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Sustainable development from an Islamic perspective: meaning, implications and policy concerns
No full textIt is well to begin with the statement that there is yet no agreed definition of sustainable development. For, it is an emerging concept attempting to assimilate the dynamism of a process of change that cannot ignore local concerns, needs, and interests. Being relatively new, it evolves as we learn to grasp its wider implications for different aspects of our lives. The key question here is: what it is that we want to sustain
The spirit of capitalism, asset pricing and growth in a small open economy
No full textConventional models of economic behavior have failed to account for a number of observed empirical regularities in macroeconomics and international economics. This may be due to preference specifications in conventional models. In this paper, we consider preferences with the "spirit of capitalism" (the desire to accumulate wealth as a way of acquiring status). We analyze a number of potential effects of international catching-up and the spirit of capitalism on savings, growth, portfolio allocation and asset pricing. Moreover, we obtain a multi-factor Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). Our results show that status concerns have non-trivial effects on savings, growth, portfolio allocation, asset prices and the foreign exchange risk premium
Do retail gasoline prices rise more readily than they fall? A threshold cointegration approach
No full textThis paper revisits the controversy over whether retail gasoline prices respond to increases in upstream prices more rapidly than decreases. Using threshold and momentum models of cointegration and daily data at different stages in the distribution chain, we find that transmission between upstream and downstream prices is mostly asymmetric in the momentum model: increases in upstream prices are passed on to downstream prices more quickly than decreases. We distinguish between small and large shocks and show that the asymmetry is more pronounced for small shocks, which may be due to consumer search costs
The yen-dollar exchange rate and Malaysia macroeconomic dynamics
No full textThis paper empirically assesses the effect of the yen-dollar exchange rate on selected macroeconomic variables, namely, real output, price level, and money supply, for Malaysia. The results, which are based on a vector autoregressive framework, suggest that variations in the yen-dollar rate can have significant influences on Malaysia’s macroeconomic variables. More specifically, the yen-dollar depreciation leads to contraction in real GDP and money supply. These results are fairly robust to alternative model specifications. We believe that, apart from providing important insights into the interactions between the yen-dollar rate and domestic macroeconomic variables, our results contribute to the debate on choice of exchange rate regimes for Malaysia
Audit committee reporting: current practices of companies listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (Bursa Malaysia)
No full textThis study examines the disclosures contained in Audit Committee Reports (ACRs) and the level of compliance of current practices with the amended Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange listing requirements after the adoption of various recommendations made by the High-Level of Finance Committee on Corporate Governance and the Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (MCCG) in 1999 and 2000 respectively. All firms listed on the KLSE's main and second board, and MESDAQ counters were sampled. Consistent with the literature in developed markets, the findings reveal that very few companies provide more than what is expected by the ACRs in their listing requirements. Further, companies in finance, technology and IPC counters, and companies on the main board counter have greater initiative to provide value added (or termed as 'non-boiler plate') statements to information users
Efficiency of commercial banks in Malaysia
No full textThis study investigates the change in the productivity of banking industry during the period of 2000 to 2004. The data consists of a panel of 11 commercial banks in Malaysia namely Malayan Banking, Bumiputra-Commerce, Public Bank, RHB Bank, Hong Leong Berhad, EON Bank, Affin Bank, Southern Bank Berhad, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad (BIMB), Ambank and Bank Muamalat. Productivity is measured by the Malmquist index, using a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique. The Malmquist productivity measures are decomposed into two components: efficiency change and technical change index. Efficiency change is again decomposed into pure efficiency and scale efficiency. Overall, the results show that Total Factor Productivity (TFP) has slightly increased for the whole industry in which efficiency change is found to be the most important source of productivity growth to Malaysia’s banking industry as compared to technical component that contributes a negative change to the overall TFP growth. In this case, the scale efficiency is found to be a more important source of efficiency change than pure efficiency component. This implies that the size does matter in improving bank efficiency. Negative growth of technical efficiency indicates a great potential for the industry to increase productivity through higher utilization of technology as well as technological knowledge dispersion. Continuous training programs to familiarize and improve technical expertise appear to offer better prospects for Malaysia’s banking industry to achieve greater TFP growth
Who leads the Australian interest rates in the short and long run? An application of long run structural modelling
No full textThe focus of this paper is to test the cointegrating and Granger-causal relationships between Australian short-run interest rate securities and those of the UK, US, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand. A relatively new methodology known as Long Run Structural Model (LRSM) (Pesaran and Shin, 2002) followed by vector error-correction model, generalized variance decompositions, generalized impulse response, and persistence profile have been used. The findings tend to suggest that Australia's short-term interest rates are cointegrated with those of its major trading partners. The results of this paper indicate that the ability of Australian policy makers to target and manipulate domestic interest rates may be limited and that they should look to the policy decisions of the US and Japan in particular when setting domestic policy
Diversification across economic sectors and implication on portfolio investments in Malaysia
No full textDue to the increasing efforts towards regional and global economic integration, the effects of "country specific" factors are becoming less important in managing domestic portfolio investments. Consequently the concept of diversification across economic sectors has received attention in literature. This paper analyzes the opportunity for diversification across different economic sectors for long-term investment using sectorial indices. The findings indicate high but unstable correlation of returns between indices. This implies that investment managers should account for potential movements in sector-specific and sub-sector-specific risks. The findings imply that investment in one or two sectors of the stock market face higher total risk than in the past due to the increasing "sector" effects on portfolio investment
Audit committee: some evidence from Malaysia
No full textThis study aimed to investigate the perceptions of senior managers of Malaysian publicly listed companies on issues relating to audit committee authority and effectiveness. Questionnaire survey technique was employed to seek the respondents perceptions on five issues, namely audit committee appoints the auditor, audit committee determines and reviews audit fees, audit committee determines and reviews the auditor’s scope and duties, and audit committee’s reports and meetings. The majority of respondents agreed that auditor would be more effective and independent if audit committee assumed the responsibility to appoint the auditor, determine and review the audit fees, and determine and review the external auditor’s scope and duties. It is also found that disclosure of audit committee report and quarterly meeting would enhance the perceptions of users of financial statement concerning the effectiveness of the committee
Rethinking the governance of the International Monetary Fund
No full textThis paper attempts to set out the principal issues that need to be resolved in formulating a proposal for quotas and voice reform in the IMF that could command broad support. Following John Rawls, we argue that “justice is the first virtue of social institutions,” and we use his theory of justice to provide a method for understanding what should be the case, in the context of voice and voting shares, before international institutions, such as the IMF, are to be justifiable to their members. The implementation of this process suggests, among other things, that a major revision of the quota formulas is long overdue, and leaving this unaddressed raises serious questions regarding the IMF’s governance which could develop into a core mission risk and jeopardize the relevance of the institution