26199 research outputs found
Sort by
THE IMPACT ON CHIEF EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION PAY GAP OF INDEPENDENCE, EXPERTISE, AND ACTIVITY OF REMUNERATION AND AUDIT COMMITTEES: THE CASE OF PAKISTAN.
Get PDFAgency theorists suggest that top executives are naturally interested in protecting their self-interest at the expense of shareholders through higher compensation and perquisites. To minimize the financial consequences of the implied principal-agent problem, companies use corporate governance mechanisms to redirect agents’ behaviour to realign these interests with the shareholder’s concerns. This study examines the impact on executive compensation of the independence, expertise, and activity of remuneration and audit committees for the companies which are continuously listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange from 2016 to 2019. Using ordinary least squares regressions, this study reveals several noteworthy findings. Firstly, regarding the remuneration committees, the results of regression show that, in line with the agency theory perspective, the level of independence exerts a statistically significant negative impact on the relative CEO compensation. Secondly, the expertise of the remuneration committee members demonstrates a significant negative influence on relative executive compensation. Thirdly, with respect to the audit committees, the results indicate that contrary to expectation, independence is significantly positively correlated with relative chief executive compensation. Thus, we may surmise that audit committee members may be pressured by autocratic CEOs to raise their remuneration package. These findings hold true even after conducting various additional analyses and robustness tests, ensuring their validity and reliability.
The study makes three important contributions. Firstly, it uncovers the trends in chief executive compensation across different industrial sectors in Pakistan. Secondly, the current study reveals the considerable pay gap between a CEO and other executives in Pakistan. Lastly, the study is one of the few studies to investigate the role of remuneration and audit committees in moderating the pay gap between the CEO and other executives in context of Pakistan. These findings have implications for the board of directors, executive head-hunters, and remuneration consultants to help them understand the sector-wise trends in CEO compensation in Pakistan. Further, these have policy implications for the regulators and policymakers as these findings can be operationalized by enacting regulations that promote the independence and expertise of the remuneration committees of the board
The Impact of Distance Learning Platforms on Education Management and its Effect on the Attitudes of School Principals in UAE
Get PDFThe pandemic has led to a shift in views on technology's role in learning, recognising its potential to foster continuous learning, engagement, and communication. This study investigates the impact of distance learning on education management and their implications on school principals' attitudes towards remote learning in the UAE. Remote education significantly impacts school management, with objectives expanding into blended learning, technical proficiency, and community development. This futuristic approach emphasises adaptability, flexibility, and the integration of technology in the changing educational landscape. This study, unlike others, focusses on the attitudes of principals towards online education to identify the constraints and gather data about managing remote learning and the implication for principals as educational leaders. The mixed methods analyses give the insights into the scale and implications of moving to remote learning on school principals and education management in the UAE
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL): India - UK Comparison
Get PDFThe Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) financial service has experienced rapid expansion, notably in the UK and India. BNPL allows consumers to defer payments for purchases, dividing them into interest-free instalments typically spanning four payments or fewer. This service has gained popularity for its convenience, helping consumers manage budgets and enhance purchasing power without accruing interest.
The swift growth of BNPL services has sparked regulatory concerns, especially regarding consumer debt and financial stability. Regulators in the UK, EU, US, and Australia are increasingly advocating stricter oversight. Leading players in the BNPL market include Klarna, Afterpay, Affirm, and Zip, driving innovation and competition. The global BNPL market is expanding, with significant growth anticipated in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Strategic partnerships and fintech innovations are critical growth drivers, although heightened regulatory scrutiny and competition from traditional financial institutions present challenges.
In 2020, the UK BNPL market surged to £2.7 billion, surpassing the peak volume of payday loans. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated BNPL adoption, supporting consumer spending during economic difficulties and boosting average order values. The UK market continues to expand rapidly, driven by broader consumer adoption beyond luxury items, attracted by the flexibility and ability to spread costs over time. Major players such as Klarna, Clearpay, and Laybuy are expanding and forging strategic alliances to capitalize on market growth across all age groups. In India, the BNPL market is poised to grow from USD 3.5 billion to USD 50 billion by 2026, propelled by increasing e-commerce activities, particularly among millennials. The pandemic accelerated BNPL adoption by 50% in 2020, with consumers appreciating its flexibility and transparency. Key players like Axio, ePayLater, and Slice are leveraging this growth, although regulatory challenges and potential consumer debt remain significant concerns
Distinct patterns of emotional processing in ADHD and anxiety. Evidence from an eye-movement Go/No-Go task
Get PDFYoung people with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) demonstrate cognitive control difficulties, particularly when emotional processing is involved. In contrast, individuals with anxiety show disruptions primarily in threat-related contexts. ADHD and anxiety frequently co-occur and the impact of emotional stimuli on cognitive processes in these groups remains unclear. This study used an eye-tracking Go/No-Go task with emotional (happy, angry) and neutral stimuli to explore attentional processing in children/adolescents with ADHD, anxiety and typically developing (TD) controls. The results showed that children with ADHD had slower disengagement from angry compared to happy faces, while those with anxiety exhibited no such differences. Inhibitory control challenges were evident in the ADHD group for both emotional faces, whereas the anxiety group demonstrated improved control with angry faces. Exploratory analyses suggested that children with comorbid ADHD and anxiety might have distinct cognitive-affective profile, characterized by heightened difficulties in processing emotional stimuli
Predictive Modelling of the UK Physician Associate Supply: 2014-2038
Get PDFIntroduction
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan aims for 10,000 physician associates (PAs, formerly physician assistants) by 2036/7. This article uses three modelling approaches to project the UK PA supply from a baseline of 2014-2021 through to 2038 to forecast the profession's growth.
Methods
The number of “Clinically Available PAs” (cPAs; qualified PAs either working clinically or seeking clinical employment) was estimated using raw data from the 2014-2021 Faculty of Physician Associates (FPA) censuses. This provided baseline data for all models (linear regression [LRM], exponential regression [ERM] and time-series forecast [TSFM]). Attrition, using data from other healthcare professionals, was also modelled.
Results
R2 values together with authors’ judgement ruled the LRM more realistic than the ERM. The LRM projected up to 8232 cPAs by 2038, although attrition reduced this significantly. The TSFM optimistically projected an upper limit (95% confidence interval) of 13922 cPAs by 2038.
Discussion
This article permits a wider view of potential PA numbers, with broad agreement between the LRM and the TSFM. It appears that future PA demand will be met, but factors such as attrition could impede this. Attrition itself may be mitigated through adequate resourcing, appropriate support mechanisms, and the development of a career structure. Professional regulation and legislation will further support PAs to work to their potential and scope, subject to appropriate patient safety measures
Mechanisms of manipulation: a systematic review of the literature on immediate anatomical structural or positional changes in response to manually delivered high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulation
Get PDFBackground: Spinal manipulation (SM) has been claimed to change anatomy, either in structure or position, and that these changes may be the cause of clinical improvements. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate and synthesise the peer-reviewed literature on the current evidence of anatomical changes in response to SM. Methods: The review was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42022304971) and reporting was guided by the standards of the PRISMA Statement. We searched Medline, Embase, CINAHL, AMED, Cochrane Library all databases, PEDro, and the Index to Chiropractic Literature from inception to 11 March 2022 and updated on 06 June 2023. Search terms included manipulation, adjustment, chiropractic, osteopathy, spine and spine-related structures. We included primary research studies that compared outcomes with and without SM regardless of study design. Manipulation was defined as high-velocity, low-amplitude thrust delivered by hand to the spine or directly related joints. Included studies objectively measured a potential change in an anatomical structure or in position. We developed a novel list of methodological quality items in addition to a short, customized list of risk of bias (RoB) items. We used quality and RoB items together to determine whether an article was credible or not credible. We sought differences in outcomes between SM and control groups for randomised controlled trials and crossover studies, and between pre- and post-SM outcomes for other study designs. We reported, in narrative form, whether there was a change or not. Results: The search retrieved 19,572 articles and 20 of those were included for review. Study topics included vertebral position (n = 3) facet joint space (n = 5), spinal stiffness (n = 3), resting muscle thickness (n = 6), intervertebral disc pressure (n = 1), myofascial hysteresis (n = 1), and further damage to already damaged arteries (n = 1). Eight articles were considered credible. The credible articles indicated that lumbar facet joint space increased and spinal stiffness decreased but that the resting muscle thickness did not change. Conclusion: We found few studies on this topic. However, there are two promising areas for future study: facet joint space and spinal stiffness. A research strategy should be developed with funding for high quality research centres
TIC 435850195: The Second Tri-Axial, Tidally Tilted Pulsator
Get PDFThe Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has enabled the discovery of numerous tidally tilted pulsators (TTPs), which are pulsating stars in close binaries where the presence of a tidal bulge has the effect of tilting the primary star's pulsation axes into the orbital plane. Recently, the modeling framework developed to analyze TTPs has been applied to the emerging class of tri-axial pulsators, which exhibit nonradial pulsations about three perpendicular axes. In this work, we report on the identification of the second-ever discovered tri-axial pulsator, with sixteen robustly-detected pulsation multiplets, of which fourteen are dipole doublets separated by 2νorb. We jointly fit the spectral energy distribution (SED) and TESS light curve of the star, and find that the primary is slightly evolved off the zero-age main sequence, while the less massive secondary still lies on the zero-age main sequence. Of the fourteen doublets, we associate eight with Y10x modes and six with novel Y10y modes. We exclude the existence of Y11x modes in this star and show that the observed pulsation modes must be Y10y. We also present a toy model for the tri-axial pulsation framework in the context of this star. The techniques presented here can be utilized to rapidly analyze and confirm future tri-axial pulsator candidates
Corporate Governance and Capital Structure Decisions: Moderating Role of inside Ownership
Get PDFThis study empirically investigates the association between board attributes and capital structure decisions of non-financial listed firms in Bangladesh. This study also investigates how this association is shaped and moderated by the level of insider ownership. The current study takes 3096 firm-year observations of firms that are listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange from 2004 to 2023. Multiple regression analysis on panel data was used, and pooled OLS was selected by resolving stationary issues. Moreover, this study used lagged variables and a GMM estimator to address endogeneity. The results show that both board size and board independence are more positively correlated with a firm’s leverage under conditions of a high level of inside ownership. On the other hand, without the moderating effect of inside ownership, gender diversity on the board does not have any significant impact on a firm’s leverage, and it turns into a positive association due to the moderating effect of inside ownership. This result is consistent with the existing theory and previous findings. After the introduction of corporate governance guidelines, the inside owners’ effect on board size and board independence became substantial, indicating that corporate governance guidelines with the moderating role of inside ownership play a significant role in capital structure decisions in Bangladeshi listed firms