Corporate Governance, Capital Structure, Ownership Structure, And Corporate Value Of Companies Listed At The Nairobi Securities Exchange

This paper focuses on establishing the relationship among corporate governance, capital structure, ownership structure, and firm value for companies listed at the Nairobi Security Exchange (NSE). The study tested three hypotheses that explored various aspects of this relationship: First, there is no intervening effect on the capital structure on the relationship between corporate governance and corporate value; Second, there is no significant moderating effect of ownership structure on the relationship between corporate governance and corporate value; and finally, there is no significant joint effect of corporate governance, capital structure, and ownership structure on corporate value. The data of the study was obtained from audited financial statements of the firms listed at the NSE. A census survey for sixty-four publicly trading firms at the NSE was undertaken. The data of 64 corporations was cleaned, leaving a smaller number of 58 firms which formed over 90% of the sample. The analysis covered a five-year period between 2013 to 2017. The study adopted a positivism philosophy and a descriptive design. Descriptive statistics and diagnostic tests were undertaken and thereafter inferential statistics, specifically correlation and regression analysis, were used for hypothesis testing. The multiple regression analysis was used to test the relationship among corporate governance, capital structure, ownership structure, and corporate value. The panel data procedure was considered more appropriate as the sample data contained both cross-sectional and time-series data. The Baron and Kenny’s (1986) approach was used to assess the intervening and moderating effect of capital structure and ownership structure respectively on the relationship between corporate governance and corporate value. Corporate Governance was measured by a composite of board independence, board size, board remuneration, and corporate gender diversity. Capital structure was measured by leverage, while ownership structure was measured by ownership concentration, state ownership, family ownership, and foreign ownership. Firm performance was measured using the Tobin Q. The joint effect of corporate governance, capital structure, and ownership structure on corporate value was found to be positive and significant. However, Ownership structure and capital structure had no significant moderating and intervening effects respectively on the relationship between corporate governance and corporate value. This study makes an original contribution as it takes a more holistic approach of corporate governance development by probing whether improving corporate governance is linked to the enhanced corporate value. The study recommends that corporate shareholders, boards, regulators, and management of listed corporations should put in place robust policies. This will ensure the implementation and monitoring of corporate governance principles and ensure congruence in their activities of the oversight of corporate objectives of optimizing corporate value and minimizing fraud and failure risks of corporations

Effect of Capital Structure on the Relationship Between Corporate Governance and Corporate Value of Companies Listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange

The capital market authorities of different areas have from time to time issued regulations and guidelines for good corporate governance practices ensuring thorough and proper management of listed companies to align the interest of all stakeholders, ensure firm sustainability, and optimize corporate value. Despite these interventions, cases of corporate underperformance and failures attributed to financial distress and governance weakness continue to increase in magnitude and frequency. The main objective of the study was to determine the intervening effect of capital structure on the relationship between corporate governance and corporate value of companies listed at the Nairobi Security Exchange (NSE). The study tests hypothesis that there is no intervening effect on the capital structure on the relationship between corporate governance and corporate value for companies listed at the NSE. The key theories underpinning the study were agency theory as the main guiding theory and the trade-off theory. The data was acquired from past audited financial statements of companies listed at the NSE. The study used a census survey for sixty-four listed companies at the NSE. The analysis covered a period of five years between 2013 and 2017. Corporate Governance was measured by a composite of Board Independence, Board Size, Board Composition, and Corporate Gender Diversity. Capital structured was measured by leverage Different performance metrics have been used to evaluate corporate value worldwide by regulators and scholars. This study used Tobin - Q which has become an important tool for measuring corporate performance due to its incorporation of the market value of shares in its computation. The study adopts a positivism research philosophy and descriptive design. Descriptive statistics and diagnostic tests were conducted on the data thereafter inferential statistics namely correlations analysis and regression analysis were used to test the hypothesis. The panel data procedure was considered more appropriate as the sample data contained both cross-sectional and time-series data. The diagnostics tests were used to test for bias in the model and the regression used to test the strength and direction of the variables. Baron and Kenny (1986) approach was used to test the intervening effect of capital structure on the relationship between corporate governance and corporate value. The finding was that capital structure had no significant intervening effects on the relationship between corporate governance and corporate value. This research contributes to the line of literature that examines the desirability of corporate governance in enhancing corporate value. These insights in explaining corporate governance, capital structure, and corporate value relationships are useful for academic understanding and business and public policy formulations. Keywords: Corporate governance, capital structure, agency theory, trade off theory, corporate value. DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/11-17-10 Publication date:October 31st 202

A Model for Childhood Pneumonia Dynamics

This paper presents a deterministic model for pneumonia transmission and uses the model to assess the potential impact of therapy. The model is based on the Susceptible-Infected-Treatment-Susceptible compartmental structure with the possibility of infected individual recovering from natural immunity. Important epidemiological thresholds such as the basic and control reproduction numbers ( R_oand R_c respectively) and a measure of treatment impact are derived. Infection free point was found to be locally stable but globally unstable. We found that if the control reproduction number is greater than unity, then there is a unique endemic equilibrium point and it is less than unity, the endemic equilibrium point is globally asymptotically stable, and pneumonia will be eliminated. Numerical simulations using Matlab software suggest that, besides the parameters that determine the basic reproduction number, natural immunity plays an important role in pneumonia transmissions and magnitude of the public health impact of therapy. Further, treatment regimens with better efficacy holds great promise for lowering the public health burden of pneumonia disease

Influence of Corporate Control and Ownership Structure on the Value of Firms Listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange

This study aimed at establishing the influence of corporate control and ownership structure on corporate values of companies listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The paper tested the hypothesis that there is no significant moderating impact of ownership structure on the relationship between corporate control and corporate value growth based on Tobin Q and ROA measurements. The theory applied were agency theory, stewardship theory and stakeholder theory with the main anchoring theory being the agency theory. The study applied census survey for sixty four firms listed at the NSE. The time frame of analysis is five years between 2013 and 2017. Out of the 64 listed companies targeted, 58 were analyzed forming 90% of the population. The study applied census survey given that the population of the listed companies at the NSE were not many. Out of the 64 listed companies targeted, 59 were analyzed forming 92% of the population. Corporate control index was developed as a proxy for corporate control and ownership structure index was developed as a proxy for ownership structure. While ROA and Tobin Q were used to measure corporate value. The hypotheses were tested using both correlation and regression analysis. The key study variables of the listed companies were subjected to descriptive statistics and the results revealed a significant positive relationship between the variables. The study findings revealed significant moderating effect on the relationship between the value of the firm and its ownership structure

Influence of Corporate Control and Capital Structure on the Performance of Firms Listed at the Nairobi Security Exchange

This study aimed at establishing the influence of corporate control and capital structure on performance of firms listed at the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The focus was on how the link concerning corporate control and corporate’s returns is influenced by debt-equity structure for these listed firms. The paper tested the hypothesis that there is no significant intervening effect of capital structure on the nexus between corporate control and firm performance as measured by ROA and Tobin Q. The theory applied were agency theory and trade off theory. The study applied census survey for sixty four firms listed at the NSE. Leverage was used as a measure of capital structure while ROA and Tobin Q were used to measure corporate value. Regression analysis and correlation analysis were used to test the hypotheses. The key study variables of the listed companies were subjected to descriptive statistics and the results revealed a significant positive relationship between the variables. The intervening effect of debt-equity ratio was found to be significant in the relationship between in corporate control and corporate value. The study findings were in line with previous research findings also provided further insight on the contribution of independent variable, corporate control on the dependent variable, corporate value. Analyst and investors can utilize the findings to identify the key corporate control mechanism in financial markets. Keywords: Corporate control, capital structure, agency theory, trade off theory, firm performance

A Model for Childhood Pneumonia Dynamics

This paper presents a deterministic model for pneumonia transmission and uses the model to assess the potential impact of therapy. The model is based on the Susceptible-Infected-Treatment-Susceptible compartmental structure with the possibility of infected individual recovering from natural immunity. Important epidemiological thresholds such as the basic and control reproduction numbers ( R_oand R_c respectively) and a measure of treatment impact are derived. Infection free point was found to be locally stable but globally unstable. We found that if the control reproduction number is greater than unity, then there is a unique endemic equilibrium point and it is less than unity, the endemic equilibrium point is globally asymptotically stable, and pneumonia will be eliminated. Numerical simulations using Matlab software suggest that, besides the parameters that determine the basic reproduction number, natural immunity plays an important role in pneumonia transmissions and magnitude of the public health impact of therapy. Further, treatment regimens with better efficacy holds great promise for lowering the public health burden of pneumonia disease

Vitamin D with Calcium reduces mortality: patient level pooled analysis of 70,528 patients from eight major vitamin D trials

Introduction: Vitamin D may affect multiple health outcomes. If so, an effect on mortality is to be expected. Using pooled data from randomized controlled trials, we performed individual patient data (IPD) and trial level meta-analyses to assess mortality among participants randomized to either vitamin D alone or vitamin D with calcium. Subjects and Methods: Through a systematic literature search, we identified 24 randomized controlled trials reporting data on mortality in which vitamin D was given either alone or with calcium. From a total of 13 trials with more than 1000 participants each, eight trials were included in our IPD analysis. Using a stratified Cox regression model, we calculated risk of death during 3 yr of treatment in an intention-to-treat analysis. Also, we performed a trial level meta-analysis including data from all studies. Results: The IPD analysis yielded data on 70,528 randomized participants (86.8% females) with a median age of 70 (interquartile range, 62–77) yr. Vitamin D with or without calcium reduced mortality by 7% [hazard ratio, 0.93; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.88–0.99]. However, vitamin D alone did not affect mortality, but risk of death was reduced if vitamin D was given with calcium (hazard ratio, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.84–0.98). The number needed to treat with vitamin D plus calcium for 3 yr to prevent one death was 151. Trial level meta-analysis (24 trials with 88,097 participants) showed similar results, i.e. mortality was reduced with vitamin D plus calcium (odds ratio, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.88–0.99), but not with vitamin D alone (odds ratio, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.91–1.06). Conclusion: Vitamin D with calcium reduces mortality in the elderly, whereas available data do not support an effect of vitamin D alone

ORNL Trusted Corridors Project: Watts Bar Dam Inland Waterway Project

Radiation has existed everywhere in the environment since the Earth's formation - in rocks, soil, water, and plants. The mining and processing of naturally occurring radioactive materials for use in medicine, power generation, consumer products, and industry inevitably generate emissions and waste. Radiological measuring devices have been used by industry for years to measure for radiation in undesired locations or simply identify radioactive materials. Since the terrorist attacks on the United States on 9-11-01 these radiation measuring devices have proliferated in many places in our nation's commerce system. DOE, TVA, the Army Corps and ORNL collaborated to test the usefulness of these devices in our nation's waterway system on this project. The purpose of the Watts Bar Dam ORNL Trusted Corridors project was to investigate the security, safety and enforcement needs of local, state and federal government entities for state-of-the-art sensor monitoring in regards to illegal cargo including utilization of the existing infrastructure. TVA's inland waterways lock system is a recognized and accepted infrastructure by the commercial carrier industry. Safety Monitoring activities included tow boat operators, commercial barges and vessels, recreational watercraft and their cargo, identification of unsafe vessels and carriers, and, monitoring of domestic and foreign commercial vessels and cargo identification. Safety Enforcement activities included cargo safety, tracking, identification of hazardous materials, waterway safety regulations, and hazardous materials regulations. Homeland Security and Law Enforcement Applications included Radiological Dispersive Devices (RDD) identification, identification of unsafe or illicit transport of hazardous materials including chemicals and radiological materials, and screening for shipments of illicit drugs. In the Fall of 2005 the SensorNet funding for the project expired. After several unsuccessful attempts to find a Federal sponsor to continue with the project, the Watts Bar Dam Project was canceled and the Exploranium radiation monitors were removed from the doors of Watts Bar Dam in early 2006. The DHS Domestic Nuclear Detection Office decided to proceed with a Pilot building on the ORNL work performed at the TN and SC weigh stations in the highway sector of the Trusted Corridors project and eventually expanded it to other southern states under the name of Southeastern Corridor Pilot Project (SETCP). Many of the Phase I goals were achieved however real-world test data of private watercraft and barges was never obtained

ORNL Trusted Corridors Project: Watts Bar Dam Inland Waterway Project

Radiation has existed everywhere in the environment since the Earth's formation - in rocks, soil, water, and plants. The mining and processing of naturally occurring radioactive materials for use in medicine, power generation, consumer products, and industry inevitably generate emissions and waste. Radiological measuring devices have been used by industry for years to measure for radiation in undesired locations or simply identify radioactive materials. Since the terrorist attacks on the United States on 9-11-01 these radiation measuring devices have proliferated in many places in our nation's commerce system. DOE, TVA, the Army Corps and ORNL collaborated to test the usefulness of these devices in our nation's waterway system on this project. The purpose of the Watts Bar Dam ORNL Trusted Corridors project was to investigate the security, safety and enforcement needs of local, state and federal government entities for state-of-the-art sensor monitoring in regards to illegal cargo including utilization of the existing infrastructure. TVA's inland waterways lock system is a recognized and accepted infrastructure by the commercial carrier industry. Safety Monitoring activities included tow boat operators, commercial barges and vessels, recreational watercraft and their cargo, identification of unsafe vessels and carriers, and, monitoring of domestic and foreign commercial vessels and cargo identification. Safety Enforcement activities included cargo safety, tracking, identification of hazardous materials, waterway safety regulations, and hazardous materials regulations. Homeland Security and Law Enforcement Applications included Radiological Dispersive Devices (RDD) identification, identification of unsafe or illicit transport of hazardous materials including chemicals and radiological materials, and screening for shipments of illicit drugs. In the Fall of 2005 the SensorNet funding for the project expired. After several unsuccessful attempts to find a Federal sponsor to continue with the project, the Watts Bar Dam Project was canceled and the Exploranium radiation monitors were removed from the doors of Watts Bar Dam in early 2006. The DHS Domestic Nuclear Detection Office decided to proceed with a Pilot building on the ORNL work performed at the TN and SC weigh stations in the highway sector of the Trusted Corridors project and eventually expanded it to other southern states under the name of Southeastern Corridor Pilot Project (SETCP). Many of the Phase I goals were achieved however real-world test data of private watercraft and barges was never obtained

An Update on Preclinical Research in Anesthetic-Induced Developmental Neurotoxicity in Nonhuman Primate and Rodent Models

Funding Information: Supported by NIH R01GM137213-01 to CDM.Peer reviewedPostprin