The effects of corporate governance compliance on market valuation in Malaysia

This study investigates the effects of corporate governance compliance on market valuation in Malaysia using a sample of 164 companies listed on the Main Board in Bursa Malaysia from 5 different industries （consumer, trading ＆ services, industrial, constructions and properties） within 2001 to 2005. Throughout, this study will use correlation and regression analysis in the SPSS software to determine the effects of corporate governance practices on Market Valuation. In analyzing firms＇ market valuation, we will use the Tobin＇s Q formula and for the corporate governance compliance, we will look at 4 criteria to compare with market valuation, which are （1） Board of Director＇s composition, （2） Board of Director＇s remuneration （salaries）, （3） Board of Director＇s training and development, （4） Board of Director＇s meeting. In order to determine the effects between the corporate governance compliance and market valuation, we will use regression analysis. Based on the correlation analysis, the first null hypothesis must be rejected and the alternative hypothesis is accepted, in which dependent variable and independent variables are significantly correlated with BOD remuneration and BOD training availability. Overall, there is a significant relationship between Tobin＇s Q and independent variables （BOD remuneration and BOD training）. This study also recommends that for the company who did not comply with the code, they should follow the best practice because it will be a pivotal weapon in facing with the fierce competition in era globalization.     

Equity-Based Sukuk： Robust Performance of Musharakah and Mudharabah Contract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the robust performance of equity-based sukuk in Malaysia, that is, Musharakah and Mudharabah contract. Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions （AAOIFI）, as an international standard-setting organization for Islamic finance, raised an issue that 85% issuances of Musharakah and Mudharabah sukuk have breached the shariah rulings and do not comply with Islamic principles （AAOIFI, 2002）. Consequently, the performance of equity-based sukuk in Malaysia was affected. This study used a secondary data for size of issuances which are gathered from Bank Negara Malaysia （BNM）＇s Bond Info website and Securities Commission （SC） website. The performance of equity-based sukuk, either Musharakah or Mudarabah, is robust in the study year period of 2000-2012 as regards their sizes of issuances.     

Performance or learning goal orientation: Implications for business performance

An organization's long-term effectiveness and efficiency reflect its learning goal or performance goal orientation. Goal orientation concepts originate in psychology of achievement motivation theory. Goal orientations drive the development and deployment of organizational capabilities, such as market orientation and innovativeness to achieve organizational performance outcomes. Extant research pays little attention to whether or not industry type (services or manufacturing) operates as a significant moderating factor in the relationships among an organization's capabilities, goal orientation, and performance outcomes. This study addresses this gap. The study results indicate a significant moderating effect of industry type on relationship between goal orientation and performance but not between goal orientation and either market orientation or innovativeness. Goal orientation appears to be more important for service industries than for manufacturing.     

Hazard analysis and safety considerations in refrigerated ammonia storage tanks

A systematic approach to find out the probability of Ammonia tank failure was adopted and a consequence analysis in case of accidental Ammonia release from refrigerated ammonia storage tanks was made. The study revealed that construction of a concrete bund wall around the tanks is not justified. Instead, it would be adequate to upgrade the safety in the common dyke around the tanks by adopting additional conventional methods.     

Applications of evolutionary psychology in marketing

Evolutionary psychology is an emerging paradigm in psychological science. The current article introduces this framework to marketing scholars and presents evidence for its increasing acceptance within the social science community. As a result, a case is made for the application of evolutionary psychology to marketing, and especially consumer behavior. Application of the evolutionary framework in studying gender‐related consumption behavior is illustrated by comparing the evolutionary predictions with results obtained from previous studies, by supporting these predictions with market‐level consumption data, and by proposing new hypotheses based on this framework. Also discussed are the potential applications of evolutionary psychology to other consumption‐related phenomena like evaluation of endorser attractiveness in advertising, biologically driven consumption choices among women, consumer‐experienced emotions in service encounters, and consumption choices as inclusive fitness maximization rather than utility maximization. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Trade and technology adoption

This paper endogenizes firms' choices of production technology in what would be a standard Melitz model otherwise. The responses of firms' productivity to trade liberalization are heterogenous: exporters, on average, improve their level of technology adoption, whereas nonexporters downgrade their level of technology adoption. The degree to which firms adjust production technology depends on domestic market size, export destination market size, trade impediments, and export status. The conflicting empirical results of the impact of trade liberalization on exporters' productivity are rationalized by showing that changes in different trade costs (variable vs. fixed costs) affect firms' productivity differently. We calibrate the model's parameters to match firms' characteristics in the global economy. The results indicate that endogenous productivity increases the gains from trade liberalization.     

Over-investment in corporate R&D,risk, and stock returns

Large-size firms which significantly increase their R&D expenditures experience subsequently three-year-long negative abnormal stock returns on the magnitude of 56 basis-points per month. We find no robust evidence of significant event-induced abnormal returns for small-size sample firms or any systematic risk changes for the small- and large- size firms. We also find that the large-size sample firms generate relatively much larger cash flows (i.e., have significantly greater over-investment discretion) and have significantly larger (over-) valuation multiples than the small-size firms. Moreover, some of their operating performance measures show signs of deterioration instead of improvement following these R&D programs. These findings are consistent with the view that investors initially underestimate the over-investment in R&D by some large-size firms that appear to be overvalued and have high cash flows at the time of the investment, only to be disappointed later.     

Applying Darwinian principles in designing effective intervention strategies: The case of sun tanning

Public‐service announcements typically seek to educate consumers regarding a given unhealthy practice, the assumption being that individuals will cease the harmful behavior once they are fully informed. Many intervention strategies have failed in curbing the targeted behaviors because these are not due to incomplete information but instead may also have a Darwinian‐based etiology. Using sunbathing as a case analysis, it is shown how Darwinian theorizing (evolutionary psychology, life‐history theory, gene‐culture co‐evolution, and memetic theory) can augment social marketers' ability to develop efficacious intervention strategies. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Oil prices,growth, and remittance outflows from the Gulf Cooperation Council

How does a decline in oil prices and its impacts on growth affect remittance outflows from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries? This paper carries out an empirical analysis of the relationship between oil prices, oil‐ and non‐oil GDP, and remittances outflows from the GCC. The findings of our paper are three folds. First, we find that non‐oil GDP is a key determinant of remittance outflows and that oil GDP is a significant driver of non‐oil GDP in the GCC only in the long term. Second, we document that historically oil prices and remittances tend to broadly move in the same direction but that remittances have been much less volatile than oil prices. An analysis of the past large oil price declines shows that remittance flows to major remittance recipients in Mashreq, Pakistan, and Yemen fell only modestly following large declines in oil prices and recovered quickly in line with oil prices. Finally, we estimate the elasticity of remittance outflows with respect to non‐oil GDP in the GCC using various techniques. Estimates of short‐term elasticity vary between 0.5 and 0.8, while estimates of long‐term elasticity vary between 0.6 and 1.1. We find that construction and government services are two non‐oil GDP components that are strongly associated with remittance outflows.