Search results

This study aims to investigate the performance of fundamental weighted portfolios (using sales, cash flows, dividends, book values and a composite of all these variables), an equal weighted portfolio and a smoothed cap-weighted (CW) portfolio in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) markets. The performance of these portfolios is compared with that of a CW portfolio for the period 2005 to 2015.

The portfolios are formed using different concentration levels, different construction schemes and different sub-regions. The performance is assessed using a large set of risk-adjusted performance measures, including more robust measures in the context of multi-factor models, such as the Fama and French (1993) three-factor model, the Fama and French (2015) five-factor model and a seven-factor model.

The results show that the fundamental portfolios, with the exception of the sales portfolio, underperform the CW portfolio using either the traditional or more robust risk-adjusted performance measures. The underperformance of the fundamental portfolios is found to be robust using different concentration levels, different construction schemes and different sub-regions. The results also show that the equal weighted portfolio outperforms the CW portfolio using traditional risk-adjusted measures. However, after controlling for additional risk factors, this outperformance disappears.

The failure of fundamental indexation in the emerging markets could help the researchers and the academics to search for the best weighting method that could be used as an alternative to the CW indexation method.

The results of the study add evidence to the debatable propositions on the performance of fundamental portfolios in emerging markets. Furthermore, the findings may help domestic and international investors, practitioners and decision-makers to deepen their knowledge in terms of the best portfolio construction scheme in the MENA region.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the regime–youth relationship in Macao. It will use the framework by Weiss and Aspinall (2012) to explain the rise of Macao youth activism and the de-harmonization of their relationship with the authorities.

According to Weiss and Aspinall, the emergence of youth movements in Asia after the Second World War was based on four factors: the development higher education systems, youth’s collective identities, youth’s trust in the ruling regime and transnational flows of activist ideas and inspirations. This paper analyzes the rise of Macao youth through the four dimensions by Weiss and Aspinall.

The rise of Macao youth movement is attributable to the development of tertiary education, youth’s collective identities, lowered trust in the regime and international inspiration. Better-educated Macao youth have been increasing their demands for political participation while their distrust in the MSAR government pushes their mobilization. The rise of youth movements around the world after the millennium inspires Macao youth activists’ political mobilization. Interestingly, Macao’s youth movement has been gradually integrated into the opposition forces instead of campaigning by youth organizations. In response to youth activism, the MSAR government, however, could not alleviate the youth’s hostility against the authorities, but its repressive approach intensified the regime-youth tension.

The paper includes interviews with leaders of young activists for their understanding of youth movement in Macao. It can serve the purpose for comparative study of youth movement among Asian societies.

The competitive model has changed. In this context, society entered into an era in which intangible assets are the greatest assets of a company. However, some gaps and uncertainties are presented in the literature as to understand the value of a company based on knowledge intensive activities. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the methods of evaluation of intangible assets in the context of business, economic and strategic management.

This is a qualitative research. This research is characterized as descriptive, bibliographic, inductive.

The main results of this research can highlight the existence of valuation methods of intangible assets intended for specific industries, as public and/or private, that can be better aligned to the context of business; economic and/or strategic management.

It was found that intangible assets are a current topic and increasingly addressed in the literature.