Arab Journal of Administrative Sciences

Are Dividends and Share Buybacks Substitutes in a Tax-Free Environment? Evidence from the GCC

AbdulRahman M. AlTaweel — 2025-02-20

Purpose: We test whether dividends and share buybacks are substitutes in a tax-free environment. Firms in recent decades substituted buybacks for dividends due to the low tax rates on capital gains. Investors in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries do not pay taxes on cash dividends, making the substitution between dividends and buybacks less relevant.
Study design/ methodology/approach: We use an empirical approach using the Lintner (1956) model to estimate future dividend surprises, and subsequently run cross-sectional regressions using Fama-Macbeth (1973) to compare predicted dividend surprises with actual dividends paid and share repurchases.
Sample and data: We collect data for firms headquartered in GCC countries from the World scope and DataStream databases, resulting in 8,729 firm-year observations spanning from 1993 to 2019.
Results: We find that the dividend changes are positively related to share buyback yield. Firms that have positive (negative) dividend surprises are associated with more (less) repurchases activity. Our results suggest that dividends and repurchases are complements rather than substitutes in a tax-free environment. It supports the findings that taxes play an important consideration when firms decide their payout policy.
Originality/value: This is the first paper that studies this substitution effect in payout policy in a tax-free environment.
Research limitations/ implications: Limitations include lack of data prior to 2003 and other data availability limitations. Implications include how firms may decide their optimal payout policy and how repurchase regulations are set in the GCC.

JEL classification: G15, G35

CEO Dismissal and Succession: The Implications for the Firm’s Strategic Human Capital Resources

Abdullatif A. Alrashdan — 2023-11-02

Purpose: Firms race to attract, develop, and retain their employees to bolster their competitive advantage. Many of these employees choose to leave the firms when they perceive uncertainty following leadership changes. This paper advances arguments for the effects of voluntary and involuntary CEO dismissals on the firm's strategic human capital resources (SHC). These arguments incorporate the impact of factors that influence the impact of CEO dismissals: TMT size, Capital patience, and firm size. These factors lay the grounds for the firm's leadership succession and alleviate the uncertainty associated with these events.
Study design/ methodology/ approach: The quantitative analysis conducted in this paper utilizes a Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) model.
Sample and data: The paper utilizes a sample of 1,572 U.S. firms listed in the S&P 1500 between 2008 and 2018. The data was retrieved from various archival sources.
Results: The analysis showed that CEO dismissals led to losses in the firm's SHC. These losses were greater when the CEO was dismissed involuntarily. The loss of SHC following a voluntary CEO dismissal was lower in firms with larger TMT sizes and firm sizes. The loss of SHC following an involuntary CEO dismissal was lower in firms with higher capital patience and larger firm size.
Originality/value: The paper provides evidence of the different effects of voluntary and involuntary CEO dismissal on SHC. Further, it introduces the impact of organizational factors that influence leadership succession in organizations.
Research limitations/implications: The findings presented in this paper has limitation in terms of generalizability to non-U.S. firms and firms that are not listed in the S&P 1500.

JEL classification: M12, M19, M50, M54

Relationship between Social Media User Sociability and Electronic Market Mavenism: Sequential Mediation of Sense-Making and Life Satisfaction: An Empirical Study Applied to Users of Social Network Sites

Lmya A. Hamodah — 2023-11-02

Purpose: The study aims at testing the relationship between consumers’ sociability and electronic market mavenism by applying it to social networking sites (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter). The study also aims at testing the sequential mediation of sense-making and life satisfaction in the relationship between social media user sociability and electronic market mavenism.
Study design/methodology/approach: An online survey is conducted to test the hypotheses.
Sample and data: In total, 407 respondents from social network sites completed this survey.
Results: The results reveal that there is a significant positive relationship between social media user sociability and electronic market mavenism The evidence supports the sequential mediation of sense-making and life satisfaction in the relationship between social media user sociability and electronic market mavenism.
Originality/value: This study provides a richer picture of sociability, sense-making, life satisfaction, and electronic market mavenism.
Research limitations/implications: This study helps scholars and professionals efficiently and effectively reach social media user influential.

JEL classification: M31

The Impact of Green Transformational Leadership on Green Innovation: The Mediating Role of Green Organizational Culture

Mervat M. Elsaid — 2023-11-02

Purpose: This study aims to explore the direct impact of green transformational leadership on green innovation. This study also examines the mediating role of green organizational culture in this relationship.
Study Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire including a set of statements was used to measure the study variables.
Sample and data: This study is conducted on a sample of (n=282) employees who work in ten hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
Results: This study concludes that there is a positive and significant impact of green transformational leadership on green innovation. In addition, the results reveal that green organizational culture fully and significantly mediates the relationship between green transformational leadership and green innovation.
Originality/value: As well as, the study seeks to enrich the existing literature on the variables of green transformational leadership, green organizational culture, and green innovation.
Research limitations/implications: Furthermore, it is an addition to previous studies as it addresses the relationship between green transformational leadership and green innovation, even though those studies that deal with it are still limited. Given the lack of studies that deal with green innovation in the hotel sector, this study is a new addition to those previous studies in this regard.

Egyptian Public Universities' Performance in the Most Prominent International Rankings: Challenges and Methods to Promotion

Dina H. Alsayed — 2023-11-02

Purpose: The study aims to focus on the most influential rankings characteristics and determine the Egyptian public universities' position in those rankings by analyzing the indicators that cause a decline in their performance and comparing them with the Arab and international universities to suggest practical ways to upgrade their ranks.
Study design/ methodology/ approach: Cluster analysis is used to identify the Arab universities that have similar characteristics in their performance. Discriminant analysis is also used to determine the indicators of the lowest performance of Egyptian universities, which makes a significant difference between universities in Egypt and international universities, and to analyze what is behind the abstract numbers using the case study method in presenting reasons for the decline in the Egyptian universities’ performance.
Sample and data: The study uses a sample of 120 universities, i.e. the top 100 international universities and all 20 Egyptian universities to conduct cluster analysis, and all 47 Arab and Egyptian universities to perform discriminant analysis.
Results: The results show a decline that is caused by scientific research funding, the number of researchers, and specialists in the fields of Fields and Nobel Prizes, patent holders, citation and international publication, and internationalization and academic exchanges.
Originality/value: The study applies the quantitative analysis of Egyptian public universities’ position within the global and Arab environment to determine the indicators of the lowest performance of Egyptian universities and so propose the practical mechanisms that would improve the Egyptian universities’ reputation.
Research limitations/implications: The study conducts quantitative analysis only on THE, as the scarcity of Egyptian universities in ARWU and special QS rank for the Arab universities. The study also focuses on analyzing the performance of Egyptian universities up until 2019, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic avoiding its impact on the indicators of university performance.