Stated motivation for share buybacks in Malaysia

Share buyback is a recent phenomenon in the Malaysia capital market.It has only been allowed since 1997 as a response to the currency crisis to shore up market share prices.This study explores companies states motivations for undertaking share buyback.It examines' 40 companies' circulars to shareholders between October 1999 and May 2002, to identify the companies' stated motivations for undertaking share buybacks.Apart from identifying the stated motivations, the study also detects motivations that are the most stated, and those that appear to be accorded greater emphasis.The findings, with the use of non-parametric statistics, indicate that out of the nine motivations for share buybacks, four motivations are hardly stated by the companies.These include (1)distribute cash, (2) issue stocks under the Employee Stock Option Schemes, (3) change capital structure, and (4)anti-takeover measure.The other five motivations are widely stated, and these are (1) pay stock dividend, (2)investment opportunity, (3) stabilise share price, (4)use surplus cash, and (5) increase shareholder return/EPS.The first of these widely stated motivations appears to be given less relative emphasis because it is stated consistently later in the circulars to shareholders, compared to the other widely stated motivations

Risks and foreign direct investment inflows: evidence from Yemen

This study aims to find the relationship between the political, exchange rate and inflation risk factors with the yearly foreign direct investment (YFDI) in Yemen, over the period between 1990 to 2010. Secondary data results showed that political risk and exchange rate risk have an inverse relationship with YFDI, while inflation risk has a significant positive relationship. Further analysis on a survey collected from 62 multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in Yemen showed an insignificant relationship between the perceived political, exchange rate and inflation risk factors and corporate foreign direct investment (CFDI). The conflicting results possibly imply that the MNEs’ subsequent capital investments may not be affected by the perceived political, exchange rate and inflation risks that would nonetheless have been considered during the initial business plan. It is likely that MNEs that were already operating in Yemen may have developed capabilities in terms of knowledge, bargaining and lobbying skills. Therefore, perceived risks are no longer seem to influence their investment decisions

Trade Credit Management Practices of Malaysian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Manufacturing Sector

Considered as the engine of growth, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia are heavily assisted and supported by various government agencies. Nonetheless, previous studies indicated that SMEs were facing many problems, where the most common finance-related problem was the lack of financing. However, the existence of various sources of financing in the market raised doubt as to whether the lack of funding is real or a myth. It is suspected that the problem for SMEs in Malaysia is not with the availability of funds, but the management of the funds obtained. Hence, this study focuses on the management of receivables, as they constitute a substantive component of company assets. This study centres on the trade credit management practices of Malaysian SMEs in the manufacturing sector, since this sector is a dominant contributor to the Malaysian SMEs’ total output. Specifically, the research objectives are (1) to compile the profile of, and investigate, the trade credit management practices of SMEs in the manufacturing sector; and (2) to identify factors (company characteristics) that might influence the trade credit management practices. To accomplish the research objectives, data on 214 manufacturing SMEs were collected from two different sources. Non-financial data was collected using mail questionnaires while the financial data were obtained from a private credit information agency. Both these primary and secondary data were later matched and used for analysis. First, descriptive analyses were performed to present the profile of practices adopted by SMEs in managing their trade credit. Then, bivariate associative analyses were conducted between the credit management practices and company characteristics using the Mann-Whitney, chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis and Spearman’s rank correlation tests. Next, trade credit management practice variables that showed associations with multiple company characteristics were further analysed as the dependent variables under multivariate settings. Multiple and logistic regressions were used for this purpose. The study provides a broad view of the SMEs’ trade credit management practices and finds them to be not very sophisticated. Thus, the study identifies some aspects that should be addressed to overcome this lack of sophistication. In addition, the study also identifies some of the company characteristics that may have some influence on the SMEs’ credit management practices. The study provides many implications that illustrate the SMEs’ lack of awareness and understanding on the importance of the various credit functions. Therefore, one of the recommendations suggested is to provide training for SMEs to increase knowledge and skills in managing trade credit. The study also proposes the establishment of a cooperative for SMEs, to be initiated and run, either by the SMEs themselves, or one of the related government agencies

Examining long run relationship between gold price, inflation and exchange rates for Malaysia: VECM approach

This paper is intended to examine the relationship between gold price, inflation and exchange rates.In investment, inflation is always identified as a “mean” that demolishes the value of an asset.In spite of just observing the short run and long run relationships that exist among the underlying variables, this paper is intended to propose an investment alternative which may resolve the negative effect of inflation.To achieve the objectives, this paper employs a cointegration technique of VECM based on three underlying variables of gold price, Malaysian consumer price index (CPI) and exchange rates of RM/US$ for yearly data of 1970 to 2009.The results of the study indicate that there is a cointegration relationship that exists among the three variables.In other words, the three variables are moving towards a long run equilibrium relationship. Both variables, inflation and exchange rates, are found to be the significant determinants of the gold price in the long run.As expected, there is a significant positive relationship that exists between the CPI and the gold price.Results indicate an increase in the CPI by 1 percent will be reflected in an increase in the gold price by 2.5 percent.In other words, this result suggests that holding gold should be considered as a potential hedging strategy to hedge against the inflation.The rise in the gold price will be able to offset the negative effect of the inflation since the value of gold increases more than an increase in the inflation.On the hand, results obtained are not able to show any short run relationship between the variables. Nevertheless, the short run adjustment of the error correction term (ect) is negative as supposed to, even though not significant.In short, results imply that gold is suitable for the long run investment rather than short run, particularly may be because of the huge fluctuations in its price in the short run

SME liquidity and its determinants

This paper examines the determinants of 250 Malaysian SMEs’ liquidity position (measured by cash conversion cycle-CCC) during the period 2005 to 2013. Fixed effect regression results indicate that the SMEs with high cash holdings tend to have lower CCC. Furthermore, this study also finds that the SMEs with access to bank loan financing have lower CCC. We argue that the accessibility to the bank loans facilities could serve as quality certification leading to longer payable period granted by the suppliers, hence, shorter CCC. This study adds to the existing literature on the factors that influence working capital management, thereby providing relevant information that may help the companies in working capital management. On the practical side, it also provides inputs to policymakers in formulating policies for the development of Malaysian SMEs

Does Health Insurance Ownership Determine Access and Frequency of Hospitalization? Evidence from the Two-part Poisson Model

This paper examined the effect of health insurance ownership on hospitalization within the context of Malaysia. The study utilized the data from Malaysia National Health and Morbidity Survey III (2006) and 14,234 respondents were selected for this purpose. Malaysia provides new evidence from an emerging market where voluntary purchase of private health insurance co-exists with almost free public health care. We used the standard and two-part Poisson models in determining the effect of insurance ownership on utilization. Based on two selection criteria, two-part Poisson model was found to be superior to the standard specification. Insurance ownership was found to be significant in determining access while it has no significant effect on frequency of hospitalization. Other significant variables that determine access were age, marital status, household size, health status and income while health status is the sole factor that affects frequency. Keywords: health insurance, hospital utilization, Poisson model JEL Classification: I1

Insurance-growth nexus: a comparative analysis with multiple insurance proxies

Previous studies found inconsistent results for insurance-growth nexus. The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between life and non-life insurance with economic growth. The study applies pooled mean group method to examine long-term and short-term insurance-growth nexus over the period of 1980 to 2015. The findings of the study show that there exists a positive and significant relationship between life insurance and economic growth in the long-term and short-term for all selected countries, except when insurance penetration is used as a proxy. However, a positive and significant relationship was observed for non-life insurance and economic growth for all four proxies in the longterm and short-term. The relationship between insurance and economic growth is found to be different across countries and across proxies because of diverse factors such as diversity and variety of insurance products, religious and cultural traditions, level of education, and State involvement, not covered in this research

Malaysian SMEs’ liability structure and its impact on profitability and growth

This paper offers new evidence as to how the heterogeneity in small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs’) liability structure affects their growth and profitability. On average, SMEs in our sample incurred a shortage in spontaneous (supplier) financing of 24.9% of total assets. This shortage is financed by bank debt of 21.1% which consists of trade-line facilities (9.6%) and term loans (11.6%). SMEs also finance this shortage in spontaneous financing with non-bank financing sources such as leasing (3.3%) and related party loans (2.9%). Regression results show that SMEs that are efficient in working capital management (shorter cash conversion cycle) tend to perform better. This value creation in efficient working capital management mainly arises from longer payable period enjoyed from the suppliers. SMEs that obtained more loans from related parties tend to exhibit higher performance. Conversely, SMEs that extend more loans to their related parties are associated with lower performance. In terms of growth, SMEs with access to banking facilities tend to enjoy higher growth rate. However, excessive debt in balance sheet is detrimental to SMEs’ growth prospect

A Tale of Two Terrestrial Dynamos

Magnetic fields originating from planetary interiors are pivotal for comprehending the dynamics, extreme conditions, and complex chemistry of these regions and their extensive planetary implications. This research introduces innovative techniques for the enhanced observation and characterization of such magnetic fields, focusing on Earth and Mercury, the only terrestrial planets in our solar system with an active core dynamo. The objective is to deepen our understanding of the structure, properties, and dynamics governing these regions. Magnetic fields, spanning various spatial and temporal scales, arise from multiple current sources, complicating the isolation and characterization of the dynamo field from other source fields. This complexity is due to the superposition of fields in magnetic observations and our inability to monitor the total field ubiquitously and segregate the contributions accurately. This study leverages magnetic data from the Iridium Communications constellation network of satellites to characterize previously inaccessible spatio-temporal scales in Earth's core field. Despite the lower quality of body-mounted magnetometers, the selected Iridium data, under stringent geomagnetically quiet conditions, can map the global magnetic field with uncertainties as low as 3 nT, aligning well with state-of-the-art models. The data reveal abrupt geomagnetic changes, or geomagnetic jerks, and a large-scale, wave pattern with a period of ~14 months, potentially originating from a wave in Earth’s core, with implications for Earth's deep interior. Additionally, variations on smaller scales, not of external origin, are detected, exhibiting strong geographic coherence, supporting an internal origin and revealing potential heterogeneities in Earth's mantle. For Mercury, where external fields are prominent, high-fidelity physics-based, magnetohydrodynamic simulations, specifically GAMERA, are adapted to simulate the solar-wind magnetosphere interaction, including the Birkeland currents. This allows quantification and mapping of Birkeland current signals, enabling the isolation of the planet's core field to better precision from MESSENGER observations. In conclusion, this study, using commercial satellite constellation systems and advanced simulations, pioneers new approaches in unveiling intricate dynamics of planetary magnetic fields in Earth and Mercury. The methodologies employed open avenues for future research, offering insights into the magnetic behaviors of celestial bodies and their role in planetary phenomena, maintaining the scientific integrity for an expert audience

Aggregate and Disaggregate Measures of Operating and Non-Operating Working Capital Influence on Firm Performance: Evidence from Malaysia

The study is aimed at investigating the following issues: firstly, whether the different types of working capital, namely operating and non-operating working capital influence the short-term (return on assets) and long-term (Tobin’s Q) firm performance differently, and secondly whether the different measures of operating working capital, namely disaggregated and aggregated (cash conversion cycle) operating working capital, influence the short-term (return on assets) and long-term (Tobin’s Q) firm performance differently. It uses the panel data of 208 listed non-financial firms in Malaysia covering the period from 2013 to 2017, and the data has been sourced from Datastream. It employs the panel corrected standard errors regression model. The study has found that quicker sale of inventory increased both the short-term and long-term performance of the firm. Likewise, faster collection of receivables increased the long-term, but not short- term, performance. However, prompter payment of payables increased both the short-term and long-term performance. The study has also found that the disaggregated working capital measures – inventory, receivables, and payables contributed to a more nuanced influence of working capital on performance, compared to the aggregated working capital. The study has provided novel evidence that– higher non- operating working capital increased firm performance