This study examines the impact of family ownership on tax avoidance decisions. This study further investigates the effects of corporate governance quality on the relationship between family ownership and tax avoidance. We construct a sample of non-financial firms listed on the ASE for the period 2015–2021. The results demonstrate that family-owned firms have high levels of tax avoidance. This result supports the private-benefit expropriation hypothesis. Regarding the mediating effect of corporate governance variables, the results suggest that large audit committees and audit committees that meet more frequently curb attempts by family owners to avoid paying tax.

This study investigates the relationship between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores and firm financial performance, measured by Tobin's Q and Return on Assets (ROA), for non-financial firms listed in the UK. The study sample included 188 firms from 2015 to 2023. Panel regression was used to account for the firm- and time-specific unobservable variables, while the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation was used to account for endogeneity concerns. The results reveal a significant negative relationship between ESG combined score and Tobin’s Q, suggesting that higher ESG ratings are associated with lower firm valuation. Additionally, the impact of the Governance score on Tobin’s Q is negative and statistically significant at the 1% level. The results validate the trade-off theory, indicating that investors may view investments in ESG initiatives less favorably at least in the short run, suggesting that listed companies with strong stakeholder-oriented practices are not rewarded with a premium price. The findings underscore the importance of ESG initiatives for management and decision makers to enhance investor awareness about the role of ESG initiatives in contributing to long-term shareholder value through sustainable growth, improved stakeholder relationships, and effective risk management.

This study investigates the empirical effects of implementing the Expected Credit Loss (ECL) model under IFRS 9 on capital budgeting decisions within the Jordanian banking sector. The analysis is based on a full population of all 13 Jordanian commercial banks listed on the Amman Stock Exchange from 2013 to 2023. Using panel data regression models, the study evaluates changes in three key financial ratios: Capital to Assets (CA), Equity to Assets (EA), and Loans to Assets (LA).The findings reveal that adopting the ECL model led to a statistically significant increase in CA by 0.3% (p = 0.04), suggesting that banks have strengthened capital buffers in anticipation of higher provisioning requirements. Conversely, the EA ratio declined sharply by 1.1% (p < 0.01), indicating equity reallocation to absorb credit risks. Most notably, the LA ratio fell by 3% (p = 0.006), highlighting a more conservative lending approach post-ECL implementation. Each model exhibited strong explanatory power (R² values between 0.79 and 0.87), supporting the robustness of the results.These outcomes confirm that IFRS 9 has triggered a structural shift in how Jordanian banks manage capital and credit risk. The study underscores the critical need for adaptable capital strategies in emerging markets, where regulatory changes like IFRS 9 can significantly reshape financial behavior and resource allocation.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of board gender diversity on dividend policy in the context of Jordanian commercial banks. Using a sample of 13 Jordanian commercial banks listed on Amman Stock Exchange during the period 2005-2014, we find strong and robust evidence indicating that diversified boards tend to pay higher cash dividends to shareholders since women can better address the needs of investors in impatient emerging markets. Moreover, this paper presents the negative moderating effect of both, the government existence in the boardroom and international financial crisis on the relationship between gender diversity and dividend policy indicators. Under such conditions, the diversified boards became more conservative and retained most of the profit and paid fewer dividends because of the risk-averse tendencies of women directors.

The wave of the recent financial crisis has reawakened interest in corporate governance as well as the relationship between executive compensation and corporate performance. Notably, corporate governance has been presented as a mechanism to absorb fiscal crisis faced in emerging economies. The principal aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between CEO compensation and corporate performance among commercial banks operating in a small emerging market, namely Jordan. Primary data were collected for a sample of 13 Jordanian commercial banks listed at Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) during the period of 2010 -2016. The findings of this paper suggest that corporate performance measured by return on equity (ROE) and return on assets (ROA) has no influence on CEO compensation. Furthermore, this paper examines the impact of a firm’s size on the relationship between CEO compensation and corporate performance. The results reveal a significant relationship between executive compensation and firm’s performance among the smaller sample firms.

This research aims to gauge the effect of cash holdings on Jordanian companies’ value and to detect whether there is a non-linear association between them. By conducting a multivariate regression on 86 non-financial companies listed on Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) during the period from 2006 to 2017. The results of the research reveal that there is a significantly positive association between cash holdings and firm value. The study also shows the positive impacts of financial leverage and revenues growth on firm value, while the results show that a size of a company has a negative effect on a value of a company. Moreover, the study notices that there is no optimal level to reserve some cash in order to increase firm value in Jordan. The methodology of the study depends on the work of Martínez-Sola, García-Teruel, and Martínez-Solano (2013) and Nguyen, Nguyen, and Le (2016). This research documents a substantial contribution to the existing research works that investigate the association between cash holdings and firm value in an emerging market like Jordan. Moreover, the findings are recognized to be an interest to policymakers, scholars, and potential investors.