Esmaeil Aliabadi, Ali Ebrahim Nejad and Mahdi Heidari
The purpose of our study is to examine the functioning of internal capital markets (ICMs) within business groups in Iran. We document how the ultimate owner's economic interests…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of our study is to examine the functioning of internal capital markets (ICMs) within business groups in Iran. We document how the ultimate owner's economic interests in affiliated firms influence their investment and dividend policies.
Design/methodology/approach
Using hand-collected data on the ownership structures of Iranian firms, we first identify group-affiliated firms using Almeida et al.’s (2011) method. Having identified business groups, we test a number of hypotheses concerning the dynamics of the ICMs and the implications of the ultimate owner’s incentives for affiliated firms’ behavior.
Findings
We first demonstrate that investments of group-affiliated firms are less sensitive to their own cash flow (as compared to stand-alone firms) but are sensitive to the cash flows of other firms affiliated with the same group near or at the bottom of the ownership structure. We next find significant variation in dividend policy within groups, with notably higher dividends for firms close to the ultimate owner. Furthermore, we find that higher investments by firms close to the owner lead to lower dividends by firms positioned far from the owner, but the reverse does not hold.
Originality/value
We are the first to examine the effect of group-affiliated firms’ investments on the dividend policies of other firms based on their position within the group. Our findings illuminate how business groups prioritize funding investments in their closely held firms over paying dividends to outside investors in firms positioned farther from the group owner.
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Maryam Larikaman, Mahdi Salehi and Nour-Mohammad Yaghubi
This study aims to investigate blockchain technology (BT) and its opportunities and weaknesses in Iran's tax system; it addresses the opportunities and challenges of BT when…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate blockchain technology (BT) and its opportunities and weaknesses in Iran's tax system; it addresses the opportunities and challenges of BT when incorporated into Iran's tax system.
Design/methodology/approach
The statistical population consists of all the employees and managers working in tax administration, and 674 participants were selected as the sample size via Cochran sampling. The partial least square tests are used to investigate the impact of the independent variable on dependent ones.
Findings
The results show that BT positively affects three components of tax, including value-added tax, tax on shipping goods and income tax. BT’s advantages and opportunities positively affect these taxation types, while its threats negatively affect the opportunities and challenges in Iran’s tax system; this study provides helpful insights and develops the knowledge. Furthermore, this is among the initiatives addressing BT’s opportunities and challenges in three discriminative taxation sectors, including value-added tax, tax on shipping goods and payroll tax.
Originality/value
Since no study has addressed BT’s opportunities and weaknesses in Iran’s tax system, it addresses the opportunities and challenges of BT when incorporated into Iran’s tax system.
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Mansour Soufi, Mehdi Fadaei, Mahdi Homayounfar, Hamed Gheibdoust and Hamidreza Rezaee Kelidbari
The construction industry contributes to economic development by providing physical equipment and infrastructures. However, it also generates some undesirable outputs such as…
Abstract
Purpose
The construction industry contributes to economic development by providing physical equipment and infrastructures. However, it also generates some undesirable outputs such as waste and environmental pollution, especially in developing countries. Due to the importance of the green supply chain management (GSCM) philosophy, for solving these problems, the current study aims to evaluate the drivers of GSCM adoption in the construction industry of Iran.
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses a descriptive and practical methodology. The participated experts in the study include senior managers of the construction department in Rasht municipality who had relevant academic education and suitable experiences in urban and industrial construction. The experts took part in both qualitative and quantitative phases of the research, namely verification of the drivers extracted from literature and ranking them in ascending order. In the quantitative phase, Step-Wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) as a new multi-criterion decision-making (MCDM) method is used to evaluate the drivers of GSCM adoption using MATLAB software.
Findings
The results show that environmental management systems, green product design and innovational capability with weights of 0.347, 0.218 and 0.143 are the most significant sub-drivers, respectively. The less important factor is an investment in environmental technology.
Originality/value
This study evaluated the motivational factors of GSCM in the construction industry. The findings help governments, companies and green supply chain (GSC) managers to improve their knowledge about GSCM and make the best decisions to decrease environmental pollution.
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This study aims to compare the usefulness of financial information in the Jordanian finance industry before and after applying eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) as a…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to compare the usefulness of financial information in the Jordanian finance industry before and after applying eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) as a new regulatory requirement under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Financial information usefulness is measured using the Nijmegen Centre for Economics (NiCE) disclosure index. This index examines IFRS-defined “qualitative characteristics of useful financial information”. These are relevance, faithful portrayal, understandability, comparison and timeliness.
Design/methodology/approach
To evaluate the formulated hypotheses, ordinary least squares regression analysis was used on a dataset consisting of 954 observations from the Jordanian financial industry, specifically the banking, insurance and real estate sectors, spanning the period from 2005 to 2022. The content analysis method has been used to quantify the extent of each characteristic of useful information disclosure.
Findings
The investigation validates that the utilisation of XBRL generally enhances the usefulness of financial information in terms of its “relevance, faithful representation, comparability, and timeliness”, although no association was found regarding the duration of understandability. To ensure effective adoption of XBRL in Jordan, it is essential to provide suitable infrastructure to XBRL suppliers and offer training to XBRL users.
Practical implications
This research advances the field and may be valuable in areas with minimal XBRL framework usage. This analysis can assist businesses in understanding how XBRL affects financial information quality in the age of technological adoption. The findings help regulators and policymakers monitor Jordanian enterprises’ technological adoption and propose IFRS-XBRL-compliant legislation. This could improve measurement and disclosure while protecting investors and integrity. Thus, this research shows that potential investors in Jordanian enterprises must understand and evaluate electronic financial report data. The findings affect business and policy, so executives, lawmakers and stockholders should evaluate them. As technology advances, practitioners and scholars must recognise XBRL’s potential to improve organisational values and effects. These findings can apply to Middle Eastern (ME) countries with similar institutional, cultural and accounting frameworks.
Originality/value
This study combines agency, signalling and stakeholders’ theories, motivational theories for technology adoption, institutional theories and technological acceptance theories to analyse how XBRL affects financial information. To the best of the author’s knowledge, no other scholarly study has examined how XBRL affects country-level financial information usefulness. This study illuminates XBRL’s country-level benefits and complements firm-level assessments. These are crucial for ME and Jordan’s economic growth. Jordanian data and the existing disclosure index of financial information usefulness are used for the first time to evaluate XBRL.