSR. Specifically, we examine the presence of women on different board committees, which, unlike the board of directors, are not subject to regulations regarding the minimum representation of women. Overall, our results show that the presence of women on board committees positively impacts CSR performance, except for the environmental innovation subdimension. This finding implies that women on board committees could bring new insights to specific areas of CSR engagement. The negative impact on environmental innovation can be explained by the risk avoidance behavior of women in financial decision‐making. As green innovations are very risky investments requiring significant financial resources and take longer to deliver a return on investment, women board members are more unwilling to invest in them than their male counterparts. Our results provide evidence that women's representation on audit, nomination, and compensation committees more prominently impact CSR performance than their representation in CSR committees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the effect of mycotoxins (MT) without or with the inclusion of yeast cell wall extract (YCWE, Mycosorb®, Alltech, Inc., Nicholasville, KY, USA) on laying hen performance. A total of 25 trials were collected from a literature search, and data were extracted from 8 of these that met inclusion criteria, for a total of 12 treatments and 1774 birds. Laying hens fed MT had lower (p < 0.05) body weight (BW) by −50 g, egg production by −6.3 percentage points, and egg weight by −1.95 g than control fed hens (CTRL). Inclusion of YCWE during the mycotoxin challenges (YCWE + MT) resulted in numerically greater (p = 0.441) BW by 12.5 g, while egg production and egg weight were significantly (p < 0.0001) higher by 4.2 percentage points and 1.37 g, respectively. Furthermore, economic assessment calculations indicated that YCWE may not only support hen performance but also resulted in a positive return on investment. In conclusion, mycotoxins can play a role in negatively impacting laying hen performance and profitability. Inclusion of YCWE in feed with mycotoxin challenges provided benefits to egg production and egg weight and may support profitability. As such, the inclusion of YCWE could play an important role in minimizing mycotoxin effects and in turn aid farm efficiency and profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cloud providers offer various purchasing options to enable users to tailor their costs according to their specific requirements, including on-demand, reserved instances, and spot instances. On-demand and spot instances satisfy short-term workloads, whereas reserved instances fulfill long-term instances. However, there are workloads that fall outside of either long-term or short-term categories. Consequently, there is a notable absence of services specifically tailored for medium-term workloads. On-demand services, while offering flexibility, often come with high costs. Spot instances, though cost-effective, carry the risk of termination. Reserved instances, while stable and less expensive, may have a remaining period that extends beyond the duration of users' tasks. This gap underscores the need for solutions that address the unique requirements and challenges associated with medium-term workloads in the cloud computing landscape. This paper introduces a new cloud broker that introduces IaaS services for medium-term workloads. On one hand, this broker strategically reserves resources from providers, and on the other hand, it interacts with users. Its interaction with users is twofold. It collects users' preferences regarding commitment term for medium-term workloads and then transforms the leased resources based on commitment term, aligning with the requirements of most users. To ensure profitability, the broker sells these services utilizing an auction algorithm. Hence, in this paper, an auction algorithm is introduced and developed, which treats cloud services as virtual assets and integrates the depreciation over time. The findings affirm the lack of services that fulfill medium workloads while ensuring the financial viabilty and profitability of the broker, given that the estimated return on investment (ROI) is acceptable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research found that companies that fail to mitigate carbon emissions will make higher carbon disclosures than companies that successfully mitigate carbon emissions, and companies will also make decisions that are relevant to applicable regulations and policies. This research will explore the stakeholder perspective in assessing the company. This stakeholder perspective will determine whether more adequate regulations are needed to address the problem of greenwashing and stakeholder protection. This research will also explore whether the transparency of carbon information carried out by companies is directly proportional to the accountability for mitigating carbon emissions and whether current environmental regulations are able to motivate companies to mitigate environmental pollution. The results of the study found carbon emission disclosures have a positive effect on financial performance. Carbon emission disclosure has a positive effect on green innovation. Carbon emission disclosure has a negative effect on the cost of debt. The period of ratification of Presidential Regulation No.98 can strengthen the relationship between carbon emission disclosure and financial performance as measured by return on equity (ROE), but not with financial performance as measured by Tobin's Q. The period of ratification of Presidential Regulation No.98 can strengthen the relationship between carbon emission disclosure and green innovation. The period of ratification of Presidential Regulation No.98 has no effect on the relationship between carbon emission disclosure and the cost of debt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Audit committees are appointed by the board of directors of corporations to oversee the financial reporting process, monitor financial control processes, hire and assess independent auditors, and communicate findings with management and auditors. We propose two new measures of audit oversight quality. The first measure is purely subjective, in that it scores audit committees on a scale based on their ability to fulfill one or more of their responsibilities, as mentioned in annual reports, Form 10-K and DEF 13A. The second measure concerns audit committee activity, as it measures the number of times the term 'audit committee' is mentioned in these documents. Both measures were obtained for U.S. pharmaceutical companies and energy companies from 2010 to 2022. The audit oversight quality measures were regressed in regard to profitability (measured by return on assets and return on equity), debt capacity (measured by equity multiplier), and firm value (measured by Tobin's q and economic value added). Audit oversight quality, using both measures, reduces the return on equity. Audit oversight quality, using both measures, had a disciplining effect on debt. Increases in the oversight of increasing debt discourage the propensity to increase borrowing using collateral (debt capacity), and reduce investor returns through investment in debt-financed projects (return on equity). Audit oversight quality, using both measures, exhibited a size effect on the firm's value, in that an increase in the firm size with high audit oversight quality increases the firm's value. However, it is possible that only the first measure of audit oversight quality significantly increased the firm's value, as only the first measure exhibited robustness to the endogeneity effect of size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Design is an important construct in the retail environment literature. Yet, the measures used for design have not followed appropriate scale development procedures. The purpose of this study is to provide a conceptual definition and then develop a scale for retail environment design (RED). Design/methodology/approach: Interviews with both consumers and marketing researchers are used to generate a potential list of items. Using four different studies, these items are refined, and the RED scale is offered. Findings: This study develops and validates the four-dimensional RED scale to measure the design of retail environments. The dimensions are functional, aesthetic, lighting and signage. Research limitations/implications: The newly developed RED scale will allow retailing researchers to measure lighting and signage qualities as part of retail design, measure design of retail environments more accurately and allow different studies to be compared. Practical implications: The newly developed RED scale will allow retailers to better understand customers' perceptions of the four dimensions of design. Retailers spend significant time and money designing and redesigning retail environments. The RED scale will enable managers to ensure these significant investments create competitive advantages and an appropriate return on investment. Originality/value: A scale to measure retail environment design is developed. The scale includes two dimensions (lighting and signage) that are not typically investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's electricity spot market is undergoing rapid development. With the increasing integration of new energy sources, it has become imperative for new energy power plants to participate in the market actively. Simultaneously, new energy power facilities are equipped with energy storage to cope with the randomness of power generation. In order to address the optimization and control challenges of wind‐storage combined systems in the market environment, a charging and discharging strategy is proposed. Considering system parameters as variables, an online rolling‐horizon optimization model for wind‐storage systems is constructed to maximize revenue. Case studies demonstrate that this strategy effectively improves the overall revenue of wind power plants. After optimization, the return on investment (ROI) of the system increases by 2.29%. The selection of system parameters can significantly impact the outcomes. The optimal values of the capacity configuration and step size are 25 MWh and 45 min. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Public–private partnerships (PPP) are often how health improvement programs are implemented in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs). We therefore aimed to systematically review the literature about the aim and impacts of quality improvement (QI) approaches in PPP in LMICs. Methods: We searched SCOPUS and grey literature for studies published before March 2022. One reviewer screened abstracts and full-text studies for inclusion. The study characteristics, setting, design, outcomes, and lessons learned were abstracted using a standard tool and reviewed in detail by a second author. Results: We identified 9,457 citations, of which 144 met the inclusion criteria and underwent full-text abstraction. We identified five key themes for successful QI projects in LMICs: 1) leadership support and alignment with overarching priorities, 2) local ownership and engagement of frontline teams, 3) shared authentic learning across teams, 4) resilience in managing external challenges, and 5) robust data and data visualization to track progress. We found great heterogeneity in QI tools, study designs, participants, and outcome measures. Most studies had diffuse aims and poor descriptions of the intervention components and their follow-up. Few papers formally reported on actual deployment of private-sector capital, and either provided insufficient information or did not follow the formal PPP model, which involves capital investment for a explicit return on investment. Few studies discussed the response to their findings and the organizational willingness to change. Conclusions: Many of the same factors that impact the success of QI in healthcare in high-income countries are relevant for PPP in LMICs. Vague descriptions of the structure and financial arrangements of the PPPs, and the roles of public and private entities made it difficult to draw meaningful conclusions about the impacts of the organizational governance on the outcomes of QI programs in LMICs. While we found many articles in the published literature on PPP-funded QI partnerships in LMICs, there is a dire need for research that more clearly describes the intervention details, implementation challenges, contextual factors, leadership and organizational structures. These details are needed to better align incentives to support the kinds of collaboration needed for guiding accountability in advancing global health. More ownership and power needs to be shifted to local leaders and researchers to improve research equity and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conservation funding is currently limited; cost‐effective conservation solutions are essential. We suggest that the thousands of field stations worldwide can play key roles at the frontline of biodiversity conservation and have high intrinsic value. We assessed field stations' conservation return on investment and explored the impact of COVID‐19. We surveyed leaders of field stations across tropical regions that host primate research; 157 field stations in 56 countries responded. Respondents reported improved habitat quality and reduced hunting rates at over 80% of field stations and lower operational costs per km2 than protected areas, yet half of those surveyed have less funding now than in 2019. Spatial analyses support field station presence as reducing deforestation. These "earth observatories" provide a high return on investment; we advocate for increased support of field station programs and for governments to support their vital conservation efforts by investing accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managerial ability and managerial efforts play key role in the performance of business enterprises. However, this indicator is not directly observable. The current paper focuses on estimating managerial ability in the context of the Indian and Iranian general insurance sectors. The study is based on 140 firm-year observations in India and 140 firm-year observations in Iran spread over 7 years (2012–13 to 2018–19). For measuring managerial ability, we have used a three-stage procedure that involves the estimation of insurer-wise efficiency using Data Envelopment analysis (DEA) in the first stage and then regression of the logarithm of technical efficiency on a set of explanatory variables. In the final stage, we have estimated managerial ability from regression residuals (the difference between the observed and fitted values of insurer efficiency). In order to test the validity of the relationship between return on equity and managerial ability we use the general additive model (GAM). Our results confirmed that there is a positive relationship between return on equity and managerial ability. Our findings also revealed that the mean technical and output allocative efficiencies and managerial ability of Iranian markets highly fluctuated with a high variance. In contrast, these indicators did not fluctuate much in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Iraqi Journal of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Split potassium fertilization is emerging as an effective technique for the prolonged assimilation of significant amounts of accessible potassium during the vegetation, with the aim of establishing a positive potassium balance in the soil and achieving increased yields of quality produce. The aim of this study was to determine the economic efficiency of the partitioning and split application of potassium doses in the cultivation of tomatoes, both in the early and mid-early production. The results showed that tomato plants demonstrate improved potassium utilization through split application, resulting in increased yields and total production revenues. Split fertilization alternatives proved to be economically viable, with N24Р12К8+8+8 approach being particularly beneficial in early tomato production. This study underlines the importance of optimizing fertilization practices in agriculture, highlighting the potential to increase economic efficiency and profitability for farmers and to ensure the sustainable use of soil resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stock portfolio problems are one of the most relevant real-world problems. In this study, we discuss the portfolio's risk amount, rate of risk-return, and expected return rate under a Fermatean fuzzy environment. A linear programming problem is used to formulate a Fermatean fuzzy portfolio. The Fermatean fuzzy portfolio is converted to a deterministic form using the score function. Lingo software is used to solve these deterministic portfolio problems. The main feature of this model is that investors can select a risk coefficient to enhance predicted returns and customize their strategies according to their circumstances. An example is offered that illustrates the effectiveness and dependability of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Finance & Financial Law / Finanse i Prawo Finansowe is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Since market uncertainty, or volatility, serves as a crucial gauge for assessing the traits of market fluctuations, the link between stock market volume and price continues to be a focal point of interest in finance. This study examines the dynamic, nonlinear correlations between Chinese stock volatility, trading volume, and return using a hybrid approach that combines the Markov-switching regime with the vector autoregressive model (MS-VAR). The empirical findings are as follows: (1) The Chinese stock market can be divided into three regional systems: steady downward, steady upward, and high volatility. The three states have similar frequencies of occurrence, and their corresponding stable probabilities are not high, indicating that the Chinese stock market is unstable. (2) Asymmetric dynamic relationships exist between market volatility, investment return, and trading volume. For different regimes, while the effect of trading volume on volatility and return appears to be insignificant, the impacts of volatility and return on trading volume are considerably strong. (3) A regime-dependent, contemporaneous correlation between volatility and return is observed, which also reflects the behavior of the Chinese stock market "chasing up and down". However, a positive contemporaneous correlation always exists between volatility and trading volumes in different regimes, indicating that uncertainty in the Chinese stock market is closely related to information inflow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many business entities in Slovakia felt the pressure of government restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, especially entities from SK NACE I: accommodation and food services activities. The main objective of this article is to analyse the return on equity, assets and sales in selected sectors in Slovakia and find out if the Covid-19 pandemic has an effect on these profitability ratios. Firstly, we use ex-post financial analyses and then Friedman's nonparametric test to find those groups of years between which there are differences. The study period 2016-2021 includes comparisons before the Covid-19 period, as well as dealing with the pandemic era. Our investigation concerns 321 business entities from SK NACE I, especially from Division 56: Food and beverage service activities. The findings showed the impact of the pandemic on profitability indicators such as total assets, equity, and sales. Therefore, it was feasible to establish that these are the indicators most affected by the pandemic, such as the economic outcome after taxes, assets, equity, and sales. Additionally, significant differences in indicators were confirmed in the pairs of years 2019–2020 and 2019–2021. Significant changes were confirmed between the years provided, which may most likely be attributed to the outbreak of the pandemic of the viral disease Covid-19. This study and its results may have added value for the management of business entities and the government of the Slovak Republic by stimulating the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on firms in these sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Sales organizations embrace technological innovation. However, salespeople's willingness to use new technology influences a firm's return on investment, representing a significant concern for the organization. These concerns highlight tensions regarding the tradeoffs associated with technology implementations. The purpose of this study is to offer insights that help reduce the complexities of sales technology (ST) by exploring the changing dynamics of contemporary business relationships. Design/methodology/approach: This paper synthesizes the ST literature using the service ecosystem perspective to propose the sales techno-ecosystem (STE) framework, providing new insights into organizational decision-making related to the ongoing digital transformation of sales tasks. Findings: This synthesis of the ST literature with the service ecosystem seeks to clarify the impact of technology within the evolving nature of buyer–seller relationships by providing four unique perspectives. Research limitations/implications: Perspective 1 reviews the sales-service ecosystem framework and develops the theoretical underpinnings and relevant terminologies. Perspective 2 summarizes critical aspects of the ST literature and provides foundations for future research in the STE. Perspective 3 offers a more granular view, explicating roles and contexts prevalent in buyer–seller–technology interactions. Perspective 4 provides a set of tenets and advances research questions related to each tenet. Practical implications: The culmination of these four perspectives is the introduction of five key tenants designed to help guide strategy and research. Originality/value: The paper advances Hartmann et al. (2018) service ecosystem paradigm by explicating critical aspects of its ST domain to generate insights for theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies the CEO characteristics that have an impact on the performance of family businesses listed in the Euronext in the post-COVID 19 period. CEO characteristics are evaluated on two dimensions, i.e., personal characteristics and corporate governance mechanisms. A sample of 137 firm-year observations from Portugal, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Ireland, France, and Belgium was chosen. CEO attributes of age, gender, education, and family membership were combined with corporate governance mechanisms of ownership concentration, CEO duality, CEO directorships, and CEO tenure, to predict return on assets and return on equity, using OLS regression. GMM estimation and Two-Stage Least Squares were employed to establish the robustness of the results. Among CEO personal characteristics, CEO family membership has a positive impact on return on assets, and a positive impact on return on equity. Among corporate governance mechanisms, CEO duality had a negative impact on return on assets, and a negative impact on return on equity. CEO ownership, and CEO tenure had a positive impact on return on assets, and a positive impact on return on equity. This paper's value lies in its evaluation of the under-researched area of family businesses of Euronext-listed firms. It can be used by family businesses in the region, for the selection and training of CEOs to fulfill the goal of achieving superior financial performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of supply chain concentration on a firm's financing costs. We show purchasing firms with multiple supplier relationships are subject to higher information asymmetry and cost of equity. This effect is more pronounced when the supplier's financial performance deteriorates. We also find that lower supply chain concentration increases a firm's cost of debt. We believe that the purchaser's supply chain represents a source of material private information and that investors require a higher rate of return as compensation for increased information asymmetry. Our results are robust to combining the suppliers producing similar output and endogeneity issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fintech companies are relatively young and operate in a rapidly evolving and ever-changing industry, which makes it important to understand how different factors, including shareholder presence in management roles, affect their performance. This study investigates the impact of shareholder presence in director and manager positions on the financial performance of Latvian fintechs. Our investigation centers on essential financial ratios, including Return on Assets, Return on Equity, Profit Margin, Liquidity Ratio, Current Ratio, and Solvency Ratio. Our findings suggest that the presence of shareholders in director and manager roles does not significantly affect the financial performance of fintech companies. Although the statistical analysis did not yield significant results, it is important to consider additional insights garnered from Cliff's Delta effect sizes. Specifically, despite the lack of statistical significance, practical significance indicates that fintech companies in which directors and managers are shareholders show slightly better performance than other fintech companies. Beyond shedding light on the intricacies of corporate governance in the fintech sector, this research serves as a valuable resource for investors, stakeholders, and fellow researchers seeking to understand the impact of shareholder presence in director and manager roles on the financial performance of fintechs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the nexus between working capital management (WCM) and financial performance of listed non-financial firms in Ghana. An unbalanced panel data for the period 2008 to 2021 was used for the study. It is observed that the residual terms of the models were cross-sectionally independent and all the series were first-differenced stationary and cointegrated in the long term The elasticities of the predictors were explored via the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and the Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) techniques. The findings of the study indicate that WCM proxied by accounts receivable period (ACP), accounts payment period (APP), and inventory turnover period (ITP) have significant positive effect on firms' financial performance measured by return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and return on capital employed (ROCE). This suggests that the working capital management practices of non-financial firms in Ghana improve their financial performance. Also, firm size and asset growth improve firm financial performance. On the causalities between the variables, bidirectional causalities between ACP, APP, ITP, size, and thecompanies' ROA, ROE, and ROCE are disclosed. Finally, causality from growth to the ROA, ROE, and ROCE of the firms are unraveled. It is recommended that policy makers of non-financial firms in Ghana should not overlook WCM practices in their financial decisions, since ignoring them could seriously compromise the firms' short- and long-term sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central banks normally accept debt of their own governments as collateral in liquidity operations without reservations. This gives rise to a valuable liquidity premium that reduces the cost of government finance. The ECB is an interesting exception in this respect. It relies on external assessments of the creditworthiness of its member states, such as credit ratings, to determine eligibility and the haircut it imposes on such debt. We show how such features in a central bank's collateral framework can give rise to cliff effects and multiple equilibria in bond yields and increase the vulnerability of governments to external shocks. This policy can potentially induce sovereign debt crises and defaults that would not otherwise occur. The success of the ECB's temporary suspension of these features of its collateral framework during the pandemic illustrates the practical relevance of this mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a novel decomposition approach to study the degree of co‐movement of international housing markets while distinguishing among different economic drivers. We find that the housing market variability for an average country was mainly driven by the common housing risk premium components during the years leading up to the 2007–08 subprime financial crisis. A decrease in the common housing risk premium was followed by a housing boom and economic expansion in the United States prior to the crisis. Our findings add to the understanding of the role of common risk factors across international housing markets before the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is commonly accepted that the success and expansion of insurance companies' underwriting operations, which is indicated by the premiums received from insurance policies, is reflected in their profitability rates. During the period of 2010 to 2021, Iraqi insurance companies in the private sector that are listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange experienced a fluctuation in the increase and noticeable decrease of gross written premiums, which had a negative impact on their profitability ratios. The aim of this investigation is to analyze the underwriting activities carried out by all insurance companies that are publicly listed on the Iraq Stock Exchange spanning from 2010 to 2021, and assess the impact of these activities on the companies' profitability rates. To evaluate the profitability of these firms, three indicators are used, namely the rate of return on assets, return on equity, and profit margin ratio. The study employs Data Panel models using Eviews 12 to identify the research samples during the study period. Additionally, the pooled regression model is used to compare the findings and test the hypotheses of the study. In a structured manner, data is collected from the annual reports released by the Iraq Stock Exchange. The statistical examination of the findings reveals that the gross written premium has a significant and positive influence on all of the profitability ratios that were evaluated in this study, namely the rate of return on assets, return on equity, and profit margin ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate governance relies significantly on the board of directors, who act as custodians of shareholders' interests. The dynamics of social connections between Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and board members form a critical element that influences information exchange within this vital governance structure. This study seeks to assess the impact of these social connections on organizational performance. We conducted a comprehensive analysis of the professional backgrounds of CEOs and board members to measure the extent of their social connections. Employing multiple regression analysis with robust error corrections, we considered essential economic and financial metrics, including Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA). Our findings reveal that professional social connections have a positive influence on ROA (β = 0.0230|p-value ≤ 0.05) and EBITDA (β = 420,517,1|p-value ≤ 0.05), while educational connections exhibited no significant effect, and familial connections were found to adversely affect EBITDA (β = − 516,307,0|p-value ≤ 0.05). This study highlights the real influence of social connections on firm performance, shedding light on the complex interplay between social dynamics and corporate success. These insights contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of corporate governance and the factors driving organizational performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aimed to examine the effect of corporate cash holdings on financial performance. The data covered 536 non-financial firms for the 2006–2020 period from 11 MENA region countries. This study used fixed- and random-effects testing models. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that aimed to study the effect of corporate cash holdings on financial performance in MENA countries in two aspects: linear and non-linear relationships. By using the return on assets, return on equity, earnings before interest, and the tax margin as the indicators of financial performance, we developed two groups of models investigating the linear and non-linear relationships between cash holdings and profitability measures. The models included several control variables, namely leverage, firm size, sales growth rate, tangibility, dividend pay-out ratio, and gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate. The results of this study revealed that both the linear and non-linear models produced significant results for the return on assets and the return on equity, but for the earnings before interest and tax margins, the linear model was insignificant. The non-linear models indicated an optimal level of cash holdings. In this context, the policymakers must actively evaluate these policies, such as working capital management and its effect on financial performance. In addition, the policymakers must consider macroeconomic conditions when designing corporate cash-holding policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to examine the impact of natural disasters on banking stability across different levels of economic development. Utilizing bank-level data from 1242 banks in 72 countries, combined with natural disaster data from the Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, we contribute to the literature in three ways. Firstly, we directly assess the influence of natural disasters on banking stability. Secondly, we focus on bank-level data instead of country-level data. Thirdly, we expand on existing research by using different thresholds for the total number of people affected to population ratio, surpassing the previously suggested threshold of 0.5%. Our panel regression analysis with banks and year-fixed effects reveals that natural disasters significantly affect bank stability, particularly in middle- and low-income countries. These effects are robust across alternative measures and estimations, leading to higher non-performing loans, lower return on assets, and decreased capital and return on equity ratios, indicating a negative impact on bank performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the return on investment (ROI) paradigm from fundamental educational research grant funding perspectives. The researchers conducted a wide-ranging literature search regarding the educational research grant funding ROI from public policy and economics viewpoints. The preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and metaanalyses (PRISMA) were utilized to identify and analyze research articles and original reports related to ROI from educational research grant funding. The research data were screened through a literature review based on the inclusion criteria, namely study focusing on return on investment of educational research funding and study published between 2001 and 2021 (as of December 2021). This study found evidence that ROI calculation from fundamental educational research grants is not straightforward and varies. Besides, most available research focuses on research impact rather than economic and intrinsic research value. Based on the compiled literature on research-related performance attributes, this study identified three distinct deliverables of educational research funding: tangible output, intangible output, and research outcome. The present research proposes more robust and reliable methods for measuring the ROI of fundamental educational research impact, potentially generating a much-inform decision-making and resource allocation in educational research grant funding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous-cover forestry (CCF), which maintains a relatively intact forest cover through selective harvesting, has emerged over the last few decades as a popular alternative to rotational forest management (RFM). Coast redwood, which is native to the western United States, grows rapidly in New Zealand and is well suited to CCF as it has high shade tolerance, an ability to coppice from the cut stem, and resistance to pests, diseases, wind and fire. A forest estate model was used to compare the carbon sequestration, timber production and profitability of redwood CCF, RFM and permanent carbon forestry (PCF) regimes at a regional level within New Zealand. Through linear programming, this model optimised carbon accumulation and harvesting decisions across a large forest to meet a series of constraints associated with each regime. All three regimes represented good investment decisions, but CCF had the highest soil expectation value (SEV) within most North Island regions while PCF had a slightly higher SEV within the South Island regions. Under the transitional CCF (CCFt), revenue from carbon initially increased before levelling out at 40 years, after which time a sustainable harvest of high-value timber commenced in perpetuity without additional revenue from carbon. The CCFt regime transitioned to a steady-state condition, with a uniform age class distribution from year 150 onwards (CCFs), after which time a very high SEV was attained that exceeded that of CCFt by four-fold in the North Island (NZD 136,126/ha vs. NZD 34,430/ha) and seven-fold (NZD 44,714 vs. NZD 6267/ha) in the South Island. This study highlights the profitability of managing redwood under CCF and how initial carbon revenue can be used to finance the transition of the forest to a steady-state condition that produces a stream of valuable timber with a very high rate of return. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inspirational paper by Ash, Dowler, and Varsi in 1978, proposing to utilize in situ resources on Mars (ISRU) rather than bringing them from Earth, originated the field of Mars ISRU that has been the subject of research ever since. In this paper, we reviewed significant research reported on Mars ISRU since 1978 and reported briefly on accomplishments. We found that prior to 2014, progress on small tasks was sporadic and intermittent, always at low Technology Readiness Level (TRL). In 2014, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) took a bold, imaginative, unprecedented step to fund a major project in Mars ISRU: the so-called "MOXIE" (Mars Oxygen In Situ Experiment), in which an oxygen production plant based on solid oxide electrolysis (SOEC) was developed, and finally demonstrated on Mars in 2022 and 2023. While MOXIE leaves behind it a wealth of accomplishments, there remains the need to close remaining gaps with additional laboratory and field work. Solid-oxide electrochemical cell (SOEC) technology has become a major area of worldwide investment for terrestrial energy and CO2 control. There is a very strong overlap between this terrestrial technology and Mars ISRU. NASA has already leveraged the terrestrial development work via MOXIE. NASA can leverage further advances with a comparatively small investment beyond 2023. Because NASA is engaged in a major program to return humans to the Moon, NASA's focus is on lunar ISRU. Unfortunately, the mission impact and return on investment for lunar ISRU does not compare to that for Mars ISRU. NASA's concept for Mars ISRU is futuristic, involving autonomous mining, transporting, and processing large amounts of Mars regolith. This might well occur long after initial human landings which could better profit in the near-term from MOXIE technology. By continuing further development of SOEC technology beyond MOXIE, while leveraging large investments in terrestrial applications, NASA can develop the Mars ISRU appropriate to nearer term human missions at modest investment. The goal of this paper is to place the relatively mature MOXIE technology advance and solid oxide electrolysis in general in perspective to the historical evolution of low TRL Mars ISRU technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stock ranking prediction is an effective method for achieving a high investment return and plays a crucial role in investment decisions. However, previous studies have overlooked the interconnections among stocks or have solely relied on predefined graphs for stock relationship information. The predefined graphs may not capture all possible relationships and may not be suitable for describing dynamic relationships. To address these issues, we propose a Static-Dynamic hypergraph neural network framework based on Residual Learning (SD-RL). Compared with traditional methods, SD-RL has the following advantages. (1) Stocks are no longer treated as isolated entities; instead, their static and dynamic relationship information is taken into account. (2) Leveraging the data-driven methodology, SD-RL autonomously learns both the static graph and dynamic hypergraph through dedicated graph learning and hypergraph learning modules, respectively. (3) By employing residual learning, various latent relationship information flows are mined, which enhances the stock embedding's capacity to capture trends. Extensive experiments on the real data verify the effectiveness of our proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Glasgow Climate Pact articulated the vital importance of renewables in reducing emissions on the way to net-zero pledges. During the power sector transition, foreseeing conditions affecting the plausibility of pathway options is crucial for specifying an optimal system development strategy. This study examines the net energy performance of nine decarbonisation global energy transition scenarios until 2050 by applying a newly developed systemwide energy return on investment (EROI) model. All scenarios result in an EROI value above the upper limit of the net energy cliff, expected to be around 10. EROI trends heavily depend on transition paths. Once achieving higher renewable energy shares begin requiring significant enabling technologies, EROI continually declines as the shares increase. Shortening the transition period leads to a sharper declining of EROI, which stabilises after achieving 100% renewables. The vulnerability arising from natural gas and oil depletions may have worst impact on EROI of fossil fuels dominated systems. Here, the authors adopt systemwide EROI to assess the sustainability risks of nine global energy transition scenarios. The EROI of fossil fuel dominated scenarios tend to approach the upper limit of the net energy cliff, posing higher sustainability risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research investigates the determinants of private banks profitability in Egypt. The determinants are bank specific (liquidity, capital adequacy, bank size, asset structure, credit risk, and non-performing loans), industry-specific (industry concentration and banking industry development), and macroeconomics (economic growth and inflation). It is an empirical study applying a quantitative method for data analysis and the type of data is secondary data. The sample size of the research is 15 private banks on the Egyptian and the panel data for the research is 2013–2022. The multiple linear regression analysis using the Eviews 12 application as an analytical tool by applying generalized least squares model. The profitability of private banks, which is the dependent factor, is calculated by two measurements, Return on Assets and Return on Equity with ten determinants of profitability as independent variables. Results indicate that capital adequacy, economic growth bank size, and inflation has a positive significant effect on private banks profitability in Egypt. While NPL, liquidity and credit risk have significant negative effect on private banks profitability in Egypt. Based on the results recommendations are provided for bank management to maximize their profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To analyze the effect of prior period adjustments (PPA) on Equity and on Return on Equity (ROE). Methodology: The Statements of Changes in Equity and the Explanatory Notes of the companies listed on the B3's New Market, from 2010 to 2019, were researched. To analyze the effects of PPA on equity and ROE, the Wilcoxon test was applied. Results: The majority of the identified PPA pertain to changes in accounting policies, notably related to the application of IFRS 9/CPC 48 and IFRS 15/CPC 47 in 2018. This means that companies chose to recognize the effects of adopting these standards retrospectively, with a cumulative effect on equity, without presenting comparative information (accounting choice). There was a statistically significant difference between the average variations in adjusted and unadjusted equity and return on equity (ROE). In other words, it is observed that changes in accounting policies and/or error corrections influence the analysis of these indicators. It is important to note that PPA should not affect the net income for the current period, suggesting that the effects resulting from changes in accounting policies and errors tend to protect present and/or future results at the expense of past results. Contributions of the Study: The main contribution of the study lies in evaluating changes in the equity that do not necessarily result from operating performance or financing strategies, but arising from changes in accounting criteria or errors, which may affect other equity components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to examine the carbon emission data of the firms listed in the Borsa Istanbul Sustainability Index in Turkey and analyze the relationship between carbon emissions and the financial performance of these firms. In this research, annual data for 31 firms listed in the Borsa Istanbul Sustainability Index for the period 2017–2020 were used. The relationship between the financial performance indicators of the firms and their carbon emissions was analyzed using a random effects panel data model. The dependent variables identified were return on assets and return on equity as measures of financial performance, while carbon emissions were considered as the independent variable, along with control variables such as firm size, leverage ratio, firm growth, and firm value. The research findings indicate that carbon emissions have a negative impact on both return on assets and return on equity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The concept of digitization covers a wide range of initiatives to achieve sustainable development. This paper aims to determine the impact of bank digitization strategies on financial performance in an African country. Design/methodology/approach: This study used the generalized least squares estimation method to analyze data from a sample of 12 Tunisian banks from 2010 to 2020. The reason for selecting this method was its ability to address issues of heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation. Findings: This study indicates that digital transformation has a positive effect on Tunisian banks financial performance, as measured by return on assets and return on equity. Specifically, investing in payment tools, digital channels and internet security leads to improved performance for banks. These findings suggest that banks that offer digital services perform better, as they are able to increase profitability, maintain financial stability and improve transparency. Research limitations/implications: This study is important for central bank, regulators, policymakers and investors. Overall, this study emphasizes the need for banks in Tunisia to embrace digital transformation to improve their performance and remain viable in the modern business landscape. Originality/value: This study ponders the effect of Tunisian banks' digital transformation on financial performance. Tunisia context serves as model for other African countries. Tunisian banks should prioritize investments in digital technologies to stay competitive in the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of national efforts to promote country-wide distributed photovoltaics (DPVs), the installation of distributed energy storage systems (DESSs) can solve the current problems of DPV consumption, peak shaving, and valley filling, as well as operation optimization faced by medium-voltage distribution networks (DN). In this paper, firstly, a price elasticity matrix based on the peak and valley tariff mechanism is introduced to establish a master–slave game framework for DN-DESSs under the DPV multi-point access environment. Secondly, the main model optimizes the pricing strategy of peak and valley tariffs with the objective of the lowest annual operating cost of the DN, and the slave model establishes a two-layer optimization model of DESSs with the objective of the maximum investment return of the DESSs and the lowest daily operating costs and call the CPLEX solver and particle swarm optimization algorithm for solving. Finally, the IEEE33 node system is used as a prototype for simulation verification. The results show that the proposed model can not only effectively reduce the operating cost of the distribution network but also play a role in improving the energy storage revenue and DPV consumption capacity, which has a certain degree of rationality and practicality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior to the 1990s, all U.S. states used a "cost of service (COS)" regulation regime in which investor-owned utilities were allowed to recover prudently incurred costs plus a rate of return on capital expenditures, and retail customers were unable to choose their electricity supplier. From 1996--2000, multiple states passed retail electricity market "restructuring." This empirical research examines the effect of retail restructuring on electricity prices to final consumers. We find that rates increased in restructured states relative to plausible counterfactuals in the years post-restructuring. But by twelve years after retail restructuring, we no longer observe any difference. We investigate plausible mechanisms, finding evidence that retail prices became more responsive to natural gas prices due to retail restructuring, the timing of which coincided with increases in natural gas prices nationally. We also test for whether restructuring had distributional effects across customer classes and find that in the short run residential customers benefited relative to industrial customers during transition periods, but that this difference does not persist into full implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

The present study aims to scrutinize empirical evidence related to the study of intellectual capital in Indonesia. The study conducts an analysis of 60 articles from Scopusindexed and SINTA-indexed journals over the observational period spanning from 2012 to 2023. The methodology employed in this study is the charting field method. Notably, the findings reveal that financial performance serves as the predominant metric in the exploration of intellectual capital in Indonesia over the course of a decade. Nevertheless, our mapping results unveil a critical gap in the research landscape, specifically, the inconsistency in the relationship between intellectual capital and financial performance proxies such as Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), Price-to-Book Value (PBV), and Debt-to-Equity Ratio (DER). It is our aspiration that future research concerning the subject of intellectual capital will extend their scope to non-financial performance dimensions and incorporate qualitative data analysis, surveys, interviews, or the incorporation of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) indicators within the context of intellectual capital exploration in Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]