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Background/Objectives To describe the visual and clinical outcomes of patients with post endothelial keratoplasty (EK) cystoid macular oedema (CMO) refractory to topical treatment with intravitreal sustained-release dexamethasone implant (Ozurdex). Subjects/Methods 131 eyes from 111 patients undergoing solitary or combined EK (52 DSAEK (40.0%) and 79 DMEK (60.0%)) at Southend University Hospital between January 2020 and February 2022 with a minimum follow-up of 6 months were evaluated. Patients suspected of having CMO underwent spectral-domain macular optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) Patients with diabetes were not included in this series. Results CMO was identified in 5.3% (n = 7) of cases, with 2 of these patients responding to topical corticosteroid treatment. The remaining 5 patients underwent intravitreal dexamethasone implant, with 1 patient requiring repeat implant due to CMO recurrence. All presented within 2 months postoperatively. 4 out of 5 eyes treated with intravitreal dexamethasone achieved a Snellen BCVA ≤6/9.5. 1 patient had an uncontrolled rise in intraocular pressure (IOP) despite maximal medical treatment requiring an urgent PreserFlo Ab-Externo MicroShunt. Conclusions The use of intravitreal sustained-release dexamethasone implant in the management of post EK CMO refractory to topical therapy is effective and safe in most cases, but patients should be monitored and treated promptly for any secondary IOP response.

This paper examines the influence of financial slack on the method of payment and financial performance of acquirers targeting African firms. Using panel data estimation techniques and controlling ...

Using a large sample of African firms over the period 1982—2015, we find that firms forced into financial conservatism due to financial constraints have lower stock market valuation and profitability relative to their unconstrained counterparts who choose conservatism (optional financial conservatism) for motives linked to financial flexibility. Our further analyses, however, show a decrease in investments and employment with financial conservatism in the long-run. This finding highlights a significant trade-off with the desire to attain or enhance financial flexibility. Overall, our study confirms the benefits of optional financial conservatism and detriments of forced financial conservatism in developing markets where access to finance is limited.

This paper examines the performance of cross-border acquisitions (CBAs) of fims domiciled in Africa. We examine 503 deals involving firms from 23 developed and 20 emerging countries, acquiring targets in 33 African countries. We find that, on aggregate, Africa bound CBAs significantly underperform, and that emerging economy acquirers outperform their developed economy counterparts. Further, significant variations in deal performance is documented when the target firms are categorised according to the level of development of African financial markets, industries, and to some extent, economic blocs. The results are robust to various firm, industry, deal and country specific characteristics.

This paper tests the validity of the trade-off and pecking order theories of capital structure for non-financial firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Firstly, we find that the pecking o...

Using a large sample of emerging market firms over the period 1980–2015, we document a high prevalence and persistence of financial conservatism. Specifically, 31% of the African firms have ultra-low leverage (less than 5%), with 42% and 11% having non-positive net-debt (total debt less cash) and no debt (zero-levered), respectively. In further analyses, we find that macroeconomic conditions have a muted effect on financial conservatism. Our results suggest that financial conservatism in the emerging market context is due to two main factors; (1) credit constraints, and (2) the desire to attain or enhance financial flexibility. The former highlights the need for pro-market policies that improve access to external finance. At the same time, the latter, which points to the accumulation of cash reserves at the expense of current investments, is a strategic choice aimed at preserving or enhancing financial flexibility. Our results are robust to using alternative sub-sampling approaches, model specifications, definitions of variables and estimation techniques.

Analysing a large firm-level dataset from 47 countries, we document robust and significant positive peer effects on cash holdings. Specifically, a firm increases cash holdings, on average, by 5%–7% in response to a one standard deviation increase in peer firms’ cash holdings. However, this response is heterogeneous – being relatively higher in countries with well-developed legal systems, higher national governance quality and more developed capital markets. These findings are consistent with rivalry-based motives of mimicking, where firms mimic to stay abreast or ahead of rivals in increasingly competitive product markets. We further find that mimicking is not a sub-optimal strategy per se, as it is beneficial in good economic states but less beneficial or distracting in bad economic states. Our findings are important as peer effects not only have real implications at the firm level but could potentially attenuate or amplify firm-specific shocks within and across industries and countries, more so, with increased globalisation and economic intergration.

This paper examines the firm- and macro-level drivers of financial innovations in Kenya’s commercial banks. We focus on branchless banking innovations, namely: mobile banking, agency banking, inter...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of firm- and country-specific factors on the dynamics of capital structure for a new data set of firms in Sub-Saharan Africa. Design/methodology/approach Panel data estimation techniques are carried out on a set of 412 firms from 12 countries within Sub-Saharan Africa. Findings The results show that firm- and country-specific factors play an important role in the choice of debt for firms in Sub-Saharan Africa. First, firm profitability is the most common significant predictor of capital structure for firms in Sub-Saharan Africa. The significance and magnitude of profitability coefficients is more pronounced in countries with the least developed banking and stock markets and the weakest legal systems. Second, the rule of law in Nigeria and Zimbabwe provides avenues for firms in these countries to increase their debt maturity structures. The choice of debt for firms in Ghana is significantly influenced by the strength of the legal rights, the time to enforce a contract and the cost of contract enforcement. Third, capital structure adjustment speeds in all the sampled countries are relatively slow, possibly due to the market imperfections associated with the underdeveloped financial markets of Sub-Saharan Africa. Lastly, firms in the most developed stock markets of Sub-Saharan Africa tend to have lower mean debt ratios and faster capital structure adjustment speeds. Similarly, firms in countries with strong legal mechanisms tend to have higher mean long-term debt ratios and faster capital structure adjustment speeds. Originality/value This paper explores the influence of firm-level and country-specific factors on the dynamics of capital structure for a new data set that was previously ignored in the literature.

This paper is the first to examine the asymmetric effects of financing deficits and surpluses on the pecking order financing strategies in sub-Saharan Africa. Panel data estimation techniques are carried out on a sample of 564 non-financial firms for the years 2006 to 2014. Overall, the individual country analysis reveals that equity tracks the financing deficit better than debt for firms with financing deficits. However, the categorical analysis shows that firms operating in the weakest legal environments appear to follow pecking order financing strategies. A steady decline in the magnitude of the pecking order coefficient is observed as we progress from the weakest to the strongest legal systems. In addition, significant differences in the pecking order behaviour for firms with surpluses and deficits are observed in the upper and lower categories of banking and stock market development.

This paper examines the effects of financial reforms on the operating and financial performance of firms listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). Using panel data estimation models, the res...

This article examines the speed of adjustment of firm performance to financial innovations usage and the speed of adjustment of financial innovation to financial innovation drivers for banks in Kenya. We used the Koyck distributed lag model, which is estimated using dynamic panel estimation with System Generalised Method of Moments. We find that it takes on average 1.179 years for bank financial performance to adjust to the four financial innovations studied. Secondly, it takes less than a year (0.368 years) to accomplish 50% of the total change in firm performance following a unit-sustained change in the financial innovations. Moreover, mobile banking has the shortest mean lag (2.849), while Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) have the longest mean lag (4.926). Notably, it takes approximately three years for mobile banking to adjust to financial innovation drivers at firm level and on average five years for ATMs to adjust to the financial innovation drivers.

Objectives B-cell activating factor (BAFF), β-2 microglobulin (β2M) and serum free light chains (FLCs) are elevated in primary SS (pSS) and associated with disease activity. We aimed to investigate their association with the individual disease activity domains of the EULAR Sjögren’s Syndrome Disease Activity Index (ESSDAI) in a large well-characterized pSS cohort. Methods Sera from pSS patients enrolled in the UK Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome Registry (UKPSSR) (n = 553) and healthy controls (n = 286) were analysed for FLC (κ and λ), BAFF and β2 M. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated for patient clinical characteristics, including salivary flow, Schirmer’s test, EULAR Sjögren’s Syndrome Patient Reported Index and serum IgG levels. Poisson regression was performed to identify independent predictors of total ESSDAI and ClinESSDAI (validated ESSDAI minus the biological domain) scores and their domains. Results Levels of BAFF, β2M and FLCs were higher in pSS patients compared to controls. All three biomarkers associated significantly with the ESSDAI and the ClinESSDAI. BAFF associated with the peripheral nervous system domain of the ESSDAI, whereas β2M and FLCs associated with the cutaneous, biological and renal domains. Multivariate analysis showed BAFF, β2M and their interaction to be independent predictors of ESSDAI/ClinESSDAI. FLCs were also shown to associate with the ESSDAI/ClinESSDAI but not independent of serum IgG. Conclusion All biomarkers were associated with total ESSDAI scores but with differing domain associations. These findings should encourage further investigation of these biomarkers in longitudinal studies and against other disease activity measures.

This paper employs a multifactor model motivated by the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) to describe the time series behaviour of the South African stock market as represented by the JSE All-Share In...

PurposeThis paper aims to test the effects of financial reforms on the structural stability of the parameter estimates in the determinants of capital structure.Design/methodology/approachA panel of 100 non‐financial companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange is constructed, and a panel least squares estimation technique is used to test for lagged, current and leading structural breaks in the firm specific determinants of leverage.FindingsThe results show that structural reforms have a significant role in influencing the empirical relationship between leverage and its determinants. Specifically, the lifting of international sanctions and stock market liberalisation have a significant impact on the stability of the profitability, growth and tax rate variables for the book and market values of the debt to equity ratio. Furthermore, when the total and short term debt ratios are considered, only stock market liberalisation appears to have a significant influence on the stability of the profitability parameter.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the existing body of literature on capital structure by documenting the extent of structural breaks in the parameter estimates of the relationship between leverage and firm specific determinants of capital structure for listed non‐financial firms in South Africa.

This paper employs a multifactor model motivated by the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) to describe the time series behaviour of the South African stock market as represented by the JSE All-Share Index. Factors representative of eight risk factor categories are considered, namely inflation, real activity, the money supply, interest rates, commodities, exchange rates, business cycles indicators and international market indices. These categories are then represented in the return generating process. The results indicate that the South African stock market is influenced by movements in international markets, inflation, inflation expectations, real activity, the money supply, oil prices, exchange rates and cyclical variations in the business cycle. Furthermore, the Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedastic (ARCH) and Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedastic (GARCH) model framework is found to be a more appropriate econometric framework relative to the Least Squares framework (LS) for models of the return generating process of South African stock returns.

This paper examines the impact of the new National Credit Act (NCA) No. 34 of 2005 and the global financial crisis on credit extension provided by all monetary institutions in South Africa. The econometric approach is estimated by way of ordinary least squares while controlling for several macroeconomic factors. The findings indicate that there was a general increase in the consumer credit provision in the period subsequent to the full implementation of the Act. The promulgation of the Act increases credit card, bank overdrafts, other conventional loans and total credit to the private sector categories. The implementation of the Act fails to reverse this trend but exerts a negative influence on lease finance and the global financial crisis has significant negative effects on most of the credit provision categories. The paper seeks to investigate an under-researched area on the interrelatedness of credit provider regulation, financial crises and credit extension.

This study is the first in South Africa to test directly for the day-of-the-week effect on skewness and kurtosis on the nine listed economic stock market sector indices of the JSE. The empirical results of this study show no evidence of the day-of-the-week effect on skewness and kurtosis for eight of the nine JSE stock market sectors. However, the Monday effect was detected for the basic materials sector only. The study also finds the JSE to be weak-form efficient.

This paper provides some new evidence on the determinants of long run operating and share price performance of Initial Public Offerings (IPO) on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). It has been hypothesised that the information contained in the pre listing documents could shed some light on the aftermarket performance of South African IPO shares. In line with previous literature, South African IPO shares significantly underperformed the market on average. Additionally, there is a statistically significant negative relationship between IPO Volume and long run performance, suggesting that the South African IPO market may be subject to the fads and over optimism theory of Ritter (1991). The overoptimism hypothesis is further cemented by a negative correlation between pre IPO revenue forecast and aftermarket operating performance. Listing expenses play a moderate role in the reduction of the aftermarket performance of IPOs on the JSE. However, it appears that international investment banks have a positive influence on the aftermarket performance of IPOs on the JSE. Likewise, firms audited by the BIG 4 audit firms tend to perform well in terms of aftermarket buy and hold returns. Large firms at the time of listing tend to perform well and firms with high growth prospects at the time of listing generate a negative and significant return on their investment in total assets. Although the contingent liabilities disclosed in the prelisting reports negatively influence most of the measurers of aftermarket performance, the relationship is, by and large, insignificant.

The changing patterns in returns on African stock markets have not been adequately documented. This paper addresses this gap by testing for the day-of-the-week effect and the changes in the patterns of returns for several African stock markets. A direct test on skewness and kurtosis is used to capture higher statistical moments in the search for seasonal patterns in returns. Daily index data for South Africa, Zambia, Botswana, Nigeria, and Morocco are used for the period 2004 to 2012. Day-of-the-week effects are documented for all the countries with the exception of South Africa. Furthermore, significant changes in patterns over time are observed for these same countries. Each day in the pre-financial crisis period shows significantly different patterns to every other day in post-crisis epoch. Further, the patterns displayed amongst the countries with significant results are largely similar in terms of highest/lowest mean returns. This paper presents new policy implications and research suggestions on the day-of-the-week patterns.

This paper examines the dynamics of corporate capital structures for listed non-financial firms in South Africa. The dynamic models of capital structure have been utilised to document several findings of empirical significance. First, transaction costs reduce dramatically in the post liberalisation regime, and the associated speed of adjustment is more pronounced, and statistically significant for the post liberalisation epoch. Second, financial liberalisation has a significant impact on the capital structure speed of adjustment. Third, the results confirm most of the theoretical predictions of capital structure theories; however, the relationship is more significant in the post liberalised regime. Finally, new evidence has been revealed on what determines the debt maturity structure of firms in a transitional economy.

This paper examines whether Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Index constituent announcements have any impact on the returns of firms listing on the JSE SRI Index. The event study methodology is utilised to estimate abnormal returns for the firms included in the Index. The results indicate insignificant average abnormal returns (AARs) for the years 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, suggesting no significant shareholder gains over the entire event window. However, the year 2005 is associated with positive and significant abnormal returns. Post announcement cumulative average abnormal returns (CAARs) are positive for the years 2005 and 2007. However, the year 2008 exhibited extreme swings in CAARs with a general declining trend in the latter part of the event window. These swings are attributed to the global financial crisis of 2008. Furthermore, the cumulative returns for the total sample show no clear outperformance of the SRI over the JSE All Share Index.

This paper examines the effects of firm heterogeneity and macroeconomic conditions on the adjustment speed towards the target level of capital structure. The DPF estimator is used to carry out the analysis for a panel of 191 non-financial firms listed on the JSE for the period 2000 to 2010. Consistent with prior studies, the pace of adjustment towards the optimal capital structure is a function of firm specific characteristics and macroeconomic conditions. There is evidence to suggest that firms target the total and long term leverage, and not the short term leverage ratio. Firm level characteristics are shown to have differing effects on the adjustments speeds, and macroeconomic conditions play a significant role in influencing variations in capital structure adjustment speeds.

PurposeThis paper examines the contentious relationship between investment and cash flow using the 2008–2009 credit supply shock as a form of the quasi-natural experiment.Design/methodology/approachPanel threshold models with unknown sample separation are estimated for a sample of publicly listed firms from nine African countries over the period 2003–2012. Using this approach reduces subjective or ex ante sample-splitting bias that is not accounted for in the extant literature.FindingsThe findings of the study indicate that investment–cash flow sensitivity is decreasing even during the global financial crisis (GFC) and for firms more likely to be financially constrained. The authors conclude that the usefulness of investment–cash flow sensitivity as a proxy for financial constraints is diminishing over time, even after directly addressing biases from ex ante subjective sample splitting and various forms of endogeneity.Originality/valueThe authors provide new empirical evidence from sharper tests of financial constraints for understudied African firms and highlight the need to relook at the usefulness of investment–cash flow sensitivity as a proxy of financial constraints.

This paper examines the dynamics of capital structure for firms engaging in initial public offerings (IPOs) on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). Censored Tobit regressions are used to model capital structure targeting behaviour. The findings suggest evidence of targeting behaviour consistent with the static trade off theory of capital structure. On average, IPO firms adjust towards the capital structure target at a faster pace than seasoned firms; IPO firms take, on average, 0.77 years to cover half the financing gap, whereas seasoned firms take an average of 2.65 years. In the first year following the IPO, hot market IPOs significantly reduce their total debt, while cold market IPOs increase the total debt significantly. In terms of the total debt ratio, hot market IPOs adjust at a marginally faster pace than cold market IPOs. However, the opposite is true when the long term debt ratio is considered. In addition, hot market IPOs adjust faster than cold market IPOs in the first year following the IPO. The average first year adjustment speed of hot market IPO firms is 45.61 percent higher than the speed of adjustment for the average cold market IPO firm.

This paper investigates the dynamics of capital structure adjustment speeds for financially constrained, unconstrained and full sample JSE listed non-financial firms across the business cycle. Using the generalised method of moments (GMM) estimation technique, and controlling for the effects of mean reversion and extreme leverage observations, we find some evidence of moderate target adjustment behaviour for total and long term leverage in both the good and bad macroeconomic states. However adjustment speeds are higher for the short term debt ratio. Furthermore, the manner in which adjustment speeds change is highly sensitive to the definition of macroeconomic states used. We also find evidence that there is a statistically significant difference in the speed of adjustment for firms across the different macroeconomic states. However, this significance dissipates when the short term debt ratio is used. It is also documented that the difference in the speed of adjustment for the constrained and unconstrained firms is significantly different across the good and bad macroeconomic states.