The relationship between geographical diversification (GDI) and profitability (ROA) has yielded mixed findings across various developed countries. This study re-examined the relationship using data of public firms listed on the main market of Bursa Malaysia for the period of 2010–2014 using quantile regression approach. The firms are categorised into small firms and large firms based on the firm size median value. The empirical results show that GDI affects ROA heterogeneously in various quantile levels of the ROA for all firms, small firms and large firms. GDI significantly (positive relationship) influences ROA in the middle quantile region (from quantile 0.25 to 0.75) for all firms, in the low quantile region (from quantile 0.1 to 0.5) for the sample of small firms and in the high quantile region (from quantile 0.5 to 0.9) for the sample of large firms. Therefore, GDI activities could benefit firms, provided that the activities are conducted wisely by taking into account the profitability levels of firms as well as the size of firms. This study contributes to literature on geographical diversification by providing empirical support in the context of an emerging market.
The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between family ownership and dividend in Malaysian publicly listed firms. Malaysia served as a distinctive country to conduct this research as the corporate structure is largely characterised as family owned and the corporate firms are highly involved in high and stable dividends. The study uses data from 712 firms over the period of five (5) years from the year 2010 to 2014. Adjusted ordinary least square (OLS) regression methods are employed to analyse the data used in the study. Based on the results, family ownership is seen to have a significant positive relationship with dividends in Malaysia, especially in family firms. The finding has supported the reputational view of dividend, mitigation of agency conflict and dividends as the source of income for the family shareholders. However, the expropriation motive of the controlling family shareholders can still be relevant as high dividends were certainly paid to themselves as they are the majority shareholders in the firm. The contribution of the study lies in the behaviour of the controlling family shareholders in both family and non-family firms in Malaysia. The actual motives of them in relation to the enhancement of the shareholders' wealth can be revealed through the findings of this study.
This paper examines the influence of board gender diversity on the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure quality of energy firms. Particularly, the study evaluates the possible differences in the influence of board gender diversity on the ESG disclosure practice of firms in developed and developing nations. Previous studies have used single country based analysis and presented diverse results, however this study uses data from 48 countries from both developed and developing nations over a period of 13 years (from year 2004 to 2016). The study finds that, in general, female directors favorably influence the quality of disclosure of ESG and its individual components (except governance). However, sub‐sample analysis of firms in developed and developing nations finds that the relationships are significant only for the sample of firms in developed nations. The results show that there are differences in the role female directors play in influencing ESG disclosure for developed and developing countries, thus this study highlights the importance of accounting standards in strengthening the contribution of female directors on corporate boards, especially in developing countries. The study also highlights the need to assess ESG components separately, in addition to the overall component, when conducting studies on ESG.
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