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Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of remittance inflow on households’ savings behaviour in Bangladesh. Remittances are considered as the countercyclical flow of income for its recipient economies. It surges the liquidity of the households receiving remittances, allows them to endure local economic shocks and facilitates them to practice productive activities. Remittances often form a big pool of resources for investment which complement the national savings and support the country’s growth through higher rates of capital accumulation. Therefore, if a significant portion of the remittance is used for savings it can lead to prominent economic growth in the long term. Design/methodology/approach Existing literature indicates remittance-receiving households have a greater propensity to use remittance income to meet basic consumption. However, based on the survey conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics on remittances and household savings (SIR, 2016) and using the ordinary least square regression analysis method, to identify the connection between remittances and household’s saving (SIR, 2016) and using the ordinary least square regression analysis method, to identify the connection between remittances and household’s savings behaviour in Bangladesh. Findings The findings of this study represent remittances encourage households to pursue different kinds of savings in Bangladesh. Savings are made in the form of opening savings accounts, deposit pension scheme/fixed deposits/Bonds, insurance policies, also savings through non-governmental organizations, cooperative societies and savings at home. Other than remittances the demographic characteristics of the household head also influence the savings choices. Originality/value To enable the implementation of appropriate policies to boost savings, analysis from both perspectives; the household and the national level, requires strong vigilance and surveillance.

The large pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh have currently expertise in process patent activities rather than in product patent. Such industry condition can easily generate a high profile in production and sales. However, achieving sustainability in the long run using automation and purchase of the patent only seems unsuitable. In the last two decades, it is found that both the medium and big size companies have leaned on introducing automation in their existing product plants, improving them in nothing but production. The article measures technical efficiency using data envelopment analysis (DEA) over the period of 2009–2013. We use one output—annual sales—and three inputs, namely, (a) fixed asset, (b) raw material cost and (c) cost of salary to run Malmquist total factor productivity (TFP) index. The major contributor of TFP growth is found due to the technological positive growth with a value of 10.8 per cent annually. Moreover, all changes of technical efficiency, pure efficiency and scale efficiency have regressed with values of 5.5 per cent, 2.1 per cent and 3.5 per cent, respectively. Thus, the gains in productivity are entirely due to technological advancements and not for technical improvements. The main source of inefficiency in pharmaceutical industry is scale inefficiency rather than pure technical inefficiency. Limitations and policy implications are addressed.

China’s ascent influences the Western aid dynamic significantly and changes the landscape in aid-donor and aid-recipient relationship for resource-endowed countries in Africa. Similarly, within China-Africa relations, Nigeria established diplomatic relations with China in 2006 for a concessional oil-for-infrastructure plan to fill the development aperture. However, Nigeria opted out as political uncertainty and elite interest in rent-seeking supersedes development and well-being motive. We conclude that two interrelated causal factors – accountability and transparency – overwhelmingly obstruct Nigeria from optimising China interest in infrastructure development. The study recommends the review of National Planning Commission (NPC) 2007 ODA policy document on technical assistance, grants, and concessional loans to identify new problems and challenges associated with formulation and implementation of donor-assisted programmes.

Purpose This paper aims to examine the efficiency of Islamic vs conventional banks in Malaysia by unveiling the traditional efficiency concept – black box – with a three-stage network structure of bank operations. Design/methodology/approach This paper applies data envelopment analysis (DEA) for examining bank efficiency. An adaptive three-step network DEA (NDEA) model is demonstrated for redefining the traditional black box of banking operations. Slack-based variable returns to scale approach is used. Data from all 43 commercial banks in Malaysia are examined over a six-year study period (2010-2015). Inputs and outputs of the model are selected based on CAMELS rating. Undesired output is also considered in time of examining bank efficiency in Malaysia. Findings The empirical results of this study signify that only a few banks in Malaysia have been performing well in converting deposits and equities into profit as well as minimizing loan loss provisions. Islamic banks in Malaysia have performed better both in production (converting deposits and equities into earning assets) and profitability (converting loans into net income). Conventional banks, however, have over scored in intermediation (converting earning assets into loans). Originality/value An adaptive NDEA approach proposed in this paper defines the core banking process instead of traditional approaches in examining bank efficiency based on individual functions (nodes in the network model). This approach has proven to provide better benchmark capacity.

This thesis investigates which information criteria (IC) is best for choosing a conditional heteroscedastic (CH) model from among rival autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic (ARCH) related models in finite samples. In addition, it also considers the central question: "Can we construct an IC procedure for selection between CH models that is optimal in small samples?" Using Monte Carlo methods, we construct small sample optimal procedures by introducing an optimization principle based onmaximizing the average probabilities of correct model selection (APCMS). In Chapter 3, we consider seven IC procedures based on penalized maximized conditional log-likelihood functions, namely, Akaike's IC (AIC), Schwarz's Bayesian IC (BIC), Hannan and Quinn's (HQIC) criterion, Theil's adjusted R2 criterion or residual variance criterion (RVC), Amemiya's prediction criterion (PC), Hocking's criterion (Sp) and the generalized cross validation criterion (GCV) in order to determine which one is the best IC in finite samples. The simulation study reveals some interesting small sample properties of these criteria, namely, RVC is the best IC for small samples selection problems but as the sample size increases, RVC loses its efficacy to AIC which becomescomparatively a better IC. BIC is clearly the worst IC procedure. Chapter 4 looks at how to construct these penalties in small samples, such that these optimaL-information criteria give good statistical properties. A useful property is the property of consistency, i.e., always choosing the correct model in large samples. Using grid search, the construction of these optimal penalties is based on a iarge Monte Carlo simulation study that involves pre-fixed parameter values for a portfolio of models for four sets of standard ARCH(q) and GARCH(p,q) models with normality assumptions for the underlying innovation process. A response surface model is then fitted to estimate an algebraic expression for the optimal penalty function for the ARCH(q) and GARCH(p,q) models respectively, based on Granger, King and White's (1995) definition of a general IC. These estimated prototype optimal information criteria are generically called Conditional Heteroscedastic IC (CHIC). In particular, three hybrids of CHIC are estimated, namely CHIC-A, CHIC-G and CHIC-P, for ARCH models, GARCH models and pooled ARCH and GARCH models respectively. We generalize Nishii's (1988) consistency results to allow us to demonstrate that the CHIC procedures are consistent. Hitherto, the construction of CHIC procedures is conditional on chosen non­ random parameter values for the data generating processes (DGPs). An improvement over this method without enforcing the conditioning of these parameter values, is torandomly make drawings from a prior distribution to select these parameter values for the models. In Chapter 5, we introduce a new class of optimal small sample procedures, namely SOP and POP based on unconditional small sample penalties. SOP is derived based on a summation optimization principle, and POP is derived based on a product maximizing method. A comparison between the relative performance of these optimal procedures with existing IC procedures indicates in particular, that SOP is the best procedure. The optimal small sample procedure also allows us to test whether theprobabilities of correct selection employing CHIC procedures are biased towards the pre-fixed parameter values chosen through a multi-point method. CIDC-A and SOP are also checked for the property of robust selection by changing the normality assumptions for the ARCH models in Chapter 6. In the first part of this study, we assumed the error innovations from a scaled Student's t distribution with four degrees of freedom and constructed the conditional log-likelihood function using a Student's t distribution. In the second part of the study, we examined making the wrong assumptions for the error innovations by misspecifying the conditional log­ likelihood functions. That is when the error was normal, we estimated a conditional log­ likelihood function for the Student's t distribution, and when the error is non-normal, we specified a normal conditional log-likelihood function. We found that both our optimal procedures, CIDC-A and SOP are efficacious to misspecified log-likelihood assumptions. Grose and King (1993) found that a selection criterion for autoregressive moving-average (ARMA) models can biasedly select a particular model due to the shape of the likelihood function. In Chapter 7, we examined whether our optimal procedure favours a GARCH(l,l) model when ARCH(q) models are the true models and compared its performance with IC procedures. This was done because many empirical studies favour the GARCH(1,1) model. Out optimal procedure suggets that GARCH(1,1) models are not unduly favoured when ARCH models are the true models. In general, the CHIC procedures and the optimal small sample procedures out­ perform all other existing IC in different model selection problems for choosing small sample ARCH and GARCH models. However, BIC is the worst performing IC as it has a penalty function that penalizes larger models very harshly. This suggests that BIC, which has been popularly applied in many areas of model selection problems, should not be used for problems involving CH models. One reason that BIC did not perform as well as our optimal IC procedures is because it has been built without considering the one­ sided information in the estimation of these CH models.

I. Introduction The emergence of the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and its subsequent negative impact on Malaysia's economy in 1998 disrupted the decade-long sterling economic growth that the country had enjoyed prior to the crisis. Although the economy recovered quickly in 1999, there were numerous external and internal challenges that have confronted it since then. Externally, the catastrophe of September 11 and global downturn in 2001/2002 as well as the emergence of health risks associated with the Sudden and Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the avian flu in 2003, the tsunami in 2004, and escalating oil prices in 2005/2006 all posed different challenges to Malaysia's small, open economy. Internally, steering the country to the next stage of development require a continuous search for a balance between further liberalization and the development needs of the country. While the former is dictated by the size of Malaysia's relatively small domestic economy, the latter also includes the restructuring of society according to ethnic considerations and goals as encapsulated in the New Economic Policy (NEP). In spite of its own struggles with development, Malaysia is mindful that poor neighbours can be a source of problems which may spill over its borders, thereby undermining the peace and prosperity of the country (Mahathir 1997, p. 2). Hence, during his tenure as Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir advocated the use of "prosper-thy-neighbour" policies or policies that seek to assist neighbouring countries to develop together with Malaysia. Post Mahathir, the continued use of this policy is very much in line with ASEAN's Vision 2020 that envisaged ASEAN as a community of caring societies where there would be "equitable access to opportunities for total human development" and in which the development gap among member economies would be reduced even as members forged closer economic integration (ASEAN 1997 as cited in UNDP 2004, p. 124). Based on this Vision, the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) was adopted at the Fourth Informal Summit in 2000 in order to narrow the development gap within ASEAN by assisting the new members--Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam (or the CLMV countries)--to participate fully in regional economic integration. This plan was subsequently formally adopted at the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in 2001 in its "Hanoi Declaration on Narrowing the Development Gap for Closer ASEAN Integration". This paper is organized as follows: after the introduction, an assessment of the major reforms in the financial and the manufacturing sectors is presented in section II. The update on the Malaysian economy is followed by a comparison of the economic performance and human development of Malaysia with that of the ASEAN-10 in section III in order to ascertain the extent of the development gap between Malaysia and the other member countries. Malaysia's contributions to the IAI programmes are evaluated in section IV while section V draws some policy implications based on the analysis in the earlier sections. The conclusion in section VI summarizes the main findings of this paper. II. Post-Crisis Malaysian Financial and Manufacturing Sector II.1 Financial Sector Since the crisis was essentially a financial crisis, the focus of this section will be on the main reforms in the financial sector. Malaysia's financial sector is highly diversified and among the most advanced in the ASEAN region, with banks accounting for two-thirds of the sector in terms of assets, and non-bank financial intermediaries for one-third. There is an offshore financial sector in the province of Labuan that is the Labuan Offshore Financial Centre. After recovering from the Asian financial crisis, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), or the central bank, stepped up its financial reforms through the implementation of the Financial Sector Master Plan (FSMP, 2001-2010), which was launched in 2001. The FSMP has three phases; in the first phase, it focused on the building of domestic banking capacity. …