Level Of Equity Research Articles

Equity financing and Islamic bank stability: evidence from Malaysia and Indonesia

PurposeThis paper aims to determine the effect of equity financing on bank stability during normal and crisis periods.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a static panel regression that includes pooled ordinary least square, random effect and fixed effect model to examine the influence of equity financing on bank stability. In estimating bank stability during a financial crisis, the authors predict the occurrence of a crisis using the early warning system (EWS). The authors then used z-score to measure Islamic banks’ stability.FindingsIslamic banks that offer equity financing structure are more stable compared to Islamic banks without such structure. Islamic banks with medium equity financing have highest stability relative to Islamic banks with high or low equity financing. During crises, the Islamic banks with equity financing structure remain relatively stable compared to other Islamic banks.Research limitations/implicationsThe sampling coverage could have included a larger number of countries and banks.Practical implicationsThe authorities need to strengthen the banking framework to support the Islamic financial products by encouraging a wider use of risk-sharing instruments. Besides using a debt-like financing structure, Islamic banks should also place emphasis on equity financing in instilling the banking sector stability. In monitoring banks with equity financing, the authorities may need to look into the level of equity financing.Social implicationsBesides avoiding riba and gharar in financing, equity financing encourages cooperation and participation among society as they share the risks.Originality/valueThis paper analyses the effect of equity financing on the Islamic banks stability during normal and crisis periods. This paper further examines the intensity of the equity financing and its influence on bank stability.

Corporate Financial Problems: A Case Study of Listed Manufacturing Companies in Nigeria

A number of manufacturing firms in Nigeria are folding up. Although, there are several reasons why this is happening, the study investigated the corporate financial problems: A case study of listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria because of the crucial roles they play in the Nigerian economy. The results of the previous studies reviewed showed that equity financing had a positive significant impact on the financial performance of listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria. However, the findings on debt financing were not consistent. While some studies reported that debt financing had a positive significant impact on the financial performance of listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria, some revealed that debt financing had a negative significant impact on the financial performance of listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Thus, the study recommends that the listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria should continue to use the optimal level of equity in financing their operations because by using equity, they have directly avoided the payment of high interest that may impact negatively on their performance. In using equity to finance their activities, the excess profits can either be paid as dividend or they can be reinvested into the business for better performance if the management considers it that it is better do so.

Inequity of maternal-child health services in ASEAN member states from 1993 to 2021

IntroductionInequity in maternal-child health services is a challenge to global health as it hinders the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Universal Health Coverage. Though the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has made remarkable achievements in maternal-child health, there remain gaps in reaching global goals. This study aimed to compare and investigate the inequity in maternal-child health (MCH) services in ASEAN member states to help guide policy decisions to improve equitable health services in the SDG era and beyond.MethodsUsing the WHO Health Inequality Monitor, we identified inequity summary measures for five MCH services in ASEAN member states from 1993 to 2021: antenatal care, births attended by skilled health personnel, diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (DTP3) immunization, measles immunization, and polio immunization. We divided the analysis dimension of inequity into urban–rural inequity, economic status inequity, and sub-regional inequity. Trends of absolute and relative inequity in every dimension of MCH services in ASEAN member states were examined with the principal component analysis (PCA).ResultsThe mean coverages of MCH services are 98.80% (Thailand), 86.72% (Cambodia), 84.54% (Viet Nam), 78.52 (Indonesia), 76.94% (Timor-Leste), 72.40% (Lao PDR), 68.10% (Philippines) and 48.52% (Myanmar) in 2021. Thailand have the lowest MCH services absolute inequity indexes of -1.945, followed by Vietnam (-1.449). Lao PDR and Myanmar have relatively higher MCH services absolute inequity indexes of 0.852 and 0.054 respectively. The service in Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines is pro-specific regions (with subnational region absolute inequity indexes of -0.02, 0.01, and 1.01 respectively). The service in Myanmar is pro-rich (with economic status absolute inequity index of 0.43). The service in Lao PDR and Timor-Leste is pro-urban areas, pro-rich, and pro-specific regions.ConclusionThe inequity of MCH services in ASEAN persists but is in a declining trend. Thailand and Vietnam have performed well in ensuring MCH services equity, while Laos and Myanmar are still facing serious inequity dilemmas. The progress of MCH service equity in Myanmar, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Indonesia is uneven. It is acceptable to learn from the successful experiences of Thailand and Vietnam to improve the equities in other ASEAN countries. Policies should be developed according to the specific types of MCH inequity in member states to improve equity levels.

The Unlevel Playing Field: Gender, Discrimination, and Global Attitudes toward Trade

Abstract The gender gap in support for trade is one of the most robust empirical findings to emerge from research on public opinion in international political economy. Even controlling for differences in education, skill level, industry affiliation, and other factors, women express consistently more protectionist views than men. Less frequently noted, and thus far unexplained, is that this gender gap varies cross-nationally. We advance an explanation that draws attention to national differences in gender discrimination, predicting that the gender gap will be larger in countries with greater gender discrimination. Using two decades of public opinion data across twenty-two OECD countries and measures of de facto and de jure gender equity, we conduct three separate empirical analyses of the relationship between levels of equity, women’s trade attitudes, and the gender gap. The results support the contention that unequal gender treatment is an important driver of the gender gap in trade attitudes.

How to Broke the Dependence on Debt and Strengthen Firms: the DEBRA Proposal Against the Tax-induced Debt Bias

Objective: This article assesses the impact of the debt-equity bias reduction allowance (DEBRA) proposal on the tax-induced debt bias. The tax-induced debt bias is present in most fiscal systems around the world that “subsidize” debt. Debt is more interesting than equity because its cost, the interest, is tax-deductible. As a result, firms tend to have more debt, which then generates negative externalities. To break this trend, the European Commission published a directive proposal comprising a DEBRA. Methods: The proposal includes both a notional deduction on growth in equity and an additional limitation on interest deduction for corporate income tax purposes. To evaluate the impact of the DEBRA proposal, Polish firms’ data from the BACH database over six years, from 2015 to 2020, are analyzed. Two criteria are analyzed: the impact on the ratio of total financial debt to net equity and on an Altman’s Z-score to estimate their solidity. Results: We observe that firms tend to keep a higher level of net equity and to reduce the level of debt. A stronger solidity of firms is also noted by a reduction in their likelihood of bankruptcy. Conclusion: The DEBRA should be an interesting fiscal tool in building an anti-fragility fiscal system. The proposal appears to be promising as it reinforces the stability of the firm in reducing the global level of its financial debt. Moreover, in improving the Z-score ratio, the DEBRA proposal tends to reduce the probability of firms going bankrupt.

Evaluating Equity: A Method for Analyzing the Transit Accessibility of Affordable Housing Units

Improving transit access for people in low-income communities is an important consideration for transit providers. However, there has only been a limited amount of research on the transit accessibility of affordable housing units. This paper aims to develop a method for evaluating the transit equity of existing affordable housing units and propose easy-to-implement modifications to local bus services to increase transit accessibility levels (assuming housing locations do not change in the short term). The proposed method has three steps, and it is applied to three cities in Tennessee with primarily bus-based transit systems. The first step measures the transit accessibility of specific affordable housing locations and citywide transit accessibility levels using a web-based platform built using open-source software. The second step evaluates the transit equity of affordable housing programs at the city level using Lorenz curves and Gini coefficients, and the transit equity of specific affordable housing locations by proposing a simple inequity index. The results reveal that the level of transit equity for affordable housing units differs across housing programs and cities. In the third step, an example of a modification to a local bus route is evaluated for one affordable housing location with a high inequity index to demonstrate the applicability of the method. The substantial increase in accessible jobs after modification, from 135 to 6,400, highlights the potential effectiveness of implementing short-term transit service changes to improve the accessibility of existing affordable housing locations. This three-step method primarily relies on open datasets that are also available for other regions in the U.S.A.

The Influence of the Company Size, Financing Structure and Assets Efficiency on the Positive Net Result in the Agri-Business Sector

Abstract The net profit is the primary goal of every business focused on commercial activity. It is the source of further company’s development, and it is followed by all the stakeholders. Its relative size is the basis of the shareholders return through dividends. This paper studies the influence of several factors as the company size, financing structure or assets efficiency on the net profit for the companies with positive results. The data was analyzed for a period of 12 years, from 2009 until 2020. The sample consists in 3109 companies specialized in vegetal nutrition in the Romanian Agri-sector. The company size is defined by the turnover, the financing structure is represented by the level of equity, long-term debts and short-term debts and the return on assets reflects the assets efficiency. Each factor is influencing in a different manner the net profit of the companies. The hypothesis of the study refers to the relationship between net profit and the above factors. A correlation analyses was performed using SPSS software for determining the strength and directions between variables, combined with a descriptive analyses and reliability tests as Cronbach’s and F. The results show that there is a high positive correlation with equity, a moderate positive with turnover and short-term debts, low positive with long-term debts and negligible correlation with return on assets. The conclusion is that the shareholders behavior reflected in the dividend policy can have a significant influence on the relative size of the net profit.

Impact of the Influence Factors for the Operating Profit of Companies from Romanian Agri-Business Sector

Abstract The objective of the study is to assess the impact of the influence factors for operating profit obtained by Romanian agriculture companies that have accessed bank loans in two consecutive years with major differences in results. The analysis was done for the year 2019 which was a very good one in term of production at national level and 2020 when the agriculture activity was affected by severe drought. The influence factors taken in consideration are turnover, equity and interest expenses. The purpose is to determine where a company is earning its profits or where is losing money and to predict the movement of the financial results considering that internal or external factors can change substantially. The research was carried out on a sample of 2220 companies from the Romanian agri-business sector. The size of the sample differentiates the study within the specialized literature. The relationship between variables was determined using a descriptive quantitative method and the multiple regression test using the SPSS software. The specialized literature is dominated by studies in which indicators are used in the form of rates, but the present study only uses indicators in absolute values. The operational income depends on the operational revenues and costs, but it is more important to observe the impact factors which can reflect the behavior of the shareholders as the level of equity or the interest expenses which can be influenced by external factors like inflation. According with the results obtained, the interest expenses have a significant influence on the operating profit and the negative effect can be amplified by decreases in turnover or equity. The effect of this relationship should be anticipated especially in the recession periods of the economy when the decrease in turnover can appear at the same time with the increase in interest cost.

Reducing disparities in transportation distance in a stochastic facility location problem

This paper focuses on improving equity in a well-known stochastic facility location problem (FLP). Specifically, given sets of potential facility locations and customers with random demand, traditional stochastic optimization models for the FLP seek to determine the number and location of facilities to open that minimize the total cost, including the fixed cost of opening facilities, expected transportation cost from customers to facilities, and expected unmet demand cost. We show that such models lead to inequitable distribution of facilities across different regions and disparities in transportation distance needed to reach those facilities. To mitigate such disparities, we first analyze a set of measures to gauge the level of equity of location decisions. Then, to investigate the impact of the method of modeling uncertainty on equity, we formulate and analyze stochastic programming (SP) and distributionally robust optimization (DRO) models that employ these measures to minimize disparities in transportation distance needed to access open facilities, assuming known and unknown distributions of the demand. Finally, we use a case study based on the Lehigh region in Pennsylvania to compare the impact of location decisions obtained using the traditional and the proposed models on equity and efficiency. Our results demonstrate how different methods of modeling equity under uncertainty can result in different location decisions with varying impacts on equity and efficiency. Notably, while prior literature shows that equity-neutral DRO models for the FLP yield robust location decisions, our results additionally demonstrate that the proposed DRO models produce equitable distributions of facilities and more effectively mitigate disparities in transportation distance than their SP and equity-neutral counterparts.

Digital Divide, Digital Equity, and Online Learning Engagement Among Selected College Students in Pamantasan ng Cabuyao

Hybrid-flexible learning, also known as HyFlex, is an instructional approach that combines flexible course structure and hybrid learning. This allows students the option to attend class sessions in person or online. The purpose of this study was to assess the Digital Divide, Digital Equity, and Online Learning Engagement Among Selected College Students in Pamantasan ng Cabuyao. This attempted to measure the respondents’ level of the digital divide, digital equity, and online learning engagement, and test their significant relationship. The findings showed that the respondents’ level of the digital divide is very high, the level of digital equity is high and the level of online learning engagement is also high. Hypothesis testing revealed that the level of the digital divide and digital equity are the drivers of online learning engagement. This study is regarded as a helpful resource in bridging the digital divide and promoting digital equity and online learning engagement.

Effect of Financial Innovations on Banks’ Return on Assets and Equity: A Case of Commercial Banks in Kenya

Purpose: The study sought to investigate the effect of financial innovation on banks’ return on assets and return on equity in Commercial Banks in Kenya. The main problem was that banks have implemented financial innovations, but the influence it has on financial performance has not been exhaustively and extensively evaluated especially in the emerging LDC markets. The effect it has on Return on Assets and Return on Equity remains unclear.
 Methodology: This study adopted Pragmatic research philosophy. The choice of philosophy was determined by the research problem. The study was based on correlational research design. The study area was Kenya, focused on its Commercial banks. The target population comprised of all of the 42 commercial banks licensed by the Central Bank of Kenya. Purposive sampling technique was used to obtain a sample of 12 CMA / NSE listed banks. Secondary data from individual bank level, CMA and the CBK for the period 2007 to 2017 was used. The data analysis was based on fixed effect, random effect models or pooled regression of panel data analysis.
 Results: The findings of the study indicated that financial innovations had higher correlation with, and influence on ROA as indicated by overall R-squared of 0.5134. This means that the financial innovations under study had 51.34% influences on return on assets, holding all other factors constant. The overall R-squared for ROE was 0.2077. This means that on financial innovations studied had 20.77% influence on return on equity. Thus, there is positive and significant effect between financial innovations and Return on Assets and Return on Equity. Positive effect is an indication that if commercial banks in Kenya increased their asset and equity levels, their profitability as measured by ROA and ROE would improve. The study therefore finds the relevance of technology in improving performance of commercial banks in the country. Based on the findings, the study concluded that it is important for commercial banks in Kenya to continue investing in cost- effective technology to remain competitive in the industry.
 Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommended that Commercial banks should implement effective financial innovations that would positively influence ROA and ROE. The findings of this study shall assist commercial banks and related financial institutions to monitor outcomes including effects of financial innovations with projections for profits as well as higher returns on ROA, ROE. It shall guide academic reference and policy making.

Sustainability and Brand Equity: The Moderating Role of Brand Color and Brand Gender

Green color priming has been introduced as a cue for consumer perceptions of sustainability. Nevertheless, the color green is not necessarily effective in every brand’s sustainability strategy. This study aims to understand the impact of a brand’s color and gender in an investigation of the relationship between sustainability and brand equity, including perceived quality. This study examined Interbrand’s Best Global Brands, conducted an international online survey of more than 400 participants, and demonstrated the relationship between brand color, brand gender, and sustainability using the process macro analysis method. In study 1, it was found that the use of the color green in sustainability color strategy is limited depending on the brand gender of the Best Global Brands through case analysis. In the empirical analysis of study 2, it was discovered that a majority of brands created higher brand equity in the color green than in iconic colors when implementing sustainability strategies. However, brands with a high level of feminine personality with graceful and tender characteristics created a higher level of brand equity when implementing their sustainability strategies with iconic colors than with green. These findings suggest that iconic colors are more effective than the color green in sustainability strategies when the masculine personality level is low, and the feminine personality level is high.

Navigating the 2023 US Housing Market: Impact on Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities

This article discusses the outlook for the US housing market and its expected impact on the trading dynamics of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) in 2023. Despite the current reduced affordability of housing due to higher mortgage rates and surging home values, single family home prices are unlikely to experience a sharp decline, with growth expected in the second half of the year. The limited housing supply will lead to increased upward pressure on home prices and stronger performance in RMBS. Non-Qualified Mortgage (non-QM) products may face a challenging year in 2023, with delinquencies and losses expected to rise. Credit performance will be critical, and demand for affordability products is likely to increase. Overall, the outlook for the RMBS market remains challenging due to rising interest rates, tightening monetary policy, and the expected increase in the supply of MBS. However, the high level of home equity in the US housing market will create skin in the game for borrowers as well as higher collateral values to protect against credit deterioration.

A Comparison Study of The Brand Loyalty of Perodua and Proton Car Owners: A Case Study in Kota Bharu

In today’s world, automobile industries play a very important role in contributing to the development and growth of one country’s economy. In the car business, which is very competitive, companies must make sure that their products are appealing to consumers and well-liked, as well as highly valued. Branding is not about presenting more choices but about providing buyers with clear choices. Hence, investigating the brand loyalty towards the national car among Malaysians would pave the way for the automobile industry to prosper along with other automobile industries worldwide. This study aims to identify the relative strengths of all factors in influencing brand loyalty among customers towards two brands of national cars in Malaysia. A total of 409 respondents to this study were at least 18 years old and car owners of the national brand, and they were selected from all dealers of Perodua and Proton in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. In this study, descriptive analysis, independent t-test and the Pearson correlation coefficient were used. The sample consisted of an almost equal breakdown of Perodua and Proton car owners. The findings show that the car owners show a moderate level of brand satisfaction, brand price, brand quality, brand equity and brand loyalty with their current cars. All the independent variables, which are brand satisfaction, brand price, brand quality, and brand equity, are strongly correlated with brand loyalty towards the national brand. Perodua owners were more loyal and committed than Proton owners. Brand loyalty has become an essential factor for all manufacturing companies. To gain customer loyalty, a company should produce products with good quality, suitable pricing, and more equity.

Multivariate Assessment of Vaccine Equity in Cambodia: A Longitudinal VERSE Tool Case Study Using Demographic and Health Survey 2004, 2010, and 2014.

Cambodia has exhibited great progress in achieving high coverage in nationally recommended immunizations. As vaccination program managers plan interventions to reach last-mile children, it is important to consider issues of equity immunization priority setting. In this analysis, we apply the VERSE Equity Tool to Cambodia's Demographic and Health Survey for the years 2004, 2010, and 2014 to evaluate multivariate equity in vaccine coverage for 11 vaccination statuses, emphasizing the results of the 2014 survey for MCV1, DTP3, fully immunized for age (FULL), and zero dose (ZERO). The largest drivers of vaccination inequity are socioeconomic status and the educational attainment of the child's mother. MCV1, DTP3, and FULL exhibit increasing levels of both coverage and equity with increasing survey years. The national composite Wagstaff concentration index values from the 2014 survey for DTP3, MCV1, ZERO, and FULL are 0.089, 0.068, 0.573, and 0.087, respectively. The difference in vaccination status coverage between the most and least advantaged quintiles of Cambodia's population, using multivariate ranking criteria, is 23.5% for DTP3, 19.5% for MCV1, 9.1% for ZERO, and 30.3% for FULL. By utilizing these VERSE Equity Tool outputs, immunization program leaders in Cambodia can identify subnational regions in need of targeted interventions.

Global health governance performance during Covid-19, what needs to be changed? a delphi survey study

BackgroundCovid-19 is not the first pandemic to challenge GHG. Preceding outbreaks and epidemics were sources of continuous debate on GHG leadership and structure resulting in its current structure. However, Covid-19 proved the presence of many deficits in the current GHG. The response to the Covid-19 pandemic is a cumulative result of all policies and actions of different governments and agencies active in global health. Assessing how Covid-19 is being handled globally provides lessons for ensuring better performance in facing upcoming outbreaks. This study has three main objectives: first, to evaluate the performance of GHG during Covid-19 in general and in relation to Covid-19 vaccine equity in particular. Second, to identify the reasons behind this performance; and third, to propose prospective changes in GHG for better performance.MethodsA cross-sectional research design using the Delphi method was applied. A panel of experts participated in the three-round Delphi surveys. Their scores were used to perform consensus, performance and correlation analysis.ResultsGHG performance limited the achievement of Covid-19 vaccines’ global equity. GHG performance is a product of the existing GHG system, its actors and legal framework. It is a collective result of individual GHG actors’ performance. The most influential actors in decision-making regarding Covid-19 vaccine are the vaccine manufacturers and governments. While the most invoked power to influence decision are economic and political powers. Covid-19 decisions underlying value, although had human right to health at the base, overlooked the concept of health as a global public good and was skewed towards market-oriented values. GHG mal-performance along with its underlying factors calls for four main changes in GHG structure: assigning a clear steward for GHG, enhanced accountability, centralized authority, more equitable representation of actors, and better legal framework.ConclusionGHG structure, actors’ representation, accountability system, and underlying priorities and value require future modification for GHG to achieve better future performance and higher health equity levels.

A Method to Determine an Equity Score for Transportation Systems in the Cities

Transportation equity is vital for the fulfillment of citizens’ activities. To make better decisions for transportation planning, it is appropriate to have a method to evaluate each mode and assign an equity score to it. This paper aims to propose a method to assess the level of equity using different transportation modes in each zone of a city. Here, the equity level takes into account on one side the proportion between the frequency of long and short-distance trips, the volume-to-capacity ratio of streets, the air quality, and the parking availability. On the other side, the ratio of costs associated with using passenger cars, the average income of the residents, and transit and cycling infrastructure quality is used in a zone of a city. In this regard, at first, indicators are considered to assess the condition of buses, cycling, and passenger cars. Then, the Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) is used to determine the level of equity for each mode. The method has been applied to regular buses, cycling, and passenger cars in Kerman, Iran, as a case study. The results indicate a significant difference between the equity levels perceived by citizens and the performed calculations. The citizens’ perceptions about the equity of regular buses and cycling seem to be more pessimistic than what the FIS model shows. Based on the model outputs, more restrictions must be established about using passenger cars in most of the zones. Nevertheless, in this regard, citizens have stated that the current situation is fair. We believe this method can be a helpful way to quantitatively assess the equity level of transportation systems in each zone.

Liquidity Provision and Financial Stability

AbstractWhen financial intermediaries' key characteristic is provision of liquidity through their liabilities, with financial frictions, the financial sector in the aggregate is likely to overaccumulate equity, thus decreasing liquidity provision and household welfare. Aggregate household welfare is therefore decreasing in the level of aggregate intermediary equity even though the individual value of intermediaries is increasing in equity, which is why intermediaries overaccumulate equity. Subsidizing intermediary dividends can improve welfare by encouraging earlier payout and decreasing aggregate equity in the financial sector. This policy increases the likelihood that intermediaries provide more liquidity and improves the stability of the economy, even though asset prices fall.

Assessing the Relationship between Enhanced Capital Requirements and Banks' Cost of Equity: Evidence from Publicly Listed Banks in Bangladesh

This paper examines the relationship between the cost of equity and the level of capital maintenance for banks in Bangladesh. Using data from publicly listed scheduled commercial banks, the study finds a significant negative empirical relationship between the cost of equity and banks' capital maintenance level. Specifically, higher levels of equity lead to a reduced cost of equity, with a 10-percentage point increase in capital resulting in a 4.39 percentage point reduction. The study also finds that the quality of capital, particularly Tier 1 capital, heavily impacts the relationship between the two variables. Other control variables, such as profitability, liquidity, and non-performing loans, also impact the cost of equity. Overall, the study provides empirical evidence for the benefits of enhancing capital maintenance and improving the quality of capital to strengthen bank sustainability and financial sector stability in Bangladesh.

Collective and individual spatial equity measure in public transit accessibility based on generalized travel cost

This study devises a novel two-dimensional analysis framework for spatial equity in public transit accessibility. We incorporated door-to-door travel time and ticket price by public transit into a generalized travel cost function to measure utility-based accessibility following a log-sum formulation. Then, this study designed a Palma ratio of accessibility and a neighboring accessibility gap index to respectively examine the collective spatial equity and individual spatial equity of public transit. Finally, we took an empirical case of Kunming city, China to analyze the unity-based accessibility distribution and checked collective and individual spatial equity levels reaching business centers, transport hubs, and 3-A hospitals. The results show that the utility-based accessibility reaching transport hubs by public transit is less than 50% to business centers and 32% to 3-A hospitals. Collectively, the expected minimum generalized travel cost by public transit in the poorest 40% of traffic analysis zones is almost 2.5 times as much as in the richest 10% of traffic analysis zones, and the collective spatial equity in old blocks is superior to new blocks. Individually, the number of traffic analysis zones with no spatial inequity, slight inequity, and medium inequity in public transit accessibility respectively occupied almost 57%, 38%, and 5%. We also found individual spatial equity may be associated with the walking distance during taking public transit and the number of neighboring traffic analysis zones.