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Extensive macro- and micro-economics research has been conducted on China's tax reform, which replaced business tax with value-added tax (VAT). However, existing studies have not clarified the reform's impact on firm-level investment decisions. Hence, this study explored the effect of replacing business tax with VAT on firms' investment efficiency.

The study used 2010–2018 data from China's A-share listed companies and a difference-in-differences (DID) model to explore the effect of the reform on firm-level investment decisions.

The authors found that China's tax reform has improved investment efficiency in underinvested firms, increased liquidity and decreased the level of reliance on external financing. The tax reform had a greater effect on investment efficiency in firms with lower liquidity and higher external financing reliance. Its effect was also more significant among non-state-owned and small companies.

This study fills the aforementioned research gap by exploring the effects of China's tax reform, thus providing a theoretical reference and a basis for policymaking.

This study aims to examine the impacts of environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure and financial reporting quality (FRQ) on investment efficiency.

Several econometric models have been applied to estimate the impacts of ESG disclosure and FRQ on investment efficiency, using the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a sample in 2010–2019. Estimations considered subsamples of underinvestment, overinvestment and low and high FRQ values.

Empirical results show a positive relationship between ESG disclosure, FRQ and investment efficiency, and that this relationship is more important in the underinvestment and high FRQ sub-samples. Results suggest that ESG disclosure improves transparency, mitigates information asymmetry and enhances investment efficiency.

The findings could help UAE regulators incorporate ESG information into reporting and implement effective mechanisms to increase the extent of ESG information to improve investment efficiency. This study only examined UAE traded companies. Future research should investigate other factors influencing investment efficiency and conduct comparative studies across Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

This study reveals the significant positive impact of ESG disclosure and FRQ on investment efficiency. These findings will help companies optimize their ESG information disclosure, improve the quality of their financial reports and comply with ESG standards. The study aims to develop knowledge that will not only benefit companies regarding the potential impact of ESG disclosure but also help national and international society create a better social environment and reduce climate change.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the relationship between ESG disclosure, FRQ and corporate investment efficiency. The research contributes to understanding the financial impacts of ESG disclosure and FRQ and supports regulators’ efforts to enforce ESG disclosure and improve FRQ.

This study aims to examine the effect of corporate risk disclosure on investment efficiency. This study also seeks to contribute to existing literature of corporate risk disclosure by investigating voluntary and mandatory risk disclosure and its effect on the investment efficiency.

This study used two measures of corporate risk disclosure, level and quantity of corporate risk disclosure. A content analysis approach is adopted for non-financial Malaysian firms over the period 2010–2018.

The empirical results show that level of corporate risk disclosure leads toward efficient investment, whereas quantity of corporate risk disclosure causes inefficient investment when firms disclose more voluntary risks. Further, categorizing corporate risk disclosure into mandatory and voluntary risk disclosure, this study finds that voluntary risk disclosure tends to have higher investment inefficiency, while no evidence was found for mandatory risk disclosure.

This paper contributes to narrow stream of research investigating corporate risk disclosure through level and quantity contributing to the understanding of the level and quantity of risk disclosure in determining organizational investment efficiency.

Internal capital markets of diversified firms have been associated with inefficient allocation of investment funds across divisions, leading to value losses. Utilizing a sample of diversified firms that adopted or eliminated Residual Income (RI) plans between 1990 and 2009, we show that adoptions of these plans mitigate investment distortions and lead to value gains. Following the adoption of RI plans, diversified firms start allocating investment funds based on growth opportunities of their divisions. RI plan adopters lower their divisional investment levels, especially in segments with below-average growth opportunities. The overall investment allocation efficiency improves, and the diversification discount diminishes after the adoption of RI plans. However, RI plans appear to be used only as temporary tools for assessing corporate performance. The plans are adopted primarily by firms expected to immediately generate plan bonuses for management, and they are frequently eliminated by firms with bad accounting performance and low managerial bonuses. The study contributes to the literature on organizational efficiency, internal capital markets, and on the importance of measures based on economic profits or RI.

Purpose – This study examines whether a firm’s investment efficiency is impacted by having an outside director who experiences investment efficiency at one of his/her other board seats.

Methodology – Archival data is used to examine the research question.

Findings – The results indicate that firms have higher levels of investment efficiency when they have an outside director who also sits on the board of another firm that has high investment efficiency. The result is most prevalent for the subsample of firms with a powerful CEO or with low information quality.

Implications – An implication of this finding is that boards may look to the investment-related experiences that a director has through his/her other board service when deciding to add a new director. Moreover, the results imply that firms will know to look for these informed directors when they have information problems or a powerful CEO.

Originality/Value – Investments require a firm to determine how it will allocate resources. Such important decisions require management to obtain the approval of the board of directors. This paper reveals that the investment-related experience that the directors obtain from their other board service is associated with efficient investment outcomes at the home firm.

This study aims to examine the joint effect of accounting background and cross-membership of Islamic Supervisory Board (ISB) members on bank investment efficiency.

This study uses data collected from 36 Islamic banks across 15 countries globally, spanning the period from 2012 to 2021. This research uses an ordinary least squares regression and a comprehensive set of endogeneity and robustness tests.

The findings show a negative relationship between the accounting background of ISB members and investment efficiency. However, when ISB members with accounting backgrounds also have ISB cross-memberships, the banks exhibit high investment efficiency. These results suggest that ISB cross-membership plays a crucial role in facilitating Islamic banks’ access to timely information on investment opportunities. This enables ISB members with accounting expertise to thoroughly assess the benefits and risks associated with their investment prospects. These findings imply that ISB members with accounting backgrounds and cross-memberships have greater motivation and thoughtful considerations for making better investment decisions. Consequently, Islamic banks are better positioned to undertake high profitable investment projects, which enhance their investment efficiency.

The current study holds immense value for Islamic bank management in their selection of ISB members who possess an accounting background and cross-membership.

This study delves into a comprehensive investigation of the proficiency, underlying principles and unique characteristics exhibited by ISB members with an accounting background. Moreover, this study acknowledges the burgeoning global prominence of Islamic banks.

In this study, the authors explore the association between employee education level and the efficiency of corporate investment using data from a sample of Chinese listed firms during the period from 2011 to 2018. By examining the impact of education on investment efficiency, the authors' study provides valuable insights that contribute to a deeper understanding of the underlying economic mechanisms related to education.

The authors conduct multivariate regression analyses to examine the relationship between investment efficiency (following Richardson, 2006) and the level of employee education, along with a series of control variables. To ensure the reliability of the authors' findings, the authors subject the their results to a comprehensive set of robustness tests, such as a staggered difference-in-difference (DiD) regression approach, an instrumental variable (IV) method and the use of alternative employee education level and investment efficiency measurements.

The findings offer compelling evidence that higher levels of education have a positive impact on firms' investment efficiency, and this effect remains robust across various model specifications and endogeneity considerations. Moreover, the influence of education is more pronounced in firms that prioritize employee training, maintain effective internal communication and offer attractive financial rewards. Furthermore, the results suggest that the relationship between education and investment efficiency is influenced by the firms' business nature and competitive environment. Factors such as business complexity, labor intensity and business location also play a role in shaping the impact of education on investment outcomes.

The study emphasizes the crucial role of education in influencing investment decisions and performance within firms. By delving into this previously unexplored area, the authors' research contributes to the existing literature, establishing that the level of employee education is a significant determinant of corporate investment efficiency. This valuable insight has substantial implications for firms aiming to enhance their investment decision-making processes and overall performance. Understanding the positive impact of education on investment efficiency can empower organizations to leverage their human capital effectively and achieve better investment outcomes, ultimately contributing to long-term success and competitiveness in the market.

This study examines whether and how the legal origin of foreign institutional investors (FIIs) impacts corporate investment efficiency.

The study employs a large panel dataset of firms from 32 non-USA countries from 2005 to 2018. Financial and institutional ownership data are obtained from the COMPUSTAT Global and Public Ownership databases in S&P Capital IQ, respectively. The study employed ordinary least squares (OLS) regression with year and firm fixed effects. In addition, two-stage least squares with instrumental variable regression (2SLS-IV) and propensity score matching (PSM) approaches were employed to address the potential endogeneity.

The findings of this study suggest that common- and civil-law FIIs differ in their monitoring capabilities to promote investment efficiency. The authors find evidence that increased equity ownership by common-law FIIs, not civil-law investors, strengthens the investment-Q sensitivity, resulting in higher investment efficiency. Consistent with the monitoring and information channel, the results further indicate that the positive impact of common-law FIIs on investment efficiency is stronger in host environments susceptible to agency conflicts and information asymmetry.

This study offers novel evidence on the heterogeneous monitoring role of FIIs with regard to their home countries' legal origins and their impact on investment efficiency in an international context.

Owing to the importance of the investment behavior in China, the purpose of this paper is to find the influence of executive network and government governance on investment efficiency.

The paper use China’s listed companies as sample to make an investment efficiency determinant model.

In this article, the authors find that larger executive network and higher government governance will lead to more corporate investment efficient. Furthermore, the informal institution – executive network, is not only an effective way to alleviate financing constraints, but also can solve underinvestment problem. While the improvement of local government governance can provide institutional protection, it will also be more conducive to restrain overinvestment behavior.

The authors have not explored conduction path. Especially, the authors have not examined whether information spillover effect or the release of resources constraints in executive network plays a more important role to ease investment insufficient.

Under the Chinese circumstance, relationship governance can not only promote companies to improve investment efficiency, but also provide an important guarantee for sustained macroeconomic growth.

Improving the energy efficiency of the existing residential building stock has been identified as a key policy aim in many countries. The purpose of this paper is to review the extant literature on investment decisions in domestic energy efficiency and presents a model that is both grounded in microeconomic theory and empirically tractable.

This study develops a modified and extended version of an existing microeconomic model to embed the retrofit investment decision in a residential property market context, taking into account tenants’ willingness to pay and cost-reducing synergies. A simple empirical test of the link between energy efficiency measures and housing market dynamics is then conducted.

The empirical data analysis for England indicates that where house prices are low, energy efficiency measures tend to increase the value of a house more in relative terms compared to higher-priced regions. Second, where housing markets are tight, landlords and sellers will be successful even without investing in energy efficiency measures. Third, where wages and incomes are low, the potential gains from energy savings make up a larger proportion of those incomes compared to more affluent regions. This, in turn, acts as a further incentive for an energy retrofit. Finally, the UK government has been operating a subsidy scheme which allows all households below a certain income threshold to have certain energy efficiency measures carried out for free. In regions, where a larger proportion of households are eligible for these subsidies,the authors also expect a larger uptake.

While the financial metrics of retrofit measures are by now well understood, most of the existing studies tend to view these investments in isolation, not as part of a larger bundle of considerations by landlords and owners of how energy retrofits might influence a property’s rent, price and appreciation rate. In this paper, the authors argue that establishing this link is crucial for a better understanding of the retrofit investment decision.