Finance

The impact caused by microfinance on growth of the economy has always been a debatable issue. Ample researches have been conducted to determine whether it helps poor masses to get out of the poverty trap or it further deteriorates the financial position of the masses at individual level and the economy in aggregate. It is quite surprising that the results and findings of these researches vary. This study is aimed at excogitating whether microfinance actually proves to be a blessing or is an additional burden for the poor. It is a conceptual study based on meta-analysis. Existing literature based on studies conducted by researchers, analysts, scholars, institutions and policy makers around the world has been reviewed to determine the impact of microfinance and to conclude whether it is a burden or a blessing. Six different aspects through which the growth of the economy can be measured have been taken into consideration. These include women empowerment, SME/entrepreneurs, rural transportation, poverty alleviation, health and education. Findings indicate that overall microfinance proves to be a blessing for the users but it poses certain challenges that hamper its performance up to the desired optimal level. Policy makers in this regard should play a positive role in formulating a clear roadmap and designing strategies for microfinance.

The global liberalization and integration of financial markets has created new investment opportunities, which, in turn, require the development of new instruments that are more efficient to deal with the increased risks which is a characteristic feature of any investment. Derivatives products provide certain important economic benefits such as risk management or redistribution of risk away from risk-averse investors towards those more willing and able to bear risk. These functions of derivatives help in efficient capital allocation and price discovery in the economy. Since its inception in June 2000, derivatives market has exhibited exponential growth as the market turn-over has boosted from Rs. 40180 million in 2000-2001 to Rs. 474308323 Million in 2013-2014 .Within a short span of fourteen years, derivatives trading in India has surpassed cash segment in terms of turnover and number of traded contracts. The present study attempts mainly to focus on growth and performance of derivative market in India during post liberalization era. This paper also attempts to analyze sector wise classification of derivative market like stock, index, currency etc. Some space is also devoted for a brief discussion of basic concepts and fundamentals of derivatives. The paper concludes by pointing out trends of derivatives and factors affecting the growth of same. This work can serve as a source of guide for the study related to derivatives.

Travel and Tourism industry is helping India’s economy in generating employment opportunities directly and indirectly. The present investigation is an analysis of financial and operating performance of a specialised financial institution came into existence to promote tourism in India i.e. Tourism Finance Corporation of India Ltd. It contributes in the development of tourism facilities in the country. The main concern of the study is to analyse financial and operational performance of the corporation through Financial Statement Analysis. The study is based exclusively on secondary data, which has been collected from various annual reports of Tourism Finance Corporation of India Ltd. The data has been analysed and interpreted by FSA, tables and graphs to make the data presentable and easy to understand. The research will provide assistance to the TFCI and other financial institutions to judge their financial and operational efficiency in respect to its beneficiaries in the society.

This Study examines the effect of inflation targeting policy on inflation tax in selected countries of the world. For this purpose panel data model was used in 36 selected countries during 2003-2009. Also by using mean difference test, the inflation tax for three years before and after inflation targeting was examined. Results suggested an inverse relationship between inflation targeting and the inflation tax by Friedman method. In addition, results of mean difference test for all countries and for each country separately, unexpectedly suggested an increase in inflation tax in the most countries after implementation of inflation targeting policies. In addition results of mean difference test for all countries and for each country separately suggested after implementation of inflation targeting policies, inflation tax is rising. In other words we can say that inflation targeting policies has not been granted to reduce the inflation tax.

This paper interacts to explain ownership structure, post promoters holdings and Ex-ante information at the level of underpricing in the Indian primary market. The study is based on IPO that listed at Bombay stock exchange given that (April-1999 to Dec-2012). Multiple linear regressions are used to distinguish the relationship between various independent variables with the dependent variable, i.e. level of underpricing. Therefore, we used ordered probit regression to find the exact relationship of pricing mechanism (book build pricing mechanism) with the other variables. The outcomes reveal that, Firm’s age, book build pricing mechanism, ownership structure, retail subscriptions & market capitalization explained the degree of underpricing, These findings were more important to the retail and institutional investors, who likely to buy IPOs in the Indian primary market.

Property tax is gradually becoming a major source of revenue for local councils in Nigeria. However, in generating revenue through property tax there is the need for local councils to consider the attitude of the residents within their jurisdiction to payment of the property tax in order to encourage public participation in the usage and the collection of the property tax. The methodology of study therefore is based on the questionaire distribution of 0.00035% of the population of the study and analysed with multivariate analysis. The multivariate analysis examined the payment of property tax as an independent variable against three dependent variables which are Awareness of Property tax, willingness to pay if property tax is splited into forms and willingness to reside or shift location if the property tax is reviewed upward. The result of the study suggest that with a calculated alpha level of 0.024 which is less than 0.05, commercial property occupants in this local government will shift location if the property tax is reviewed upward. It is the recommendation of the study therefore, that there will be the need for local government to set up a machinery to monitor the attitude of the residents as this findings may be different in other local government areas.

A multitude of studies have been conducted to assess volatility. Since the work of Mandelbrot (1963) and Fama (1965), researchers have been designing several volatility calculation models. However, the ARCH process of Engle (1982) and GARCH of Bollerslev (1986) are the most important initiatives. Our empirical validation has studied the evolution of covariance between volatilities of U.S. indices on the one hand, and non-US indices, on the other hand, over eleven years. We found changes in covariance marked by amplifications during periods of crises. These show transmissions of excess volatility between markets, where a contagion phenomenon prevails.

Housing development in developing countries in which Nigeria is not an exceptional case is a combination of many interrelated components which include land, infrastructure, building materials, policies, building regulations but more importantly is the finance component. This paper examined the performance of Primary Mortgage Institutions in financing housing development in Abuja and Lagos. It carefully identified the existing PMIs in the study areas, examined the mortgage business activities of the PMIs and the factors militating against effective performance of the PMIs in the study areas. The methodology employed by the research includes the collection of primary and secondary data. Questionnaires were administered to the PMIs existing as at the time of field work in Abuja and Lagos. This was done to collect data that will give a true representation of PMIs activities in the study areas. Among other findings, it was discovered that there is statistical significant relationship between the capital base and loans disbursed for housing development by the PMIs in the study areas. Recommendations were made to improve performance of PMIs for effective housing delivery.

The study aimed at examining the perception of organizational commitment of women working on leadership positions in Saudi Arabia, The three dimensions of organizational commitment including affective, continuance and normative commitment were looked at. The influence of demographic factors including age, experience, qualification, level of income and marital status on the organizational commitment was studied. It was a descriptive correlational study in which organizational commitment Questionnaire-OCQ was used to collect data. The study found that the level of women leaders’ organizational commitment was high with continuance commitment as the strongest form. Demographic variables of age, experience and income significantly influenced the organizational commitment of women leaders. This study is significant because of the insights it provides for the management to better understand the nature of organizational commitment of women leaders and develops an understanding of the commitment process to promote it among them in Saudi Arabia

Stock price forecasting is a prominent phenomenon for investors and other financial information users. Indeed, stock price prediction has been regarded as an interesting yet challenging process in the advanced world of business. Various economical or non economical factors have effected on stock market behavior, hence stock price forecasting is recognized as one of the most complicated subjects in business. In past, statistic-based methods were suggested to solve this problem. In recent decade, nonlinear based fuzzy time series models methods, artificial neural networks, fuzzy neural networks and combined prediction models have been recommended. There have been permanent debates about different methods of forecasting precision among those authors who selected artificial intelligence in forecasting. Therefore comparative analyses are crucial. This study by applying neural networks and minimizing stock price forecasting error designs and provides stock price forecasting model, in comparison to combined artificial neural networks technique. Results show that the combined neural network model forecasts more appropriately and is faster with higher estimation capability in stock price forecasting in relation to single neural networks.