• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.19-23
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• 2017

It is undisputable that crude oil and its price fluctuations are major components that affect most of the countries' economies. Recent studies have demonstrated that beside the impact that crude oil price fluctuations have on common macroeconomic indicators like gross domestic product (GDP), inflation rates, exchange rates, unemployment rate, etc., it also has a strong influence on stock markets and their performance. This relationship has been examined in a number of settings, but it is yet to be unraveled in the Omani context. Accordingly, the main purpose of this study is to examine the possible effect of the oil price fluctuations on stock price movements. The study applies Toda and Yamamoto's (1995) Granger non-causality test on the daily Oman stock index (Muscat Securities Market Index) and oil prices between the period of 2 January 2003 and 13 March 2016. The results indicated that the oil price fluctuations have a significant impact on stock index movements. However, the stock price movements do not have a significant impact on oil prices. These findings have significant implications not only for the Omani economy but also for the economy of similar countries, particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The latter should carefully consider their policies and strategies regarding crude oil production and the generated income allocation as it might potentially affect the financial markets performance in these countries.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.65-74
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• 2019

This study has two main purposes; first, it examines the effect of capital structure on profitability of Islamic and conventional banks; second, it determines that whether the capital structure of Islamic and conventional banks is same or not. A sample of ten banks was taken over the period 2006-2016. Independent samples T-test was used for finding the comparison between the capital structure of Islamic and conventional banks while for assessing the impact of capital structure on profitability, regression analysis (Fixed effects model) was used. Results showed that the capital structure of both types of banks was similar except for bank size which differed significantly. Moreover, ROA was negatively correlated to the capital structure of both conventional and Islamic banks. In contrast, ROE was positively correlated to the capital structure of both conventional and Islamic banks. In addition to that, two explanatory variables were positively correlated while two were negatively correlated to EPS for both Islamic and conventional banks. This study proves the existence of prominent theories of capital structure (pecking order theory and trade-off theory) for both conventional and Islamic banks in Pakistan and also validates the economies of scale.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.73-79
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to explore how small and medium enterprises in India has identified the opportunities and challenges in adopting the Web 3.0 technologies to improve their productivity and efficiency. After an in-depth literature review, researchers framed a semi-structured questionnaire with open-ended questions for collecting responses from managers working in 40 Indian SME's representing five key economic sectors. The collected data was analyzed, and themes were encoded using the NVivo 11 computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software. Content analysis was used to analyze the data collected with the semi-structured interviews. This study identified five key themes and 12 subthemes illustrating the key advantages and challenges as perceived by the managerial leadership of SMEs. The five key themes identified in this study include integration of data and services, the creation of new functionalities, privacy and security, financial and technological challenges, and organizational challenges. The results of this study will benefit the organizational leadership of SMEs in planning and developing their short-term and long-term information systems strategies and will enable SME leaders to make optimal use of their information technology assets, improving the productivity and competitiveness of the firms. Web 3.0 technologies are considered as emerging technologies, so the advantages and challenges of using these technologies for SMEs have not been explored in the context of emerging economies, such as India.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.19-40
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• 2013

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) achieved relatively rapid economic growth over the past decade. Sustainable growth among member states, however, is put into question due to macroeconomic challenges, political risk, and vulnerability to external shocks. Developed countries, in contrast, have turned into less labor-intensive technologies to further expand their economies. In this paper, we review the science, technology, and innovation (STI) policies and statuses of the scientific and technological capabilities of the ASEAN member countries. Empirical results based on STI indicators (R&D spending, publications, patents, and knowledge economy indices) reveal considerable variation between the science and technology (S&T) competence and effectiveness of STI policies of ASEAN members. We have categorized nations into clusters according their situations in their S&T productivity. Under the Korean Innovation Model, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Brunei are classified as being in the institutional-building stage, while Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam in the catch up stage, and Singapore in the post-catch up stage. Finally, policy prescriptions on how to enhance the S&T capabilities of the developing ASEAN countries, based on the South Korea development experience, are presented.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.145-154
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• 2020

The paper aims to investigate the interactions between rule of law, economic growth and the shadow economy in 18 selected transition economies. This study uses annual data over the period 2002-2015 for 18 transition countries to estimate the effects of rule of law and other factors on the size of shadow economy. The transition country group is classified based on International Monetary Fund resources and is selected on the basis of the availability of data. The data examined in this research are derived from the World Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators project and Working Paper from International Monetary Fund. This study employs GMM method. The results show that the economic growth indicators have negative and statistically significant impact on the shadow economy. Additionally, these results also reveal that in transition countries the size of shadow economy is negatively related to the quality of rule of law. However, the findings of this research also point out that there are positive relationships between inflation, public expenditure and the size of shadow economy. Hence the results from this study suggest that the size of shadow economy could be controlled by improving the effectiveness of rule of law and the growth of economy particularly in transition countries.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.9
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• pp.561-572
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• 2020

Sustainable development - including tourism development - is the general trend of all economies. With the orientation to build and develop the tourism industry into a key economic sector and become a tourist center of the Southeast region, Vietnam, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province is demanding a proper, rational, development policy, while ensuring the development and exploitation of immediate natural advantages, and ensuring long-term sustainable development. The objective of this study is to examine the factors and their trends in sustainable tourism development in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, Vietnam. Methods used include descriptive statistical analysis, exploratory factor analysis and regression analysis. Data was collected from the results of a survey of 550 domestic and foreign tourists visiting Ba Ria-Vung Tau. With the help of SPSS statistical software, 12 groups of factors affecting sustainable development were identified including: economy, society, environment, humanistic tourism resources, natural tourism resources, tourism human resources, tourism products and service, tourism quality, infrastructure, technical facilities, governmental management and group of criteria to evaluate sustainable tourism development. The research results show that there are four groups of factors that significantly affect sustainable tourism development in Ba Ria-Vung Tau. These are groups of factors: Society, Environment, Tourism products and service, and Technical facilities.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.9
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• pp.169-178
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• 2020

In this paper, we provide an overview of financial development in Vietnam. Particularly, a new approach of this study is to measure financial development through improvements in depth, efficiency and access of the banking system and stock market. Further, the study examines the factors significantly affecting financial development in Vietnam. The data are collected in Vietnam, an emerging country with a limited financial development. We employ the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach, which generates a high reliability and suits data characteristics of emerging countries like Vietnam. We observe that Vietnam's banking system plays a key role in supplying credits to the economy while the nascent stock market at a limited size shows its potential for a considerable growth in the future. We also find the influential determinants of financial development in Vietnam including real estate market (RE), economic growth (EG), consumer price index (CPI), and global financial crisis (GFC). These findings are essential for Vietnamese authorities in providing practical solutions in order to build a sustainable and synchronous financial development. They are also first empirical evidence relating to an overview of financial development in an emerging country, so they are not only valuable to Vietnam but also crucial to other emerging economies.

• Asian Journal of Business Environment
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.5-9
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• 2017

Purpose - Many countries rely on currency depreciation or debt-financed government spending to stimulate their economies. Currency depreciation tends to increase net exports and aggregate demand but reduce short-run aggregate supply due to higher import costs. Debt-financed government spending increases aggregate demand, but the crowding-out effect due to a higher real interest rate may reduce private spending and aggregate demand. Therefore, the net impact of currency depreciation or debt-financed government spending on equilibrium real GDP is unclear. Research design, data, and methodology - This paper examines potential impacts of real depreciation of the ringgit, more government debt as a percent of GDP and other relevant macroeconomic variables on aggregate output in Malaysia. Results - Applying the AD/AS model, this paper finds that aggregate output in Malaysia is positively associated with real appreciation during 2005.Q3-2010.Q3, real depreciation during 2010.Q4-2016.Q1, the debt-to-GDP ratio and the real stock price, negatively affected by the real lending rate and inflation expectations, and is not influenced by the real oil price. Conclusions - Real depreciation of the ringgit after 2010. Q3 or sustainable expansionary fiscal policy would be beneficial to the economy.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.3-26
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• 2001

Competitive and reliable maritime transport services benefit the economy as a whole, and are key efficiency factors for the production of both goods and services. Although maritime transport sector is very liberalized compared to many other service sectors, certain obstacles must be overcome before full liberalization of the maritime transport can be realized. Particularly, maritime transport services in Northeast Asia are regulated by a complicated and outdated system. To remove these barkers two approaches can be used: a regional trading arrangement approach and a multilateral approach via WTO. However, multilateral efforts are not likely to be successful in achieving any concrete progress towards maritime transport liberalization in the short- to medium-term in Northeast Asia. Consequently, it may be the best to take the following two progressive approaches and to make them work towards liberalization of the maritime transport market: a bilateral approach and a trilateral approach. A gradual process of liberalization would expand the market, help operators achieve economies of scale, promote the international division of labor and specialization, enhance the effective management of shipping services, and promote the long-term interests and welfare of the user by improving service quality and diversifying services. A liberalized and integrated maritime transport market in Northeast Asia should achieve both of these long-run policy objectives by benefiting both the transport service users and the transport service providers. In order to move the maritime transport liberalization programs as quickly as possible, it is desirable to establish a "Regional Maritime Transport Liberalization Committee." We suggest it to be a Tripartite (China, Japan and Korea) Committee initially, which can later expand its membership to include other Northeast Asian countries.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.87-94
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• 2016

High-rise as a building typology is gaining popularity in Asian mega-cities, due to its advantages in increasing volumetric density with limited land resources. Numerous factors contribute to the formation of high-rise urban form, from economical and institutional, environmental to socio-political. Environmental concerns over the impact of rapid urbanization in developing economies demand new thought on the link between urban environment and urban form. Outdoor and indoor climate, pedestrian comfort, and building energy consumption are all related to and impacted by urban form and building morphology. There are many studies and practices on designing individual "green" high-rise buildings, but far fewer studies on designing high-rise building clusters from the perspective of environmental performance optimization.. This paper focuses on the environmental perspective, and its correlation with the evolution of the high-rise urban form. Previous studies on urban morphology in terms of environmental and energy performance are reviewed. Studies on "parameterizing" urban morphology to estimate its environmental performance are reviewed, and the possible urban design implications of the study are demonstrated in by the author, by way of a microclimate map of the iconic Shanghai Xiao Lujiazui CBD. The study formulates the best-practice design guidelines for creating walkable and comfortable outdoor space in a high-rise urban setting, including proper sizing of street blocks and building footprint, provision of shading, and facilitating urban ventilation.