relationship. All subsequent studies confirmed it (see for example King and Levine, 1993, and the review in: Pagano, 1993). Goldsmith used a sample of 35 countries for the period between 1860 and 1963 to show the relationship between income and financial depth measured by the ratio between bank's assets and GDP. He also showed that in periods of rapid growth, financial depth grows faster than income. More details about measuring financial depth can be found in this paper. FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC GROWTH Velimir Šonje

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Financial development and economic growth

The literature of small business and entrepreneurship is explored. It is established that, although there is an overlap between entrepreneurial firms and small business firms, they are different entities. Using the 1934 work of Schumpeter and recognizing the additions to the field of current writers, a conceptual framework is established for the differentiation of entrepreneurs from small business owners. Keywords: entrepreneurial, Small business

Differentiating Entrepreneurs from Small Business Owners: A Conceptualization

The Human Organization: Its Management and Value.

Biofuel-related price transmission literature: A review

On the effects of world stock market and oil price shocks on food prices: An empirical investigation based on TVP-VAR models with stochastic volatility

Purpose




The purpose of this study is to examine whether there is any improvement in the extent and quality of corporate social responsibility disclosures (CSRD) in Malaysia between 2011 and 2014 and to determine the factors that influence the extent and quality of CSRD in these two years. Also, this study examines the methods of disclosures and the items that largest Malaysian companies addressed.




Design/methodology/approach




A self-constructed CSR is utilised to measure the extent and quality of CSRD in the annual reports of the top 71 Malaysian companies listed in Bursa Malaysia for the years 2011 and 2014. Multiple regressions along with their associated toolkits for data verification and diagnostic tests are used to assess the improvement in CSRD between 2011 and 2014 and the factors that affect CSRD.




Findings




Results show a slight increase in the extent and quality of CSRD between 2011 and 2014. With regards to the factors influencing CSRD, only awards are found to be significant in determining the extent and quality of CSRD either in 2011 or in 2014. Board size, ownership concentration, independent non-executives and return on assets influence both the extent and quality of CSRD in 2011. Director ownership and firm size determine the extent and quality of CSRD in 2014. Government ownership only influences the extent of CSRD in 2011.




Research limitations/implications




Some traditional limitations are found to be considered in future research, such as the use of annual reports as the only source of CSRD information. Results support the legitimacy theory that assumes that Malaysian companies disclose CSR information as a reflection of the incidents that happen in that environment of the firm without ignoring the role of the government in pushing those companies towards being socially responsible by issuing regulations, or in motivating those companies by introducing awards and giving fiscal facilities.




Practical implications




The results help the policymakers to introduce more awards in some domains that were less addressed by Malaysian companies and also to examine the causes behind the non-influence of the new Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG 2012) on CSRD.




Originality/value




The study can be considered as one of the limited empirical studies that assess the changes in CSRD before and after the issuance of MCCG 2012 in Malaysia.

Corporate social responsibility disclosures in Malaysia: evidence from large companies

This study, by employing structural vector auto regression models, investigates the macroeconomic effects of world oil and food price shocks in the context of selected Asia and Pacific countries. The study reveals that the economic activities of resource-poor countries that specialise in heavy manufacturing industries, like Korea and Taiwan, are highly affected by world oil price shocks. On the other hand, the economic activities of oil-poor nations such as Australia and New Zealand, with diverse mineral resources other than oil, are not affected by oil price shocks. Furthermore, countries that are oil poor but specialise in international financial services, such as Singapore and Hong Kong, are also not affected by oil price increases. Moreover, some developing countries, in this case, India, with limited reserves of oil are not affected by oil price shocks, whereas other such countries, like Thailand, possessing a number of natural resources other than oil are more strongly affected by oil price shocks. With regard to food price shocks, limited impacts from food price increases can be recorded for India, Korea and Thailand. Overall, the effects of external oil and food prices depend on the economic characteristics of the countries.

Macroeconomic effects of world oil and food price shocks in Asia and Pacific economies: application of SVAR models

Most of the enterprises of the World belong to the class of microenterprises and thus, the contributions of microenterprises to the national economic growth and development of the countries are not ignorable. Establishing a microenterprise does not involve the huge formalities and substantial funds that small, medium and large enterprises require. However, for a healthy growth of microenterprises, the determining factors must be identified and policies should be undertaken and implemented in an appropriate manner. The objective of the current study is to identify different potential factors that contribute to the overall growth of the Malaysian microenterprises. Computing descriptive statistics and applying multiple regression analysis to data for 253 microenterprises of Malaysia, the study finds that a certain number of entrepreneurial and enterprise characteristics along with several economic factors affect the overall performance of microenterprises. Specifically, it is found that competition and the age of the enterprises negatively affect overall performance of the microenterprises whereas age of the entrepreneurs, education, business training, demand for the product/service, availability of physical space for business expansion in the city area, availability of financing and sufficiency of secured amount of finance pose positive impacts on the growth. The results of this study provide some insights to policymakers and business practitioners to address the determinants pertaining to microenterprise growth.

/pdf/success-factors-of-overall-improvement-of-microenterprises-4ft6bfsh49.pdf

Success factors of overall improvement of microenterprises in Malaysia: an empirical study

This study investigates the mean and volatility spillover effects of World oil prices on food prices for selected Asia and Pacific countries including Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India and Thailand. The research employs vector autoregression (VAR) and GARCH-family models using daily observations for the 2 January1995 to 30 April 2010 period, splitting the data into two subsamples 1995-2001 and 2002-2010. The major empirical findings of the study are as follows. World oil prices positively influence food prices of the selected countries both in mean and in volatility, though the magnitudes of effects differ from country to country for different time periods. The effects are found mostly in the short run but not in the long run. Stronger mean and volatility spillover effects are found for the more recent subsample period suggesting increasing interdependence between World oil and Asia Pacific food markets in recent times. In terms of mean spillover effects net food importer countries’ food price show stronger effects to the shocks, whereas in terms of volatility spillover effects no distinction in absorbing the World oil shocks can be made between exporters and importers. The findings suggest that oil prices should be taken into consideration in policy preparation and forecasting purposes for food prices.

/pdf/spillover-effects-of-world-oil-prices-on-food-prices-31coxn2xk4.pdf

Spillover effects of world oil prices on food prices: evidence for Asia and Pacific countries

This study investigates the economic effects of external oil and food price shocks in the context of selected Asia and Pacific countries including Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India and Thailand. The study is conducted within the framework of SVAR model using quarterly data over the period 1980 to 2010 although start date varies based on availability of data. The study reveals that resource poor countries that specialize in heavy manufacturing industries like Korea and Taiwan are highly affected by international oil price shocks. Oil price shocks negatively affect industrial output growth and exchange rate and positively affect inflation and interest rates. On the other hand, oil poor nations such as Australia and New Zealand with diverse mineral resources other than oil are not affected by oil price shocks. Only exchange rates are affected by oil price shocks in these countries. Furthermore, countries that are oil poor but specialized in international financial services are also not affected by oil price increase. Similarly, developing country Like India with limited reserve of oil is not affected by oil price shock. However, Thailand possessing a number of natural resources other than oil is not accommodative of oil price shocks. Limited impact of food prices can be recorded for India, Korea and Thailand in terms of industrial output, inflation and interest rate. The major impact of food prices is that it helps depreciating real effective exchange rate for almost all countries except Singapore. As a whole, the effects of external oil and food prices depend on the economic characteristics of the countries. The empirical results of this study suggest that oil and food prices should be considered for policy and forecasting purposes especially for Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

Fardous Alom

Papers

Corporate social responsibility disclosures in Malaysia: evidence from large companies

Macroeconomic effects of world oil and food price shocks in Asia and Pacific economies: application of SVAR models

Success factors of overall improvement of microenterprises in Malaysia: an empirical study

Spillover effects of world oil prices on food prices: evidence for Asia and Pacific countries

Economic Effects of Oil and Food Price Shocks in Asia and Pacific Countries: An Application of SVAR Model