Ummara Fatima

Purpose
This study aims to examine whether and how the presence of co-opted directors (directors appointed after the incumbent CEO) influences corporate climate risk disclosure.

Design/methodology/approach
This study comprehensively analyses 2,975 firm-year observations of US-listed companies, using ordinary least squares with industry and year-fixed effects. To confirm the reliability of the study results, the authors used several techniques, including propensity score matching, to address potential issues with functional form misspecification, analysed a subset of companies where co-option persisted over two consecutive years to mitigate concerns regarding reverse causality and difference-in-differences estimation, using the cheif executive officer’s (CEO’s) sudden death as an exogenous shock to board co-option to mitigate endogeneity concerns.

Findings
The findings indicate that the presence of a large number of co-opted directors negatively influences corporate climate risk disclosure. Mediation analysis suggests that managerial risk-taking partially mediates this negative association. Moderation analyses show that the negative impact of co-opted directors on climate risk disclosure is more pronounced in firms with greater linguistic obfuscation, limited external monitoring and in environmentally sensitive industries. Moreover, co-opted directors intentionally withhold or obscure the disclosure of transition climate risks more than physical climate risks.

Practical implications
This research has important implications for policymakers, regulators and corporate governance practitioners in designing board structures by highlighting the adverse impact of co-opted directors in contexts with lax regulatory enforcement and managerial discretion. The authors caution against relying on such directors for providing climate-related risk disclosures, especially in companies with poor external monitors and based in environmental sensitivities, as their placement can significantly undermine transparency and accountability.

Originality/value
This study adds to the existing body of knowledge by highlighting the previously unexplored phenomenon of intentional obscurity in disclosing climate risks by co-opted directors. This research provides novel insights into the interplay between board composition, managerial risk-taking behaviour and climate risk disclosure. The findings of this study have significant implications for policymakers, regulators and corporate governance experts, and may prompt a re-evaluation of strategies for improving climate risk disclosure practices.

Various economic models are considering the importance of entrepreneurship development in terms of both physical and human capital. The development of entrepreneurship varies across countries due to the divergence of entrepreneurial framework conditions (EFCs). EFCs determine how easy (or difficult) it is to start up a venture. The key objective of this paper is to observe the effect of EFCs, specifically public policy and infrastructure, on various entrepreneurship activities in Asia. This paper investigates the impact of EFCs (public policy and infrastructure development) on various entrepreneurial activities, including nascent entrepreneurship, new business ownership rate, total early-stage entrepreneurial activity, and established business ownership rate. Ten Asian countries were selected as a sample from 2014 to 2019. Correlation and regression analyses were employed to explore the extent to which EFCs influence different entrepreneurial activities in GEM-participating Asian countries. The overall findings have revealed that commercial and professional infrastructure promote entrepreneurial activities. Conversely, the decline in physical and services infrastructure is associated with a decrease in total early-stage entrepreneurial activity. Meanwhile, these factors have no significant impact on the remaining entrepreneurial activities. Taxes and bureaucracy exhibit a negatively significant relationship with all entrepreneurial activities. On the other hand, governmental support and policies show a positively significant relationship with the nascent entrepreneurship rate and established business ownership rate, while having an insignificant relationship with the other entrepreneurial activities.

This study contributes to the evolution of various policies for fostering entrepreneurship growth. It recommends that well-established infrastructure and favorable institutions are essential for nurturing entrepreneurship in developing countries in Asia.

The payment of dividend is an exciting attraction for a company investor. Dividend is mostly paid out of the net earnings, and when the banks get levered, it may affect the disbursement of the dividend due to the deduction of interest from net income. Empirically, it is still to be explored that the inducement of leverage may affect the dividend payment, which may affect the ownership structure of the commercial banks of Pakistan.

The study explores the moderating role of firm size on the relationship between capital structure and performance of the Pakistani textile sector. The study extracted statistics from the annual reports of the textile firms listed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) from 2010–2017. The study applies several panel data diagnostic tests and then projected a feasible generalized least square (FGLS) regression model for testing primary and moderated effects of firm size on capital structure-performance relation by taking asset tangibility as a control variable. The study outcomes depict that 65% of assets of Pakistani textile companies are financed by debt, suggesting that textile companies are functioning with high levels of financial leverage. The total debt ratio of firms is moderately highly leveraged, as the average value is around 65%. The research has important practical consequences that will help textile industry financial managers adopt the optimal mix of capital structure when debt borrowing could enhance performance.

A lot of spectacular technological innovations have stunningly transformed the scene and, the diverse society provokes the concept of profit-sharing in the shape of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The study elaborates on the relationship between CSR and financial performance (FP) of the conventional and Islamic banks of Pakistan. Moreover, the work explores the moderating role of bank size on the relationship between CSR-FP of Islamic and conventional banks of Pakistan separately. The study takes data from annual reports of the banks listed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) during 2010-2018. The study first applies several panel data diagnostic tests and after checking normality of data applies regression and moderated regression to check the relationship between size, CSR and FP of Islamic and conventional banks of Pakistan; by taking leverage as a control variable. The results indicate that the bank size moderates the relationship between CSR-FP and depicts a positive significant relationship between CSR activities and FP in the case of conventional banks of Pakistan. The results are in line with the legitimacy theory, social contract, and stakeholder theory. While as in the case of Islamic banks the size negatively moderates the relationship between CSR and FP. The results are supporting agency theory. The research work has important practical consequences that would help the bank managers to adopt optimal investment in CSR activities. Moreover, the study guides that if Islamic banks would be able to expand their size, they could do more investment in CSR activities the same as conventional banks are doing. This research covers the banking sector of Pakistan. The work is unique due to the less explored areas of study in the banking sector of Pakistan. Furthermore, the findings of the study would lay some practical foundations upon which more detail analysis could be based, which is currently less explored.

Purpose - The study sought to explore the association of ownership structure on the performance of conventional and Islamic commercial banks of Pakistan keeping leverage as a moderator.

Methodology - The study takes data from the annual reports of the banks (Islamic and conventional) listed at Pakistan Stock Exchange during 2008-2016. The study first applies simple regression to check the primary effects of ownership structure on performance, and then moderated regression to examine the impact of leverage on ownership structure-performance relationship of Islamic and conventional banks of Pakistan by taking growth and earnings volatility as control variables.

Findings - The overall results of the study depict that in case of both Islamic and conventional banks managerial and institutional ownership is showing significant positive relationship with return on equity (ROE) other than institutional ownership, which is showing negative significant relationship with ROE in case of conventional banks of Pakistan. By summing up the results of the study, there is no consent on the moderating effect of leverage on ownership structure-performance relationship of conventional and Islamic banks of Pakistan; further research is called for.

Practical implications - The work has important practical consequences that would facilitate the financial managers of banking industry to identify the dimensions of ownership structure, when debt borrowing could enhance performance. The results of this study provide better insights into the ownership structure-performance relationship of Islamic and conventional banks on parallel lines. Findings give better understanding to the management of the banks (either Islamic or conventional); how they can improve their practices toward ownership structure which up bring the performance.

Originality - The key impact of this chapter is usage of previously little studied area of Islamic and conventional banking on the relationship of ownership structure and performance by taking leverage as moderator. Moreover, findings of this study set groundwork upon which the impact of another moderating variable (more than one) can be analyzed. Furthermore, apart from banks, more comprehensive analysis of ownership structure of different financial studies could be studied.

The study explores how financial performance (FP) affects the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of the banking sector of Pakistan. Further, it also elaborates the comparison between FP and CSR of Islamic and conventional banks of Pakistan. The study is based on the annual reports of banks listed at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) for the years 2010-2016. The study used several panel data diagnostic tests and three regression models to check the relationship between FP and CSR of Islamic and conventional banks of Pakistan, while taking leverage and size as control variables. The results indicate that in case of conventional banks the relationship between ROE and CSR is negative. Here, the results are consistent with the agency theory which states that investment in CSR related activities is a waste of resources. While return on asset (ROA) is depicting negative and insignificant relationship with CSR, which depicts that FP does not have any impact on the investment in CSR initiatives. In the case of Islamic banks, the relationship between return on equity (ROE) and CSR is positive and significant. Here, the results support social contract and stakeholder theories. The research has important practical consequences that will help the banking industry managers to adopt optimal investment strategies about CSR related activities. The study provides guidelines to conventional banks to invest more in CSR in the same way Islamic banks are doing. The findings of the study lay some foundations upon which a more detailed analysis of CSR of banks could be based.

The persistence of corporate governance (CG) is to expedite operative and cautious management which can transport the enduring success of the company. The performance of any firm or bank is vibrantly enhanced by corporate governance. The key contribution of this study to governance literature is that; it demonstrates how the presence of the internal governance mechanism influence the bank performance. The study makes an attempt to measure the impact of internal governance indicators (Board Structure and Ownership Structure) on the financial performance (Return on Equity, Return on Assets and Earning Per Share) of the banks of Pakistan under the presence of control variables (leverage and size). The selected sample consist of 30 banks (public, private and specialized), which are listed at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) for the period 2008-2014. The study takes 30 banks listed in PSE, formerly KSE and, check how corporate governance impact on all the listed banks at PSE, irrespective of their nature of operation. Study also extended the time frame till 2014. The study comprises of three models. The regression analysis results reveal that the majority of the internal governance indicators of Model 2 and 3 show significant relationship with ROE and EPS whereas, majority of the internal governance indicators of Model 1 depict insignificant relationship with ROA. The results depict that in a developing country like Pakistan there are sound codes of corporate governance but, their proper implementation is missing.

The study examines how debt financing affects the leverage and performance relationship of the textile sector of Pakistan. The study also strives to elaborate the determinants of debt financing. Data has been collected from the annual reports of the textile companies listed at Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) for the years 2010-2015. Panel data techniques including Pooled OLS, Fixed Effect model, Random Effect model, and Moderated Panel Regression model were used for estimating the relationship between debt ratio, leverage and company-specific variables such as profitability and size. The results depict that the listed textile companies of Pakistan financed more than half of its assets by external borrowing. There is high asset tangibility in the Pakistani textile industry. The tax shield, which is the alternative of depreciation, is limited for the textile firms of Pakistan (Qamar, Farooq, Afzal & Akhtar, 2016). The independent variables’ interaction term with debt ratio shows a positive relationship with ROA other than asset tangibility. The trade-off theory suggests to follow a targeted optimal capital structure which is more favorable for a firm. Pakistani textile industry should adopt the model of optimal capital structure for balancing the costs and benefits.

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore how governance mechanisms (internal and external) enhance the performance of the return on asset (ROA), return on equity (ROE), earning per share (EPS) and dividend payout ratios (DP) of the banks of Pakistan. The study incorporates not only the internal factors of governance (board size, out-ratio, annual general meeting, managerial ownership, institutional ownership, block holder stock ownership and financial transparency) but also the external factors (legal infrastructure and protection of minority shareholders, and the market for corporate control).

Design/methodology/approach
The sample size of the study consists of 30 banks (public, private and specialized) listed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) for the period 2008-2014. The panel data techniques (fixed or random effect model) have been used for the empirical analysis after verification by Hausman (1978) test.

Findings
The results revealed that not only do the internal mechanisms of governance enhance the performance of the banking sector of Pakistan but external governance also plays a substantial role in enriching the performance. The findings conclude that for a good governance structure, both internal and external mechanisms are equally important, to accelerate the performance of the banking sector.

Research limitations/implications
Internal and external mechanisms of corporate governance can also be checked by adding some more variables (ownership i.e. foreign, female and family as internal and auditor as external), but they are not added in this work due to data unavailability.

Practical implications
The study contributes to the literature and could be useful for the policy makers who need to force banks to mandate codes of governance through which they can create an efficient board structure and augment the performance. The investments from different forms of ownership can be accelerated if they follow the codes properly.

Social implications
The study facilitates the bankers in incorporating sound codes of corporate governance to enhance the performance of the banks.

Originality/value
This work is unique as no one has explored the impact of external mechanism of governance on the performance of the banking sector of Pakistan.