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Item Heterocyclic aromatic amines in meat: Formation, isolation, risk assessment and inhibitory effect of plant extracts(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), 2021-07) Nadeem, Hafiz Rehan; Akhtar, Saeed; Ismail, Tariq; Sestili, Piero; Lorenzo, Jose Manuel; Ranjha, Muhammad Modassar Ali Nawaz; Jooste, Leonie; Hano, Christophe; Aadil, Rana MuhammadHeterocyclic aromatic amines (HAAs) are potent carcinogenic compounds induced by the Maillard reaction in well-done cooked meats. Free amino acids, protein, creatinine, reducing sugars and nucleosides are major precursors involved in the production of polar and non-polar HAAs. The variety and yield of HAAs are linked with various factors such as meat type, heating time and temperature, cooking method and equipment, fresh meat storage time, raw material and additives, precursor’s presence, water activity, and pH level. For the isolation and identification of HAAs, advanced chromatography and spectroscopy techniques have been employed. These potent mutagens are the etiology of several types of human cancers at the ng/g level and are 100-to 2000-fold stronger than that of aflatoxins and benzopyrene, respectively. This review summarizes previous studies on the formation and types of potent mutagenic and/or carcinogenic HAAs in cooked meats. Furthermore, occurrence, risk assessment, and factors affecting HAA formation are discussed in detail. Additionally, sample extraction procedure and quantification techniques to determine these compounds are analyzed and described. Finally, an overview is presented on the promising strategy to mitigate the risk of HAAs by natural compounds and the effect of plant extracts containing antioxidants to reduce or inhibit the formation of these carcinogenic substances in cooked meats. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Item CEO Greed and Firms' Environmental Performance in Environmentally Sensitive Sectors of China(IGI Global, 2023) Rehman, Saif Ur; Elshareif, Elgiliani; Khan, HashimIn the current study, the authors explored how CEO greed concerning bonuses and rewards on restricted stock affects a firm's environmental performance (EP) in environmentally sensitive sectors of China. Moreover, they empirically tested the constraining role of the quad director on the relationship between CEO greed and EP. Findings indicate that (a) CEO greed negatively affects the strategic firm's environmental performance, particularly the negative relation is augmented by the person-pay interactionism rationale (bonus), (b) the presence of one quad director in the board does not constrain CEO greed and EP negative relation, and (c) the presence of two or more quad directors in the board significantly constraints the negative relation between CEO greed and EP. Thus, having at least two quad directors is more effective than combining directors with multiple features. Our results are robust to different CEOs' power dynamics. Our research has important practical implications for corporate governance and business strategy formulation. © 2023 IGI Global. All rights reserved.Item CEO power, corporate governance mechanisms and earnings quality(Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2023-06-22) Hemdan, Dalia Ali Mostafa; Saif-Ur-rehman; Khan, FaisalThis paper investigated the determinants of the firm’s earnings quality (FREQ) using panel data of Egyptian listed firms to address the concerns of endogeneity and heterogeneity. We found that CEO power dynamics negatively impact FREQ. Furthermore, corporate governance’s weakening or substitution role is investigated for the negative association between CEO power dynamics and FREQ. Our findings showed that board-independence significantly weakens the impacts of CEO-ownership and CEO-tenure on FREQ. In contrast, the results fail to support the weakening or substitution role of board-independence for the negative effects of CEO-duality and CEO-political connection on FREQ. Board gender diversity is not significantly associated with FREQ. However, we found that the presence of gender critical mass serves as a substitution mechanism for the negative association between CEO power dynamics and FREQ. Lastly, we observed strong robustness for our primary analysis through propensity matching scores and difference-in-different (DID) techniques. This study brings a novelty to existing research by exploring the negative consequences of CEO power dynamics. Furthermore, it provides an insight into the constraining or weakening of the role of corporate governance. The main findings of the current study are also robust to Modified Jones model (1995) reverse-causality, DID and propensity-matching techniques. © Asian Academy of Management and Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2023.Item Performance of Equity Investments in Sustainable Environmental Markets(MDPI, 2023-05) Gurrib, Ikhlaas; Kamalov, Firuz; Starkova, Olga; Makki, Adham; Mirchandani, Anita; Gupta, NamrataDespite a significant increase in global clean energy investments, as part of the decarbonization process, it remains insufficient to meet the demand for energy services in a sustainable manner. This study investigates the performance of sustainable energy equity investments, with focus on environmental markets, using monthly equity index data from 31 August 2009 to 30 December 2022. The main contributions of our study are (i) assessment of the performance of trading strategies based on the trend, momentum, and volatility of Environmental Opportunities (EO) and Environmental Technologies (ET) equity indices; and (ii) comparison of the performance of sustainable equity index investments to fossil fuel-based and major global equity indices. Market performance evaluation based on technical analysis tools such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI), Moving Averages, and Average True Range (ATR) is captured through the Sharpe and the Sharpe per trade. The analysis is divided according to regional, sector, and global EO indices, fossil fuel-based indices, and the key global stock market indices. Our findings reveal that a momentum-based strategy performed best for the MSCI Global Alternative Energy index with the highest excess return per unit of risk, followed by the fossil fuel-based indices. A trend-based strategy worked best for the MSCI Global Alternative Energy and EO 100 indices. The use of volatility-based information yielded the highest Sharpe ratio for EO Europe, followed by the Oil and Gas Exploration and Production industry, and MSCI Global Alternative Energy. We further find that a trader relying on a system which simultaneously provides momentum, trend, or volatility information would yield positive returns only for the MSCI Global Alternative Energy, the S&P Oil and Exploration and Production industry, NYSE Arca Oil, and FTSE 100 indices. Overall, despite the superior performance of the MSCI Global Alternative Energy index when using momentum and trend strategies, most region and sector EOs performed poorly compared to fossil fuel-based indices. The results suggest that the existing crude oil prices continue to allow fossil fuel-based equity investments to outperform most environmentally sustainable equity investments. These findings support that sustainable investments, on average, have yet to demonstrate consistent superior performance over non-renewable energy investments which demonstrates the need for continued, rigorous, and accommodating regulatory policy actions from government bodies in order to reorient significant capital flows towards sustainable equity investments. © 2023 by the authors.Item Using hierarchical network data envelopment analysis to explore the performance of national research and development organizations(Elsevier Ltd, 2023-12-30) Chou, Han-Chung; Lu, Wen-Min; Kweh, Qian Long; Tsai, Chang-YanItem Intellectual capital and corporate performance in Malaysia: exploring nonlinearity and synergy effects(World Scientific, 2023) Asif, Jawad; Ting, Irene Wei Kiong; Lean, Hooi Hooi; Kweh, Qian LongItem Intellectual capital and firm performance: The moderating effect of controlling shareholders in Malaysia(Inderscience Publishers, 2022) Ting, Irene Wei Kiong; Asif, Jawad; Kweh, Qian Long; Tebourbi, ImenItem The Behavioural Aspects of Financial Literacy(Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), 2021-09) Gerth, Florian; Lopez, Katia; Reddy, Krishna; Ramiah, Vikash; Wallace, Damien; Muschert, Glenn; Frino, Alex; Jooste, LeonieIn this paper, we investigate the contribution of behavioural characteristics to the financial literacy of UAE residents after controlling for demographic factors. Specifically, we test the relationship between financial literacy and behavioural biases such as representativeness, self-serving, overconfidence, loss aversion, and hindsight bias. Using data collected through survey questionnaires, we apply the methodology developed by the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to compute financial literacy scores. Our overall results show that all behavioural biases except for overconfidence bias are positively related to financial literacy. Furthermore, some biases exhibit a stronger quantitative relationship with financial literacy than others. For example, hindsight bias displays the strongest link to financial literacy, followed by self-serving bias. The weakest but still statistically significant effect is loss aversion bias. Although biases, in general, have negative connotations, behavioural biases appear to be related to higher levels of financial literacy. © 2021 by the authors.Item Family control, R&D expenses and firm efficiency: evidence from Taiwanese cultural and creative industries(Emerald Publishing, 2023) Kweh, Qian Long; Le, Hanh Thi My; Ting, Irene Wei Kiong; Lu, Wen-MinItem COVID-19, Short-selling Ban and Energy Stock Prices(Asia-Pacific Applied Economics Association, 2020) Gurrib, Ikhlaas; Kweh, Qian Long; Contu, Davide; Kamalov, FiruzWe examine the short-selling ban imposed by the National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange of Italy, the authority that regulates the Italian securities market, on three Italian energy stocks. We find that the effect of the short-selling ban was temporary. © 2020, Asia-Pacific Applied Economics Association. All rights reserved.Item Intellectual Capital Investment and Firm Performance of the Malaysian Energy Sector: A New Perspective From a Nonlinearity Test(Asia-Pacific Applied Economics Association, 2020) Asif, Jawad; Ting, Irene Wei Kiong; Kweh, Qian LongThis study examines the association between intellectual capital investment and firm performance of the Malaysian energy sector. A non-linear relationship between intellectual capital investment and firm performance is established. At low levels of intellectual capital investment, increasing investments in intellectual capital improve firm performance. After a cut-off point, increments to intellectual capital investment reduce firm performance. © 2020, Asia-Pacific Applied Economics Association. All rights reserved.Item How did Brexit impact EU trade? Evidence from real data(John Wiley and Sons Inc, 2023-06) Buigut, Steven; Kapar, BurcuAt the time it voted to exit in 2016, the UK was a leading economy within the EU. It contributed about 16 percent of the EU GDP, while the other EU countries accounted for almost half of UK's total trade. This study attempts to answer two research questions: First, how Brexit affected the EU–UK trade and second, how it affected the trade between remaining 27 EU members. To answer these questions, quarterly data are exploited for the period from 2005Q1 to 2022Q3 covering a total of 53 trading partners including the EU members. A gravity model that controls for unobserved bilateral heterogeneity and multilateral resistance is estimated by PPML. Three phases of Brexit (the referendum, transition, and post transition [under the TCA]) are analysed. The results indicate that the Brexit referendum phase depressed UK–EU trade by around 10.5%, and transition phase by around 15%. In both cases, particularly for the transition phase, the effect is greater on the UK imports from EU than the UK exports to EU. We do not find a significant effect due to the post transition (TCA) phase. Estimates show some mild but positive effect on intra-EU trade of about 1.5% and 4.6% due to Brexit referendum and post Brexit respectively, but no significant effect from the transition phase. This suggests that some EU trade with the UK was redirected to other EU members. Hence UK should aggressively seek out new trade agreements with other countries and trade blocs as well as refine the workings of the trade and cooperation agreement signed with the EU to minimise the loss. © 2023 The Authors. The World Economy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Item Environmental initiatives: impact on firm wealth creation(Inderscience Publishers, 2022) Kumar, Rajesh B.; Sujit K.S.; Gurrib, IkhlaasThis study investigates the impact of environmental initiatives adopted by firms on wealth creation. A sample consisting primarily of 4886 developed and emerging market firms from Thomson Reuters ESG database is used for the study. Findings support that firms from emerging market had higher use of resources and emission reduction efficiency than the developed counterparts. Environmental initiatives were higher for polluting firms compared to non-polluting firms. Non-health sectors had higher environmental initiatives like efficient use of resources, emission reduction and innovation strategies targeted towards the reduction of environmental costs. Food sector had higher environmental initiatives compared to the non-food sector. Firms from sin industries had positive market valuation effects. Using regression analysis, our study examines the impact of environmental initiatives on three models of performance. The study suggests that environmental initiatives to reduce environmental emissions and activities targeted at environmental innovation are not value enhancing activities for entities. Empirical findings supporting that environmental initiatives do not lead to improved financial performance lead to have implications for managers and policy makers. With markets not perceiving environmental initiatives as value creating activities by firms, actions targeted towards emission reduction, adoption of environmental innovation strategies and resource efficiency are not positively viewed by markets. Copyright © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.Item CEO duality, board size and firm performance: evidence in Vietnam(Inderscience Publishers, 2023) Le, Hanh Thi My; Ting, Irene Wei Kiong; Kweh, Qian Long; Ngo, Ha Lam TanFrom the perspective of the agency and stewardship theories for explaining the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance, this study examines the impacts of CEO duality and board size on the firm performance. We assess the association between CEO duality, board size and firm performance of top 200 companies listed on the Vietnam Stock Exchange (VSE) over 2014-2015. Our findings show that: 1) CEO duality limits the monitoring function of the board, and a large board size promotes dominance and power of leaders that create more conflicts; 2) the number of executive directors in the top management positively influences firm performance. Findings of our study certainly help policymakers and other stakeholders understand the relationship between CEO duality, board size and firm performance. Overall, this study highlights the CEO duality and the relationship of board size and firm performance in a nation with less protection of minority shareholders.Item The moderating effects of power distance on corporate social responsibility and multinational enterprises performance(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2023-10) Le, Minh-Hieu; Lu, Wen-Min; Kweh, Qian LongItem Intellectual capital and corporate profitability: zooming into value added intellectual coefficient(Inderscience Publishers, 2022) Ting, Irene Wei Kiong; Kweh, Qian Long; Asif, Jawad; Le, Hanh Thi MyThis study examines how value-added intellectual coefficient (VAICTM) and the modified VAICTM affect corporate profitability. Using a Vietnamese corporate financial dataset of 1,624 firm-year observations for the period of 2009–2018, this study finds that intellectual capital (IC), as estimated by VAICTM and modified VAICTM, has positive impacts on corporate profitability. However, the positive association between IC and profitability is clearer in the scatterplot involving the modified VAICTM. Although VAICTM and modified VAICTM consistently suggest positive impacts of IC on corporate profitability, the components of the two show different outcomes. This study stimulates the need to further examine not only VAICTM but also other IC measurement models to help practitioners better estimate their IC for the best possible corporate profitability. Copyright © 2022 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.Item CEO compensation and firm performance: Evidence from financially constrained firms(Elsevier Ltd, 2022-10) Kweh, Qian Long; Tebourbi, Imen; Lo, Huai-Chun; Huang, Cheng-TsuItem Winners and losers from Pfizer and Biontech's vaccine announcement: Evidence from S&P 500 (Sub)sector indices(Public Library of Science, 2022-10) Kapar, Burcu; Buigut, Steven; Rana, FaisalThis study explores how the US stock market reacted to the news of a successful development of vaccine by Pfizer and Biontech on November 9, 2020. In particular, the study analyses the effect of the vaccine announcement on 11 sector indices and 79 subsector indices. A key contribution of the present study is to provide a deeper subsector level of analysis lacking in existing literature. An event study approach is applied in identifying abnormal returns due to the November 9th vaccine announcement. Several event periods (-1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 0-1, 0-3) are analysed to provide a more complete picture of the effects. Based on analysis, it is established that there are considerable inter and intra sectoral variations in the impact of the vaccine news. The results show that the impact follows a clear pattern. The sectors that were hit hardest by the pandemic such as energy, financials, as well as subsectors like hotels and casinos, benefited the most from positive vaccine news. Subsectors that gained from the pandemic such as airfreight, household appliances and computers and electronics retail were depressed the most by the news. These findings suggest that while the availability of vaccines is expected to help steer economies gradually to normalcy, the re-adjustment is likely to be asymmetric across subsectors. While some subsectors expect to expand as these industries recover from the contraction inflicted by the COVID-19 environment, other subsectors expect adjustment losses as these industries shed off the above average gains driven by the COVID-19 environment. © 2022 Kapar et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Item High Frequency Return and Risk Patterns in U.S. Sector ETFs during COVID-19(Econjournals, 2022-09-27) Gurrib, Ikhlaas; Kamalov, Firuz; Alshareif, Elgilani E.This study investigates intraday patterns in the eleven sectors of the United States (U.S.). Key contributions are (i) risk and return patterns at specific trading periods on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), (ii) whether a specific day return model can predict the next 15-min positive return, and (iii) the impact of the first vaccination rollout in the U.S. on intraday Exchange-Traded-Funds (ETF) returns. Time-dependent regressions capture risk and return relationships, decision trees in machine learning compare return models, and impulse responses capture the effect of the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine rollout in U.S. 15-min Standard and Poor’s Depository Receipts (SPDR) Select Sector ETF data is used over 12th March 2020-23rd February 2021. Findings support sector ETF returns fluctuate the most in the first and last 15 min. Average returns in the first 15 min are the highest, converging to near zero as the trading session continues. Overnight returns contribute the most to volatility. U-shaped patterns into both return and risk exist, especially on Mondays. Mondays and Fridays have the most significant positive returns 15 min after the open. Prediction scores using an all-return model were superior to any specific day return model. The first vaccination rollout has a positive effect only in energy, technology, and financial sector ETFs, however with a short-lasting effect on ETFs returns. © 2022, Econjournals. All rights reserved.Item How do social and economic factors affect carbon emissions? New evidence from five ASEAN developing countries(Taylor and Francis Ltd., 2022) Tebourbi, Imen; Nguyen, Anh Thi Truc; Yuan, Shu-Fang; Huang, Chiung-YuThis study analyzes the long and short-run impacts of social and economic factors on carbon emissions from five developing ASEAN countries during the period 1986–2017. Utilising a Pooled Mean Group Estimator, we find a nonlinear relationship between CO2 emissions and real GDP, confirming the Environmental Kuznets Curve. Our results indicate that energy consumption is the main driver of environmental degradation in these countries; and that FDI and urbanisation reduce carbon emissions. Our research indicates both a long-run and short-run nexus between government education expenditures and CO2 emissions. We conclude with policy suggestions to reduce CO2 emissions while attaining sustainable growth. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.