Board governance and corporate performance in the UK

We examine the link between the monitoring capacity of the board and corporate performance of UK listed firms. We also investigate when and how firms use the flexibility offered by the voluntary governance regime to make governance choices. We find a strong positive association between the board governance index we construct and operating performance. Our results imply that adherence to the board-related recommendations of the UK Code of Corporate Governance helps mitigate agency problems, but investors do not value it correspondingly. Moreover, in contrast to prior UK findings suggesting efficient adoption of Code recommendations, we find that firms at times use Code flexibility opportunistically, which challenges the effectiveness of the voluntary approach to governance regulation.Economic and Social Research Counci

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM): Assessment of Environmental and Social Risks from ERM Perspective

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Correlation between serum ferritin level and liver function tests in thalassemic patients receiving multiple blood transfusions

Background:Multiple blood transfusions are the mainstay of thalassemic patients in order to combat the severe anemia. These frequent blood transfusions result in the excessive iron deposition, leading to multiple injuries to a variety of organs in the body. In response to these injuries, the levels of various enzymes are disturbed. The whole phenomena usually involve the interrelation of one parameter with some other. The present study aimed to estimate the levels of serum ferritin and hepatic enzymes and to find out any possible correlation between them in thalassemic patients receiving multiple blood transfusions.  Methods:A total number of 90 thalassemic patients of both sexes ranging from 10-15 years, receiving multiple blood transfusions were included in the present study. Blood samples from all the patients were withdrawn and analyzed for the values of serum ferritin, hemoglobin and hepatic enzymes (serum alanine transaminase, serum aspartate transaminase, serum alkaline phosphatase). Pearson correlation coefficient was applied to observe correlation between serum ferritin level and hepatic enzymes. A P value of ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results:The overall values of serum ferritin, and hepatic enzymes (serum Alanine Transaminase, serum Aspartate Transaminase, serum Alkaline Phosphatase) were remarkably increased than their normal values. However, hemoglobin level was considerably decreased in thalassemic patients. A weak positive insignificant correlation was observed between serum ferritin with hepatic enzymes and hemoglobin in thalassemic patients.Conclusion:Multiple blood transfusions cause iron overload in the body, which in turn, lead to increased serum ferritin levels in thalassemic patients. High levels of hepatic enzymes are somewhat correlated to serum ferritin concentration. However, the exact reason of elevated levels is still unclear. Further detailed studies should be conducted in order to identify the exact mechanism behind this and to search for the promising correlations of various parameters in thalassemic patients receiving multiple blood transfusions.

Establishment creation and destruction across business density cycles: US evidence

This paper investigates how business establishment entry and exit are affected by cycles in business density. We assess how entry/exit behave when markets over and under shoot a dynamic equilibrium number of businesses and whether these effects differ between manufacturing and service industries. Overall, we find persistent cycles where the actual number of business establishments is typically not equal to the dynamic equilibrium number even though it gravitates towards it. We uncover a systematic pattern which indicates that in disequilibrium entry is dis-equilibrating while closure is equilibrating. For example, the entry rate plays a dis-equilibrating role by accelerating in an overshoot, however as exits accelerate even faster in an overshoot they help move the industry towards an equilibrium. Overall, the results indicate that entrepreneurs and corporations operate with a herd instinct thereby increasing establishments in a cyclical business density over shoot and decreasing them in an under shoot. In terms of economic policy, the results question whether government policy aimed at promoting business creation and expansion ought to have a counter business density cyclical dimension. In other words, should business start-up and growth be promoted more strongly in business density under shoots than over shoots

Environmental and Social Disclosures and Firm Risk

ArticleWe examine the link between a firm’s environmental (E) and social (S) disclosures and measures of its risk including total, systematic, and idiosyncratic risk. While we do not find any link between a firm’s E and S disclosures and its systematic risk, we find a negative and significant association between these disclosures and a firm’s total and idiosyncratic risk. These are novel findings and are consistent with the predictions of the stakeholder theory and the resource based view of the firm suggesting that firms which make extensive and objective E and S disclosures promote corporate transparency that can help them build a positive reputation and trust with its stakeholders, which in turn can help mitigate the firm’s idiosyncratic/operational risk. These findings are important for all corporate stakeholders including managers, employees, and suppliers who have a significant economic interest in the survival and success of the firm

Are all non-independent non-executive directors undesirable? Directors non-independence and firm value in UK

Conference paper; submitted for publication as journal articleWhile prior studies treat non-executives as a homogenous group, this paper focuses on heterogeneity of this group. It examines the link between firm value and the specific characteristics of non-executives that render them non-independent (and by implication undesirable) as per the UK Code of Corporate Governance. It finds that contrary to the Code’s implications, the presence of past employees on the board, has an economically as well as statistically strong positive association with firm value. This result suggests that it is not just formal ‘independence’, but a combination of ‘independence of mind’ and ‘firmspecific’ knowledge that perhaps past employees best possess, that matters for enhancing effective board decision making and hence firm value. Moreover, only some of the other dimensions of directors’ non-independence are negatively associated with firm value. The results suggest that some of the Code recommendations regarding directors’ independence may actually not benefit shareholders

Environmental and Social Disclosures: Link with Corporate Financial Performance

Environmental and social disclosures entail costs, yet increasingly, large listed firms are making higher and better quality disclosures. In this paper we examine the link between a firm's environmental and social disclosures and its profitability and market value. We find that past profitability drives current social disclosures. However, consistent with the existing evidence, we do not find any relation between environmental disclosures and profitability. Further, while prior literature has largely focussed on environmental disclosure, we find that it is the social disclosures that matter to investors. We find that firms that make higher social disclosures have higher market values. Further analysis reveals that this link is driven by higher expected growth rates in the cash flows of such companies. Overall our findings are consistent with the resource based view of the firm and the voluntary disclosure theory, suggesting that firms with greater economic resources make more extensive disclosures which yield net positive economic benefits

Does corporate environmental and social responsibility matter for firm performance in the UK?

In this thesis first, I investigate the link between firms’ environmental and social disclosures (ESD) and their profitability, as well as establish the direction of causality between the two. Second, I examine the association between ESD with firms’ market value, employee productivity and carbon eco-efficiency respectively. Finally, I examine the relations among firms’  CSR  related  board attributes, CSR strategy and their environmental and social performance (ESP). The first empirical chapter shows that firms with higher profitability tend to provide more ESD, which is consistent with the accounting- and economics- based arguments that ESD involve a real as well as an opportunity cost that more profitable firms with higher slack resources are better able to afford. The results regarding market value analysis show that overall ESD, in particular social disclosures matter to investors. Investors appear to be placing higher values on firms seen to be behaving in a socially responsible manner. Presumably, more responsible behaviour in the social arena reflected in higher disclosure helps to mitigate the information asymmetry, and hence the perceived social risk of the firm. Investors thus place higher values on such firms. The evidence on the link between  firms’  ESD  and  their  ESP measures supports this explanation. Specifically, I find that more social (environmental) disclosure in prior year reflects better social (environmental) performance as captured by higher employee productivity (more carbon eco-efficiency) in the current year. The results of the final empirical chapter show that boards having certain CSR- conducive attributes, particularly independent directors, women directors, and directors with financial expertise on the audit committee, are more likely to develop a multi-pronged CSR strategy which in turn translates into superior environmental and social performance. Furthermore, I find that firms with better ESP tend to further strengthen their board CSR orientation. In other words, the analysis suggests the presence of a positive and cyclical link between CSR orientation, firm CSR strategy, and firm environmental and social performance.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo