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The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of trade credit on the speed of adjustment (SOA) of short-term leverage. Bankruptcy cost is higher for over-levered firms, generating a good incentive to use trade credit as a lower cost substitute; hence, firms adjust capital more quickly.

Firm-level data are used from five countries, in two different economic orientations, during the period 2000–2017: bank-oriented economies include France, Germany and Japan, and market-oriented economies include the UK and the USA. First, using the two-step GMM the study estimates the target short-term leverage ratio. Then, it examines the impact of trade credit on the SOA of the actual leverage towards the target leverage ratio.

It finds a positive impact of a low amount of trade credit (high capacity) on the SOA for over-levered firms. This is in line with the substitution effect, where the bankruptcy cost is higher for over-levered firms, which leads them to substitute bank loans with trade credit.

The study uses data from publicly traded firms; data from non-listed and small firms may be considered as a good opportunity for future research.

The policy implication that can be derived from the empirical results is that firms’ management should recognise the relationship between trade credit and deviation from target short-term leverage. During periods of high short-term leverage firms should use trade credit as a source of finance when adjusting the short-term leverage towards the target ratio.

This study is the first to examine the influence of trade credit on the SOA.

This paper aims to test for a potential target accounts payable ratio and the determinants of accounts payable ratio.

The author use data from 104 firms over the period 2000-2014 and analyse these data using the system-generalised method of moments methodology.

The author find that Jordanian firms have a target accounts payable ratio and more than 65 per cent of the deviation from target is closed within a year. He find a positive impact of growth, positive growth and supply of credit on the accounts payable ratio. Furthermore, large firms use less trade credit to finance their purchases.

A number of limitations affect this study to be considered in future research. Future researchers could cover longer period of time. To generalise the results, non-listed firms may be included in the sample.

In addition to extending the finance literature, this study has managerial implications regarding trade credit policy. There is strong evidence that the trade credit policy is affected by firm’s access towards capital market funds. Thus, regulators and policy maker should bear in mind that the banking system should help firms to achieve their target accounts payable ratio. In addition, firm’s management should be aware of the importance of trade credit to finance sales growth. All of these results should assist firm managers to find the factors that affect the target accounts payable ratio, which ultimately may affect the firm value and performance.

To the best of author’s knowledge, this is the first study on the partial adjustment model and determinants of accounts payable in Jordan. Thus, the authors aim to contribute to the existing literature, as there are very few studies test for target trade credit policy.

This paper aims to explore the extent of corporate social responsibility disclosure (hereafter CSRD) in Jordan and also examine whether ownership structure, board of directors and audit committee characteristics influence CSRD.

The extent of CSRD is measured by constructing a CSRD index for industrial firms listed on the Amman Stock Exchange from 2016 to 2021. Panel regression analysis is used to examine the potential effect of ownership structure, board of directors and audit committee on the level of CSRD.

This study provides empirical evidence that diverse groups of shareholders have different effects on CSR engagement, and board characteristics (board size, board independence and gender diversity) play a vital role in increasing voluntary disclosure, including CSR information. There is no evidence to support that CSRD is influenced by audit committee characteristics.

This study recommends that corporate regulators and policymakers can improve CSRD practices by expanding the scope of existing disclosure requirements related to CSR and developing a structured CSRD index to measure the degree of CSRD practices for comparative purposes. Encourage firms to actively participate in social responsibility programs by granting tax incentives and government facilities to firms with the best CSR reports. Policymakers should introduce initiatives that support female’s representation on board. Finally, firms should restructure their boards by increasing board size and the percentage of independent directors to enhance their effectiveness to support CSRD.

This paper contributes further insights into the literature on CSRD practices and disclosure by analyzing data from developing market contexts.

The purpose of this paper is to establish the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and employees' productivity (EP) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

The value-added intellectual coefficient (VAIC) is used to measure IC performance in 198 firms listed in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain from 2012 to 2014. The pooled-corrected estimation technique is used to estimate a panel regression model with EP as the dependent variable. Firm size and sectors are controlled for in the regression analysis. The independent variable (IC) has been measured using human capital efficiency (HCE), structural capital efficiency and capital employed efficiency (CEE) in order to measure the value of IC.

Based on the VAIC, the authors found that the values of IC investments are mostly generated from investments in human capital. The results of the panel-corrected ordinary least square indicate that VAIC and its individual components are positive and significantly related to variations in employees' productivity. HCE contributed the highest and CEE contributed lowest VAIC.

The originality of this paper is to show the importance of investment in the human capital as a key contributor of firm's performance. Hence, this study encourages firm's leaders and management in the GCC to invest and focus their management/leadership styles on human capital to achieve their goals. To the best of the knowledge of the coauthors, this is the first study which empirically examines the relationship between IC and EP in the GCC region.