EDITORIAL

We are proud to announce the first issue of 2017 published by Emerald Publishing Limited from the UK. Over the years, the JEFAS has gained a presence in the world of business and finance thanks to the rigorous selection of articles and the academic quality of the authors. We have chosen this publishing house because of its seriousness and prestigious work, which will help us to firmly keep the high level of our journal.

This issue contains six articles. The first one is an empirical paper entitled: "Using a naive Bayesian classifier methodology for loan risk assessment: evidence from a Tunisian commercial bank", which addresses the question of default prediction of short term loans for a Tunisian commercial bank. The technique was conducted, and the results show that the good classification rate is in order of 63.85 per cent.

The second paper, "The short-term response of the Hispanic noncitizen population to anti-illegal immigration legislation: the case of Arizona SB 1070", examines the short-term effect of the Arizona Immigration Law of 2010 (SB 1070) on the noncitizen Hispanic state population.

In third place, "Serial dependence of long run in the Chilean stock market index, by Hurst and adjusted Hurst" explains the existence of long-term memory by calculating the adjusted Hurst and Hurst coefficient and evaluating characteristics of chaotic structures in the Chilean stock market series, specifically through the Selective Stock Price Index. A brief market study was developed according to the methodology of Box and Jenkings.

The next paper, "Capital structure management differences in Latin American and US firms after 2008 crisis", analyses the capital structure determining factors of Latin American and US corporations after the crisis of 2008 as a means of comparing theoretical assumptions and empirical results in markets of different efficiency levels.

The article "Does more energy consumption support economic growth in net energy importing countries? A comprehensive analysis using panel data" shows the effects of energy consumption on economic growth by means of a panel data analysis of 75 net energy importing countries for the period 1990-2012.

The last paper, "A behavioral analysis of the volatility of interbank interest rates in developed and emerging countries", also uses a sophisticated econometric technique to discuss the volatility of the fixed income market from 11 countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, USA, Germany and Japan) from January 2000 to December 2011.

The six papers are empirical with some applications worldwide, which hold our purpose to offer the edge of knowledge in the business area. The Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science attempts to offer the top research in the area of management, finance, economics, marketing and business operations.

Peter Yamakawa T. (Ph.D.)
Director