• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제8권12호
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• pp.295-303
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• 2021

The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of oil prices on economic growth and exchange rate in Saudi Arabia during the period 1980-2020. For this purpose, the linear and nonlinear ARDL models are estimated. The linear ARDL model shows that the oil price and economic growth are cointegrated. Moreover, the two variables have a significant positive association in the long run. However, the oil price has no significant impact on the exchange rate. When estimating the nonlinear ARDL model, it has been shown that oil price is only cointegrated with economic growth but not with the exchange rate. The estimation of nonlinear effects using the nonlinear ARDL model shows that economic growth is affected by both positive and negative oil shocks in the long run. However, the impact of positive shocks is higher than those of negative shocks. Moreover, results show that the short-run effects of positive and negative oil shocks are not statistically significant. Regarding the exchange rate, our results show that the effects of positive and negative oil shocks are not statistically significant. Consequently, this study concludes that the oil price has an asymmetric effect on economic growth in Saudi Arabia, but not on the exchange rate.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제8권5호
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• pp.151-156
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• 2021

This paper empirically examines the relationship between one of the major corporate governance attributes; family ownership and the audit committee activity across a sample of 430 publicly traded firms on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) for the period 2012-2019. Using the Pooled OLS regression, this study finds that family ownership is negatively associated with audit committee activity. This study reported that family ownership is negatively associated with audit committee activity, giving support to the convergence-of-interest hypothesis. Therefore, the existence of family ownership as a monitoring corporate governance mechanism substitutes the audit committee activity as another monitoring mechanism. This study provides empirical evidence on the associations of two internal corporate governance mechanisms, namely; family ownership and audit committee activity in the Saudi context where there is a paucity of research in this area. The findings of this study provide a new understanding regarding the extent to which family ownership impacts the activity of audit committees in manufacturing companies. Similarly, the companies' management, external auditors, bankers, and companies would also benefit from understanding the influential factors of the audit committee activities.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제9권10호
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• pp.137-145
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• 2022

This study aims to test the information content of sustainability reports issued by the most significant telecommunications companies operating in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Stc, Zain, and Mobily), and their compatibility with the national sustainability standards issued by the Ministry of Commerce in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in light of the Kingdom's vision 2030, and its impact on the stock exchange indices of these companies. The event study methodology was used to study the impact of publishing sustainability reports on stock prices and the trading volume of these companies' shares in the Saudi stock market during the period from (October 2020 to March 2021). The results indicate a significant impact of the information contained in the sustainability reports on stock prices and trading volume in the stock market, and the importance of directing the company's management towards more disclosure of information about sustainability in its environmental, social, and economic aspects instead of focusing only on information related to the financial performance and economic activity of the company. This encourages the listed companies to disclose the sustainability of the financial reports and standardize the form in which these disclosures are prepared.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.313-324
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• 2021

This study empirically investigates the factors influencing the intention to accept mobile technology in Saudi healthcare service delivery using the extended unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model (UTAUT) with perceived reliability and price value. Accordingly, a conceptual model combining behavioral constructs with those linked to the technology acceptance model is developed. This model aims to identify factors that predict patients' acceptance of mobile technology healthcare service delivery. The developed model is examined using responses obtained from a survey on 545 participants receiving healthcare services in Saudi Arabia. Thus, we have conceptualized the developed model and validated seven hypotheses involving key constructs. Results suggest that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, price value, and perceived reliability are direct predictors of user behavior to accept mobile technology in healthcare service delivery. The results provide empirical evidence to the literature on the effect of facilitating conditions and effort expectancy on mobile health (mHealth) adoption. The results show that the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the adoption of mHealth services in Saudi Arabia.

• 유통과학연구
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• 제19권3호
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• pp.15-23
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aims to identify the role of technological progress in the distribution sector in Saudi Arabia. Research design, data, and methodology: The study applies the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach to estimate the Cobb Douglas production function of the wholesale and retail trade sector in Saudi Arabia, relied on annual data from the General Authority for Statistics from 2005 to 2019. Results: The results show that there is a long run relationship between the production of the wholesale and retail trade sector in KSA and the factors of production labour, capital and technology progress. The elasticity of the wholesale and retail trade production with respect to capital and labour are 0.26 and 0.78 respectively; the coefficients are positive and statistically significant. The wholesale and retail trade sector is operating under increasing returns to scale. The main result indicates that the elasticity of the wholesale and retail production with respect to the technology progress is 4.62%, which is positive and statistically significant. Conclusions: The study concluded that technological progress has a positive contribution to the growth of the distribution sector in KSA. Therefore, the technological progress can improve the productivity and efficiency of the resources allocated to the dis.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.266-272
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• 2022

Private specialized institutions differ from public ones in that they mostly act independently. This paper reports a study designed to assess the provision of specialized institutions for children with intellectual disabilities in Saudi Arabia. The approach taken in this study was qualitative, involving a case study strategy that enabled the researcher to gain rich and in-depth information based on the shared experiences of participants comprising institution leaders, educators and families from two specific specialized settings, one public and one private. The study aimed to examine the existing disparities in service delivery so as to develop a clear picture of the service quality provided by public specialized institutions for children with intellectual disabilities in Saudi Arabia. The results suggest that the weak relationship with inpatient and specialized institutions is a consequence of the parents' poor responsiveness, which may result in these institutes developing a negative impression of the parents. Conversely, the lack of active initiative on the part of the public specialized institutions led to a negative parental attitude towards these institutions. A sensible approach to resolving this problem might be to recognize that these institutions have a significant responsibility to encourage parents of children with intellectual disabilities to become involved in their children's learning, to promote positive attitudes.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제15권sup1호
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• pp.41-52
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• 2021

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Curfew due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic could influence health behaviors in people, especially in children, who can easily acquire unhealthy eating habits. This study aimed to investigate the effect of COVID-19 on weight, health behaviors including eating habits, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in children aged 6-15 years in Saudi Arabia. SUBJECTS/METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey that included 280 children aged 6-15 years in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 curfew. The survey included questions on sociodemographic characteristics, anthropometric measures, and health behaviors including eating habits, physical activity, and sedentary behavior. RESULTS: We observed a significant difference in the body mass index before and after the COVID-19 pandemic (P < 0.001). Children significantly tended to skip breakfast, along with a decreased intake of dairy products and fast food (P < 0.001). Moreover, children were less physically active and significantly tended to be involved in leisure screen-based activities, including watching TV and use of computer/games (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence for the negative influences of the COVID-19 curfew on health behaviors, including eating habits, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in children in Saudi Arabia.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• 제22권7호
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• pp.131-146
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• 2022

The Internet is becoming a basic need for many individuals globally in this digital age. The youths became more active online than before, with the majority relying on different platforms to communicate and interact with peers. Saudi Arabia is one of the nations where internet usage is high, with an increasing number of active internet users. The youth in Saudi Arabia are engaged in various online platforms. However, they lack adequate knowledge about cybersecurity and the dangers of internet usage, which exposes them to the risk of falling victims to cybercriminals. The most common dangers of internet usage include viruses, malware, phishing, and hacking, compromising users' sensitive information. Increased awareness of these potential threats helps protect Internet users and secure their data. The understanding of the dangers of Internet usage among youths varies across countries. In this regard, our study explores the risks of internet usage among youth in Saudi Arabia compared to the United States, South Africa, and New Zealand.

• International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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• 제22권10호
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• pp.315-321
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• 2022

Many students with disabilities and special needs are enrolled in higher education, which substantiated the need for research regarding faculty members' knowledge and willingness to implement supportive strategies in higher education in Saudi Arabia. This study explored Saudi university faculty members' knowledge and willingness to apply UDL (Universal Design for Learning) principles in their teaching practice. Surveys were used for data collection for this descriptive research. The findings indicated faculty members felt that they were knowledgeable regarding UDL and were willing to use UDL principles in teaching their students. Furthermore, there were no statistically significant differences between faculty members' knowledge levels regarding UDL based on their current position and years of experience. The findings indicated there was a significant relationship between gender and knowledge, with males having a significantly higher mean knowledge, although further analyses revealed it was a small effect. Finally, the results suggest more years of experience are related to greater willingness to use UDL principles, and this is particularly true for those in a lecturing position. These findings could be helpful, particularly for the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia to shed light on faculty members' UDL knowledge. Further research is needed to substantiate the findings.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• 제9권4호
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• pp.213-228
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• 2022

This paper investigates the association between key corporate governance characteristics and the performance of general insurance businesses listed on the Saudi stock exchange (TADAWUL). The methodology for the study is based on a pooled data collection for 11 Saudi general insurance companies from 2011 to 20. The linear regression model and the logarithm regression model are suggested to assess the relationship between performance and corporate governance characteristics. The dependent variable is firm performance measured using ROA, ROE, and Tobin's Q. The independent variables are corporate governance variables consisting of a complete set of board and audit committee characteristics. Insurer-specific control variables are introduced. The empirical results reveal that the characteristics of corporate governance influence the performance of insurance companies. In particular, the board size, board's tenure, the proportion of independent directors in the board, audit committee size, audit committee meeting frequency, and proportion of health insurance premiums have a positive impact. However, audit committee independence, size of the company, and proportion of reinsurance premiums have a negative impact on the performance of the Saudi general insurance companies. Finally, the empirical results indicated also that there is an unclear relationship between the performance and board meeting frequency, compensations of the Board, and the average age of the Board.