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Article
Publication date: 30 March 2021

Muhammad Ayaz, Shafie Mohamed Zabri and Kamilah Ahmad

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between leverage and firm’s performance in Malaysia by framing the relationship under the tradeoff theory and agency cost…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between leverage and firm’s performance in Malaysia by framing the relationship under the tradeoff theory and agency cost theory.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on insights drawn from the existing literature, we opted for fixed effects and system two-steps GMM models to establish the hypothesized relationship between leverage and performance. We analyzed 528 nonfinancial firms listed on the Bursa Malaysia Stock exchange for the period of 12 years (2005–2016).

Findings

The outcomes show that the leverage ratio improves the firm performance, consistent with leverage serving as an effective strategy in constraining managers from building their personal empire, revealing a proportionately greater benefit for Malaysian firms than the cost to debt financing. The authors also find that a positive relationship between leverage and firm performance switch to the negative when the level of leverage reaches beyond the optimal level. Consequently, switching from positive to negative indicates that debt has a twofold (nonlinear) impact on firm performance.

Practical implications

Our research provides several implications to potential stakeholders. For investors, firms having lower leverage ratios could achieve superior performance, thus investing in corporations pursuing higher performance. Managers should therefore strive for achieving higher performance to meet the needs of investors and shareholders. From the researcher’s perspective, our research suggests the need to go away from the searching linear association between leverage and firm performance and the relevance of nonlinear correlation. Moreover, our research can help managers to understand how their lender relates to their debt to assets ratios. Thus, they can design an optimal level of leverage that not only improves the firm’s performance but also reduce the associated costs.

Originality/value

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the initial attempt in the context of Malaysia that documents evidence indicating that the lower leverage is likely to create value for shareholders while a higher debt ratio reduces firm profitability.

Details

Managerial Finance, vol. 47 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0307-4358

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Article
Publication date: 1 July 2020

Zhang Jun, Muhammad Ayaz Akbar, Wang Xin lei and Danaish

The purpose of this study is to present the optimization of the design and measurement principle of a six-component force/thrust measurement stand. This study highlights some key…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to present the optimization of the design and measurement principle of a six-component force/thrust measurement stand. This study highlights some key problems found in previous studies and proposes improvements in design and measurement principles.

Design/methodology/approach

The numerical simulation approach is used to verify the proposed improvements. An improved design and measurement principle are proposed and to verify the proposed improvements, simulation experiments are conducted. The data obtained from simulations are analyzed through the proposed improved measurement principle. The proposed stand is capable of measuring the main thrust and other components as pitch, yaw and roll. The stand is capable of measuring the main thrust more than 50,000 N and orthogonal thrust components more than 1,000 N. Improved design of measurement stand is also capable of measuring moments in three-axis more than 150 Nm. Thrust stand consists of two main sections: front and rare. Stand consists of seven piezoelectric force sensors to measure all components of force.

Findings

The simulations experiments and basic theoretical laws of kinematics prove that the proposed design indeed improves the precision of measurement and also enhance the efficiency of design. Evaluation results show that the measurement stand designed is highly functional. Non-linearity, coupling and repeatability errors are found to be within acceptable range during numerical simulations.

Originality/value

This study is unique in this kind. This study identifies the key problems found in previous studies and proposes an improved design and measurement principle. This study provides evidence for the improvements to be really functional and necessary.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. 18 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

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Article
Publication date: 25 March 2021

Hafiz Zahoor, Rashid Mehmood Khan, Ahsan Nawaz, Muhammad Ayaz and Ahsen Maqsoom

Earned Value Management (EVM) is widely used as a project performance measurement and forecasting technique. Nonetheless, it has not been fully explored in Pakistani construction…

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Abstract

Purpose

Earned Value Management (EVM) is widely used as a project performance measurement and forecasting technique. Nonetheless, it has not been fully explored in Pakistani construction industry; where conventional progress reporting methodology (CPRM) is being followed having certain confines. It reports only the financial progress of a project, expresses feeble association between the duration and cost of activities, and forecasts flawed schedule and completion cost. This research implements EVM on under-construction building projects in Pakistan, and compares its upshots with the projects' actual records and with the outcomes of CPRM.

Design/methodology/approach

To assess the implementation of EVM on building projects, a set of specific criteria was established. Work Breakdown Structure, Organization Breakdown Structure and Control Points were established. The study has compared the EVM metrics with CPRM outcomes on three under-study building projects, and has deliberated on their mutual differences as well as their relationship with actual cost and schedule performance. Monthly figures of actual spending and completed activities were periodically recorded and compared with planned values for status indication. The graphs were generated to observe the correlation between the results of EVM and CPRM. The data was then extrapolated to forecast the schedule and cost values at completion.

Findings

The study discovered that trends of EVM in quantifying the project's cost and schedule performance were strongly correlated and were closer to the actual progress. It has also verified the EVM's soundness in forecasting the cost and schedule, required for project's completion. Contrarily, CPRM metrics could not precisely visualize the current and future, cost and schedule performance.

Originality/value

The case study concludes that EVM's incorporation in progress reporting regime can revolutionize the assessment procedures in Pakistan by rightly indicating the project's current status as well as visualizing the future performance. The study's methodology can also be extrapolated in other countries having similar work environment and economic conditions.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 29 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

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Article
Publication date: 6 July 2010

Muhammad Azeem Qureshi and Ayaz Muhammad

In view of the paradox of soaring malnutrition prevalence in an agrarian economy like Pakistan, political and economic pundits are of the opinion that Pakistan may face acute…

577

Abstract

Purpose

In view of the paradox of soaring malnutrition prevalence in an agrarian economy like Pakistan, political and economic pundits are of the opinion that Pakistan may face acute shortage of food in future if its political managers do not take holistic approach to address the issue. The form of government system is one such dimension of this approach. Pakistan has witnessed different forms of government system. The purpose of this paper is to assess the food availability situation under different regimes in Pakistan since 1972.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses log‐lin growth model to make out if form of the government may affect the level of food availability in Pakistan.

Findings

The data indicate lot of variations between different regimes. Over the years consistent and positive public policies for demographic management brought down the population growth rate. It was expected that positive demographic development coupled with supplementary policies will provide space to ensure sufficient food and standard nutrition to the people but this variable also could not contribute according to expectations. Prevailing inequity in society along with inconsistent policies and mismanagement of resources are generally quoted as the main reasons for this misfortune. However, the paper demonstrates that vertical power structure and absence of inclusive political system is an additional reason of continuing food deprivation in Pakistan.

Research limitations/implications

For the purpose of this analysis the authors use the food balance sheet data of Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations, and hence assume all limitations of this database.

Practical implications

This paper points out another reason to have inclusive form of the government in Pakistan: to reduce food deprivation.

Originality/value

This paper is the first of its kind to assess the availability of food to the citizens of Pakistan under different regimes.

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 37 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

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Article
Publication date: 11 June 2024

Rashid Javed and Mazhar Mughal

One of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals is to ensure the availability of improved drinking water for everyone. In this study, we examine the association between…

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Abstract

Purpose

One of the United Nations’ sustainable development goals is to ensure the availability of improved drinking water for everyone. In this study, we examine the association between access to improved drinking water at the district level and child nutritional outcomes in Pakistan.

Design/methodology/approach

We employ district-level unbalanced panel data from Pakistan from various rounds of Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Surveys and Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys compiled by the Data4Pakistan, Pakistan District Development Portal. We examine the impact of the percentage of the population in a given district with access to clean drinking water on the percentage of stunted, underweight and wasted children in the district. The analysis proceeds in two steps. In the first step, we explore the spatial distribution of improved drinking water coverage and child development outcomes across districts. In the second step, we study their relationship by employing standard panel estimation methods and controlling for district characteristics.

Findings

The spatial analysis reveals the large disparity among districts and provinces in terms of improved drinking water coverage and child nutrition. The estimation results indicate that there is a significant association between the accessibility of improved drinking water and child development outcomes. The effect is significant for child stunting and underweight but not for child wasting. The impact appears to be stronger in rural districts. These findings are robust to alternate empirical strategies.

Originality/value

This is the first such study to examine the provision of improved drinking water at the district level in relation to child developmental outcomes in a developing country context.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-09-2023-0739

Details

International Journal of Social Economics, vol. 52 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0306-8293

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Article
Publication date: 5 September 2017

Muhammad Ali Masood, Rabeeh Ayaz Abbasi, Onaiza Maqbool, Mubashar Mushtaq, Naif R. Aljohani, Ali Daud, Muhammad Ahtisham Aslam and Jalal S. Alowibdi

Tags are used to annotate resources on social media platforms. Most tag recommendation methods use popular tags, but in the case of new resources that are as yet untagged (the…

492

Abstract

Purpose

Tags are used to annotate resources on social media platforms. Most tag recommendation methods use popular tags, but in the case of new resources that are as yet untagged (the cold start problem), popularity-based tag recommendation methods fail to work. The purpose of this paper is to propose a novel model for tag recommendation called multi-feature space latent Dirichlet allocation (MFS-LDA) for cold start problem.

Design/methodology/approach

MFS-LDA is a novel latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA)-based model which exploits multiple feature spaces (title, contents, and tags) for recommending tags. Exploiting multiple feature spaces allows MFS-LDA to recommend tags even if data from a feature space is missing (the cold start problem).

Findings

Evaluation of a publicly available data set consisting of around 20,000 Wikipedia articles that are tagged on a social bookmarking website shows a significant improvement over existing LDA-based tag recommendation methods.

Originality/value

The originality of MFS-LDA lies in segregation of features for removing bias toward dominant features and in synchronization of multiple feature space for tag recommendation.

Details

Program, vol. 51 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0033-0337

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Article
Publication date: 22 July 2024

Gohar Ayaz and Muhammad Zahid

This study aims to highlight the key aspects of sustainable finance using bibliometric analysis of the relevant literature extracted from two separate databases, Scopus and…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to highlight the key aspects of sustainable finance using bibliometric analysis of the relevant literature extracted from two separate databases, Scopus and Dimensions.ai. The present study contributes towards the achievement of sustainable development by providing directions to align financial decision-making with different sustainability aspects.

Design/methodology/approach

The author conducted bibliometric analysis for 1,220 articles from Scopus and 1,437 publications from Dimensions.ai. The most frequently occurring terms in sustainable finance research are explored and visualised using the VOSviewer.

Findings

Bibliometric findings revealed a dynamic evolution of research focus over time. The social component dominated from 2012 to 2016, however a shift to environmental and climate change considerations is noticed from 2016 to 2020. Recent studies (2020–2022) exhibited heightened attention to green finance and renewable energy. Overlay visualisations highlighted similar trends in both databases, indicating a contemporary emphasis on green finance.

Research limitations/implications

This study enriches theoretical discourse by mapping the trajectory of sustainable finance research, contributing to a deeper understanding of its evolution.

Practical implications

Insights from this study guide researchers and practitioners in identifying trends, that can help the integration of green finance principles into corporate strategies.

Social implications

Findings also raise awareness among stakeholders, and help facilitate socially responsible corporate cultures and informed policymaking.

Originality/value

The originality of this study lies in its comprehensive bibliometric analysis of sustainable finance research in management studies, drawing data from two major databases and spanning over three decades.

Details

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, vol. 15 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8021

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Article
Publication date: 11 October 2018

Ali Daud, Tehmina Amjad, Muazzam Ahmed Siddiqui, Naif Radi Aljohani, Rabeeh Ayaz Abbasi and Muhammad Ahtisham Aslam

Citation analysis is an important measure for the assessment of quality and impact of academic entities (authors, papers and publication venues) used for ranking of research…

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Abstract

Purpose

Citation analysis is an important measure for the assessment of quality and impact of academic entities (authors, papers and publication venues) used for ranking of research articles, authors and publication venues. It is a common observation that high-level publication venues, with few exceptions (Nature, Science and PLOS ONE), are usually topic specific. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the claim correlation analysis between topic specificity and citation count of different types of publication venues (journals, conferences and workshops).

Design/methodology/approach

The topic specificity was calculated using the information theoretic measure of entropy (which tells us about the disorder of the system). The authors computed the entropy of the titles of the papers published in each venue type to investigate their topic specificity.

Findings

It was observed that venues usually with higher citations (high-level publication venues) have low entropy and venues with lesser citations (not-high-level publication venues) have high entropy. Low entropy means less disorder and more specific to topic and vice versa. The input data considered here were DBLP-V7 data set for the last 10 years. Experimental analysis shows that topic specificity and citation count of publication venues are negatively correlated to each other.

Originality/value

This paper is the first attempt to discover correlation between topic sensitivity and citation counts of publication venues. It also used topic specificity as a feature to rank academic entities.

Details

Library Hi Tech, vol. 37 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

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Book part
Publication date: 11 May 2007

Muhammad A. Naseem and Adeela Arshad-Ayaz

One of the central themes of education for all (EFA) for the last two decades has been empowerment through access to education. The history of EFA, however, can at best be termed…

Abstract

One of the central themes of education for all (EFA) for the last two decades has been empowerment through access to education. The history of EFA, however, can at best be termed as checkered. EFA has been relatively successful in drawing world attention and improving access to education. However, the question whether world attention and improved access has resulted in empowerment of people in the developing world still remains unanswered.

In this paper we argue that the limited success of EFA can best be examined and analyzed by paying close attention to tension between demands of the global capital and labor market place and nationalist agendas of the developing (post-colonial) state. These tensions affect the EFA agenda in the developing countries in complex ways.

Taking empirical-educational data from Pakistan we demonstrate that demands of the global capital and the labor market had resulted in an increased attention on institutions and programs of study that cater to the needs of the global capital and labor pool. Access to these institutions is limited to certain strata of the society. On the other hand the mass education program in Pakistan is largely defined by the nationalistic agenda of the post-colonial undemocratic state. A net impact of the interplay of these global and national dynamics is that not only the EFA's aim of mass education is hampered but also more importantly education in its present state is not empowering the recipients.

Details

Education for All
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-7623-1441-6

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Article
Publication date: 1 August 2022

Akhmad Habibi, Mohd Faiz Mohd Yaakob and Muhammad Sofwan

This paper aims to examine the determinants that drive digital library use by university students in Indonesia and Malaysia during COVID-19. A proposed model based on the unified…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the determinants that drive digital library use by university students in Indonesia and Malaysia during COVID-19. A proposed model based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model-2 was implemented.

Design/methodology/approach

A pilot study was conducted prior to the main data collection to examine the reliability of the instrument. For the structural model assessment, 1,168 responses were analysed through partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and importance and performance analysis (IPMA). A t-test was also conducted to support the main findings.

Findings

Most hypotheses are confirmed by the significant results reported through the PLS-SEM. The strongest determinant of behavioural intention is habits. Digital library use is most significantly predicted by behavioural intention. Through IPMA, habits are reported to be the most important determinant for behavioural intention. Performance expectancy obtains the highest performance in the IPMA procedure. Behavioural intention and digital library use are significantly different based on the respondents’ location.

Originality/value

This study addresses the research gap (comparative studies between two countries) by evaluating digital library use among students in two universities in Indonesia and Malaysia during COVID-19. Findings could facilitate policymakers with insights into digital library use determinants and initiate effective and efficient policies to improve digital library use, especially during school closures due to certain situations or conditions.

Details

The Electronic Library , vol. 40 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

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