Stock returns and macroeconomic factors in an emerging economy: Malaysian evidence

This paper investigates the relationship between stock returns and macroeconomic variables in an emerging economy. Malaysia is taken as a case study. The evidence based on variance decompositions tends to indicate that interest rate is relatively most exogenous followed by stock returns, while consumer price index has been most endogenous. The findings reveal that all other endogenous variables are highly affected by stock returns. Impulse Response Functions to one standard deviation shock to the equation for Stock Returns and Exchange rate received significant responses from other variables. However, none of the variables reacted to a shock on oil price. The results have strong policy implications

Stock returns and macroeconomic factors in an emerging economy: Malaysian evidence

This paper investigates the relationship between stock returns and macroeconomic variables in an emerging economy. Malaysia is taken as a case study. The evidence based on variance decompositions tends to indicate that interest rate is relatively most exogenous followed by stock returns, while consumer price index has been most endogenous. The findings reveal that all other endogenous variables are highly affected by stock returns. Impulse Response Functions to one standard deviation shock to the equation for Stock Returns and Exchange rate received significant responses from other variables. However, none of the variables reacted to a shock on oil price. The results have strong policy implications

Medication following bariatric surgery for type 2 diabetes mellitus (BY-PLUS) study: rationale and design of a randomised controlled study

Introduction Bariatric surgery is an effective method of controlling glycaemia in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity. Long-term studies suggest that although glycaemic control remains good, only 20%–40% of patients will maintain remission according to the American Diabetes Association criteria.Purpose This trial aims to examine the safety and efficacy of combining Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy with goal-directed medical therapy to improve long-term glycaemic control of T2DM.Methods and analysis This prospective, open-label multicentre randomised controlled trial (RCT) will recruit 150 patients with obesity and T2DM from tertiary care obesity centres. Patients will be randomised 1:1 to receive either bariatric surgery and standard medical care or bariatric surgery and intensive goal-directed medical therapy, titrated to specific targets for glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), blood pressure (BP) and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol. The primary endpoints are the proportion of patients in each arm with an HbA1c<6.5% (48 mmol/mol) at 1 year and the proportion of patients in each arm achieving the composite endpoint of HbA1c<6.5% (48 mmol/mol), BP<130/80 mm Hg and LDL<2.6 mmol/L at 5 years.Ethics and dissemination The local institutional review board approved this study. This study represents the first RCT to examine the safety and efficacy of combining bariatric surgery with intensive medical therapy compared with bariatric surgery and usual care for long-term diabetes control.Trial registration number NCT04432025

A flow-system array for the discovery and scale up of inorganic clusters

The batch synthesis of inorganic clusters can be both time consuming and limited by a lack of reproducibility. Flow-system approaches, now common in organic synthesis, have not been utilized widely for the synthesis of clusters. Herein we combine an automated flow process with multiple batch crystallizations for the screening and scale up of syntheses of polyoxometalates and manganese-based single-molecule magnets. Scale up of the synthesis of these architectures was achieved by programming a multiple-pump reactor system to vary reaction conditions sequentially, and thus explore a larger parameter space in a shorter time than conventionally possible. Also, the potential for using the array as a discovery tool is demonstrated. Successful conditions for product isolation were identified easily from the array of reactions, and a direct route to `scale up' was then immediately available simply by continuous application of these flow conditions. In all cases, large quantities of phase-pure material were obtained and the time taken for the discovery, repetition and scale up decreased

Value Relevance of Stakeholder Engagement: The Influence of National Culture

Our study investigates whether stakeholder engagement is associated with a firm’s valuation and the value relevance of accounting earnings. Since prior literature posits that the economic consequences of such practices may depend on the specific environment in which they are adopted, we also explore whether these associations are affected by the cultural traits of the country in which a firm operates. Based on a worldwide sample of firms for the period 2002 to 2014, we document that stakeholder engagement positively influences market-to-book value of equity, without enhancing the value relevance of firm’s accounting earnings. Drawing on Schwartz’s cultural framework, we show that the results hold only in countries with a low (high) level of embeddedness and hierarchy (mastery). Our study contributes to the literature exploring the economic consequences of non-financial information and the importance of institutional characteristics for economic outcomes. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environmen