Finance

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between school environment factors such as peer influence, class size and media usage in school with English Language subject achievement among Form Five students of a school in PasirGudang, Johor by measuring their English language SPM Trial examination results of 2010. The differences of English Language achievement among the students were analysed based on their demographic factor and the influence of the school environment factors (independent variables) on the SPM Trial English Language achievement (dependent variable). Sampling 180 respondents of Form Five students one of the secondary schools in PasirGudang District was chosen to carry out the research. Three research hypotheses were developed for this study. The data was analyzed using SPSS software. Statistical tool such as Pearson Coefficient Correlations, frequency and Multiple Regressions were used to test these hypotheses. There are two types of variables used in this research which are Dependent Variables (DV) and Independent Variables (IV). Students’ achievement is classified as theDV while the factors of school environment (teachers’ commitment, class size and peer influence) are classified astheIV. A conceptual framework is drawn based on the variables. The results indicated that class size has a weak significant impact towards students’ achievement whereas peer influence and media usagedo not have significant impact towards students’ achievement.

The study investigates the direction of volatility spillover between exchange rate and stock prices in Nigeria using quarterly data for the period of 1990-Q1 to 2009-Q4. Exponential Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedastic (EGARCH) framework due to Nelson (1991) was employed. Two different stock exchange indicators were used as proxy for stock prices to test the direction of volatility spillover between the variables. Thus we have two EGARCH models. The ADF and PP tests suggest that the series are random walk processes in their level form. The empirical findings suggest evidence of no long run equilibrium relationship between exchange rate and stock prices. It further shows that there is a robust unidirectional volatility spillover running from exchange rate to stock prices irrespective of the stock market indicator used. The result supports the findings of Beer and Hebeins (2008) for industrialized countries. The estimated mean equation showed that there is instantaneous positive response of stock market volatility to exchange rate fluctuation. Evidence from variance equation revealed that volatility persists longer when SMC was used as proxy for stock prices than ASI. The standard deviation statistic showed that stock market indicator is positively related to risk, validating the capital asset market hypothesis.

This study the impact of company financial leverage and growth opportunities on the investment decisions using information on Iranian companies listed on Tehran Stock Exchange. This paper aims to answer is whether financial leverage influences the investment decisions in Iranian context. By answering this question, the author attempts to add to the existing literature by bringing new evidence on the relationship between leverage and investment decisions of firms listed in Tehran Stock Exchange in Iran. For the study purpose, the 92 companies with the desired condition were selected for this purpose and panel data with fixed effects was used to test hypotheses. The results of this research show that companies with higher Financial Leverage adjust their investment decisions. The results of this study can be used by shareholders, managers and finance researchers.

The paper exposes some of the unethical practices that surrounds IMF stabilization polices. It specifically examines the functionality of the financial programming model of the IMF vis-à-vis its adoption and imposition on LDC’s. This is in turn juxtaposed with foundational Islamic norms. The author concludes with some remarks and recommendations.

The primary objective of the study is to investigate the existence of seasonality in stock price behavior in Indian stock market and more specifically in the Gas, Oil and Refineries sector. The period of the study is from 1st January 2006 to 31st December 2010. For the purpose analysis, the study has employed daily price series that have been obtained from the official website of National Stock Exchange (NSE). The daily price series of selected eight Gas, Oil and Refineries companies were selected for this study, and used multiple regression technique to examine the significance of the regression coefficient for investigating month of the year effects. It is found that all the eight selected Gas, Oil and Refineries companies evidenced month of the year effect and mostly either on September, August or February. Only GAIL, and HPCL evidenced significant October and July effect.

Ethics are important because finances make people do some strange things. The spreadsheet does not have a conscience, and the goal of working with spreadsheets is to make numbers add up in a way that is pleasing to the organizations and its constituents. Ethical behavior is an important aspect for the success of a company, as it influences its relations with various stakeholders. Financial managers are responsible for the difficulty in interpreting sensitive and Exchanges presenting them in the form of financial reports that can be used to evaluate corporate performance is Month interest groups are responsible. So unethical professional practice includes providing financial information poor quality can destroy public confidence in financial management. With increasing global attention to the topic of ethics and quality of information in the accounting profession, in this paper an attempt has been made to the research vacuum in the corner of the financial manager explained the moral perspective on the quality of financial reporting to be filled. Field research companies in Tehran Stock Exchange are accepted. In this study, the ethical perspective of financial management as the independent variable is the moral status was assessed with a questionnaire. Quality and usefulness of financial reporting used to be correct financial reporting as dependent variables were examined. The aims of the present study include applied research, in terms of how to collect the required data from the standpoint of descriptive and correlation research is considered. For data analysis software (SPSS) was used. Based on the results obtained from the ethical perspective of financial management and financial reporting, there is a significant relationship; It is recommended that companies choose their money managers not only scientific and practical aspects of management should be considered But the ethical aspect of the study is important for managers should pay special attention to ethics and corporate managers have a choice.

The present study investigates the relationship between corporate governance profile of acquiring firms and operating performance changes associated with merger and acquisitions in Pakistan. The financial sector mergers and acquisitions have been selected as sample transactions for the period of 1996 to 2008 and two years pre- and post-merger analysis has been conducted by using OLS regression. The estimated results indicated that post-merger operating performance of acquiring firms is positively related to its pre-merger level. Moreover, board size and CEO duality are negatively while board independence, outside dominated boards, and presence of large independent blockholder are positively related to change in post-merger operating performance of acquiring firms in Pakistan. The results were also robust with an alternative dependent variable of change in market value of acquiring firms. The results from replaced dependent variable were found to be more strong and cohesive with corporate governance profile of acquiring firms. Aligned with the existing literature, the study concluded that effective corporate governance mechanism does play its role in aligning the interests of managers with shareholders and enhances value for firms, particularly in large scale transactions of mergers and acquisitions.

A bulk of the Nigeria wealth is derived from Oil and Agriculture which lies in abundant quantity in rural communities. Current estimates put the rural population at over 80% of the entire population of almost 160 million people. So far, not much in terms of infrastructural development has been done to bring this bulk of concentration of both human and material resources to contribute optimally to national economy. The neglect has resulted to the mass exodus of rural dwellers and in turn has made the rural area qualitatively and quantitatively depopulated, and progressively less attractive for socio-economic investment. It is against this backdrop that this paper evaluates the impact of Nigerian commercial banks on rural populace in Oyo metropolis and; also to determine the relationship that exists between various activities of commercial banks and its rural populace. In line with the objectives, two hypotheses were formulated. The population of the study is the eight (8) Commercial Banks in Oyo metropolis and three (3) were selected as sample size. The study utilized data from primary source. Data were obtained from the questionnaires administered. The time frame for the study is ten years, covering the period of 2002 to 2011. The technique of analysis used in the data was Analysis of variance (ANOVA). We concluded that even though commercial banks activities such as giving out loans and receiving deposit has positive impact on the rural economy, there is room for the Commercial banks to gear more of its activities towards empowerment of the rural populace. Commercial banks should also strategize on how to attract and retain more deposits so as to further improve on their lending performance towards the rural dwellers. In addition to establishing a policy framework that maximizes the incomes of the working rural dwellers through policies to promote rural self-employment and reliability.

The aim of the study is to show the relationship between the stock market developments with gross domestic product (GDP). Framework is used to show the impact of stock market on GDP over the period of 2000 to 2011 quarterly. The methods applied in the research were correlation, regression and Augmented Dicky Fuller unit root test. The arguments are made on whether it is the stock market that leads to the economic growth or the other way around. Stock market plays a very significant role as a financial intermediary. Some researchers are in favor of the argument that stock market doesn’t lead to the economic growth and conclude that emerging stock markets have little positive impact on economic growth. Some analysts argue that, because most of the corporations don’t raise capital by issuance of equity only, so the role of stock market is weak in causing economic growth, (Mayer, 1988). In contrast, Levine (1991) show that stock markets provide liquidity and can cause economic growth substantially. And now the result of research explained that there is no significant impact or stock market development on gross domestic product. The Augmented Dicky Fuller unit root test explained that 1) D (logn_index_points) represents the 1st difference and the p value is less than 0.01 so we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the data of index points is stationary at 1st difference. 2) D (LOGN_REAL_GDP) represents the 2nd difference of GDP of Pakistan and the p value is less than 0.01, so we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the data of GDP is stationary at 2nd difference. The regression result shown that D2 LOGN_REAL_GDP represents the 2nd difference of quarterly GDP of Pakistan and DLOGN_INDEX_POINTS represents the 1st difference of KSE-100 index which has been used as a proxy for stock market development for the purpose of this study. The P value against the t-statistic is insignificant, so we have to accept the null hypothesis.

The Indian Financial System, in the last two decades, has seen a phenomenal expansion in the geographical coverage and financial spread. The spread of the banking system has been a major factor in promoting financial intermediation in the economy and in the growth of financial savings. With progressive liberalization of economic policies, there has been a rapid growth of capital market, money market and financial services industry including merchant banking, leasing and venture capital. Consistent with this evolution of the financial sector, the mutual fund industry has also come to occupy an important place. The Indian mutual fund industry has grown at an impressive rate in the last few years, the recent developments of the past few months triggered by the global financial crisis have impacted the fortunes of the Industry resulting in AUM decline, adversely impacting the revenue and profitability. Our research has attempted to identify and highlight some of the key issues and challenges being faced by the industry participants that are preventing the industry from harnessing its true growth potential.