UNIMAS Journal (Universiti Malaysia Sarawak)
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Investing in Islamic Fixed Deposit Accounts: A Technology Acceptance Model Perspective
Get PDFThis study is aimed at explaining the factors determining consumer acceptance of online Islamic fixed deposit accounts. Besides, the mediating role of attitude is also examined. Considering the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this study evaluates the impacts of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use along with attitude on consumer acceptance using a survey questionnaire. In terms of findings, PLS results suggest that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and attitude are instrumental in determining consumer acceptance. Attitude also serves as a valid mediator for the model developed. Likewise, the topic of this study is focused on consumer acceptance instead of actual behaviour along with its limited number of factors examined. The results obtained provide a benchmark to managers of Islamic banks to promote online transactions among bank customers on Islamic fixed accounts. Besides, this study expands the TAM’s application to include online Islamic fixed deposit accounts
Energy Subsidy and Price Dynamics In Indonesia
Get PDFThe downward trend of the world oil prices in recent years has put profound consideration among countries to reform the energy subsidy policies. Examination of the inflationary impact of the reform has become essential due to possible welfare consequences. This study aims to reveal the impact of energy subsidy on the prices in Indonesia by utilizing the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method to capture short-run dynamics and long-run cointegration between dependent and independent variables in the period 1980-2017. The finding of this research indicated that the impact of the energy subsidy is significant for the short-run and the long-run periods. Regarding the result, the government of Indonesia is advised to reform carefully by applying energy subsidy policy gradually and protecting vulnerable poor households
Impact of Tobacco Control Policies on Cigarette Consumption in Malaysia
Get PDFRaising the cigarettes price is an important measure to reduce the consumption of cigarettes and smoking rate. Besides price, other measures of tobacco control policies also play essential roles in determining the demand for cigarettes in Malaysia. In this study, the impact of tobacco control policies on consumption of cigarettes was examined using the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) technique. The study found that higher cigarettes price due to excise tax significantly decreased consumption of cigarette in the long run. An increase of 10% in the price of cigarettes reduces 7.69% of its consumption. Other measures of tobacco control policies except the “Tak Nak” campaign were also found to have reduced the consumption of cigarette significantly. The study concludes that the effective ways of reducing the use of cigarettes are by increasing the cigarette tax and strengthening the enforcement of other tobacco policies measures
Social Disclosure and Governance Among Malaysian Corporations
Get PDFThe objective of the study is to examine the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and corporate social responsibilities (CSR) disclosure among Malaysian leading corporations on Bursa Malaysia. The research is carried out due to the relatively low awareness and inconsistency with respect to the CSR disclosure particularly in Malaysia. The study uses the annual reports and data stream to collect the data of 50 Malaysian top corporations on Bursa Malaysia in 2015. The multivariate analysis suggests that the audit committee expertise and the foreign shareholding have significant relationships with CSR disclosure in Malaysia. In this sense, having a clear understanding on the corporate governance characteristics is perceived as able to increase the disclosure of CSR information to the respected stakeholders. The study therefore contributes to the theories, literature and practice. In this perspective, the study highlights the importance of having a sound corporate governance structure in enhancing CSR information disclosure. In overall, the results of the study can be regarded as valuable to the corporate players, corporations, relevant statutory authorities as well as other related parties
The Inter-Seasonal Phytoplankton Compositions and Density in Response to Abiotic Factors in Puah Reservoir Hulu Terengganu Hydroelectric Dam, Peninsular Malaysia
Get PDFThe distribution of the phytoplankton community in different locations of Puah Reservoir, Malaysia was investigated from May to December 2019 to examine the phytoplankton compositions and density. Seven sampling locations were selected namely Terengganu Mati (P1), Limbing Besar (P2), Temba Outlet (P3), Pela-gong (P4), Sireh (P5), Centre Dam (P6) and Power Intake (P7). A total of 543 cell/mL were recorded from 35 genera in the reservoir. These identified species belonged to six major plankton groups: 12 green algae (35.29%), nine blue-green algae (26.47%), nine diatom (23.53%), two golden algae (5.88%), two filamentous (5.88%) and one flagellate (2.94%). During this period, Chlorophyta was the most abundant group (40% of the total phytoplankton), followed by Bacillariophyceae (29%), Pyrrhophyta (19%), Cyanophyta (12%) and Chrysophyceae (1%). The highest composition of phytoplankton was recorded at P7 (32%), followed by P3 (16%), P1 (14%) and P4 and P2 with the lowest (8% and 7%), respectively. The lowest density was observed during dry season (162 cell/mL) and high density during wet season (412 cell/mL). Species richness was discreetly greater in the wet season however, evenness index was ≥0.8, thereby indicating a similarity in species abundance. The water temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen correlate positively with phytoplankton at P = 0.01. The overall mean values of temperature for wet and dry season were 29.3 ± 1.79 °C and 27.5 ± 1.55 °C while dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and total suspended solid (TSS) were 16.2 mg/L and 4.7 mg/L, 3.4 mg/L and 2.9 mg/L, 15.2 mg/L and 12.7 mg/L, and 0.5 mg/L and 2.3 mg/L, respectively. Water transparency, pH and DO were found to be important factors characterising each sampling location
Tensiometric and Fluorescence Study of Cationic Gemini Surfactant with Some Special Alcohols
Get PDFSpecial alcohols have been used as additives to study interfacial properties of cationic Gemini surfactant pentanediyl- 1, 5-bis (dimethyldodecylammonium bromide) (12-5-12). As these branched chain alcohols (in comparison with linear chain alcohols) are playing a measure roll in creating a microemulsion with Gemini surfactants. The surface tension values were measured by using ring detachment method. During the experiments, the ring was cleaned well by heating it in alcohol flame. The critical micelle concentration (cmc) values were obtained from surface tension (γ) versus logCt plots. The γ values decreased continuously and then become constant along a wide concentration range. The point of break, when the constancy of surface tension begins, was taken as the cmc of the system. Calculated Parameters are cmc, Гmax (maximum surface excess concentration), Amin (minimum surface area per molecule), C20 (the concentration of surfactant where the surface tension of the solvent is being reduced by 20 mN.m-1), (free energy of the given air/water interface), and the standard Gibbs energy of adsorption, ΔG0ads. An important property of micelle formation is the mean aggregation number which provides direct information about the general size and shape of the aggregates formed by amphiphiles in solution, and how these properties are related to the molecular structure of the amphiphiles. Mixed micellization behavior has been shown by these parameters. The mean aggregation number (Nagg) of mixed micelles has been obtained by using the steady state fluorescence quenching method. Some other concerned parameters including dielectric constant (D), binding constant (KSV) were calculated in this study by using the ratio of intensity of peaks
THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON STOCK MARKET PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM TEN ASIAN COUNTRIES
No full textThe purpose of this study is to examine the effect of COVID-19 on stock market performance from the aspects of stock price volatility and stock market risk in the top GDP10 Asian countries. The dependent variable has been used in this study, which is the stock price volatility and stock market risk, while the independent variable that has been involved in this research is confirmed cases and death cases from COVID-19. In addition, the control variables that will be taken into this study are gross domestic product (GDP) and exchange rate. The study is examined between January 1, 2020 and June 30, 2020. Data were all collected from the source Investing.com, Trading Economies, Worldometer and World Bank. The findings show a significant positive relationship between the impacts of Covid-19 confirmed cases on stock price volatility among the top 10 Asian Country. However, there is an insignificant relationship between the impacts of Covid-19 death cases on stock price volatility among the top 10 GDP Asian Country. Covid-19 confirmed cases and death cases are insignificant on stock market risks among the top 10 GDP Asian Country
The Role of Halal Brand Relationship Quality towards Relational, Utility Value and Halal Brand Resonance
Get PDFIslamic marketing is an emerging field. It has a lot of potential to grow and to become a source of attention of companies. But there is a lack of attention of criteria of evaluation of Halal brands and factors which are significant in Halal brand resonance. So, it is worthwhile to investigate factors affecting Halal brand resonance with the mediation of Halal brand relationship quality. This study has been carried out through structured questionnaire by stratified sampling and cross-sectional data was collected from 410 Halal food consumers in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, twin cities of Pakistan. Theory of social exchange significantly explains concept of Halal brand resonance about choice of Halal food consumers. The study results confirm positive association between utility value, relational value and Halal brand resonance and mediation of Halal brand relationship quality. This study is limited to Halal food only. However, future researchers can conduct longitudinal study and cross-cultural comparison which can give better understanding of Halal brand consumers
Utilization of Social Media and Its Impact on Marketing Performance: A Case Study of SMEs in Indonesia
Get PDFThe role of social media has changed both producer and consumer behaviour worldwide. It connects businesses and customers to communicate with each other seamlessly. Social media can bring many advantages for SMEs, but many SMEs still have not realized it. Several SMEs have higher marketing performance through social media channels, while most SMEs struggle to implement social media benefits because of their limitation in technological knowledge. This study explores why and how SMEs use social media and its impact on marketing performance by using an explanatory pilot study as a research method. The qualitative data analysis were examined through thematic analysis. The findings of this study provide nuance to explain the role of social media for SMEs in six main themes: (1) Branding, advertising, and promoting; (2) Enhancing community interaction and content sharing; (3) Building trust and relationships; (4) Reaching potential customers; (5) Digital marketing trends, and (6) Low-cost promotion and content customization. Another notable contribution of this study is the importance of social media adoption to improve SMEs' marketing performance through creative advertisement using lower marketing costs
The Impact of Sukuk Structures on Sukuk Ratings and Yields
Get PDFSukuk has been developed into a global asset class, supporting development with the participation of a wide range of issuers and investors irrespective of demographic continents. Sukuk structuring is not only related to regulations imposed by the regulators but also has high consideration on rating and yield performance. This study aims to examine the effect of the Sukuk structures on Sukuk rating and yield in Bursa Malaysia (Malaysian Stock Exchange) listed companies during the term of 2008–2013. This study uses the ordinal logit regression model (OLRM) to investigate the effect of Sukuk structures on the rating, and the ordinary least-square (OLS) to investigate the effect of Sukuk structures on the yield. The result demonstrates two opposite directions after controlling for firm characteristics. While Sukuk rating is negatively related to Sukuk structures, Sukuk yield shows a positive direction with Sukuk structures. This study evidently shows that the selection of Sukuk structure is among the important factors for Sukuk yield performance, in addition to fulfilling the regulatory requirements on Sukuk structuring. The selection of the best structure can achieve the issuance and investment objectives. This study was limited to the study of the relationship between Sukuk structure on Sukuk ratings and yield using the aggregate data of Malaysian public listed companies that issued Sukuk during the period of 2008 to 2013. The study provides new insights into the issue of how the Sukuk structure influences the Sukuk rating and yield. The findings of this study contribute to the existing literature on the determinants of Sukuk ratings and yields