Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between designated corporate governance attributes and the degree of earnings management in selected quoted companies in Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach In total, 70 listed companies in Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) were selected based on the highest market capitalisation for the period covering from 2015 to 2017 and representing beverage, food and tobacco, diversified, hotel and travel, manufacturing, oil palms and health care sectors, which accounted for 59.9 per cent of the total market capitalisation of CSE. Findings This study found a positive relationship between CEO-Chair duality and earnings management. Practical implications The insights may also provide investors, economic analysts and regulators with early caution indicators of potential problems in a corporation regarding corporate governance failures and aid stakeholders in assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of the board and corporate governance structure and earnings management methods. Originality/value This study extends the extant research on board characteristics and real earnings management by adopting prominent research design and modernised data. This study offers evidence on how selected audit and board committee’s characteristics influence real earnings management practices.

Purpose Growth enterprise market (GEM) in Hong Kong is acknowledged as one of the world’s most successful examples of small and medium enterprise (SME) stock market. The purpose of this paper is to examine the evolving efficiency and dual long memory in the GEM. This paper also explores the joint impacts of thin trading, structural breaks and inflation on the dual long memory. Design/methodology/approach State-space GARCH-M model, Kalman filter estimation, factor-adjustment techniques and fractionally integrated models: ARFIMA–FIGARCH, ARFIMA–FIAPARCH and ARFIMA–HYGARCH are adopted for the empirical analysis. Findings The results indicate that the GEM is still weak-form inefficient but shows a tendency towards efficiency over time except during the global financial crisis. There also exists a stationary long-memory property in the market return and volatility; however, these long-memory properties weaken in magnitude and/or statistical significance when the joint impacts of the three aforementioned factors were taken into account. Research limitations/implications A forecasts of the hedging model that capture dual long memory could provide investors further insights into risk management of investments in the GEM. Practical implications The findings of this study are relevant to market authorities in improving the GEM market efficiency and investors in modelling hedging strategies for the GEM. Originality/value This study is the first to investigate the evolving efficiency and dual long memory in an SME stock market, and the joint impacts of thin trading, structural breaks and inflation on the dual long memory.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the problem of fiscal sustainability for a panel of developing Asian economies. Design/methodology/approach In this study, cross-section dependence and heterogeneity are controlled while estimating the fiscal reaction function, which shows how governments react to the accumulation of public debt. The study employs the common correlated effects mean group estimator in Pesaran (2006) for a panel of 22 developing Asian economies for the period 1999‒2017. Findings It is found that the fiscal sustainability issue in the region is not so benign as in previous studies. Overall, fiscal policy is unsustainable, even for the nonlinear fiscal rule. Country-specific long-run coefficients are also examined in the study. Research limitations/implications The findings show that many developing economies in the region could not satisfy the intertemporal budget constraint, which raises concerns about debt sustainability in the area, especially for the post-crisis period. Originality/value This study investigates whether governments can maintain the sustainability of public finances in the long-run, if the ratios of public debt over GDP and primary deficit over GDP continue their recent problematic trends. Another novelty is controlling for heterogeneous effects among the countries in the region to give a more precise picture of debt sustainability. The empirical evidence also supports that insolvency risk can occur at low levels of public debt.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the evidence of herding phenomenon, spill-over effects related to herding and whether herding is driven by fundamentals or non-fundamentals for various sub-periods and sub-samples. Design/methodology/approach – The cross-sectional absolute deviation model is applied to China’s A- and B-share markets in combination with fundamental information. Findings – Herding is prevalent on both A- and B-share markets. In detail, investors on A-share market herd for small and growth stock portfolios irrespective of market states while they only herd for large or value stocks in down market, therefore leading the whole herding behaviour to be pronounced in down market. Comparatively, on B-share market, herding is robust for various investment styles (small or large, value or growth) or market situations. Additionally, spill-over effects related to herding do not exist no matter from A-shares to B-shares or from B-shares to A-shares. Moreover, investors on B-share markets tend to herd as the response to non-fundamental information more frequently during financial crisis. Originality/value – Investors on A- and B-share markets tend to herd as the response to non-fundamental information more frequently during financial crisis. Analysing the herding behaviours could be helpful in controlling the financial risk.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the empirical cointegration, long-run and short-run dynamics as well as causal relationship between electricity consumption and real GDP in Bangladesh for the period of 1971‒2014. Design/methodology/approach Autoregressive Distributed lag (ARDL) “Bound Test” approach is employed for the investigation in this study. Findings Both short-run and long-run coefficients are providing strong evidence of having positive significant association between electricity consumption and GDP. Our long-run results remain robust to different measurements and estimators as well. The study reveals the unidirectional causal flow running from per capita electricity consumption to per capita real GDP in the short run. The study result also yields strong evidence of bidirectional causal relationship between per capita electricity consumption and per capita real GDP in the long run with feedback. It is suggested that both electricity generation and conservation policy will be effective for Bangladesh economy. Originality/value In prior studies, lack of causality between electricity consumption and GDP is due to the omitted variables. Combined effects of public spending and trade openness on GDP and electricity consumption are also considerable.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is twofold: detecting, describing and providing a detailed understanding on the essence of buyer responses on the channel capability in deciding new product purchase; and describing the effectiveness of new product innovation related to the channel capability. The new product innovation intended here is an outcome of the brand strategy created by the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturer. Design/methodology/approach - This research applies qualitative method and uses grounded theory approach and pragmatism interpretation, which are focused on FMCG. The approach chosen in research is grounded theory and pragmatism, parallel to the previous phenomenology and constructivism approach; therefore, the main data for this study use transcript records of the results of in-depth interviews in the field of study. Findings The research showed the following results: the channel capability aspects (warehouse space, shelf space and customer coverage) are the essence of buyers’ responses; construction of business buyer behavior and economic mechanism; the effectiveness of new product innovation; and channel capabilities of selling products. Practical implications The results of this research have some implications: developing the concept of business buyer behavior in a new-task purchase situation; expanding the micro-economic system of trading sector; and expanding the concept of marketing mix strategy. Originality/value Some of the theoretical implications are the originality of this research paper; therefore, the constructs will be described theoretically in order to provide practical understanding in some contexts of business importance.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role external debt and foreign direct investment play in influencing financial development in Africa. Design/methodology/approach Annual data on external debt, foreign direct investment and financial development were extracted from the World Bank World Development Indicators from 2002 to 2015. The data employed were analysed within causal research design and the dynamic panel using generalized method of moment estimation approach. Findings The findings revealed that external debt and foreign direct investment have a significant positive relationship with financial development in African economies. Governments of the sampled economies should enact policies that would help attract high level of foreign direct investment as it contributes positively to financial development. Finally, governments of the sampled African economies should ensure foreign direct investment and external funds borrowed are channelled to productive sectors. Originality/value The paper analysed the relationship between external debt, FDI inflows and financial sector development. The paper is the first in terms of such analysis within the framework of the dual-gap framework, which is the first time in these kinds of studies. Previous studies have concentrated on the effect of financial sector on FDI and not the other way around.