Impact of Dividend Policy on Stockholders’ Wealth: Empirical Evidences from KSE 100-Index

There are two different schools of thought one believes in relevancy of dividend policy with stockholders’ wealth and second believes in irrelevancy of dividend policy. This work was done to study the impact of dividend policy in Pakistani context. For that purpose the financial data was collected from all listed firms in KSE-100 Index for the period of 15 years. The high variation studied within the data. Three methods were chosen for analysis correlation, multistage regression and Granger causality test. Dependent variable market price per share has strongly significant positive relationship with dividend per share and also has strongly significant causal relationship. There was no relationship found between market price per share and capital gain. So it can be concluded from this study that in Pakistani markets investors prefer dividend instead of capital gain because of uncertainty of future prices and it can also be concluded that the dividend policy is relevant to the stockholders’ wealth. Therefore by improving payout policy a listed firm in Karachi Stock Exchange can improve its value but management must be very sound for making best strategic decisions for payout and retention. Keywords: Dividend Policy, Firms’ Value, Relevancy & Irrelevancy Framework, Discrete Returns, Linear Relationship, Causal Relationship, Investors Preferences

Liquidity of Short-term Assets Related to Debt Paying Ability: An Empirical Study on Pharmaceuticals Sector of Karachi Stock Exchange

The study is done to test the facts of statement “liquidity of short-term assets related to debt paying ability” with the help of econometric analysis. In this study the relationship between turnover ratios and liquidity ratios was studied with the help of regression and correlation. In this study the secondary data was collected from 5 self-selected pharmaceuticals companies from the year 2004 to 2014. Dependent variables of the study are net working capital, current ratio, acid test ratio, cash ratio and sales to working capital ratio and independent variables of the study are accounts receivable turnover, accounts receivable turnover in days, inventory turnover, inventory turnover in days and cash conversion cycle. The results studied that ART is positively related with NWC, CR and ATR but negatively related with STW. Moreover, it is studied that ARTD is positively related with CR and ATR, INVT and INVTD is positively related with CR and ATR but INVTD is negatively related with STW. There was no relationship studied between turnover ratios and cash ratio. The study concluded that by managing the turnovers efficiently an entity can easily manage its liquidity. Moreover, it can be concluded by this study that by maintaining the optimal level of liquidity and turnover ratios the short-term debt paying ability will also be improved. Keywords: Liquidity Ratios, Turnover Ratios, Short-Term Debt Paying Ability, Log-Linear Model

Investment Behavior and Stock Preference of an Individual Investor: Evidence from Karachi Stock Exchange

The purpose of the research is to study the individual investor’s behavior in Karachi Stock Exchange. In this study data was collected from individual clients at Karachi Stock Exchange. Type of the study is descriptive and deductive approach was used.  The data was collected from 389 respondents at Karachi Stock Exchange with the help of designed questionnaire. The individual behavior is tested with the help of regression analysis. There are three regression models developed to study the relationship and impact of Independent variables (Accounting information & financial literacy, overconfidence, irrationality and biasness in decision making) on three different dependent variables (Preference of capital gain, preference of dividend and gambling). Results explain no relationship toward preference of capital gain but the significant relationships found toward preference of dividend and gambling. So it can be easily concluded that the investors at Karachi Stock Exchange do not prefer capital gain but they want better payout and speculation in the market. There were also studied that the accounting information & financial literacy increase the behavior toward preference of dividend and decrease toward gambling. There have been the evidences found that the investors at Karachi Stock Exchange have irrational behavior and this behavior influences the preference of dividend and gambling. Keywords:Investment behavior, Capital gain, Dividend, Gambling, Financial Literacy, Overconfidence, Irrationality and Biasness in Decision Making

Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Motivations for Tax Compliance: Evidence from Pakistan

We examine two Pakistani programs to explore the role of deterrence as well as social and psychological factors in the tax compliance behavior of agents. In the first of these programs, the government began revealing income tax paid by every taxpayer in the country. The second program publicly recognizes and rewards the top 100 tax paying corporations, partnerships, self-employed individuals, and wage-earners. We find that both public disclosure and social recognition of top taxpayers caused a substantial increase in tax payments. We explore the drivers of this behavior, including the shift of social norms toward compliance

Advantages of Smart Phone Hearing Aids Over Traditional Hearing Aids

Hearing is the process by which the ear transforms sound vibrations in the external environment into nerve impulses that are conveyed to the brain, where they are interpreted as sounds. A hearing aid is a small electronic device that you wear in or behind your ear. It makes some sounds louder so that a person with hearing loss can listen, communicate, and participate more fully in daily activities. A hearing aid can help people hear more in both quiet and noisy situations. Objective: To find out the Advantages of smart phone hearing aids over traditional hearing aids. Keywords: Audiologist, Hearing Aids, Satisfaction with Amplification in Daily Life. DOI: 10.7176/JHMN/85-08 Publication date: January 31st 202

Accuracy of computed tomography in diagnosing malignancy in solitary pulmonary lesions

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate accuracy of Computed Tomography (CT) for diagnosing malignancy in solitary pulmonary lesions (SPLs). METHODS: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted from 20-01-2007 to 30-06-2008 at the Radiology department, Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) Karachi. Fifty-three patients with solitary pulmonary lesions (SPLs) seen in prior chest x-rays or chest CT scans were referred to radiology department for CT guided biopsy. CT scan was performed for each patient prior to biopsy and CT evaluation of the SPLs was performed followed by CT guided Biopsy. Histopathological diagnosis of the lesion was taken as the gold standard. RESULTS: CT was found to be 100% sensitive, 30% specific and 87% accurate for diagnosing malignancy in solitary pulmonary lesions while PPV and NPV were 86% and 100% respectively. CONCLUSION: CT scan is highly sensitive yet non-specific and cannot be used as the definitive diagnostic modality for diagnosing malignancy in solitary pulmonary lesions

Growing Fashion Consciousness; A Threat to Environment

The Study stands on an assumption that growing fashion consciousness leads towards a general change oriented behavior and so escort towards an intense consumption pattern. To fulfill that huge demand of all kinds, massive industrialization takes place, which is evidently a threat to the environment. Study ascertains the fashion consciousness of only the most neglected segment of the market to establish that people are getting fashion conscious to a threatening level. This study identifies the fashion information sources, shopping preferences and in particular, measures the fashion consciousness of the underappreciated segment as mature female consumers in Pakistan. A comprehensive questionnaire is exposed to the females aging 45 to onwards who were explained with every question in order to ensure the validity of the instrument. It is found that mature women are fashion conscious but not as much as they share information of fashion. Mature women are more concerned about comfort than style and more concerned about style than brand name, which is a clear evidence of lack of advertisement and focus of businesses on this wealthy and independent segment. Even then, they are fashion conscious and acquire fashion information through catalogues, store display, fashion shows, asking family members, and social gatherings. This amplifying fashion consciousness leads to a change oriented behavior in general. People seek change in everything around (even before it expiries) which will obviously generate innovative demands and in result, industrialization will be at its peak; an obvious threat to the environment