Testing Trade-Off and Pecking Order Predictions about Dividends and Debt

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057%2Fbm.2000.20.pdf

‘Trust — the social virtues and the creation of prosperity’

Introduction to Islamic Finance

This paper presents an economic analysis of recruitment and screening procedures chosen by firms as they hire new workers. After reviewing the relevant literature within the labor economics and human resources fields, I outline an employer search model in which firms choose hiring procedures as well as reservation productivity levels. The outcomes determined by these choices (e-g., expected vacancy durations, expected worker productivity and characteristics, and total resources devoted to hiring) are considered as well. I then present some empirical evidence on the determinants and outcomes of hiring procedures from a survey of firms. Among other things, the results show some evidence of higher productivity and lower turnover among those hired through referrals from current employees. Total time spent on hiring when using these referrals is also shown to be lower than when other methods are used. However, those hired through these referrals are less likely to be young or female than are those hired through other methods. The implications of these findings for "efficiency" and "equity" considerations are then discussed.

Hiring Procedures in the Firm: Their Economic Determinants and Outcomes

Agricultural sectors play an important role in the process of economic development of a country, especially in developing ones. Vietnam is known as an emerging market, which depends directly on agriculture-related activities for their livelihood, in which the issue of rural credit access still remains a confounding problem. The paper focuses on the characteristics of rural credit markets, the determinants of farmer access to the markets, the socio-economic impacts of credit access in Vietnam and briefly comparing with those of some developing countries. This question is addressed by reviewing existing literature and empirical evidence, followed by a comprehensive case study in Vietnam. Comprehensive literature review with secondary data collection and key informant interviews are methods that are applied in this research. The results of this analysis indicate the features of Vietnam markets as participated constraints, government intervention, and segmentation. Other results reveal the significant determinants of credit accessibility. Impacts of credit access on output production, household income, and poverty reduction are highlighted in this paper. Some managerial implications are recommended for households through participation in lending networks; for financial institutions relating to expand target clients as well as capital allocation; and, for policy-makers via ensuring market competitiveness and sustainable development in the long run.

Access to Rural Credit Markets in Developing Countries, the Case of Vietnam: A Literature Review

Purpose




The purpose of this paper is to question and analyse the basic tenets of financial inclusion and to understand the relationship between access to finance and poverty reduction. The paper attempts to elaborate the importance of unrestrained access to finance in building an inclusive financial sector, which is believed to reduce poverty by enabling poor and excluded people to participate in the economic process by employing their skill sets, labour and innovations in the productive activities of the economy, thereby not only increasing their own welfare and standards of living but also contributing at very high marginal returns to the overall economic growth.




Design/methodology/approach




This study evaluates the progression of the participants/beneficiaries of National Rural Livelihood Mission Scheme (erstwhile Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana Scheme) across various dimensions of poverty by making use of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).




Findings




The results suggest that the participation has in fact lead to increase in the standard of living, thereby reducing multidimensional poverty. Further, the results suggest that participation does not reduce deprivations in the “education” dimension, whereas in all other dimensions reduction in deprivations is significant. The results also suggest that the programme under study seems to be seriously mistargeting by allocating the programme to non-poor sections rather than absolute poor.




Research limitations/implications




The study has been conducted without following the participants over a longer period of time. The study has adopted a pre-post methodology, collecting the responses at only one point using a reflexive quasi-experimental design which leads to a recall limitation.




Originality/value




The paper tries to evaluate the impact of access to financial inclusion through a new perspective – the MPI. The paper examines the targeting of government-sponsored programmes and the utility of such intervention in the changing milieu of financial services.

Does access to finance alleviate poverty? A case study of SGSY beneficiaries in Kashmir Valley

This study aims to identify the firm-specific determinants of capital structure in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. A number of regression models are employed on the data of 329 non-financial firms for the period between 2009 and 2017. The data has been analysed at both country level and regional level to look for the evidence on the major determinants of capital structure and the differences, if any. The findings indicate that size, tangibility, and growth opportunities have positive impact on leverage. On the other hand, profitability, age, financial constraints, liquidity, and government ownership affect the leverage negatively. There is a weak evidence for a positive relationship between leverage and operating risk. The results also imply that the institutional features of GCC countries have a minor effect on the leverage within a general model for the region. Although GCC countries have a unique institutional environment that distinguishes them substantially from other countries, the current study provides evidence that the capital structure decisions are influenced by the same factors as in other developing countries.

/pdf/factors-affecting-the-capital-structure-new-evidence-from-axqd6gbem1.pdf

Factors affecting the capital structure: New evidence from GCC countries

The fundamental objective of portfolio diversification is to construct a portfolio of uncorrelated or mildly correlated assets so as to maximize the risk-adjusted returns on a portfolio. Portfolio Optimization is one of the techniques used by investment professionals to explore the potential of different assets in maximizing the risk-adjusted returns of the portfolio by adjusting the weight of each asset using simulations or constrained scenarios. A significant amount of research has already been conducted in the area of portfolio diversification that helps investors in devising their investment strategies and policies. Cryptocurrencies in general, and Bitcoin in particular, have aroused significant interest among investment professionals, policymakers, and regulators alike. Although much research has primarily focused on the legal and technological aspects of Bitcoin, the examination of other financial, diversification, hedge, and safe-haven aspects of Bitcoin has not progressed as far. This study explores the potential of Bitcoin as an alternative asset, and its potential in portfolio diversification, by using the portfolio optimization approach. The study employs the portfolio optimization approach under multiple constraining scenarios to evaluate the effectiveness of Bitcoin in portfolio diversification. A Monte-Carlo Simulation approach is then employed to evaluate the outcomes under each scenario by randomizing the outcomes of portfolio optimization. This study suggests that Bitcoin, due to its exotic nature, unwavering appeal, and unknown set of drivers, could at best act as a diversifier rather than a hedge or a safe-haven.

/pdf/bitcoin-and-portfolio-diversification-a-portfolio-bf6kh32g84.pdf

Bitcoin and Portfolio Diversification: A Portfolio Optimization Approach

Poverty alleviation has remained on the agenda of policy makers throughout the world, more so in developing countries with higher incidence of poverty. The paradigm shift in understanding of poverty has evolved to include various dimensions of deprivations instead of one-dimensional income poverty.  Policy makers around the world as a part of long term strategy in eradicating poverty, however, consider access to financial resources as the most important constituent of the multi-pronged strategy. Further, the various socio-political dimensions and economic dimensions of poverty are believed to interact with each other and manifest itself in an intertwined relationship. Financial inclusion is believed to encourage micro entrepreneur to take on profitable activities which in turn provide an enabling environment for him to gather access to social networks which may be beneficial to him in terms of access to raw material, marketing support and business ties. Whereas financial inclusion is believed to have a positive impact on social capital, the reverse is also true; the amount and quality of social capital provides a micro-entrepreneur with easy access to diverse sources of finance. Microfinance Institutions around the world heavily rely on group financing mechanism by leveraging on social collateral as a replacement to financial collateral in financing micro-entrepreneurs. Obviously they perceive lending to micro-entrepreneurs having rich social capital as less riskier and thus his/her social capital substitutes for the financial collateral in gaining access to credit. The present study is an attempt in this direction to understand the relationship between financial inclusion and social capital. The study attempts to evaluate the impact of access to finance on socio-political empowerment of the beneficiaries of Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), now known as National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). Results indicate that access to finance has a positive impact on almost all the socio-political indicators of empowerment, the impact being relatively lesser for financial literacy and economic awareness

https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/5775787.pdf

Financial Inclusion & Social Capital A Case Study of SGSY Beneficiaries in Kashmir Valley

Proper measurement of volatility is vital in financial decisions. Estimating volatility accurately also requires properly capturing the conditional distribution, fat tails and price spikes. In this study, we model the volatility of Natural Gas Futures, Brent Oil Futures and Heating Oil Futures through GARCH and APARCH models. Distinctive feature of this study is to use different distributions viz. GEV, GATand alpha-stable distributions in the estimation. Results suggest that APARCH model mostly outperforms the GARCH model, and GAT distribution performs better in modeling fat tails in returns. Results also indicate that the correct volatility level, in GAT distribution, is higher than normal distribution with rates 56%, 45% and 67% for the Natural Gas Futures, Brent Oil Futures and Heating Oil Futures, respectively.

Audil Khaki

Papers

Does access to finance alleviate poverty? A case study of SGSY beneficiaries in Kashmir Valley

Factors affecting the capital structure: New evidence from GCC countries

Bitcoin and Portfolio Diversification: A Portfolio Optimization Approach

Financial Inclusion & Social Capital A Case Study of SGSY Beneficiaries in Kashmir Valley

Best Fitting Fat Tail Distribution for the Volatilities of Energy Futures: GEV, GAT and Stable Distributions in GARCH and APARCH Models