Diversification Opportunities Research Articles

Returns and Investors’ Risk Perception as the Determinants of Sharia Index Integration During Covid-19

Capital market liberalization provides international diversification opportunities for investors in the capital market. However, developments in information technology that lead to the speed of information dissemination encourage capital market integration, in which a country's capital market will relate to other countries' capital markets. This study uses a quantitative approach and determines the Jakarta Islamic Index (JII) and the Dow Jones Islamic Market Index (DJIMI) as research samples. The method used is GARCH and Sobel test. The study results show that Indonesia's Islamic stock index is integrated with the global Islamic stock index. The index integration relationship is influenced by investors' risk perceptions, where investors' risk perceptions have an asymmetric negative relationship with stock index returns indicating a leverage effect. Meanwhile, investors' perceptions of risk cannot mediate the effect of returns on the integration of Islamic stock indices.

Energy firms in emerging markets: Systemic risk and diversification opportunities

Previous studies in energy stock markets have analyzed market connectedness using aggregate indexes and focusing on developed markets. We depart from the extant literature and we focus our attention on companies listed on emerging stock markets and examine connectedness from the firm's perspective. Using a two-step approach, we remove the common global factors from energy stock returns and estimate the network of global energy stocks in emerging markets. We show that idiosyncratic components are highly relevant for our understanding of risk transmission in energy markets. Moreover, we offer precise diversification alternatives and identify the most systemically important firms and countries.

Integration between asset management tokens, asset management stock, and other financial markets: Evidence from TVP-VAR modeling

Using TVP-VAR modeling, we investigate return and volatility connectedness between asset management tokens and the largest asset management stock as well as other traditional assets. We find asset management tokens offer diversification opportunity in a portfolio comprising traditional assets. Net shock receivers are asset management tokens, while net shock transmitters are asset management stock and other assets. A dynamic analysis of system-wide spillover reveals periodic waves with varying degrees of connectedness. Additionally, we calculate the optimal weights and hedging ratios for asset management token pairs and other financial markets. Results are particularly helpful for policymakers, hedge funds, and portfolio managers.

Paraprobiotics in the Dairy Industry: Current Research and Future Prospects: A Review

Paraprobiotics, or non-viable microorganisms that have beneficial effects on the host, have gained attention in the dairy industry as a potential alternative to traditional probiotics. Instead, the concept of paraprobiotics shall be put forth in addition to employing probiotics to reap additional benefits. The use of paraprobiotics has become a potential opportunity for diversification of functional foods due to their great versatility when compared to viable probiotic cells. The advantages of paraprobiotics include the possibility of using technologies and formulations with negative impacts on probiotics, the longer shelf life of products and greater convenience during processing, storage and transportation, in addition to being a safer therapeutic approach for immune-compromised individuals. The use of paraprobiotics in dairy industry is potential for these microorganisms to be used as feed additives to improve the health and productivity of dairy cattle.

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions by emerging country banks: What do acquisition premiums tell us?

Our knowledge of international expansion motives and strategies of emerging country banks (ECBs) is limited. Using a worldwide sample of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (CBMAs) and a mixed model, we explore firm- and country-level determinants of acquisition premiums. We show that the effects of target bank and target country characteristics on premiums are contingent on the acquirer’s home country: emerging vs. advanced. More specifically, compared to advanced country acquirers, ECBs pay lower premiums for targets that are: (i) more efficient; (ii) offering better functional diversification opportunities; and (iii) based in markets with higher growth prospects or better institutional development levels. Furthermore, state-owned ECBs pay higher premiums. Our findings suggest that CBMAs undertaken by ECBs might not be motivated by competence-enhancing strategies while being less sensitive to the target country’s institutional development.

Diversification Potential Among the N-10 Countries: An Empirical Investigation

Emerging nations like Indonesia, South Korea, Bangladesh, Egypt, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey, the Philippines, Iran and Vietnam have developing stock markets which may offer ample opportunities to investors for their portfolio returns. The emerging next ten countries (N-10) in the present paper have been explored for diversification opportunities for investors. The study has incorporated eight years’ (2013-2020) time series data for N-10 countries’ stock market indices. Portfolio diversification strategies between Pakistan and other markets have been indicated as per the findings of Granger causality, Johansen Cointegration techniques, VECM and Wald test. The unidirectional and bidirectional linkages analysis has shown fewer possibilities between Bangladesh and Egypt stock markets with diversification benefits. Thus, investors may utilise the findings of the study in planning their portfolio among these stock markets.

Development-Induced Impacts on the Livelihoods of Displaced Communities: The Case of Bole Lemi Industry Park, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Livelihood encompasses the resources and capabilities that individuals and households utilize to ensure their survival and to enhance their well-being. This study examined the impact of the Bole Lemi Industry Park on livelihood systems in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It focused on how the establishment of the industrial park affected the livelihoods of displaced communities. A survey was conducted on 379 household heads who were displaced by the industrial park, ensuring representation across various factors such as gender, marital status, education level, ethnic group, and religion. Descriptive statistics, including frequency counts, mean values, standard deviations, and percentages, were used to analyze the data. Multiple linear regression models were employed to investigate how socioeconomic variables predicted the household heads’ annual income before and after the establishment of the park. The findings revealed that 84% of the household heads said that the BLIP has hurt their livelihoods. The majority of respondents (69%) became jobless as a result of the BLIP. Another 16% transitioned to urban lifestyles, while 7.3% shifted to semi-agrarian and 5.6% to trade and services. This study identified the balance gap between industrial development and the interests of local farming communities, and how it failed to ensure sustainable livelihoods. It is recommended that development projects in Addis Ababa prioritize the affected communities by offering compensation, support for resettlement, and opportunities for livelihood diversification. Taking a comprehensive and participatory approach to industrial park development is crucial for achieving sustainable and equitable economic growth while safeguarding the well-being of local communities.

Investing Amid Turmoil: Diversification Opportunities in Islamic Stock Indices, Bitcoin, Gold, and Crude Oil

Investing Amid Turmoil: Diversification Opportunities in Islamic Stock Indices, Bitcoin, Gold, and Crude Oil

Chance management Creative activities of artists during Covid-19 pandemic Case study druyna mistrzw

This article aims to demonstrate creativity as a key factor in seizing opportunities within the cultural segment, particularly considering other intangible resources of organizations such as network capability and knowledge during the pandemic. The study reveals that by configuring various factors and resources (network capabilities, knowledge, and creativity), a transitional phase for musicians could become an opportunity for reflection and diversification of their existing activities, which are also sustained beyond the pandemic. The research encompasses a systematic literature review on the discussed subject matter, as well as a bibliometric analysis of articles exploring opportunities, the pandemic, and creativity. Additionally, an interview was conducted with one of the pioneers of Polish street hip-hop, the creator of one of the most renowned subcultures in Poland, whose cumulative YouTube views reach hundreds of millions Bosski Roman (FIRMA, Druyna Mistrzw). Despite losing the ability to perform concerts during the pandemic, Bosski Roman implemented a series of innovative solutions that enabled him to survive the lockdown. The first section of the article introduces the concept of chance management and highlights the role of creativity in seizing opportunities during the pandemic. The second section provides an overview of the existing literature on creativity, culture, and pandemics. The research component of the article includes an interview with Bosski Roman, a prominent Polish Hip-Hop artist, who provides insights into how he has adapted to the pandemic and integrated it into his business model. The article presents managerial implications, primarily focused on using creativity to approach problems and create new opportunities. Additionally, it explores the perspectives of an artist who has been significantly impacted by the pandemic. Bosski Roman discusses how he has overcome the challenges brought about by the pandemic using his creativity, and provides insights that may be relevant to other organizations seeking to adapt to the new-old normal. Overall, this article provides a unique perspective on the intersection of creativity, culture, and pandemics, highlighting the potential for chance management during times of crisis. It encourages readers to reflect on how they can leverage their creativity to navigate the challenges of the pandemic and capitalize on the new opportunities it may present in its own unique way, the pandemic and its effects continue to this day.

Cointegration of Asian Developed and Frontier Stock Markets: An investigation of Diversification Opportunities

This study examines the cointegration relationship of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) with developed Asian markets (Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore). The main objective of the study is to identify potential diversification benefits that exist in Sri Lankan stock market. The stock market indices are Hang Seng Index (HSI), Nikkei 225(N225), Straits Times Index (STI) and All Share Price Index (ASPI). Daily closing prices of stock market indices were selected for the period of 2013- 2019. The main theoretical base forthe stock market integration was the Law of One Price. The Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) bound test used toanalyze data, revealed an insignificant cointegration relationship between CSE and developed stock markets. The ASPI has statistically significant short-run relationships with the STI. HSI and N225 did not provide any evidence of a long-run relationship with the ASPI. A negative insignificant correlation between ASPI and HSI indicates a good combination to have a well-balancedportfolio gain both long and short-run diversification benefits. In conclusion, the non-existence of cointegration among the above stock markets provides opportunities for international diversification of portfolios and possibilities for risk hedging.
 Keywords: Cointegration, Frontier and Developed, Stock Markets, Portfolio Diversification

Portfolio diversification benefits before and during the times of COVID-19: evidence from USA

This paper investigates the portfolio diversification benefits for Islamic and conventional investors in the USA with its major trading partners (United Kingdom, Canada, China, Japan, Malaysia, and Turkey) before and during the COVID-19 crisis period. Using daily data from 2007 to 2020, we employ three relevant time-varying and timescale-dependent techniques, the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) analysis, the wavelet multiple correlation (WMC), and the wavelet multiple cross-correlation (WMCC). The findings suggest that conventional and Islamic US investors who invest with major trading partners may reap large diversification benefits for very short investment horizons (4–8), except for Sharia Malaysia index. However, they may not reap benefits for investment horizons of 8–16 and longer, except for China. In addition, COVID-19 crisis caused a poor diversification opportunity for US investors regardless of the regime they follow (conventional or Islamic). Moreover, the American industrial market depicts a state of impending perfect market integration. Finally, the UK and Canada seem to be the potential market leaders in different wavelet scales. These findings yield important policy implications.

Opportunities for Diversification of Processed Nutmeg as an Effort to Improve the Community's Economy on Saparua Island

Product diversification efforts can be used as a strategy to develop knowledge and skills as well as an alternative source of income for community households. The product diversification can be more optimal if it is supported by the availability of raw material sources located close to the community and wide market potentials so as to lower production costs incurred. This study uses a mixed method with a sequential exploration approach. This method begins with the use of qualitative method, followed by the quantitative method and interpretation. This study puts more emphasis on the qualitative analysis. Respondents of this study include farmers, community leaders and the government of Negeri Booi. Findings reveal that the most suitable diversifications of nutmeg products in Negeri Booi were in the form of nutmeg cider business and nutmeg juice business. Both of these businesses were supported by the availability of abundant raw materials, not too big business capital, and wide marketing potentials. This phenomenon was also supported by the existence of local customs, traditions and wisdom which were always applied in the community activities to meet their household needs.

Taxonomic status of the Lesser Woolly Horseshoe bats (Chiroptera, Rhinolophidae, Rhinolophus beddomei) in peninsular India and Sri Lanka.

Insularity provides ample opportunities for species diversification. Sri Lanka is home to a large diversity of species, many of which are endemic but morphologically similar to species found in southern India, due to recent speciation events, suggesting a complex evolutionary history. However, in some taxa although morphological diversity has been noted, the genetic level variations are minimal. Among the wide-ranging horseshoe bats such a phenomenon is noted. In this study, we used bioacoustics, morphometric and molecular data to evaluate the relationships between the taxa of lesser woolly horseshoe bats in the India and Sri Lanka. Our study reveals that the two taxa-Rhinolophus beddomei Andersen, 1905 and here we have validated the existing subspecies from peninsular India and R. sobrinus Andersen, 1918 from Sri Lanka are genetically very close to R. perniger Hodgson, 1843. Currently the taxa-beddomei and sobrinus are recognized as subspecies of Rhinolophus beddomei Andersen, 1905. We provide a detailed description of the taxa beddomei and sobrinus as the original descriptions are limited in nature.

The evolution of ectomycorrhizal symbiosis in the Late Cretaceous is a key driver of explosive diversification in Agaricomycetes.

Ectomycorrhizal (EcM) symbiosis, a ubiquitous plant-fungus interaction in forests, evolved in parallel in fungi. Why the evolution of EcM fungi did not necessarily increase ecological opportunities for explosive diversification remains unclear. This study aimed to reveal the driving mechanism of the evolutionary diversification in the fungal class Agaricomycetes, specifically by testing whether the evolution of EcM symbiosis in the Late Cretaceous increased ecological opportunities. The historical character transitions of trophic state and fruitbody form were estimated based on phylogenies inferred from fragments of 89 single-copy genes. Moreover, five analyses were used to estimate the net diversification rates (speciation rate minus extinction rate). The results indicate that the unidirectional evolution of EcM symbiosis occurred 27 times, ranging in date from the Early Triassic to the Early Paleogene. The increased diversification rates appeared to occur intensively at the stem of EcM fungal clades diverging in the Late Cretaceous, coinciding with the rapid diversification of EcM angiosperms. By contrast, the evolution of fruitbody form was not strongly linked with the increased diversification rates. These findings suggest that the evolution of EcM symbiosis in the Late Cretaceous, supposedly with coevolving EcM angiosperms, was the key drive of the explosive diversification in Agaricomycetes.

Quantile Dependence between Crude Oil and China’s Biofuel Feedstock Commodity Market

This paper investigates the heterogeneous dependence between global crude oil futures and China’s biofuel feedstock commodities under different market conditions. Quantile-on-quantile regression and the causality-in-quantiles test are employed to capture comprehensive and informative relationships. The empirical results are as follows: First, there is a positive relationship between the returns on China’s biofuel feedstock commodities and crude oil. The effects are heterogeneous, conditional on the market regimes, where the impacts of the bearish/bullish crude oil market on biofuel feedstock commodity returns are significant when the commodity market in China is in a bearish/bullish state. Second, crude oil returns have reliable predictive power for the returns on China’s biofuel feedstock commodities under the average market condition and move in connection with the volatility of China’s biofuel-related commodity market in normal and bullish market conditions. Third, the risk reduction effectiveness of soybean and corn is significant, while for wheat, this reduction in portfolio risk is less apparent and enhanced, and the risk reduction effectiveness increases significantly during financial and oil crises. Overall, our findings will be helpful in understanding the heterogeneous interplay between global oil and China’s biofuel-related commodities and in evaluating portfolio diversification opportunities under different market conditions.

Diversification evidence of bitcoin and gold from wavelet analysis

To measure the diversification capability of Bitcoin, this study employs wavelet analysis to investigate the coherence of Bitcoin price with the equity markets of both the emerging and developed economies, considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent Russia-Ukraine war. The results based on the data from January 9, 2014 to May 31, 2022 reveal that compared with gold, Bitcoin consistently provides diversification opportunities with all six representative market indices examined, specifically under the normal market condition. In particular, for short-term horizons, Bitcoin shows favorably low correlation with each index for all years, whereas exception is observed for gold. In addition, diversification between Bitcoin and gold is demonstrated as well, mainly for short-term investments. However, the diversification benefit is conditional for both Bitcoin and gold under the recent pandemic and war crises. The findings remind investors and portfolio managers planning to incorporate Bitcoin into their portfolios as a diversification tool to be aware of the global geopolitical conditions and other uncertainty in considering their investment tools and durations.

THE INTERCONNECTEDNESS PATTERN OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES AND ISLAMIC INVESTMENT CLASSES

This study explores the dynamic co-movement of Islamic asset classes and cryptocurrencies for the period 01 March, 2017 to 15 June, 2022 by employing Wavelet methodology. The Islamic investment classes are represented by Islamic equities, Islamic Socially responsible investments, Real estate investment trusts and Sukuk. The results reveal that in normal times, there is negligible co-movement of both the asset classes. By contrast, both the investment classes exhibit significant spillover effect during the health crisis period. An important implication from these findings is that both the asset classes offer diversification opportunity during normal times but not during extreme times.

Coping with the Pandemic: Resilience and Recovery Across The Hospitality and Gambling Industries During Covid-19

This study investigates the professional experiences of executives in gambling and hospitality organizations from jurisdictions around the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative research uses semistructured interviews centering around three phases of crisis management:preparedness, in terms of crisis/disaster plans before COVID-19; response, addressing topics such as current COVID-19 crisis management, employment conditions, and marketing strategies; andfuture, concerning future plans for investments and expected changes in customers' behaviors. Leaders' predictions of customers' behaviors, especially with regard to the use of online platforms, can help set the foundation for future technology-based service interactions. Moreover, this analysis investigates how the COVID-19 crisis can represent an opportunity for innovation and diversification, especially in terms of new technologies and corporate social responsibility. Future research opportunities in crisis management in hospitality are discussed.

How diverse are farming systems on the Eastern Gangetic Plains of South Asia? A multi-metric and multi-country assessment

While crop diversification has many benefits and is a stated government objective across the Eastern Gangetic Plains (EGP) of South Asia, the complexity of assessment has led to a rather limited understanding on the progress towards, and status of, smallholder crop diversification. Most studies focus on specific commodities or report as part of a singular index, use outdated secondary data, or implement highly localized studies, leading to broad generalisations and a lack of regional comparison. We collected representative primary data with more than 5000 households in 55 communities in Eastern Nepal, West Bengal (India) and Northwest Bangladesh to explore seasonally based diversification experiences and applied novel metrics to understand the nuanced status of farm diversification. While 66 crops were commercially grown across the region, only five crops and three crop families were widely grown (Poaceae, Malvaceae, and Brassicaceae). Non-cereal diversification across the region was limited (1.5 crops per household), though regional differentiation were evident particularly relating to livestock and off-farm activities, highlighting the importance of cross border studies. In terms of farmer's largest commercial plots, 20% of systems contained only rice, and 57% contained only rice/wheat/maize, with substantial regional diversity present. This raises concerns regarding the extent of commercially oriented high value and non-cereal diversification, alongside opportunities for diversification in the under-diversified pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons. Future promotional efforts may need to focus particularly on legumes to ensure the future sustainability and viability of farming systems.

Dynamic Dependency between the Shariah and Traditional Stock Markets: Diversification Opportunities during the COVID-19 and Global Financial Crisis (GFC) Periods

The aim of the present research is to highlight whether there exist any diversification opportunities from investing in developed and developing countries’ Shariah-compliant and non-Shariah-compliant stock markets during global financial crisis (GFC) and the COVID-19 pandemic periods. For this purpose, we employ daily data for both Shariah and non-Shariah indices from 29 October 2007 to 31 December 2021. The study uses multivariate GARCH-DCC and wavelet approaches to examine if there exist diversification opportunities in the selected markets. Evidence from this study shows that although the developing markets’ stock returns experience high volatility of a similar degree, the conventional indices of Malaysia have the highest volatility among them. This shows that Shariah indices have less exposure to risk and higher possibilities of diversification compared to their conventional counterparts. Regarding developed markets, the Japanese conventional index and the U.S. Shariah indices are more volatile compared to other indices in the market. Moreover, the results of the wavelet power spectrum show significant and higher volatility during the COVID-19 pandemic rather than the GFC. Similarly, the Chinese conventional market experienced minimum variance during the GFC and COVID-19 pandemic period. On the other hand, the results of wavelet-coherence transform indicate that the Japanese Shariah-based market offered better portfolio opportunities for U.S. traders during the GFC and the COVID-19 pandemic periods. Hence, opportunities for investment in this selected market are basically close to zero. Therefore, investors should carefully choose which stocks they can include in their investment portfolio.