The inflation hedging capacity of Islamic and conventional equities

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (6) ◽  
pp. 1377-1399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaghum Umar ◽  
Dimitrios Kenourgios ◽  
Muhammad Naeem ◽  
Khadija Abdulrahman ◽  
Salma Al Hazaa

PurposeThis study analyzes the inflation hedging of Islamic and conventional equities by employing 26 indices for the period ranging from January 1996 till August 2018. The authors investigate the decoupling hypothesis for Islamic versus conventional equities across various investment horizons.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ a vector autoregressive framework coupled with bootstrapping procedure to compute inflation hedging measures. The hedging measures employed account for the inflation hedging capacity in terms of hedging effectiveness as well as the cost of hedging (efficiency). The authors account for various investment horizons ranging from one month to ten years.FindingsAlthough, the authors do not find consistent evidence for the decoupling hypothesis of Islamic and conventional equities in terms of their inflation hedging capacity. However, the authors document that certain Islamic equity indices can be employed to effectively hedge against the risk of inflation.Originality/valueThe main contribution of this study is that the existing literature on the comparative performance of Islamic versus conventional equities against inflation risk is sparse. The purpose of this study is to analyze the inflation hedging attributes of Islamic versus conventional equities, that is, whether Islamic equities render better real returns than their conventional counterparts. It will contribute to the growing literature on the comparison between Islamic and conventional equities by documenting the real return attributes of these two, apparently different, assets. A further contribution is that in order to account for the different investment horizons for different types of investors, this study will quantify the real return attributes of Islamic and conventional equities for short-, medium- and long-term investors.

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 169-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Iemmi ◽  
Martin Knapp ◽  
Caroline Reid ◽  
Catherine Sholl ◽  
Monique Ferdinand ◽  
...  

Purpose Positive behavioural support has been considered as a valuable alternative to residential care for children and adolescents with learning disabilities and behaviour that challenges. While recent evidence suggests it has a positive impact on behaviour and carer ability to cope, there is little evidence of its economic costs or benefits. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the cost of providing positive behavioural support to ten children and adolescents with learning disabilities and behaviour that challenges living in the community in Ealing, West London. Comparison was also made with the cost estimate of possible alternative support packages for children and adolescents with learning disabilities and behaviour that challenges in the UK, as obtained through a Delphi exercise. Findings Total cost of services per child was £1,454 per week for young people supported short-term, and £1,402 supported long-term. Children and adolescents were making use of a range of social care, education and health services. Over the full sample, half of the total cost was accounted for by education services. The Delphi exercise estimated the weekly cost of residential-based care as more expensive than the cost of community-based care for children and adolescents with learning disabilities and behaviour that challenges. At the end of the ITSBS, all ten children and adolescents initially at risk of imminent residential placement were living in the community with less service-intensive and less expensive support. This suggests that avoiding residential-based care could reduce costs in the long term. Originality/value Positive behavioural support has potential to support people with learning disabilities and behaviour that challenges in the community, leading to potential cost advantages. However, this is a small study and more robust research is needed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Mannheimer ◽  
Conor Cote

Purpose For libraries with limited resources, digital preservation can seem like a daunting responsibility. Forming partnerships can help build collective knowledge and maximize combined resources to achieve digital preservation goals. This paper aims to provide guidance to help libraries with limited resources achieve digital preservation goals by forming partnerships to build collective knowledge and maximize combined resources. Design/methodology/approach In 2015, librarians from four Montana institutions formed the Digital Preservation Working Group (DPWG), a collaboration to increase digital preservation efforts statewide. The group’s immediate goals were to promote digital preservation best-practices at each individual institution, and to learn about and support each other’s work. The group’s long-term goal was to implement a shared digital preservation service that would fill gaps in existing digital preservation efforts. Findings Beyond the cost savings gained by sharing a digital preservation service, the members of DPWG benefitted from shared knowledge and expertise gained during the partnership. The group also functioned as a sounding board as each institution built its digital preservation program, and it became a system of support when challenges arose. Practical/implications This paper proposes a five-point plan for creating digital preservation partnerships: cultivate a foundation of knowledge and identify a shared vision; assess the current digital preservation landscape at each institution; advocate for the value of digital preservation activities; implement shared digital preservation services; and sustain group activities and establish structures for ongoing support. Originality/value The activities of DPWG provide a model for institutions seeking to collaborate to meet digital preservation challenges. This paper shows that by implementing a structured plan, institutions can build and sustain digital preservation partnerships, thus positioning themselves to achieve digital preservation success.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego del Rey Carrión ◽  
Leandro Juan-Llácer ◽  
José-Víctor Rodríguez

Transitioning a Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) network to a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network in public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) systems is a path to providing future services requiring high radio interface throughput and allowing broadband PPDR (BB-PPDR) radio communications. Users of TETRA networks are currently considering how to deploy a BB-PPDR network in the coming years. This study offers several radio planning considerations in TETRA to LTE migration for such networks. The conclusions are obtained from a case study in which both measurements and radioelectric coverage simulations were carried out for the real scenario of the Murcia Region, Spain, for both TETRA and LTE systems. The proposed considerations can help PPDR agencies efficiently estimate the cost of converting a TETRA network to an LTE network. Uniquely in this study, the total area is divided into geographical areas of interest that are defined as administrative divisions (region, municipal areas, etc.). The analysis was carried out using a radio planning tool based on a geographic information system and the measurements have been used to tune the propagation models. According to the real scenario considered, the number of sites needed in the LTE network—for a specific quality of service (90% for the whole region and 85% for municipal areas)—is a factor of 2.4 higher than for TETRA network.


Significance On July 15, the House of Representatives passed a short-term funding measure, against the wishes of many in the Senate. US infrastructure is facing a fiscal crunch. Taxes on gasoline have traditionally supported highway appropriations. However, eroding purchasing power and greater fuel efficiency means that about 30% of highway funding must be found from other sources, difficult in the current Congress. The present round of appropriations expires on July 31. Impacts A corporate tax might provide a long-term resolution, but the pursuit of it would come at the cost of seeking more modest solutions. These would provide stability for a year or two, necessary for projects of long duration. If corporate tax reform is not completed before the end of 2015, it will probably not get done in a presidential election year. If Congress were to rely on the prospect of these taxes for the HTF, it might find itself in a similar position in a few months.


Subject Pricing political risk. Significance The mis-measurement of political risk is resulting in the cost of capital being valued 2-4 percentage points higher than it should be in assessments ahead of cross-border investment decisions. Research suggests that in 2016 this could have increased net foreign direct investment (FDI) to non-advanced countries by more than 10%. Impacts Political risk measurement is set for a renaissance, with interest from practitioners and end-users likely to proliferate. Frontier markets that are on the edge of inclusion in 'emerging' portfolio allocations could see an uptick in investment inflows. Returns to long-term capital managers, from insurers to pension funds, will rise as cost-of-capital calculations grow in sophistication.


Significance Although it caused no deaths or serious injuries, the eruption has important economic implications for one of the country's key agricultural and salmon-farming regions. Together with recent flash floods in northern Chile, it also draws attention to the need to continue strengthening the disaster response and recovery system. Impacts Even if Calbuco quickly subsides, it will be months before the area can be completely cleaned and years before vegetation fully recovers. The cost of relief after the eruption and recent floods may increase this year's fiscal deficit. A bill to modernise ONEMI is unlikely to be a legislative priority in coming months when attention will focus on anti-corruption measures.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 447-456
Author(s):  
Jeanne Hoover ◽  
Cindy Shirkey ◽  
Lisa Sheets Barricella

Purpose The cost of textbooks continues to rise for college students along with the cost of tuition. These costs can impact student success. In response to the rising costs, higher education institutions have started affordability initiatives. These initiatives are frequently housed in academic libraries. Joyner Library at East Carolina University (ECU) addresses affordability through three initiatives: Course-Adopted Textbook program, Alternative Textbook Mini-Grant program and Streaming Video licensing. Design/methodology/approach This paper will explore the above-mentioned three programs in-depth and perform a sustainability analysis on each program. Findings After reviewing the affordability initiatives discussed in the case study, the authors found that there were varying degrees of sustainability for the programs. Originality/value ECU is not alone in addressing affordability through multiple initiatives, and this case study paper will address long-term sustainability of these initiatives, especially during a time when libraries are experiencing shrinking budgets.


2014 ◽  
Vol 114 (9) ◽  
pp. 1378-1395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z.X. Wang ◽  
Felix T.S. Chan ◽  
S.H. Chung ◽  
Ben Niu

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose a model that determines the strategy of owning and renting trucks in combinations with internal truck scheduling and storage allocation problems in container terminals. Design/methodology/approach – To deal with this complicated problem, a two-level heuristic approach is developed, in which the integration problem is decomposed into two levels. The first level determines the daily operations of the internal trucks, while the second level determines the truck employment strategy based on the calculation in the first level. Findings – The results show that: even if the using cost of owned yard trucks is much lower than the cost of rented yard tucks, terminal companies should not purchase too many trucks when the purchasing price is high. In addition, the empirical truck employment strategies, which are purchasing all the trucks or renting all the trucks, are not cost-effective when compared with the proposed yard truck employment strategy. Originality/value – The paper provides a novel insight for the internal truck employment strategy in container terminals which is the determination of the strategy of employing renting and outsourcing yard trucks to meet operational daily transportation requirements and minimize the long-term cost of employing yard trucks. A mathematical model is proposed to deal with the practical problem. Also, this study presents better solution than empirical method for employing different types of yard truck. Thus, in order to obtain more benefit, terminal companies should employ the proposed yard truck employment strategy.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gigih Udi Atmo ◽  
Colin Duffield ◽  
Lihai Zhang ◽  
David Ian Wilson

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the outcomes of Indonesian power projects as representative projects of Asian emerging economies that were procured via public-private partnerships (PPPs) and traditional public sector procurement. Power generation infrastructure delivery in emerging economies frequently seeks private participation via PPPs as one of the key mechanisms to attract private finance. Undertaking a comparative benchmark study of the outcomes of Indonesian power projects provides an opportunity to explore the historic evidence as to whether PPPs deliver better outcomes than traditional public procurement in emerging economies. Design/methodology/approach This paper reports on a study of the performance of 56 Indonesian power projects procured via either PPPs or traditional procurement. First, it focusses on project time and cost outcomes of power plant facility during construction and commissioning and then extends this comparison to consider the operating availability of power plants during their first two years of operation. Findings The results indicate that PPP projects had superior time and operating availability to those procured traditionally whereas no significant differences were identified in the cost performance between PPPs and traditionally procured projects. These findings highlight the importance of adopting policies that are supported by broader sources of international financiers and high quality power plant developers. Research limitations/implications The quality performance analyses of projects (based on equivalent available factor indices) were limited to the power plants in the Java-Bali region where the majority of projects are large scale power plants. Practical implications This study provides an empirical basis for governments of emerging economies to select the most beneficial procurement strategy for power plant projects. It highlights the importance of selecting experienced providers and to adopt policies that attract high quality international project financiers and power plant developers. This includes the need to ensure the commercial viability of projects and to seriously consider the use of cleaner power technologies. Originality/value This study is the first to compare the outcomes of power projects in Asian emerging economies delivered via PPPs against those delivered by traditional public procurement that includes consideration of the quality of the delivered product.


Author(s):  
Stephanie Jones

Purpose – The aim of this study is to determine the nature and extent of the threat of global maritime piracy. The cost of global piracy has been estimated at USD15-25 billion, reaching an all-time high in 2011, remaining an ongoing threat to world trade and contributing to high commodity costs. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a literature review of formal and informal published sources, this exploratory and diagnostic article attempts to approximately quantify global piracy in terms of pirate activity worldwide and shipper response, and looks at global trends and some tentative economic implications. Findings – The overall findings are inconclusive due to unreliable and piecemeal data, but global piracy clearly impacts goods carried by sea. The piracy problem may be estimated in terms of ships and crew affected, ransoms paid, the impact on specific commodities in terms of cargoes carried and cost implications of pirate-avoiding rerouting. Practical implications – Pirates are getting rich, but their compatriots are poorer than ever. Countries desperate for international aid are corruptly laundering pirate ransom income and continuing to support pirate warlords. Prices are continuing to rise for consumers in all countries. Solutions to the piracy problem remain elusive, and are considered in a follow-up article, Maritime piracy – the challenge of providing long-term solutions. Originality/value – Most articles in this field consider specific piracy incidents in particular locations, without an overall analysis of the impact on world trade as a whole. There is a gap in the literature for an up-to-date, analytical study of maritime piracy worldwide.


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