Time-series cross-sectional environmental performance and disclosure relationship:specific evidence from a less-developed country

This paper relies on ‘vulnerability and exploitability’ framework to submit new insights into legitimacy theory and voluntary disclosure theory using specific empirical evidence from the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The study connects the voluntary and legitimizing disclosure behaviors, regarding carbon emission due to gas flaring, of dominant companies in the Nigerian upstream petroleum sector to the vulnerability and exploitability of Nigeria as a less developed country. The hypothesized relations between gas flaring-related environmental performance and two forms of its disclosure (volume and substance) are estimated and tested using Prais-Winsten regression with Panel Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE). While the paper uses Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to measure gas flaring-related carbon performance, the two forms of gas flaring-related disclosures are measured using content analysis. We document significant positive and negative association between gas flaring-related carbon emission performance, on one hand, and the volumetric disclosure and disclosure substance on the other hand. These results imply that while the positive relation confirms the vulnerable nature of Nigeria as a less developed country, the negative relation is linked to the country’s exploitability. It is also empirically established that environmental performance is one of the key factors responsible for the undulating trend in the volume of environmental disclosures by large corporations operating in less-developed countries

The impact of corporate characteristics on social and environmental disclosure (CSED):the case of Jordan

The corporate business environment is surrounded by strong public scrutiny from diverse stakeholder groups that are calling on businesses to accept accountability for not only their financial actions, but also the non-financial implications of their activities. Many corporate businesses are today paying attention to the needs of their stakeholders of social and environmental information. As such, in this study we examined how corporate characteristics could influence the amount of Corporate Social and Environmental Disclosure (CSED) in the manufacturing sector in Jordan. Firm size, profitability, audit firm, ownership, type of industry and financial market level are the main factors examined in this study. Drawing from Ernst and Ernst methodology, the study developed a disclosure index to measure the amount of CSED for three years (2010, 2011 and 2012). Using panel data regression, we model the relationship between disclosure amount and the key drivers of CSED via random effect estimation. The results of our model indicated that the firm size, type of audit firm and financial performance in Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) are significantly associated with the amount of CSED. On the other hand, we also find that firm profitability, age, type of industry and ownership are not related to the practices of CSED

The effect of transitioning to renewable energy consumption on the Nigerian oil and gas exports:an ARDL approach

PurposeNet energy importing countries (NEICs) pursue strategic policies to reduce the consumption of energy from conventional sources and increase that of renewable energy to attain energy security and sustainable development. However, net energy exporting countries (NEECs) rely substantially on the proceeds realised from oil and gas exports to mainly NEICs to finance government activities. This paper aims to investigate the effect of increased consumption of renewable energy in developed NEICs on the Nigeria’s oil and gas exports.Design/methodology/approachThe study was undertaken by analysing macro-economic annual time-series data set (1980-2014) using autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach.FindingsBoth the short-run and the long-run results of the ARDL modelling reveal that renewable energy consumption in developed NEICs is affecting Nigeria’s oil and gas exports negatively, thereby causing significant decrease in the amounts of revenue being generated therefrom.Research Limitations/implicationsLike most empirical studies, the conduct of this research has encountered some challenges. Thus, the use of rather small sample in terms of period covered (1980-2014), annual frequency of data and focus on one NEEC (Nigeria) are the key limitations of this paper. While the first two challenges were dealt with by using ARDL, future research can focus on other NEECs to extend the study.Practical ImplicationsThe findings have several policy implications, including the need for Nigeria to focus on developing internal market trajectories to increase domestic utilisation of its conventional energy rather than depending on external markets. The results also suggest the need for public policymakers to develop a strategic plan that will effectively address the external economic threat arising from the influence of global energy transition.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper represents the first effort to empirically examine the effect of renewable energy consumption by developed NEICs on the Nigeria’s oil and gas exports. The paper contributes to the literature by providing insight into and documenting evidence that the world is taking transitioning to cleaner energy sources very seriously

Cause of and factors associated with stillbirth: a systematic review of classification systems.

Introduction An estimated 2.6 million stillbirths occur worldwide each year. A standardised classification system setting out possible cause of death and contributing factors is useful to help obtain comparative data across different settings. We undertook a systematic review of stillbirth classification systems to highlight their strengths and weaknesses for practitioners and policymakers Material and methods We conducted a systematic search and review of the literature undertaken to identify classification systems used to aggregate information for stillbirth and perinatal deaths. Narrative synthesis used to compare range and depth of information required to apply the systems, the different categories provided cause of and factors contributing to stillbirth. Results: A total of 118 documents were screened; 31 classification systems were included, of which 6 were designed specifically for stillbirth, 14 for perinatal death, 3 systems include neonatal and 2 include infant deaths. The majority (27/31) were developed in and first tested using data obtained from high-income settings. All systems require information from clinical records. One-third of the classification systems (11/31) include information obtained from histology or autopsy. The percentage where cause of death remained unknown ranged from 0.39% using the Nordic-Baltic classification to 46.4% using the Keeling system. Conclusion Over time, classification systems have become more complex. The success of application is dependent on the availability of detailed clinical information and laboratory investigations. Systems which adopt a layered approach allow for classification of cause of death to a broad as well as to a more detailed level

Performance evaluation of an efficient counter-based scheme for mobile ad hoc networks based on realistic mobility model

Flooding is the simplest and commonly used mechanism for broadcasting in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). Despite its simplicity, it can result in high redundant retransmission, contention and collision in the network, a phenomenon referred to as broadcast storm problem. Several probabilistic broadcast schemes have been proposed to mitigate this problem inherent with flooding. Recently, we have proposed a hybrid-based scheme as one of the probabilistic scheme, which combines the advantages of pure probabilistic and counter-based schemes to yield a significant performance improvement. Despite these considerable numbers of proposed broadcast schemes, majority of these schemes’ performance evaluation was based on random waypoint model. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of our broadcast scheme using a community based mobility model which is based on social network theory and compare it against widely used random waypoint mobility model. Simulation results have shown that using unrealistic movement pattern does not truly reflect on the actual performance of the scheme in terms of saved-rebroadcast, reachability and end to end delay

Preliminary studies on food and feeding habits of Polypterus endlicheri and Polypterus senegalus in Lake Chad

The food and feeding habits of Polyprerus cncllicheri and Polypterus senegalus was carried out in the months of September to October. The food of 33 Polypierus endlicheri as observed include Tilapia species (89.3%), Eutropius niloticus (28.6%), Mayfly nymph (39.3%), Dragon fly larva (56.6%) fish remains (21.4%) and detritus (7.1%). The food of27 Polypterus senegalus as observed include Tilapia sp (88.4%), Eutropius niloticus (27.9%), may fly nymph (23.3%), Dragonfly nymph (34.9%) remains (21.1%) detritus (23.3%). (9 page document) The percentage occurrence of food item found in the stomach of Polypterus endlieheri is 93.3% while that of Polyprerus senegalus is 67.4%. The dominance of Tilapia sp was establish in the study, and there is no significant difference between the feeding habit of Polypterus endlicheri and Polyprerus senegalus

Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and measurement of reporting quality : a review of methodologies

This paper conceptually review the various models employed by previous studies in the measurement of reporting quality following the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) around the world. In the review, attention is paid to the nature, appropriateness and limitations of each of the models identified. It was found that, the methodologies used in studying the relationship and impact of IFRS on reporting quality are classified into qualitative, quantitative and firm-specific attributes models on one hand, and direct and indirect models on the other hand. Finally, the study calls on researchers to be wary, by selecting appropriate method that commensurates with the objectives of their studies, and their ability to adequately mitigate the limitation of the model highlighted in the review.peer-reviewe

A Hospital-based Case-control Study of Factors Associated with Colorectal Cancer

Kanser kolorektal adalah kanser kedua yang paling kerap di Malaysia selepas kanser payudara. Kadar kejadian kanser kolorektal untuk kedua-dua lelaki dan wanita dilaporkan meningkat. Kajian ini dijalankan untuk menentukan faktor-faktor yang berkaitan dengan kanser kolorektal dalam kalangan penduduk Malaysia di hospitalhospital terpilih. Satu kajian kes-kawalan yang terdiri daripada 128 kes and 128 kawalan berasaskan hospital telah dijalankan dengan menggunakan soal selidik yang telah disahkan. Pesakit yang memenuhi kriteria kemasukan dan penolakan dikelaskan dalam kumpulan kes dan kawalan. Regresi logistik berganda digunakan untuk menganalisis data. Colorectal cancer (CRC) was the second most common cancer in Malaysia after breast cancer. The incidence rates of CRC for both male and female had been reported increasing. This study was conducted to determine the associated factors of CRC in selected hospitals in Malaysia. A hospital-based case-control study of 128 cases and 128 controls was carried out by using a validated questionnaire. Participants who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included as the case and control groups accordingly. Multiple logistic regression was used for data analysis

A study of the effect of diversity in the board and the audit committee composition on earnings management for low and high leveraged banks in Nigeria

The study examines the effect of board diversity and audit committee on earnings management of listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria, for low and high leveraged Banks. Earnings Management is measured using Chang, Shen and Fang (2008) model. All the 15 banks listed in Nigerian Stock Exchange as at 2015 were used for the analysis. Data were obtained from the financial statements covering the period 2008-2015. Multiple regression technique was employed, while the tool of analysis is Stata 13. The findings revealed that, all the variables have significant effect on earnings management of banks except for women directors and board size under the low leveraged banks, while board ownership was also found to have weak impact on earnings management under the high leveraged banks. Meanwhile, the findings also revealed that the explanatory variables under the low explained earnings management better than high leveraged.peer-reviewe