Factors associated with child passenger motorcycle helmet use in Cambodia

This study examines factors associated with child passenger helmet use in five Cambodian provinces. We performed an analysis of periodic roadside observations of helmet use over a four-year period. A total of 62,039 child passengers 12 years of age and younger met inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. Overall, 1369 (2.1%) of child passengers were observed to be wearing a helmet. Most significantly, children were six times more likely to wear a helmet if the driver was wearing a helmet (OR 6.2; 95% CI 5.1–7.5). In addition, the odds of helmet use were noted to be significantly different depending on province, day of the week, time of day and number of passengers on the motorcycle. This study highlights the extremely low rate of child passenger helmet use in Cambodia, and provides priorities for interventions and enforcement to ensure all children are protected from head injury.     

Personal Bankruptcy Law and New Business Formation

Using a panel of all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia from 1990 to 1999, we report a nonlinear relation between state bankruptcy exemptions and new business formation. The rate of new business formation first increases as exemptions increase, but it then decreases. This result reflects the fact that bankruptcy exemptions tend to affect both demand for and supply of external financing to potential entrepreneurs.     

The effects of focus versus diversification on bank performance: Evidence from Chinese banks

This paper investigates the effects of focus versus diversification on bank performance using data on Chinese banks during the 1996–2006 period. We construct a new measure, economies of diversification, and compare the results to those of the more conventional focus indices, which are based on the sum of squares of shares in different products or regions. Diversification is captured in four dimensions: loans, deposits, assets, and geography. We find that all four dimensions of diversification are associated with reduced profits and higher costs. These results are robust regardless of alternative measures of diversification and performance. Furthermore, we observe that banks with foreign ownership (both majority and minority ownership) and banks with conglomerate affiliation are associated with fewer diseconomies of diversification, suggesting that foreign ownership and conglomerate affiliation may play important mitigating roles. This analysis may provide important implications for bank managers and regulators in China as well as in other emerging economies.     

The Government’s Role in Government-owned Banks

In this study, we reinvestigate the question of whether government banks are inferior to private banks. We use cross country data from 1993 to 2007 to trace the different types of government banks. These types comprise banks that acquire distressed banks, normal banks, or no banks at all. Contrary to common belief, the evidence shows that unless government banks are required to purchase a distressed bank because of political factors (the government’s role), their performances are at par with that of private banks. This fact particularly holds true in countries with poor records on political rights and governance.     

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: The effect of corporate tax avoidance on the cost of bank loans

We find that firms with greater tax avoidance incur higher spreads when obtaining bank loans. This finding is robust in a battery of sensitivity analyses and in two quasi-experimental settings including the implementation of Financial Accounting Standards Board Interpretation No. 48 and the revelation of past tax sheltering activity. Firms with greater tax avoidance also incur more stringent nonprice loan terms, incur higher at-issue bond spreads, and prefer bank loans over public bonds when obtaining debt financing. Overall, these findings indicate that banks perceive tax avoidance as engendering significant risks.     

Firm life cycle,corporate risk‐taking and investor sentiment

This study investigates the corporate risk‐taking and the performance consequences at different stages of the firm life cycle. We find that risk‐taking is higher in the introduction and decline stages of the life cycle, but lower in the growth and mature stages. We also find that risk‐taking during introduction and decline stage (growth and maturity stage) affects future performance adversely (positively). We also document that managerial risk‐taking propensities increase during periods of high investor sentiment and firms in different life cycle stages respond to sentiment differently. Collectively, these results suggest that the firm life cycle has explanatory power for corporate risk‐taking behaviour.     

Financing choice and local economic growth: evidence from Brazil

Journal of Economic Growth - We study how financing non-traditional local activities, conceived here as a proxy for activity diversification, is associated with economic growth. We use...     

The comparative examination of promotion criterias of teachers in North Cyprus and Turkey as a manager and a supervisor in profession

The present study aims to examine and compare the promotion criteria of the teachers in North Cyprus and Turkey as a manager and a supervisor in their profession as well as determining its similarities and differences. Presenting the teachers’ criteria on the basis of promotion in their profession is the importance of this study. Document analysis has been used in this study in order to reach the aim. The criteria of both being a school principal and supervisor in North Cyprus and Turkey have been compared. Although it has been examined that in Turkey assigning school principals and supervisors depend on a selection based on years of teaching experience, in North Cyprus either teacher assignment or upper level assignments such as school principal and supervisor selections depend on certain rules and regulations which contain unbiased evaluation on professional portfolios and applied professional examinations set by the Public Service Commission (Kamu Hizmet Komisyonu).     

Underpinning the benefits of green banking: A comparative study between Islamic and conventional banks in Bangladesh

This study aims to compare environmental motives and performance of conventional and Islamic banks in Bangladesh. Green compliance index was developed based on the Bangladesh Bank (the central bank of Bangladesh) guidelines whereas information regarding governance variables is collected from the annual reports of 9 Islamic and 31 conventional banks. Results show Islamic banks are more environmentally friendly compared to their conventional counterparts. Board size is negatively related to green compliance whereas board independence and auditor's type do not have any significant influence on green compliance for both clusters of banks. Compliance with green banking policies enhances the reputation for Islamic banks and accountability and profitability for conventional banks. Results of this study provide useful information for regulatory authorities to formulate policies that are conducive to enhance bank's environmental performance.