The impact of FIFA’s official announcements on the stock market of Qatar: The case of the 2022 World Cup

This study examines the impact of the FIFA’s official announcements on Doha Stock Exchange (DSE) of Qatar with respect to the 2022 World Cup. Using the abnormal unsystematic volatility method of Hilliard and Savickas (2002), our empirical findings reveal that the DSE market is sensitive to FIFA’s announcements about the 2022 World Cup. We find that four out of six FIFA announcements act as primary drivers to the DSE market volatility. The significant reactions of the DSE market to these announcements unveil the investors’ sentiments about the fate of the governmental and private expenditures on medium- and long-term projects undertaken in anticipation of hosting the 2022 World Cup. The results have some implications to investors in this newly emerging market related to this global sporting event. Any future announcements, good or bad, are likely to impact share prices in DSE market and trigger portfolio reallocation by local and international investors, leading to increased volatility.     

Thinking through the meteoric rise of Middle-East carriers from Singapore Airlines' vantage point

The rise of Middle East carriers in the past decade has been nothing less than meteoric. Based on the notion of generic strategy, we analysed the potential for competitors of the leading Middle East carriers to respond in terms of market scope and product characteristics, using Singapore Airlines as a reference. We found that it was generally difficult for Singapore Airlines to compete in terms of market scope, and thus it should concentrate on offering different degrees of differentiation in its products. While the latest small, long-haul aircraft could help increase Singapore Airlines' market scope, this impact would be marginal at best. We compared the product offerings and prices for the Business and Economy cabins, and noted the intensive competitive pressures the leading Middle East carriers exerted on Singapore Airlines. Improving specific product qualities such as guaranteeing a horizontally flat bed in Business and the overall quality in Economy helps competitors command higher prices, while other niches are still possible.     

Trends and characteristics of injuries in the State of Qatar: hospital-based study

Injuries account for a large burden of mortality and morbidity in the State of Qatar. No comprehensive study has been conducted on all types of injuries in the State of Qatar. The objective of this study was to determine the trend in the number, incidence and pattern of injuries in the State of Qatar. This hospital-based study is a retrospective analysis of 53,366 patients treated at the accident and emergency and trauma centres for injuries during the period from 2006 to 2010. Injuries were determined according to the ICD 10 criteria. The details of the entire trauma patients who were involved in occupational/domestic injuries were extracted from the database of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Hamad Medical Corporation. Our results demonstrated that the rates of injury remained relatively stable in the State of Qatar over the five–year period. Those most at risk of injury were non-Qatari males who were below 30 years. Road traffic accidents (RTA) (36.7%) followed by falls causing back injuries (11.0%) were the most common types of injuries during the period. Most of the injuries occurred at the head for both males (17.7%) and females (13.5%); this was consistently the case across all of the age groups. The greatest proportion of RTA (21.2%), industrial machinery injuries (16.4%), construction injuries (15.5%), recreational sporting injuries (20.5%) and beach/sea/ocean injuries (15.0%) resulted in head injuries. Intervention efforts need to be aimed at reducing occupational injuries, RTA injuries and work–related hazards in the State of Qatar.     

Africa’s contribution to Qatar’s diversification priorities in the immediate to long term

Diversification experiences started across the African continent in the immediate post-independence period, in an attempt to break with traditional colonial models of development. Most African countries embarked upon industrial development during the 1960s and the 1970s, in order to diversify their economies and reduce their risk dependency on primary commodities due to the fluctuation in prices. After a change of priorities in the 1980s and 1990s, there has recently been a renewed attention and debate on economic diversification in Africa. Insight gained from African experiences demonstrates that new activities and capacities can be set in place via linkages with natural resource exploitation. Investment opportunities in non-energy sectors in Africa are nevertheless also critical and need to be examined. In fact, the success of diversification strategies depends on a sound development strategy, inspiring comprehensive public policy frameworks, strong political leadership, and a sound natural resource governance framework including diversification. Presenting examples and insights from various African countries, the article highlights misperceptions and improvements of socio-economic conditions in Africa useful to properly assess risks and opportunities in various contexts. Analyzing the role of the private sector and of African state-owned institutions related to foreign direct investments in non-energy sectors, the article focuses on strategies, lessons learned, and challenges of economic diversification.     

International Market Entry Strategies of Emerging Market MNEs: A Case Study of Qatar Telecom

ABSTRACT

Drawing on existing theoretical perspectives and previous research, this study essentially investigated the strategic motives, location choice, and international entry mode strategies of emerging market multinational enterprises based on a case study of a telecom company, Qatar Telecom (Qtel) from the Gulf Cooperation Council. Using empirical findings from the semi-structured interviews, this study has clearly indicated that the main strategic motivation behind Qtel's internationalization was essentially opportunity seeking in terms of enabling market development and generating higher return on investment. Although Qtel used different entry strategies depending on the characteristics of host country markets, the company is more in favor of mergers and acquisitions than greenfield investments.     

Career capital development of self-initiated expatriates in Qatar: cosmopolitan globetrotters,experts and outsiders

This paper explores career capital development of self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) in the Middle East, reporting on data gathered in Qatar from 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews. The findings challenge the notion that self-initiated expatriation always leads to career capital accumulation, arguing instead that contextual features impact individuals' agentic efforts towards career capital accumulation and lead them to experience ‘career capital stagnation’. Qatarisation is the overarching influence on the status of SIEs in the country and places structural constraints that translate into limited organisational opportunities and support for SIEs. Individually, SIEs reside rhetorically within complex dualities characterised by feelings of cosmopolitanism and isolation. Whilst individuals narrate the context in utilitarian terms as a means to a broader aim of global experience, everyday practicalities of their work and life are problematised. Narratives of career capital development are organised in three themes: SIEs as cosmopolitan globetrotters (micro-individual level), SIEs as experts (meso-organisational level) and SIEs as outsiders (macro-country level). The paper contributes to broadening the discussion on the relationship between self-initiated expatriation and context, and its implications on careers. Empirically, it adds to our understanding of SIEs, in particular their experiences of career capital development in the highly regulated context of the Middle East.     

Corporate Internet Disclosure in the Arabian Gulf： An Empirical Examination of Determinants and Attributes

This paper investigates and reports on the extent and nature of corporate internet disclosure and the determinants of internet financial disclosure （IFD） by companies listed in three Gulf Corporation Council （GCC） countries. This paper uses data from 207 listed companies in Muscat Securities Market （MSM）, Dubai Financial Market （DFM）, and Qatar Exchange （QE）. Binary logistic regression analysis is used to examine the determinants of IFD. Kruskal-Wallis test is used to examine the differences in disclosure characteristics among the three countries. The results of this study reveal that firm size is the major factor influencing intemet financial reporting in the GCC. The results reveal that the three countries differ significantly in all the disclosure attributes with the exception of the existence of email link. This paper extends the stream of research that confirms the widespread use of internet in disclosing financial information. The results are consistent with previous literature that corporate size is a major determinant of internet financial reporting. This paper provides insights into corporate internet disclosure in the GCC that will benefit all stakeholders with an interest in corporate reporting in this important region of the world.     

PREDICTING NEXT TRADING DAY CLOSING PRICE OF QATAR EXCHANGE INDEX USING TECHNICAL INDICATORS AND ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORKS

Accurate prediction of stock market price is of great importance to many stakeholders. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have shown robust capability in predicting stock price return, future stock price and the direction of stock market movement. The major aim of this study is to predict the next trading day closing price of the Qatar Exchange (QE) Index using historical data from 3 January 2010 to 31 December 2012. A multilayer perceptron ANN architecture was used as a prediction model with 10 market technical indicators as input variables. The experimental results indicate that ANNs are an effective modelling technique for predicting the QE Index with high accuracy, outperforming the well‐established autoregressive integrated moving average models. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to use ANNs to predict the QE Index, and its performance results are comparable to, and sometimes better than, many stock market predictions reported in the literature. The ANN model also revealed that the weighted and simple moving averages are the most important technical indicators in predicting the QE Index, and the accumulation/distribution oscillator is the least important such indicator. The analysis results also indicated that the ANNs are resilient to stock market volatility. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pedestrians: the daily underestimated victims on the road

Traffic-related pedestrian injuries (TRPI) are vulnerable to road users. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the demographic pattern of injury and outcome of TRPI. Patients with TRPI admitted between November 2007 and March 2010 to the only level 1 trauma centre in Qatar were included. A retrospective analysis was based on medical records and Emergency Medical Services run sheets. The spreadsheet included demographic data and pre-hospital transport, service admissions and injuries by system and mortality. Of 4077 patients who were admitted, 420 (10.3%) had TRPI. The mode of transportation included ambulances (91%), private vehicles (6%) and helicopters (3%). The direct dispositions were trauma intensive care units (38%), surgical wards (42%) and operating rooms (17%). Patients were classified according to Injury Severity Score (1–8 in 28%, 9–15 in 25%, 16–24 in 20% and 25–75 in 17% cases). Multisystem injuries were most characteristic. Of 804 injures, injury of extremities was predominant followed by head, thorax and abdomen. The overall mortality was 8%. Pedestrian injuries are a significant cause of serious trauma in Qatar. Motor vehicle/pedestrian interface contributes to this ongoing public health problem. Reducing pedestrian trauma requires recognition of the problem and implementing programmes to mitigate these largely preventable injuries.     

我国联合限制竞争行为的法律规制

联合限制竞争行为是两个或两个以上经营者通过共谋，以协议、决议或其他协同行为实施的旨在限制竞争的行为。它是一种严重危害市场竞争的垄断行为，是各国反垄断法律限制的主要对象之一。本文在论述我国联合限制竞争行为的现状及特点的基础上，分析了我国联合限制竞争行为法律规制存在的不足，提出了完善我国联合限制竞争行为法律规制的措施。