Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'GCC markets'

This dissertation explores economic integration in the context of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries (GCC), which planned to form a monetary union, by assessing three different but related empirical research questions regarding GCC financial markets and monetary policies. Chapter 2 presents the first essay, which empirically investigates the pairwise linkages and volatility spillovers between GCC stock markets. In particular, the goal of Chapter 2 is to investigate the extent to which past volatility is transmitted from one GCC stock market to another GCC market at the aggregate level (e.g., the general stock markets' price indices), and to determine whether a past volatility in one GCC market affects the current volatility in another GCC market. Furthermore, Chapter 2 attempts to extend the investigation of the volatility spillover at a more disaggregated level by capturing the intra-sectoral linkages and volatility spillover effects among equivalent sectors across the GCC stock markets, namely the banking, industrial and insurance sectors. Empirically, Chapter 2 exploits the causality-in variance test pioneered by Cheung and Ng (1996) and developed by Hong (2001), who introduced a class of asymptotic N(0,1) tests for volatility spillover between two time series that exhibit conditional heteroskedasticity and may have infinite unconditional variances. The second essay, Chapter 3, aims to examine the effect of the recent global economic and financial crisis originating in U.S. stock markets on the stock markets of the GCC countries and to determine whether the sharp falls in these markets were due to the existence of the phenomenon \contagion" or whether they just reflect the continuation of the strong economic and financial linkages between the GCC economies and the U.S. economy, which exist in all states of the world during good and bad times. In particular, Chapter 3 investigates whether contagion exists from the U.S. stock market to the stock markets of the GCC by comparing two sub periods before (stable) and after (turmoil) the collapse of Lehman Brothers, which is the largest bank to fill for bankruptcy in U.S. history and has been widely used by many economists as a benchmark for the U.S. economic and financial crisis (see Bekaert et al. (2012) and Mishkin (2010)). Empirically, Chapter 3 investigates the existence of contagion using the cross-market correlations tests pioneered by King and Wadhwani (1990) and developed by Forbes and Rigobon (2002), who criticized previous studies for their use of unadjusted correlation coeffcients to investigate the presence of contagion across stock markets due to the heteroskedasticity resulting from the bias in stock market returns of the crisis country. Hence, Forbes and Rigobon (2002) introduced the adjusted cross-market correlation coeficient, which does not depend on the volatility (variance) of the crisis country, especially during the turmoil period. The last essay is presented in Chapter 4, in which I investigate the implications of fixing exchange rate on monetary policy in the context of the GCC countries whose exchange rate regimes have been fixed to the U.S. dollar for a long time. In particular, Chapter 4 aims to assess the sensitivity of the GCC countries' interest rates to the U.S. rate, since the theory of interest parity suggests that fixing GCC exchange rates to the U.S. dollar should force GCC domestic interest rates to equal the U.S. interest rate. In addition, Chapter 4 interestingly attempts to assess the stability of this sensitivity across time and to investigate whether there exists a pronounced decoupling for some GCC countries over some sub-periods. Furthermore, the fact that some of the countries' exchange rates have pegged to the U.S. dollar over specific sub-periods, then moved away from the peg over some other sub-periods (e.g., Kuwait) also gives us a rich setting through which to investigate the implications of fixing the exchange rate on monetary policy and to determine whether a country's interest rate has a stronger association with a base country's rate under a pegged period than under a non-pegged period. Empirically, this is done by testing the Uncovered Interest Parity (UIP) of each individual GCC country's interest rate, using the U.S.'s interest rate as the base country. Chapter 4 considers the time series properties of the data and uses unit root and co-integration tests. For each GCC country, it also utilizes a level regression for each interest rate episode throughout the entire sample under investigation; uses the Quandt (1960) Likelihood Ratio statistic (QLR) to determine the timing of any potential structural break during which the country's interest rate sensitivity to the U.S. interest rate changes; and applies the Error Correction Model (ECM) to capture long-run dynamic behaviours between the GCC and U.S. interest rates.

This thesis investigates three aspects of corporate finance, namely the determinants of firm’s long term investment represented by the net capital expenditures, the determinants of firm’s short term investment represented by working capital requirements and the capital budgeting practices - all within the context of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets. Despite the importance of these interrelated topics to decision makers and despite the great emphasis given to teach them in universities, few researchers investigated the determinants of both long and short term investments and out of those, most focused on developed markets. Moreover, almost all the existing studies investigated these determinants at the firm level with little evidence about macroeconomic factors. Besides, none have provided a comprehensive investigation of capital budgeting practices from a single market whether developed or emerging. Hence, this thesis completed three independent investigations. The first and second investigation presented in chapters three and four respectively, explores three categories of factors that are found in the existing literature, or predicted by this thesis to be associated with firm’s long and short term investments. These first two investigations utilize a pooled OLS regression for a panel data set covering the period from 2000 to 2014. Furthermore, the third investigation presented in chapter five explores a wide set of capital budgeting practices from a single frontier market within the GCC. Precisely, the investigation covers the development, the selection and the post completion stage of capital budgeting. It also, explores factors that are found in the existing literature or predicted by this thesis to influence the use of such practices. This investigation utilizes a survey questionnaire containing 23 questions to gather the required data. Finally, this thesis makes various contributions to the corporate finance literature. Specifically, chapter three and four extend the existing literature on the determinants of firm’s long and short term investments by examining it in the context of new emerging markets namely the GCC markets. Beside, revealing the positive effect of macroeconomic factors on firm’s investments. Chapter five extends the existing literature on capital budgeting practices by investigating three stages of these practices from the Omani market. Additionally, it provides new evidence related to the significant relation between capital budgeting practices and new firms characteristics.

This thesis is based on three papers examining Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) financial markets. The member countries of the GCC are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These countries have transitioned from developing to frontier markets over the past ten years, but there is considerable debate about whether GCC economies are efficient or affected by shocks in oil and other commodity markets. The first paper (chapter 2) considers GCC stock market returns and examines how they are affected by oil price shocks using a bivariate VAR-GARCH(1,1) approach. The conclusion of this essay is that GCC economies are more affected by shocks than are other countries considered for comparison purposes. The second paper (chapter 3) discusses how food prices are affected by oil price shocks, and it examines possible parameter shifts between food and oil that result from four recent events, including renewable fuel policies and the financial crisis. The third paper (chapter 4) uses an empirical approach to compare a least squares model and a non-linear Markov switching model to measure the effect of newspaper sentiment on stock market performance. The results indicate that all information is important to stock market investors and that non-linear models are better predictors of stock market performance then linear models when using data from newspaper articles. Chapter 5 offers some final conclusions and remarks.

This thesis investigates the stock markets in the GCC countries from three distinct but related dimensions. First, we empirically explore and identify the main macroeconomic variables that affect the movement of these stock markets. Second, we investigate the impact of stock markets and banking sector developments on the process of economic growth in these countries. Finally, we examine the impact of stock markets’ development on the financing choices of firms operating in these markets and identify the determinants of their capital structure. The three above-mentioned areas of research are motivated by several reasons. First, given that the development of a well structured financial system has taken place in these countries only over the last thirty years, the empirical studies related to the financial development in the GCC countries are rare. Second, GCC countries have been largely ignored in the earlier empirical financial economics literature which bestows originality on our empirical work, specially, in the context of stock market development. The rapid growth in the GCC countries' stock markets over the past two decades raises empirical questions regarding the fundamental connection between stock markets growth and the key macroeconomic variables and how these developments feed into the real economic activities. Third, the GCC countries are non-tax paying entities which make them an interesting case to investigate whether the determinants of the capital structure of firms operating in these markets are similar to those operating in the developed and industrial countries. For example there is not a single published study which examines and compares the capital structure of firms listed in the GCC stock markets or the stock markets development and firms financing choice in these countries. The empirical results reveal the following: (1) both global and local macroeconomic variables affect the performance of stock markets in the GCC countries. (2) Both stock markets and banking sector positively influence economic growth process and they are complementary rather than substitutes for each other. (3) Stock markets in the GCC countries have become more developed and considered an important tool for corporate financing decisions. Moreover, corporate capital structure in these countries can be explained by the determinants suggested in corporate finance models.

Corporate governance practice has recently become an important topic around the world and specifically within the emerging stock markets in order to avoid expropriation by corporate management at the expense of minority shareholders. Although corporate governance is considered to be tremendously important in many countries, whether developed or developing, corporate governance does not exist in Kuwait as a mean of shareholder protection. This thesis intends to provide a regulatory analysis to laws and regulations that should be implemented to regulate corporate governance practice in Kuwait in private companies and in the State-Owned Enterprises. The second chapter draws a theoretical framework of corporate governance. These theories must be discussed, because this thesis is the first to address corporate governance from a legal perspective and will help Kuwaiti practitioners and those involved in corporate governance practice to gain a better and more comprehensive understanding of and appreciation for effective corporate governance. The third chapter provides an overview of the corporate governance practice in the emerging markets. The fourth chapter presents the characteristics of a corporate culture to lay the groundwork for adopting corporate governance that will fit within the Kuwaiti culture. The fifth chapter offers an assessment of the institutional settings necessary to establish a sound corporate governance system in Kuwait, including legal and political institutions. The sixth chapter will examine corporate governance practice in the State-Owned Enterprises in Kuwait. The seventh chapter focuses on the best practices of corporate governance and the protection of shareholders in companies listed in the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE) by analysing the regulations and laws that apply to the KSE and that should relate to corporate governance. Chapter eight offers recommendations for corporate governance reform that derive from the assessment made in this thesis in both public and private sectors in Kuwait. Finally, chapter nine provides the general conclusion of the thesis and the contribution of this study.

Behavioural finance studies have documented that investors are subject to psychological factors (cognitive and emotional) and demographic factors (internal), and external factors that make their financial decisions less than fully rational. However, most of these studies have concentrated on developed countries and few on emerging countries. This study is aimed at investigating the internal and external factors that influence individual investors’ financial decision making in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman. It contributes to the behavioural finance literature by filling the gaps existing in the GCC countries in particular and emerging countries in general. The study adopts a holistic approach in using perspective theories in the analysis of data collected using questionnaires from 620 individual investors in Saudi Arabia and 590 individual investors in Oman. The data collected is analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in order to understand the behavioural constructs developed. The study has revealed that religiosity factors have a significant influence on individual investors in both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman. However, the impact was negative in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but positive in Oman. Positive psychological capital and psychological (cognitive and emotions emotional) factors are found to have a positive influence on investors’ decision making. Among these internal factors, religiosity factors have the highest impact while positive psychological factors have the least effect. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, investors’ decision making is positively significantly affected by economic factors and ethical and social factors, while political factors, governance and environmental factors and cultural factors do not significantly influence investors. In the Sultanate of Oman, however, political factors and cultural factors have a positive influence, while corporate governance and environmental factors influence investors negatively. Economic factors do not influence investors’ decision making in the Sultanate of Oman, contrary to the observed effect in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study indicates that there is a difference between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman’s individual investors in relation to the study variables, except for the cultural and psychological (cognitive and emotional) variables. These results have important implications on investors’ participation and future development of financial markets in the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Nous examinons l’influence possible de la présence dominante des investisseurs individuels sur le comportement des marchés boursiers dans les pays du Conseil de Coopération du Golfe (CCG), en réaction aux annonces provenant des agences de notation de crédit et de celles émanant des Imams (érudits islamiques). Nous faisons notamment l’hypothèse que la langue anglaise utilisée par les agences internationales de notation de crédit (CRAs) pour publier leurs décisions ne réduirait qu'imparfaitement l’asymétrie d'information présente sur les marchés du CCG, en raison du faible niveau de connaissance de l’anglais par les investisseurs individuels. Nous supposons également que l'existence de la Charia (loi islamique) est une caractéristique essentielle, susceptible d’influer sur les décisions des investisseurs dans les pays du CCG. Par conséquent, nous suggérons qu’en Arabie saoudite, les annonces des Imams (qui classent les entreprises cotées au marché saoudien comme conformes à la charia ou non) sont susceptibles d’affecter le cours des actions et la santé financière des entreprises. Pour examiner nos hypothèses, nous construisons une enquête afin d’étudier et analyser comment les investisseurs individuels accèdent et maîtrisent l’information financière concernant le marché boursier, et comment ils interprètent les informations étrangères. Nous constatons ainsi que la majorité de ces investisseurs ont communément l’habitude de se fier uniquement aux sources arabes, et à prêter attention aux informations qu’une fois celles-ci traduites, sachant que seule une partie d’entre eux comprend la langue anglaise et semble suivre les informations à la source. Pour ce qui concerne les annonces des Imams, nous cherchons également à savoir, à travers ce questionnaire, si le facteur religieux joue un rôle dans les décisions d’investissement sur le marché boursier, et notamment dans quelle mesure le « statut religieux » conféré à une entreprise peut influer sur le souhait des investisseurs individuels de détenir, acheter ou vendre des titres. En outre, cette enquête justifiera notre postulat selon lequel le « facteur religieux » peut également impacter à plus long terme la santé financière des entreprises, dans les pays où la religion est éminemment importante. Ce qui justifierait alors notre recommandation aux agences de notation de mieux prendre en compte le « facteur religieux » dans leur processus de notation. Dans un second temps, nous appliquons une méthodologie d’étude d’événements qui nous permet de mettre en évidence des rendements anormaux positifs (négatifs) associés à des événements de notation positifs (négatifs), confirmant par là-même que les participants du marché les voient respectivement comme de bonnes (mauvaises) nouvelles. Nous postulons que le langage utilisé par les agences de notation pour publier leurs décisions peut expliquer le délai de réaction constaté, en raison du faible niveau de connaissance de l’anglais des investisseurs individuels. Pour étayer ce postulat, nous utilisons les données d’une méta-analyse précédemment réalisée, en ce qui concerne les annonces des agences de notation, pour examiner le temps de réaction du marché boursier aux décisions des agences de rating dans les pays anglophones et non anglophones. Les résultats de notre analyse confirment une réponse plus rapide et plus brève dans les pays anglophones que dans les pays non anglophones. En outre, l’étude d’évènement appliquée aux annonces des Imams sur le marché saoudien prouve l’influence du facteur religieux sur les prix des actions. Par conséquent, nous suggérons aux agences de notation internationales de communiquer leurs annonces dans la langue appropriée (et pas seulement en anglais), mais également de prendre en considération le facteur religieux dans l’évaluation des entreprises dans les zones où la religion est prépondérante, en particulier si leurs marchés financiers sont caractérisés par une forte proportion d’investisseurs individuels
We examine the possible influence of the domination of individual investors on stock markets’ behaviour in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, with respect to the credit rating agencies’ and Imams’ “Islamic scholars” announcements. We assume that the English language used by the international Credit Rating Agencies (CRAs) to publish their news may fail to reduce the asymmetric information in GCC markets, due to the low level of English knowledge amongst the individual investors. We also assume that Sharia law (Islamic law) is an essential characteristic that is likely to affect the formulation of investment decisions in GCC countries. Hence, we suggest, in Saudi Arabia, the Imams’ announcements (the announcements that classify the listed firms in Saudi Stock Exchange to Sharia and non-Sharia compliant firms) are likely to affect the stock prices and the firms’ financial health. Arguing that the religious status of a firm may control the market reaction to CRAs’ decisions, as Sharia legitimacy might come first compared to the default risk. To examine our assumptions, we firstly apply a questionnaire to investigate the behaviour of individual investors in the Saudi market. We tend to investigate how the individual investors reach the financial information concerning the stock market, and how these individuals treat the foreign news (announced in the English language). We find that the majority of individual investors tend to rely only on the Arabic sources and pay attention to the translated news, whereas following the English news directly from the source is appeared to be only amongst the individual investors who understand the English language. Regarding the Imams’ announcements, we also aim in our questionnaire to find out whether the religion factor plays a role in their investment’ decisions, and to which extent the religious status of a firm can affect the individual investors’ desire to hold and purchase its securities. This investigation will allow us to examine whether the religion factor has the power to impact the firms’ financial health in high religious markets, which also allows us to suggest taking into consideration this factor when assessing firms for a credit rating in high religious areas. Based on the survey, the findings indicate an essential role played by the religion amongst the individual investors, where the religion factor is likely to affect the market as much as other financial indicators could do. Secondly, we apply an event study methodology and find positive (negative) abnormal returns following the positive (negative) credit rating events, indicating that the market participants see the positive (negative) rating events as good (bad) news. Interestingly, the stock reaction on markets characterised with lower individual investors’ domination is found to occur faster than on the markets characterised with higher individual investors’ domination. We assume the language used by the CRAs to publish their decisions is likely to be one cause of the lag, due to the low level of English knowledge amongst the individual investors. Then, we use the raw data of a previous Meta-Analysis study with respect to the CRAs’ announcements, to examine the difference in times of reactions in markets located in Anglophone countries and non-Anglophone countries. The results provide insights about a faster response in Anglophone countries than non-Anglophone countries. Furthermore, the event study applied on the Imams’ announcements in the Saudi market proves the influence of the religion factor on the stock prices, as the market immediately reacts positively (negatively) to the Imams’ announcements.Therefore, we suggest that international CRAs should 1- choose the proper language to deliver their opinions (not only in English), and 2- take into consideration the religion factor when assessing firms in high religious areas, especially the ones characterized by a high proportion of individual investors

Exchange rate risk, interest rate risk and oil price fluctuations are the most demonstrated risks in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries (Arouri and Nguyen, 2010). Research, however, in this area is still underdeveloped. The importance of this study is to contribute to this research gap. This research aims to show how these three risks affect firms' market values by examining 473 listed firms in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates for the period January 2007 to June 2012. The research further examines the determinants of these risks. The study uses the AR (1) EGARCH-M model. The results indicate that stock returns in GCC countries are influenced by the exchange rate risk, interest rate risk and oil price risk. However, the exposure was highest for exchange rate risk and lowest for interest rate risk. While the effects of these risks were mixed, overall, exchange rate risk and oil price risk showed more positive significance as compared to the interest rate risk that showed more negatively significant effect on firm values. The level of the effect of these risk also differed from country to country. However, firms in United Arab Emirates revealed the highest exposure to all the three risks while those in Saudi Arabia showed the least exposed to the three risks. Oman firms also showed high exposure to exchange rate and interest rate risks. The segregated results overall showed lower exposure of financial firms as compared to non-financial firms. However, the non-financial firms in Bahrain were more exposed to the risks than the financial firms. In Saudi Arabia, the financial firms revealed the least exposure to the risk suggesting effective risk management practices. In addition, foreign operations and firm size had a significant influence on the extent of the firms’ exposure to all the three risks. Leverage also influenced the level of exposure to interest rate risk. Profitability, growth and liquidity did not reveal a significant influence on the level of exposure. Further, increasing the risk does not lead to increased returns in most of the GCC countries. The risk-return parameters were largely negative. However, positive news increases return volatility more than negative news in most countries. Also, the current volatility of most GCC firms’ returns are time varying, are a function or past innovation and past volatility. The volatility of stock returns, which is affected by changes in the risk factors, could demonstrate the non-prioritisation of risk management by firms.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Administration and Law, in fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Economics at the University of Zululand, 2019.
The extent of the damage caused by the 2007/08 global financial crisis (GFC) has forced policymakers all over the world to respond promptly in order to mitigate its effect, a process in which they are still engaged in, particularly in advanced economies. The main objective of this study is to measure systemic risk in African emerging economies and develop a macroprudential regulatory framework to mitigate or limit the effect of such risk. More specifically, the study intends to1) Developing financial stress index (FSI) for the Emerging African economy; 2) Investigate the possibility of Early Warning Signal (EWS) helping in predicting and preventing or minimising the effects of the crisis on financial institutions; 3) Assess the resilience of individual banking companies to adverse macroeconomic and financial market conditions using stress testing technique; 4) Identify the source of fluctuation within the system; 5) Identify and measure systemic risk emanating from the capital flow (surge) as well as its effects on financial stability. This study contributed to the body of knowledge by measuring systemic risk in emerging African economies. To the best of my knowledge, there have not been any studies that have been conducted for the measure of systemic risk with the context of emerging African economies. The target economies include South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya. The first objective of the study is to construct a financial stress index (FSI) for emerging African economies. The FSI which is aimed at revealing the functionality of the financial system a single aggregate indicator that is constructed to reflect the systemic nature of financial instability and as well to measure the vulnerability of the financial system to both internal and external shocks. The result shows that both the domestic and international shocks created uncertainty in the economies under consideration. On the international scene, we have the financial crisis while on the domestic scene; we have slow growth, banking crisis, energy crisis, labour crisis, coupled with political uncertainty. The FSI is also useful and appropriate as the dependent variable in an early signal warning model, and as well be used to gauge the effectiveness of government measures to mitigate financial stress. The models forecasting performance was tested using the ordinary least square methods and it affirmed that the model is reliable and that the FSI can be used for prediction of a future crisis. v The aim of the second objective is to develop an early warning signal (EWS) model to predict the possibility of the occurrence of a financial crisis in emerging African countries. The multinomial logit model built by Bussiere and Fratzscher (2006) was adopted to afford policy makers ample time to prevent or mitigate potential financial crisis. In summary, the result suggests that emerging African economies are more likely to face financial crisis as debts continue to rise without a corresponding capacity to withstand capital flow reversal as well as excessive FX risk due to currency exposure. The result further indicates that rising debt exposure increases the probability or likelihood of the economies remaining in a state of crisis. This result confirms the significance of a financial stability framework that fits Africa’s emerging economies characteristics such as rising debt profile liquidity and currency risk exposure. The third objective is to test the resilience of the financial sector using stress testing technique. Macro stress testing is a multi-step simulation process aimed at estimating the impact of credit risk shock on macroeconomic as well as financial sectors. In this study, a two-step approach was employed in this chapter. The first step involves analyzing the determinants of credit risk in 4 Emerging African economies during the period 2006m1 to 2012m12 using the panel Auto Regressive Distribution Lag (ARDL) model. Second, the vector autoregressive (VAR) models were employed to assess the resilience of the financial system as well as the economy to adverse credit risk shocks. The result shows that all the variables under both the macro and financial model jointly determine credit risk, although when examined on an individual basis only, UMP, IBR, and INF have a significant impact on NPL in the long run. For the macro stress testing, the VAR methodology was employed to stress test the emerging African economy financial sector and the result indicated that there a significant relationship between changes in output gap (GAP) and the nonperforming loans. A significant relationship was also established between inflation and nonperforming loans. In all, South Africa and Nigeria’s financial system seems more resilient to credit losses associated with this scenario without threatening financial stability compared to Kenya and Egypt. The fourth objective examined the sources of capital flows surge and their impact on macroeconomic variables. This study employed a ��−�������� to investigate the source capital flow surge within the system. The main findings of the result indicate that capital flow, which is vi proxied by FDI, is influenced by a wide variety of macroeconomic variables such as inflation, export growth and unemployment. There is therefore need for the implementation of capital controls framework tame massive capital inflows. Nevertheless, such a mechanism should not undermine the impact of capital inflows on employment, growth and financial stability. The fifth objective of the study is aimed at identifying and measuring the sources of systematic risk and its impact on the stability of the financial system using the Conditional Value-at-Risk methodology. The main finding of the study indicates that at the normal and extreme event the banking sector contributes positively and significantly to the real economy for all the countries except for Nigeria at the extreme event or 1 percent quantile. This study, therefore, concludes that the banking sector, stock market volatility contributes greatly to systemic risk in emerging African economies. The individual bank also contributes significantly to systemic risk for all the economies although the magnitudes are relatively different across economies. This finding is of great interest to policymakers since it shows that the banking sectors as well as stock market volatility have a negative impact on the real economy. This result is plausible as the banking and financial sector for most emerging economies constitute a greater proportion of the real economy. There is, therefore, need for a regulatory framework to reduce risk emanating from the banking sector as well as the financial markets. In summary, due to huge capital flows and rising debt level in emerging African economies, there is, therefore, a need for a macroprudential policy that will fit African economies as well as the implementation of capital controls framework tame massive capital inflows. Efforts should be made to reduce the rising debts profile of most countries and that will require a greater level of commitment from their respective government and central banks. However, these should be in the interest of the growth and stability of the financial system and the real economy at large. In the case of the banking sector, since it has a great impact on triggering systemic risk, more effort should be utilized to continue to monitor its performance so that potential risk can be detected early and nip in the bud.

Les trois monothéismes conçoivent un Dieu créateur et ordonnateur du monde, révélé dans l’histoire, garant de toute justice et de tout équilibre, et déterminant l’autorité et les systèmes d’autorités. La théologie a informé le droit et les lois, l’économie et l’éthique des personnes et des États. L’islam, loin d’être homogénéisé dans ses approches économiques, financières et réglementaires, révèle par le biais d’un exemple concret, par l’industrie des services financiers islamiques, les différentes facettes de ce qu’est l’autorité dans un contexte musulman, international et en pleine évolution. Prenant en compte la dynamique des questions sectaires, géographiques et interprétatives, la thèse analyse cette force déterminante que sont les « autorités » en finance islamique. Ces dernières semblent déterminer la finance islamique dans ses formes les plus tangibles, en structurant des produits financiers islamiques. L’analyse comporte d’abord une approche théorique, ensuite une étude comparée des facteurs qui déterminent les décisions prises lors de la structuration de produits financiers islamiques. Ces structures sont en effet fondées sur des contrats financiers conformes aux principes de la sharia. Leur approbation par des membres de conseils de la sharia est-elle déterminée par une autorité régionale, par des autorités internationales ou par des autorités de régulation ? Ces autorités sont-elles conventionnelles ou religieuses ? Afin de bien évaluer la problématique non seulement de l’autorité en tant que telle mais aussi de l’équilibre complexe entre les différentes autorités, nous développons une analyse comparée du système de structuration des produits financiers islamiques par les autorités concernées, en fonction des zones géographiques, au moyen d’un échantillon de 121 membres de conseils de la sharia couvrant l’approbation de produits financiers islamiques au sein de 243 institutions financières islamiques sur 35 pays
The three monotheistic religions refer to a God who is the all-powerful creator of all that exists, revealed throughout history, guarantor of justice and fairness, who is the ultimate moral authority. Theology advises some of the laws, economics and ethics of individuals and of states. Islam is not homogeneous in its economic, financial and regulatory approaches. However, through the financial services industry, it reveals in a tangible manner various facets of authority across Muslim contexts. These include contexts that are international and highly dynamic. Taking into account the delicate balance between sectarian, geographic and interpretive facets, the thesis analyses the determining forces that we refer to as authorities in Islamic finance. These contribute to the Islamic finance industry in its most tangible form in the structuring of Islamic financial products. Analysis is carried out initially theoretically. It is followed by a comparative study of factors affecting decisions pertaining to the structuring of Islamic financial products. These structures are based on financial contracts that conform to the principles of the Sharia. Is approval by Sharia board members fashioned by a regional authority, by international authorities, or by regulatory authorities? Are these authorities conventional or religious? We address the question as it pertains to the dynamics between various types of authority. We develop a comparative analysis of the approach taken in structuring Islamic financial products, according to geographical areas related to a sample of 121 Sharia board members covering Islamic financial products for 243 Islamic financial institutions in 35 countries

Within the South African context, the mining industry is a major employer and a significant contributor to the economy. Production costs are ever increasing and for this industry to survive and remain financially viable, efficient technologies are continuously being explored and implemented to ensure the industries sustainability now and in the future. In order for this to be achieved, sufficient and competent technical skills, in the form of artisans, technicians and engineers are required. The mining industry is currently experiencing a shortage of these skills. Twenty-one persons were interviewed, who are representative of three stakeholder groups: namely, regulatory bodies, educational institutions and mining companies to ascertain the challenges in terms of the technical skills and thereby, derive solutions for the industry. The data used to uncover the above was obtained using qualitative techniques applied to the three stakeholder groups. This research presents the responses of those in-depth interviews from the various stakeholders obtained over several months of research. The challenges within the industry are disclosed and practical solutions presented to mitigate those challenges.Copyright
Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2011.
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
unrestricted

OBJECTIVES: The S100B protein subgroup is a thermolabile acidic calcium-binding protein. S100B protein was first described in the central nervous system. Destruction of the nerve tissue results in S100B protein release from astrocytic glial cells and elevation of its levels in the cerebrospinal fluid. If the blood-brain barrier is also damaged, S100B gets into the systemic circulation and elevated blood levels of S100B are detected. Higher S100B serum levels in patients with head injury are predictive of possible development of secondary brain injury and the extent of permanent injury to the CNS. MATHERIAL AND METHODS: The authors present their results obtained in the group of 39 children aged 0 (newborns) to 17 years with isolated craniocerebral injury. RESULTS: Our group included 39 children aged 0-17 years. Excellent results (GOS - Glasgow outcome scale 4-5) were observed in 33 patients already at the time of transfer from our ICU to the neurological department. There was no death and the poor outcome group included only 6 children. Second GOS evaluation was performed 6 months later, when 36 children were in the GOS 4-5 group and only 3 children in the GOS 2-3 group. CONCLUSIONS: Due to high variability in S100B protein serum levels in children depending on age and gender, no correlation between...