Working capital management, board structure and Tobin's q ratio of Thai listed firms

PurposeThis study investigates whether the integration between working capital management (WCM) and the structure of a firm's board of directors impacts its Tobin's q ratio. The sample set consists of 319 Thai listed firms with 3,190 firm-year observations from 2010 to 2019.Design/methodology/approachThe two-step generalized method of moments (two-step GMM) model is employed to address endogeneity.FindingsThe empirical results show that having both (1) a high level of net working capital holdings, a long period of net trade cycles or using an aggressive policy in working capital investment and (2) a more diverse board of directors decrease a firm's Tobin's q ratio. Conversely, when a firm's managers employ an aggressive policy for their working capital financing and the board structure of their firms is highly diverse, the firm's Tobin's q ratio increases. This indicates the appropriateness of some WCM policies is dependent on the characteristics of a firm's board of directors. Thus, the different integration between WCM and board structure may elicit dissimilar outcomes for a firm's Tobin's q ratio.Originality/valueTo their knowledge, the authors are the first to investigate the influence of the integration between WCM and board characteristics on Tobin's q ratio.

Integrating existing water and wastewater assets to reduce domestic heating emissions

A study was undertaken to explore opportunities for achieving reducing greenhouse gas emissions from UK domestic heating by using existing drinking water and wastewater assets as energy storage and recovery mechanisms, coupled with modest local renewable energy generation. The sensitivity of the solutions to future projections for domestic heating demands and climate change effects was explored. Simulations optimised the available energy supply, potential for storage, heat recovery and heat demand to minimise emissions at a scale that could be adopted in most UK towns. The approach may be able to deliver significant emissions reductions with more limited capital investment than more centralised renewable energy approaches. Results from two UK locations showed that integrated water–energy systems could theoretically reduce emissions by about 50%. Furthermore, the system could satisfy demand for about 70% of the time periods each year. Future scenarios were tested and it was found that the projected annual emissions reduction was similar across all scenarios, suggesting this would be a robust approach.

Development Level Evaluation of Water Ecological Civilization in Yangtze River Economic Belt

Water ecological civilization (WEC) is a key component and basic guarantee of ecological civilization. This paper sets up an evaluation index system (EIS) for WEC development (WECD) level, which covers such three dimensions as social economic development, control over total water resources and water utilization efficiency, and synthetic environmental governance and adopts set pair analysis (SPA) to measure and analyze the WECD level in Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) from 2010 to 2019. The results show that (1) the score of each subsystem in YREB WECD grew continuously in the sample period and poised to increase in future, (2) in general, YREB WECD level steadily increased to a relatively high level, and (3) the good development trend of YREB WECD is inseparable from the fact that YREB stepped up its efforts in capital investment, water utilization, and water environment protection and recovery. Finally, pertinent measures were put forward to further improve the YREB WECD level.

Determination of average relative capital investment of 30–125 MW combined-cycle plants commissioned at Russian thermal power plants in 2015–2020. Comparative analysis with data obtained in 2010–2014

The present work examines average relative capital investment and fuel consumption for electric and thermal energy supply of the combined-cycle plants having 30–125 MW gas turbines commissioned at Russian thermal power plants in 2015–2020. In this work, we used general calculation methods of average relative capital investments and fuel consumption for the electrical and thermal energy supply using power equipment of thermal power plants. To assess the scope of commissioning gas turbines incorporated into the combined-cycle plants, they were classified into three groups by electrical power: 30–59 MW, 60–99 MW and 100–125 MW. The scope of commissioning gas turbines incorporated into the Russian combined-cycle plants in 2015–2020 was analysed. The average relative capital invest-ment in combined-cycle plants having 30–125 MW gas turbines, as well as the average specific fuel consumption for the electrical and thermal energy supply, were calculated. The calculations were carried out for each part of combined-cycle plants integrated into thermal power plants with a breakdown by seven Unified Energy Systems of Russia. The quantita-tive commissioning of gas turbines is compared for the periods from 2010 to the economic crisis of 2014 and after 2014 to the present: a ~2.5-fold decrease is demonstrated. A preliminary evaluation of the increase in average relative capital investment in combined-cycle plants having gas turbines of the same electric power was performed.

ЕФЕКТИВНІСТЬ ІНВЕСТИЦІЙНОЇ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ В УКРАЇНІ

This article seeks to assess the effectiveness of attracting foreign investment in Ukraine. Within the scope of the research, investment activity is considered a key driver for economic development. It is emphasised that boosting economic growth in Ukraine depends heavily on attracting foreign investment as their effects extend to encouraging the national output, the speed of its technological advancements as well as the scale and pace of economic restructuring. The purpose and objectives of the study are to explore and evaluate the effectiveness of foreign investment in Ukraine's economy along with offering the authors’ understanding of the key factors affecting the investment climate and suggesting the most promising pathways to foster investment efficiency in Ukraine. It is argued that this study has a number of significant implications to Ukraine, since investment processes to a great extent underpin market development strategies, and entail the most important mechanisms for creating appropriate environment to overcome the structural economic crisis, implement structural changes in the production sector, promote innovation and enhance economic performance at the micro- and macrolevels. The research methodology involves general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, and the generalization techniques. The findings reveal a whole range of crucial factors behind the investment process crisis and lack of effective tools for investing into the national economic development. The authors assert that a country's position in the investment ranking is a sort of a ‘business card’ for the investor who is looking for new capital investment opportunities. Currently, from this perspective, Ukraine's chances to attract foreign investment seem quite miserable. However, the findings verify that in the context of modern globalization, to spur foreign capital attraction into Ukraine, creating a favourable investment climate is paramount. The study has identified factors that affect the process of shaping the investment climate, among which the most important are a group of economic, political and geographical factors. According to the research results, a proactive government strategy and a comprehensive approach to resolving the current challenges related to investment activities at the micro- and macrolevels will contribute to realizing Ukraine’s investment potential with maximum efficiency that will lay a solid background for sustainable economic development in the future.

The Changing World: A Literature Review on The Significant Roles of Millennial Women in Malaysia

Every generation is uniquely featured by naturally designed specific characteristics. A generation is influenced by different backgrounds and upbringing, a major factor that differentiates each generation. Specifically, the significance of new millennial women’s role varies from one country to another. The study aims to analyse the significant roles of millennial women in Malaysia by reviewing empirical studies and performing a relevant literature search through specific terms related to the topic. Resultantly, millennial women’s rising earning power provided significant empowerment and stability. High human capital investment also allowed millennial women to manage the changing family institution that indirectly impacts the stability of society. Finally, the study revealed that new millennial women are transforming and continually evolving to navigate a changing world.

Investigation of The Driving Factors of Ecological Footprint in Malaysia

Malaysia’s growing trends in energy production related emissions throw doubt on the country's possibility of meeting the Paris Climate Change Agreement and SDG obligations. Taking into account Malaysia’s current growth pattern and climatic circumstances, this study evaluates the association between ecological footprint and its potential determinants: economic growth, oil consumption, renewable energy and domestic capital investment for the period between 1965 and 2017. The stationary nature of the parameters is investigated using the conventional unit root approach (ADF and PP unit root) and structural break unit root (ZA unit root). The bounds approach in combination with the critical approximation p-values of Kripfganz and Schneider (2018) established a cointegration association between the observed parameters. The ARDL approach uncovered that economic growth and oil consumption contribute to ecological footprint. Furthermore, renewable energy consumption and gross capital formation reduce the ecological footprint. The FMOLS and DOLS estimators were applied as the sensitivity analysis of the ARDL estimators. Furthermore, the spectral BC causality approach was also utilized to investigate the causal association between ecological footprint and its determinants.