Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate prevailing capital budgeting practices in Sri Lankan listed companies. Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive primary survey was conducted of 32 out of 46 chief financial officers (CFOs) of manufacturing and trading companies listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange in Sri Lanka. Garnered data were then analyzed using appropriate statistical techniques. Findings – The results revealed that net present value (NPV) was the most preferred capital budgeting method, followed closely by payback (PB) and internal rate of return (IRR). Similarly, sensitivity analysis was regarded as the dominant capital budgeting tool for incorporating risk and the widely used method for calculating cost of capital was the weighted average cost of capital. Moreover, results revealed that size of the capital budget affects the use of the capital budgeting methods (NPV, IRR and PB) and incorporating risk tool (sensitivity analysis and simulation). Further, results revealed that CFOs had higher educational qualification were preferred to use sophisticated capital budgeting practices dominantly NPV, IRR and incorporating risk tool of sensitivity analysis although they were found to be reluctant in use of accounting rate of return. In a similar vein CFOs with higher experience were preferred using IRR and sensitivity analysis. Originality/value – This study contributed to academics, practitioners, policy makers and stakeholders of the company. Moreover, this research has proffered a more reliable and comprehensive analysis of capital budgeting practices in Sri Lankan listed manufacturing and trading firms. Since Sri Lanka is an unexplored country on capital budgeting practices, this research was originally contributed to the extant literature per se.

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The aims of this paper are to fi rst seek an understanding of consumer decision-making when purchasing pension and investment products, and second to ascertain how this decision-making affects the consumer ' s choice of distribution route. The study employed both focus groups and postal questionnaire survey methods based on the framework of a classical decision-making model that investigated problem recognition, information search, evaluation tools used and post-purchase. The fi ndings show that the decision-making process experience differed to a lesser or greater degree depending on the distribution route. The majority of respondents had recognised the need to make a purchase decision long before seeking information. Younger respondents on all incomes believed that they must make some pension provision for themselves as opposed to relying on the government ' s retirement provision. Many changed channels for information searches, but tended to settle with the Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The two main evaluation tools for pension and investment were found to be the ' charges ' and ' historic fund performance ' . The vast majority of respondents reiterated their worry that the outcomes would not be known until retirement. In terms of analysis by the level of ' fi nancial literacy ' , respondents who scored in the upper quartile were more inclined to be on a higher income, less inclined to evaluate on charges and more proactive in discussing the investment strategy of their pension fund. Respondents who scored in the lower quartile had opposite results. One of the implications of these fi ndings is that the younger respondents ' recognition of pension savings favours the government ' s intention to reverse the existing balance of pension distribution. The other main implication is that the fi ndings will be of help to managers in appreciating the dominance of the IFA channel by providing an explanation of why consumers choose this route, and, additionally, can assist direct marketing managers in identifying customers who will be more likely to use multichannel or single-channel shoppers. It can also help the marketing manager increase the usage of different channels by addressing the factors driving the purchase decision and distribution choice.

Highlights1. The aim of this paper is to compare estimates of market risk for Islamic and conventional bank over for the period 2000-2013 across pre-financial crisis, during financial crisis and post financial crisis periods. To the best of our knowledge this is the first attempt to compare and contrast the market risk of Islamic banks with conventional banks. 2. We use estimates of Value-at-Risk (VaR) and Expected Shortfall (ES) which incorporates losses beyond VaR as market risk measures for both univariate and multivariate portfolios. 3. Univariate analysis finds no discernible differences between Islamic and conventional banks. However, dynamic correlations obtained via a multivariate setting shows Islamic banks to be less riskier for both sets of conventional banks; and especially so during the recent global financial crisis. 4. The policy implications are: (i) that the inclusion of Islamic banks within asset portfolios may mitigate potential risk; (ii) that the Basel committee should consider the ES measure 2 of risk for Islamic banks in preference to the current VaR methodology, which overestimates the market risk of Islamic banks. Abstract We empirically analyze the market risk profiles of Islamic banks with two sets of conventional banks taken from the same geographical locations as Islamic banks and from a random global sample respectively for the period 2000-2013. Moreover, we divided our sample period into prefinancial crisis, during financial and post financial crisis. Estimates of Value-at-Risk (VaR) and Expected Shortfall (ES) which incorporates losses beyond VaR are used as market risk measures for both univariate and multivariate portfolios. Our key input is the share price by market capitalization of publicly traded banks of similar size in Islamic and non-Islamic countries. Univariate analysis finds no discernible differences between Islamic and conventional banks. However, dynamic correlations obtained via a multivariate setting shows Islamic banks to be less riskier for both sets of conventional banks; and especially so during the recent global financial crisis. The policy implications are: (i) that the inclusion of Islamic banks within asset portfolios may mitigate potential risk; (ii) that the Basel committee should consider the ES measure of risk for Islamic banks in preference to the current VaR methodology, which over-estimates the market risk of Islamic banks.JEL classification: C53, C58, G01, G21

This paper examines whether the choice of performance measures in CEO bonus compensation contracts is associated with earnings management. From a sample of FTSE350 Index firms over the period of 2005-2014, we investigate the relationship between earnings management, through discretionary accruals and real activities management, and (1) the use of and extent of reliance on financial and non-financial performance measures in CEO bonus contracts; and (2) the use of long-term and shortterm measures in CEO bonus contracts. We find less income-increasing manipulation through discretionary accruals and expenses when non-financial performance measures (NFPMs) are used alongside financial performance measures (FPMs) and when the NFPMs are used to a larger extent than FPMs. Furthermore, we find less discretionary accruals when long-term performance measures are used. This implies that non-financial and long-term measures encourage executives to work towards the long-term success of the company rather than their own short-term reward.