High Ownership Research Articles

Why Nigerian agbada fabric is (often) imported, while Indian sari fabric is local: a comparative history of textile manufacturing

In the 1980s, both India and Nigeria had textile sectors that satisfied their large domestic demand. Today, however, Nigeria imports most of its textiles, including identity-imbued fabrics, while India is a major textiles producer. This article proposes three explanatory factors for this divergence based on a review of secondary sources. From independence, Indian policy placed greater emphasis on supporting craft and small-scale textile production, whereas the craft sector in Nigeria was neglected. Nigeria’s indigenisation of industry strategies failed to achieve endogenous processes in the textile industry, whereas the Indian textile sector was characterised by high Indian ownership and endogenous skills and technologies that rendered the sector resilient to shocks. Lastly, while both countries adopted import-substituting industrialisation strategies, the Nigerian textile sector benefited from little trade protection as smuggling greatly undermined the protection in place.

The influence of bank governance structure on green credit.

The introduction of green credit policy provides an important idea to solve the contradiction between economic development and environmental protection. Based on fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) method, from the perspective of bank governance structure, this paper selects ownership concentration, independence of the Board, executive incentive, activity of Supervisory Board, degree of market competition and loan quality as antecedent variables to analyze the path of their impact on green credit. It is found that: (1) The main way to achieve high-level green credit is high ownership concentration and good loan quality. (2) The configuration of green credit has causal asymmetry. (3) Ownership structure is the most important factor affecting green credit. (4) There is a substitution between the low independence of the Board and the low executive incentive. The low activity of Supervisory Board and the poor loan quality are also substitutable to a certain extent. The research conclusion of this paper is helpful to improve the green credit level of Chinese banks and win the green reputation for banks.

The destabilizing effect of mutual fund herding: Evidence from China

This paper examines the impact of mutual fund herding on the stability of China's stock market through the lens of idiosyncratic volatility. We show that mutual fund herding significantly amplifies future idiosyncratic volatility up to one-and-half years, suggesting a persistent destabilizing effect. We find that the destabilizing effect is larger for stocks with high mutual fund ownership and in high investor-sentiment periods. Furthermore, mutual fund herding destabilizes the stock market even further after China implemented the share reform in 2011. The destabilizing effect of mutual fund herding is robust to alternative measures of risk and China's institutional setting helps mitigate endogeneity concerns.

Effects of proxy solicitation and director ownership on directors’ career consequences

This study investigates how proxy solicitation and director ownership jointly affect directors' career consequences in Taiwan. We report that assent votes partly arising from proxies without shareholder voice increase the likelihood of departure for directors with higher ownership in firms soliciting proxies, especially for busy directors. Since proxy votes do not build extra reputation, this generates no spillover effect for both non-busy and busy directors. Overall, we support the arguments based on prior studies that votes holding information on shareholder voice have implications on directors’ careers. Furthermore, different board seats provide unequal incentives for busy directors.

Proxy solicitation, ownership structure, and bank cash dividends

The system of proxy solicitation is designed to alleviate the agency cost. The cash dividend policy involves the agency problem, which is particularly important in the banking sector. This study examines how proxy solicitation and ownership structure affect bank cash dividends. We find proxy solicitation is positively correlated with dividends, while the interactions between proxy solicitation and ownership structure negatively affect dividends. These results imply proxy statements display shareholder activism to some extent. However, when banks with high CEO, director, and government ownership solicit proxies as a means to smoothly reduce dividends, proxy solicitation becomes inefficient in shareholder activism.

Bucking at Landing by a Single-Grip Harvester: Fuel Consumption, Productivity, Cost and Recovery Rate

Operating at high efficiency is one of the prerequisites of sustainable forest operations. Typically, harvesters are designed to operate in tree felling and processing operations under the cut-to-length method. However, reasons such as limited business opportunities during the year may negatively affect the machine utilization rate. Coupled with high ownership costs, this results in economic sustainability problems. With this in mind, some practitioners have started to replace the traditional bucking operations conducted motor-manually at the landing with full mechanization using harvesters. This study evaluates the productive performance, fuel consumption, cost, and recovery rate in bucking wood at the landing by a single-grip harvester. A total of 27 bunches were taken into study, containing a total of 232 stems and stem parts, which were processed in 913 logs. A processing work cycle averaged 1.5 min but varied widely between 0.3 and 7 min. Dominant in the productive time were elements such as swinging to grab the stems, swinging to process, and piling the logs, which accounted for 86% of the productive time. Fuel consumption was estimated at 21 L/h and 0.78 L/m3, respectively. Efficiency was estimated at 0.047 PMH/m3, and productivity was estimated at 21.41 m3/PMH; the global recovery rate was 95%, and costs were in the range of 10 to 11 €/m3. Although there were attempts to develop dependence models of time consumption, efficiency, productivity, and recovery rate as functions of stem length, input volume, and the number of processed logs, this worked only for efficiency and productivity. The best-fitted models explained efficiency and productivity by power and linear equations, taking the input volume as a predictor. In addition to their practical application, the results of this study may be important for the planning and control of operations, for comparison to other ways of implementing the landing operations, or for optimizing larger systems.

Income smoothing and firm value: the moderating role of foreign ownership

ABSTRACT This study examines whether foreign ownership plays a moderating role in the relation between income smoothing and firm value. We first find that income smoothing is negatively related to firm value. We then find that the negative relation between income smoothing and firm value is weaker for firms with high foreign ownership than for those with low foreign ownership. This finding suggests that foreign ownership serves a positive moderating role in the income smoothing-firm value relation. Finally, we further find that the positive moderating effect of foreign ownership on the income smoothing-firm value nexus is stronger for firms that have higher profitability and pay dividends. Overall, our empirical evidence sheds light on the moderating role of foreign ownership in the association between income smoothing and firm value.

The Exit Threat of Non-controlling Major Shareholders and Corporate Financial Risk

Corporate governance plays a crucial part in corporate financial risk but the traditional means of corporate governance are limited. The means of corporate governance based on the exit threat of non-controlling major shareholders have been paid more and more attention. Based on this, this paper selects the China's A-share non-financial listed corporates from 2011 to 2021 as samples to explore the relationship between the exit threat of non-controlling major shareholders and corporate financial risk. It is found that exit threat can lower the financial risk of corporates; the reduction effect is more significantly for large scale and state-owned companies; high ownership concentration and high return on assets can strengthen the reduction effect of the exit threat on financial risk. This paper confirms the governance role of exit threat, and provides a new way to reduce financial risk for companies.

Charting a course for smartphones and wearables to transform population health research.

The use of data from smartphones and wearable devices has huge potential for population health research given high device ownership, the range of novel health-relevant data types available from consumer devices, and the frequency and duration over which data are, or could be, collected. Yet the uptake and success of large-scale mobile health research in the last decade has not matched the hyped opportunity. We make the argument that digital person-generated health data is required and necessary to answer many top priority research questions through illustrative examples taken from the James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership. We then summarise the findings from two UK initiatives that considered the challenges and possible solutions for what needs to be done, and in what way, to realise the future opportunities of digital person-generated health data for clinically important population health research. Examples of important areas to be addressed to advance the field include digital inequality and addressing possible selection bias, easy access for researchers to the appropriate data collection tools including how best to harmonise data items, analysis methodology for time series data, methods for patient and public involvement and engagement to optimise recruitment, retention and public trust, and providing greater control of their data to research participants. There is also a major opportunity through the linkage of digital persongenerated health data to routinely-collected data to support novel population health research, bringing together clinician-reported and patient-reported measures. We recognise that well conducted studies need a wide range of diverse challenges to be skilfully addressed in unison: for example, epidemiology, data science and biostatistics, psychometrics, behavioural and social science, software engineering, user interface design, information governance, data management and patient and public involvement and engagement. Consequently, progress would be accelerated by the establishment of a new interdisciplinary community where all relevant and necessary skills are brought together to allow excellence throughout the lifecycle of a research study. This will require a partnership of diverse people, of methods and of technology. Get this right and the synergy has the potential to transform many millions of people's lives for the better.

Corporate governance and cost of equity: the moderating role of ownership concentration levels

PurposeThe study analyzes the influence of corporate governance and ownership concentration levels on the cost of equity. Further, the authors extend the literature by investigating the moderating effect of ownership concentration levels (i.e. at 5%, 10% and 20%) on the relationship between corporate governance and the cost of equity.Design/methodology/approachThe study applies several robust panel regression techniques to a sample of 114 active non-financial companies listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange from 2011 to 2016. Corporate governance was measured through a unique index comprising 30 governance attributes. The cost of equity was measured through the capital asset pricing model. Further, the authors construct three variables for ownership concentration levels, i.e. at 5%, 10% and 20%. To address the endogeneity problem, the one-lagged variable model and GMM approaches were also applied.FindingsThe results indicate that better corporate governance reduces the cost of equity, while ownership concentration at high thresholds would increase the cost of equity. Further, the authors find that ownership concentration at the 20% threshold moderates the relationship between corporate governance and the cost of equity. Thus, the authors argue that firms can minimize the risk faced by shareholders by implementing substantive corporate governance mechanisms. In addition, effective corporate governance mechanisms at high ownership concentration levels are imperative for managing the cost of equity.Originality/valueThe study reports novel evidence that ownership concentration at a high threshold moderates the effect of corporate governance on the cost of equity.

An exploratory study of MaaS in Shandong

As a new service concept, Maas (mobility as a service) was initially defined as providing an available travel service mode for residents in low-density areas and low-income populations. Maas was first implemented in western countries to study the situation of low density and low salary in various countries[1]. In contrast, in China, because the complex national conditions are diametrically opposite to the low density and low salary situation in the west, China urgently needs to explore a new paradigm of the Sinicization of Maas[2]. Based on the national conditions of high density and high car ownership, this research conducted an exploratory research on the problem of private car owners' changing from owning vehicles to owning transportation services, in order to explore how to add private cars to the Maas public travel chain.

Tracking elusive and shifting identities of the global fishing fleet.

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing costs billions of dollars per year and is enabled by vessels obfuscating their identity. Here, we combine identities of ~35,000 vessels with a decade of GPS data to provide a global assessment of fishing compliance, reflagging patterns, and fishing by foreign-owned vessels. About 17% of high seas fishing is by potentially unauthorized or internationally unregulated vessels, with hot spots of this activity in the west Indian and the southwest Atlantic Oceans. In addition, reflagging, a tactic often used to obscure oversight, occurs in just a few ports primarily by fleets with high foreign ownership. Fishing by foreign-owned vessels is concentrated in parts of high seas and certain national waters, often flying flags of convenience. These findings can address the global scope of potential IUU fishing and enable authorities to improve oversight.

Leveraging explainable artificial intelligence and big trip data to understand factors influencing willingness to ridesharing

Carpool-style ridesharing, compared to traditional solo ride-hailing, can reduce traffic congestion, cut per-passenger carbon emissions, reduce parking infrastructure, and provide a more cost-effective way to travel. Despite these benefits, ridesharing only occupies a small percentage of the total ride-hailing trips in cities. This study integrates big trip data with machine learning and eXplainable AI (XAI) to understand the factors that influence willingness to take shared rides. We use the City of Chicago as a case study, and results show that users tend to adopt ridesharing for longer distance trips, and the cost of a trip remains the most important factor. We identify a strong diurnal pattern that people prefer to request shared trips during the morning and afternoon peak hours. We also find socio-economic disparities: users who requested trips from neighbourhoods with a high percentage of non-white, a low median household income, a low percentage of bachelor’s degrees, and high vehicle ownership are more likely to share a ride. The findings and the XAI-based analytical framework presented in this study can help transportation network companies and local governments understand ridesharing behaviour and suggest new strategies and policies to promote the proportion of ridesharing for more sustainable and efficient city transportation.

The effective recommendation approaches depending on user’s psychological ownership in online content service: user-centric versus content-centric recommendations

ABSTRACT With the expansion of the online environment, recently, recommendation systems have become established as an essential element of any online service. Following this trend, the issue of how to present recommended information effectively to users is attracting attention not only in companies but also in the research field. This paper presents a between-subjects study that aimed to elicit whether there is a difference in consumer’s attitudes towards the user-centric and content-centric recommendation approaches based on their level of psychological ownership towards the online service. Our findings indicated that users with high psychological ownership toward the online service prefer the user-centric recommendation approach, while users with low psychological ownership prefer the content-centric recommendation approach.

Development of AGRONUTRI-X M-Learning Application using MIT App Inventor 2 Platform

Education today is changing, in line with technology development that has been embedded in our lives. Thus, to meet the needs of today’s generation, there is a need to revolutionize conventional instructional methods by integrating technological elements in line with today’s advancements. The thriving smartphone technology with high ownership rates needs to be leveraged as a learning medium known as M-learning. Compared to E-learning, M-learning has been deemed a more forward-looking trend in learning as it allows learning to be accessed anytime and anywhere without needing specialized facilities or laboratories. However, the optimal use of M-learning as a learning medium in agricultural TVET has yet to be explored. This gap is demonstrated by the small amount of M-learning materials developed for learning agricultural subjects. This study focuses on developing specific M-learning applications for Crop Agro-industry students in Vocational College, specifically to improve their competency in preparing formulations for fertigation fertilizer. The design and development of the AGRONUTRI-X M-learning application are based on the ADDIE model. The model has five phases in its learning material development process: analysis, design, development, implementation, and testing. Balsamiq Wireframes software was used in designing the storyboard and application interface, and the MIT App Inventor 2 platform was used for the application development using the storyboard and interface provided during the design phase. The application was evaluated by five experts, and the results of the expert content evaluation showed that the application has a high content validity (89.2%). The application was tested on 30 vocational college students during a six-week intervention process which was conducted concurrently with conventional learning. The AGRONUTRI-X M-learning application usability questionnaire was then distributed to these students, and the results showed a high level of application usability with a mean score of 4.41. Overall, the development of AGRONUTRI-X M-learning applications has successfully achieved the objectives and contributed to developing M-learning applications for agriculture students.

Firm-specific investor sentiment and stock price crash risk: The role of foreign investors in Korea’s stock market

Building on a prior study that documents that stock price crashes are positively associated with firm-specific investor sentiment (hereafter, the sentiment), this study further investigates the moderating effect of foreign investors on Korea’s stock market. This study hypothesizes that foreign investors as sophisticated participants are indifferent of the significant relationship between the sentiment and the stock price crashes. For firms listed on the KSE over the period of 2011–2019, the analysis findings show that the high stock crash risk attributable to the high sentiment is attenuated for firms with high foreign ownership. However, such moderating effect of foreign ownership disappears when taking foreign investment horizon into consideration. This implies that future stock crash risk reduction under the high sentiment is due to the corporate monitoring role of foreign investors, who are targeting a long-term investment horizon. This study adds to the literature on the role of foreign investors by suggesting that foreign investors act as a rigorous monitor helpful for managing stock price, rather than a price maker who is rational under the high sentiment.

Determinants of Improved Chickpea Variety Adoption: The case of Southern Ethiopia

This study addressed the determinants of new chickpea variety adoption in the Southern part of the Damot Woyde district of Ethiopia. The study used 126 sample households’ heads. The necessary data was gathered using respondents and different documents. The mean, frequency, and percent were used and a probit model was employed employing STATA Version 14.2. The results disclosed that sex, education, background, farming years, extension contact, distance from the nearest market, tropical livestock unit, group participation, and inputs access are factors influencing chickpea variety adoption. On the other hand, there is an inverse relationship between the age of the household head and the adoption decision of the farmers. The findings suggest that making inputs available and accessible, encouraging farmers with high livestock ownership, supporting young farmers, and reaching other farmers through preparing a workshop, field days, and training via extension services would need attention to improve the adoption of improved chickpeas.

Managerial stock ownership, debt covenants, and the cost of debt

This study examines the potential role of managerial ownership in determining the number and types of corporate debt covenants and the effect of debt covenants on the relation between managerial ownership and cost of debt. We find that managerial stock ownership is positively associated with the number of debt covenants, particularly dividend payout and accounting related covenant restrictions. Further investigation shows that the above positive relation is driven by firms with low growth opportunities, suggesting that companies with high managerial stock ownership have incentive to use debt covenants to mitigate managers' opportunities of rent expropriation when agency costs between shareholders and managers are high. Finally, we show that restrictive debt covenants attenuate the positive relation between managerial stock ownership and the yields on newly issued bonds, suggesting that restrictive debt covenants mitigate debtholders' concerns over a closer alignment of interests between managers and shareholders. This study focuses on agency costs related to managerial ownership, which is common in both developed and emerging economies. Future research can also consider the potential effect of the agency costs between controlling and minority shareholders, which is particularly prevalent in emerging economies including the region of the Pacific-Basin.

Demand responsive transport: New insights from peri-urban experiences

Despite great differentials between urban, peri-urban and rural experiences, little research on demand responsive transport (DRT) has been conducted in peri-urban settings. This paper explores the influence of peri-urban area (PUA) conditions on the design and the operation of DRT and the resulting demand patterns and modal shifts. It uses a combination of a trip dataset and a survey of users and non-users. Key findings suggest that the provision of public transport services within the PUA and to nearby towns and cities, the high car ownership rate and the low demand have a significant influence in designing the DRT scheme. An integrated DRT and public transport (PT) system has potentials to be successful in a context of PUA. Our empirical evidence indicates that such a DRT service design can improve the accessibility and generate a stable demand while reducing the risk of substituting PT. However, there is a danger of the unwanted substitution of walking and cycling. We provide recommendations for DRT planners and operators in developing future schemes in PUA settings.

Dividend Policy Decisions and Ownership Concentration: Evidence from Thai Public Companies

In this paper, we examine the relationship between ownership concentration and dividend policy for Thai publicly listed companies. High family ownership firms have higher dividend payouts than low family ownership firms, which we interpret to mean high family ownership firms follow a more rational dividend policy. This finding is consistent with the prediction that agency conflicts between the managers and shareholders are lower at firms with a controlling shareholder. The evidence is robust through different econometric specifications; robust when the level used to determine the extent of family ownership (family control) is lowered to 10% of the outstanding shares; and robust to the inclusion of the ownership wedge as a proxy for the severity of agency conflicts.