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In this research, arbitrage opportunity is tested between the yield rates computed by the NSS model, and the computed forward rates between conventional and Islamic finance to see any arbitrage opportunity. The research questions are the conventional and Islamic finance yields at the same level and equal to each other to avoid arbitrage? Whether conventional and Islamic forward rates differ significantly and thus create any arbitrage opportunity. This study aims to find the presence or absence of arbitrage between conventional and Islamic finance yield rates.

The NSS model is the latest model in calculating yield and forward rates. In the method the error level is minimized so expected yield rate and given yield rate both converged (Vahidin and Anastasios, 2020). When they converged it gives the researchers all six months’ yield rates. For the Nelson Siegal method, all the six months’ yield rates are available and these yield rates can be used to compute the forward rates.

The authors concluded there is a significant difference between the conventional yield rate and the Islamic yield rate. It suggests that because there are significant differences, its suggest arbitrage is possible. So anyone interested in making a guaranteed profit. The conventional yield rates are lower; hence, anyone can borrow from the conventional finance system and invest the money in the Islamic financial system because investments are getting higher rates of income in the form of yield rate in Islamic Finance. So, one can make money because of this difference. Statistically, it is possible to make money, but practically, the authors observed the difference, however it is very meager. The arbitrage opportunity between Islamic finance and conventional finance will not affect the economy because the significant difference is too small. The disturbance in the arbitrage opportunity due to the values is very meager and insignificant.

This research does not address the derivative contracts’ role in risk management; future researchers could take up this as another research.

This research will be beneficial for financial institutions, especially institutional investors. Besides, this research will help the regulators and investment bankers in assisting where and future losses especially bond portfolios in conventional finance and Islamic finance. This study will also contribute and help the asset manager of mutual funds in the mutual fund industries.

In effect, this research will strengthen the financial system, capital market and bond market, derivative contracts such as options contracts, futures contracts, swap contracts and forward contracts will use computed forward rates for assessing future losses (value at risk [VaR]) and to hedge them (Balakrishnan, 2020).

As this topic is rarely studied it will increase the literature present in this domain.

The objective of this paper is to examine crop yield predictions and their implications on MPCI in Ghana. Farmers in developing countries struggle with their ability to deal with agricultural risks. Providing aid for farmers and their households remains instrumental in combatting poverty in Africa. Several studies have shown that correctly understanding and implementing risk management strategies will help in the poverty alleviation agenda.

This study examines the importance of crop yield distributions in Ghana and its implication on multiperil crop insurance (MPCI) rating using the Lasso regression model. A Bonferroni test was employed to test the independence of crop yields across the regions while the Kruskal-Wallis H test was conducted to examine statistical differences in mean yields of crops across the ten regions. The Bayesian information criteria and k-fold cross-validation methods are used to select an appropriate Lasso regression model for the prediction of crop yields. The study focuses on the variability of the threshold yields across regions based on the chosen model.

It is revealed that threshold yields differ significantly across the regions in the country. This implies that the payment of claims will not be evenly distributed across the regions, and hence regional disparities need to be considered when pricing MPCI products. In other words, policymakers may choose to assign respective weights across regions based on their threshold yields.

The primary limitation is the unavailability of regional climate data which could have helped in a better explanation of the variation across the regions.

This is the first study to examine the implications of regional crop yield variations on multiperil crop insurance rating in Ghana.

Ordinary direct capitalization is normally considered procyclical in its present form (De Lisle Grissom, 2011); for this reason, an alternative approach to direct capitalization may be useful in the determination of a robust opinion of value. The valuation standards propose an alternative determination of terminal value in the discounted cash flow analysis, recommending that for cyclical assets, the terminal value should consider … “the cyclical nature of the asset and should not be performed in a way that assumes “peak” or “trough” levels of cash flows in perpetuity” (IVS 105 Valuation Approaches and Methods para 50.21 lett e).

The introduction in International Valuation Standards (IVS) of Cyclical Assets raises several questions for the community of real estate professionals and academicians (IVS, 2022, 105 Valuation Approaches and Methods para 50.09 lett d). Cyclical assets can be defined as property whose value is “influenced by upturn and downturn of the market in a significant way” (d’Amato et al., 2019).

The paper proposes different solutions to the problem. The determination of the exit value using cyclical capitalization allows for a prudent assessment of the value and may be used either as a valuation procedure or a risk analysis method.

The valuation comparison with the traditional valuation techniques will be based on an iteration of exit value in order to determine the effects of the valuation procedure on the opinion of value.

The implication of the valuation procedure is the introduction of a countercyclical valuation method to determine the exit value in order to reach stable and reliable valuations for income-producing properties.

These models may have a social implication, providing valuation for income-producing properties that may deal with the property market cycle in a more efficient way, providing efficient valuation for banks and institutions.

The paper is the first application of such a valuation procedure to the determination of exit value.

This study is motivated in part by the fact that the unfolding 2022 bear market, which has reached the −25% drawdown, has not been preceded by the inverted 10Y-3 m spread or an inverted near-term forward spread.

The authors develop a three-factor probit model to predict/explain the deep stock market drawdowns, which the authors define as the drawdowns in excess of 20%.

The study results show that (1) the rising credit risk predicts a deep drawdown about a year in advance and (2) the monetary policy easing precedes an imminent drawdown below the 20% threshold.

This study three-factor probit model shows adaptability beyond the typical recessionary bear market and predicts/explains the liquidity-based selloffs, like the 2022 and possibly the 1987 deep drawdowns.

In recent years, there has been a growing trend of individuals willingly opting for employment positions that do not fully use their education, skills and abilities, a phenomenon known as voluntary overqualification. This study aims to investigate the factors that influence and the formation mechanism of this emerging phenomenon. Drawing upon social cognition theory, this study explores the relationship between work values and voluntary overqualification while also examining the mediating role of the future work self and the moderating role of perceived marketability.

This study used a longitudinal approach, collecting data through questionnaires administered at multiple time points. The sample consisted of 607 employees from various departments of five Chinese companies. Regression analysis using the PROCESS macro in SPSS was used to test the research hypotheses.

The results indicate a positive relationship between employees’ work values and voluntary overqualification. Furthermore, this relationship is mediated by the future work self. Additionally, perceived marketability plays a moderating intermediary role in the whole model.

This study contributes to the overqualification literature by introducing a novel type of overqualification and unveiling the mechanism by which work values influence voluntary overqualification. The findings provide insights for understanding and managing employees who are voluntarily overqualified.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) substantially lowered the corporate tax rate, making tax-exempt municipal bond issues less attractive investments for banks, savings and loan associations and insurance companies. To provide a benefit for small issuers the current Internal Revenue Code has a special provision that allows banks and S&Ls to deduct 80% of the borrowing costs for “bank-qualified” bonds – tax-exempt bonds from issuers who issue no more than $10 million in bonds during a year. This study examines whether the relationship between the true interest cost (TIC) on bank-qualified bonds and other tax-exempt bonds changed with the passage of the TCJA.

Using linear regression analysis this paper compares the TIC of bank-qualified bonds with the TIC of bonds not bank-qualified using a sample of bonds both before and after the passage of TCJA.

Prior to the passage of the TCJA, this study observes that these “bank-qualified” bond issues had a lower true interest cost than other tax-exempt bond issues; however, after passage of the TCJA, the difference in the true interest cost between “bank-qualified” bond issues and other tax-exempt bond issues dramatically decreased.

It appears that the benefit for small bond issuers is greatly reduced after corporate tax rates were significantly lowered. If federal lawmakers wish small issuers to have the same advantage over other tax-exempt municipal bond issuers after passage of TCJA, some changes will need to be made to the Internal Revenue Code to give small issuers an additional advantage when issuing tax-exempt debt.

No other empirical research to date has examined the impact of TCJA on bank-qualified bond issue interest cost.

To assess South Africa’s (SA’s) citrus export competitiveness in the global market and identify its macroeconomic drivers.

The Normalized Revealed Comparative Advantage (NRCA) index is employed to measure export competitiveness. An ARDL-EC model is then estimated to identify the macroeconomic determinants of SA’s citrus export competitiveness.

SA’s citrus export competitiveness declined before the mid-1990s and rose thereafter. On balance, the country improved from the fourth to the second most competitive citrus exporter. A long-run relationship was established between the NRCA scores and the real exchange rate and real GDP per capita growth rate. The export price exerted a positive short-run influence on citrus export competitiveness. The rise in SA’s citrus export competitiveness since the mid-1990s was mainly driven by the rising citrus export price and real exchange rate depreciation.

Future research could explore the determinants of SA’s export competitiveness using panel gravity models of bilateral trade flows to isolate the impact of macroeconomic variables and trade restricting/enhancing policies of importing countries.

The article employs the NRCA index, which can measure comparative advantage across space and over time. It is the first to econometrically estimate the macroeconomic determinants of citrus export competitiveness in SA. Application of the ARDL-EC framework yields both short- and long-run effects of macroeconomic variables on export competitiveness.

This paper applies novel techniques from the field of operations management to examine the allocation of patrol and investigative personnel to identify which is most effective in improving police performance around homicide clearance.

A panel sample of homicide clearance rates from the 100 largest US cities between 2000 and 2013 were analyzed in two steps: first, a random-effects regression model was performed to locate influential factors; second, optimum analysis was applied to locate the optimal values that yield maximal homicide clearance.

Both patrol and investigative personnel levels have a significant impact on homicide clearance. Maximal clearance can be achieved by allocating departmental personnel to investigative roles.

Given recent trends around “defunding” police and public sector austerity measures, future research should continue to explore the utility of optimum analysis for efficient allocation of policing personnel.

This study provides proof of concept for the use of optimum analysis in policing research.

The real estate industry has rapidly changed due to technological advances across residential and commercial real estate from the perspective of occupiers, investors, and service providers. Owners and buyers of properties have access to increasing information in the marketplace, including access to residential real estate platforms such as Zillow. Automated appraisals and artificial intelligence (AI) in the mortgage application process speed up home buying. Commercial real estate uses fintech to source deals, perform due diligence, and execute property management requests. This chapter includes a practitioner's view of the current and future information data needs, processes, and point solutions in the evolving technology landscape, including how tools such as ChatGPT apply. It concludes that the real estate fintech revolution has only begun, as data gaps in the real estate market require resolution before yielding better process automation and as the business model of real estate service providers shifts to strategic advisory roles.

Supply chain management has become critical in today’s globalized environment, with growingly intense competition on the international level. The particular characteristics of modern trade have led companies to globalize and devise increasingly sophisticated supply chains to meet customer demand worldwide. Motivated by the need to address these challenges, we have developed a new model for a global supply chain that incorporates uncertainties in exchange rates, demand fluctuations, and the quantity of produce.

The objective of the proposed model is to maximize supply chain profitability. Our model optimizes several critical decisions in the proposed global supply chain, including the location of domestic and foreign distribution centers, allocating the centers to customers, transportation mode selection, storage temperature, optimal farm purchase quantities, product flows across the network, and the shelf-life of products. Scenario-based stochastic programming approach is employed to account for the inherent uncertainties within the model. A pistachio supply chain is examined as a case study in this article, and the efficiency of the proposed model is demonstrated through computational results.

The model was solved using the CPLEX solver in GAMS and the results, the Sirjan DDC and Turkey FDC have been selected. In general, 40% of demand for customers from FDC (turkey) and 60% of demand from DDC (sirjan) is provided. Changes in the demand of foreign customers make the net profit more effective than changes in the demand for domestic customers. The decrease in exchange rate decreases the network profit with a higher slope and the increase in exchange rate will increase network profit with a relatively stable slope.

While research on GSCs for perishable products has been ongoing for several years, the importance of the subject necessitates continued investigation in this area. This paper aimed to address this gap by presenting an optimization model for designing GSCs for perishable products under uncertainty and with various transportation modes. The proposed model was designed with the aim of improving supply chain performance and real-world applicability.