The relationship between corporate governance board characteristics and financial performance of South African JSE listed companies in the construction and building materials sector

Abstract : The relationship between corporate performance and governance practices goes back for centuries yet is still relevant today, in the modern corporate environment. While corporate governance is argued to be an agency cost, as it curbs managers’ self-interest, it is believed to increase company performance as it inspires group effort from all stakeholders. Corporate governance describes the mechanisms in place to ensure that management is taking appropriate steps, policies and procedures to protect every stakeholder’s interest in the company. The study is an investigation on the relationship between corporate governance board of directors and company performance. Board of directors’ characteristics were represented by board size, board independence, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) tenure, CEO compensation and CEO duality while company performance measures were represented by Return on Equity (ROE), Return on Assets (ROA) and Net Profit Margin (NPM). The study used panel regression analysis to estimate a sample of 12 South African public companies in the construction and building materials sector of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange for the period of 2011 to 2016. The size and leverage of a company were considered as control variables. The findings indicated no significant relationship between board independence, board size and CEO duality but did find a direct significant relationship between CEO tenure and CEO remuneration and company performance. The research also found a statistically significant inverse relationship between leverage and company size and performance of the company. This research is a useful aid to the comprehension of board characteristics affecting company performance in South Africa and improving corporate governance principles to eliminate corporate scandals that are crippling economies globally.M.Com. (Finance

Biofuel production on wastelands in India: opportunities and trade-offs for soil and water management at the watershed scale

Biofuel production from feedstocks grown on wastelands is considered a means of addressing concerns about climate change and improving energy security while at the same time providing an additional source of income for the land users. The establishment of biomass plantations on wastelands is likely to affect local livelihoods and can affect surrounding ecosystems by infl uencing hydrologic fl ows and processes such as erosion. We present an assessment of Jatropha plantation establishment on wastelands, using the ArcSWAT modeling tool. The assessment was made for a wasteland located in the Velchal watershed, Andhra Pradesh, India, which recently was converted to a biofuel plantation with Jatropha. The previous land use, in this case grazing, could continue in the Jatropha plantations. Several desirable effects occurred as a result of the land-use conversion: non-productive soil evaporation was reduced as a larger share of the rainfall was channeled to productive plant transpiration and groundwater recharge, and at the same time a more stable (less erosive) runoff resulted in reduced soil erosion and improved downstream water conditions. A win-win situation between improved land productivity and soil carbon content was observed for the Jatropha plantations. On the other hand, the results indicate that at the sub-basin scale, reductions in runoff generation as a result of large-scale conversion of wastelands to Jatropha cropping may pose problems to downstream water users and ecosystems. From a livelihoods perspective, Jatropha production was generally positive, creating a complementary source of income to the farmers, thus strengthening the resilience of the local community. In the future, the potential gain from Jatropha cropping is expected to increase as cropping systems improve and growing biofuel markets result in better conditions for biofuel producers

Water needs and productivity of Jatropha curcas in India: myths and facts

Jatropha curcas referred as a ‘wonder plant’ with low water requirement, which can be cultivated on wastelands in dry tropical conditions to provide oil seeds for biodiesel without competing for prime cropland. However, results from experiments and case studies in semi-arid tropical locations in India indicated that evapotranspiration (ET) demand for Jatropha ranges between 750 and 1000 mm under optimal conditions. Jatropha extracted water from soil layer 150 cm below with transpiration requirements of 600–800 mm with increasing age. The yield potential of current genotypes is low (2–3 ton/ha) for realizing the potential of Jatropha cultivation on wastelands subject to limited availability of nutrients and water. Jatropha curcas is drought tolerant, but contrary to belief, it is not a crop that requires less water: in fact, it requires 750–1000 mm water to achieve economic production. However, Jatropha curcas demonstrated good potential for enhancing green water use efficiency without adversely affecting the blue water component, and for promoting crop management options facilitating carbon sequestration and nutrient recycling when grown on degraded lands. Improved cultivars of Jatropha curcas with synchronized flowering to enable mechanical harvesting, along with improved land and water management, are needed for harnessing the potential of Jatropha as a commercially viable biofuel crop

Methods and tools to evaluate the availability of renewable energy sources

The recent statements of both the European Union and the US Presidency pushed in the direction of using renewable forms of energy, in order to act against climate changes induced by the growing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. In this paper, a survey regarding methods and tools presently available to determine potential and exploitable energy in the most important renewable sectors (i.e., solar, wind, wave, biomass and geothermal energy) is presented. Moreover, challenges for each renewable resource are highlighted as well as the available tools that can help in evaluating the use of a mix of different sources

Optimization of biogas production by anaerobic digestion for sustainable energy development in Zimbabwe

There is increasing interest in developing low carbon renewable energy technologies. Biomass is increasingly being utilized as an energy source throughout the world. Several modern technologies have been developed that convert biomass to bioenergy..

An evaluation of utility of Jatropha curcas L. as a source of multiple energy carriers

Jatropha curcas L. (LCL) is a popular energy crop in tropical countries. The crop has multiple uses including supply of energy. The major source of energy from JCL is the seed iol, which can be used in the raw form or as biodiesel. Biodiesel is a first generation energy carrier..

Rural energy resources and agriculture's potential as an energy producer in Zimbabwe

This paper provides a description of the energy resources available to rural communities in Zimbabwe. These include biomass, electricity, solar, and wind energy. Emphasis is placed on biomass as being an equivalent source of energy to conventional fuels..