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With the current commercialization of the Internet, rapid development of mechanisms and systems to support commercial transactions over open, public networks can be seen. This paper sets out to review the emerging technologies with a specific application scenario in mind: that of online access to commercially‐operated bibliographic information and full‐text document delivery services via the World‐Wide‐Web.

The purpose of this paper is to assess both short and long-term influences of public investment on economic growth and test the hypothesis that whether public investment promotes or demotes private investment in Vietnam.

The authors use the approach of autoregressive distributed lag model and Vietnam’s macro data in the period of 1990-2016, to evaluate the short and long-term effects of public investment on economic growth and private investment. The model evaluates the impact of public investment on economic growth and private investment based on the neoclassical theories. The public investment which strongly affects economic growth is also reflected by aggregate supply and demand. Public investment directly impacts aggregate demand as a government expenditure and aggregate supply as a production function (capital factor).

The results from this research indicate that public investment in Vietnam in the past period does affect economic growth in the pattern of an inverted-U shape as of Barro (1990), with positive effects mostly occurring from the second year and negative effects of constraining long-term growth. Meanwhile, investment from the private sector, state-owned enterprises, and FDI has positive effects on short-term economic growth and state-owned capital stock has positive impacts on economic growth in both the short and long run. The estimated influence of public investment on private investment also shows a similar inverted-U shape in which public investment have crowding-in private investment short-term but crowding-out in the long run.

The empirical findings in this study can be used for conducting a more efficient policy in restructuring the state sector investment in Vietnam.

The main contributions in this study are: to evaluate the impacts of public investment on economic growth and private investment, the authors extracted public investment in infrastructure from aggregate investment of state sector (as previous studies used); the authors also uses state-owned capital stock variable including cumulative public investment and state-owned enterprises investment suggesting that this could control for the different orders of integration between the stock and flow variable and improve the experimental characteristics of the equation to a higher degree.

The purpose of the study is to develop a macroeconometric model for evaluation of trade policies and forecasting of trade performance of Pakistan with different regions or group of countries.

These regions or group of countries are Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the rest of the world. A macroeconometric model containing 15 behavioral equations and eight identities.

Cointegration results suggest that there exist long-run relationships among variables of all behavioral equations. Additionally, results of different policy shocks based on unit value of export (export price), unit value of import (import price), exchange rate, foreign direct investment, interest rate and foreign exchange reserve suggest that the model is useful for economic planning to sustain growth performance of Pakistan.

In this study, the authors develop for the first time ever a macroeconometric model for the evaluation and forecasting of regional trade policy and performance for Pakistan.

Pakistan has experienced financial liberalization with rapid ups and downs in economic growth due to domestic issues during the last 2 decades. Motivated by inconclusive and conflicting time-driven findings about the performance of the business groups, this study examines the performance of business groups in Pakistan for a relatively long period from 2003 to 2018.

The study uses 3,821 firm-year observations from non-financial firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX). For the estimation, pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) with industry- and year fixed effects and two-step system generalized methods of moments (GMM) are used.

The study finds that group-affiliated firms outperform independent firms in accounting performance, while underperform in market performance. The outperformance is mainly driven by medium-sized business groups, while underperformance is driven by small and large business groups. Further, the study documents that the underperformance in terms of market performance of firms affiliated with small and large groups is greater before the economic downturn, while outperformance in terms of the accounting measure of firms affiliated with medium-sized groups is greater during the economic downturn. These findings support our time-driven concerns. Overall, the authors' findings are consistent with institutional and transaction cost theories.

Business groups are important channels to reduce market inefficiencies. Business groups may enhance the affiliated firms' resources and resistance capacity through active utilization of the internal capital market, specifically when market conditions are not ideal for affiliates. However, effective utilization of internal capital markets depends on group size. Therefore, investors should deliberate on the size of business groups and diversification within business groups.

The authors extend the literature by providing fresh evidence related to the performance of business groups in the Pakistani context while accounting for the role of the size of business groups.

The purpose of this paper is to examine managerial efficiency of the whole population of petrochemical firms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). It also identifies the root causes of inefficiencies and proposes measures to overcome these.

The paper uses the data envelopment analysis approach to measure the managerial efficiency in context of various returns-to-scales. To glean further insights into the sources of inefficiency, the study investigates the extent of utilization of resources by comparing target inputs vis-à-vis the actual inputs used. This provides the authors information about the degree of underutilization of resources as well as an insight into the sources of inefficiency, e.g., those stemming from the managerial or scale of operations.

The findings reveal a great amount of inefficiencies in Saudi petrochemical sector. These inefficiencies arise from both the underutilization of resources as well as the inability of petrochemical firms to run their operations at optimal scales.

The findings of the study allude toward measures that managers might adopt to overcome the issues of inefficiency. They ought to ensure better utilization of resources by running operations of the firms at optimal scales of production. The firms operating under the sub-optimum scales of operations need to revisit their marketing and production strategies. These might take up the form of boosting marketing efforts to win more orders from customers and increasing production volumes that could allow these firms to take advantage of economies of scale.

This paper is a first attempt to measure efficiency of petrochemical sector in KSA which stands as the key contributor to the national exchequer. Since the study consists of the whole population of petrochemical firms in KSA, it measures the “true” managerial efficiency of petrochemical firms in the sector. Further, being a pioneer study on managerial efficiency of petrochemical sector, it extends original contribution to the literature on efficiency of firms, combined with rich insights into sources of inefficiencies.

Waqf (endowment) lands constitute as among the highest types of waqf (endowment) properties in Malaysia; yet it is still unable to reach its maximum potential due to various challenges such as capital, location, legal and administrative issues. Therefore, this study intends to explore these issues by focussing on the two states in Malaysia (Selangor and Perak) that have fertile lands but different management authorities.

There were series of interviews that had been conducted with ten (10) key informants who are experts and practitioners in the areas of Shariah (Islamic law), farming, agribusiness, land management and waqf.

Findings exhibit that constraints and challenges that had been highlighted in the previous literature still exist (although some improvements had been made), but there is emerging theme that the study intends to highlight which is on the needs to secure market for the agribusiness produce and the potential role of anchor company in the agribusiness. It is pertinent that for agribusiness to thrive, selecting the right anchor company that has the capacity to address the challenges is necessary. This study posits two anchor company models (Waqf Trustee-Anchor Company and Waqf Trustee-Anchor Company-Community Farmers) that can be applied for agribusiness on the waqf lands.

This study is based on the Malaysia's context influenced by specific country's features. Nevertheless, such findings can still be used as reference or benchmark by other endowment trustees in other countries especially for the Muslim countries as well as the non-Muslim countries that have significant Muslim populations.

The suggested models have potentials to improve the living condition of the B40 (below 40% household income) in Malaysia because the models encourage their participation in the agribusiness activities.

This study focusses on the agribusiness, which is rarely being given attention in previous literature in the context of endowment lands. Therefore, this article bridges the literature gap and at the same time attempts to provide suggestion to address the pertinent issue – the underutilised endowment lands.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of cross-border acquisitions on the efficiency and productivity of acquired companies in the cement industry in the context of a transitional economy.

The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Malmquist Productivity Index were used to assess the efficiency and productivity of the acquired companies over the period 2000–2018. DEA and Malmquist index are combined with bootstrapping to perform succinct statistical inferences for determining the accuracy of results. The study assesses partial efficiency and productivity of three inputs: material, capital and labour, as well as the total factor efficiency and productivity of the acquired companies in the short and long term after the acquisitions.

The research results suggest that efficiency of material, efficiency of labour and the total factor efficiency of the acquired companies are higher after the acquisitions than before, while efficiency of capital is lower. In addition, the results show that the acquisitions had a positive impact on total factor productivity of the acquired companies.

The results of this study have practical implications for managers, especially for policy-makers and industry analysts in deciding whether to encourage or discourage cross-border acquisitions in transitional economies.

The study contributes to a better understanding of the impact of cross-border acquisitions on efficiency and productivity of acquired companies in the manufacturing industry. Research in transitional economies related to subject matter is limited, and this study is the first empirical investigation of the effect of cross-border acquisitions on the efficiency and productivity in the cement industry in Serbia by applying the Data Envelopment Analysis.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of trade integration on Pakistan’s export performance (value of exports, number of exporters and number of products per exporter) during 2003 to 2010.

Data from the World Bank Exporters Dynamics Database are analysed using fixed effect panel data techniques.

The results suggest that trade integration with South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), China and Iran play remarkable role in improving export value by 73, 29 and 55 per cent, respectively. It is found that on average more than 140 and 339 exporters increase after integration with SAFTA and China, respectively, and during the study period, 1,605 and 606 exporters entered into SAFTA and Chinese market, respectively. Moreover, 182 and 146 additional exporters entered in Malaysian and Iranian export market after integration, which is 19 and 98 per cent, respectively, of initial year’s number of exporters. In addition, Malaysia and Mauritius show positive and considerable effect on diversification of product variety.

This is an original empirical research. The contributions of the paper are many fold: this paper is first to analyse the effect of Pakistan’s trade integration established during 2000s decade; pioneer contribution of this study is to use the number of exporters and number of products, as well as the value of exports to measure the export performance of Pakistan; and this study uses positive and negative discrepancies in export value data, number of HS6 products exported as a proxy of product diversification, share of industrial exports in total exports and share of textile exports in industrial exports.

The scope of this work is to explore whether Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) would be beneficial to Bangladesh, given Bangladesh's strong ties with India and the west.

Using extended gravity equation and data from Head and Mayer (2021) and the Direction of Trade Statistic (IMF, 2021) for Bangladesh with its applicable partner countries from 1972 till 2019, the authors attempted to examine the potential impact of joining RCEP while keeping its relationship with South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), and other existing economic integration schemes intact.

Using traditional pooled ordinary least squares, two-stage least square and generalized method of moment techniques, it has been revealed that conventional partners in the South led by India are still beneficial to Bangladeshs trading line. Joining RCEP provides ample avenues for trade expansion without replacing the positive effects of SAARC.

Traditional partners from European, American and South Asian trading opportunities are still paying enough dividends to Bangladesh. RCEP is providing a trade-enhancing chance for Bangladesh in the eastern direction. This paper provides a policy suggestion to look east policy of government. A total overhaul of her tax structure through minimizing excessive reliance on import tariff revenue is desired to facilitate her to join RCEP in the future because most of its prospective RCEP partners are import partners.

This is the first and the only study which explores the feasibility of Bangladesh to join the RCEP by using the most recently updated gravity data in a panel framework.

1. Since its inception on November 15, 2020, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has emerged as one of the largest economic integration areas in the world.

2. As a borderline country between South Asia and RCEP, Bangladesh is in a fix to take a decision either to join or not to join RCEP if they are invited.

3. This paper used the gravity equation in an extended form by taking Bangladesh with its 197 trading partners’ trade data for 1972–2019.

4. The findings postulate that the existing relationship with SAARC countries is still beneficial to its welfare, and RCEP is also economically helpful in enhancing its trade.

Since its inception on November 15, 2020, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has emerged as one of the largest economic integration areas in the world.

As a borderline country between South Asia and RCEP, Bangladesh is in a fix to take a decision either to join or not to join RCEP if they are invited.

This paper used the gravity equation in an extended form by taking Bangladesh with its 197 trading partners’ trade data for 1972–2019.

The findings postulate that the existing relationship with SAARC countries is still beneficial to its welfare, and RCEP is also economically helpful in enhancing its trade.

This study aims to examine investors’ herd behaviour for various calendar events and size-based stock portfolios in Pakistan. The authors consider three calendar effects, crisis (COVID-19 and financial crisis 2018–19), announcement of political news and popular calendar anomalies (month-of-the-year and day-of-the-week), and investigate the impact of stock size on calendar effect in terms of investors’ herd behaviour.

The study uses non-linear specification to capture herd behaviour using firm-level daily data for 496 stocks listed on Pakistan Stock Exchange over the period 2001–2020.

The results indicate herd formation during periods of COVID-19, financial crisis, political news announcements and January (month-of-the-year). The authors also observe significant herding for the biggest and smallest size stocks over complete period. However, the authors find more pronounced herding in big stocks during January as compared to the more noticeable herding in small stocks over complete period. The findings suggest that herding in small stocks is not the main cause of January herding and hint on the prevalence of significant institutional herding during January.

The stock prices destabilize because of the mimicking behaviour during crisis periods, days of political announcements and month of January. Implementation of insider trading laws and transparent information environment can help in reducing these effects and increasing market efficiency.

The authors consider the recent COVID period in our analysis. In addition, we provide new evidence on the possible impact of stock size on calendar effect in terms of herd behaviour, which, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, has not yet been documented in literature.