This study tests the Pecking Order Theory for the capital structure of listed firms in Pakistan. As per Pecking Order Theory in capital structure formulation, internally generated resources would have first priority, followed by debt issuance where equity is used as a last resort. In its strong form, the Pecking Order Theory sustains that equity issues would never occur, whereas in its weak form, limited amounts of issues are acceptable. The methodology adopted in this empirical study involves cross-section regressions and the testing of hypotheses stemming from the underlying theory in its strong and weak forms. A sample of capital structure of non-financial firms listed at KSE is considered from 2001 to 2008. A statistical tool of panel data regression analysis is used to test different firms' data. The value of R2, t-test and F-Stat indicate firms in KSE supporting the weak form of pecking order theory, i.e., the option of using internal equity and debt is more preferred and a limited amount of external equity is used for reinvestment and fund raising purposes.

Purpose The international institutions, policymakers and governments are promoting green growth as a policy objective for global financial stability (FS) without sound empirical investigation. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate whether the green economy would be successful in achieving its main objective i.e. stabilizing the world financial system because the investment stakes are too high for this green transition. Design/methodology/approach The study used the two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) methodology on panel data of 90 countries for 6 years from 2010 to 2015 to investigate the impact of green growth economy on FS. Findings The results of the current study revealed that overall green growth enhanced FS in the country for both the short and long run. However, the social inclusive dimension of green growth was irrelevant in creating FS. Research limitations/implications The results of the current study validate the growth-led finance hypothesis and encourage the policymakers to strengthen the policy initiative for green growth. Because green growth mitigates economic and environmental risk to create a stable financial environment. However, social inclusiveness needs to be explored through alternate paradigm in relevance to FS. Originality/value As per the author’s knowledge, it is a pioneer study to empirically investigate the impact of green growth on FS which would be useful in understanding the green growth and FS dynamics.

The aim of the study covers, at first, the rank comparison drawn among mutual funds at categorical and investment policy level and secondly, among the selected three families of performance measures against famous Sharpe ratio. The Spearman rank order correlation and mean rank order approach have been used for this purpose. The major findings of the study reveal that the most of the performance measures have shown a similar ranking order of mutual funds, at the investment policy level, against the standard measure i.e., Sharpe ratio. However, funds that have shown a non-normal trend, led to misspecification syndrome.

This research presented a review of key theoretical and empirical studies on firm's performance and its board size. The review included on small & medium sized and public owned firms from manufacturing to financial sectors. The research concludes that the evidence on positive or negative correlation between board size and a firm's performance is mixed (inconclusive) and need for further empirical investigation on this subject is warranted. It was found that the choice of optimal board size can vary in one firm to other, depending on nature of business operations, i.e. for high debt-financed firms with high advisory requirements may require large board to advise CEO on complex matters, as does the banking and saving & loans holding companies where more of expert advice, diversified opinions, professional skills are needed. Also, the firms with poor operating performance may increase their board size as one of their strategy to improve profitability given that new board members will contribute in the form of increased networking, skills, opinion and expert advice.

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