Ali Malik

Effects of ownership structure on bank performance: evidence from Vietnamese banking sector

This paper examines the effects of ownership structure, focusing on state-ownership and foreign-ownership, on performance of selected Vietnamese bank. The panel data of 23 Vietnamese banks is statistically tested and result suggests that state-ownership negatively affects bank performance. This is consistent with existing literature (La Porta et al., 2002; Berger et al., 2005; Lin and Zhang, 2009; Chen et al., 2009). This, however, shows deviation from findings in neighbour countries like Taiwan and China. On the issue of foreign ownership, the evidence is not steady and sufficient to support the notion that foreign owned banks generally outperform domestic banks. This contradicts with existing studies by Bonin et al. (2005) and Lin and Zhang (2009). A possible reason for this is the presence of stringent barriers and regulations by the Vietnamese Government for foreign banks in Vietnam.

Creative accounting practice and business performance: evidence from Pakistan

This paper explores the issue of creative accounting and evidence of its use in Pakistan. The financial characteristics of Pakistani companies, officially or publically identified for using some form of creative accounting are investigated and explored. Through the use of financial ratios and a control sample of companies identified for not having used creative accounting are analysed and compared. Survey results show statistically significant differences in sample-control comparison of ratios and indicate that there appears to be a convergence of opinions on the use of such practices. Further, the findings provide evidence that financial characteristics, as measured by ratios, could be used as a tool to identify companies that are likely to be involved in creative accounting and therefore form a basis for measuring, controlling and influencing how company performance may be perceived.