This study aimed to investigate the association between corporate governance characteristics, shariah governance characteristics, and the credit rating of Asian Islamic banks. To do so, we collected data from 22 banks during the 2006–2018 period. In total, we observed 286 data points. Credit rating was measured through an adaption of the credit rating scale that measured the long term credit of Islamic banks on an ordinal scale. From these data, 19 scores (Aaa) were considered high credit ratings and 1 score (C) was considered a low credit rating. Descriptive statistics, correlations, and the ordered logit regression model were applied in a panel setting. We found that the board interlock, board independence, CEO duality, and board foreign directorship negatively affected credit ratings. We also found that the board size, board accounting, finance knowledge, presence of women on the board, shariah board size, presence of supervisory shariah board, the shariah board interlock, and presence of female shariah scholars all were positively associated with credit ratings. This study suggests that Islamic banks can access more funds with higher shariah compliance. As such, we concluded that evaluating organizations’ credit ratings must consider shariah governance attributes as determinants of the credit rating of Islamic banks.

This study aims to explore the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm performance in the presence of the moderating role of CEO chair duality. It is widely believed that CSR initiatives and firm performance are largely influenced by psychological factors and the behavior of the decision maker (manager/CEO). Hence, CEO chair duality may play an instrumental role in shaping CSR initiatives to enhance firm performance. For empirical investigation, the study used the dynamic panel data method with generalized method of moment (GMM) parameters. The study considered 131 firms listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), yielding 1508 firm-year observations, over the period 2006 to 2020. Our results reveal that the impact of CSR on book-based and market-based measures differs due to the asymmetry of information in the market. The market discounts CEO chair duality due to the concentration of power and translates it into negative impact of CSR on firm performance. Thus, firms should not only improve CSR activities but also take steps to reduce asymmetry in markets because the impact on book-based measures and market-based measures of performance are not consistent. Society should also play a role to convince firms in a better way to take CSR initiatives. The perception of transparency should also be improved as CEO chair duality is being negatively seen by the market.

This study examines the effect of family control on corporate financing of the firms in Pakistan over the period 2005 to 2017. Moreover, this study also investigates, whether family control moderates the impact of firm specific factors on corporate financing of the firms. This study is employed the GMM model for panel data estimation. The results of mean difference univariate analysis show that family firms are different from non-family firms based on different financial characteristics. Multivariate analysis results reveal that family control significantly impacts the corporate financing decisions of the firms. In addition, firm size, tangibility, profitability, non-debt tax shield, dividends and liquidity are found to be the important determinants of corporate financing decision of the firms. The moderation analysis reports that family control plays a significant moderating role between the relationship of firm’s characteristics (i.e. size, tangibility and probability) and debt ratios of the firms in Pakistan. These findings reveal useful insights for investors, banks, regulator and business families of the Pakistan.