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The relationship between idiosyncratic risk and stock return has been debated for decades; this study reexamined this relationship in the Pakistani stock market by using the quantile regression approach along with the prospect theory.

The present study is quantitative, and secondary data obtained from an emerging market are used. The quantile regression method allows the estimates of idiosyncratic risk to vary across the entire distribution of stock returns, i.e. the dependent variable. In this study, the standard deviation of regression residuals from the Fama and French three-factor model was used to measure idiosyncratic risk. Convenience sampling is employed; the sample consists of 82 firms listed on the KSE-100 index, with 820 annual observations for the ten years from 2011 to 2020. After computing results by using quantile regression, the study's findings, ordinary least squares (OLS) and least sum of absolute deviation (LAD) regression techniques are also compared.

The quantile regression estimation results indicate that idiosyncratic risk is positively correlated with stock returns and that this relationship is contingent on whether prices are rising or falling. Consistent with the prospect theory, the finding suggests that stock investors tend to avoid risk when they anticipate a loss but are more willing to take risks when they anticipate a profit. The results of the OLS and LAD regressions indicate that the method typically employed in previous studies does not adequately describe the relationship between idiosyncratic risk and stock return at extreme points or across the entire distribution of stock return.

These empirical findings shed new light on the relationship between idiosyncratic risk and stock return in Pakistani stock market literature.

Heuristics are a less complex and more understandable way to a more straightforward, astute and brisk basic decision-making strategy. The purpose of this study is the development of a rule of thumb called the “Crocodile rule” based on downside risk.

The crocodile rule is developed and tested in two steps by using data in the form of stock portfolios of the Pakistan Stock Exchange from January 2000 to November 2017. In the first phase of the study, researchers have forecasted the probabilities, while in the second phase, the researchers have used these probabilities to test the crocodile rule.

The findings show the acceptance of the null hypothesis, forecasting error for all categories of stocks for the first phase. The results also show that the minimum recovery chance is 58%, and the maximum recovery chance is 81% with an overall average of 69% chance of recovery. All recovery probabilities are above 50% for all portfolios; this is particularly impressive for a volatile market like Pakistan.

The study also proposes another performance measure such as “value-at-risk” and compare it with present results to yield better outcomes. Furthermore, other categories of stock like profitability and growth can be tested as well.

The practical application of this rule is a choice between a “Buy-and-hold” strategy and showing myopic behavior as another extreme.

This pioneering research focuses on the development of the “Crocodile rule” by using the lower partial moments as a proxy of downside risk. This research adds value to the existing literature on performance measures. Furthermore, it also highlights and indicates which strategy should be used by the investors in case of falling trends in the market.

Earnings management (EM) plays a vital role in risk management. This paper aims to investigate the impact of real earning management (REM) on credit risk.

This paper measures the credit risk by the expected default frequency of Kealhofer, McQuown and Vasicek model. This paper uses data from 2011 to 2020 of Pakistani manufacturing listed firms. This paper applies the fixed effect to analyze the results and generalized methods of moments to handle the heterogeneity issue.

This paper finds that the impact of REM on corporate credit risk is positive and significant and that of sales manipulation is negative and significant. This paper also reports similar outcomes of the robustness test using dynamic panel regression.

The findings of this study may help managers to modify the EM strategy to minimize corporate credit risk. Furthermore, the findings of this study are important for investors to enhance their understanding of firms’ accounting information, REM activities and cash flow patterns. It further suggests the manager should consider credit risk as an important factor while practicing REM.

This study examines the impact of board composition and ownership structure variables on dividend payout policy in Saudi Arabian firms. In particular, it aims to determine the effect of board size, independence and meeting frequency, in addition to chief executive officer (CEO) duality, and state, institutional, managerial, family, and foreign ownership on both the propensity to pay dividends and dividend per share for Saudi-listed firms over the period 2016–2019.

The paper captures dividend policy with two measures, propensity to pay dividends and dividend per share, and employs a range of regression methods (logistic, probit, ordinary least squares (OLS) and random effects regressions) along with a two-stage least squares (2SLS) model for robustness to account for heteroscedasticity, serial correlation and endogeneity issues. The data set is a large panel of 280 Saudi-listed firms over the period 2016 to 2019.

The results underline the importance of board composition and the ownership structure in explaining variations in dividend policy across Saudi firms. More specifically, there is a positive relationship between the propensity to pay dividends and board-meeting frequency, institutional ownership, firm profitability and firm age, while the degree of board independence, firm size and leverage exhibit a negative relation. Further, dividend per share is positively related to board meeting frequency, institutional ownership, foreign ownership, firm profitability and age, while it is negatively related to CEO duality, managerial ownership, and firm leverage. There is no evidence that family ownership exerts an impact on dividend payout policy in Saudi firms. The findings of this study support agency, signalling, substitute and outcome theories of dividend policy.

This study offers an important insight into the board characteristic and ownership structure drivers of dividend policy in the context of an emerging market. Moreover, the study has important implications for firms, managers, investors, policymakers, and regulators in Saudi Arabia.

This paper contributes to the existing literature by providing evidence on four board and five ownership characteristic drivers of dividend policy in Saudi Arabia as an emerging stock market, thereby improving on less comprehensive previous studies. The study recommends that investors consider board composition and ownership structure characteristics of firms as key drivers of dividend policy when making stock investment decisions to inform them about the propensity of investee firms to pay dividends and maintain a given dividend policy.