Tasawar Nawaz

The notion that female directors are better disposed to protect shareholders’ interests has brought boardroom gender diversity into the limelight. Echoing these emerging trends, this paper analyzes the relationship between board gender diversity, i.e., proportion of female directors on the corporate board, and Chief Executive Officer’s (CEO) compensation. Consistent with conjecture, the analysis suggests that large and diversified corporate boards are the main determinants of CEO compensation. Furthermore, longer-tenured CEOs who also serve as board chairperson receive higher total compensation and bonuses than their counterparts do. Into the bargain are corporate performance proxied by return of assets (ROA) and firm attributes, i.e., firm size and institutional ownership, which have divergent but direct implications for CEO compensation.

This paper explores the role of social capital in contributing to the success of a new breed of organizations known as ‘blank check companies’ or special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) that are set up solely to target and acquire listed companies as a fast-track route to gain listing status in the stock market. The paper is a case study of Pershing Square Holdings Ltd., St. Peter Port, UK (PSH), which launched SPAC IPOs (Initial Public Offerings), Pershing Square Tontine Holdings Ltd., New York, NY, USA (PSTH), which succeeded in raising the largest capital from influential investors in 2020. Social capital theory is employed to provide theoretical structure for the analysis. Using annual reports, publicly available information on the internet, as well as social media platforms related to the company and its strategy, the authors critically analyse and highlight how the Tontine’s founder and his team utilized their structural, relational, and cognitive social capital to attract investors and gained recognition as the most successful SPAC IPO in the market in 2020. The authors found the ability to structure a SPAC IPO that departs from a typical SPAC, and the choice of timing to enter the SPAC market resulted in an over subscription and higher market valuation ratings of its IPO, as well as allowed the sponsor to be selective of its investors. This is the first study to address the significance of social capital at the individual and organizational level in creating value for SPAC IPOs. Potential investors can gain understanding and insights on the mechanics of SPAC IPOs and the importance of the founder’s social capital in ensuring successful investment. Successful SPAC IPOs will create interest in the marketplace and enhance the value of investment for investors and helped private companies to get listed faster.

This article empirically examines the nexuses between corporate governance, intangible resources, CEO traits, and financial performance. In contrast to prior research, this study examines these relationships in a longitudinal manner focusing on Deutsche Bank for the 1957–2019 period. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first of its kind. Based on a novel hand collected dataset, our analysis suggests a significant positive relationship between intangible assets i.e., intellectual capital efficiency and financial performance measured by, return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE). Our results further suggest that human capital efficiency drive the financial performance of Deutsche Bank at all times especially, during the economic malaise periods, suggesting that human capital is the main source of profitability for the Deutsche Bank. Additional results suggest that larger board size diminishes the impact of intangible resources on financial performance when the former CEO assumes board's chairmanship. Finally, our results suggest that CEO's education quality is an important determinant of financial performance during the crisis. Results observed in this study have important economic and policy implications for banks operating in the similar environments.

This article analyses the impact of chief executive officer's (CEO) educational background, that is, business degree (an MBA) on corporate strategies. In essence, the study tests how differences in educational backgrounds, MBACEOs vis‐à‐vis non‐MBACEOs, determine their strategic choices pertaining to financial inclusion. The study evaluates this relationship in the third‐sector, faith‐based charity organizations (FCOs) context. Using a longitudinal sample of FCOs operating in a developing Muslim‐majority country, this paper reports that CEO's educational background, that is, an MBA degree matters for financial inclusion. These findings demonstrate how CEO's educational background shape the strategic posture of third‐sector organizations such as the FCOs. Additionally, the interaction effects further suggest that MBACEOs derive their imputes from robust sutural positions within the organization such as role duality, founder and internally hired CEO status. Results reported in this study have import economic and policy implications.

This paper empirically investigates whether intellectual capital (IC) and shariah governance jointly affect the economic performance of Islamic banks (IBs). In contrast to prior research, this paper disaggregate IC and corporate governance features and examine whether the two are jointly related to economic performance. These relationships are further explored before, during and after the financial crisis based on a sample of 64 Islamic banks operating in different regions during the period 2007–2014. The required data to calculate different constituents of IC efficiency and governance mechanism is hand collected from 512 annual reports. After controlling for other corporate governance and bank‐specific characteristics (operational type, bank size, listing status, risk, type of auditor, accounting standard and region), we find both intellectual capital efficiency and shariah governance proxies (size and dominance of prominent scholars of shariah supervisory board) to have a significant positive relationship with accounting measure of performance. However, based on market performance measure, only one proxy for shariah governance mechanism, that is, prominent scholars on SSB, is found to be significant but in the negative direction. These results provide important insights into the relationship between IC efficiency, corporate governance and performance in Islamic banking business model and have policy and practical implications.

Financial inclusion has become a subject of growing interest for academics, professionals, and policy-makers in recent times. Researchers stress the importance of financial inclusion and highlight the significant role of financial institutions, such as banks, in promoting financial inclusion. Therefore, it is imperative to analyse the role and commitment of banks in promoting financial inclusion, especially those financial institutions (i.e., Islamic banks) which came into existence to promote socio-economic justice through redistribution of wealth in society. The study is built on the argument that Islamic banking business model is based on intangible sources i.e., Shari’ah law and such sources are exploited to create value i.e., stability, profitability and financial inclusion. The empirical analysis support the hypothesis that Islamic banks utilize various tangible and non-tangible resources to promote financial inclusion. Hence, Islamic banks are serving as the ultimate source of financial inclusion in the society.

This paper empirically examines the impact of intellectual capital (IC) and Shariah governance on economic performance of 47 Islamic banks (IBs) operating in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region in pre- and post-financial crisis period. The analysis suggests that higher IC efficiency helps IBs to improve their odds of survival at all times i.e. before- and after-crisis. Further, higher IC efficiency helps IBs to maintain their profitability i.e. ROA and market valuation i.e. Tobin’s Q at all times. Arguably, knowledge-resources i.e. IC is the main line of defence for IBs against negative shocks. Lastly, the study reveals that Shariah governance alone may fall short in explaining the growth trends in Islamic finance industry. Keywords: Intellectual Capital; Shariah Governance; Financial Crisis; Islamic Worldview; Economic Performance.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the effect of intangible resources, i.e. intellectual capital (IC) on financial performance of 64 Islamic financial institutions (IFIs) operating in 18 different countries for the period 2007-2011, while controlling for firm-specific variables, namely, bank size, level of risk, listing status, and firm complexity.Design/methodology/approach: The required data to calculate different constituents of IC are derived from Bankscope database. Value Added Intellectual Coefficient (VAIC) methodology devised by Pulic is used to determine the impact of IC on financial performance of IFIs.Findings: Results indicate a significant positive relationship between VAIC and accounting performance based on return on assets (ROA). The results further indicate a significant positive relationship between accounting performance and capital employed efficiency (CEE) and human capital efficiency (HCE), but no significant relationship with regards to structural capital efficiency. Overall, the results suggest that value creation capability of IFIs is highly influenced by HCE and CEE.Research limitations/implications: The main limitation of the present study lies in its methodological tool, the VAIC methodology, which has been criticized by some researchers as not really measuring IC. Despite the inherent limitation of the VAIC methodology which relies on secondary data published in annual reports, it is still considered by some researchers as one of the best available tool to measure firms’ IC in the absence of access to detailed internal information on IC.Practical implications: The findings may serve as a useful input for Islamic bankers in managing their investments in IC within their institutions.Originality/value: The main contribution of this paper is to use a previously little-studied area, Islamic banking and finance, to identify the effect of intellectual capital on performance.