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This paper aims to present a comparative evaluation of the determinants affecting the likelihood of dividend payouts by Islamic and conventional banks in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

The authors used the dynamic panel logit model to test dividend life-cycle theory by analyzing the determinants affecting the likelihood of dividend payouts by GCC banks. Moreover, the authors used multinomial logistic regressions to extend the results where the dependent variable is a nominal variable equal to 1 for non-payment of dividends, 2 for lower dividend payments and 3 for higher dividend payments.

The authors report a finding consistent with the life-cycle theory of dividends where a higher proportion of retained-earnings-to-contribution mix implies a greater likelihood of dividend payments, apart from conventional characteristics such as profitability, size and growth. However, the authors find marked differences in the magnitude and significance of the life-cycle characteristics explaining the likelihood of dividend payouts for Islamic and conventional banks. The authors also find that Islamic banks are smaller and less profitable relative to conventional banks but have higher growth rates, which helps to explain why the proportion of dividend non-payments is higher for Islamic banks than for conventional banks. The results also indicate that the higher default rates and business risk associated with GCC banks reduces their propensity to pay dividends.

The topic of dividends remains an important puzzle in the field of modern finance. The findings have significant implications for a variety of stakeholders in both Islamic and conventional banks in GCC countries, including investors, depositors, analysts, managers, regulators and stock exchanges.

This paper aims to contribute to the literature by drawing on life-cycle theory as a basis for comparing the determinants affecting the likelihood of dividend payouts by Islamic and conventional banks in the GCC countries.

The aim of this study is to examine the role of relational benefits and brand experience measurements on willingness to pay more (WPM), effects of word of mouth (WOM) and repurchase intention (RI) in fast-food restaurants (FFR).

Employing an online questionnaire survey with a sample size of 503 respondents, the quantitative methodology included multiple regression and factor analysis to facilitate the analyses of data.

Relational benefits and their dimensions (confidence, special treatment and social benefits) found to positively impact WPM, WOM and RI. With reference to brand experiences, the current study found that behavioural and intellectual experiences have significant and positive effects on WPM, WOM and RI. Surprisingly, no positive significance was identified between sensory experiences and WPM, WOM and RI.

The findings show that relational benefits and brand experience dimensions play an essential role in improving brand loyalty.

The current study subscribes to the concept of relationship marketing theory, suggesting that loyalty to FFRs can be enhanced by offering customers relational benefits and augmenting their brand experiences.

This article provides the first empirical study on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainability reporting in US financial institutions using institutional, stakeholder and legitimacy theories.

The study used the independent sample t-test and Mann–Whitney U test throughout as well as OLS, random effects, fixed effects and heteroskedasticity corrected model to test the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainability reporting in the US financial sector. A sample from all listed US financial firms was used after controlling for both the Refinitiv Eikon sector classification and the NAICS sector classification.

Using U Mann–Whitney test and independent sample t-test the study revealed that the average ESG score for the pre-COVID19 period is 53% compared with 62.3% for the COVID-19 period, indicating that the sustainability reporting during COVID-19 is much higher compared with the pre-pandemic period. The findings of regression analysis also confirm that the US financial companies increased their sustainability reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study is an early attempt to look at how the COVID-19 epidemic has affected financial reporting procedures, although it is focused only on one area and other entity-related factors like stock market implications, company governance, internal audit practice, etc could have been considered.

This research offers useful recommendations for policymakers to create standards for regulators on the significance of raising sustainability awareness. The findings are crucial for accounting regulators as they work to implement COVID-19 and enforce required integrated reporting rules and regulations.

The study provides the first empirical evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainability reporting, by examining how US financial institutions approach the topic of sustainability during the COVID-19 pandemic and assessing the pandemic's current consequences on sustainability.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the probability of deal success/failure in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) transactions is influenced by a range of deal, firm and country-specific characteristics which tend to affect acquirers’ shareholder returns. The specific hypotheses under investigation relate to the method of payment (cash versus stock), target status (listed versus non-listed), diversification (domestic versus cross-border and industry-wide) and acquirers’ prior bidding experience. Additionally, the authors also investigate whether announced deals reflect an expectation about likelihood of deal completion.

The authors analyse the probability of deal success/failure in M&As by combining event study and probit regression-based methods. The authors use the standard event study methodology to calculate acquirers’ abnormal returns for up to 10 days before and after the announcement date. In the probit model, the dependent variable is the probability of deal i being failure depending on four sets of explanatory variables: method of payment, target status, diversification and acquirer bidding experience, along with a set of control variables.

The findings from event study confirm that market reaction is indifferent to whether announced deals are likely to be successfully completed or not, consistent with the efficient markets hypothesis. However, the results from cross-sectional, cross-country regressions confirm that the aforementioned deal characteristics, as well as certain firm and country level attributes do influence the likelihood of whether an announced deal is subsequently completed or terminated.

In examining whether the specific characteristics affecting the likelihood that M&A transactions, once announced, will ultimately succeed or fail, it seems natural to ask whether the market reaction at the time of deal announcement reflects an expectation regarding deal completion. This could be associated with specific deal or firm-level characteristics influencing shareholder returns or risk, and represents a unique contribution of this study, over and above the use of a global sample of M&A data. The empirical analysis investigates these issues by using an extensive, global sample of 46,758 M&A transactions from 180 countries and 80 industries, which took place between the years 1977 and 2012.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the level of online disclosure of firms in the USA and to evaluate the impact of diversity in terms of director nationality (boardroom internationalisation) on online disclosure.

The authors apply, for the first time, a new modified scoring system to measure online disclosure levels by securing more detailed information on each of the items in the voluntary disclosure index. Regarding the percentage of foreign board members, unlike in previous research, the authors calculate two additional proxies to more accurately specify the level of international diversity on the board: the Blau Index and the Shannon Index. Moreover, the authors use a cross-sectional model for the sampled non-financial S&P500 firms using both ordinary least squares (OLS) and heteroskedasticity-corrected estimates to analyse the impact of boardroom internationalisation on the level of online disclosure.

The findings reveal that the average online disclosure level for the sample in question is 64% for the 0–1 index and 57% for the 0–4 index. In addition, the results of the regression analysis confirm the study’s proposed hypothesis, which is that the presence of international board members correlates with an improvement in the level of online disclosure. This can be attributed to the fact that foreign directors bring unique skills and knowledge from their home countries and thus, increase board discussion, creativity and innovation, which has a positive impact on the level of online disclosure.

Financial firms are subject to capital requirement regulations; consequently, disclosure practices can be influenced. Therefore, these firms were excluded from the sample of the study.

This research contributes to the body of literature on nationality diversity of firm boards and corporate online disclosure in several respects. Firstly, the study adds an international dimension to the existing literature. Secondly, this study provides new evidence that foreign diversity on the board can improve firm value, insofar as the corresponding enhancement of online disclosure leading to positive capital market implications. Thirdly, the authors use, for the first time, a new scoring system approach to measure the level of online disclosure. Finally, it contributes to the corporate governance literature by basing its analysis on a multi-theoretical approach.

This study aims to address a notable gap in the existing literature by exploring the relationship between gender diversity and dividend policy within the context of US Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).

The authors use a substantial data set comprising 1,398 firm-year observations across 209 US REIT companies from 2011 to 2021 to address the research aims. Fixed effects models and generalized least squares regression methods are used in the analysis.

The results demonstrate a significant positive association between board gender diversity and higher dividend payouts among US REITs. This relationship holds after controlling for corporate governance and other firm-level factors. The findings have strong implications that the presence of women on REIT boards contributes to a greater propensity for discretionary dividend increases in the USA.

This research contributes to the literature by empirically examining female directors’ role in influencing US REITs’ dividend policies, an area lacking adequate prior scholarship. The paper also considers the unique regulatory environment of REITs, highlighting the importance of the study for externally financed firms.

This study attempts to identify and analyze the pragmatic functions of religious expressions, that is, invocations that include the name of Allah (God), in naturally occurring social interactions in Najdi Arabic, which is spoken in Central Saudi Arabia.

Drawing on the speech act theory and politeness model, an analysis of the data illustrates that religious expressions, in addition to their prototypical religious meanings and uses in everyday interactions, are employed to communicate a wide range of pragmatic functions.

These include signaling the end of a conversation, persuading, mitigating and hedging, showing agreement and approval, reinforcing emphasis, expressing emotions, seeking protection from the evil eye, conveying skepticism and ambiguity, expressing humor and sarcasm, and showing respect and honor. The embedded multifunctional dimension of religious expressions in the present data is interpreted as serving as a politeness marker with which speakers promote both positive politeness (by showing solidarity, claiming common grounds, and building rapport) and negative politeness (by reducing imposition and emphasizing personal autonomy).

This study further highlights the interplay between religion, culture, and language use in Najdi Arabic.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) on acquiring company systematic risk using a global sample of 34,221 completed deals that occurred between the years 1977 and 2012, covering 163 countries and 85 industries.

Acquirers’ systematic risk (beta) is calculated using the capital asset pricing model. The change in acquirers’ beta post-merger is obtained using event study and tested for mean differences across various sub-categories of deals. Cross-sectional regressions are then performed to test several hypotheses relating to the impact of diversification, method of payment, target status and prior experience on acquirers’ risk.

For the overall sample, the evidence suggests that acquirers’ beta tends to increase post-merger, but only in cases where their pre-merger risk is relatively low in relation to the risk of the market. The authors also show that cash payment deals for publicly listed targets contribute to reducing acquirers’ risk while stock payment increase risk. Diversification, whether global or across industry, has no significant impact on risk. On the other hand, for serial acquirers, the risk is increased significantly with more M&As.

This study contributes in a unique way by providing global evidence on acquirers’ systematic risk using a very large and diverse sample of M&A deals and investigating not only the impact of diversification on risk but also of other deal characteristics (e.g. method of payment, target status, acquirers’ prior experience) which have not been previously examined.

This study aims to investigate the joint effect of foreign directors (FDs) and firm performance on the corporate strategic change.

A theoretical framework linking foreign directors, firm performance and strategic change is proposed and tested. This study uses a sample of longitudinal data from 958 US listed firms over the period 2010–2018. The basic model of study first tests whether there is a direct relationship between FDs and level of strategic change. It then incorporates firm performance as a moderating variable, testing its effect on the relationship between foreign director and strategic change.

Consistent with the study’s expectations, the empirical findings indicate that FDs rich in appropriate experience are associated with superior strategic change, measured both in terms of variation in firm strategy over time and deviation from industry norms. The findings confirm that FDs are a salient driver of strategic change. The strength of the effect, however, depends on the firm performance.

This paper has implications for effective global leadership development based on international appointments. First, directors can benefit from being assigned to work in foreign countries so that they are exposed to a wide range of experiences and can learn to overcome culture shock. Second, posting directors to foreign countries can improve their international knowledge and enhance various competencies related to creativity, leadership and problem-solving. By demonstrating that the board’s characteristics can play a role in corporate strategy development, the current study thus has implications for both study and practice with regard to board composition. The number of seats on any given board is finite, and each individual director is thus expected to not only monitor top management but also to apply their knowledge and relevant experience in service to the company’s ambitions. Except in cases where high firm performance leads to strategic persistence, the results suggest that greater levels of FDs correlate positively with strategic change.

The practical implications of this paper pertain to director recruitment and selection. First, the findings echo support for the inclusion of members with greater levels of international experience on boards and top management teams. It seems that, despite the importance of this characteristic, directors at US companies often lack substantial experience abroad (Carpenter and Westphal, 2001). A possible reason for this could be that internationally experienced employees otherwise lack the social capital necessary for promotion to directorships because of time spent stationed away from the firm’s headquarters. It is thus essential for companies to create networking opportunities for directors assigned to foreign offices.

Although previous research has provided some insight into how chief executive officer international experience can manifest in strategic change, this understanding remains far from complete for the members of board of directors. Furthermore, the topic of firm performance as a potential moderating influence remains underexplored. The aim of this study, therefore, is to assess the impact of FDs among directors on corporate strategic change while taking into account the possible confounding role of firm performance in this relationship.

Presents a summary of research which is currently being conducted at Monash University ‐ Gippsland Campus. The research aims at the automation of coal harvesting at a major Australian open cut mine. This mine is located at Morwell, Victoria and produces brown coal (lignite). The coal from this mine contributes significantly to the power generation in Victoria. The research aims to provide a computer assisted remote operation of mining machines and services. Also, this research aims at developing an intelligent unmanned mining system using robotics technology. Also discusses the method of robotizing such a mine for maximum economic efficiency and the proposed control configuration for the system. Describes the current automation project, which is to achieve the required alignment between the robotized mining machine and the hopper by employing a reactive/adaptive fuzzy control system for maximum economic efficiency.