The performance and corporate risk-taking of firms: evidence from Malaysian agricultural firms

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanis Hazwani Ahmad ◽  
Adilah Azhari

PurposeThis study explores the effects of the performance and corporate risk-taking behaviour of agricultural firms. Despite its importance in mitigating climate change, the agricultural sector also faces global competition, market liberalisation, rapid technological advances and the starter of stricter quality and safety procedures, all of which require firms to take greater risks.Design/methodology/approachThis study explores this relationship by applying generalised least square (GLS), random effect methodologies (REM) and generalised method of moments (GMM).FindingsThe findings report a favourable relationship between firm performance and corporate risk-taking using a sample of firms from an emerging market.Research limitations/implicationsThe effects of these results for management practice and recommendations for further research were examined.Originality/valueWhile this empirical study used a sample focused on a single industry, most previous studies focused on multiple industries. The originality of this study is its analysis of how firm performance affects corporate risk-taking in the Malaysian agriculture sector.

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (12) ◽  
pp. 1367-1385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rim Ben Selma Mokni ◽  
Mohamed Tahar Rajhi ◽  
Houssem Rachdi

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate determinants of risk-taking in Islamic banks and conventional banks located in the MENA region. Design/methodology/approach The empirical study covers a sample of 15 conventional and 15 Islamic banks for the period 2002-2009. The authors estimate models using both generalized least square random effect and generalized method of moments system approaches. Findings The results of the empirical analysis show that the determinants’ risk-taking significance varies between Islamic and conventional banks. Originality/value The main aim is to develop a comprehensive model that integrates macroeconomic determinants, industry-specific determinants, and bank-specific determinants. This paper performs a comparison of the risk-taking between two different banking systems in the MENA region.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Quoc Trung Tran

PurposeThis paper investigates the relationship between corruption and corporate risk-taking in emerging markets where corruption is considered as “public enemy number one.”Design/methodology/approachThe study measures corruption based on Corruption Control Index annually published by World Bank and examines how corruption affects corporate risk-taking in emerging markets covered in MSCI Emerging Market Index.FindingsWith a sample of 75,338 observations from 8,326 firms across 20 emerging stock markets during the period 2005–2016, the author finds that corruption negatively affects corporate risk-taking. Robustness checks with a reduced sample without China and India, alternatives of corruption measures, various measures of risk-taking and Generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator also show consistent results. Moreover, additional analysis shows that information disclosure mitigates the effect of corruption on risk-taking.Originality/valueThe extant literature implies that corruption may decrease corporate risk-taking behavior through two channels including operational cost and debt financing cost.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahid Irhsad Younas ◽  
Ameena Zafar

PurposeThis study aims to analyze the impact of corporate risk taking on the sustainability of firms in USA and Germany. As risk taking is an expensive phenomenon, the firm may shift the resources from stakeholder well-being to profit maximization of shareholders. Ultimately, risk taking results in the reduction of firm’s sustainability.Design/methodology/approachTo capture the impact of corporate risk taking, the corporate-governance variables, i.e. “independent board structure” and “board size,” were used as instrumental variables to control excessive corporate risk taking and restrict it at a healthy level. A sample of 3,387 unbalanced panel observations from USA and Germany, for the period 2004-2015, were assessed.FindingsThe results confirm that corporate risk taking has a negative and significant impact on the sustainability of firms.Research limitations/implicationsGovernment and policymakers in USA and Germany may introduce regulations to curb excessive corporate risk taking for sustainable corporations and sustainable society. This research suggests that corporate risk taking is not in the best interest of stakeholders.Originality/valuePrevious literature only finds the impact of sustainability on corporate risk taking and there is not a single study that examines the impact of corporate risk taking on the sustainability of a firm. Thus, this study contributes to existing literature on corporate risk taking and sustainability. The study further contributes by using the instrumental variable two stage least square.


2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 361-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aluisius Hery Pratono

Purpose This paper aims to contribute to the risk management studies in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by examining the complicated relationship between risk-taking behavior and firm performance. Design/methodology/approach The study conducted a survey of the Indonesian SME owner-managers and used partial least square structural equation modeling to examine the mediating effect of pricing capability and moderating effects of information technological turbulence. Findings The results do not only confirm the positive impact of risk-taking behavior on firm performance but also identify that impact of risk-taking behavior on firm performance is more effective at the low information technological turbulence than at the high one. Research limitations/implications This study relied on information from the owner-managers in SMEs, which may bias against the perspective of their employees and the business partners. Originality/value This study advances the risk-taking behavior research in SMEs context by introducing the effect of pricing capability and information technological turbulence.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Angelous Kotey ◽  
Richard Akomatey ◽  
Baah Aye Kusi

PurposeThis study examines the possible nonlinear effect of size on stakeholder and shareholder profitability in the Ghanaian insurance brokerage industry.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a panel dataset of 64 Ghanaian insurance brokerage firms spanning 2011–2015. Static [ordinary least squares (OLS), fixed effect and random effect and dynamic (two-step generalized method of moments (GMM))] estimation techniques are employed to analyze the data.FindingsThe study finds the existence of both economies and diseconomies of scale and scope theories in the Ghanaian insurance brokerage industry confirming the existence of nonlinear nexus between size and performance. This finding is consistent for both stakeholder and shareholder profit performance. Thus, the results show that size improves profitability of insurance brokerage firms, but beyond a certain threshold, the relationship turns negative as size negatively affects profitability.Practical implicationsThe research findings have implications for both policy and research; the study recommends that Ghanaian brokerage managers should understand that not all growth is good and exercise a duty of care when applying growth strategies by monitoring size effect on performance so as not to go beyond the inflection point. Further research can be done to examine this effect in other contexts, timeframes and jurisdictions.Originality/valueThis research is unique in that it employs a panel dataset consisting of 96% of insurance brokerage firms in Ghana whilst employing both static and nonstatic regression models to examine the effect of size. The research analysis adopted is robust, and the findings are significant. Also, the lack of empirical studies on the operations and dealings of auxiliary institutions such as the insurance brokerage firms adds value to this research.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Farooq ◽  
Amna Noor ◽  
Shoukat Ali

Purpose The purpose of this research is to look into the governance–performance relationship in the context of critical firm characteristics, such as firm size. Design/methodology/approach Based on total assets, sample firms were classified as small or large. The governance index, which is based on 29 governance provisions covering the audit committee, board committee, ownership and compensation structure of the respective firm, measures governance quality among sample firms. A higher governance index indicates a higher level of governance quality and vice versa. Accounting and market value measures are used to determine firm profitability. The authors used the two-stage least square (2SLS) method of estimation of the model to eliminate the simultaneous equation bias. Findings Corporate governance (CG) appears to have a positive impact on accounting return and market indices (Tobin’s Q), but it has little impact on return on equity. In terms of firm size, larger companies profited more from better governance implementation than smaller firms that lacked these principles, thus improving CG. The findings indicate that small businesses should improve their governance mechanisms to reap the benefits of CG in terms of increased profitability. Research limitations/implications There are certain drawbacks to this research. First, the authors omitted qualitative aspects of CG from the CG index, such as the board’s decision-making process, directors’ perceptions of the board’s position and directors’ age and qualifications. Such a qualitative component will improve the governance index in the future while building the governance index. Second, as the current study only looks at the nonfinancial sector, caution should be exercised before applying the findings to the entire population. Practical implications The findings show that companies that follow good governance standards have better accounting and market efficiency than those that do not. As a result, good governance practices can help firms in developing countries improve their performance. Academic researchers, regulators, investors, lenders and practitioners can find the findings useful in establishing a true relationship between firm performance and CG practices in Pakistan. Originality/value The relationship between governance and profitability in the context of firm size is examined in this research. Firms with varying resources and ability to implement CG codes have varying effects on profitability. To the authors’ knowledge, there was a gap in the literature that addressed this topic in the local context.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-248
Author(s):  
Manogna R.L. ◽  
Aswini Kumar Mishra

Purpose The study aims to analyze the impact of Research & Development (R&D) intensity on the firm’s performance, measured by growth of sales in the emerging market like India. Innovation strategy and its outcomes for firms may be different in developing countries as compared to developed countries. Thus, a study that focuses on the emerging economy like India, with a majority of the population dependent on agriculture, is of prime importance to the firm performance in the food and agricultural manufacturing industry. For this study, the broader focus will be on one widely recognised factor which may influence the growth rate of firms, i.e. investment in innovations which is in terms of R&D expenditure. Design/methodology/approach The paper investigates the relationship between the R&D efforts and growth of firms in the Indian food and agricultural manufacturing industry during 2001–2019. To empirically test the relationship between firm’s growth (FG) and R&D investments, system generalised method of moments technique has been used, hence enabling to avoid problems related to endogeneity and simultaneity. Findings The findings reveal that investments in innovations have a positive effect on the growth of firms in the Indian food and agricultural manufacturing industry. Investment in R&D also enables the firms to reap benefits from externalities present in the industry. Further analysis reveals that younger firms grow faster when they invest in R&D. More specifically, this paper finds evidence in the case of the food and agricultural industry that import of raw materials negatively affects the FG and export intensity positively affects the growth in the case of R&D firms. Research limitations/implications This study suggests that the government should encourage the industries to invest optimally in R&D projects by providing favourable fiscal treatments and R&D subsidies which are observed to have positive effects in various developed countries. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, the current paper is the first to analyse the impact of innovation in food and agricultural industry on firm’s performance in an emerging economy context with the latest data. This paper agrees that a government initiative to increase private R&D expenditure would have favourable effects on FG as growing investments in R&D lead to further growth of the firms.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Osama F. Atayah ◽  
Khakan Najaf ◽  
Ravichandran K. Subramaniam ◽  
Phaik Nie Chin

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the implication of top executives’ number of years of experience (tenure) on corporate risk-taking behaviour and corporate performance in Malaysian corporations.Design/methodology/approachTo test the hypothesis efficiently, the authors have extracted the data from Bloomberg for 788 listed companies of the Malaysian Stock Exchange. The methodology entails ordinary least squares regressions, quantile regression and dynamic system generalized method of moments model.FindingsFirst, the authors show that executive management tenure has a significant negative relationship with corporate risk-taking. It means that the long-tenured executives tend to undertake less risky strategies and decisions. Second, this study reveals that the longer executive management tenure has a positive relationship with corporate performance. Third, the moderating effect of corporate risk-taking with executive tenure (Tenure dummy*Risk) has a negative relationship with the corporate performance by 1%.Practical implicationsIt implies that the appointment of experienced executive management contributes towards corporate performance directly. However, experienced management trends take less risk, which eventually results in mitigating the corporate performance. On that basis, the findings are significant in highlighting the usefulness of executive leadership term and offers insights to academics, practitioners and policymakers.Originality/valueThis paper is novel since it is unique in evaluating the executive tenure and the preferences to handle risk strategies and how that impact the firm performance.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anjala Kalsie ◽  
Shikha Mittal Shrivastav

This article seeks to examine the relationship between the board size and firm performance. Existing literature on board size is based on different theories of corporate governance. While agency theory and resource dependency theory suggest that the board size positively affects performance, stewardship theory favours smaller board size and argues that larger board size negatively impacts the firm performance. The present article adds to the empirical literature by employing panel data analysis of 145 non-financial companies listed in the NSE CNX 200 Index of India corresponding to 16 industries. The study is carried out for a period of five years from 2008 to 2012. The firm performance has been measured using Tobin’s Q and the market-to-book value ratio (MBVR) as market-based measures and return on assets (ROA) and return on capital employed (ROCE) as accounting-based measures. The fixed effect model, random effect model and feasible generalised least square (FGLS) regression models are applied to achieve the above-mentioned objectives. The results conclude that the board size has a positive and significant impact on the firm performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohd Alsaleh ◽  
A.S. Abdul-Rahim

PurposeThis research explores the effect of bioenergy use on carbon dioxide releases in 28 European Union (EU-28) affiliated members starting from 1990 to 2018.Design/methodology/approachApplying panels' fixed effect (FE) estimator and random effect (RE) estimator, the regressed findings are highly validated as they were robust by panel least square dummy variable corrected (LSDVC) and pooled ordinary least square (Pooled OLS) estimators.FindingsThe findings claimed that carbon dioxide releases decrease with an incline in bioenergy use and trade openness. On the other hand, fossil-fuel and economic growth indicators mounting carbon dioxide releases. The result implies that carbon dioxide releases in EU-28 region members can be mitigated significantly by mounting the quantity bioenergy use in generation channel. This will mostly participate in combating environmental pollution.Practical implicationsThe study suggests for EU28 region members to enhance the portion of bioenergy in their fuel access to decrease emitted carbon dioxide. Governors in EU28 members should mainly encourage bioenergy expansion to raise its security and availability. The politicians of the EU28 members must assert on efficacy and productivity of bioenergy production to achieve energy accessibility and decrease dependency on conventional energy.Originality/valueThis research applies the recently improved model, the panel data analysis approach, which considered for the first-class impacts of estimators on the dependent variable and deals with the several problems of the common Pooled OLS estimator's manner and performance. Finally, this research contributes to the previous studies on ecological sustainability by examining the presence correlation among carbon dioxide emissions, bioenergy sustainability, trade openness, fossil fuel and gross domestic product in the EU28 region. Hence, it proves our research novelty, originality and contribution to the body of knowledge.


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