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Female labor force participation plays a key role in economic development. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), as a developing economy, relies mainly on men rather than women to achieve its development objectives. Over a period of fifty years, Saudi female labor force participation is extremely low. This working research paper seeks to identify the challenges and issues of the female labor force in KSA. The study has employed regression model, in which the dependent variable is Female LFPR and independent variables are unemployment rate (u-rate), urban population, fertility rate & higher education. The results have shown that u-rate, fertility rate and urban population show statistical significance on Female LFPR, except higher education. It has been concluded that despite the challenges faced by the female labor force in Saudi Arabia, Vision 2030 paves a new path to empower women to contribute to the economic growth of the Kingdom.

There are multiple measures that are used to determine the poor households, however, within the households below the poverty threshold, there are differences that exist among them. This paper explores poverty in South Africa using the poverty depth measure, which refers to the extent to which the income of the poor falls below the poverty line. The paper presents a succinct conceptualisation of poverty and the income poverty line measurement, and then goes on to examine the various ways in which poverty depth can be measured. The paper provides a comprehensive review of the literature on poverty gap and introduces the concept of poverty depth. The literature review shows that there are weaknesses in the poverty gap as traditionally conceived. A calculation of a poverty depth is done and an analysis of the determinants of poverty gap using an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression is conducted. The results show that the head of household’s characteristics such as gender, employment status and marital status are significant in explaining the variation in the poverty depth. The paper reveals that the poor are different in their circumstances and recommends targeted interventions in dealing with poverty at household level.

This paper plans to examine the effects of board extent on non-performing assets (NPA) and firm value measured as comprehensive financial performance (CFP) of banks in Bangladesh using data from 2016 to 2022. Using a sample of 210 firm-year observations, this paper reveals that NPA is significantly related to board size, which signals that a big board of directors (BODs) is linked with lowering the extent of NPA in the context of developing economies like Bangladesh. Besides, the affinity between board extent and firm value proxies as CFP is positive, but the result is not consequential. This research would be value additive to the literature because it examines the effects of board size on NPA and CFP, which is scanty in the corporate finance literature. Furthermore, this research finds no literature that applies CFP as the performance measure of banks, especially in Bangladesh.

In this study, we examined the perceptions of practitioners and academics perspectives about the impact of mandatory audit firm rotation (MAFR) on audit quality (AQ) in South Africa within the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The paper considered the position of the European Union (EU) and the South African Independent Regulatory Body for Auditors (IRBA) regarding its policy shift on MAFR. The study examined the logical connection between MAFR and AQ. This was through the opinion of 101 practitioners and academics gathered from Tier 2 audit firms and two public institutions about the readiness of the rule in South Africa’s jurisdiction. We utilised a quantitative research method through descriptive statistics to understand the influence of the policy on AQ. Opinions of audit experts through closed-ended questionnaires were a distinct feature of our research, while analysis of the descriptive study was on the usage of feedback from respondents. Results from the data analysis presented provided a general overview of respondents’ opinions on the rule. Affirming our research aim, data from the majority of respondents agreed that the policy would strengthen AQ but maintained that the results of the additional imposition of cost could be worse. While this paper contributes to the existing literature on MAFR and AQ, it recommends that further research should concentrate on pre and post-implementation of the policy employing views from registered auditors and academics from different provinces in South Africa to measure the policy effects of the rule on AQ.

This research paper explores the dynamic relationship between trade openness, financial development, and economic growth in Lesotho. The study utilizes quarterly time series data spanning from 1970 to 2021, obtained from the Central Bank of Lesotho. This paper makes a significant contribution to the methodological discourse by utilizing a time-varying VAR approach, in addition to the Bayesian VAR estimation approach. The empirical results indicate that there is no cointegration relationship between economic growth, financial development, and trade openness. However, the evidence shows a unidirectional causality from economic growth to trade openness in Lesotho. The Bayesian VAR and time-varying VAR estimations reveal that the variables dynamically react and adjust to shocks among the variables. The study recommends that to stimulate the opening up of the economy to the world, growth-enhancing policies such as the provision of world-class infrastructure facilities, improved healthcare facilities, and a conducive macroeconomic environment should be implemented, considering the insufficient international demand in Lesotho.

This review paper delves into the intricate interplay between capital markets, investor protection, portfolio strategies, and behavioural aspects in investments. The VOSviewer 1.6.19 software is utilised to perform a bibliometric analysis and a exhaustive systematic literature review on a sample of 248 papers published in journals in Web of Science databases. Our comprehensive analysis reveals the emergence of key themes, shedding light on the critical role of behavioural finance in shaping investment choices and outcomes. We explore how investor behaviour often deviates from traditional models of market efficiency and how these deviations impact portfolio construction and investment strategies. Our paper contributes to a deeper comprehension of the complexities that drive investment decisions and helps academics, society, investors, and regulators by providing a structured analysis of literature strands. Builds a basis for better regulation and protection of investors in the capital markets, with relevant information for future studies on investor behaviour.

Mortgages loans are vital for the acquisition of housing property and mortgage lending rates play an important role in mortgage market trends, borrowers, and lenders’ decisions. Objective: the aim of this paper is to evaluate the combined effect of current and previous mortgage rates on mortgage refinancing. Prior work: the paper inclines on the ontology of a single reality of the interaction between mortgage rates and mortgage refinancing with attendant epistemology that their interaction is measurable. Method: the paper adopts the positivist paradigm and a quantitative technique. It used data on the U.S. Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) retrieved from the economic and financial database of Fusion Media. Data were analysed using the OLS technique. Novel Findings show that current-actual and previous mortgage rates have a significant positive effect on mortgage refinancing at p=0.05 and p=0.04 respectively. Significance: the findings have implication for mortgage lending and refinancing decisions for mortgage bankers (lenders), mortgage borrowers and policy makers. It also provides current academic study material for university business schools and for future researchers to apply the model used in this research for related expanded research. Value: The paper contributes a new model with two genres of mortgage rate (current mortgage rate and previous mortgage rate) and how these two types of mortgage rates influence mortgage refinancing.

Financial well-being is normally referred to as a person’s contentment with their financial situation. The level of life satisfaction among investors may vary depending on factors such as their risk tolerance and demographics. Demographic variables such as age and gender may influence an investor’s life satisfaction, which, in turn, could influence their financial decisions. Furthermore, an investor’s willingness to take risks can also affect financial decisions, ultimately influencing their life satisfaction. The objective of this paper is to identify and determine the influence of demographics and risk tolerance levels on individual investor life satisfaction. Secondary data were obtained in the private domain from an investment company that collected 1 059 from its client base. The results of this research paper indicated that there is a significant difference between the satisfaction of life of risk-averse and risk-loving investors. Risk-averse investors showed a negative relationship with life satisfaction, while risk-loving investors showed a positive relationship. This meant that the more risk-averse investors were, the lower the life satisfaction, indicating that high life satisfaction was accompanied by high risk. A significant difference was also found between life satisfaction and age and gender. Male investors were more satisfied with their lives than female investors. Older investors experienced higher levels of life satisfaction compared to investors in other age groups. As a result, these findings will make a considerable contribution to the way financial managers create investment portfolios for their clients.

Our research paper surveys prior research on derivatives markets. We mainly review the literature investigating the impact of introducing derivatives markets on the underlying market and the overall economic development. Particularly, we summarize papers investigating the effects on the spot market liquidity, spot market volatility, and the price discovery process. We review the literature on several countries, but the survey paper appears to be concentrated on Saudi Arabia. Our paper contributes to the literature and sheds light on introducing the derivatives market in Saudi Arabia. This survey is useful to policymakers and investors as well.

The rationale of this paper was to investigate the response of agriculture production to the simultaneous shock of foreign direct investment and public agricultural spending in South Africa during 1991-2019. Data were collected from secondary sources and analyzed using Monte Carlo simulation. Results revealed that agriculture production is maximized at 1,73% if Foreign direct investment inflows, agricultural credit, and the number of employees increase by 10% while public spending is decreased by 10%. Hence, it is recommended that policymakers should combine FDI inflows in agriculture, and agricultural credit in a complementary manner, with emphasis to attract more extensive farm workers to ensure the sustainability of production in the agriculture sector in South Africa. This paper contributes to enhance agriculture sector by using the best combination of input in agriculture in order to maximize production.

This paper aims at investigating the relationship between profitability and liquidity of the State-Owned Commercial Banks of Bangladesh. An important motive of this study is to provide valuable insights into how liquidity influences profitability. There are various research papers on liquidity exposure and the profitability relationship of banks in Bangladesh. But those researches are separately conducted for conventional or Islamic banks or there is a comparative analysis of both banks. But there is little research on the state-owned banking industry. During the Pandemic the banking industry of Bangladesh was affected severely in respect of liquidity risk and it also affected its profitability. There is no recent paper focused on this study. So, this study will try to identify the significant factors that affect the liquidity of a bank and its profitability. In this regard, 10 years’ data from Annual Report of the State-Owned Commercial Banks and macroeconomic data from Bangladesh Bank website and several journals have been collected from 2012-2021. This study primarily aims at exploring the liquidity-profitability relationship using econometric model. Loan to Deposit ratio is used measuring liquidity of a bank. Other control variables Loan Loss Provision to Total Asset (LLPTA) for credit risk, Equity to Total Asset (EQTA) for capital efficiency, Operational expense to Total Asset (OPEXTA) for operational efficiency, Total Asset (TA) for Bank size, Non-performing Loan (NPL) for asset quality, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for economy size, Inflation (INF) for consumer price index, Interest Rate (INT) for opportunity cost, and the Unemployment rate for measuring labor force. The major finding of this study show that there is a significant positive relationship between liquidity risk and profitability. Among bank-specific variables credit risk, capital efficiency, and bank size have a significant relationship with Profitability which also supports the theory. Macroeconomic variables like interest rate, inflation rate, and GDP have a significant relationship with profitability which also supports the theory. Here BDBL and BASIC should have maintained the liquidity standard mentioned by Bangladesh Bank and BIS to mitigate their liquidity crisis. This study also shows that there is no severe effect of the COVID pandemic on the State-Owned Commercial Banks of Bangladesh. The findings of this study will provide valuable insights for banks and regulators to make informed decisions regarding risk management, liquidity decision, capital allocation, and strategic planning.

This paper investigates the relationship between corporate governance and the likelihood of financial distress. To evaluate the impact of corporate governance on financial distress, a multiple regression model and longitudinal panel data are used. Corporate governance is determined by the board of directors, audit committee, and ownership structure, whereas the Altman Z-score is used to indicate financial distress. The findings imply that financial distress is influenced by corporate governance variables (board independence, auditor independence, auditor opinion, sponsor directors ownership, and foreign shareholders), and firm-level variables (sales growth, performance, liquidity, firm size)). From an academic standpoint, this paper adds to our understanding of the association between corporate governance practices and the risk of financial distress in emerging markets like Bangladesh. The findings may encourage Bangladeshi listed companies to follow and implement good corporate governance practices, increasing investor, regulator, and stakeholder confidence.

The main goal of this paper is to determine how vaccination and the spread of COVID-19 have influenced investor interest in cryptocurrency. The paper quantifies the reproduction number of COVID-19 worldwide and in specific countries. It evaluates cryptocurrency volatility using various time scale frequencies by employing the Wavelet approach. Additionally, this research examines how investor interest in these sectors was impacted by immunizations and pandemic transmission. Our research demonstrates that during the COVID-19 epidemic, cryptocurrency volatility is greater across extended trade horizons and decreases following the introduction of immunizations. Furthermore, vaccination levels and the spread of COVID-19 significantly affect investor attention in the top three cryptocurrency markets. This work has several implications, such as highlighting the effect of COVID-19's spread in increasing the volatility of cryptocurrency markets and the role of vaccinations in reducing risks and increasing investor attention. The results of this study aid in forecasting bitcoin market activity and price movements, creating trading opportunities in the bitcoin market. The empirical findings will provide valuable insights for policymakers and investors, enabling them to develop better investment strategies. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to employ the R-number to calculate the effect of the COVID-19 vaccine and dissemination on cryptocurrency markets.

The paper sought to investigate the effect of corporate earnings manipulation on microfinance institutional failures in Ghana. The researchers employed a quantitative investigative technique to analyse data obtained from the Bank of Ghana (BOG) on microfinance companies covering eight-year intervals. Beneish M-scores model was used to analyse the sampled data. The study found a link between earnings manipulation and business failures in the Microfinance Sector of Ghana. It found the M-score model as an effective tool for uncovering early warning signs associated with corporate earnings management, thus, averting many negative repercussions related to the practice. The research findings are based on data obtained only from the microfinance industry of Ghana over an eight-year period. Reasons behind earnings manipulation could not be deduced from the research conclusions. A qualitative inquiry must be considered in future studies to explain the reasons for this phenomenon. Collecting and analysing data from more than one sector and across other geographical boundaries may enhance the applicability of the findings in other jurisdictions. This paper provides some recommendations that help early detection of fraud in the microfinance industry. The research focuses on a sector where data is very sensitive and confidential, hence, highly prone to fraud but hardly researched. It, therefore, adds to the scanty literature on fraud in this part of the economy.

This paper examines the profit efficiency of the banks in Bangladesh using the stochastic frontier analysis. The paper is prepared based on the secondary data only and the sample contains data from 25 banks including state owned and private conventional banks in Bangladesh from the year 2011 to 2020. Translog function has been employed to construct the profit function and Battese and Coelli 1995 (BC95) model has been used to determine the profit efficiency. The efficiency performance reveals that, on average, banks in Bangladesh are 80.73% profit efficient. Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) is the most profit efficient banks with a score of 92.56% in 2020. While Dhaka Bank is the least profit efficient banks with a score of 15.42%. Banks belong to the 3rd and 2nd generation are the most profit efficient. Besides, none of the inefficiency determinant is statistically significant to explain variation in the profit inefficiency as the dataset is small and only limited to Bangladeshi banks. Moreover, diagnostic tests such as Normality test, M3T statistics test and Likelihood Ratio (LR) test have been performed to confirm the existence of inefficiency. This report shall provide important insight of state owned and private conventional banks in Bangladesh to the managements, regulators and other concerned parties.

This paper aims to assess the impact of Cottage, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (CMSMEs) financing on bank performance estimated with NIM (net interest margin) ratio followed by ROE (return on equity) and ROA (return on assets) ratio considering ten commercial banks (both private and state-owned bank) of Bangladesh being a participant of emerging economy covering from the year 2011 to the year 2020. Adopting Pooled OLS, Fixed Effect (FE), Random Effect (RE) and Generalized Least Square (GLS) technique enables the estimation of coefficients corresponding to the explanatory variables of the models constructed with bank specific as well as macroeconomic control variables along with the CMSME financing factors affecting banks’ profitability. We also use diagnostic tests like the test of heteroskedasticity, multicollinearity, omitted variable, and autocorrelation to ensure our models are accurate. From this paper it will be cleared that the growth of CMSME financing can lead to higher profitability of commercial banks, higher employment rate in CMSME sector other than any other sector. According to the estimated findings of the models, almost all CMSMSE determinants along with a few control variables including bank size, GDP growth and inflation largely account for the variations in profitability ratio of banks.

The apartheid legacy molded urbanization changes in South Africa. Post-1994 people were free to migrate to areas with greater economic activities (increased socio-economic opportunities) subsequently, the genesis of migration. Majority of the people aimed for Gauteng Province which is considered the economic hub of the country and a magnet of opportunities. This study looked at the history of Gauteng- primarily the economic position in conjunction with economic theories. This quantitative research investigated the relationship between economic growth and urbanization in the Gauteng Province. Granger causality tests were used to ascertain the relationship used in the research and the study focused on the period 1997 to 2020, using quarterly data. From the study, it was established that there is a unidirectional causality running from economic growth and employment in Gauteng- meaning that an increase in economic growth enables more jobs to be created, leading to migration of people to the province. The paper also found no causal relationship between population and economic growth- meaning that population increase does not have any effect on economic growth. People seek to progress out of poverty, primarily to an urban lifestyle to leverage socio-economic benefits- grow skills and knowledge by accessing public services such as education, and infrastructure mainly available in urbanized areas. The paper recommends for the government redefine urbanization policy to manage rapid migration. Failure to do so will lead to infrastructure ( housing, water, and electricity) and employment challenges within the province.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the relationship between petroleum energy volatility and commodity prices in Ghana, which are indexed (energy grains, meat, and cooking oil), as well as to provide an empirical specification of the impact's direction. With reference to time series literature, the paper examined energy and commodity price connection models such as augmented dickey fuller, granger causality, co-integration, vector autoregressive and the vector error correction models used in estimating the association among petroleum energy volatility and the three selected commodity variables. The paper found that, there is a long run relationship between petroleum energy volatility and commodity prices in Ghana from 2011 to 2022. A single equation error correction model suggested that, petroleum energy shocks increase prices of grains, meat and cooking oil in both the short and long run. Impulse response function and variance decomposition conducted on the variables also suggested that there is both short and long run association between the variables.

South Africa faces many socio-economic challenges, which include sluggish economic growth, increasing unemployment rates, increasing inequality, and high poverty levels., This paper focused on examining how spatial inequality causes these socio-economic issues. The main thrust of the paper is to briefly investigate two major aspects, firstly the root cause of spatial inequality in South Africa, and secondly the impact that spatial inequality has on socio-economic indicators such as economic inequality, poverty, and employment levels. This research used a mixed methodology approach. Empirical research findings proved that apartheid policies contributed to high levels of poverty and inequality in South Africa. As the empirical results show, the existing inequalities in South Africa are predominantly based on a racial sub-group basis, which confirms the causal relationship with historic apartheid spatial policies enforced on a racial basis. Primary research findings depicted that the post-apartheid era is characterised by high poverty levels and huge inequality with the bulk of blacks exposed to diverse macro-economic challenges. Policy recommendation-wise, it was suggested that the government should continue to redress the systems of apartheid and use policies that help to eradicate poverty.

The aim of this paper is interrogate various perspective such as Investments, Infrastructure, Governance and Macroeconomic factors and how they influence global value chains in sub Saharan Africa. Data was derived from 37 sub Saharan Africa countries for the period 2003 to 2018. Panel corrected Standard Errors estimation model was adopted in analysis. Both the direct relationships and controlled relationships were tested. Macro-economic factors such as GDP growth rate, exchange rate, inflation rate and Interest rates were used as controlling factors. The paper established a significant influence of Investments on Global value chains and that it can explain up to 45 per cent of the variation. Similarly, infrastructure has a significant influence on global value chains in sub Saharan Africa and that it can explain up to 67 per cent of the variations. Governance also has a significant influence on global value chains and it can explain up to 10 per cent of the variations. The overall model was significant with a 76 per cent explanation of the variation in global value chains in sub Saharan Africa. Therefore, the paper recommends for a promotion of value added manufacturing, and an integration in global value chains. Further, the paper recommends for enhanced resource allocation to infrastructure development to aid in the reduction of the production cost and to stream line governance.

This paper aims to demonstrate the links between inequality, economic growth and technological change. The latter combined with human capital distinguishes between skilled and unskilled workers which leads to rising inequality. Thus, we analyse the theoretical and empirical links between growth, technological change, school enrolment, openness, unemployment and income inequality. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to show that technological change is one of the key elements of economic growth and inequality dynamics. It is a channel through which human capital influences economic growth and also inequality. We are conducting an econometric study for a set of African countries in order to answer these questions: What is the impact of economic growth and technological change on inequality? What is the impact of income inequality on economic growth? What is the effect of openness and technological change on economic growth?

In this paper, we measure and evaluate the real parity of the Moroccan dirham during the period 1980-2020. The objective is to highlight the evolution of the real exchange rate of the dirham, and in particular to show if whether it has been overvalued against currencies of the main trading partners and competitors of Morocco. Contrary to many studies which used a simple method to calculate the real parity which consisted of assigning each country of the main trading partners a relative weight equivalent to its share in Morocco's external trade, we calculate the weights by combining both bilateral import weights and a double weighting for export to reflect both importance of each country in Morocco's import and export as well as the degree of competition of exporters in usual third markets. Calculation of real parity of the dirham reveals three main periods: a strong depreciation during 1980-1990; an appreciation during the period 1991-2000; and a resumption of a weaker depreciation for the last period (2001-2020). These trends are related to both changes in nominal effective exchange rate and in relative prices. Results obtained in the present paper are generally close to those calculated by the International Monetary Fund for Morocco and are strongly correlated with them and the trends in both remain the same.

Country risk rating is one of the factors that determine the stability of a given country’s economy and the government's access to both domestic and foreign loans. This paper aimed at assessing the relationship that exists between country risk rating and the South African government's access to domestic debts or loans. Monthly data from January 2008 to December 2019 was investigated using the ARDL bounds testing approach and the error correction model (ECM). The findings of this paper indicated that all country risk components (economic, financial and political) have a significant long-run effect on government domestic debt. While economic and financial risk scores have a positive effect on government debts, an inverse relationship was found between political risk and government debt. These results imply that in order to be independent of foreign debt which comes with terms and conditions; policymakers and the South African government leaders should strive to sustain the stability of the economy and the country’s financial conditions.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate stock price reaction to securities class action filings. A standard event study methodology, employing the market model, is applied to determine the abnormal returns both on and surrounding the lawsuit filing day. We utilize the Stanford Securities Class Action Clearinghouse Database (SCAC)[1] to collect the initial sample, which contains data on all securities class action. Insofar as we have eliminated any event that could contaminate the event to capture only the effects linked to the announcement, our sample is then restricted to three events corresponding to three different companies.The results show the absence of a significant reaction for the ten days preceding the lawsuit filings as well as for the ten days following the lawsuit filings. This paper uses stock market reaction to gauge the merit of Securities class action (SCAs) and the results shows that the market has a modest ability to discern meritorious filings from frivolous filings.

In terms of a digital tax, there are certain interesting characteristics of the digital economy and its business structures. Some of these characteristics include mobility, data dependency, network effects, and buildup of multi-faceted business versions, a propensity toward dominance or monopoly, and unpredictability. Our study offers a digital economy model that explicitly accounts for a number of these aspects. The economic structures of platforms are bidirectional, they rely significantly on data collection, and they dominate the market. This model is then used to examine the effect of different taxes suggested to target implicitly dominating digital platforms. The aim of this paper was to examine various digital taxation models that are currently in use in other countries. The paper ends by proposing some recommendations to overcome some of the challenges and issues raised in this paper.

This paper first, investigates the responsiveness of stock prices to changes in interest rates in Malawi, a low-income country in sub-Saharan Africa. Secondly, determines whether Gross Domestic Product of such economies respond significantly to changes in stock prices. Time series data from January 2001 to December 2019 are utilised. Unit root tests indicate that each variable is integrated of order one and the Johansen test for cointegration reveal that the variables are cointegrated, with one cointegrating equation. Therefore, a vector error correction model has been adopted to investigate the short and long-run dynamic relationship among the variables. Results of Granger causality tests and impulse response analysis indicate that stock prices do respond to changes in interest rates. Moreover, Gross Domestic Product also responds to changes in stock prices. Thus, contrary to previous studies, this paper finds that an asset price channel operating through stock prices exists in Malawi. More specifically, this study finds that variations in interest rates cause significant changes in stock prices which in turn cause changes in Gross Domestic Product. Among others, the study recommends that the monetary authorities should raise public awareness on investment opportunities available in stock markets.

This paper evaluates the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and entrepreneurship development in developing countries. The paper also analyses the intervening effect of public sector venality and the foreign direct investment effect on developing entrepreneurship in developing countries. The paper applied a quantitative research method. Secondary data collection covered four years (2016-2019). Data related to FDI were collected from the World Bank database; data for public sector corruption were collected from the Transparency International Corruption Index, and data related to entrepreneurship development were collected from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) reports. The sample consisted of nine developing countries which resulted in 36 observations. Data were analysed with the application of fixed effect regression. The results showed that foreign direct investment significantly affects entrepreneurship development in developing countries and that public sector venality negatively affects entrepreneurship development. The practical significance of these findings includes the need for developing countries to place pragmatic emphasis on the continuous attraction of foreign direct investment to accelerate the positive spill-over effect of foreign direct investment on local entrepreneurs, which comes with skills and technology advantages – amongst others. There is a dire need for governments in developing countries to rethink their approach toward eradicating public sector venality, which this research has confirmed as inimical to the nurturing and development of local entrepreneurship. This paper recommends an agenda for further research to explore the current model by including more samples and more time series in future analysis models.

The country's strong reliance on oil and gas exports exposes it to the considerable risk of global oil market instability, as external debt continues to rise as exports fall, more attention is being paid to the consequences of this trend. The major goal of this paper is to determine Nigeria's rising external debt and declining exports, using an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, we investigated Nigeria's rising external debt and declining exports using annual time series data from 1986 to 2020. In the short run across the study period, the study reveals evidence of a negligible beneficial impact of both external debt and export on economic growth meaning that in the short run, both foreign debt and export have a negligible beneficial impact on economic growth, according to the estimates in Nigeria, in reality, in the long run, the impact is negative, with exports having a greater negative impact than foreign debt, as a result, the paper submits that Nigeria's economy is at a fork in the road, based on these findings, it is suggested that external borrowing be restricted until current debt stocks are repaid, that external loans be tied to specific projects to avoid inefficient fund allocation, that domestic capital markets be explored as an alternative to external borrowing, that more export diversification be undertaken to mitigate poor performance of primary commodity exports, and that commodity exchanges be established to attract more speculators, external borrowing should be limited until current debt stocks are serviced in order to achieve economic growth.

The objective of this paper is to provide a measure of deprivation in Tunisia. The focus will be on non-monetary deprivation which will complement the profile of the poor in the country. The work is carried out on Tunisian data from the national survey on the budget, consumption, and the household’s standard of living (2015). The study tries to explore, in addition to the monetary dimension, the deprivations in Tunisia in the essential dimensions of a dignified and respectable human life: housing, education and health. The results obtained show a great disparity in monetary and non-monetary deprivation, particularly in the housing and education dimensions. Household characteristics seem to be an important element in the extent of deprivation. These include the location, region of residence as well as the socio-economic characteristics of the household head. The present paper stands out from several recent works on the phenomenon in Tunisia, based mainly on monetary indicators. By this aspect, this study contributes to a better understanding of poverty in the country.

The primary objective of this paper is to examine the market risk and liquidity risk management techniques and practices followed by the Indian scheduled commercial banks (SCB) consisting of public sector banks (PSBs) and private sector banks (PVSBs) for five years from 2016-17 to 2020-21. The other objective is to compare market and liquidity risk management practices between the public sector banks (PSBs) and private sector of banks (PVSBs). The other purpose of the study is to review the strategies adopted by the SCBs in risk management practices. To study the risk management practices, six largest banks each from PSBs and PVSBs are taken for sample study. This study finds that the SCBs are facing credit risk, market risk (Interest rate risk, foreign exchange risk, commodity price risk and equity price risk,) liquidity risk and operational risk. It also finds that the PSBs are better reporting and presenting their risk management practices in their annual reports than that of PVSBs in risk identification, risk assessment and risk analysis. The results indicate that there is no significant difference between the PVSBs and PSBs in the policies and practices of market risk and liquidity risk assessment, evaluation, monitoring risk controlling and risk taking. This paper will be relevant and value to those interested in research in the risk management banking industry. This is a descriptive research based on secondary data.

Poverty reduction policies and interventions are only effective if the poor themselves own the process and believe in the process being implemented. The way people perceive poverty is to a greater extent informed by their position and economic circumstances in society. The conservative theorist of poverty argue that the poor are lazy and hence would tend to blame the society and the structures thereof. Assertions in the culture of poverty by Oscar Lewis imply that the poor may become comfortable in their poverty and hence may ignore any efforts that would change their circumstances. The liberal theories on the other hand argue that those in poverty perceive poverty as a result of an evil and an unequal system. However, these are general expectations and yet they are not always the same across countries and regions. This paper examines the perceptions of the causes of poverty as conceived by the people living in selected South African townships. The paper used data that was collected in the Gauteng Province South Africa in 2019-2020. Based on the Feagin scale of perceptions of the causes of poverty, the main categories namely, fatalistic, structural and individualistic, are considered between the different households. The results show that the poor to a greater extend agree with the structural perceptions of causes of poverty whilst those that are above the poverty line assign their position to hard work and hence blame the poor for their own circumstances mostly agreeing with the individualistic perception of causes of poverty.

This study empirically evaluated the effect of monetary policy rate (MPR) on Nigeria’s economic growth using annual data spanning 2006 - 2020. The technique adopted in this paper is a simultaneous equation model using two Stage Least Squares (2SLS). Variables of interest were Broad money supply as a ratio of GDP (M2/GDP), Credit to the private sector as a ratio of GDP (CPS/GDP), Cash reserve ratio (CRR), Liquidity ratio (LQR), and Lending interest rate (LIR). The preliminary unit root test revealed stationarity at first difference. The weak instrument test result shows a robust instrument at 10 and 20 per cent. While the residual result indicates an absence of heteroskedasticity in the model. The findings revealed that monetary policy rate has a negative but significant effect on economic growth, Real Exchange Rate (REXR) has an inverse relationship and significant effect on economic growth while inflation (INFL) has a negative and insignificant impact on economic growth. Given that monetary policy rate significantly impacts economic growth in Nigeria, the paper recommended that the Central bank of Nigeria should ensure that the fixing of the monetary policy rate is such that it enables the flow of credit in the desired direction to boost investment and economic activities in the economy; by identifying the Monetary Policy Rate threshold that is suitable for price stability, investment and output growth.

The aim of this paper is to study the interdependence between the Coronavirus Panic Index (PI) and major cryptocurrencies throughout the period of the Covid-19 pandemic.We investigate the evolution of cryptocurrency’s value following changes in the Covid panic index levels; then, we use the DCC-MIDAS specification to extract the long- and short-term volatility components of cryptocurrencies and study the responses of the cryptocurrencies to the pandemic panic index. The results show that the panic level metrics could be considered as a potential driver of cryptocurrencies volatility and has a significantly positive influence on the long-term cryptocurrencies correlation during stress levels. Our findings contribute to the existing literature in several ways. First ,we provide specific evidence on the driving effect of Covid panic index on cryptocurrencies’correlation during a crisis. Second, our paper adds to the current literature on cryptocurrencies and fills in the existing gap related to the lack of academic research on the pandemic’s impact on the cryptocurrency market. Third, the results offer interesting insights for future research and have important implications for investors, especially in understanding the cryptocurrencies’behavior and exploring whether cryptocurrencies can serve as a hedge against the COVID-19 crisis.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is believed to be an indicator of a country’s economic condition. Bangladesh’s GDP increased at a pace of 8.15% in fiscal 2018-19 as per the base year 2005-06. By the year 2019, Bangladesh has become the seventh fastest-growing economy in the world. This paper used multiple regression analysis model for the macroeconomic factors. The aim of this study is to measure the effects of macroeconomic factors considering GDP as the dependent variables and inflation rate, import, and export are considered as independent. This paper represents that import and export are positively associated factors with GDP whereas inflation rate is a negatively associated factor. This study concluded with revealing the importance of conducting further study by considering more economic variables to measure the economic growth as a whole.

This study aims to investigate the link amongst cointegrated observations of export, import and gross capital formation (GCF) in Iraq over the period 2004-2021. This study assumes that the high reliance on the crude oil revenues cannot lead to enhance level of economic diversification and stability. However, the main objective of this paper is to empirically analyse the relationship between export, import and gross capital formation. For this purpose, the study employs a granger causality test. It revealed a considerable linkage between the variables examined, in which a long-run unidirectional causal relationship is existed from GCF to export and import, and also from export to import. Whereas the causal link from export and import to GCF is absent. This implies that the sound economic policy in Iraq is not engaged efficiently due to the modest level of GCF impact, in which there is a parallel relationship between export and import in general, where the major export revenues devoted for meeting the consuming needs over the period studied. The study recommended gross capital formation in Iraq ought to be increased and utilized in efficient way that lead to raise level of value added, where this could be achieved via enhancing level of export, particularly non-oil export. Accordingly, it also recommended to attracting domestic and foreign investors.

This paper investigates the relative importance of public and private sector capital formation on economic growth in Malawi. Employing both the Two-Stage Least Squares and dynamic Generalised Method of Moments techniques on quarterly data from 1970Q1 to 2019Q4, the study finds that private sector capital formation makes a significant contribution to economic growth. The relationship between public sector capital formation and economic growth, however, is insignificant. The study finds no evidence of complementarity between public and private sector capital formation in Malawi. The study observes that private sector capital formation affects public sector capital formation, and not vice versa. Consistent with orthodox classical political economics, we recommend a small government for Malawi with a lean budget, especially since there are no observed benefits from large government spending in spurring economic growth. The only public sector investments that may be undertaken are public goods in areas associated with market failure.

In this research paper, we investigate the variables that impact the behavioural intention of cryptocurrency investors in India. The analysis of the data was done using smart partial least square-structural equation modelling. The study was carried out in India using purposive sampling and included investors who had a fundamental understanding of cryptocurrency. It has been established that factors such as financial literacy, facilitating conditions, social influence, effort expectancy and performance expectancy have a significant influence on the investment behaviour of these individuals. The study looks at how the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model with financial literacy affects the behaviour of cryptocurrency investment.

This paper examined the research landscape on the applications of machine learning in finance (MLF) research based on the published documents on the topic indexed in the Scopus database from 2007 to 2021. Consequently, the publication trends on the published documents data were examined to determine the most prolific authors, institutions, countries, and funding bodies on the topic. Next, bibliometric analysis (BA) was employed to analyse and map co-authorship networks, keywords occurrences, and citations. Lastly, a systematic literature review was carried out to examine the scientific and technological developments in the field. The results showed that the number of published documents on MLF research has soared tremendously from 5 to 398 between 2007 and 2021, which signifies an enormous increase (~7,900%) in the subject area. The high productivity is partly ascribed to the research activities of the most research-active academic stakeholders namely Chihfong Tsai (National Central University in Taiwan) and Stanford University (United States). However, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) is the most active funder in the United States and has the largest number of published documents. BA analysis revealed high collaboration rates, published documents, and citations among the stakeholders. Keywords occurrence analysis revealed that MLF research is a highly inter- and multidisciplinary area with numerous hotspots and themes ranging from systems, algorithms and techniques to the security and crime prevention in Finance using ML. Citation analysis, the most prominent (and by extension the most prestigious) source titles on MLF are IEEE Access, Expert Systems with Applications and ACM International Conference Proceedings Series (ACM-ICPS). The systematic literature review revealed the various areas and applications of MLF research, particularly in the areas of predictive/forecasting analytics, credit assessment and management, as well as supply chain, carbon trading, neural networks, and artificial intelligence, among others. It is expected that MLF research activities and their impact on the wider global society will continue to increase in the coming years

This study examines the evolution of sustainability accounting in the sector, emphasizing a shift from environmental management to more detailed strategies focusing on environmental preservation, integrating policies and engaging stakeholders. It delves into how policies with public sector activities provide insights into common approaches for measuring and reporting sustainability. By using a combination of bibliometric and thematic analysis, this research analyzes a collection of peer-reviewed papers to identify trends and evolving topics using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The findings indicate a move towards sustainability initiatives, emphasising incorporating technological advancements to enhance sustainability measurement and reporting. Key themes like policy and governance sustainability reporting and the strategic use of technology highlight a trend towards data-driven policymaking and the crucial role of sustainable procurement in the public sector. While comprehensive, the study acknowledges limitations related to database selection and potential publication biases. It emphasizes the importance of research to address gaps and calls, for aligning sustainability reporting standards. This research adds to discussions by providing an overview of sustainability accounting practices within the public sector. It compiles a range of research to offer a comprehension of the subject, setting the stage for upcoming studies and highlighting its importance in academic exploration and real-world use.

This paper explored the factors that impact the sustainability and growth of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in Botswana. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to survey 348 owners/managers of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in the South Eastern District of Botswana. Descriptive and inferential statistics were generated from the gathered data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Version 27.0). findings revealed that entrepreneurial factors, firm-specific factors and exogenous factors impacted the growth and sustainability of manufacturing firms in Botswana. In addition, government policies and guidelines, innovation and creativity, human capital development, access to finance, financial management skills and managerial skills were also confirmed as significantly contributing to the growth and sustainability of manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises in Botswana. Key recommendations derived from these findings include the need for policymakers in the government of Botswana and private sector partners to upskill owners/managers of manufacturing enterprises on business planning, financial management, financial literacy, quality management, and market research skills. Furthermore, efforts should be accelerated to promote products manufactured in Botswana to regional and global markets.

This article introduces a systematic approach for developing a targeted comprehensive program aimed at enhancing the rural labor market (TCPDRLM) in labor-surplus regions of the Republic of Uzbekistan, within a socially oriented market economy. The paper outlines key interconnected principles for the development of TCPDRLM, including target orientation, complexity, integration, specificity, variability, realism, optimality, priority, delineation of powers and functions, limitations, targeting, controllability, and interconnectedness. Based on these principles, the article proposes interrelated sections for the program’s development, covering analytical and problematic aspects, target delineation, scientific and methodological frameworks, information management, modeling, software development, resource allocation, organizational and economic structuring, summary formulation, and legal considerations. Additionally, the article details the primary stages of TCPDRLM development, including setting objectives for the rural labor market (RLM), developing methodological and modeling frameworks for RLM analysis and forecasting, collecting statistical, marketing, and sociological data, compiling the TCPDRLM subprograms, obtaining approval for the RLM development program, and establishing organizational, economic, and legal mechanisms for program implementation and adjustment. The article's scientific contribution lies in the formulated methodology for TCPDRLM development in the rural labor market.

Due to the COVID pandemic, the stock market has been affected adversely around the globe and investment decisions are now more challenging and riskier. Hence, in this paper, we aim to investigate the impact of oil prices on the Indian stock market and eight sectoral indices for the period of pre, post, and during the COVID pandemic. The maximal overlap discrete wavelet transform (MODWT) is used to decompose and to denoise the original time series data as oil price and market return are found to be noisy. We employ the wavelet-based Granger causality (WGC) and non-linear, autoregressive distributed lag model (NARDL) to investigate the causality in the frequency domain as well as the short-run and long-run asymmetry of oil price impact. Our analysis shows a feedback relation between low frequency (higher investment horizon) and the long-run asymmetric impact of oil prices on all sectors during all three periods. We discuss the dynamic time-varying relationship between the oil price and sectoral return along with the investment implications in detail.

This study critically examines the nexus between tax legislation and digital innovation in Ukraine, focusing on the alignment of fiscal policy with the digital economy's growth. It analyzes the implications of Ukraine's tax reforms, including the Law "On Stimulating the Development of the Digital Economy in Ukraine," commonly referred to as the Diia City initiative, for promoting a robust digital economy. This research evaluates the effectiveness of these reforms in fostering digital advancements and their impact on sustainable economic development. Employing a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach, it researches into the theoretical and practical aspects of tax policies, particularly those targeting the digital sector. The findings suggest Ukraine's strategic positioning for leveraging digital innovation, underpinned by legislative reforms such as amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine that cater to the IT industry through specific tax regulations through a conducive fiscal environment. This paper highlights the transformative potential of digital innovations and the critical need for tax legislation to evolve in tandem with technological advancements. Recommendations for ensuring the sustained success of Ukraine's digital and economic reform efforts emphasize the importance of addressing existing obstacles and perpetually refining fiscal policies.

Global research has shown that different risk management practices in banks and companies, in general, may significantly influence their profitability. This research paper investigates the impact of credit risk, liquidity risk and market risk in the banking sector in South Africa. It adds to the literature by improving the existing models and by exploring the impact of the coronavirus on the profitability of the same banks through the lens of risk management. The research used quantitative data collected from the six largest commercial banks in South Africa during the period (2013-2020),before Covid-19. Several panel regression models were developed to incorporate credit, liquidity, and market risks. The results showed that the primary determinant of bank profitability was the management of non-performing loans, implying that other financial risks may already be appropriately managed or diversified away in the South African context. However, banks and regulators should place more importance on evaluating the creditworthiness of their current and prospective customers.

This paper examines the potential effects of Brexit on income inequality in the United Kingdom (UK) and utilizes empirical methods to predict these effects. The study focuses on the impact of trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on income inequality, using macroeconomic data from 1971 to 2019. By employing cointegration techniques and an Error Correction Model (ECM) on annual time series data, the analysis reveals that higher levels of trade have historically reduced income inequality in the UK over the long term. Consequently, changes in trade resulting from Brexit are expected to have a negative influence on the distribution of income and wealth in the UK. On the other hand, the study finds that higher FDI has only had a short-term negative effect on income distribution in the UK.

Low levels of financial literacy continue to persist around the world with women, the poor, lowly educated groups and the youth possessing the least levels of financial literacy. Research has shown that both financial education and financial experience can help boost levels of financial literacy. Despite this, there remains no conceptual framework that shows how financial education and financial experience can be used to boost levels of financial literacy. The purpose of this study is to propose a conceptual framework that links financial literacy, financial education, and financial experience. This paper is based on a literature review of journals on financial literacy, financial education, and financial experience that were published on both Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, and Scopus from 2018 to 2023. Variables that emerged from the literature review were used to construct a conceptual framework. The findings of this study reveal that financial education and financial experience can be used to enhance financial literacy levels. Thus, it can be concluded that both financial education and financial experience can help to improve levels of financial literacy among individuals and various groups.

This paper examines the effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak on the Cypriot Stock Exchange (CSE), which has encountered substantial turmoil. For this purpose, daily stock market returns were used over the period of September 3, 2019 - July 10, 2020, for the Cypriot economy. The study applied Granger causality models to explore whether the CSE is impacted by the crisis generated by novel coronavirus. Hsiao’s approach to Granger causality was employed to investigate the causalities among COVID-19 and stock market returns, as well as between pandemic measures and several commodities. The analyses uncover intricate dynamics and contributing factors, shedding light on the observed volatility. The findings demonstrate significant volatility throughout the pandemic, with notable shifts in market conditions. Nevertheless, the stock market showcased resilience and recovery during the initial shutdown period. These insights contribute to understanding the pandemic’s impact on the CSE, offering crucial guidance for investors, policymakers, and market participants.

Pricing decision is the most important decision made by food manufacturers. Although products are offered at regular prices most of the time, they are periodically offered at discounted prices to boost sales. In a differentiated product market, how brands respond to each other’s price change is not addressed very often empirically. This paper studies a strategic price response to perceive how brands response to each other’s prices in the U.S. differentiated yogurt market. This paper also estimates the frequency of price promotion to answer the question of whether private labels go on price promotion less or more frequently than main national brands. Vector autoregressive estimates suggest that the price pattern of yogurt brands is systematic and there is a strategic decision in setting prices. Granger-causality test shows that both Yoplait and private labels alter prices of other brands by having a significant impact on their pricing decision. Results of the impulse response functions confirm that Yoplait with the highest market share is the price leader in the yogurt market where all brands respond significantly to Yoplait’s price shock up to five weeks following an impulse. The Markov-switching regression shows that private labels go on price promotion as frequently as national brands.Keywords: yogurt; strategic price; Granger-causality; impulse response; Markov-switchingJEL Classifications: C32, C33, D22, L11DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.8708

The need to query large volumes of heterogeneous data in differing formats from multiple sources, both internal and external and its centrality to the process of value creation is revolutionising traditional approaches to business models. Through the adoption of more sophisticated algorithms, it is possible to intercept and interpret any digital flow, particularly those coming from the Internet of Things or from the web. The vast amount of information, its governance and its global integration are used in all decision-making processes and they are, therefore, an element of strategic importance in the development process and in the survival of every company, thanks to the potential for transforming all information sources into knowledge and quantifying reality in all its elements (objects, places, phenomena, people and human behaviour). Having a large volume and a wide variety of information (i.e. Big Data) shared within an organisation is crucial for the interactive and multidirectional process of risk assessment and management. This process, on the one hand, contributes to safeguarding the integrity of corporate assets through increased efficiency and the effectiveness of the services provided and, on the other, reduces unexpected events and related losses while ensuring greater efficiency in the decision-making process. This is relevant especially in financial institutions in which risk management is pivotal to their survival and their success, assuming a strategic role. Through an analysis of the literature and a case study methodology, this paper investigates how small banks are facing technological challenges, showing the state of art about the actual use of the techniques of data collection and management (e.g. Big Data analytics) in supporting the risk management process. Furthermore, the work tries to identify the skills required of the risk manager in the digital age. The paper contributes to the ongoing debate on the usefulness and use of digital innovations in the banking sector, discussing the future perspectives of risk management 4.0 and the role of Big Data analytics in risk management.Keywords: Big Data Analytics, Business Intelligence, Risk Management, Decision Making, Case study, BanksJEL Classifications: O3, G2, M1DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.8556

What kind of trade agreements should a country choose? Regional trade agreements, multilateral trade agreements, or both? What's the role of a country's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) and foreign direct investment (FDI) in its participation and position in global value chains (GVCs)? Is a country's research and development spending conducive to breaking the "low-end locking" of FDI? Based on the World Input-Output Tables (WIOTs) released in 2016, this paper computes the indicators of GVC participation and position and identifies the feature of the production division, providing a reference for promoting regional and multilateral trade agreements. This paper uses feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) and system generalized method of moments (SYS-GMM) to examine the impact of a country's outward and inward FDI on its GVC participation and position. The empirical results imply that a country's OFDI promotes its GVC participation and fosters its upgrading within industries in GVCs, while FDI inhibits the upgrading of GVCs, though it promotes a country's GVC participation. In addition, a country's research and development spending can be conducive to breaking the "low-end locking" effect of FDI. Keywords: Outward Foreign Direct Investment, Inward Foreign Direct Investment, Global Value Chains, World Input-Output Tables, Feasible Generalized Least Squares JEL Classifications: C33, F21 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.11950