• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.12
• /
• pp.295-303
• /
• 2021

The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of oil prices on economic growth and exchange rate in Saudi Arabia during the period 1980-2020. For this purpose, the linear and nonlinear ARDL models are estimated. The linear ARDL model shows that the oil price and economic growth are cointegrated. Moreover, the two variables have a significant positive association in the long run. However, the oil price has no significant impact on the exchange rate. When estimating the nonlinear ARDL model, it has been shown that oil price is only cointegrated with economic growth but not with the exchange rate. The estimation of nonlinear effects using the nonlinear ARDL model shows that economic growth is affected by both positive and negative oil shocks in the long run. However, the impact of positive shocks is higher than those of negative shocks. Moreover, results show that the short-run effects of positive and negative oil shocks are not statistically significant. Regarding the exchange rate, our results show that the effects of positive and negative oil shocks are not statistically significant. Consequently, this study concludes that the oil price has an asymmetric effect on economic growth in Saudi Arabia, but not on the exchange rate.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.15-23
• /
• 2021

Purpose: This study aims to identify the role of technological progress in the distribution sector in Saudi Arabia. Research design, data, and methodology: The study applies the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach to estimate the Cobb Douglas production function of the wholesale and retail trade sector in Saudi Arabia, relied on annual data from the General Authority for Statistics from 2005 to 2019. Results: The results show that there is a long run relationship between the production of the wholesale and retail trade sector in KSA and the factors of production labour, capital and technology progress. The elasticity of the wholesale and retail trade production with respect to capital and labour are 0.26 and 0.78 respectively; the coefficients are positive and statistically significant. The wholesale and retail trade sector is operating under increasing returns to scale. The main result indicates that the elasticity of the wholesale and retail production with respect to the technology progress is 4.62%, which is positive and statistically significant. Conclusions: The study concluded that technological progress has a positive contribution to the growth of the distribution sector in KSA. Therefore, the technological progress can improve the productivity and efficiency of the resources allocated to the dis.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.266-272
• /
• 2022

Private specialized institutions differ from public ones in that they mostly act independently. This paper reports a study designed to assess the provision of specialized institutions for children with intellectual disabilities in Saudi Arabia. The approach taken in this study was qualitative, involving a case study strategy that enabled the researcher to gain rich and in-depth information based on the shared experiences of participants comprising institution leaders, educators and families from two specific specialized settings, one public and one private. The study aimed to examine the existing disparities in service delivery so as to develop a clear picture of the service quality provided by public specialized institutions for children with intellectual disabilities in Saudi Arabia. The results suggest that the weak relationship with inpatient and specialized institutions is a consequence of the parents' poor responsiveness, which may result in these institutes developing a negative impression of the parents. Conversely, the lack of active initiative on the part of the public specialized institutions led to a negative parental attitude towards these institutions. A sensible approach to resolving this problem might be to recognize that these institutions have a significant responsibility to encourage parents of children with intellectual disabilities to become involved in their children's learning, to promote positive attitudes.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.15 no.sup1
• /
• pp.41-52
• /
• 2021

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Curfew due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic could influence health behaviors in people, especially in children, who can easily acquire unhealthy eating habits. This study aimed to investigate the effect of COVID-19 on weight, health behaviors including eating habits, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in children aged 6-15 years in Saudi Arabia. SUBJECTS/METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey that included 280 children aged 6-15 years in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 curfew. The survey included questions on sociodemographic characteristics, anthropometric measures, and health behaviors including eating habits, physical activity, and sedentary behavior. RESULTS: We observed a significant difference in the body mass index before and after the COVID-19 pandemic (P < 0.001). Children significantly tended to skip breakfast, along with a decreased intake of dairy products and fast food (P < 0.001). Moreover, children were less physically active and significantly tended to be involved in leisure screen-based activities, including watching TV and use of computer/games (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence for the negative influences of the COVID-19 curfew on health behaviors, including eating habits, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in children in Saudi Arabia.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.9
• /
• pp.189-199
• /
• 2021

This study attempts to examine the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure and earnings management practices in the context of Saudi Arabia after mandatory IFRS adoption. It is carried out on an unbalanced panel of 277 observations over the period 2017-2019. For this purpose, CSR disclosure is measured by Bloomberg ESG scores, while the residuals from the modified Jones model are considered for earnings management. As control variables, we have retained the firm performance, market-to-book ratio, firm size, financial leverage, board independence, ownership concentration, managerial ownership, and lagged discretionary accruals. Using the system GMM estimator in the dynamic panel, the results show a positive association between CSR disclosure and earnings management practices, thus supporting the perspective of agency theory. Managers engage in socially responsible activities beforehand to conceal their wrongdoing and convince stakeholders that the organization is transparent. They probably use ethical codes as a tool to achieve their own goals rather than the firm's goals. Our contribution is the use of recent data (2017-2019) taking into account the mandatory adoption of IFRS in Saudi Arabia. Additionally, to our knowledge, this study is the first to address CSR disclosure and earnings management practices using GMM system estimates.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.39-46
• /
• 2022

The spread of Omicron, a mutated version of COVID-19 across several countries is leading to the discussion of lockdown once again for curbing the spread of the new virus. In this context, this research is showing the impact of lockdown for the successful control of the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic around the globe has affected Saudi Arabia with around 2,37,803 confirmed cases within the initial 4 months of transmission. Saudi Arabia has announced a 21-day lockdown from March 23, 2020, to reduce the transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic. Machine Learning-based, Multinomial logistic regression was applied to understand the relationship between daily COVID-19 confirmed cases and lockdown in the 17 most-affected cities of KSA. We used secondary published data from the Ministry of Health, KSA daily dataset of COVID-19 confirmed case counts. These 17 cities were categorized into 4 classes based on lockdown dates. A total of three scenarios such as night lockdown, full lockdown, and no lockdown have been analyzed with the total number of confirmed cases with 4 classes. 15 out of 17 cities have shown a strong correlation with a confidence interval of 95%. These findings provide evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic may be partially suppressed with lockdown measures.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
• /
• v.22 no.12
• /
• pp.171-177
• /
• 2022

The number of people who own indoor plants is growing today, but as a result of their busy lifestyles-such as work or travel-as well as a lack of enthusiasm in caring for their plants, their plants wither. The use of an irrigation control system with a surveillance camera can assist such folks in taking care of their plants. Such a device can assist in remotely watering plants at predetermined times and checking on the health of the plants. The proprietors would be able to live comfortably without feeling bad thanks to this change. Internet access is required for this technology in order to monitor the plants and control the watering through apps. A sensor is installed in the soil to monitor soil humidity and send data to the microcontroller for irrigation, allowing the owner to schedule irrigation as they see fit and keep an eye on their plants all day. With the use of a remote irrigation control system, the plants will grow properly and be irrigated with the proper amount of water, and the owners will be so glad and delighted to watch their plants. Knowing the time and quantity of water are vital parts of the plant growth.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.79-89
• /
• 2023

The paper aims to investigate the asymmetric long-run and short-run relationships between inflation and remittance outflows in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (hereafter KSA) over the period 1971-2019 by using the Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) model. The statistical tests have supported the validity and stability of the model. The Wald F-test statistics confirm the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship among the model variables; remittance outflows, positive (negative) shocks in inflation rates, investment, real GDP, and trade openness. Moreover, the empirical results confirm the existence of an asymmetric effect of the inflation rate on remittance outflows. The response of foreign workers to an increase in inflation rates differs from their response to a decrease in inflation rates. However, this asymmetric relationship between the increases/decreases in inflation and remittance outflows is significantly weak. The weakness of this relationship is due to the high marginal remittance propensity of migrant workers, which is explained by the low consumption propensity of foreign workers and their ability to adjust to the high cost of living due to inflation and the imposition of accompanying fees. Finally, the change in the inflation rate is not among the main factors influencing foreign remittance decisions in Saudi Arabia.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
• /
• v.9 no.9
• /
• pp.45-52
• /
• 2018

Purpose - This case study is dedicated to the study of the presence of KIA Motors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and its market and entry strategies for strategic globalization that allowed the company to establish itself within a conservative and clustered marketplace dominated by American and Japanese international brands. Research Design, data, and methodology - The main information for the case was gathered through an interview and questionnaire from the executives of the KIA Al Jabr, which got the exclusive dealership in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, secondary data were obtained from reliable and authoritative sources such as the Saudi government agency publications, newspapers, international business journals. Other related periodicals based on the results from previous and current studies on similar topics were critically reviewed as well. Results - The findings of this paper show the different business environments of the Saudi market and the importance of various points regarding the company's global entry strategy even if the host market culture is quite different in many ways from other international markets. Conclusions - This case can provide Korean companies interested in the Middle East with insight into market penetration and global strategy, and present various perspectives and implications for global market access as well.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.1101-1111
• /
• 2021

The current study aims to investigate the influence of different categories of ownership held by different types of board members on bank performance. The study uses a sample of Saudi listed banks for the period from 2011 to 2018. The results of the panel data analysis using firm fixed-effects regression model indicate that bank performance is significantly and positively affected by the chairman ownership and the CEO ownership. However, board independent members' ownership has a negative influence on bank performance. While non-executive board members' ownership and family board members have an insignificant impact on bank performance. Control variables, including board size, non-executive board members, government ownership, leverage, and bank size are significantly associated with bank performance. Overall, the results indicate that Saudi bank performance is higher in smaller banks that have smaller boards with lower non-executive members, lower portion of shares held by independent board members, higher portion of shares held by the chairman, CEO, and government, and higher leverage. The results of this study provide important implications for regulatory authorities and market participants in Saudi Arabia and countries with ownership concentration to understand the actual role of different categories of board ownership on firm performance in addition to optimize board ownership.