Property rights institutions and bank performance across countries

Purpose – This paper investigates the relationship between the quality of property rights institutions (PRIs) and bank financial performance in an empirical study of 136 countries over the period 1999 to 2006. Design/methodology/approach – The quality of property rights institutions (PRIs) and financial accounting based measures of bank performance are obtained from the Economic Freedom of the World Project (Gwartney et al., 2006), the Polity IV Project, the World Bank data indicators database and the International Monetary Fund. Several multiple regression analyses are conducted to test the study hypotheses.Findings – Our results reveal that the quality of legal structure and security of property rights institutions positively (negatively) affects both bank cost efficiency (inefficiency) and profitability. The presence of a quality political structure negatively (positively) affects bank cost efficiency (inefficiency). The quality of political structure has no direct impact on bank profitability. The impact of PRIs on bank cost efficiency is more evident in the upper middle and high income group of countries than in the low and lower middle income group of countries. An appropriate level of PRI quality is essential to achieve both competition and development.Practical implications – The paper highlights policy implications for international policy makers, regulators and the management of banks who are interested in banking sector development across countries. Originality/value – The study investigates the fundamental importance of PRI quality in its effect on the banking sector and extends the largely US-focused literature to a broader international setting

Impact of culture on stock market development and corporate governance

This study takes a step forward to explore the dynamic relationship between cultural values and stock market development in the United Kingdom, during the period 1991- 2004. Cultural values are represented by the cultural model of Hofstede (1980) which consists of five dimensions, which are: power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity and time horizon. Stock market developmenti s representedb y four indicators, which are: stock market activity, size, liquidity and concentration. Empirical results, using structural equation modelling (SEM), show that some cultural values have significant relationships with stock market development indicators. Power distance has a significant negative relationship with stock market size, while individuality has a significant positive relationship with stock market activity at the 0.90 confidence level. Furthermore, since good corporate governance systems are considered as an important component of stock market development, this study has been extended to explore the impact of cultural values on corporate governance systems across twenty four countries in Western Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Corporate governance systems are represented by 6ght aspects, which are: board size, separation of chair and CEO, independence per board, independent audit committee, remuneration disclosure, women on board, code of ethics and ethics systems. The regression analysis results show that cultural values have a significant impact on several corporate governance systems across countries. Individuality has significant positive relationships with three corporate governance systems, which are: independence per board, audit committee, and ethics systems. Power distance has a significant positive relationship with separation of chair and CEO. The interaction term, uncertainty avoidance/masculinity, has significant negative relationships with three corporate governance systems, which are: independence per board, remuneration disclosure, and code of ethics. Moreover, the interaction term power distance/masculinity has a significant negative impact on women on board. This study concludes that several cultural values play an important role in the formation and behaviour of stock market development over time, and on corporate governance systems across countries. These results have important consequencesa t both firm and country levels and in terms of stock market integration across the globe

Bank regulation and stock market stability across countries

© 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether bank capital strength and external auditing requirements influenced international stock market stability during the 2007/2008 global financial crisis. Design/methodology/approach: Bank mandatory regulation data are obtained from the World Bank database, while stock market stability is gauged for 385 listed banks across 43 countries by means of generalised least squares regression models. Findings: The authors find that mandatory capital strength requirements and the existence of mandatory audit increase stock market stability across countries. Further, more profitable banks increase stock market stability. The results are robust to both country institutional settings and economic freedom characteristics. Originality/value: This paper provides evidence of the impact of bank regulations on stock market stability during the global financial crisis, thereby providing a useful insight for stakeholders to enhance financial regulation and policy

Advancing accounting education using LEGO® Serious Playsimulation technique

This paper investigates the impact of the LEGO® Serious Playsimulation technique on accounting students’ learning outcomes. Data is from a stratified random sample of undergraduate accounting students at a leading higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) emerging market. This paper uses parametric statistical analysis techniques to test the study hypothesis. The empirical findings indicate significant differences between LEGO® Serious Play simulation and traditional learning techniques on students’ learning outcomes. More specifically, the use of LEGO® Serious Play simulation significantly improves accounting students’ higher-level learning outcomes, such as Analysis skills. In comparison, the traditional teaching technique attains a significant positive impact on accounting students’ lower-level learning outcomes such as Knowledge and Application skills. The Comprehension learning skills showed no significant difference between the two teaching methods. This paper highlights the importance of alternative instructional approaches to enhance accounting students’ learning outcomes and support accounting educators teaching activities

Impact of excise tax on consumption, brand loyalty and health awareness: Evidence from the United Arab Emirates

AbstractThe main purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the impact of excise tax on excisable goods consumption, brand loyalty and health awareness in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) market. The research is conducted based on the self-administered questionnaire collected from the residents of the UAE. The snow-ball sampling technique is used to collect the data set during 2022. A total of 559 usable questionnaires were analyzed. This paper uses the multiple regression analysis model (OLS) to test the study hypothesis. The findings of the research show that implementation of excise tax has no significant impact on the consumption of excisable goods. The findings show a positive relation between implementation of excise tax and customers’ brand loyalty. Likewise, the excise tax implementation has a positive impact on the health awareness among the residents of the UAE for the consumption of excisable goods. The findings of this paper would provide insights to the policymakers for formulating the future excise tax policies and extending the scope of excise tax to the other unhealthy products in the emerging market (UAE). This paper provides evidence supporting the impact of implementation of excise tax on the consumption, brand loyalty and health awareness of the individual consumers in the emerging economy. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to research and test the consumption behavior of individuals through the collection of primary data set since the excise tax is implemented in the Gulf Cooperation Council specially in the UAE economy which includes the excisable products, i.e., tobacco, carbonated drinks, energy drinks, sweetened beverages and electronic smoking devices