Social Transfer of Predation Risk Information Reduces Food Locating Ability in European Minnows (Phoxinus phoxinus)

Predation of offspring is the main cause of reproductive failure in many species, and the mere fear of offspring predation shapes reproductive strategies. Yet, natural predation risk is ubiquitously variable and can be unpredictable. Consequently, the perceived prospect of predation early in a reproductive cycle may not reflect the actual risk to ensuing offspring. An increased variance in investment across offspring has been linked to breeding in unpredictable environments in several taxa, but has so far been overlooked as a maternal response to temporal variation in predation risk. Here, we experimentally increased the perceived risk of nest predation prior to egg-laying in seven bird species. Species with prolonged parent-offspring associations increased their intra-brood variation in egg, and subsequently offspring, size. High risk to offspring early in a reproductive cycle can favour a risk-spreading strategy particularly in species with the greatest opportunity to even out offspring quality after fledging.

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Determinants of Corporate Risk Disclosure Practice: The Case of Islamic Banks in Gulf Cooperation Council Region

The Journal of Muamalat and Islamic Finance Research ◽

10.33102/jmifr.v15i1.99 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 16-38 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Samir Srairi

Keyword(s):

United Arab Emirates ◽

Composite Index ◽

Gulf Cooperation Council ◽

Risk Information ◽

Rate Of Return ◽

Islamic Banks ◽

Risk Disclosure ◽

Gulf Region ◽

Corporate Risk ◽

Level Of Risk

The paper develops a framework to explore the risk disclosure practices of 29 Islamic banks operating in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries over the period of 2013-2016 and examines the potential factors which might be affecting risk disclosure. To analyze the level of risk disclosure, the paper develops a composite index by using the content analysis technique. We also employ OLS technique to examine factors affecting Islamic banks’ risk disclosure. The results indicate a very high difference in risk disclosure between countries. Only two countries, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, have a higher level of risk disclosure. The findings also suggest that reporting on some risk disclosure types especially displaced commercial risk and rate of return risk is very low. The regression results show that Islamic banks with a stronger set of corporate governance mechanisms and an active Shariah board appear to disclose more risk information. Other factors that influence risk disclosure practices of Islamic banks are bank size, leverage, cross-border listings and the level of political and civil regression. The study recommends that Islamic banks have to revise their communication strategies and provide more risk information related to rate of return risk and display commercial risk. In addition, GCC regulators should establish risk disclosure regulations which have to become mandatory for all Islamic banks. To the best of our knowledge, the paper provides the first analysis related to the determinants of corporate risk disclosures of Islamic banks in the Arab Gulf region.

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