The impact of technical efficiency on firms' value: The case of the halal food and beverage industry in selected countries.

The market for the halal food and beverage industry sector has experienced rapid growth in recent years, which indicate excellent investment opportunities. This paper examine the effect of Technical Efficiency (TE) on firm value in 5 selected influential countries in halal food and beverage sector based on Global Islamic Economy Report 2020. Two steps estimation was used to run the data, using the Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) model to determine the company's TE and panel data to test the effect of TE through firm value. The results show that Indonesia has the highest score for TE (62%), followed by Pakistan (59%), South Africa (57%), Malaysia (55%), and Singapore (52%), which means, in general, there is inefficiency in allocating resources over 38% up to 48% and needs to be improved by halal food and beverage companies in. Regarding panel data, all countries sample except Pakistan highlight that TE significantly affect company value. It indicates that the crucial part of managing efficiency can be a sign in stock market performance. The result shows that company managers should set efficiency strategies to their business process for creating sustainability and increase their value in the capital market. As for investors, this TE can be used as an indicator before choosing company stocks; if the company is efficient, then it is worthy of being one of the portfolio assets. Form the government side, the finding can help them to set appropriate policy setting to boost halal food and beverages industry such as giving subsidy or incentive to increase the efficiency ability of halal food and beverage companies and identify the industry's strength by comparing the result of TE between 5 countries.

Regional impact of aging population on carbon dioxide emissions in China: Evidence from panel threshold regression (PTR).

Carbon dioxide emission is a high-profile issue that can affect both the human economy and human existence, but few scholars have studied the relationship between these two. Therefore, this study constructs the panel threshold regression (PTR) based on the National Bureau of Statistics of China's panel data from 2002 to 2019 in 19 regions. One of the advantages of PTR is to leverage segmented functions, allowing for a more detailed analysis of the data. Besides, by introducing the idea of a threshold, PTR can effectively avoid structural changes in the data. The different between this study and other research is that this study divides 19 regions into two parts: Eastern China and Central China. Based on that, this study researches and compares the different influences of the aging population on carbon emissions in these two regions. The results show that although the Environment Kuznets Curve has been confirmed in both Eastern China and Central China, with the development of the economy, the carbon emissions will increase in Eastern China and decrease in Central China, respectively. In addition, the key factors affecting carbon emissions in Eastern China and Central China are trade dependence and urbanization rate separately. Hence, this study suggests that the regional governments in Eastern China may guide and encourage more international trading companies to move to Central China, and at the same time, the regional governments in Central China should issue more policies to attract these companies, such as: reducing land lease fees and building better transportation infrastructure. Apart from that, the governments in Central China should vigorously increase the rate of urbanization to reduce energy consumption and improve energy efficiency.

Regional impact of aging population on economic development in China: Evidence from panel threshold regression (PTR).

The aging population is a common problem faced by most countries in the world. This study uses 18 years (from 2002 to 2019) of panel data from 31 regions in China (excluding Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan Province), and establishes a panel threshold regression model to study the non-linear impact of the aging population on economic development. It is different from traditional research in that this paper divides 31 regions in China into three regions: Eastern, Central, and Western according to the classification standard of the National Bureau of Statistics of China and compares the different impacts of the aging population on economic development in the three regions. Although this study finds that the aging population promotes the economy of China's eastern, central, and western regions, different threshold variables have dramatically different influences. When the sum of export and import is the threshold variable, the impact of the aging population on the eastern and the central region of China is significantly larger than that of the western region of China. However, when the unemployment rate is the threshold variable, the impact of the aging population on the western region of China is dramatically higher than the other regions' impact. Thus, one of the contributions of this study is that if the local government wants to increase the positive impact of the aging population on the per capita GDP of China, the local governments of different regions should advocate more policies that align with their economic situation rather than always emulating policies from other regions.

Air pollution, governance quality, and health outcomes: evidence from developing countries.

While studies have demonstrated that air pollution can be catastrophic to the population's health, few empirical studies are found in the economic literature because a considerable proportion of the evidence comes from epidemiological studies. Because of the crucial role of governance in the health community, good governance has been a contentious issue in public sector management in recent years. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the effects of air pollution and the role of governance on health outcomes. This study employed the generalized method of moment (GMM) estimation techniques to analyse panel data for 72 developing countries from 2010 to 2017. The empirical results confirm that higher PM2.5 and CO2 levels have a detrimental influence on life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, whereas the role of governance has a positive impact on life expectancy and healthy life expectancy. Furthermore, the findings show governance quality plays a role in moderating the negative effect of PM2.5 on health outcomes. The ongoing rise in air pollution has had a significant impact on the health of developing countries. It appears that governance quality has improved health outcomes. The findings have important policy implications, such that strengthening governance can reduce air pollution emissions in developing countries. However, to reduce the health effects of air pollution, developing countries must implement effective environmental development policies and track the implementation and enforcement of such policies.

A Logical Framework (MYGERYFS) for Hospital Foodservice to Prevent Malnutrition Among Geriatric Patients in Hospitals, Malaysia: Protocol for a Feasibility Study.

BACKGROUND: Geriatric malnutrition in hospitals is common and can be affected by many things, including poor satisfaction toward hospital foodservice. Hospital foodservice plays an important role in a patient's recovery process by providing adequate nutrients. On top of that, patients' foodservice satisfaction can easily be afflicted by the quality of food served and the overall foodservice experience. Furthermore, malnutrition can occur from poor foodservice quality, especially among geriatric patients. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to assess the effectiveness of the Malaysian Geriatric Patients' Hospital Foodservice Protocol (MYGERYFS). METHODS: The protocol comprises 3 phases. Phase One is a cross-sectional study that took place at public hospitals with geriatric wards in the Klang Valley. Univariate data from Phase One were analyzed descriptively. Pearson correlation and chi-square were conducted to find factors associated with foodservice satisfaction. Phase Two involves the collaboration of health care professionals in the geriatric field. In Phase Three, a feasibility study will be conducted to determine the feasibility of the MYGERYFS protocol in a hospital among 60 geriatric patients. These patients will be randomized into control and intervention groups, respectively. Intervention care will be done to ensure the safety of the protocol. RESULTS: Data collection for Phase One of the study has been completed. A total of 233 geriatric respondents with the mean age of 71.39 (SD 7.99) years were gathered. Approximately 51.5% (n=120) of the respondents were female, while 48.5% (n=113) were male, with a mean BMI of 24.84 (SD 6.05) kg/m2. Their mean energy and protein intakes were 1006.20 kcal (SD 462.03 kcal) and 42.60 (SD 22.20) grams, respectively. Based on the Mini Nutritional Assessment, older patients who scored 12-14 (normal) were 27.9% (n=65), those who scored 8-11 (at risk) were 54.9% (n=128), and those who scored 0-7, which is the lowest (malnutrition), were 17.2% (n=40) of the study population. Hence, most patients were at risk of malnutrition. Although a majority of the patients claimed to have good foodservice satisfaction 26.2% (n=61), they also experienced at least 3 barriers during mealtimes. It was found that dietary intake and mealtime barriers were significantly associated with the respondent's foodservice satisfaction. Data for Phase Two and Phase Three are yet to be collected and analyzed. CONCLUSIONS: This study protocol could potentially benefit the hospital foodservice system and aid in improving geriatric nutritional status. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04858165; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04858165. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): RR1-10.2196/42496.

Incidence of educational mismatch and earning in Pakistan.

This study empirically examines the incidence and earning effect of educational mismatch in the labor market of Pakistan. Microdata obtained from the labor force survey for the years (2013-14, 2014-15, 2017-18) is used for the analysis. The realized match approach is used to measure the required level of education, and the augmented mincerian model is used to determine the potential earning effects associated with the educational mismatch. The study found a considerable incidence of under-education and over-education in the labor market. Results show a positive return to under-education and over-education. However, the return to the required level of education is significantly higher than both the under-education and over-education.

Air pollution effects on adult mortality rate in developing countries.

Although industrialisation is a crucial aspect of economic growth across developing nations, through the release of air contaminants, industrial activities may also create adverse environmental health consequences. Noting that continuous production and other economic activities are crucial for continued survival, this study explores this issue by including the role of governance that is deemed essential but the literature is relatively sparse particularly in the context of developing countries. This research empirically analyses the relationship between air pollution and adult mortality rates from 72 developing countries from the period of 2010 until 2017. Particulate matter (PM2.5) and carbon dioxide (CO2) are used as indicators of air pollution. From the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimations, the results reveal that air pollution negatively affects adult mortality rate. The result reveals that a 10% increase in the PM2.5 level induces the adult mortality rates to increase between 0.04% and 0.06%. In addition, the government significantly moderates the negative effect of air pollution on adult mortality, whereby a one-unit enhancement in governance quality index reduces mortality among the adults in the developing countries by 0.01%. On the other hand, CO2 emission also appears to be positive, but not statistically significant. The results suggest that governance and public health interplay in the sense of a transition towards economic development for improved living and health states can be achievable with improved governance quality.