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The paper aims to study the applicability of Lefebvre's everyday life theory “production of space” in Sheraton's in-between spaces upon local residents' daily practices. Space as Lefebvre said is a result and cause, product and producer. Sheraton District, Cairo comprises lots of underutilized spaces between buildings. The in-between spaces have great potentials for accommodating diverse activities. The present study addresses the phenomenon of in-between spaces in this district. It is argued that in-between spaces can be developed to realize better functional and symbolic values, as the users attach special meanings based on users' everyday living.

The study adopts a qualitative approach to investigate the above relationship on the mentioned district. The study devises direct observation to investigate people's behavioral patterns in such appropriated areas to analyze them in the light of preceding literature.

The study concludes that people's everyday practices could re-invent the in-between spaces by realizing new functions and meanings in dynamic and creative ways. That experience can apply to other underutilized spaces in the district and the city toward improving the built environment and the quality of residents' life.

Finally, it is important to note that the findings of the study are limited to the studied context. Undertaking similar studies to other in-between spaces in Cairo, in other Egyptian cities or other countries may yield different findings. It may be equally interesting to study the means of adaptation in other underutilized urban spaces, such as those found underneath bridges, underneath buildings and on the rooftops.

The main aim of the present study is to examine the impact of everyday practices on the appropriation of a transformed in-between space in the aforementioned district, and the extent to which that may improve in-between spaces' role toward the local community, in order to promote such approach for developing many underutilized in-between spaces in the area. Toward realizing this goal, the study begins with a theoretical background about everyday life. Then, the paper addresses the theory of space appropriation. The outcome is then empirically investigated in relation to one transformed in-between space in Sheraton District, Cairo.

This paper examines the effect of political connections (PCs) on firms' profitability and market value in the Egyptian market after the uprising of 2013.

An empirical study is conducted based on 284 firm-year observations for non-financial listed firms on the EGX100 during the period of 2014–2017. To test the study’s hypothesis, two independent sample t-test, Pearson correlation analysis and ordinary least square (OLS) regressions are conducted.

The results suggest that PCs are common across all industries in Egypt, the PCs through top officers do not improve firm's profitability; however, it has a positive effect on firms' market value. Further, PCs through business owners improve neither profitability nor the market value. Finally, the results suggest that PCs through government ownership have a positive effect on both firms' profitability and market value.

The study’s finding encourages policymakers and regulators in emerging markets, e.g. Egypt, to develop stricter laws, policies and regulatory initiatives to restrain the potential conflict of interest in the politically connected firms.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is one of the first to examine the relationship between PCs and both firms’ profitability and market value in Egypt.

How can we account for patterns of mobilization undertaken by ethnic movements? What leads ethnic collectives to shift between mobilization strategies? Addressing the general lack of attention in the ethnic conflict literature to the diverse political strategies employed by ethnic minorities – particularly those in democratic and semi-democratic contexts, this chapter accounts for mobilization as developing along an institutional spectrum of ethnic contention. I argue that the internal dynamics of ethnic movements shape patterns of mobilization. Utilizing literature from new institutionalism and employing the approach advanced by the study of contentious politics, ethnic movements are theorized as developing through the interplay of three causal mechanisms, which combine to form processes of institutionalization and deinstitutionalization. The process of deinstitutionalization is explored through the case of the mobilization of the Palestinian citizens of Israel, tracing the development of the three causal mechanisms and their influence on the collective’s mobilization pattern. The chapter concludes by considering the range of movements that can be explored along the institutional spectrum.

This paper aims to identify the impact of Clans and parties on mobilizing and guiding voters in the municipal elections in Palestine, from the point of view of Municipal Council members, especially the municipal elections in Hebron governorate for 2005 and 2017. The Palestinian society in Hebron governorate is characterized by the penetration of parties and clans, and this governorate is one of the most clan-based Palestinian provinces. It also relies on clans to run its social and political system as well as managing and shaping the guiding of its citizens.

The quantitative research method was used in this study, and the study population is consisted of members of the municipal councils in Hebron governorate, especially the councils classified (A, B).Whereas, the municipalities classified under category (A) are the ones in the center of the governorate, and the municipalities classified under category (B) are the most in the population. The study depended on a purposive sample of (200) Municipal Council members, including 100 municipal councilors in 2005 and 100 municipal councilors in 2017. The survey was conducted in the academic year (2018–2019). The method Four–Jurors (Reviewers) was used in collecting data.

The results of the study showed that clans and political parties are among the most prominent means of mobilizing and guiding voters in Palestine. The field study indicated thact clans and parties had a high impact on the mobilization and guiding of voters in the municipal elections in Hebron governorate in 2005 and 2017. This is due to the unity of the clan, its association with political parties and the overlapping between the clan and the party. Parties have also penetrated the Palestinian society besides its support to people who are loyal even it did not choose them in the elections. Moreover, many members of the electoral blocs are attributing themselves to the parties to gain their support in elections. Although Hamas did not participate in the 2017 elections, it had an impact on the electoral process by guiding its members not to elect Fatah blocs in the elections, or to support those who are close to this movement.

This study can be regarded as an introduction to identify the impact of clans and parties on mobilizing and guiding voters in the municipal elections in Palestine. Comparing that effect between the 2005 and 2017 elections, to find out how the strength of clans and parties differs in guiding their voters depending on the time period, as well as the ability of clans and parties to make political change by its influence on the political participation of its citizens.

This study explores the relationship between leverage and earnings management in the context of Palestinian-listed companies, while also investigating whether audit industry specialization influences this relationship.

The data used in this study are extracted from public financial reports of 39 firms listed on Palestine Stock Exchange (PEX), spread across the service, insurance, industry and investment sectors, for the time period 2011–2022. A model is developed to test 4 hypotheses about the relationships between long-term and short-term debts, and earnings management, and then to examine the influence of audit industry specialization on these relationships.

The results depict a significant, negative relationship between long-term debt and earnings management. Whereas the association between short-term debt and earnings management is insignificant. Audit industry specialization is proven to have no influence on the relationships between the independent and the dependent variables. Results are robust for firms that changed their accounting policies and using different audit industry specialization proxies.

The association between leverage and earnings management is a significant research topic, given that previous research identifies credit ratings and debt covenant violations as key factors which motivate earnings management. This paper fills a substantial research gap by examining the relationship between the two variables in the context of Palestinian-listed firms, while emphasizing the distinction between long-term and short-term debts. It also highlights key relationships that have been neglected in this particular context, which adds to the body of literature. Furthermore, the research's findings provide a solid information base that is of great interest to accounting and auditing experts and that may be seriously evaluated to support and advance the PEX sector.

The current research inspects the moderation role of ownership concentration on chief executive officer (CEO) characteristics and real earnings management (REM) relationship in Jordan.

Driscoll–Kraay regressions were run using data from 348 firm-year observations for companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange between 2013 and 2018.

Driscoll–Kraay regressions demonstrate that CEO experience, tenure and political connections improve REM practices. Ownership concentration diminishes and limits REM practices when combined with CEO experience, tenure and political connections, since all three have a negative and significant link with REM.

Initial constraints include the study’s lack of generalisability due to a small number of CEO-related parameters. Second, critics of the ideal model for judging EM have a foreseeable flaw. No generally accepted model is perfect.

This study’s conclusions are crucial for industry participants, including companies, policymakers, investors and the general public. These findings will help investors, practitioners and regulators understand that businesses with significant ownership concentrations and experienced CEOs have superior earnings and low REM practises.

The findings of this study have an optimistic impact on the existing body of knowledge. The current literature has yet to properly inspect the moderation role that ownership concentration has on the connotation between CEO characteristics and EM.

Despite several research studies in both developed and developing nations, ownership concentration has been almost virtually neglected. The current study could fill a hole in earlier research, rendering it a novel study.

This paper aims to examine the extent to which real earnings management (REM) is used in Jordan to meet zero or previous year's earnings, and how this impacts the subsequent operating performance of Jordanian firms.

The study used a sample of 98 Jordanian listed firms over the 2010–2018 period. To test the research hypotheses, which are formulated in accordance with both, agency theory and signalling theory, multivariate regression is performed using a pooled OLS estimation. Additionally, a two-step dynamic generalised method of moment (GMM) model has been estimated to address any concerns regarding the potential occurrence of endogeneity issues.

The results show that Jordanian firms that meet zero or last year's earnings tend to exhibit evidence of real activities manipulations. More specifically, suspect firms show unusually low abnormal discretionary expenses and unusually high abnormal production costs. Further, consistent with the signalling earnings management argument, the authors find that abnormal real-based activities intended to meet zero earnings or previous year's earnings potentially improve the subsequent operating performance of Jordanian firms. This implies that REM is not totally opportunistic, but it can be used to enhance the subsequent operating performance of Jordanian firms. Our findings are robust to alternative proxies and endogeneity concerns.

The findings have several implications for policymakers, regulators, audit professionals and investors in their attempts to constrain REM practices to enhance financial reporting quality in Jordan. Managing earnings by reducing discretionary expenses appeared to be the most convenient way to manipulate earnings in Jordan. It provides flexibility in terms of time and the amount of spending. The empirical evidence, therefore, reiterates the crucial necessity to refocus the efforts of internal and external auditors on limiting this type of manipulation to reduce the occurrence of REM activities and enhance the subsequent operating performance of listed firms in Jordan. Drawing on Al-Haddad and Whittington (2019), the evidence also urges regulators and standards setters to develop a more effective enforcement mechanism for corporate governance provisions in Jordan to minimise the likelihood of REM incidence.

This study contributes to the body of the accounting literature by providing the first empirical evidence in the Middle East region overall on the use of REM to meet zero or previous year earnings by Jordanian firms. Moreover, the study is the first to empirically examine the relationship between REM and Jordanian firms' future operating performance.

This study seeks to empirically examine the influence of corporate governance on corporate performance in Ghana.

The study employs data from 30 listed firms spanning from 2008 to 2018 and applies the generalized method of moments technique. The authors use economic value added, shareholder value added (SVA) and economic margin (EM) as measures of corporate performance.

The findings reveal that the presence of both inside directors and outside (nonexecutive) directors significantly improves corporate performance, lending credence to both the stewardship theory and the agency theory. The inclusion of women on the corporate boards and frequent meetings of the board reduce the economic profits of firms. The authors find that CEO duality impedes corporate performance, supporting the presumption of the agency theory. The study further reveals that audit committee size and ownership concentration positively drive the performance of quoted firms in Ghana.

Prior studies on corporate governance and firm performance nexus have chiefly adopted traditional accounting-based performance measures such as return on assets and return on equity to evaluate firm performance. However, these indicators are critiqued for being historic and fail to consider firms' cost of equity. In light of the shortcomings of the accounting-based proxies, this study takes a unique direction by using value-based metrics, which are considered superior measures of performance. Besides, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this study provides a first attempt to investigate the link between corporate governance and firm performance using SVA and EM as performance indicators.

In recent years, mandatory rules and regulations were issued to stress the importance of increasing gender diversity in companies, assuming that gender diversity would enhance financial performance. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to review recent research concerning board gender diversity and its impact on financial performance for the period of 2002 to 2022.

Using the Web of Science and Scopus databases, 152 studies were analyzed, out of 91 high-impact journals. The analysis focuses on discussing the moderating, mediating and controlling variables and exploring the theories and theoretical foundations that are most prevalent in the literature.

The findings indicated an incompatibility between the results of the studies on the impact of gender diversity on financial performance. In addition, results showed the majority of studies focused on discussing the controlling variables associated with the company compared to the variables related to employees or the surrounding environment. On the other hand, the results also showed widespread use of the theoretical basis with the development of new theories in the recent period in parallel with the increase in the literature.

The results of this study help to reconcile the findings of the different and conflicting literature by presenting the perception that the efficacy of the positive impact of gender diversity on financial performance is related to several organizational and environmental factors that companies have to consider.