Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Political Connection, Board Characteristics and Environmental Disclosure in Nigeria

Companies continue to fold up after the global economic melt-down of 2008 starting with the Enron saga.One of the reasons offered by practitioners and intellectuals in their search for the cause and solution to the problem is information asymmetry between the managements and the shareholders.It is extremely necessary ever since the sagas and continuous business failures and financial distress in Nigeria, in particular, to focus on monitoring mechanisms (MM), especially in Sub-Saharan countries.In addition, it is essential to understand the factors relating to MM as it cannot work in isolation.The purpose of this study is therefore to examine the extent to which block-holders impact on MM using the annual reports of 111 Nigerian non-financial listed companies in the context of agency theory.In addition, data were collected from the companies in respect of their internal auditing using the questionnaire as these are not available in the annual reports.The findings provide evidence that the block-holders significantly relate to monitoring mechanisms. Thus, this paper provides a new knowledge regarding monitoring mechanisms and its antecedents (directorship, internal and external auditing). These findings are with policy implications for the board of directors to implement their monitoring responsibilities.The findings also suggest policy implications for the internal and external auditors.The findings are useful for further review of corporate governance guidelines by the regulatory agencies and government.The paper contributes to knowledge in Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria in particular by examining block-holders in relation to the aggregate cost of monitoring mechanisms (directorship, internal and external auditing).
Ownership Structure , Corporate Governance , and Firm Value : Evidence from the East Asian Financial Crisis

We use a sample of 800 firms in eight East Asian countries to study the effect of ownership structure on value during the region’s financial crisis. The crisis negatively impacted firms’ investment opportunities, raising the incentives of controlling shareholders to expropriate minority investors. During the crisis, cumulative stock returns of firms in which managers have high levels of control rights, but have separated their control and cash flow ownership, are 10 to 20 percentage points lower than those of other firms. The evidence is consistent with the view that ownership structure plays an important role in determining the incentives of insiders to expropriate minority shareholders. *Michael Lemmon and Karl Lins are Associate and Assistant Professors of Finance, respectively, at the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah, 1645 E. Campus Dr. Rm. 109, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9303. Lemmon can be reached at (801) 585-5210 or at finmll@business.utah. edu. Lins can be reached at (801) 585-3171 or at finkvl@business.utah. edu. Both authors thank the Center for International Business and Economic Research (CIBER) for providing funding for this project. We are grateful for comments from participants at the Third Annual CIFRA/Davidson Institute Financial Market Development Conference in Hong Kong and a seminar at Duke University. Additionally, we thank Stijn Claessens and Simeon Djankov for providing access to the handbooks used in World Bank East Asia ownership studies, and Rick Green, Simon Johnson, Leora Klapper, Pete Kyle, Todd Mitton and an anonymous referee for helpful comments. 2 Ownership Structure, Corporate Governance, And Firm Value: Evidence from the East Asian Financial Crisis
Effect of Board Diversity on Financial Performance of Quoted Natural Resources Firms in Nigeria

The objective of this study is to ascertain the effect of Board Diversity on Financial Performance of quoted Natural resources companies in Nigeria. The specific objectives are to ascertain the effect or otherwise of Foreign Directorship and Board Size on Return on Assets, Return on Equity and Tobin’s Q of quoted Natural resources companies in Nigeria from 2008-2017. Ex-post facto research design was used for this study. Secondary data were sourced from the publications of Nigeria Stock Exchange. Inferential statistics of the hypotheses were carried out with the aid of E-view 9.0 statistical software using Co-efficient of correlation and Multivariate Panel Least Square Regression analysis. Findings of this study showed Board Diversity has a significant positive effect on Return on Assets and Tobin’s Q; a significant negative effect on Returns on Equity at 5% level of significance respectively. It was recommended among others that Natural Resources firms should have a suitable and diverse board size designed so as to guarantee diversity of experience without conceding independence, accountability, compatibility, more knowledge, integrity and enthusiasm of members to attend meetings.
Corporate Performance, CEO Power and CEO Turnover: Evidence from Malaysian Public Listed Companies (Prestasi Syarikat, Kuasa CEO Dan Pertukaran CEO: Bukti dari Syarikat Tersenarai Awam Malaysia)

This paper seeks to determine the impact of firm performance and CEO power on CEO turnover. Research in CEO turnover literature found that corporate performance is frequently used as an indicator to evaluate the effectiveness of CEO effort and findings from most of these studies indicate that the turnover rate of CEO is higher for poor performing firms when compared to well performing firms. Furthermore, social network theory and human capital theory suggest that CEOs gain their power from their educational background; skill and functional background; special expertise; experience; industry specialization; prestige; ownership; age; and length of tenure. This power will entrench the CEO in the company, thus making the decision to fire the underperforming CEO more difficult. Our results show that firms with poor performance and older CEOs are more likely to change their CEOs. In contrast, CEO turnover is less likely to occur when firms exercise CEO/Chairman duality; have CEOs who own a certain portion of company shares; and have CEOs with longer tenure. ABSTRAK Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menentukan kesan prestasi syarikat dan kuasa CEO ke atas pertukaran CEO. Sorotan kajian berkaitan pertukaran CEO mendapati prestasi syarikat sering digunakan sebagai penentu dalam menilai keberkesanan usaha CEO dan penemuan daripada kajian tersebut mendapati kadar pertukaran CEO adalah tinggi bagi syarikat berprestasi rendah berbanding syarikat berprestasi tinggi. Selain daripada itu, teori rangkaian sosial dan teori modal insan mencadangkan bahawa CEO memperoleh kuasa melalui latar belakang pendidikan, latar belakang fungsi dan kemahiran, kepakaran, pengalaman, keutamaan industri, prestij, pemilikan, umur dan tempoh memegang jawatan yang lama. Kuasa ini akan mengukuhkan kedudukan CEO dalam sesebuah syarikat yang menjadikan proses membuat keputusan bagi melucutkan jawatan CEO berprestasi rendah lebih sukar. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan syarikat berprestasi rendah dan mempunyai CEO yang berumur lebih cenderung untuk menukar CEO. Sebaliknya, pertukaran CEO adalah rendah bagi syarikat yang mempraktikkan dwi peranan CEO/Pengerusi, mempunyai CEO yang mempunyai pemilikan saham syarikat dan CEO yang memegang jawatan untuk satu tempoh masa yang lama. Keywords: Chief executive officer (CEO); CEO turnover; Corporate performance; CEO duality
Board of directors' characteristics and financial performance: a case study of selected hotels and restaurants in Sri Lanka

The boards of directors play a critical role in monitoring companies in Sri Lanka. However, it is possible that board director’s characteristics are important in the hotels and restaurants due to the nature of business and the effect of government regulations, both of which limit to managerial discretion. This study examines the relation between board of directors’ characteristics and financial performance among selected hotels and restaurants in Sri Lanka which covered selected hotels and restaurants in Sri Lanka over a period of past 5 years from 2008 to 2012. Correlation and regression analysis were used in the analysis. The result revealed that there is a significant relationship that exists between board of directors’ characteristics and financial performance among selected hotels and restaurants in Sri Lanka. The suggested Number of Women in Board (NWB) and Inside Directors (ISD) are significantly correlated with Return on Asset (ROA) at 5 percent level of significance. NWB and ISD are significantly correlated with Return on Equity (ROE) at 5 percent level of significance. At the same time CEO Duality (CEO DUAL) is significantly correlated with ROE at 1 percent level of significance. Finally the rest of other variables are not correlated. The results add insight on the relation between monitoring mechanisms and financial performance of hotels in an emerging market.
Corporate Governance, Disclosure Quality, and Cost of Equity: Evidence from Pakistan

The link between disclosure of corporate information and the cost of equity in firms is one of the most important issues in finance. This paper aims to examine the connection between corporate governance, disclosure quality of information, and the cost of equity in Pakistani-listed (PSX-listed) firms. Using the Generalized Methods of Movements (Sys-GMM) model, a sample of 167 non-financial firms listed on Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for the period of 2011-2015was analyzed. Sys-GMM estimation was applied to overcome the problem of endogeneity among corporate governance variables. To test the robustness of GMM estimations, we compared the results of pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) and fixed-effect estimations and found they did not overcome the problem of endogeneity, providing spurious results. We found a negative association between cost of equity and disclosure quality of financial statements. The findings suggested that the board size, concentrated ownership and CEO duality, are found as significant factors in reducing the cost of equity of PSX-listed firms. Audit committee independence and audit quality of the firm showed a positive relationship with the firm’s cost of equity. Our findings suggest that employing a high-quality auditor and independent director’s results in increased cost of equity for PSX-listed firms. Furthermore, no significant relationship between independence of the boards and duration of the authorizations of financial statements by the board of directors is found. The results also revealed the investors demand more return on their investments if inadequate and incomplete information is disclosed in the annual reports of the firms. This study provides useful insights for Pakistani corporate governance regulators, the executive management of Pakistani firms, and their investors.
Firm characteristics, board diversity and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from Bangladesh

Purpose – This study aims to purport to investigate the relationship between firm size, profitability, board diversity (namely, director gender and nationality) and the extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures within a developing nation context. Design/methodology/approach – The dataset comprises 116 listed Bangladeshi non-financial companies for the period of 2005-2009. A CSR disclosure checklist was used to measure the extent of CSR disclosures in the annual reports and a multiple regression analysis to examine its association with firm characteristics and two board diversity features – female and foreign directorship. Findings – Results indicate that large and more profitable firms provide more CSR disclosures. It was also found that female directorship has a negative association with CSR disclosures, while foreign directorship has a positive impact on such disclosures. This paper documents that CSR disclosures decrease further when family ownership is higher and there are more femal.
The extent of corporate governance disclosure and its determinants in a developing market : The case of Egypt , Advances in Accounting

The aim of this paper is to assess the extent of corporate governance voluntary disclosure and the impact of a comprehensive set of corporate governance attributes (board composition, board size, CEO duality, director ownership, block-holder ownership and the existence of audit committee) on the extent of corporate governance voluntary disclosure in Egypt. The measurement of disclosure is based on published data created from a checklist developed by the United Nations, which was gathered from a manual review of financial statements and websites of a sample of Egyptian companies listed on Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX). Although the levels of CG disclosure are found to be minimal, however disclosure is high for items that are mandatory under the Egyptian Accounting Standards (EASs). The failure of companies to disclose such information clearly shows some ineffectiveness and inadequacy in the regulatory framework in Egypt. Moreover, the phenomenon of non-compliance may also be attributed to the socio-economic factors in Egypt. Therefore, it is expected that Egyptian firms will take a long time to appraise the payback of increased CG disclosure. The findings indicate that that – ceteris paribus – the extent of CG disclosure: (1) is lower for companies with duality in position and higher ownership concentration as measured by block-holder ownership; and (2) increases with the proportion of independent directors on the board Corporate Governance Disclosure And Its Determinants In Egypt 3 and firm size. The results of the study support theoretical arguments that companies disclose corporate governance information in order to reduce information asymmetry and agency costs and to improve investor confidence in the reported accounting information. The empirical evidence stems from this study enhances the understanding of the corporate governance disclosure environment in Egypt, as one of the emerging markets in the Middle East.
Bryant Digital Repository Bryant Digital Repository

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was designed to improve the accuracy and reliability of ﬁnancial reporting and prohibits public companies from granting loans to executives. Without considering the eﬀects of executive loans on ﬁnancial reporting, some researchers have questioned the appropriateness of the Act’s loan prohibition [Kahle, K. , Sha-stri, K. , 2004. Executive loans. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 39 (4), 791–811; Henderson, M. , Spindler, J., 2005. Corporate Heroin: A defense of perks, executive loans, and conspicuous consumption. The Georgetown Law Journal 93 (6)]. We examine whether executive loans are associated with ﬁnancial misstatements. We ﬁnd a signiﬁcant association between executive loans and ﬁnancial misstatements. Our results suggest that a relationship exists between the Sarbanes-Oxley Act’s loan 0278-4254
Vaginal microbes alter epithelial transcriptomic and epigenomic modifications providing insight into the molecular mechanisms for susceptibility to adverse reproductive outcomes

The cervicovaginal microbiome is highly associated with women’s health with microbial communities dominated by Lactobacillus spp. being considered optimal. Conversely, a lack of lactobacilli and a high abundance of strict and facultative anaerobes including Gardnerella vaginalis, have been associated with adverse reproductive outcomes. However, the molecular pathways modulated by microbe interactions with the cervicovaginal epithelia remain unclear. Using RNA-sequencing, we characterize the in vitro cervicovaginal epithelial transcriptional response to different vaginal bacteria and their culture supernatants. We showed that G. vaginalis upregulated genes were associated with an activated innate immune response including anti-microbial peptides and inflammasome pathways, represented by NLRP3-mediated increases in caspase-1, IL-1β and cell death. Cervicovaginal epithelial cells exposed to L. crispatus showed limited transcriptomic changes, while exposure to L. crispatus culture supernatants resulted in a shift in the epigenomic landscape of cervical epithelial cells. ATAC-sequencing confirmed epigenetic changes with reduced chromatin accessibility. This study reveals new insight into host-microbe interactions in the lower reproductive tract and suggest potential therapeutic strategies leveraging the vaginal microbiome to improve reproductive health.
Examining the disparities: A cross-sectional study of socio-economic factors and food insecurity in Togo

Background Despite many interventions, Togo continues to have one of the highest rates of poverty and food insecurity in the sub-Saharan African region. Currently there is no systematic analysis of the factors associated with household food-insecurity in this country. This study aimed at exploring the factors associated with food insecurity in Togo. Methods This was a cross-sectional study that used data from five waves (2014 to 2018) of the Gallup World Poll (GWP) for Togo. Sample size included 4754 participants, aged 15 and above. Food insecurity was measured using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) questionnaire as per the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) guidelines. Our outcome variable was food insecurity, categorized as: 1) food secure (FIES score = 0–3), moderately food insecure (FIES score = 4–6), and severely food insecure (FIES score = 7–8). We did descriptive and multinomial regressions to analyze data using Stata version 16. Results Between 2014 and 2018, the percentage of severe food insecurity fluctuated—42.81% in 2014, 37.79% in 2015, 38.98% in 2016, 45.41% in 2017, and 33.84% in 2018. Whereas that of moderate food insecurity increased from 23.55% to 27.33% except for 2016 and 2017 where the percentage increased to 32.33% and 27.46% respectively. In the logistic regression analysis, we found that respondents with lower than elementary education had a higher relative risk ratio of moderate (RRR = 1.45,95%CI = 1.22–1.72) and severe (RRR = 1.72, 95%CI = 1.46–2.02) food insecurity compared to those with secondary and higher education. Rural respondents had higher RRR of severe food insecurity (RRR = 1.37, 95%CI = 1.16–1.62) compared to those who lived in the urban areas. Compared with those in the richest wealth quintile, respondents in the poorest wealth quintile had 2.21 times higher RRR of moderate (RRR = 2.21, 95%CI = 1.69–2.87) and 3.58 times higher RRR of severe (RRR = 3.58, 95%CI = 2.81–4.55) food insecurity. Conclusion About two-thirds of participants experienced some level of food insecurity in 2018. Lower levels of education, rural residency and poorer household wealth index areas were associated with a higher risk of food insecurity. National food security programs should focus on promoting education and improving socioeconomic condition of people especially in rural areas.
Protecting children from unhealthy food marketing: a comparative policy analysis in Australia, Fiji and Thailand

Abstract Restrictions on marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children is a globally recommended policy measure to improve diets and health. The aim of the analysis was to identify opportunities to enable policy learning and shift beliefs of relevant actors, to engender policy progress on restrictions on marketing of unhealthy foods to children. We drew on the Advocacy Coalition Framework to thematically analyse data from qualitative policy interviews conducted Australia (n = 24), Fiji (n = 10) and Thailand (n = 20). In all three countries two clear and opposing advocacy coalitions were evident within the policy subsystem related to regulation of unhealthy food marketing, which we termed the ‘strengthen regulation’ and ‘minimal/self regulation’ coalitions. Contributors to policy stasis on this issue were identified as tensions between public health and economic objectives of government, and limited formal and informal spaces for productive dialogue. The analysis also identified opportunities for policy learning that could enable policy progress on restrictions on marketing of unhealthy foods to children as: taking an incremental approach to policy change, defining permitted (rather than restricted) foods, investing in new public health expertise related to emerging marketing approaches and scaling up of monitoring of impacts. The insights from this study are likely to be relevant to many countries seeking to strengthen regulation of marketing to children, in response to recent global recommendations.
Is caries prevalence site-specific in cleft lip and palate patients? A systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT Background: Previous systematic reviews indicate that there is an increased prevalence of caries in cleft patients in comparison to their healthy control group. To date, the prevalence of caries between unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) and bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP) has not been quantitatively evaluated. This review aims to include published studies that examined caries prevalence in patients with UCLP and BCLP to find out whether a quantitative difference exists in caries experience among them. Materials and Methods: Medline/PubMed, Scopus, and EBSCOhost databases were searched from inception to November 2021. The protocol was registered with PROSPERO registration no. CRD2021292425. Prevalence-based studies that evaluated caries experience using the decayed–missing–filled teeth (DMFT) index in the permanent dentition or dmft in case of primary dentition in patients with UCLP or BCLP were included in the analysis with the outcome given in mean and standard deviation. Meta-analysis was performed using a random effect model through a forest plot. An adapted version of the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale for cross-sectional studies was modified to assess the quality of included studies. Results: Three studies were included in the review. The difference in caries prevalence was statistically significant in the permanent and primary dentition which were evaluated using DMFT and dmft scores with P = 0.01 and P = 0.03, respectively. Forest plot values were obtained for permanent dentition (DMFT) and primary dentition (dmft), 0.57 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.03–0.11) and 0.36 (95% CI: 0.69–0.03), respectively. The result of the meta-analysis indicates that patients with BCLP have higher caries prevalence. Conclusion: The outcome of the study indicates a higher occurrence of caries in patients with BCLP than UCLP in both permanent and primary dentition.
Environmental Effects of In-House Windrow Composting of Poultry Litter

This quarter, the revised QAPP and project no-cost extension were approved allowing the project to continue through October 2012. This is important as the region continues to suffer prolonged drought preventing collection of runoff to evaluate in-house windrow composting. Outreach continued through the website and a poster presentation of project results at the Poultry Science Association Annual Meeting in July. Next quarter, project activities will include continued monitoring, completion of soil test analysis, and development of the Extension fact sheet and presentation.