scholarly journals ESG-risk Factors and Value Multiplier of Telecommunications Companies

Author(s):  
Alexander Khorin ◽  
Arseniy Krikunov

The paper is devoted to the study of the impact of environmental, social responsibility and corporate governance (ESG) risk factors on the value of telecommunications industry enterprises expressed through the EV_EBITDA multiplier. The main goal was to assess the elimination of ESG risks from the standpoint of increasing the competitiveness of the company. The methodological basis of the study was the coordination of non-financial information of companies with their financial results. The paper implements the construction of a regression model within the framework of econometric modeling, the direction of which was proposed by A. Damodaran. The authors did not limit themselves to corporate information from one country, but identified five regions, such as the USA, the European Union, the UK, the rest of the developed countries (DEV), as well as the markets of developing countries (EM). The database was compiled on the basis of non-financial business activity parameters of 57 of the world's largest telecommunications companies as of 2021, where financial information is taken from the Bloomberg database, and the ESG risk coefficient of the rating of these companies is used from the Sustainalytics research center. The result of the study was that there is a stable relationship between the risk of the ESG rating and the EV/EBITDA parameter characterizing the cost of capital – that is, the lower the risk, the greater the cost of capital. For different country groups, the result was obtained with varying degrees of confidence: for "other developed countries" with a high 5% significance level, for European countries with a 10% level, for the USA, the insignificance of the coefficient is associated with a small sample size, and for developing country markets the coefficient is insignificant. The novelty of the results obtained lies in the use of a metric approach to confirm the stable dependence of ESG risk factors on the EV/EBITDA cost multiplier. The results obtained allow us to make a generalized conclusion that the elimination of ESG risks contributes to the growth of the company's competitiveness, where the results of the study are able to encourage companies to consider the disclosure of non-financial information as an important indicator of long-term sustainability. When ESG is considered as an integral factor in the future activity of the company, the end result is its higher evaluation by stakeholders.

2018 ◽  
Vol 161 ◽  
pp. 03001
Author(s):  
Jeyeon Kim ◽  
Kenta Sato ◽  
Naohisa Hashimoto ◽  
Alexey Kashevnik ◽  
Kohji Tomita ◽  
...  

In this paper, we investigate the impact of face direction during traveling by Standing-Type Personal Mobility Device (PMD). The use of PMD devices has been a popular choice for recreational activities in the developed countries such as in the USA and the countries in Europe. These devices are not completely risk free and various accidents have been reported. Since that, the risk factors leading to accidents have to be investigated. Unfortunately, the research studies on the risk factors on riding PMD devices have not been matured as much as the studies on driving cars. In this paper, we evaluate the impacts of face angle on travelling trajectory during travelling in a PMD. We showed by experiments that, the face direction is an important factor in risk assessment for traveling by a PMD.


2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 122-131
Author(s):  
Sarah M. Alshahrani

AbstractInternational investment law, particularly the global backlash against investment treaties, has evolved recently. This article aims to clarify how international investment law evolved over history, from the early Arab traders in the 7th century to the Ottoman Empire, to understand its hidden aims. It investigates the practice of signing investment treaties, which appear first during the Fatimid Caliphate2 and Mamluk Sultanate3 periods. It then explains when control over foreign investment started to diminish during the Ottoman Empire period.4 Further, it explains the links between the USA Friendship, Commerce and Navigation treaties (FCNs), and current investment treaties, explaining the impact of colonization and imperialism on drafting treaty provisions. Within this historical context, this article illustrates the need to understand the roots of international investment law in order to urge Arab countries to terminate or renegotiate current bilateral investment treaties (BITs) as a number of developing and developed countries have done.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-395
Author(s):  
Richard Cebula ◽  
James E. Payne ◽  
Donnie Horner ◽  
Robert Boylan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of labor market freedom on state-level cost of living differentials in the USA using cross-sectional data for 2016 after allowing for the impacts of economic and quality of life factors. Design/methodology/approach The study uses two-stage least squares estimation controlling for factors contributing to cost of living differences across states. Findings The results reveal that an increase in labor market freedom reduces the overall cost of living. Research limitations/implications The study can be extended using panel data and alternative measures of labor market freedom. Practical implications In general, the finding that less intrusive government and greater labor freedom are associated with a reduced cost of living should not be surprising. This is because less government intrusion and greater labor freedom both inherently allow markets to be more efficient in the rationalization of and interplay with forces of supply and demand. Social implications The findings of this and future related studies could prove very useful to policy makers and entrepreneurs, as well as small business owners and public corporations of all sizes – particularly those considering either location in, relocation to, or expansion into other markets within the USA. Furthermore, the potential benefits of the National Right-to-Work Law currently under consideration in Congress could add cost of living reductions to the debate. Originality/value The authors extend the literature on cost of living differentials by investigating whether higher amounts of state-level labor market freedom act to reduce the states’ cost of living using the most recent annual data available (2016). That labor freedom has a systemic efficiency impact on the state-level cost of living is a significant finding. In our opinion, it is likely that labor market freedom is increasing the efficiency of labor market transactions in the production and distribution of goods and services, and acts to reduce the cost of living in states. In addition, unlike previous related studies, the authors investigate the impact of not only overall labor market freedom on the state-level cost of living, but also how the three sub-indices of labor market freedom, as identified and measured by Stansel et al. (2014, 2015), impact the cost of living state by state.


Author(s):  
V. Sautkina

The following article is devoted to the study of current state of national education and healthcare systems. The cost of services in these areas constantly increases, there for even developed countries are forced to make significant efforts in order to maintain earlier achieved results. Due to this reason countries entered into the period of constant reforms with the purpose of maintaining that high level of health and educational services for all segments of population with a constant reduction of its volume of financing. The legal aspects of these changes are requiring manifestation of the will of politicians in order to overcome the opposition of parties which are defending their interests. As an example, the main opponents of the healthcare reforms proposed by Barak Obama in the USA are Republicans who are concerned about a significant increase of a state control over the entire national insurance system. The author comes to the conclusion that only joint actions of the government and every segment of population might actually improve the quality of medical and educational services.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed Hassan Ahmed ◽  
Yasean Tahat ◽  
Yasser Eliwa ◽  
Bruce Burton

Purpose Earnings quality is of great concern to corporate stakeholders, including capital providers in international markets with widely varying regulatory pedigrees and ownership patterns. This paper aims to examine the association between the cost of equity capital and earnings quality, contextualised via tests that incorporate the potential for moderating effects around institutional settings. The analysis focuses on and compares evidence relating to (common law) UK/US firms and (civil law) German firms over the period 2005–2018 and seeks to identify whether, given institutional dissimilarities, significant differences exist between the two settings. Design/methodology/approach First, the authors undertake a review of the extant literature on the link between earnings quality and the cost of capital. Second, using a sample of 948 listed companies from the USA, the UK and Germany over the period 2005 to 2018, the authors estimate four implied cost of equity capital proxies. The relationship between companies’ cost of equity capital and their earnings quality is then investigated. Findings Consistent with theoretical reasoning and prior empirical analyses, the authors find a statistically negative association between earnings quality, evidenced by information relating to accruals and the cost of equity capital. However, when they extend the analysis by investigating the combined effect of institutional ownership and earnings quality on financing cost, the impact – while negative overall – is found to vary across legal backdrops. Research limitations/implications This paper uses institutional ownership as a mediating variable in the association between earnings quality and the cost of equity capital, but this is not intended to suggest that other measures may be of relevance here and additional research might usefully expand the analysis to incorporate other forms of ownership including state and foreign bases. Second, and suggestive of another avenue for developing the work presented in the study, the authors have used accrual measures of earnings quality. Practical implications The results are shown to provide potentially important insights for policymakers, creditors and investors about the consequences of earnings quality variability. The results should be of interest to firms seeking to reduce their financing costs and retain financial viability in the wake of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Originality/value The reported findings extends the single-country results of Eliwa et al. (2016) for the UK firms and Francis et al. (2005) for the USA, whereby both reported that the cost of equity capital is negatively associated with earnings quality attributes. Second, in a further increment to the extant literature (particularly Francis et al., 2005 and Eliwa et al., 2016), the authors find the effect of institutional ownership to be influential, with a significantly positive impact on the association between earnings quality and the cost of equity capital, suggesting in turn that institutional ownership can improve firms’ ability to secure cheaper funding by virtue of robust monitoring. While this result holds for the whole sample (the USA, the UK and Germany), country-level analysis shows that the result holds only for the common law countries (the UK and the USA) and not for Germany, consistent with the notion that extant legal systems are a determining factor in this context. This novel finding points to a role for institutional investors in watching and improving the quality of financial reports that are valued by the market in its price formation activity.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Khalil ◽  
Rabih Nehme

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to shed light on factors leading to unethical acts committed by auditors from a cultural and gender perspectives. It investigates differences in junior auditors’ attitudes towards audit behavior when a performance evaluation (PE) is anticipated. The objective of this study is to aid academicians and audit executives in developing new models of PE and internship programs that should mitigate dysfunctional behavior. Design/methodology/approach A survey adapted from Big Four companies’ performance appraisal templates was administered to junior accountants who have completed their internship programs and their external audit course at accredited universities in Lebanon and the USA. Several statistical tests were conducted to analyze the relationship between the different variables. Findings This paper shows how PE affects junior auditors’ attitudes to dysfunctional audit behavior (DAB). From a cultural standpoint, American auditors express more negative views towards DAB than their Lebanese counterparts. This paper also demonstrates that female auditors are less inclined towards DAB than male auditors. Originality/value Previous studies on the topic have been mostly conducted in developed countries with a scarcity of studies examining multiple countries. This study focuses on two different cultural contexts, a developed country, the USA and an emerging country, poorly represented in the literature, Lebanon. This paper also observes variances between male and female auditors in DAB when expecting a PE. The originality of this paper stems from its concurrent examination of the impact of gender and culture on DAB by using a sample of less-experienced auditors at the end of their educational path.


2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 478-495
Author(s):  
Ashutosh Kar ◽  
Pratyay Ranjan Datta

The cost of logistics plays a vital role in the pricing of goods in international trade. Besides, the recent imposition of additional tariff by even upper-middle income countries such as the USA, China etc., has led to an increase in the total landed cost of goods. However, a seller has no option but to adapt to changing tariff requirements and can articulate only the logistics cost to a certain extent. This aspect requires an understanding of the logistics cost dynamics in international business. Since a higher volume of goods moves by marine transportation, this study focusses on the same. In this article, authors have attempted to establish a statistically significant relationship between prices and other factors like fuel, number of vessels, freight, and weight value ratio. The paper introduces a logistics-coefficient to indicate the extent of integration of logistics activities to keep the total-landed-cost (TLC) unchanged. Finally, the author proposes the system dynamics model to study the impact of changes in any one or some or all these factors on the price of the product. This model will enable the global firm to decide the entry and exit in the market. JEL Codes: F23


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catrin Eames ◽  
Rebecca Crane ◽  
Eluned Gold ◽  
Sophie Pratt

Purpose – Behavioural parent training (PT) interventions partially mediate risk factors for the development of child behavioural problems. Mindfulness skills could have benefit in alleviating the impact of these risk factors for parents who are socio-economically disadvantaged. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – A pre-post single group comparison of disadvantaged mothers attending the Mindfulness-Based Wellbeing for Parents (MBW-P) programme. Findings – Changes were observed in facets of parental stress (Parenting Stress Index-Short Form; Abidin, 1995), depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II; Beck et al., 1996) and brooding (Ruminative Responses Scale; Nolen-Hoeksema and Morrow, 1991), with moderate to large effect sizes and incidences of clinical change. Research limitations/implications – The research design, although pragmatic, includes a small sample and no control or long-term comparison group. Social implications – Mothers considered as the “hardest to reach” group in terms of vulnerability, risk factors and being likely to gain from intervention demonstrated positive shifts post-intervention. A targeted mindfulness-based intervention, delivered pragmatically within a health service context, may have benefit in reducing the impact of risk factors on parental wellbeing. Originality/value – To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first evaluation of a targeted mindfulness group delivered within routine health care settings, in identified “high risk” areas, by routine staff.


2003 ◽  
Vol 182 (6) ◽  
pp. 505-508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Duggan ◽  
Juliet Warner ◽  
Martin Knapp ◽  
Robert Kerwin

BackgroundSchizophrenia is a major cause of suicide, and symptoms characteristic of treatment-resistant disease are strong risk factors. Clozapine reduces symptoms in 60% of such patients and significantly decreases the risk of suicide.AimsTo model the impact of increased clozapine prescribing on lives saved and resource utilisation.MethodA model was built to compare current levels of clozapine prescribing with a scenario in which all suitable patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia received clozapine.ResultsIt was estimated that an average of 53 lives could be saved in the UK each year. If clozapine is cost-neutral, the cost per life-year saved is $.5108. If clozapine achieves a 10% reduction in annual support costs, the net saving is $8.7 million per annum. An average of 167 acute beds would be freed each year.ConclusionsThe use of clozapine in treatment-resistant schizophrenia saves lives, frees resources and is cost-effective.


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