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The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of mandatory corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending on firm value in the Indian context.

Using firm-level data over the period 2012–2017, this study uses the difference-in-differences (DID) technique combined with matching to control for potential endogeneity of the decision to comply with the CSR Act since the Act in its current form is applicable as a comply-or-explain obligation.

The results of this study suggest that mandatory CSR spending has a positive and statistically significant impact on firm value. These results remain robust to alternative econometric techniques such as regression discontinuity design (RDD) and randomization inference test as well as to alternative empirical specifications. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that the positive effect of CSR spending on firm value is more pronounced for firms with higher information asymmetry problem and lower institutional holdings.

This study explicitly considers the “comply-or-explain” flexibility option, in terms of spending on CSR, provided to Indian firms for the initial two to three years and investigates whether spending on CSR helps firms enhance their firm value. The study also finds that the positive effect of CSR spending on firm value is more pronounced for firms with higher information asymmetry problems and lower institutional holdings.

Theoretical studies suggest that hedging helps firms to reduce their financial distress costs and underinvestment problem especially if the markets are imperfect. Hence hedging, through the use of currency derivatives, is one of the important financial policies for firms. The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the determinants of derivatives usage by Indian firms using financial disclosures on currency derivatives by non-financial constituents of S&P CNX 500 for 2009.

We manually collect the data on foreign currency derivatives from firms’ annual reports for 2009 and then follow Haushalter’s (2000) approach to examine the determinants of firms’ decision to hedge. A firm can make its hedging decision at once, deciding whether to hedge and how much to hedge. Given the nature of dependent variable that is censored, it is appropriate to use Tobit regression. A firm can also decide its hedging decision in two steps by deciding first on whether to hedge and later how much to hedge. The former is modelled by probit regression and later by conditional regression.

Our empirical evidence suggests that forwards are the main instruments for managing currency risk followed by options and swaps. The objectives, in the order of priority, are reduction in exposure associated with foreign currency receivables, foreign currency long-term loans and foreign currency payables. Firm’s decision to hedge is positively related to size, foreign exchange exposure and leverage, while negatively related to liquidity and investment opportunities. We find evidence of higher derivative usage by firms with both higher currency risk and higher financial distress costs.

The findings of this paper will help corporates, researchers and regulators to understand firms’ motives behind hedging.

This is the first empirical study that examines the determinants of firm’s decision to hedge and the extent of hedging in the context of emerging economies like India.

The aim of the this study is to develop a new class of composites which would be more commercially viable and environmentally sustainable via reduced resource depletion, as there has been global interest in utilization of natural resources. The dry sliding wear behavior of glass-epoxy (G-E)-based composites filled with tamarind kernel powder (TKP) in different volume fractions of fillers (0 per cent, 3 per cent and 6 per cent) was studied as per standards.

In the present study, the analysis and optimization of the wear process has been studied. The Taguchi approach to experimental design was used to identify the effect of wear parameters such as applied load, sliding velocity and sliding distance. Taguchi tools such as analysis of variance and multiple linear regression models have been used to analyze, obtain the significant parameters and evaluate the optimum combination levels of wear process parameters. The results of Taguchi analysis indicate that sliding distance was found to be the prominent parameter affecting wear volume loss compared to other wear parameters.

The G-E composites with 3 and 6 vol.% of TKP had the lowest wear volume loss. Multiple linear regression models for all the tested composites’ results well match with experimental results. Confirmation tests were conducted to validate the analysis. There was a close relationship between the experimental results and the statistical model.

However, to the best of author’s knowledge, these literature reports related to natural organic filler materials are limited to analysis of polymer matrix composite. Further, the addition of TKP particle as a potential filler has not been addressed. An attempt has been made to clarify the technical viability of TKP as a potential filler for G-E composite.