This paper examines the linkage between FDI, trade openness, capital formation, and economic growth rates in Bangladesh over a period 1986 to 2008 using time series analysis. All variables are found stationary at first differencing both at constant and constant plus trend level under the ADF and PP stationary tests. The Johansen-Juselius procedure is applied to test the cointegrating relation between variables followed by a vector error correction model. The empirical results trace a strong long-run equilibrium relationship between GDP growth rates and the explanatory variables with unidirectional casual flows. The volume of FDI and level of capital formation are found to have significant positive effect on changes in real GDP. The degree of trade openness unleashes negative but diminishing influence on GDP growth rates. We conclude that Bangladesh should formulate FDI-led polices and ensure higher degree of capital formation to enhance her economic growth rates at large.

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This study aims to explore the relationship between corporate governance and financial performance of publicly listed family and non-family firms in the Japanese manufacturing industry. The study obtains data from Bloomberg over the period 2014–2018 and covers 1412 firms comprising of 861 non-family and 551 family firms. Our results show that family firms outperform non-family counterparts in terms of return on assets (ROA) and Tobin’s Q when a univariate analysis is invoked. On multivariate analysis, family firms show superior performance to non-family firms with Tobin’s Q. However, family ownership negates firm performance when ROA is taken into account. Regarding the impact of governance elements on Tobin’s Q, institutional shareholding appears to be a significant and positive factor for promoting the performance of both family and non-family firms. Furthermore, board size encourages the performance of non-family firms, while such influence is not observed for family firms. In terms of ROA, foreign ownership inspires the performance of both family and non-family firms. Moreover, government ownership stimulates the performance of family firms, while board independence significantly negates the same. Besides, we find that the performance of family firms run by the founder’s descendants is superior to that of family firms run by the founder. These findings have critical policy implications for family firms in Japan.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the macroeconomic determinants of foreign direct investment (FDI) for the top five South Asian economies, namely, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, and to examine whether these factors are the same for each. Design/methodology/approach This study employs fully modified ordinary least squares and two-stage least squares estimation methods. Findings This study shows that South Asian economies have a number of FDI determinants in common. For example, market size and human capital are the two most common factors attracting FDI in each country (except for Nepal, which revealed a negative correlation between FDI and market size). Other factors, such as infrastructure, domestic investment, lending rates, exchange rates, inflation, financial stability/crisis, and stock turnover entered into regression with both positive and negative signs, thereby indicating that the underlying theories on FDI do not provide a clear prediction of the direction of the effect of a particular variable on FDI. Research limitations/implications This paper studied the effects of demand-side factors on FDI. A comparative study of the supply-side factors may add further knowledge. Practical implications This paper provides evidence to show that the determinants of FDI are indeed country-specific. Thus, to design a suitable FDI policy, it would not be wise to solely rely on other economies’ FDI experiences. Originality/value This paper provides updated evidence on factors that are essential to promoting or deterring FDI in South Asian economies.

This paper examines the determining factors of the audit committee independence in the financial sector of Bangladesh by employing a cross-sectional regression analysis on 72 financial firms. The paper reveals that firms with large boards and more non-executive directors tend to provide more independence to the auditors. Also, large firms with potential growth opportunities show less interest in giving freedom to the audit committee members; whereas firms with the higher leverage demand more audit committee independence to confirm quality monitoring and quality financial statements. The study, however, reveals a negative relationship between the size of the audit committee and its work independence. The study also does not find any significant association between audit committee independence and presence of experts in the audit committee, percentage of insider ownership, free cash flow, and firms’ profitability.