Value relevance of Other Comprehensive income and its Available-For-Sale Financial Instruments (AFS) and Revaluation Surplus of Property, Plant and Equipment (REV) components

Studies on value relevance of Other Comprehensive Income (OCI) have thus far provided mixed evidences. Prior studies also found that fair value reporting has a significant impact on the value relevance of OCI. However, most studies on value relevance of OCI focused on developed countries where the capital market is more efficient. In these settings due to the existence of active market, fair valuation of assets may not pose a major problem. Therefore, more studies are needed to better understand the value relevance of such OCI especially in developing countries which have less efficient market. Thus, this study examined whether OCI and its components, Available-For-Sale Financial Instruments (AFS) andRevaluation Surplus of Property, Plant and Equipment (REV) are value relevant in Malaysia as a developing country. In order to fulfill these objectives, this study hypothesized that OCI and its components are associated with share price. These hypotheses were empirically tested using a sample of 1,419 firm years observations from 2011 to 2013, of firms listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia. The results of Panel Analysis indicates that OCI and its components are value relevant. These results remain robust after additional analyses. This study provides additional evidence of value relevance of other comprehensive income in a developing country. The results indicate that the move towards a more comprehensive income reporting through the preparation of the Statement of Comprehensive Income results in more informative financial reporting

An Empirical Analysis on Board Monitoring Role and Loan Portfolio Quality Measurement in Banks

This paper aims to analyze the effectiveness of the board monitoring role on specific loan portfolio quality measures in banks (default rate, recovery rate and provisioning rate). We use a sample comprises a totality of Italian-based banks, listed at Borsa Italiana SpA in 2006-2008 and a number of accounting proxies to express the loan portfolio quality of a bank. The results of the analysis show an overall weakness of the board role (expressed by Independents and Audit Committee on board) in monitoring loan portfolio quality of the bank, with the subsequent damage of the interests of stakeholders. A positive contribution of board monitoring, even if partial, is highlighted in two cases: Independents seems improve recovery rate, while the Audit committee enhances provisioning rate in banks. With reference to default rate, a total negative effect of board monitoring is reported. On the base of these results, some managerial implications are proposed.Banks, Corporate governance, Board of directors, Loan Portfolio Quality

An Empirical Analysis on Board Monitoring Role and Loan Portfolio Quality Measurement in Banks

This paper aims to analyze the effectiveness of the board monitoring role on specific loan portfolio quality measures in banks (default rate, recovery rate and provisioning rate). We use a sample comprises a totality of Italian-based banks, listed at Borsa Italiana SpA in 2006-2008 and a number of accounting proxies to express the loan portfolio quality of a bank. The results of the analysis show an overall weakness of the board role (expressed by Independents and Audit Committee on board) in monitoring loan portfolio quality of the bank, with the subsequent damage of the interests of stakeholders. A positive contribution of board monitoring, even if partial, is highlighted in two cases: Independents seems improve recovery rate, while the Audit committee enhances provisioning rate in banks. With reference to default rate, a total negative effect of board monitoring is reported. On the base of these results, some managerial implications are proposed

An Empirical Analysis on Board Monitoring Role and Loan Portfolio Quality Measurement in Banks

This paper aims to analyze the effectiveness of the board monitoring role on specific loan portfolio quality measures in banks (default rate, recovery rate and provisioning rate). We use a sample comprises a totality of Italian-based banks, listed at Borsa Italiana SpA in 2006-2008 and a number of accounting proxies to express the loan portfolio quality of a bank. The results of the analysis show an overall weakness of the board role (expressed by Independents and Audit Committee on board) in monitoring loan portfolio quality of the bank, with the subsequent damage of the interests of stakeholders. A positive contribution of board monitoring, even if partial, is highlighted in two cases: Independents seems improve recovery rate, while the Audit committee enhances provisioning rate in banks. With reference to default rate, a total negative effect of board monitoring is reported. On the base of these results, some managerial implications are proposed

Modeling effective work groups and teams : an assessment of the inclusion of social value orientation.

The purpose of this study is to examine research on effective work groups in terms of measurable input characteristics and relevant collective outputs. Antecedents and consequences of group processes are explored; models of work groups and teams are examined and assessed in light of subsequent research. Additionally, social value orientation – a behavioral trait known to predictably influence interpersonal outcomes – is introduced as a concept that is also relevant to group work. A revised model that includes social value orientation as a predictive factor for group productivity is presented and tested. This empirical study is a correlative, quantitative investigation of extant work groups and teams within the United States Army Recruiting Command. Primary statistical tools are multilevel modeling and Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulations. Key results include identifying group potency as the most predictive variable of performance and providing evidence that social value orientation is significantly related to group productivity over and above other included variables. Implications and discussion of relevance to human resource development (HRD) are included

South Africa and peacebuilding in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 1996 – 2016 : probing the attitudes of Congolese refugees in Durban.

Doctor of Philosophy in Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2016.This study is anchored on the crisis of Congolese refugees that is taking an astronomical proportion in South Africa. While in different parts in South Africa Congolese refugees may initiate actions that may fuel the magnitude of a new or the ongoing conflict on one hand, and those that may transform and end war the DRC’s war. The study probes the views and insights of the Congolese refugees on South Africa’s peacebuilding interventions in the DRC’s conflict and contends that South Africa can draw from the views, insights and perception of Congolese refugees as another alternative of bolstering its current peace building interventions in the DRC. The study draws heavily on data gathered from four (4) focus group discussions and 58 in-depth interviews (comprising mainly, the Congolese scholars and civil rights activists in Durban). The study uses conflict transformation and realism theories. From a conflict transformation perspective, the study argues that drawing from the views and insights of the Congolese refugees may bolster an all-encompassing South African peacebuilding intervention in the DRC’s conflict. On the other hand, through the tenets of realism, study argues that South Africa can draw from the insights of the Congolese refugees as one way of achieving its dominant interests of having a stable DRC and Africa. Through a survey of scholarship on the link between refugees and conflict transformation, the findings of this study reveals that the inclusion of the views and insights of Congolese refugees in its peacebuilding interventions may earn South Africa respect on the continent as a country that respects the contribution of refugees in peacebuilding. This may advance South Africa’s interest of taking the lead in peace operations in Africa. However, the study also reveals that by participating in peacebuilding while pushing for more economic relations with DRC, the South Africa’s interventions in the DRC’s conflict can be termed as a predatory and exploitative way of the economics of war. For instance, the Inga Dam, agriculture and the abundance of mineral resources to which some South African companies own mining rights, underscores a realist argument that any intervening state intervenes in a conflict country in pursuit of its national interests. The findings of this study also reveal that, by drawing on the views of the marginalised non-state actors like Congolese refugees in its peacebuilding interventions in the DRC, South Africa may fulfill its desire of avoiding spill-overs from the effects of the war in the form of the incessant influx of Congolese refugees. An end to war in the DRC may be one way of furthering economic interests of the South African business segments. Having taken note that the major findings of the study revolve around contentious primary issues relating to the role of Congolese refugees within South Africa’s peacebuilding interventions, a number of recommendations are made. These include: 1. Establishment of refugees’ resource centres as a new approach of mitigating their forgotten role in peacebuilding processes. 2. Clarification of the conflicting interests of South Africa’s peacebuilding interventions in the DRC. 3. Inclusion of other non-state actors in South Africa’s peacebuilding interventions. Finally, a paradigm shift is needed in the conceptualization of what constitutes conflict transformation more so peacebuilding interventions. This includes a new theoretical thinking based on gaining vital views, insights and perspectives from non-state actors like Congolese refugees in South Africa