Management obfuscation through mandatory financial risk disclosure: evidence from European-listed banks

Purpose This study aims to investigate the readability of financial risk disclosure divulged by listed banks of the first five European countries according to gross domestic product. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts the management obfuscation hypotheses and tests data gathered for a sample of 790 observations from listed banks in Europe covering the 2007–2018 period. This study uses a readability index (Gunning’s fog index) as the dependent variable for measuring the readability of banks’ mandatory financial risk disclosures. Moreover, it relies on a completeness index, discretionary accruals and several control variables for identifying the determinants of risk disclosure readability using ordinary least square regression for testing the hypotheses. Findings The findings show the existence of a positive relation\nship between readability and completeness of risk disclosure. In contrast, a negative relationship exists between readability and banks’ discretionary accruals. Originality/value This study expands the stream of accounting literature analyzing the lexical characteristics of narrative risk disclosure, and, by focusing on the financial risk disclosure of banks, it extends the readability-related debate, which has primarily concentrated on other types of disclosure to date. This study is relevant to regulators and policymakers for fostering reflections as actions for improving the financial risk disclosures readability. This study is also of potential interest for investors to better delve into the questions surrounding risk disclosure.

Analyzing the Impact of Foreign Remittances upon Poverty: A Case of Uzbekistan from Central Asia.

Remittances have always played a central role in strengthening the economies of low-income and middle-income developing countries. The remittances have also provided a phenomenal support to the economy of Uzbekistan, which is the third leading recipient country of foreign remittances in the Central Asian region after Kyrgzstan and Tajikistan. There is a strong need to investigate the impact of foreign remittances upon poverty reduction in case of Uzbekistan. This study has empirically investigated the impact of remittances on poverty in Uzbekistan by taking the variables like remittances, poverty size, capital formation, per capita GDP, savings and unemployment for the period of 2008-2019. Ordinary Least Square Regression was applied, and the results show an insignificant relationship between foreign remittances and poverty reduction. The reason could be that remittances in Uzbekistan are not pro-poor as mostly the workers from the rich families migrate to Russia. Furthermore most of the migrant workers prefer to settle down in Russia along with their families.

Patients’ Perceptions of Integrated Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries by Level of Need for Health Services

Requirements for integrating care across providers, settings, and over time increase with patients’ needs. Health care providers’ ability to offer care that patients experience as integrated may vary among patients with different levels of need. We explore the variation in patients’ perceptions of integrated care among Medicare beneficiaries based on the beneficiary’s level of need using ordinary least square regression for each of four high-need groups: beneficiaries (a) with complex chronic conditions, (b) with frailties, (c) below 65 with disability, and (d) with any (of the first three) high needs. We control for beneficiary demographics and other factors affecting integrated care, and we conduct sensitivity analyses controlling for multiple individual chronic conditions. We find significant positive associations with level of need for provider support for self-directed care and medication and home health management. Controlling for multiple individual chronic conditions reduces effect sizes and number of significant relationships.

Responsiveness of rural development to budget management attributes: Evidence from Ogun State, Nigeria

The essence of local government as contained in the Nigerian Constitution is bringing government closer to the people and make them feel the impact of governance. This study examined the responsiveness of rural development to three of the attributes of public budgeting (effectiveness, openness, and adequacy) in selected local governments in Ogun State, Nigeria. The objective was to establish the functional association and interconnectedness between the explained and explanatory variables. Data were gathered through the administration of a five-point Likert scale questionnaire distributed to 800 respondents in 8 local governments in Ogun States, out of which 348, representing 43.5%, were retrieved and used for analysis. Both descriptive statistics and ordinary least square regression were utilized in the study. The result showed that three explanatory variables, namely budget effectiveness, budget openness, and budget adequacy, are positively related to rural development, although the impact of budget adequacy was shown to be insignificant. The implication is that the effectiveness of budget management and the openness of the budget in terms of transparency and accountability are more responsive and influential determinants of rural development than the adequacy of the budget estimates. The paper, therefore, recommended improvement in budget openness through more consultations and accessibility to budget information by the public as well as monitoring of projects and programs within the local council to engender development and add value to the rural dwellers.

Effect of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on Corporate Performance: A Study of Selected Quoted Banks

The study investigates the effect of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on corporate performance using Zenith Bank Nigeria Plc. and United Bank for Africa Plc. asa study. Data were obtained from annual financial statement published by the bank from 2010 -2016.Corporate performance was proxied by Return on Equity, Return on Asset and Earnings per Share. The ordinary least square regression technique with the aid of the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 21were employed in the analysis. Findings revealed that ICT has a very weak (low) effect on corporate performance measured with return on equity, almost no effect at all on corporate performance measured with return on assets, and positive effect on corporate performance measured with earnings per share. Therefore the study recommends that; there is need for the bank management team to prioritize the ICT need of the bank to avoid unnecessary investment on ICT gadgets in order to reduce the cost associated to ICT operations of the bank. Also, staff training and development are paramount to enable the effective and efficient utilization of the ICT resources. Furthermore, government should rise up to her duty to provide enabling environment for the thriving of businesses.

Impact of risk disclosures on IPO performance: Evidence from India

The main aim of the paper is to explore the performance of Indian IPOs in the context of risk disclosures in the offer documents. For the purpose of assessing the impact of risk disclosure factors on initial returns, subsequent returns and post issue risk of IPOs, the study has implemented ordinary least square regression. The study has analysed 109 IPOs that were listed in two main Indian stock exchanges (BSE and NSE) from 2015–2019. Outcomes of the present study are contrary to the previous studies which showed that information disclosure reduces the asymmetry, which is touted as the main reason for underpricing, the present study did not find any association between risk disclosures and underpricing. Quantitative risk measures showed positive association with 1-year returns, but qualitative measures failed to show any association. The post issue risk of the firms showed positive association with external risk factors listed in prospectus and negative association with liquidity. The results of this study are useful for the investors as based on the results they can make decisions about investing in Indian IPOs. Besides, the managers of issuing companies and lead managers of issues can use the results of this study to improve the pricing of issues. To the best of the authors’ knowledge no study has been done before in the Indian context which is specific to risk disclosures (quantitative and qualitative measures) and IPO performance. The present study seeks to fill this gap and contribute to the existing literature.

Psychosocial Predictors of Psychological Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic

People worldwide have been largely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. In addition to worries about physical health, it also causes concerns about psychological and mental health. This research aims to explore predictors affecting psychological well-being during the pandemic using the 2018 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) RAND longitudinal data (N = 42,233) and the 2020 HRS COVID-19 module (N = 3,266). Demographics (i.e., gender, age, and education), psychosocial (i.e., personality traits), and health (i.e., comorbidity) variables were included in multivariate logistic and ordinary least square regression analyses predicting feeling “overwhelmed,” “stressed,” and “lonely” during the pandemic. Our results indicated that neuroticism was positively associated with all outcomes. Women were more likely to feel overwhelmed, stressed, and lonely compared to men. Age negatively predicted the overwhelmed and stressed feelings. Furthermore, the effect of depressive symptoms in 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018 on psychological well-being was assessed by conducting a latent growth curve model. Findings indicate that initial level and increasing change of depressive symptoms over four-time points (waves 11-14) were positively related to psychological feelings. A higher level of depressive symptoms at the initial level of 2012 and increasing reports of depression symptoms predicted higher rates of being stressed, feeling overwhelmed, and lonely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results have implications for future research and interventions that should target the emotional antecedents and consequences of pandemics.

Cash Holdings, Commercial Paper and Liquidity

Managing Liquidity has seldom been being as vital as it has during the Covid-19 era. The financial impact of Covid-19 has left many firms on the brink of liquidation. This paper explores the effect cash holdings has had on Profitability of the firm and how it compares with commercial paper between the pre-Covid-19 era and the Covid-19 era. This paper employs and compares the ordinary least square regression between these eras. I find that firms are less liquid during the Covid-19 period compared to the pre-covid period. More importantly, I find that Liquidity has been more critical to a firm's Profitability during Covid-19 era compared to pre-covid 19 periods. Furthermore, Cash holdings represent a significant chunk of Liquidity. However, these Cash holdings dropped by a little in the covid-19 era. Finally, I find that both commercial paper and cash holdings are used as complements. However, this result is weakly supported during the pre-covid period.

Assessment of the Determinants of Balance of Payment in Tanzania

The purpose of the study was to assess the determinants of the balance of payment in Tanzania. The nature of this study was quantitative where secondary time series data covering a period of thirty-one years between 1990 and 2020 were collected. The study performed descriptive statistics and diagnostic tests such as normality test, unit root test for stationarity, Pearson’s Correlation matrix to check if there is a multicollinearity problem in the data. The diagnostic tests revealed that the data bring unbiased results, therefore the ordinary least square regression was performed and we found that foreign direct investment and inflation rate have a negative and significant influence on the balance of payment, whereas exchange rate has a positive and insignificant influence on the balance of payment, and the interest rate has an insignificant negative influence on the balance of payment. Finally, we recommend that a country have to introduce relative prices of imports in order to improve the inflows of FDI in order to have a favourable balance of payment in a country like Tanzania. Also, Tanzania's central bank must be cautious in its monetary policy and take some beneficial steps to regulate the money supply. To attract the new internal investor, it must keep an eye on interest rates and charge a low-interest rate.

Is the Foreign Investment Matter for the Agricultural Export?

The idea that foreign investments can help developing countries to increase their economic growths and exports may not be fulfilled recently. However, many economists, world organizations and country governments still defend that idea. This study is aimed to compare impacts of foreign and local direct investments to agricultural exports. Quantitative data is obtained from some publications of Indonesian government. This research uses Ordinary Least Square Regression method to analyze relations between foreign and local direct investments with agricultural exports. This research found that foreign direct investments has a nonsignificant effect on agricultural exports, but local investment has a positive significant effect.