Corporate Governance and profitability: Evidence from Indian IT companies

Corporate governance provides the guidelines to the companies how can be directed and controlled. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and profitability for the IT companies listed Indian stock Exchange

The impact of demonetization on Indian firms’ performance: does company’s age make a difference?

The main aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of demonetization on Indian firm’s quarterly financial performance before and after demonetization period (March-December, 2017), and to find out if companies’ age helps to face financial disruption. Four variables, which are net sales, total income, net profit after tax, and earnings per share, were taken as proxies for analyzing the quarterly financial performance of 2,892 companies listed on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), National Stock Exchange (NSE), and Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE). Nonparametric test, particularly Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed Rank Test and Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance, were applied in analyzing the data. Results reveal that there is a statistically significant difference between the financial performance before and after demonetization at 5% level of significance. It was also found that the decrease/increase in the financial performance of all the firms was affected by the demonetization process, irrespective of their ages. The findings could be useful for financial managers and financial consultants, as they would be able to focus on the issues that matter most at the time of financial disruption

The impact of board diversity on financial reporting quality in the GCC listed firms: the role of family and royal directors

The present study examines the impact of board diversity on financial reporting quality with special consideration of the extent to which family and royal directors influence financial reporting quality (FRQ). The study utilises a sample of 181 listed GCC firms over the period from 2010 to 2016. Board personal attributes, including board expertise, age, gender, and nationality are investigated along with some other board issues such as; board size, meetings, and independence. Panel data analysis with fixed and random effect models are conducted to estimate the results. The results reveal that companies with large board size and greater age have less FRQ. Further, the results report that institutional founders, higher board independence, and expertise associate with greater levels of FRQ. The results also find that board meetings and family founders negatively influence FRQ. However, female directors, foreign directors, and royal board members setting in the board did not contribute to the levels of FRQ in the sampled companies. Finally, the results indicate that companies with a CEO royal member have higher levels of FRQ however, companies with chair board royals have less levels of FRQ. This research has valuable implications for investors, board of directors, analysts, academicians, and policymakers

The Correlation Between Hepatitis B Virus Precore/Core Mutations and the Progression of Severe Liver Disease

Viral mutations acquired during the course of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection are known to be associated with the progression and severity of HBV-related liver disease. This study of HBV-infected Saudi Arabian patients aimed to identify amino acid substitutions within the precore/core (preC/C) region of HBV, and investigate their impact on disease progression toward hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients were categorized according to the severity of their disease, and were divided into the following groups: inactive HBV carriers, active HBV carriers, liver cirrhosis patients, and HCC patients. Two precore mutations, W28* and G29D, and six core mutations, F24Y, E64D, E77Q, A80I/T/V, L116I, and E180A were significantly associated with the development of cirrhosis and HCC. Six of the seven significant core mutations that were identified in this study were located within immuno-active epitopes; E77Q, A80I/T/V, and L116I were located within B-cell epitopes, and F24Y, E64D, and V91S/T were located within T-cell epitopes. Multivariate risk analysis confirmed that the core mutations A80V and L116I were both independent predictors of HBV-associated liver disease progression. In conclusion, our data show that mutations within the preC/C region, particularly within the immuno-active epitopes, may contribute to the severity of liver disease in patients with chronic hepatitis. Furthermore, we have identified several distinct preC/C mutations within the study population that affect the clinical manifestation and progression of HBV-related disease. The specific identity of HBV mutations that are associated with severe disease varies between different ethnic populations, and so the specific preC/C mutations identified here will be useful for predicting clinical outcomes and identifying the HBV-infected patients within the Saudi population that are at high risk of developing HCC

The moderating effect of an audit committee on the relationship between ownership structure and firm performance: Evidence from emerging markets

AbstractThe study aims to investigate the relationship between ownership structure (OS) and financial performance (FP) in non-financial listed companies operating in Oman and the UAE, using panel data from 2012 to 2021. The results revealed that Tobin’s Q (TQ) is positively and significantly affected by managerial ownership and family ownership. In addition, return on asset (ROA) is found to have a negative and significant relationship with managerial ownership, while return on equity (ROE) is found to have a positive and significant relationship with family ownership. Comparing Oman and the UAE, the results indicated that all ownership variables tested have superior influence on FP. This study also documented that the moderating effect of the audit committee has a more positive relationship between managerial ownership, ownership concentration, and family ownership on firm performance in both countries. This study fills existing gaps in contemporary literature on OS in emerging markets by dissecting the outcome of OS on FP of companies in Oman and the UAE. To the best of our knowledge, most of the prior studies on OS have not examined the moderating effect of audit committee on the relationship between OS and FP. Our study on the OS in Oman and UAE listed firms shows that OS have an important outcome on market-based calculation. This study expands our understanding of the impact of OS on FP in emerging markets in two countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a region of growing economic importance that has not received adequate research attention

The effect of corporate governance on compliance with Indian Accounting Standards: An empirical analysis of post IFRS convergence

This study explores the impact of corporate governance mechanisms (CGMs) of compliance with Indian Accounting Standards (Ind-AS). A sample of 70 firms listed on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) over a period of two years from 2016–2017 to 2017–2018 was used. The results revealed that board independence, size, expertise, size of the audit committee, expertise and independence exhibit a significant influence on compliance with Ind-AS. However, no significant effect was found regarding the board and audit committee diligence, foreign ownership and audit quality by Big-Four. The current study fills an existing gap in compliance of accounting standards and corporate governance literature in the context of the emergent market. It uses a methodology of comprehensive compliance index to evaluate the level of disclosure of Ind-AS that could generalize the results and benefit other listed firms. Finally, as a practical contribution, the present study brings useful insights and empirical evidence which are very beneficial and are of significant importance to investors, practitioners, academicians and policymakers. It is considered as one of the pioneering studies in this context and a battery for further research. The study recommends that more prominence should be given to compliance with Ind-AS and an overseeing body for compliance with Ind-AS should be created

The moderating effect of liquidity on the relationship between sustainability and firms' specifics: Empirical evidence from indian manufacturing sector

The current study attempts to examine the moderating effect of liquidity on the relationship between firms' specific and sustainability expenses. The study is based on secondary data over a period from 2015 to 2021. The results are estimated using panel data with fixed-effect models. The results indicate that liquidity enhances and strengthens the ability of a company to spend more on environmental, social, and employee compensation sustainability expenses. In the same context, the results reveal that there is an insignificant moderation effect of liquidity with the financial performance of a company, indicating that the liquidity of companies with higher financial performance does not enhance and strength their ability to spend more on sustainability expenses. Further, the extent of liquidity in larger companies affects positively and significantly the level of employee compensation but not environmental and social spending. Finally, the findings show that greater leverage with less liquidity negatively affects the levels of sustainability spending. This study provides a unique contribution to the existing literature by introducing the moderating effect of liquidity on the relationship between firms' specific and sustainability expenditures. It highlights the direct effect of firms' specific determinants and the moderating effect of liquidity on three categories of sustainability expenses which are environmental expenses, social expenses, and employee compensations. Therefore, this research has valuable implications for company managers, financial analysts, policymakers, and other stakeholders

An analysis of working capital management in India: An urgent need to refocus

The current study aims to evaluate the impact of working capital components on the financial performance of Indian pharmaceutical companies. Moreover, it aims to analyze working capital among small, medium and large firms. The study uses a panel data of 82 pharmaceutical companies for the period from 2008 to 2017. Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) model is used for estimating the results. Findings show that there is a significant difference in managing working capital among small, medium and large firms. Furthermore, it is found that number of days’ collection period, number of days’ payable period and number of days’ inventory holding period positively impact the financial performance of Indian pharmaceutical companies measured by return on assets and net operating margin. Whereas, cash conversion cycle has a negative impact on return on assets, net operating margin and Tobin’s Q

Association between HLA variations and chronic hepatitis B virus infection in Saudi Arabian patients.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a leading cause of liver diseases including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) play an important role in the regulation of immune response against infectious organisms, including HBV. Recently, several genome-wide association (GWAS) studies have shown that genetic variations in HLA genes influence disease progression in HBV infection. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of HLA genetic polymorphisms and their possible role in HBV infection in Saudi Arabian patients. Variations in HLA genes were screened in 1672 subjects who were divided according to their clinical status into six categories as follows; clearance group, inactive carriers, active carriers, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and uninfected healthy controls. Three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) belonged to HLA-DQ region (rs2856718, rs7453920 and rs9275572) and two SNPs belonged to HLA-DP (rs3077 and rs9277535) were studied. The SNPs were genotyped by PCR-based DNA sequencing (rs2856718) and allele specific TaqMan genotyping assays (rs3077, rs7453920, rs9277535 and rs9275572). The results showed that rs2856718, rs3077, rs9277535 and rs9275572 were associated with HBV infection (p = 0.0003, OR = 1.351, CI = 1.147-1.591; p = 0.041, OR = 1.20, CI = 1.007-1.43; p = 0.045, OR = 1.198, CI = 1.004-1.43 and p = 0.0018, OR = 0.776, CI = 0.662-0.910, respectively). However, allele frequency of rs2856718, rs7453920 and rs9275572 were found more in chronically infected patients when compared to clearance group infection (p = 0.0001, OR = 1.462, CI = 1.204-1.776; p = 0.0178, OR = 1.267, CI = 1.042-1.540 and p = 0.010, OR = 0.776, CI = 0.639-0.942, respectively). No association was found when polymorphisms in HLA genes were compared in active carriers versus cirrhosis/HCC patients. In conclusion, these results suggest that variations in HLA genes could affect susceptibility to and clearance of HBV infection in Saudi Arabian patients