UNIMAS Journal (Universiti Malaysia Sarawak)
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Financial Literacy and Financial Risk Tolerance of Lottery Gamblers in Thailand
Get PDFThis paper investigates the impacts of financial literacy level, financial risk tolerance and demographic characteristics on gambling behavior of informal laborers. The data were analyzed by Multivariate Analysis of Variance and Multinomial Logistic Regression. The total of 995 participants used in this research were collected by Multi-Stage Randomization from the informal laborers in Southern Thailand. The empirical analysis revealed that the financial literacy confidence, the risk tolerance, and the demographic characteristics were significant determinants of the gambler’s behavior. The older the gamblers were, the more they got addicted to gambling. Also, the more the people perceived that they have a high level of financial literacy, the more they would gamble. However, it was found that the female laborers were more frequent gamblers than the males. Thus, agencies responsible for supervising the financial education should be aware of the expected outcomes, not only focusing on actual financial literacy, but also supporting the individuals to achieve a healthy level of financial literacy confidence
Royal Family Members and Corporate Governance Characteristics: The Impact on Earnings Management in UA
Get PDFThis study examines the association between Royal family members on the board of directors and earnings management in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Panel data was sourced from the annual and corporate governance reports of companies listed in two leading markets in the UAE: Abu Dhabi Exchange Security (ADX) and Dubai Financial Market (DFM). Final data resulted in 437 observations for the period from 2011 to 2018. The findings of this study concluded that Royal family members on the board of UAE listed companies is negatively associated with earnings management. This study provides evidence of the role played by elite groups (Royal family members) in the UAE in enhancing the role played by the board of directors. The study also found that board meetings and audit committee meetings are positively associated with earnings management, while audit committee expertise and profitability negatively associated with earnings management. However, board size, board independence, audit committee independence, firm size and firm leverage had insignificant association with earnings management. The paper contributes to the existing theory and empirical evidence of how internal governance mechanisms add value to the company by reducing earnings management and enhancing the quality of financial reporting
Malaysian Chinese CEOs and Firm Performance
Get PDFThis paper investigates whether Malaysian Chinese CEOs produce higher firm performance, in particular, the effect of ethnicity on financial performance from cultural dimensions. While the cultural dimension receives widespread attention in economics and sociology research, it has received much less attention in finance studies. The data covered were hand collected information on CEOs and board characteristics of firms listed in Bursa Malaysia over the 2009-2015 period. Using panel regression, the study documented empirical evidence that Malaysian Chinese CEOs deliver higher firm performance, especially if they graduated from overseas. Results are consistent even after controlling for firm level corporate governance characteristics. The findings suggest that Malaysian Chinese CEOs possess some quality traits that enable them to deliver higher firm performance. This is not only due to their cultural beliefs, but education profile as well. These findings contribute practical implications for CEO selection in corporations
Corruption and Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries
Get PDFThe importance of entrepreneurship as a driver of economic development cannot be denied. Nevertheless, developing countries suffer from unsatisfactory entrepreneurship level, partially explained the low economic growth. Given the main attribute of developing countries, which is highly corrupted, this study empirically investigates the effect of corruption on entrepreneurship in 48 developing countries from 2008-2016. By using Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator, the results show that an increase in corruption will promote more new business start-ups suggesting that in highly corrupted countries, potential entrepreneurs may observe that the only way to start a business is to bribe government officers to get licenses, permits and business approval. Therefore, a proactive role of government in effectively reducing and eventually eliminating corruption to create a more conducive environment for entrepreneurs to grow up is very critical
The Emergence of E-Wallet in Sarawak: Factors Influencing the Adoption of Sarawak Pay
Get PDFThis paper discusses the adoption factors of electronic wallet, more specifically Sarawak Pay in Kuching, Sarawak. The Sarawak Government has a very aggressive mandate in terms of digital transformation to boost the e-commerce industry in Sarawak. Propel with the effort of federal and state governments in encouraging a cashless and digital society, Kuching will foresee a rapid rise in the adoption of Sarawak Pay. This paper adopts and expands the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in addressing the adoption factors of Sarawak Pay. With a population of three quarter a million, it is vital to understand whether perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risk and reward play any significant roles in the adoption of Sarawak Pay. Data were collected from 204 respondents and the results were examined using partial least squares-structured equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Findings indicated that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and perceived risk have significant impacts on Sarawak Pay adoption. As a result of the study, the understanding of existing theoretical literature on e-wallets in Malaysia will be enhanced
The Financial Inclusion-Environmental Quality Nexus: Do Information and Communication Technologies Make a Difference?
Get PDFEnvironmental degradation occurs during the initial phase of development. However, after a turning point, the benefits of economic growth supported by the accelerated development of information and communication technology (ICT) can be used for environmental conservation. This research examines the relationship between financial inclusion, ICT, and environmental quality, including the development of ICT in influencing the relationship between financial inclusion and environmental quality. To obtain the research objectives, we used secondary data for the period 2010 to 2021 from 34 provinces in Indonesia using the panel data regression method. This finding is robust for different measures of the financial inclusion index constructed by a modified estimation model. The insights to financial inclusion and emission can be a reference for regulations that financial inclusion and ICT can be used as mitigation measures for environmental quality. Therefore, policymakers should consider the synergistic effect of financial inclusion and ICT in designing development and climate change policies
Bats of Mount Silabur, Sarawak, and Its Potential for Conservation
Get PDFKarst landscape is recognised as one of the biologically important areas especially for bats. The limestone caves and forest within the landscape provide essential resources for the local bat fauna, albeit bat populations are severely threatened by anthropogenic disturbances occurring within and surrounding the ecosystem. In Sarawak, studies on bat diversity are biased towards protected areas, leaving aside non-protected areas including private lands such as Mount Silabur. Surveys on bat diversity were conducted at the limestone outcrop and the surrounding matrix of Mount Silabur with the primary aim of developing the first checklist of bats at Mount Silabur. A total of 27 species were recorded from 12 sampling nights representing approximately 34% of the total bat species recorded in Sarawak. The Cox’s Roundleaf Bat (Hipposideros coxi), a rare Bornean endemic species, was recorded from the cave system, signifying an important record for the area and also Sarawak. Furthermore, this is the sixth locality record for the species in Sarawak, Borneo. Interestingly, the total number of bat species recorded from Mount Silabur represented about 72% of the total bat species recorded (27 out of 38 species) from other major touristic caves in western Sarawak; Fairy Cave Nature Reserve and Wind Cave Nature Reserve. This warrants a need to develop an action plan to protect and conserve Mount Silabur cave system and the surrounding forest for its potential to serve as a shelter for bats and other cave and forest dependent taxa. The local community should implement and adhere to guidelines for cave related activities to minimise human driven disturbances on the ecosystem and its inhabitants
The Development of a Pectin-Based Food Ink from Locally Sourced Durian Rind Waste for Possible Use as a 3D Printable Food Material
Get PDFDurian (Durio zibethinus) is a popular seasonal fruit in Southeast Asia. Pectin can be extracted from the rind. Pectin is an excellent source of fibre and is available in two forms: high and low methoxyl pectin. Both of these types of substances can be employed as gelling agents. As such, the purpose of this research is to partially characterise durian pectin in order to facilitate the development of a pectin-based edible ink formulation. Four formulations of pectin-based food ink were developed and evaluated using a rheometer to determine the viscoelastic properties, a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) to determine the chemical functional groups available, and thermogravimetric analysis to determine the thermal stability using durian rind waste pectin and commercial pectin. The results indicated that durian pectin contains a low amount of methoxyl (LM) at 2.48 ± 0.31%, which is appropriate for the development of food ink, whereas commercial pectin has a high methoxyl (HM) content of 28.72 ± 0.47%. With viscosities of 31759.20 Pa/s and 7482.62 Pa/s, formulations 3 and 4 of LM pectin exhibited the highest viscoelastic properties. The third and fourth formulations of HM pectin, as well as the third and fourth formulations of LM pectin, contain components that include the alcohol, carbonyl compound, and carbonyl group are found in both pectin granules. The LM pectin formulation 2 offers the highest thermal stability (32.00% residual weight) and the lowest weight loss percentage (57.15%). Due to its capacity to form gel, the LM result demonstrated potential for use in the formulation of edible ink. Additionally, it can be used as a polymeric crosslinker in conjunction with other materials
Utilisation of Fermented Wheat Bran Extract Medium as A Potential Low-cost Culture Medium for Chlorella ellipsoidea
Get PDFMicroalgae, Chlorella ellipsoidea is an excellent energy source for food and biofuel production. Nevertheless, the production cost of C. ellipsoidea using Bold's Basal Medium (BBM) is expensive, which led to the exploration of alternative low-cost medium for large-scale production. Low-cost fermented wheat bran extract medium (FWBEM), which has good nutritional properties, might be an alternative feedstock for mass production of C. ellipsoidea. The present study was conducted to evaluate the growth and production of C. ellipsoidea using different concentrations of FWBEM. Wheat bran was fermented at the concentration of 8.33, 6.66, and 5.00 g/L water labelled as T2, T3, and T4, respectively. The BBM was used as the control medium (T1). The growth and production of C. ellipsoidea were monitored for three days in terms of cell dry weight, specific growth rate, optical cell density, chlorophyll a content, and cell numbers. Those growth data revealed that C. ellipsoidea cultured at 6.66 g/L (T3) did not vary significantly with the standard inorganic BBM. However, T2 and T4 showed substantially lower cell growth and chlorophyll a content than control and T3. Compared to the BBM, a significant reduction in production cost was obtained in the FWBEM. Based on the cell biomass growth, pigmentation, and production cost, FWBEM at a 6.66 g/L could be used as an alternative medium. Therefore, FWBEM has excellent potential to be used for the low-cost production of C. ellipsoidea
Diversity of Arthropods in an Oil Palm Plantation in Sabah
Get PDFMalaysia is one of the largest palm oil-producing countries in the world. Located in the Southeast Asia region, this country is also known as one of the mega biodiversity-rich countries which contains numerous species. In this study, arthropods were sampled using sticky traps at three sites within an oil palm dominated landscape. We examined how vegetation structure affects arthropod community distribution within an oil palm plantation. The number of arthropod species was significantly greater at higher vegetation complexity structures. The findings also showed that the number of arthropod species that had been recorded for the three sites had nearly reached asymptote. This study suggests that maintaining vegetation complexity through sustainable agriculture practice as recommended by the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) may be useful in supporting arthropod species within oil palm plantations.