• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.179-185
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• 2021

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of board of directors' activity on the audit committee's effectiveness score among manufactured listed companies on Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) for the period 2015-2017. The final sample of this study consists of 195 firm-year observations that represent manufactured companies listed on Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) for the years 2015-2017. The data of this study in terms of board of directors' meetings, audit committee size and meetings, firm leverage, firm performance, and firm age were hand-collected from the annual reports of the considered companies. The Pooled OLS regression's result indicate that audit committee's effectiveness score is influenced by the board of directors' activity. This result gives support to the agency theory prediction. This result is also consistent with the complementary function of corporate governance mechanisms in which board of directors' activity complements the function of audit committee's effectiveness score. The result of this study should be useful for manufacturing companies, Saudi Stock Exchange, auditors, and regulators which relates to the association between board of directors' activity and audit committee's effectiveness score. This study provides a new empirical evidence on the impact of board activity on the audit committee's effectiveness score in an interesting context which is Saudi Arabia.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.457-464
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• 2020

This study aims to recognize customers' real sentiment and then discover the data-driven insights for strategic decision-making in the financial sector of Saudi Arabia. The data was collected from the social media (Facebook and Twitter) from start till October 2018 in financial companies (NCB, Al Rajhi, and Bupa) selected in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia according to criteria. Then, it was analyzed using a sentiment analysis, one of data mining techniques. All three companies have similar likes and followers as they serve customers as B2B and B2C companies. In addition, for Al Rajhi no negative sentiment was detected in English posts, while it can be seen that Internet penetration of both banks are higher than BUPA, rarely mentioned in few hours. This study helps to predict the overall popularity as well as the perception or real mood of people by identifying the positive and negative feelings or emotions behind customers' social media posts or messages. This research presents meaningful insights in data-driven approaches using a specific data mining technique as a tool for corporate decision-making and forecasting. Understanding what the key issues are from customers' perspective, it becomes possible to develop a better data-based global strategies to create a sustainable competitive advantage.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.225-234
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• 2019

The study aims to explore key dimensions of service quality of E-Retailing of Islamic banks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The convenience sample size consists of 373 respondents who regularly use online Islamic banking facilities in Saudi Arabia was used. For measuring the consumers' perspective, a four-factor E-SERVQUAL scale; namely efficiency, system availability, fulfillment, and privacy was used. Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis are used to test the model fitness. Structural equation modelling is utilized to determine the impact of E-service quality dimensions on customers' satisfaction. The results of the study reveal that 1) reliability as a dimension of E-retailing of Islamic banks made a significant impact on customers' overall satisfaction; 2) there is a positive significant relationship between responsiveness and customers' overall satisfaction. One unit increased in responsive leads to 0.763 unit increases in the overall satisfaction of the customer; and 3) ease of use is the most important dimensions of service quality of E-retailing of Islamic banks. One unit increases in Security/ Privacy leads to 0.473 unit increases in overall satisfaction. There is a positive impact of good E-service on customers' satisfaction, but it does not override unsatisfactory performance in other areas.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.5847-5852
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• 2015

Background: Smoking behavior is related to numerous factors, including psychosocial parameters. This study investigated the association between family context factors and smoking among male adolescents. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, school-based study was conducted during 2014. The study sampled 900 students from intermediate and secondary schools in Madinah City, Saudi Arabia. Data concerning smoking status, sociodemographic, parental and friends' smoking behavior, and family factors were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. These data were employed to estimate the prevalence of smoking using appropriate statistical analyses including multivariate logistic regression. Results: Of 900 students, 870 completed the study questionnaire (96.7%). Of the respondents, 181 students (20.8%, 95% CI=18.1%-23.5%) were current smokers, and a much higher prevalence was observed among adolescents with most or all of their friends smoking (48.1%) and those living with neither parent (47.4%). The adjusted risk of smoking increased significantly among adolescents who lived with neither parent (OR=3.3; 95% CI=1.1-9.2) and among those who reported little or no parental supervision (OR=1.5; 95% CI=1.0-2.1). Conclusions: Family context factors are associated with an increased risk of smoking behavior among male adolescents in Saudi Arabia.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.3177-3181
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• 2013

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the main causes of cervical cancer in women worldwide. The goal of the present study was to determine the prevalence and distribution of HPV genotypes in women from Saudi Arabia. Recently, several HPV detection methods have been developed, each with different sensitivities and specificities. Methods: In this study, total forty cervical samples were subjected to polymerase chain reaction and hybridization to BioFilmChip microarray assessment. Results: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infections were found in 43% of the specimens. The most prevalent genotypes were HPV 16 (30%) HPV 18 (8.0%) followed by type HPV 45, occurring at 5.0%. Conclusion: Our finding showed the HPV infection and prevalence is increasing at alarming rate in women of Saudi Arabia. There was no low risk infection detected in the tested samples. The BioFilmChip microarray detection system is highly accurate and suitable for detection of single and multiple infections, allowing rapid detection with less time-consumption and easier performance as compared with other methods.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.9
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• pp.687-695
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• 2020

The study attempts to assess the level of environmental sustainability awareness in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In the process, the study tries to assess the impact of extracurricular activities in increasing awareness of environmental sustainability. A survey questionnaire was administered to the students of Prince Sattam University and other universities of Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire comprises statements on simple environmental conservation activities, which we come across on a daily basis. Hypothesis testing is used to identify significant differences across different categories of respondents. Further, the method of binary logistic regression is used to analyze the data. Though all the respondents agree that conserving the environment is important still there are significant differences across categories when it comes to believing in and practicing environmentally-responsible behavior. The results show that environmental awareness can be increased using awareness activities on sustainability issues in a University setting. The study concludes that increasing the number of extracurricular activities on environmental topics as only 38% of the respondents reported any activity related to the environment in the past year. The findings of this study suggest that increased awareness of environmental issues can boost the sustainability awareness, which will ultimately lead to a sustainable environment.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.257-261
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• 2014

Toxoplasma 3 main clonal lineages are designated as type I, II, and III; however, atypical and mixed genotypes were also reported. This study was conducted for detection of Toxoplasma gondii genotypes in rats (Rattus rattus) in Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia. PCR test on T. gondii B1 gene was conducted on ELISA IgM positive samples for confirmation of the infection. However, genetic analysis of the SAG2 locus was performed to determine T. gondii genotypes using PCR-RFLP technique. PCR test on T. gondii B1gene showed that 22 (81.5%) out of the 27 ELISA IgM positive samples have T. gondii DNA. Genotypic analysis shows that, of the total 22 PCR positive samples, only 13 (59.1%) were of type II, 7 (31.8%) were of type III, and 2 (9.1%) were of an unknown genotype. It is obvious that the prevalence of both type II and III is high in rats. No reports have been available on T. gondii genotypes among rats in Riyadh region, and only little is known about its seroprevalence in rats. Future studies on T. gondii genotypes in rats using multi-locus markers is needed in Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia for better understanding of T. gondii pathogenesis and treatment in humans and animals.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.11
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• pp.203-212
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• 2021

Theoretically, economic growth necessitates financial liberalization. Thus, the current research examines the effect of financial liberalization on economic growth in emerging nations, with a particular focus on Egypt and Saudi Arabia. To determine this effect, the study employs a model that uses Gross Domestic Product growth as the dependent variable and the following macroeconomic variables as financial liberalization indices: Broad money as a percentage of GDP, Domestic bank credit to the private sector as a percentage of GDP, Monetary sector credit to the private sector as a percentage of GDP, Net inflows of foreign direct investment as a percentage of GDP. All data is annual data of Egypt and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the period 1970-2018 obtained from the World Bank open data website. The empirical investigation employs the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach. The findings indicate that, after more than three decades of implementation, both countries' financial and external liberalization policies do not have a favorable effect on their economies' growth rates. Additionally, this study has led us to conclude that any financial liberalization policy in both countries must be preceded by the strengthening of these countries' financial development and institutional frameworks, as well as the achievement of macroeconomic stability.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.12
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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.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.19 no.3
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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.