Hedging U.S. metals & mining Industry\u27s credit risk with industrial and precious metals

© 2019 This study examines the conditional correlation and the resulting optimal hedge ratios between the Credit Default Swap (CDS) spreads of the U.S. metal and mining industries, and the prices of copper, platinum, silver and gold using the daily date from December 14, 2007 to August 18, 2018. It compares volatility and conditional correlation of the CDSs and the metal prices by employing multivariate GARCH family models which capture distinct characteristics of financial time series. It utilizes rolling window estimation techniques and constructs the one-step-ahead out-of-sample forecasts for the dynamic conditional correlations and thereafter the optimal hedge ratios. In general, our results show that copper provides the best possible hedge for dealing with the U.S. metals and mining industries’ credit risks. Our results are robust under alternate model specifications, choice of model refits and distributional assumptions

The European Financial System in Limelight

Efficient use of resources depends on better allocation through financial systems. Development of financial systems can be measured through the performance of banks, financial markets and insurance companies. This paper identifies several key attributes to measure the level of financial development in Europe using data from 1990 to 2011. First, an index is constructed by employing the method of Principal Component Analysis to measure the strength of financial systems in European countries. Second, based on relative raking a comparison is made for better interpretation of results in European countries. The top five countries include Switzerland, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain and Germany. The results of this study can be helpful to assess the relative strength of European economies and frame future policies to promote efficiency of financial systems

Relationship between financial inclusion and carbon emissions: International evidence

The nexus between financial inclusion and carbon emissions is becoming an increasingly important topic, given the augmented awareness of the negative impacts of climate change and carbon emissions on the environment and human health. In this study, we examine the impact of financial inclusion on carbon emissions using the STIRPAT framework for 102 countries from 2004 to 2020. We measure financial inclusion as a composite index, using principal component analysis (PCA) from five financial inclusion proxies. Our robust panel regression estimations suggest an N-Shaped relationship between financial inclusion and carbon emissions. The N-shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) implies that the impact of financial inclusion on carbon emission is nonlinear and changes from an inverted U-shaped to a U-shaped. This finding is strong in developing countries and weak in advanced countries. It is also robust across our two normalized measures of financial inclusion as well as across different estimation techniques. These findings suggest adapting a universal environmental strategy that enhances financial inclusion through strong and accessible financial systems, particularly for low-income countries. Our results further suggest that government authorities and policymakers need to develop well-directed and inclusive financial policies that consider the varying levels of governance, regulations, and income across countries

Does Shariah compliance make interest rate sensitivity of Islamic equities lower? An industry level analysis under different market states

© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This paper examines the sensitivity of the Dow Jones Islamic market index and its corresponding industry equity indices to changes in the level, slope and curvature of the U.S. term structure of interest rates over the period 1996–2015 using the quantile regression approach. The empirical results reveal that the Islamic stock market has a considerable negative exposure to interest rate risk, although a declining time pattern of interest rate sensitivity is observed. The unexpected changes in the level factor of the U.S. yield curve, closely linked to long-term interest rates, are identified as the most important interest rate factor in explaining the variability of Islamic equity returns. Furthermore, the interest rate exposure tends to be stronger during extreme bearish conditions in the stock market, possibly due to the greater pessimism and risk aversion under these market circumstances. It is also shown that Islamic equities are not different from their mainstream counterparts in terms of interest rate sensitivity, indicating that the Islamic stock market does not provide a cushion against interest rate risk

IMPACT OF CAPITAL STRUCTURE ON PERFORMANCE OF NON-FINANCIAL LISTED COMPANIES IN PAKISTAN

This study examines the relationship between capital structure andfinancial performance using a broad sample of 213 non-financial firmslisted on the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) over the period 1999-2015. The relationship between financial performance and capitalstructure is estimated using fixed and random effect models. Sectorwisecomparison shows that for the majority of sectors, higher shortandlong-term debt has a significant negative impact on financialperformance; however, magnitude of this effect varies across industries.The results suggest that in order to improve performance, companies’management should decrease their reliance on debt finance

Involvement of medical students and fresh medical graduates of Karachi, Pakistan in research

OBJECTIVE: To study the involvement in research, of final year medical students and fresh graduates of Karachi, Pakistan and to identify the factors influencing their interest in medical research. METHODS: A cross-sectional, questionnaire based study was conducted in 2007-2008. Five institutes representing the private and public hospitals in the city were selected by cluster sampling. Final year medical students and fresh graduates were included. Descriptive statistics were charted using SPSS v.16 after double data entry. RESULTS: Out of 378, 186 (49%) participants had journal reading habits due to the requirement of their institution. Mostly, 157 (41%) undergraduates had already participated in a research project, however mostly in the field as data collectors or computer work. Institutional influence and speciality of interest was found to be statistically significant factors related to a respondent\u27s interest or involvement in research. (chi2 =9.970, p-value = 0.007). CONCLUSION: There is keen interest and involvement in research, among final year medical students and fresh graduates of Karachi, Pakistan. However, the factors driving them are based on their university research encouragements and future plans

The evaluation of coated granules to mask the bitter taste of dihydroartemisinin

The purpose of this study was to mask the bitter taste imparted by dihydroartemisinin (DHA) by the use of different coating materials. Trial-1 and trial-2 were conducted to prepare the DHA granules. The granules produced from trial-1 were irregular in shape and smaller in size while the trial-2 granules were more regular and larger in size. The granules obtained from both trials were then coated with two different coating methods, namely A and B, depending upon coating material. The trial-2 granules showed better flow properties than trial-1 granules. In vitro dissolution studies in phosphate buffer at pH 6.8 revealed that granules of trial-2B released only 34% ± 3 DHA in two minutes compared with trial-1A (57% ± 2), trial-1B (48% ± 2) and trial-2A (53% ± 7). The pleasant taste perception (PTP) test also confirmed the taste masking efficacy of trial-2B (P < 0.05). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the more regular and smooth surface of trial-2B granules. In addition, the differential thermal and thermogravimetric analysis (TG-DTA) confirmed no interaction between the materials and pure DHA. DHA has shown its characteristic peaks in the x-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns which were also prominent in all the granules. In conclusion, the granules obtained from trial-2B displayed considerable decrease in the bitter taste of DHA thereby fulfilling the purpose of this study.O objetivo deste estudo foi o de mascarar o gosto amargo característico da diidroartemisinina (DHA) pelo uso de diferentes materiais de revestimento. Experimento-1 e experimento-2 foram realizados para preparar grânulos de DHA. Os grânulos produzidos pelo experimento-1 mostraram-se irregulares e menores se comparados aos obtidos pelo experimento-2, que foram mais regulares e maiores. Os grânulos obtidos em ambos os experimentos foram, então, revestidos por dois métodos distintos de revestimento, designados como A e B, dependendo do material de revestimento empregado. Os grânulos do experimento-2 mostraram melhor propriedade de fluxo que os obtidos no experimento-1. Estudos de dissolução in vitro em tampão fosfato pH 6,8 revelaram que grânulos do experimento-2B liberaram apenas 34% ± 3 da DHA em dois minutos se comparado com experimento-1A (57% ± 2), experimento-1B (48% ± 2) e experimento-2A (53% ± 7). A Análise Sensorial quanto ao sabor (Pleasant Taste Perception - PTP) também confirmou a eficácia do experimento-2B (

Outcome of Adolescent Bike Riders after Road Crash with and without Safety Measures in a Developing Country

Background: Road traffic crash is of growing public health importance worldwide contributing significantly to the global disease burden. There is paucity of published data on road traffic crashes in our local circumstances. This study was carried out to describe the outcome in patients of traumatic brain injury after road traffic crash in our local setting and provide baseline data for establishment of preventive strategies for the well being of adolescent bike riders.Methods: This was a prospective hospital based study of road traffic crash victims carried out at Department of Neurosurgery, Jinnah hospital Lahore from January 2015 to December 2015. After informed consent from patients or their attendants, all patients were consecutively enrolled into the study. A total of 1490 patients were enrolled in the study who presented in emergency after road crash and only the bike riders were observed for the outcome. Data was collected using a pre-tested questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS computer software version 15.0.Results: A total of 1490 road traffic crash victims were studied. All patients were male. The patients ages ranged from 12 to 57 years with the mean and median of 22.5 and 26 years respectively. The patients were divided into five groups as GROUP-A 10-20yrs age, GROUP -B 21-30yrs, GROUP -C 31-40 yrs, GROUP-D 41-50yrs and GROUP-E 51-60yrs. Regarding the vehicle only bike was included. Number of patients in group A was 340 (22.8%), group B 650 (43.6), group C 80 (5.3), group D 320 (21.4%) and group E 100 (6.7%). Regarding the mechanism 618 (41.4%) patients came after bike skidding, 636 (42.6%) patients came after bike with bike crash and 236 (15.8%) patients came after bike with other vehicle crash. Among total number of patients 216 (14.4%) were those having severe traumatic brain injury (STBI). Mortality rate among STBI was 106 (49.07%). The highest mortality was noticed in group C was 37.7% and in group A(adolescent patients) was 24.5% and this was significant (P &lt; 0.001) whereas regarding the outcome according to Glasgow outcome scale, Grade 5 was observed in 63.6% and Grade 4 &amp; 3 in 13.02% &amp; 14.4% respectively and Grade 2 in 1.7% of the patients. The stratification of patients was also done regarding the severity of injury and their outcome according to GOS. It showed that in group A 22.03% patients with mild TBI had GOS 5 &amp; 6.78% with moderate TBI had GOS 5. Regarding severe TBI of group A 15.38% patients had GOS 2 &amp; 24.53% had GOS 1 which was highest in all groups, same stratification was done for other groups as well which showed that the outcome in group A is devastating and its results are comparable with the elder age groups.Conclusion: Road traffic crashes constitute a major public health problem in our setting and contribute significantly to unacceptably high morbidity and mortality especially for youth. Urgent preventive measures in the form of helmet wearing for bike riders and enforcement of traffic rules targeting at reducing the occurrence of road traffic crashes is necessary to reduce the morbidity and mortality resulting from these injuries. There should be uniform implementation of traffic rules and regulation of motorcycle industry all over the country

Risk transmission between Islamic and conventional stock markets: A return and volatility spillover analysis

This paper contributes to the current debate on the empirical validity of the decoupling hypothesis of the Islamic stockmarket fromits mainstream counterparts by examining return and volatility spillovers across the global Islamic stock market, three main conventional national stockmarkets (the US, the UK and Japan) and a number of influential macroeconomic and financial variables over the period from July 1996 to June 2016. To that end, the VAR-based spillover index approach based on the generalized VAR framework developed by Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) is applied. The empirical analysis shows strong interactions in return and volatility among the global Islamic stock market, the conventional stock markets and the set of major risk factors considered. This finding means that the Islamic equity universe does not constitute a viable alternative for investors who wish to hedge their investments against the vagaries of stockmarkets, but it is exposed to the same global factors and risks hitting the conventional financial system. Therefore, this evidence leads to the rejection of the decoupling hypothesis of the Islamic stock market from conventional stock markets, which has significant implications for faithbased investors and policy makers in terms of portfolio diversification, hedging strategies and contagion risk