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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.

Using a comprehensive sample from developed and emerging economies, this study aims to examine whether foreign institutional investors (FIIs) enhance the value of excess cash by constraining the potential self-appropriating managerial propensity related to its inefficient utilization.

This study uses a large panel data set of firms from 32 non-US countries from 2007 to 2018. Using data from COMPUSTAT Global and S&P Capital IQ, this study uses ordinary least squares regression with year- and firm-fixed effects for the baseline analysis. In addition, two-stage least squares with instrumental variable regression and propensity score matching approaches were used to address the potential endogeneity.

This study shows that FIIs significantly increase the value of excess cash holdings. The authors also found that the positive impact of FIIs is more significant when investors come from common-law countries with better governance and investor protection. Furthermore, in countries and firms with weaker governance controls, the relationship between FIIs and the value of excess cash is stronger, consistent with the institutional monitoring hypothesis. Collectively, the findings imply that FIIs are advantageous to investees because they effectively promote the efficient deployment of corporate resources.

Collectively, the findings of this study imply that FIIs are advantageous to investees because they effectively promote the efficient deployment of corporate resources.

This study offers new evidence on how FIIs impact the value of excess cash in an international setting. In addition, it highlights the significance of the legal origin of institutional investors’ home country and the governance quality of host countries and investee firms in influencing the effect of foreign institutional monitoring on the value of excess cash.

Knowing the students' readiness for the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is essential to producing competent, knowledgeable and skilled graduates who can contribute to the skilled workforce in the country. This will assist the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to ensure that their graduates own skill sets needed to work in the 4IR era. However, studies on students' readiness and preparedness for the 4IR in developing countries such as the Sultanate of Oman are still lacking. Therefore, this study investigates students' readiness level and preparedness for the 4IR. The findings of this study will benefit the HEIs policymakers, administration, faculties, departments, industries and society at large since they will be informed of the student's readiness and preparedness toward industry 4.0.

The authors adopted the measures from the same context as previous studies in this study. The questionnaire was divided into three sections; the first part described the purpose and introduction of the search with the surety to keep the data confidential. The second part consisted of demographical information like gender, education. The last parts consisted of four subsections, question items in these parts are based on the related previous study. Characteristics consisted of 14 items, knowledge consisted of 18 items related to 4IR technologies, Organizational Dimension comprised of four items related to academic programs, curriculum and training. Preparedness contained two items. The participants have rated all the items in 5-Likert scale.

Results from structural equation modeling showed that students' characteristics, knowledge of 4IR technologies and organizational dimensions significantly impact their preparedness for the 4IR. The study also found that organizational dimensions have the highest impact on students' preparedness. Furthermore, the organizational dimension significantly influences students' knowledge of 4IR technology. Moreover, students' characteristics related to 4IR are significantly affected by their knowledge of 4IR technology and organizational dimension. The findings suggest that HEIs are responsible for increasing the adoption of 4IR, and therefore organizational dimensions such as the academic programs, training, technological infrastructure and others are all critical for preparing students for a better future and should be given a priority.

This study has used academic programs and training to measure the organizational dimension. However, other important factors should be considered, such as technological infrastructure and leadership and governance of HEIs. Second, the current research depends on quantitative data, so future research should implement a mixed methodology (questionnaires, depth interviews, document analysis and focus group) to understand the factors affecting students' readiness for 4IR clearly. Finally, although the 4IR has numerous benefits, it also has challenges in its implementation, so future studies should focus on challenges encountered by different stakeholders in implementing 4IR-related technologies.

The curriculum must include mandatory courses related to IT infrastructure design, user experience programming, electronic measurement and control principles, and programming for data science. HEIs should also foster interdisciplinary knowledge by integrating IT, Engineering, Business and Sciences. Furthermore, the HEIs should develop their infrastructure to have smart campuses, labs, classrooms and libraries to make HEIs a space where knowledge can be generated and innovative solutions can be proposed. This entails HEIs offering necessary hardware, software and technical support because if the HEIs improve their technological resources, students will be capable of using 4IR-related technologies effectively.

The advancement of technology has resulted in the emergence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, robotics, cloud computing, data science, virtual reality and 3D printing. It is essential to investigate students' readiness for 4IR. However, there is no study as per researchers' knowledge talked about students readiness in HEIs in the Arab world. This study could be a basis for more research on students' perception of the 4IR covering students from various backgrounds and levels.