Nejla Ellili

Working Capital Management and Performance of Kuwait Construction Companies

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between working capital management efficiency and performance of construction companies listed in the Kuwait Stock Exchange. The relationship is examined using dynamic panel data two- steps robust system estimation for the period 2001-2013. The analysis is applied at all the levels of the full sample as well as at the divisions’ levels of the sample by crisis and non-crisis periods, and by size. The results show negative and significant relationships between net trade cycle as a comprehensive measure of the efficiency in working capital management and performance for large firms during the full sample period while the relations between net trade cycle and performance for small firms are insignificant. This indicates that large construction companies in Kuwait are more efficient in managing their working capital than the small companies

Anti-money laundering disclosures and banks’ performance

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent of anti-Money laundering (AML) disclosures in the annual reports and websites by differentiating between UAE Islamic and conventional banks, and examine the effect of AML disclosure on UAE bank’s performance. Design/methodology/approach This study uses content analysis to explore the extent of AML disclosure in the annual reports and the dynamic panel data two-step robust system to study the impact of the AML disclosures on banking performance. Findings The findings show that AML disclosure is at a low level for all UAE banks, conventional and Islamic banks. The results also show that the degree of AML disclosure on the websites of the banks is higher than that in the annual reports. Research limitations/implications The sample for this study comes only from banks traded on UAE markets. Thus, the results may not be generalizable to banks traded on other financial markets. Practical implications Because of the cross-border character of the money laundry practices, our study suggests the UAE central bank to internationalize the AML regulations and develop an international AML regime as efforts to respond to the international development of the money laundry practices. Originality/value This is the first study that develops an index to measure the AML disclosure and contributes significantly in providing greater insight in respect to AML disclosure in banking industry within the emerging markets.

Does Credit Policy Affect Performance of Saudi Construction Companies

This paper aims to examine the relationship between the length of receivable conversion period as a measure of credit policy and operating profit margin as a measure of operational performance of construction firms listed in the Saudi stock market This relation is examined using dynamic panel data two- steps robust system estimation for the period 2004-2013. The analysis is applied at the levels of the full sample and divisions of the sample by crisis and non-crisis periods, sector, and by size. The results show negative and significant relationship between receivable conversion period as a measure of credit policy and profitability for the full sample. The result of the relationship between receivable conversion period and profitability for small firms is negative and significant. The results also show negative and significant relationship between receivable conversion period and profitability of real estate companies and negative and insignificant relation for building and construction companies

Equity Concentration, Agency Costs and Performance of Non-financial Firms Listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul)

This article examines the association between the equity concentration and agency costs as well as the impact of agency costs on performance of non-financial firms listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul). These relations are examined by using dynamic panel data and a two-step robust system estimation for the period 2010–2013. The study uses three proxy variables to measure agency costs. The results show that the equity concentration has no significant impact on agency costs, and the agency costs have no significant impact on firms’ performance. In addition, the study shows no evidence to support the agency theory in non-financial firms listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul). This study provides a better understanding of the association between equity concentration, agency costs and a firm’s performance.

Corporate Risk Disclosure of Islamic and Conventional Banks

This study examines the degree of the corporate risk disclosure and its impact on the banking performance using annual data of banks listed on the UAE financial markets: Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX) and Dubai Financial Market (DFM) during the period 2003-2013. The authors conduct the content analysis of the annual reports to measure the degree of the corporate risk disclosure. In addition, they use the panel data regressions to analyze the impact of the corporate risk disclosure on the performance of the banks. The results show low degree of the overall corporate risk disclosure index, strategic risk disclosure index, operational risk disclosure index, damage risk disclosure index, and risk management disclosure index for UAE listed banks. In addition, the results reveal significant differences in the overall corporate risk disclosure, strategic risk disclosure, financial risk disclosure, and risk management disclosure between conventional and Islamic banks. However, the effect of the degree of the overall corporate risk disclosure on the performance of UAE bank has been found insignificant. The findings of this paper contribute by providing a better understanding of risk disclosure practices in UAE and help the banks to optimally disclose their risk, improve the quality of their disclosure practices and to enhance the quality of their financial reports. The impact of the corporate risk disclosure on the performance of the banks has not been examined by any of the prior researches. In addition, this paper examines the potential difference between Islamic and conventional banks in their corporate risk disclosure practices.

Does Operational Risk Disclosure Quality Increase Operating Cash Flow of UAE Islamic and Conventional Banks

This study aims to measure the degree of operational risk disclosure and examine its impact on operating cash flow of banks listed on the UAE financial markets: Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX) and Dubai Financial Market (DFM) during the period 2009-2013. The authors conduct the content analysis of the annual reports to measure the degree of the operational risk disclosure. In addition, they use the panel data regressions to analyze the impact of the operational risk disclosure on the operating cash flow generated by the banks. The results show low degree of the operational risk disclosure of all, Islamic and conventional UAE banks. In addition, the results show that the higher the disclosure of operational risk the higher the cash flow of conventional banks. The operational risk disclosure of the Islamic banks has not been examined by any of the prior researches. In addition, this paper examines the potential impact of the operational risk disclosure on the operating cash flow generated by the banks.

Anti-Money Laundering Disclosures and Banks' Performance

This paper aims to develop an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) disclosure index, explore the extent of AML disclosures in the annual reports and websites by differentiating between UAE Islamic and conventional banks, and finally, examine the effect of AML disclosure on UAE bank’s performance using dynamic panel data two-steps robust system estimation. The results reveal that the AML disclosure is at a low level of all UAE banks, conventional and Islamic banks. The results also show that the degree of the AML disclosure on the websites of the banks is higher than in the annual reports. Furthermore, the conventional banks have higher levels of overall AML disclosure than the Islamic banks. The results of the dynamic panel data two- steps robust system estimation show insignificant effects of the degree of AML disclosures on banking performance of all UAE, conventional and Islamic banks.

Corporate Sustainability Disclosure in Annual Reports: Evidence from UAE Banks: Islamic Versus Conventional

The objective of this paper is to measure the degree of the corporate sustainability disclosure using annual data for listed banks in the UAE financial markets during the period 2003–2013. The results show that the overall level of sustainability disclosure based on sustainability reporting for banks listed in the UAE financial markets is at a low level. The results also show that the degree of the corporate sustainability disclosure of the conventional banks is higher than the Islamic banks. In addition, our empirical results reveal that the sustainability disclosure affects significantly and positively the banking performance of the conventional banks while no significant effect on the Islamic banks performance.

The Impact of the Mandatory Corporate Governance Disclosures on the Banking Growth in UAE: Islamic versus Conventional Banks

The aim of this paper is to measure the degree of mandatory corporate governance disclosure and examine its impact on the bank’s growth using annual data for listed banks on the UAE financial markets during the period 2003-2013. Our empirical results show that the degree of mandatory corporate governance disclosure of conventional banks is significantly higher than the Islamic banks. In addition, the degree of mandatory corporate governance disclosure is significantly and positively related to the growth of deposits for both Islamic and conventional UAE listed banks