• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.8
• /
• pp.137-148
• /
• 2021

The study investigates the existence of an optimal level of cash and the firm characteristics influencing the decision to hold cash, and the adjusting speed of the cash holdings to the target level. It highlights the heterogeneity of cash adjustment speed in the Vietnam market. The research employs the 417 samples of Vietnamese non - financial listed firms in the period of 2010 to 2019. The study uses the Pool OLS model, Fixed effect model (FEM), Random effect model (REM), and GMM model. According to the research findings, there is an optimal amount of cash at which the firm's value is maximized in Vietnamese listed firms, and the majority of the firms in the sample retain cash over the target level. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that firms actively modify their cash holdings to the optimal level with an adjustment speed of less than one owing to adjustment cost constraints. This speed varies between groupings of enterprises with different characteristics, underlining the heterogeneity of the adjustment speed even more. Small deviation firms adjust more rapidly than large deviation firms. Large free cash flow (FCF) firms adjust more readily than small FCF firms, and fiscal deficit firms modify more rapidly than firms with a financial surplus.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.7 no.11
• /
• pp.195-204
• /
• 2020

The aim of this study is to estimate the impact of ownership structure on the performance of listed firms in transition economy. Buiding upon agency theory, hypotheses on such relationship are proposed. A detailed panel data of 502 non-financial companies listed on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange and Hanoi Stock Exchange over the period from 2013 to 2018, and the system generalized method of moment estimation are employed to test the proposed hypotheses. To ensure the reliability of data, this study excludes companies that violate information disclosure regulations or that are subject to special supervision by the State Securities Commission of Vietnam. Some firms with inadequate information, firms that lack the financial data required for creating variable or firms that have inconsistent construction are also re-screened. We only collect the data of enterprises that have ownership structure of two or more components. Estimation results reveal that state ownership has an U-shaped relationship with the performance of Vietnamese listed firms, while foreign ownership and the degree of ownership concentration have an inverted U-shaped relationship with listed firms' performance. The article provides governance implications that Vietnamese listed firms should decrease state ownership and foreign ownership to improve firm performance in order to boost investors' confidence.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.7
• /
• pp.129-137
• /
• 2021

This paper aims to analyze whether company characteristics are potential determinants of human resource accounting (HRA) disclosure practices by Vietnamese listed companies. It examines the human resource disclosure level of 204 companies by content analysis of these companies' annual reports. The study has relied on a multiple linear regression to test the association between a number of corporate attributes and the extent of human resource disclosure in companies' annual reports. The extent of human resource disclosure was measured using unweighted human resource disclosure index. The explanatory variables considered in this study were firm size, firm age, profitability, leverage, industry profile, and auditor type. The results revealed that the most influential variable for explaining firms' variation in human resource disclosure is firm size followed by firm age and profitability. Thus, it can be concluded that firm size, firm age and profitability are major predictors that may affect the variety of HRA disclosure practices on firms listed in the Vietnam Stock Exchange. However, neither industry profile nor auditor type seems to explain differences in human resource disclosure practices between Vietnamese listed firms, indicating that company's industry profile and auditor type are not a matter for the company to disclose HRA information.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.9 no.3
• /
• pp.275-283
• /
• 2022

This study aims to investigate the influence of internal factors on the bankruptcy risk of an enterprise through a sample of 439 companies listed on the Vietnamese stock exchange. The research collected secondary data from annual audited financial statements from 2008 to 2019 of listing companies. Using two different regression models with two dependent variables, six independent and control variables, we discovered that three of the model's six factors, namely return on total assets, current payment rate, and financial leverage, influence the risk of bankruptcy and account for 86.78% of the variations in firm bankruptcy risk. Financial leverage has the opposite effect on the Z-score index, increasing the risk of bankruptcy of listed firms. Return on total assets and current ratio have a positive impact on the Z-score index, reducing the risk of bankruptcy of listed companies. The findings also revealed that there is no evidence that the size of a corporation, its fixed asset investment ratio, or the size of an auditing firm have an impact on the Z-score index. These findings provide crucial evidence for business owners and managers, as well as shareholders making future capital investment decisions. Our findings can be applied to other businesses in Vietnam and similar jurisdictions.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.11
• /
• pp.213-221
• /
• 2021

The paper attempts to investigate the optimal capital structure of Vietnamese listed firms based on a structural approach. Using the data from around 70 companies in the Consumer Staples sector listed on the Vietnamese Stock Exchange during the period 2018-2020, this study finds that the optimal capital structure of examined companies has a wide range of diversification. This can be explained by the various types of actual products for each typical firm within the chosen sector. The result also confirms that a large proportion of researched firms were actually overleveraged, which is consistent with the trade-off hypothesis that firms wish to take tax advantages while using more debt, which creates the benefits from tax-shield. Furthermore, the research highlights the reversed correlation, which suggests that the lower the company's risk (the lower the sigma of the assets), the greater the optimal capital structure is suggested. Another interesting finding is that almost all consumer staples companies have a better optimal capital structure under the Leland and Toft (1996) model than under the Leland (1994) model. Furthermore, there is a strong correlation of optimal financial leverage ratio between years. In other words, the optimal debt levels of the latter year are strongly dependent on the gearing levels of the previous years.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.10
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2021

This paper attempts to investigate the determinants of capital structure of Vietnamese firms and also shed light on some of the factors of the modern theory of capital structure which is relevant for explaining the capital structure in advanced countries which are also relevant in the context of Vietnam. Using panel data from more than 1000 Vietnamese listed enterprises census 2017-2020, the paper finds that leverage ratio of Vietnamese firms is significantly related to probability. The firms have high level of fixed assets which they use as collateral, resulting in higher debt ratio, which is in line with the pecking order theory. The result also confirm that highly targeted debt ratio is positively correlated with the industry characteristics (using real estate firms as a benchmark), in which firm operates. Furthermore, consistent with the trade-off hypothesis, the leverage ratio is positively affected by non - debt tax shield. The result confirms that a large number of companies are state - owned, will have an insignificant impact of firm's size (as reverse proxy for bankruptcy cost) on leverage ratio. We also find that there is no distinction between state-owned enterprises and private enterprises due to strict adherence to the rules set by the Vietnamese government. Distinct from other countries, corporate income tax has slight impact on capital structure in Vietnamese firms.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.8 no.10
• /
• pp.305-315
• /
• 2021

This study aims to investigate the relationship between the difference in gender of top executives and corporate investment. In addition, this study also extends to how the sensitivity of investment to cash flow varies with the gender of leaders. Finally, the effect of the gender of leaders on firm investment is also tested across firm types (state firms vs. private firms and high-growth firms vs. low-growth firms). Based on the dataset of Vietnamese listed firms over 2007-2017, the fixed-effect model is used to test the hypotheses. The results show that women as chairs of the board tend to lower corporate investment, whereas the gender of CEOs (Chief Executive Officers) does not influence the investment level. Moreover, top female executives are associated with a decrease in the sensitivity of investment to cash flow. These regression results also show that top female executives only have an impact on the rate of investment in private and low-growth firms. The findings of this study are useful for the board of directors in selecting a chairperson in line with the firm's strategies. Furthermore, the findings of this study are also meaningful for policymakers who should monitor the separate role of the CEO and chair of the board in a company.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.363-370
• /
• 2022

The study aims to probe the impact of foreign ownership on Vietnamese listed firms' capital structure. This study employs panel data of 288 non-financial firms listed on the Ho Chi Minh City stock exchange (HOSE) and Ha Noi stock exchange (HNX) in 2015-2019. In this research, we applied a Bayesian linear regression method to provide probabilistic explanations of the model uncertainty and effect of foreign ownership on the capital structure of non-financial listed enterprises in Vietnam. The findings of experimental analysis by Bayesian linear regression method through Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique combined with Gibbs sampler suggest that foreign ownership has substantial adverse effects on the firms' capital structure. Our findings also indicate that a firm's size, age, and growth opportunities all have a strong positive and significant effect on its debt ratio. We found that the firms' profitability, tangible assets, and liquidity negatively and strongly affect firms' capital structure. Meanwhile, there is a low negative impact of dividends and inflation on the debt ratio. This research has ramifications for business managers since it improves a company's financial resources by developing a strong capital structure and considering foreign investment as a source of funding.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.7 no.11
• /
• pp.67-73
• /
• 2020

The paper examines the influence of internal factors and external factors on liquidity of Vietnamese listed enterprises. The study uses robust regression techniques in the fixed effects linear panel data using data collected from companies listing on the stock market in Vietnam during 2008-2019, with a total of 6,700 observations. Liquidity of Vietnamese listed enterprises is measured by current assets to current liabilities, whereas firm size, capital adequacy, profitability, leverage are used as internal determinants. Further, economic activity, inflation rate, exchange rate, and interest rate are the external factors which are considered. The research results indicate that capital adequacy, return on equity, leverage, economic activity have a positive effect on firm's liquidity, whereas return on assets and exchange rate have a negative effect on firm's liquidity and firm size, inflation rate and lending rate have no correlation with firm's liquidity. Based on the research results, the author suggests that the firms should have optimum current ratio by balancing the current assets and current liabilities in order to avoid a situation of high liquidity or low liquidity. This research seeks to bridge a gap which is present in the body of literature on listed enterprise's liquidity in Vietnam. The findings may be useful for financial managers, investors, and financial management consultants.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.73-85
• /
• 2020

The study aims to provide better understanding of sustainable earnings by a comprehensive analysis of earnings persistence of business firms in Vietnam as an example of developing economies in South-East Asia. Dataset of 1,278 publicly listed firms (excluding banking and financial services firms) on Vietnam Stock Exchange for the period from 2008 to 2017 was collected. By applying fixed effect regression model, the empirical results provided the basis to measure the persistence index (Pers index) and find low level of their earnings persistence. The literature of earnings quality analysis in developed countries suggests earnings persistence as a noteworthy determinant of future earnings forecast and stock valuation. However, research of sustainable earnings in developing countries is still highly underdeveloped. For Vietnamese listed firms, the average Pers index was estimated for the period from 2008 to 2010, indicating low level of earnings persistence. We also incorporated earnings persistence level into future earnings forecast by running the quintile regression model divided the data into four equal levels and conducted each section independently to see the difference in each percentile, thence assessed the factors' influence on the specific model. The findings provide important information on the expected returns of firms, especially helping investors make sound decisions.