Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the stock market response to dividend announcements in high growth emerging markets of Gulf countries. Design/methodology/approach: The sample includes 1,092 dividend announcements from 299 listed firms over the period 2010-2015. Findings: In the environment where there is an absence of capital gain and income tax, the authors find some evidence for the stock price reaction that partly supports the signaling hypothesis. The findings show that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market is inefficient because of the leakage information before the announcement in bad news, and the delay of share price adjustment in good news. In addition, the authors report significant trading volume (TV) reaction in all the three announcements clusters, where dividends increase, decrease, and are constant, lending support to the hypothesis that the dividend change announcements have an impact on the TV response due to different investors’ preferences. Originality/value: This is the first empirical paper on market reaction in share price and TV around dividend announcement using data for the majority of GCC countries.

Purpose: This paper examines the dividend smoothing (DS) behaviour in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in emerging markets where the response to news and the economic environment are different from those of developed countries.Design/methodology/approach: The authors examine the effect of share price informativeness on DS in the GCC markets using unbalanced panel data for a sample of 628 GCC-listed firms during 1994–2016. For the regression analysis, the hypotheses are tested using panel regressions and generalised method of moments (GMM) estimation.Findings: First, the Lintner model shows that the DS degree in GCC firms is comparable to that of a developed market. Second, and importantly, the results reveal that the DS in GCC firms is sensitive to private information of share prices. Finally, the findings indicate that information asymmetry (IA) and agency-based models affect the tendency to smooth dividends in the GCC markets.Originality/value: This study is the first study to measure the degree of DS using data for all GCC countries. The authors also identify other determinants of DS behaviour and test the agency and IA explanations for DS in GCC-listed firms. The findings are highly recommended to financial managers and analysts dealing with the GCC markets. This study helps financial analysts to use the share price informativeness as an indicator for the presence of the IA. The study results are beneficial to researchers in understanding the relationship between DS and share price informativeness.

This study explores the adoption and challenges associated with integrating Financial Technology (FinTech) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) into business education, with a specific focus on faculty members at Saudi universities. The researcher uses a mixed-methods research design to conduct this study. The data were collected from 160 academic staff from various Saudi universities through structured surveys. The findings revealed that while faculty members demonstrate moderate familiarity with FinTech and AI concepts, such as blockchain, robo-advisors, and digital banking, practical implementation in academic settings remains limited. Major challenges identified and pointed out in this study include insufficient faculty training, a lack of updated resources, infrastructure constraints, and regulatory complexities. Furthermore, the faculty members' responses highlight institutional inertia, limited interdisciplinary collaboration, and a significant gap between theoretical instruction and real-world technological applications. The study contributes to the growing body of research on digital transformation in higher education and offers practical recommendations for curriculum reform, faculty members' development, and policy alignment with Saudi Vision 2030. The results demonstrate the value of equipping educators with the tools and support necessary to prepare graduates for a digitally driven financial future.

How individuals and organizations interface with the digital economy has been largely influenced by transformations ushered in on the global financial map by the rapidly expanding Financial Technology (FinTech). This paper seeks to shed light on the successes of FinTech, namely on how it contributed to sustainability through financial inclusion, reduction in reliance on cash and the promotion of an innovation-driven economy known for being paperless. Based on contributions from students at Taif University in Saudi Arabia, determinants of FinTech adoption intentions are analyzed using data from n = 544. Our study focuses on evaluating the effects of financial, technical and external factors on adoption behavior by using a two-prong approach: first, we use the DeLone and McLean IS Success Model; then we employ a Second-Order Construct using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results indicated that the strongest effects on attitudes stem from technical factors—information, system and service quality. Additionally, they also show that adoption intention is considerably shaped by financial as well as external dimensions. The Saudi Vision 2030 has set national goals of digital transformation, financial inclusion and human capital empowerment. This study provides a modest contribution to those goals by fostering FinTech adoption among the youth. Furthermore, its findings also offer educators, policymakers and Fintech providers a platform to enhance literacy, strengthen trust and develop sustainable digital finance ecosystems in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 objectives.