The Determinants of Investment Rewards: Evidence for Selected Developed and Developing Countries

The empirical studies on investors' investment reward rarely focus on the performance of excess returns across the developing and developed countries: investment in the developing countries has higher risk thus requires higher return compared to developed countries. Therefore, study on investors' investment reward cannot rule out the role of the performance of excess returns simply because of data mining, complex data collection process and misspecification of the model. The objective of this study is to examine the underlying determinants of investors' investment reward on excess stock return such that provide better understanding on the fact that the developing countries has more risk compared to developed countries and the internal factors are important for investors in the investment decision making process. The findings of this study indicate that there is an equilibrium relationship between investors' investment reward and its determinants, namely, risk premium of market, firm size and book-to-market value. In addition, the internal factors are important to the investors in making investment decisions and the relationships of the underlying determinants are prevalent in the developing countries. This study suggests that risk premium of market, firm size and book-to-market value can serve as indicators of the investors' investment reward that provide better understanding that developing countries has more risk than developed countries. This study also suggests that the investors and policy makers should consider the role of the underlying determinants in the investors' investment decision making process. Keywords:  excess stock return, risk premium of market, firm size, book-to-market value JEL Classifications: D46, G3

Stock Returns and Inflation: a Bibliometric Analysis

Purpose:  The challenging economic climate and increasing inflationary pressures have made it necessary to re-evaluate inflation research and its impact on the stock market. The purpose of this study is to use bibliometric analysis to review scholarly writing on stock returns and inflation from 1975 to 2022.   Design/methodology/approach:  This study analyses bibliometric markers such as the number of citations, authors, journals, and institutions using the Web of Science database to discover publishing patterns and illustrate commonalities.   Findings:  The study indicates that the volatility domain has gained more attention, therefore there is a necessity for future research to model predictive accuracy to match the rising volatility and uncertainty environment. Due to the expanding energy theme from bibliographic coupling analysis and the oil-related macroeconomic factors cluster from author keyword co-occurrence analysis, the study revealed a research gap that underlines the need for a green and sustainable stock market.   Research, Practical & Social implications: The study suggests a need for future research to increase academic collaboration and to contribute toward the development of theoretical and empirical literature.   Originality/value:   The results revealed that it is vital to revise the current theory to integrate theoretical implications in light of the volatile market conditions and rising inflation rate

Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Magnetic Resonance Elastography to Evaluate the Early Effects of Bariatric Surgery on Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Background. Bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment for morbid obesity and reduces the severity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the long term. Less is known about the effects of bariatric surgery on liver fat, inflammation, and fibrosis during the early stages following bariatric surgery. Aims. This exploratory study utilises advanced imaging methods to investigate NAFLD and fibrosis changes during the early metabolic transitional period following bariatric surgery. Methods. Nine participants with morbid obesity underwent sleeve gastrectomy. Multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) and magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) were performed at baseline, during the immediate (1 month), and late (6 months) postsurgery period. Liver fat was measured using proton density fat fraction (PDFF), disease activity using iron-correct T1 (cT1), and liver stiffness using MRE. Repeated measured ANOVA was used to assess longitudinal changes and Dunnett’s method for multiple comparisons. Results. All participants (Age 45.1±9.0 years, BMI 39.7±5.3 kg/m2) had elevated hepatic steatosis at baseline (PDFF >5%). In the immediate postsurgery period, PDFF decreased significantly from 14.1±7.4% to 8.9±4.4% (p=0.016) and cT1 from 826.9±80.6 ms to 768.4±50.9 ms (p=0.047). These improvements continued to the later postsurgery period. Bariatric surgery did not reduce liver stiffness measurements. Conclusion. Our findings support using MRI as a noninvasive tool to monitor NAFLD in patient with morbid obesity during the early stages following bariatric surgery