Sudha Arlikatti, Hassan A. Taibah and Simon A. Andrew
The purpose of this paper is to examine the information channels used by public and nonprofit organizations to communicate disaster risk information to Colonias residents in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the information channels used by public and nonprofit organizations to communicate disaster risk information to Colonias residents in Hidalgo County, Texas. It seeks to find creative and proactive solutions for organizations to improve risk education to these constituents.
Design/methodology/approach
Initially a snowball sampling technique was used to conduct six face-to-face interviews. This was followed by an online survey sent to 64 reputational referrals, of which 23 completed the survey, generating a response rate of 34 percent. A comparative analysis between public and nonprofit organizations and the Fischer's exact test were employed to analyze the data.
Findings
Channel preferences for providing risk information varied with public organizations using the television (TV) and the nonprofit organizations using bilingual staff for outreach. The television, radio, public events, and bilingual staff were considered to be the most effective while social media (Facebook, Twitter, and city web sites) was not considered at all by both groups. Lack of funding and staffing problems were identified as the primary challenges.
Research limitations/implications
One limitation is that the paper focusses on organizations serving Spanish speakers in the Texas Colonias. Future research needs to investigate how other localities at border sites where culturally and linguistically diverse groups might reside, receive and understand risk information. The role of cross-national organizations in creating internationally coordinated plans for disaster communication should also be explored.
Originality/value
It highlights the challenges faced by organizations in communicating risk, especially in border communities where culturally and linguistically diverse groups reside.
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Hassan Taibah, Sudha Arlikatti and Simon Andrew
The purpose of this paper is to describe empirical research intended to gauge the channels of risk information and their perceived effectiveness expressed by Hajj pilgrims in 2013…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe empirical research intended to gauge the channels of risk information and their perceived effectiveness expressed by Hajj pilgrims in 2013 to better inform risk-reduction strategies at crowded religious events.
Design/methodology/approach
To do so, a research team partially funded by the Transportation and Crowd Management Center of Research Excellence from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia conducted face-to-face interviews with 348 Hajj pilgrims in 2013. The semi-structured survey instrument used the Protective Action Decision Model framework to gather information on six pre-decisional variables that influence threat perceptions, stakeholder perceptions and decisions to take protective actions against impending threats.
Findings
Results of the multinomial logit regression using the traditional media (i.e. television and radio) as the reference category found support for ease of access, language of choice, gender and age differentials, as factors positively or negatively influencing respondents’ selections of their top three most preferred channels for risk communication materials. Printed materials (i.e. pamphlets and billboards) ranked first followed by smart technologies and outreach activities.
Research limitations/implications
The convenience sampling strategy adopted with only four female interviewers compared to 17 male interviewers, limited the number of female respondents to only 47 (13.7 percent) due to cultural restrictions. Interviews were conducted only in English and Arabic, leaving out the preferences of other language speakers.
Originality/value
Despite these limitations, this study makes a valuable contribution to theory and practice by highlighting the social and cognitive variables influencing risk communication at Hajj. No studies to date have examined choices and preferences of heterogeneous Hajj pilgrims.
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Zakaria Boulanouar and Faisal Alqahtani
The purpose of this paper is to explore the existence of underpricing in the cooperative insurance sector in the Saudi Arabian market and to examine whether Sharia compliance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the existence of underpricing in the cooperative insurance sector in the Saudi Arabian market and to examine whether Sharia compliance requirements have an impact on the level of underpricing.
Design/methodology/approach
Underpricing and the effect of Sharia compliance are analysed using a comprehensive sample of 33 insurance companies with data collected between 2007 and 2013, after taking into account market movements, as well as some factors well-known in the literature.
Findings
The authors find that underpricing not only exists but also is among the highest in the world (455 per cent), which contradicts the literature on initial public offerings (IPOs)’ pricing in highly regulated sectors. In light of one of the other findings of the authors, namely, the small number of insurance underwriters, the authors attribute these very high levels of underpricing in part to the monopsony power of insurance underwriters in Saudi Arabia. Regarding the Sharia compliance effect, they find that it does not significantly reduce the underpricing of insurance offerings. The authors interpret this as the fact that Sharia status might not be taken into account by underwriters when they price the offerings of insurance companies, due to a major drawback in the implementing regulations of cooperative insurance which have been highly criticised by practitioners.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should try to include more factors that might explain the underpricing and its determinants. Two important recommendations flowing from this study for regulatory and supervisory institutions are the need to improve disclosure and transparency conditions and to work towards reducing the monopsony power enjoyed by the underwriters. As for Sharia effect, the Saudi central bank should resolve the issue of Sharia compliance by adopting one of the Sharia-friendly models suggested by Islamic finance scholars, such as wakala or mudaraba.
Originality/value
To the best of authors’ knowledge, this paper is among the first to offer empirical evidence of the impact of Sharia compliance on the initial return of the IPOs of cooperative insurance firms.
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A. A. Alanazi, Sultan Z. Alamri, S. Shafie and Shazirawati Mohd Puzi
The purpose of this paper is to obtain the nonlinear Schrodinger equation (NLSE) numerical solutions in the presence of the first-order chromatic dispersion using a second-order…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to obtain the nonlinear Schrodinger equation (NLSE) numerical solutions in the presence of the first-order chromatic dispersion using a second-order, unconditionally stable, implicit finite difference method. In addition, stability and accuracy are proved for the resulting scheme.
Design/methodology/approach
The conserved quantities such as mass, momentum and energy are calculated for the system governed by the NLSE. Moreover, the robustness of the scheme is confirmed by conducting various numerical tests using the Crank-Nicolson method on different cases of solitons to discuss the effects of the factor considered on solitons properties and on conserved quantities.
Findings
The Crank-Nicolson scheme has been derived to solve the NLSE for optical fibers in the presence of the wave packet drift effects. It has been founded that the numerical scheme is second-order in time and space and unconditionally stable by using von-Neumann stability analysis. The effect of the parameters considered in the study is displayed in the case of one, two and three solitons. It was noted that the reliance of NLSE numeric solutions properties on coefficients of wave packets drift, dispersions and Kerr nonlinearity play an important control not only the stable and unstable regime but also the energy, momentum conservation laws. Accordingly, by comparing our numerical results in this study with the previous work, it was recognized that the obtained results are the generalized formularization of these work. Also, it was distinguished that our new data are regarding to the new communications modes that depend on the dispersion, wave packets drift and nonlinearity coefficients.
Originality/value
The present study uses the first-order chromatic. Also, it highlights the relationship between the parameters of dispersion, nonlinearity and optical wave properties. The study further reports the effect of wave packet drift, dispersions and Kerr nonlinearity play an important control not only the stable and unstable regime but also the energy, momentum conservation laws.
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This paper aims to offer a wider examination of the research concerning entrepreneurship characteristics in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region via a review of recent…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to offer a wider examination of the research concerning entrepreneurship characteristics in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region via a review of recent studies relevant to this topic. Research publications concerning entrepreneurship within the MENA region evidence growing interest in this field of study, with the potential to boost and drive future economic development and growth. This focus within entrepreneurship research is because of the economic development in the region, which is becoming increasingly important for policymakers and businesses.
Design/methodology/approach
The author performed a systematic literature review to produce robust information about entrepreneurship in the MENA region, followed by a thematic analysis to identify key research themes within each category.
Findings
Despite the growth in entrepreneurship research in the MENA region, research on certain factors is lacking. An analysis of 271 studies published between 2009 and 2019 identifies 9 main research categories, within which 30 themes have attracted significant academic attention. Female entrepreneurship and gender, youth entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship behaviour and orientation are the three key categories influencing perspectives on entrepreneurship in the MENA region. This study highlights research gaps and provides recommendations to guide future research on the sustainable development of entrepreneurship in the MENA region.
Originality/value
This paper highlights trends in entrepreneurship research amongst scholars within the MENA region and suggests paths for future research efforts.
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Mohammad Alsharif, Annuar Md. Nassir, Fakarudin Kamarudin and M.A. Zariyawati
This study aims to analyse Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Islamic and conventional banks’ productivity and to investigate the impact of Basel III on their productivity change…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyse Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Islamic and conventional banks’ productivity and to investigate the impact of Basel III on their productivity change. This study is conducted on 73 GCC banks (45 conventional and 28 Islamic) over the period of 2005-2015.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses the data envelopment analysis-type Malmquist productivity change index and its component indexes to obtain a deep insight into the source of productivity change.
Findings
The results show that Islamic banks are less productive than their conventional counterparts. Also, the results indicate that Basel III accord has impeded the GCC banks’ productivity and this negative effect is larger on Islamic banks. However, there is scale efficiency progress in the past years that offsets the production frontier deterioration, which leads to stagnation in total productivity change for both banks.
Originality/value
This study differs from the previous GCC banks’ productivity studies in several ways. Firstly, it covers a recent period that includes major events such as the global crisis and focuses on the influence of Basel III accord on GCC banks’ productivity. Secondly, as opposed to the previous studies, this study will estimate the GCC banks’ productivity index and its components based on separate frontiers for Islamic and conventional banks that will ensure the homogeneity in the sample and the robustness of the results. Thirdly, this study uses a combination of parametric and non-parametric tests to confirm and check the robustness of the findings. Lastly, to the best of the knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that tries to analyse the GCC banking sector productivity around the new Basel III announcement.
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R. Ellahi, A. Zeeshan and Mohsan Hassan
The purpose of this paper is to study the particle shape effects on Marangoni convection boundary layer flow of a nanofluid. The paper aims to discuss diverse issues befell for…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the particle shape effects on Marangoni convection boundary layer flow of a nanofluid. The paper aims to discuss diverse issues befell for the said model.
Design/methodology/approach
The work undertaken is a blend of numerical and analytical studies. Analytical and numerical solutions of nonlinear coupled equations are developed by means of Mathematica package BVPh 2.0 based on the homotopy analysis method.
Findings
The velocity of nanofluid decreases by increasing particle volume friction and similarity parameters. With the increase in particle volume friction and similarity parameter, temperature profile is correspondingly enhanced and decline. The lowest velocity and highest temperature of nanofluid is cause by needle- and disc-shaped particle. Consequence for interface velocity and the surface temperature gradient are perceived by numeric set of results. It is found that the interface velocity is declined by increasing particle volume friction and volume concentration of ethylene glycol in the water. The minimum interface velocity is seen by needle-shaped particle and 30 percent concentrations of ethylene glycol. With increase in volume friction and size of particle, the behaviors of surface temperature gradient are found decreasing and increasing function, respectively. The maximum heat transfer rate at the surface is achieved when we chose sphere nanoparticles and 90 percent concentrations of ethylene glycol as compared to other shapes and concentrations.
Originality/value
This model is investigated for the first time, as the authors know.
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Zakaria Boulanouar, Rihab Grassa and Faisal Alqahtani
This paper aims to assess the rank of Shariah compliance (SC) and its impact on the financial performance of non-financial companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange. It seeks…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to assess the rank of Shariah compliance (SC) and its impact on the financial performance of non-financial companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange. It seeks to understand the relationship between adherence to Shariah principles and the financial success of these companies, providing insights into the importance of SC in the Saudi Arabian context.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a quantitative research approach, using financial and SC data from non-financial companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange. SC is measured using the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions standards. Financial performance is evaluated using various financial indicators, including return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and return on investments (ROI). Statistical analysis, including regression analysis, is conducted to examine the relationship between SC and financial performance.
Findings
The findings indicate a positive association between SC and financial performance in non-financial companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange. Companies with higher ranks of SC demonstrate superior financial performance, as evidenced by higher ROA, ROE and ROI. This suggests that adhering to Shariah principles can contribute to improved financial outcomes for companies operating in the Saudi Arabian market.
Practical implications
The study highlights the practical implications of maintaining SC for non-financial companies in Saudi Arabia. It emphasizes the importance of aligning business practices with Shariah principles to enhance financial performance. The findings suggest that companies can benefit from implementing Shariah-compliant strategies and practices, potentially attracting investors and improving their overall competitiveness in the market.
Social implications
The social implications of SC in the Saudi Arabian context are significant. Adhering to Shariah principles not only ensures compliance with religious and cultural norms but also promotes ethical and responsible business behaviour. Companies that prioritize SC contribute to the development of a socially responsible and sustainable business environment.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first investigation into the impact of SC rank on financial performance. By examining non-financial companies listed on the Saudi market, it contributes significantly to existing literature by providing empirical evidence supporting a positive correlation between SC rank and financial outcomes. The findings offer valuable insights for companies, investors and policymakers in Saudi Arabia, enhancing their understanding of the unique dynamics between SC rank and financial performance. This research enriches the body of knowledge in Islamic finance and business, making a notable contribution to the field and opening avenues for further exploration.
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David Mayes and Faisal Alqahtani
The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent of underpricing in the Saudi Arabian market of initial public offerings (IPOs), offer explanations and consider whether…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent of underpricing in the Saudi Arabian market of initial public offerings (IPOs), offer explanations and consider whether Sharia-compliance had a significant impact on the initial returns.
Design/methodology/approach
A comprehensive sample of 72 IPOs in Saudi Arabia between 2004 and September 2010 is used to analyse the initial return after adjusting it to the market movement as well as controlling for some common factors.
Findings
This paper finds that not only underpricing occurs but it is also among the highest levels in the world. While traditional factors affecting initial returns include age, market timing and firm size, it is found that Sharia compliance significantly reduces underpricing in Saudi Arabia. This may imply that Sharia compliance helps to reduce the uncertainty and consequences of the limited information inherent in IPOs.
Research limitations/implications
Further research is needed to see if the effect of Sharia compliance status on the short-run performance of IPOs extends to other Islamic countries or is a country-specific characteristic. More firms need to be examined to identify the market characteristics that drive the returns.
Practical implications
Very substantial sums are being “left on the table” and more efficient pricing of IPOs would be of considerable benefit to firms.
Social implications
By considering two different regimes, this paper offers some important lessons for the treatment of risk-taking, particularly in Islamic countries.
Originality/value
This paper is among the first to provide an empirical evidence of the impact of Sharia compliance on the initial return pattern in the IPO market.
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This study attempts to comprehensively analyze the cost Malmquist productivity index of conventional and Islamic banks in Saudi Arabia, the largest dual banking sector in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study attempts to comprehensively analyze the cost Malmquist productivity index of conventional and Islamic banks in Saudi Arabia, the largest dual banking sector in the world, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs the novel approach of cost Malmquist productivity index, which focuses on production costs, to measure the change in cost productivity so that the actual impact of the COVID-19 pandemic could be captured.
Findings
The Saudi Central Bank has successfully mitigated the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the Saudi banking sector by implementing several policies and services. This success is reflected in the large positive shift in the production frontier of Saudi banks. Moreover, it was found that Islamic Saudi banks were by far more productive than conventional Saudi banks during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the total cost productivity index (CMPCH) of Islamic Saudi banks starts to decline sharply in the last quarter of 2022 compared to conventional Saudi banks, indicating that Islamic banks in Saudi Arabia are suffering the most from the tighter monetary policy recently implemented by the Saudi Central Bank.
Practical implications
The results provide insights for policymakers and investors on how different types of banks respond differently to economic crises and monetary policy changes. Targeted support measures may be needed to ensure all banks remain productive and efficient.
Originality/value
To the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to use this innovative methodology to assess the impact of COVID-19 on bank performance in a dual banking sector.