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We examine if liquidity risk is priced in ETF equity returns and ETF equity premiums. We also show if these relationships hold in extreme market situations, which includes pre-and post-Covid periods. We find that liquidity risk is an important determinant of ETF equity valuation, and equity premiums are sensitive to liquidity levels. The equity premium tends to increase at the higher levels of bid-ask spread in the pre and post-Covid periods indicating that the information is not fully available to the public or to investors. Our results are robust across different sub-groups categorized based on the characteristics (age and size) of the ETFs. Our results have implications for asset pricing and price discovery and show that investors hold ETFs with high equity premiums even when the liquidity risk is high. A positive liquidity premium exists in Artificial Intelligence ETF markets and has implications for price discovery.

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the relevance of boards in driving firm level performance. For this purpose, it considers firms listed on Ireland and Spain stock exchanges for the period 2005 to 2014, over a period that includes the global financial crisis. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses panel data regression analysis to analyse the effects of board characteristics on performance and also uses alternate model specifications to test the significance of robustness of relationships. Findings: The impact of board size on performance is negative and significant for Irish and Spanish firms for the study period. In general, the board independence has a positive effect on the performance of Spanish firms for the complete study period and suggests consistency with the resource dependency theory. Research limitations/implications: The analysis suggests that in general, the non-executive and the board size do not affect the corporate performance of Irish and Spanish firms during the financial crisis. The fixed effects model suggests positive effects of gender diversity on performance for Spanish firms, while the random effects indicates negative relationship between gender diversity and performance for Irish companies. Practical implications: The evidence on the Spanish firms suggests that female representation on the boards may be critical during the financial crisis Social implications: The quota legislation on female board representation in Spain is yielding superior results over the soft law approach by Irish firms during the times of financial crisis period. Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature on the corporate governance practices and performance of two countries that were strongly affected by the crisis in the European Union. As governments increasingly contemplate board gender diversity policies, this study offers useful empirical insights on Spanish and Irish firms., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

This study investigates the impact of corporate governance practices on the performance of commercial banks in Nepal. Specifically, the analysis focuses on the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and financial performance. It explores the influence of corporate governance policies, guidelines and directives issued by the central bank, Nepal Rastra Bank, and self-initiatives implemented by the commercial banks. The research undertaken in this thesis is important to stimulate economic growth and to encourage a more equitable sharing of growth. The lack of proper development of corporate governance and monitoring of financial systems results in a failure to capitalise on growth opportunities when they arise. A lack of capital is a major inhibitor to development, and enhanced governance will be a major fillip in promoting investor confidence, leading to a deeper and more efficient capital market in Nepal. There are many untapped opportunities in Nepal and a well-developed capital market will attract more local and foreign investors. An improved capital market will alleviate unemployment, and the balance of payments deficit, help to restrain the brain drain and help foster financial stability, strengthen risk management and ultimately contribute to a strong financial system. A significant portion of Nepalese people, variously estimated to be around 30 per cent, do not have access to formal financial services and rely on informal service providers. There are many providers who take advantage of high interest rates, with financial frauds gaining recurring coverage in the news media. These issues are not specific to the informal sector; they also occur in the formal financial sector. There have been several corporate governance failures in Nepali banks including the Nepal Development Bank Limited, the first Commercial Banks of Nepal-Nepal Bank Limited, Nepal Bangladesh Bank, Lumbini Bank, Gurkha Development Bank, United Development Bank, giving rise to dema

The idea that companies service a broad range of stakeholders dates back to the 19th century but has gained increasing traction in more recent times. The question is what to do when the corporate sector fails to keep pace with societal expectations. The Indian Government’s response was to pass legislation on 12 August 2012 to make it mandatory for large corporations to spend a minimum of 2% of their profits on CSR activities, and then to amend this legislation 18 months later to specify the area where these funds must be allocated. In this thesis, we use India as an example of the success or otherwise of taking decisions related to CSR largely out of the hands of management. We analyse the impact that the mandatory CSR regulation may have on investors’ perceptions about what the resulting increased expenditure on CSR will have on corporate profitability, and we then investigate how the companies perceive the mandatory CSR regulation. There are three studies in this dissertation. The first study uses the flow of information relating to the introduction of mandatory CSR expenditure in India as a means of measuring investor perceptions of the impact that the resulting increase in CSR expenditure will have on company profitability. We use both event study and regression analysis and find that when mandatory CSR spending was first mooted in mid-2008, investors expected that more CSR expenditure would increase future corporate profitability. However, by the time the legislation was passed in August 2012, these expectations had changed to the opposite view. In the second study, we investigate the drivers and barriers of CSR expenditure, determine the attitudes of corporations towards CSR activities and the impact of making CSR spending mandatory. We surveyed 223 Indian corporations and find that the attitudes of companies on CSR spending largely vary with age, size and type of ownership of firms. The results of this study indicate that the expenditure on CSR in India is ve

The present study sheds light on the comparative experiences of the two countries originating from differing legal systems and describes how their codes and practices affect the publicly listed firms’ performance. It investigates the linkages between Research and Development (R&D) expenditures, Board characteristics and firm performance using a sample of Irish and Spanish firms for the period 2005–2014. To do this, the study uses ROA and Tobin’s Q as proxies for financial performance; and board size, non-executive directors, female representation and CEO duality as board structure characteristics; and R&D expenditure volatility, employing different techniques that include OLS, fixed effects model and Quantile regression model. The difference-in-difference model is used to verify the significance of robustness of relationships considering the global financial crisis as an exogenous shock. The descriptive statistics suggests a comparability of boards’ independence for the Spanish- and Irish-listed firms. Although the Spanish firms are less dual than Irish firms, the results are comparable on the association between CEO duality and firm performance. The findings of Spanish-listed firms on the relationship between increase and decrease in the R&D expenditures volatility and performance support the creative–destructive perspective that suggests effective governance in funding allocation to R&D., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)