Suchergebnisse

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the non-linear effects of the presence of women directors on the board on the financial performances of Malaysian companies which undertakes initial public offerings (IPOs). This paper also analyzes the impacts of non-executive directors and independent directors on their company performances.Design/methodology/approachThis paper traces the effects of gender diversity on the board on the financial performance of a sample of 123 Malaysian companies from the list of 230 companies which have made IPOs and are listed during the period 2005-2012. The multiple regressions (with linear and non-linear specification) are used to estimate the effects of women directors on companies' performance.FindingsThe results show that presence of women directors on the board do not purport to have any significant linear or non-linear impact on the financial performance of the companies under reference, except for the companies in the top 80th percentile of return on equity. Similarly, strong evidence is also found when the number of women as board members is more than 15 per cent.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this paper suggest that presence of women directors provides a beneficial impact on the return on equity of companies in Malaysia. Therefore, it is suggested that there should be greater participation of women as board members in the country.Originality/valuePrior studies tried to estimate linear relationship between the presence of woman directors on company performance. Present study assessed it from three different angles: the sample consists of companies in Malaysia issuing IPOs; possible non-linear relationship is also assessed; and apart from multiple regression, quantile regression technique was also used.

Political connections are often utilised by private enterprises to obtain easy financing in China. However, past research on the financial benefits from such utilisation has yielded inconsistent findings. This can be explained from the perspectives of nonlinear effect and of optimal level of political connections, which have not yet been explored. This article aims to estimate the "optimal" level of political connections using the non-linear specifications on a sample of Chinese private-listed enterprises. Findings have shown that political connections reduce enterprises' financial constraints only to a certain extent and over-connecting politically could be dysfunctional. The Chinese approach in utilising political connections should aim to attain an optimal balance between maintaining a political relationship and building firms' capability. The findings provide further evidence that enriches the understanding of China's unique socialism with Chinese characteristics. (China/GIGA)

The problem of poverty has attracted specific programmes within the circle of Government administrations particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. One of such programmes is the development strategy tool of provision of microcredit to the poor through Microfinance Institutions (MFIs). Although the issue of the influence of Microfinance loan on poverty reduction has been discussed by some scholars, little efforts have been made to assess the impact of MFIs at the grassroots particularly on those who live in the rural areas.This paper therefore intends to fill the gap in literature by examining the impact of microfinance loan on poverty reduction through the dimension of rural poor income. To achieve this objective, the study adopted multi-stage random sampling technique to collect primary data through the structured questionnaire. A total sample of 1,134 microfinance loan beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries were used as respondents from three states in South- West Nigeria. Descriptive Statistics and Multiple Regression Model were explored to describe the characteristics of the sample for the study and evaluate the impact.The results revealed that microfinance has negligible income effects on the rural poor in Nigeria.To this end, the Government is advised to provide necessary amenities that will encourage MFIs to establish branches in the rural areas; and implement more supportive services like education and training on entrepreneurship and health facilities. MFIs should engage cheap labour available in the rural areas and train them for effective performance and easy penetration to the rural poor. .

Microfinance programme has been generally regarded as a development strategy that can enhance the economic performance of the poor.The government of Nigeria has made concerted efforts to alleviate poverty in the country. One of such efforts is Poverty alleviation through Microfinance loan but poverty still remains pervasive and widespread in the country especially in the rural communities. This study examines the role of microfinance vis-à-vis poverty reduction particularly in the South- West Zone of Nigeria.Data were collected through survey questionnaire in the study area.Descriptive Statistics together with Binary Logit Regression Model were employed to analyse the data collected. The result of the analyses revealed that microfinance loan made significant impact on the loan beneficiaries in the study area which lead to poverty reduction.The government is advised to provide more enabling environment to make Microfinance operations more effective in the country particularly in the rural areas. Microfinance Institutions are implored to create more awareness on their operations and make less stringent conditions for the loan accessibility.

Abstract
There are extensive studies available identifying the determinants of comparative advantage including in the ASEAN­5 countries. However, knowing only the determinants of comparative advantage is not sufficient as the determinants of changes in comparative advantage also need to be identified. Different or similar drivers may be involved in the changes in comparative advantage. From the perspective of changes in comparative advantage, further insights can be obtained since it is largely ignored in the previous studies. This paper analyses the changes of comparative advantage on ASEAN­5 manufacturing exports over the period from 1991 to 2013 using Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage (RSCA) index for manufacturing export commodities at the three-digit level of the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC). There are 215 commodities covering all the ASEAN­5' manufactured goods. Results revealed significant effects of changes R&D and FDI on the changes of comparative advantage in the ASEAN­5. It was shown that R&D and FDI are important in increasing the comparative advantage of manufacturing commodities. These findings incur important policy implications that include helping the identification of product specialisation for enhancing competitiveness and promoting economic growth.