Financial Intermediation and Economic Growth in China: New Evidence from Panel Data

In this article, we investigate the relationship between financial intermediation and economic growth in China by employing system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimators for dynamic panel data from twenty-eight Chinese provinces over the period 1978–2008. Our empirical results show that various measures of financial development are generally associated with economic growth. More specifically, the size and depth of the financial sector significantly influence economic growth. However, household saving is found to have a negative, but insignificant, effect on economic growth. Finally, we find that although several control variables show the expected signs, they are not always statistically significant. Human capital, openness to trade, and inflation positively influence economic growth.     

Bilateral Export Trade,Outward and Inward FDI: A Dynamic Gravity Model Approach Using Sectoral Data from Malaysia

In light of a change in the foreign direct investment (FDI) landscape such as the rapid growth of outward FDI from Malaysia since 2007, this article ascertains the possible impact of inward and outward FDI on Malaysia’s bilateral export trade at the sectoral level, using a dynamic gravity approach. The findings reveal that both inward and outward FDI are complementary to bilateral export trade in the services, mining, and manufacturing sectors. Furthermore, the distance elasticity and the real effective exchange rate have a different negative impact on different sectors. Overall, the sectoral bilateral exports could not insulate against external events.     

Re-Examining the Determinants of Islamic Bank Performance: New Evidence from Dynamic GMM,Quantile Regression,and Wavelet Coherence Approaches

This study is the first attempt to conduct a comparative analysis of the internal and external determinants of the Islamic banks’ profitability in the GCC region applying dynamic GMM, quantile regression, and wavelet coherence approaches. The dynamic GMM tends to indicate that equity financing and operating efficiency and macroeconomic variables such as money supply, and inflation are significantly related to Islamic banks’ performance. The bank-specific variables such as credit risk, equity ratio, and cost-efficiency ratios are not significant at different percentiles. ROA is driven by credit risk, equity ratio, and cost-efficiency ratios (as evidenced in wavelet coherence analysis).     

The Determinants of Debt Maturity Structure: Evidence from France,Germany and the UK

We examine the determinants of the debt maturity structure of French, German and British firms. These countries represent different financial and legal traditions that may have implications on corporate debt maturity structure. Our model incorporates the factors representing three major theories (tax considerations, liquidity and signalling, and contracting costs) of debt maturity. It also controls for capital market conditions. The results confirm the applicability of most theories of debt maturity structure for the UK firms. However, the evidence from France and Germany are mixed. Overall the findings suggest that the debt maturity structure of a firm is determined by firm‐specific factors and the country's financial systems and institutional traditions in which it operates.     

The Dynamic Speed of Cash-Holding Adjustment in a Transition Economy: A New Approach and Evidence

Using a new approach, we estimate the speed of cash-holding adjustment for a typical transitional economy by using Chinese listed firms’ samples over 1999–2011. First, we use model-averaging techniques to identify reliably important cash-holding determinants. Second, we conduct Monte Carlo simulation using the real finance data to evaluate appropriateness of the empirical estimator from a variety of dynamic estimation methods and suggest an optimized system of generalized method of moments (OPT-GMM) as an appropriate econometric approach for speed estimation. Finally, we get the speed of 46 percent, which is significantly lower than the contemporary speed in the United Kingdom and the United States.