Big data tools for Islamic financial analysis

Behavioural science states that emotions, principles and the manner of thinking can affect the behaviour of individuals and even investors in their decision making on financial markets. In this paper, we have tried to measure the investor sentiment by three means of big data. The first is based on a search query of a list of words related to Islamic context. The second is inferred from the engagement degree on social media. The last measure of sentiment is built, based on the Twitter API classified into positive and negative directions by a machine learning algorithm based on the naive Bayes method. Then, we investigate whether these sensations and emotions have an impact on the market sentiment and the price fluctuations by means of a vector autoregression model and Granger causality analysis. In the final step, we apply the agent‐based simulation by means of the sequential Monte Carlo method with the control of our Twitter measure on Islamic index returns. We show, then, that the three social media sentiment measures present a remarkable impact on the contemporaneous and lagged returns of the different Islamic assets studied. We also give an estimation of the parameters of the latent variables relative to the agent model studied.     

The market's perception of the riskiness of large U.S. Bank commercial letters of credit

This article improves upon the market discipline studies of commercial letters of credit (CLC) by employing two new capital market tests, in addition to traditional beta and equity risk tests. Option pricing models have been used to calculate implied asset risk. Two implied asset risk measures have been used to examine the riskiness of commercial letters of credit. The results indicate that stockholders view CLCs as reducing bank risk, and debt holders are indifferent about CLCs. A policy conclusion of these findings is that additional capital requirements of CLCs for large commercial banks may be inappropriate.     

The influence of branding on adolescent smoking behaviour: exploring the mediating role of image and attitudes

• This study investigates the continuing effects of tobacco marketing communications in a post advertising era, focusing on the constructs of brand awareness, brand image, attitude formation and intention to smoke by adolescents.
• A conceptual model is presented, based on 926 respondents from a UK wide study, to assess brand‐related interrelationships and influences of peers on adolescents' attitudes toward smoking and intention to smoke.
• Results show the strong influence of branding on both attitude and intention, and have implications for government anti‐smoking policies specifically in regard to generic packaging and point of sale displays.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Entrepreneurial intention among University students in Malaysia: integrating self-determination theory and the theory of planned behavior

The present study endeavors to develop a deeper understanding of the motivational processes involved in intentional entrepreneurial behavior. For this purpose, it integrates the social cognitive approach of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the organismic theory of motivation of self-determination theory (SDT). More specifically, it tests the role of basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness as defined in SDT in shaping university students’ attitudes and intentions toward entrepreneurship. The sample of this study consisted of 438 (Males?=?166, Females =272) 3rd and 4th year university students from four Malaysian Public Universities. The results of the study show that the model strongly explains about 71% of the variance in entrepreneurial intention. Basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence and relatedness have a strong indirect impact on entrepreneurial intention via their attitudinal antecedents: attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. This indicates a full-mediational model, where the attitudinal factors operated as transmitters of effects from the distal constructs of SDT on entrepreneurial intention. These findings confirm that both SDT and the TPB provide complementary explanations of the motivational processes of entrepreneurial behavior. The study contributes to the existing knowledge by providing a theory-based understanding of the role of motivations in the formation of entrepreneurial intentions. It opens the way for future research to analyze how alternative motivations may affect new venture creation, survival and success.

     

Provision of financial information and its impact on the relationship between executives and venture capital managers: A study of the private equity market in Egypt

This study makes an attempt to further understand the practices of private equity/venture capital (PE/VC) in developing markets. We focus our attention on the relationship between PE/VC firms and the investee companies (ICs) and its development. We investigate the provision of financial and non-financial information and its effects on the development of the relationship between chief executive officers (CEOs) and PE/VC managers in Egypt as one of the developing markets. Data were collected from Egyptian PE/VC firms via semi-structured interviews. Both similarities and differences were found between Egyptian PE/VC in respect of developing the relationships with their ICs. Results show that the provision of timely information allows PE/VC managers to: (i) have a higher degree of trust on CEOs; (ii) be more supportive of the CEO's strategic decisions; and (iii) interact more frequently with the ICs. The origin of the PE/VC firms seems to have an effect on the Egyptian PE/VC firms’ behaviours. International PE/VC firms are also more likely to get involved in every decision at the strategic level of the ICs. The current study provides some implications for both CEOs of the ICs and PE/VC managers. It is important for PE/VC managers to develop and maintain successful relationships with ICs, which will promote a positive image of the PE/VC firms that can be used for marketing purposes, which in turn can be translated into more deals in the future.     

Impact of instrumental ties,tacit knowledge sharing and affective commitment on absorptive capacity – an empirical study of pharmaceutical companies

Absorptive capacity construct has gained importance since last two decades especially in knowledge intensive environment. The companies invest their time and resources to achieve strategic goals and thus enhance their absorptive capacity in order to deal with new knowledge requirements. Companies largely focus on the macro level processes and mechanisms which are external to their boundaries and ignore the intra company factors critical to absorptive capacity. This study explores the impact of human behaviours related to instrumental ties (INST), affective commitment (AFC) and tacit knowledge sharing (TKS) on absorptive capacity (ACAP). Results of this study based on sample from pharmaceutical companies of Pakistan show significant contribution of human behaviour in development of absorptive capacity. The employees’ behaviours may not be ignored by decision makers in pharmaceutical companies while formulating knowledge strategies.     

How does the flow of remittances affect the trade balance of the Middle East and North Africa?

ABSTRACT

The Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) economies have one of the highest degrees of dependency on received remittances worldwide. In this study, we have examined the role of remittances in the trade balance of 11 labour abundant MENA countries. Our panel regression analysis showed that the inflow of remittances has fostered the trade deficit. We also found that the final effect of remittances depends on the level of domestic capital formation. The results are robust after controlling for other drivers of trade deficit such as income, inflation, exchange rate and institutions as well as country and year fixed effects.     

Factors affecting the breadth and depth of e-procurement use in small and medium enterprises

Organizations differ in the range of e-procurement functionalities they use (breadth of use) and in how much they rely on e-procurement (depth of use). Nonetheless, factors affecting the breadth and the depth of e-procurement use have never been studied in a single context. Therefore, it is unclear whether the differences between the effects discovered in past studies are due to the difference between the breadth and the depth of use, or to the difference between contexts. We test the effects of factors potentially affecting the breadth and the depth of e-procurement use in a single context, using data from 151 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector in New Zealand. The results indicate that the breadth and the depth of use of e-procurement in business organizations are influenced by different factors. Perceived relative advantage of using e-procurement, plus external pressure from suppliers and competitors to use e-procurement, result in the use of a broader range of e-procurement functionalities – in a greater breadth of e-procurement use. However, the extent of an organization’s reliance on e-procurement in organizational purchasing (i.e., depth of e-procurement use) is driven by compatibility of e-procurement with organizational values, practices, technology infrastructure, and strategy. Arguing that in order to benefit fully from e-procurement, an organization needs to integrate it deeply into its operations, we conclude that managers evaluating new e-procurement technologies should consider their compatibility with organizational norms and practices.     

A comparative study of the adoption and implementation of target costing in the UK, Australia and New Zealand

Most of the studies on target costing (TC) only provide insight into the adoption and perceived benefits of TC, and do not address the levels of implementation of the technique. These studies also assume that TC is only relevant to manufacturing firms and therefore do not investigate the adoption of this technique in service firms, and consequently exclude service firms from their surveys and analysis. Furthermore, most studies do not examine factors influencing the adoption of TC systems. Contributing to these gaps in the literature, this paper reports the results of a survey among CIMA-qualified management accountants working in manufacturing and service firms in the UK, Australia and New Zealand on the adoption and implementation of TC. The study examines the importance of attributes of TC (namely relative advantage, compatibility, ease of use, result demonstrability, trialability) for decision makers to adopt and implement such cost and management accounting innovation. The survey indicates that TC is equally prevalent among manufacturing and service firms while in terms of the levels of implementation there is a significant difference between manufacturing and service firms. The study shows that there is a growing interest in the examination of all cost-reducing strategies at the planning stage and adoption of value engineering to incorporate customer requirements rather than focusing on the adoption of cost-cutting strategies at the production stage.