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1 – 4 of 4Omar Farooq, Imad Jabbouri and Maryem Naili
This paper attempts to document the effect of economic uncertainty on financing constraints faced by private firms.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper attempts to document the effect of economic uncertainty on financing constraints faced by private firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Ordered logistic regression is used to analyze the data of private firms from 101 developing countries. The data was provided by the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys and was gathered during the period between 2006 and 2019.
Findings
The findings show that firms headquartered in countries with high economic uncertainty face more financing constraints than firms headquartered in countries with low economic uncertainty. The authors argue that the increase in economic uncertainty allows capital providers to adjust their lending decisions by reducing the provision of capital to firms. The paper also shows that firms headquartered in countries with strong institutional infrastructure and well-functioning firms are less likely to be affected by economic uncertainty while accessing finance.
Practical implications
The findings would help managers, investors, regulators, and policymakers better understand the implication of economic policy uncertainty on the real economy. This study also sheds the light on the importance of minimizing volatility, ambiguity, and randomness in governmental decisions and policies. Regardless of the pertinence of these policies, arbitrariness surrounding their development and communication can limit their effectiveness and produce unwanted effects.
Originality/value
This paper is closely related to prior literature that documents the behavior of credit providers and investors (the supply side) during the periods of economic uncertainty. The authors differ from this strand of literature by taking the perspective of firms – the demand side.
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Fatimazahra Bendriouch, Imad Jabbouri, Harit Satt, Zineb Jariri and Mohamed M'hamdi
This paper explores the impact of tone complexity on the cost of debt in the USA.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores the impact of tone complexity on the cost of debt in the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
A sampling from 692 publicly nonfinancial-traded companies in the USA is employed over the period between 2010 and 2018. Generalized methods of moments (GMM) model is implemented to examine the impact of tone complexity on the cost of debt and its implications upon creditors and users.
Findings
The findings show that high-tone complexity is associated with a greater cost of debt. The use of a more complex tone in a company's annual reports has been shown to influence creditors' perceptions of risk.
Originality/value
This research pursues innovation by examining how creditors can use the tone complexity of annual report to assess the level of information asymmetry and estimate the required rate of return accordingly.
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Yassine Benrqya and Imad Jabbouri
An important phenomenon often observed in supply chain, known as the bullwhip effect, implies that demand variability increases as we move up in the supply chain. On the other…
Abstract
Purpose
An important phenomenon often observed in supply chain, known as the bullwhip effect, implies that demand variability increases as we move up in the supply chain. On the other hand, the cross-docking is a distribution strategy that eliminates the inventory holding function of the retailer distribution center, where this latter functions as a transfer point rather than a storage point. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of cross-docking strategy compared to traditional warehousing on the bullwhip effect.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors quantify this effect in a three-echelon supply chain consisting of stores, retailer and supplier. They assume that each participant adopts an order up to level policy with an exponential smoothing forecasting scheme. This paper demonstrates mathematically the lower bound of the bullwhip effect reduction in the cross-docking strategy compared to traditional warehousing.
Findings
By simulation, this paper demonstrates that cross-docking reduces the bullwhip effect upstream the chain. This reduction depends on the lead-times, the review periods and the smoothing factor.
Research limitations/implications
A mathematical demonstration cannot be highly generalizable, and this paper should be extended to an empirical investigation where real data can be incorporated in the model. However, the findings of this paper form a foundation for further understanding of the cross-docking strategy and its impact on the bullwhip effect.
Originality/value
This paper fills a gap by proposing a mathematical demonstration and a simulation, to investigate the benefits of implementing cross-docking strategy on the bullwhip effect. This impact has not been studied in the literature.
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Fatimazahra Bendriouch, Imad Jabbouri, Mohamed M'hamdi, Harit Satt, Sara Katona and Rhita Serir
This paper explores the factors that shape the complexity of company annual reports in the USA. Using a general-to-specific modeling approach, this study examines the determinants…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores the factors that shape the complexity of company annual reports in the USA. Using a general-to-specific modeling approach, this study examines the determinants of annual reports' tone complexity.
Design/methodology/approach
Negative relationships were found between agency problems and tone; agency costs and readability of annual reports; profitability and tone; and ownership structure and tone complexity.
Findings
These relationships helped to confirm several of this study’s hypotheses, whereas positive associations were found between investment growth opportunities and tone complexity, which contradicts one of our initial hypotheses. Findings reveal that the more complex the language in an annual report is, the more difficult it is to strategically make a judgment or decision about the reported financial situation.
Originality/value
Analyzing these variables allows security analysts and investors to obtain important information, not available in the financial statements, which would enhance their understanding of the firm and improve their recommendations and investment decision-making process.
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