Importance of Judicial Efficiency in Capital Structure Decisions of Small Firms: Evidence from Pakistan

Empirical evidence to identify factors that are responsible for the sluggish development of bond and capital markets in Pakistan remains scanty. This paper is a step forward in this direction. Specifically, this paper draws on the recent developments in the area of law and finance to formulate several propositions on how judicial efficiency can have a differential impact on corporate capital structures of small and large firms. These propositions are tested using data of 370 firms listed at the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) and 27 districts high courts of Pakistan. The results indicate that leverage ratio decreases, when judicial efficiency decreases; however, this relationship is not statistically significant. This is due to the composition effect. Allowing judicial efficiency to interact with the included explanatory variables, the results show that worsening judicial efficiency increases leverage ratios of large firms and decreases leverage ratios of small firms, which is an indication of the fact that creditors shift credit away from small firms to large firms in the presence of inefficient judicial system. Results also indicate that the effect of inefficient courts is greater on leverage ratios of firms that have fewer tangible assets as percentage of total assets than on leverage ratios of firms that have more tangible assets. The results indicate that under inefficient judicial system creditors reduce their lending to small firms and firms with little collateral and redistribute the credit to large firms. This is why judicial inefficiency does not change volume of credit, but changes distribution of the credit. These results highlight the importance of judicial efficiency for small firms in the determination of their capital structures. JEL Classification: G10, G21, G32 Keywords: Judicial Efficiency, Leverage, KSE, Capital Market Development, Law and Finance

Empirical Investigation of Debt-Maturity Structure: Evidence from Pakistan

We examine the empirical determinants of debt-maturity structure of 266 firms listed on the KSE over the period 2000 to 2004 using several variants of dynamic panel data models. We find mixed support for the agency cost hypothesis as our results show that debtmaturity increases with the size of the firm; however, growth options do not have any significant influence on debt-maturity structure. Our results lend unambiguous support to the maturity-matching hypothesis as debt-maturity varies inversely with operating activities and directly with the maturity of long-lived assets. Finally, we find evidence that supports the taxbased hypothesis but no evidence to support the signaling hypothesis. Moreover, the results demonstrate that there is a significant dynamic component in the determination of optimal debt-maturity structure of the sampled firms. JEL classification: G32 Keywords: Debt Maturity, Capital Structure, Panel Data, GMM, Pakistan

Master of Science

thesisThe area of investigation, which lies on the eastern front of the Gunnison Plateau between Coal Canyon and Maple Canyon (south), is formed of formations of Upper Mesozoic and Cenozoic ages. The formations of Upper Mesozoic age are represented by Twist Gulch-Upper Jurassic, Indianola undifferentiated-Upper Cretaceous, Price River-Upper Cretaceous, and the lower part of North Horn-Upper Cretaceous. The formations of Cenozoic Age are represented by the upper part of North Horn-Paleocene, Flagstaff-Paleocene, Colton-Eocene, and Green River-Eocene. Of all the formations, the Twist Gulch is the only marine formation present in the area. The other formations represent deposition under fluviatile, fluvio-lacustrine, and lacustrine environments. The clastic sedimentary rocks account for more than two third of the total thickness of the strata exposed in the area. The North Horn formation constitutes as much as 2000 feet of clastic sedimentary rocks. Igneous activity is indicated by the glass associated with the Flagstaff formation (limestone) and felsitic lava flows associated with the Green River formation. Some intrusions of quartz-monzonite porphyry occur west and north of the area of investigation. The area is traversed by EW and nearly NS striking high angle normal dip-slip faults. A few high angle reverse faults are also present. In the eastern part of the area of investigation, recent faulting has occurred. This faulting is mainly confined to recent alluvium and has given rise to prominent scarplets which strike NE-SW. North of Dry Canyon, the North Horn strata are mineralized. The mineralization of the strata is mainly limited to sedimentary units in the basal part of the North Horn formation where galena, pyrite, and chalcopyrite occur. A detail field work and laboratory studies revealed that galena, pyrite, and chalcopyrite associated with the North Horn strata are of epigenetic origin, and represent deposition at relatively low temperatures. The regional relationship of the area of investigation supports an epigenetic origin for these sulfide deposits associated with the North Horn strata. Evidence for the above conclusion consists of: 1. The localized occurrence of the sulfide deposits. 2. The occurrence of the quartz-monzonite porphyryintrusive bodies in adjacent localities. 3. Igneous activity during Green River time. 4. The typical replacement features present in the pyritized limestone and galena bearing sandstone and conglomerate

Firm Performance and the Nature of Agency Problems in Insiders-controlled Firms: Evidence from Pakistan

More than two centuries ago, Adam Smith (1776) showed skepticism about the efficiency of joint stock companies because of the separation of management from ownership. He observed that managers of joint stock companies cannot be expected to watch over the business with the same anxious vigilance as owners in a partnership would. Adam Smith’s worry remained buried for a century and a half until Berle and Means (1932) rekindled interest in this area when they hypothesised in their book that dispersed shareholding is an inefficient form of ownership structure. They argued that separation of ownership and management control has changed the role of owner from being active to the passive agent. Dispersed shareholders lack incentives to monitor self-interested managers who possess only a small fraction of the total shareholdings. The propositions by Adam Smith (1776) and Berle and Means (1932) received some support when Jensen and Meckling (1976) tied together the elements of property rights, agency costs, and finance to develop a theory of ownership structure of a firm. Jensen and Meckling asserted that agency costs are real, which the owner can reduce either by increasing ownership stake of the agent in the firm or by incurring monitoring and bonding costs. In early tests, several research studies supported the views of Jensen and Meckling. However, these studies did not account for endogeneity problem

Food Habits and Helminth Parasites of Skittering Frog (Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis) in the Lower Dir, Pakistan

A total of 30 specimens of Skittering frog (Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis),(Anura: Dicroglossidae) were captured from seven selected localities inthe Dir Lower, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan from Aprilto August 2016. They were euthanized with the help of Chloroform(CHcl3) solution. The biometry of each specimen was measured, thendissected to examine for helminth parasites and foodstuff. All helminths were isolated, washed with normal saline at room temperature,and then preserved in 70% GL ethyl alcohol. Later on, the parasiteswere classified and studied under the electric compound microscope. Ina total of 30 specimens, 17(56.66%) were found infected with 62 helminths parasites belongs to four different species. Among four species,one was Cestodes Nematotaenia dispar species and remaining threewere Nematodes i.e. Cosmocerca species, Cosmocercoides (Raillietnema species) and Strongyloides species. Cosmocerca with a percentageof 56.45% was the most dominant. In the total of 30 specimens’ alimentary canal, 10 were found empty, containing nothing while in remaining20 were full of 9 types of food materials which included insects i.e.Ants, Beetles, Wasps, Spiders, Mosquito larvae and cockroaches, andnon-living things like stone pebbles and mollusks shells. Among the serial, flies and snails were in the lowest prevalence and ants were recorded the most important component of the frog diet. Among the insects,ants have occurred in higher prevalence 44.50% and flies 1.15% withthe lowest prevalence. The results emphasize the significance of furtherexpected studies in the Dir Lower to get a good understanding of thehelminth parasites with the ecological relations of their hosts

Prevalence of Hepatitis B virus genotypes in HBsAg positive individuals of Afghanistan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The structural and functional differences between hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes are the mainstay to severity, complications, treatment and possibly vaccination against the virus. This study was conducted to determine the HBV genotypes in HBsAg positive patients of Afghanistan as no such large scale data available previously.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two hundred and fourteen HBsAg-positive patients were included in this study. All patients were anti-HCV and anti-HIV negative. All the samples were confirmed for HBV DNA with nested PCR while HBV DNA positive samples were subjected to type specific PCR for HBV genotyping (A-F).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the total samples, 168 (78.5%) were males and 46 (21.49%) females, aged ranged between 18 to 71 years. This study demonstrated that genotype D (35.67%) is the predominant genotype circulating in Afghani's population. Genotype C was observed in 32.16% followed by genotype A (19.30%), and genotype B (7.02%) while 6.07% of the individuals were not typed.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study has shown a heterogeneous distribution of HBV genotypes. Further more, extensive studies are required to investigate genetic and geographical divergence and characteristics of the virus in the country, as no such large sample sized study has been carried out so far in this country.</p

Trend of transfusion transmitted infections frequency in blood donors: provide a road map for its prevention and control

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Transfusion transmitted infections create significant burden on health care system. Donor selection is of paramount importance because infected individuals serve as an asymptomatic reservoir and a potential source of transmission.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A retrospective study was carried out in healthy blood donors in the Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar, Pakistan over a period of three and a half years i.e., from January 2008 to June 2011, to determine the prevalence of HBV, HCV, HIV and syphilis in order to provide information for relevant polices.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Out of 1,27,828 sample of blood donors, recorded mean prevalence for HBs Ag, anti-HCV, anti-HIV and syphilis was 2.68%, 2.46%, 0.06% and 0.43%, respectively, with an increasing trend in frequencies of transfusion transmitted infections (TTIs).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study reflects that blood transfusion is one of the leading risk factor of spread of the TTIs, which showed the need and importance of the mandatory screening of these infectious markers in blood donations.</p

Prevalence of HBV and HBV vaccination coverage in health care workers of tertiary hospitals of Peshawar, Pakistan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) may progress to serious consequences and increase dramatically beyond endemic dimensions that transmits to or from health care workers (HCWs) during routine investigation in their work places. Basic aim of this study was to canvass the safety of HCWs and determine the prevalence of HBV and its possible association with occupational and non-occupational risk factors. Hepatitis B vaccination coverage level and main barriers to vaccination were also taken in account.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 824 health care workers were randomly selected from three major hospitals of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Blood samples were analyzed in Department of Zoology, Kohat University of Science and Technology Kohat, and relevant information was obtained by means of preset questionnaire. HCWs in the studied hospitals showed 2.18% prevalence of positive HBV. Nurses and technicians were more prone to occupational exposure and to HBV infection. There was significant difference between vaccinated and non-vaccinated HCWs as well as between the doctors and all other categories. Barriers to complete vaccination, in spite of good knowledge of subjects in this regard were work pressure (39.8%), negligence (38.8%) un-affordability (20.9%), and unavailability (0.5%).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Special preventive measures (universal precaution and vaccination), which are fundamental way to protect HCW against HBV infection should be adopted.</p

Prevalence and detection of cytomegalovirus by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and simple ELISA in pregnant women

A total of 327 women were screened, amongst them, 7 (2.14%) were cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA positive by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Antibodies against toxoplasma were also detected in 106 (32.41%) women, while 54 (16.51%) were anti CMV positive. Eleven (3.36%) and thirteen (3.97%) women were anti HSV and anti Rubella virus positive, respectively. High prevalence was recorded in age group 21 to 30 years which was 2.53% (4/158), followed by the age group &lt;20 years which was 2.27% (1/44), then in age group 31 to 40 years, 2.25% (2/89) CMV DNA were detected by PCR and 0% was recorded in age group of above 40 years. The overall prevalence of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection in 16 to 45 year-old was 2.14% by PCR and the number of abortion noted was 0 to 5 times. Active infection of HCMV was observed in women with number of abortion. Force of infection was significantly higher among age group 21 to 30 and 31 to 40 years. PCR was a more sensitive, reliable and accurate method for the detection of HCMV infection in pregnant women during this study.Key words: Cytomegalovirus, PCR, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and ELIS

Household’s Perception and their Willingness to Pay for Pesticides-Free Fruits in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Kp) Province of Pakistan: A Double-Bounded Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation Study

This study investigated household’s willingness to pay (WTP) for pesticide-free locally produced fresh fruits in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. A Contingent Valuation Survey Method (CVM), constructed with a double-bounded WTP elicitation format, was used to interview a randomly selected sample of 600 households. Survey data revealed that households were willing to pay on average rupees 26 more per kilogram of pesticides free fruits. Results from regression analysis showed that age of the household head and his awareness of pesticides use over fruits, household size and their total monthly income were significant determinants of their WTP. In addition, health concern and environment concern of pesticides use also influence the WTP. Findings from this study help in assessing the market potential for pesticides-free fruits in Pakistan