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This study investigates the predictors of financial distress of banks in Sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, we examine the relationship between bank financial distress and the 5Cs (i.e., Character, Capacity, Capital, Condition, and Collateral). We use logistic regression and panel data from 228 listed and non-listed Sub-Sahara Africa Banks over the period 2006 to 2016 to test the hypotheses. We find that the rating measures of capacity (cost to income), capital (leverage), and condition (loan loss reserves to gross loan and inflation) positively affect the financial distress of the banks in Sub-Saharan Africa. Control of corruption decreases the probability of financial distress; however, the collateral and character indicators do not predict the financial distress of the banks. This study adds to the debate on how Character, Capacity, Capital, Condition, and Collateral affect bank financial distress in Sub-Saharan Africa, a region with high bank insolvency but research remains scant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The study aims to examine whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure does improve debt financing of listed firms with sustainable development agendas coupled with high chief executive officer (CEO) tenure in India. Design/methodology/approach: Employing panel regression based on fixed effect and instrumental variable regression with fixed effect assumptions, the study examined data from the Bombay stock exchange from the period 2010 to 2019. Findings: The study demonstrates that the disclosure of current exchange capital and moral capital cannot cause a firm to access short-term and long-term debt financing. However, lag investment in moral capital causes a positive effect on short-term debt financing. The second findings show that CEO tenure has a positive and statistically significant association with short-term debt financing and an insignificant association with long-term debt financing. The third findings show that the interaction of current CSR disclosure (moral and exchange capital) and CEO tenure is insignificant in affecting short-term and long-term debt finance. However, the interaction of lag CSR disclosure (moral and exchange capital) and CEO tenure positively affect short-term debt financing. The study addresses any endogeneity concerns arising from the CSR disclosure-debt financing association. Research limitations/implications: This study uses a single country to examine the inter-relationship between CEO tenure and debt financing and CSR measured by moral capital and exchange capital, thereby limiting the study's results for generalisation. Practical implications: The observation is that moral capital investment and disclosure do not guarantee new entrants the chance to access debt financing, but subsequent and lag CSR disclosure ensures access. Originality/value: No studies examine morality from CSR disclosure on debt financing. This study shows that decoupling CSR into exchange capital and moral capital in accessing debt financing presents new inputs for scholarly debate on CSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the coherence of extreme returns between green bonds and a unique set of green stocks. We use the novel quantile cross-spectral coherence methodology of quantile spectral coherency model, cross-quantilogram correlation approach, windowed time-lagged cross-correlation, and windowed scalogram difference models as estimation techniques. The study period spans from 28 November 2008 to 23 September 2020. Our measure of green stocks comprises the constituents of the MSCI Global Environment Price Index: Alternative Energy, Green Building, Pollution Prevention or Clean Technology while our green bond market is proxied by S&P Green Bond Index. We find the dependency between Green Bonds and green stocks to be weak, and this is high during market downturn periods in the short- to medium-term dynamics. This suggests that Green Bonds do act as a hedge, diversifier, or safe-haven instrument for environment portfolio in the short-term, medium-term and long-term dynamics during bearish market conditions. We conclude that green bonds and green stocks are two distinct asset classes with a distinct risk-return profile despite their common climate-friendly nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study tests the validity of Lussier model in predicting success or failure of small businesses in Ghana, Africa. The study uses logistic regression to analyze 101 failed and 107 successful small businesses. The results of the study support the model validity in Ghana and three variables (capital, economic timing, and marketing skills) were significant in predicting small businesses success or failure. The model also predicted 86.5% of the businesses accurately with a high R-square value. This study is the first to test the Lussier model in Africa and reinforces the validity of the Lussier model as a global success or failure prediction model that contributes to theory and practice. Implications for future and current entrepreneurs; government agencies that train, advice and assist small business owners; public policy makers; educators; suppliers; lenders; and consultants are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the aftermath of banking failures in Africa, the survival of firms has thus been placed with the application of good corporate governance practice and the oversight role of internal and external auditors. This study examines whether audit quality is related to corporate board of directors and financial reporting timeliness in the context of developing countries. Using sample data from 21 universal banks in Ghana and 31 commercial banks in Kenya for the periods 2010 to 2019. The study employs the Generalized Least Square(GLS), using fixed effect to estimate the relationships. The empirical results document that board size, average 9, and board independence, 59% on average, increase audit quality in Africa. However, the relationship between board gender and audit quality is not significant. Financial report lag is not significant to audit quality in Africa. However, financial report lag in Kenya is negative and significant to quality audit. Our findings recommend that commercial banks in Africa should implement policies that would increase the size of their boards and the number of independent directors to enhance maximum benefits from good corporate governance practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continuous threat posed by climate change caused by carbon dioxide emission has reignited global advocacy to confront its negative ramification with the greatest possible firmness. Global food security and agriculture face major challenges under climate change as a result of the potential negative effect of production and implementation of sectoral action to limit global warming. Overall, agricultural greenhouse emissions continue to rise and the analysis of superior data on emissions from farming, livestock, and fisheries can help countries identify opportunities to contemporaneously reduce emissions and address their food security. This study seeks to contribute to the recent literature by examining the causal relationship between agriculture production and carbon dioxide emissions in selected emerging economies for the period 1971 to 2013. The study, therefore, disaggregated agriculture production into crop production index and livestock production index to explicate the distinct and to find individual variable contribution to carbon dioxide emissions. By using FMOLS and DOLS, empirical results indicate that 1% increase in economic growth, crop production index, and livestock production index will cause a proportional increase in carbon dioxide emission by 17%, 28%, and 28% correspondingly, while 1% increase in energy consumption and population improves the environment of emerging economies. The direction of causality among the variables was, accordingly, examined using PMG estimator. Potentially, for emerging countries to achieve Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring zero hunger for their citizenry requires the need to alter their farming production techniques and also adopt agricultural technology method, which is more environmentally friendly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The study aims to assess credit risk management practices within financial institutions in Ghana. Specifically, the study compares credit risk management practices of listed banks in Ghana with Basel II (1999). Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is based on data gathered from varied sources, namely, use of questionnaires, analysis of internal credit policies and procedure manuals and semi-structured interviews and discussions with credit risk managers of the selected banks in May 2007 and October 2014. Findings – Overall, the credit risk management practices within listed banks in Ghana are in line with sound practices. The only dissimilarity, however, is the role of the board of directors in defining acceptable types of loans and maximum maturities for the various types of loans. The listed banks in Ghana are also exposed to credit risks associated with granting both corporate and small business commercial loans and the use of collaterals to mitigate their credit risk exposures. Practical implications – Banks in Ghana should consider developing the skills of all their personnel and appropriately motivating those involved in the credit risk management processes to ensure that they carry out this process efficiently. Originality/value – Research into credit risk management in the banking industry from the Ghanaian perspective remains scant. This study is, therefore, timely, and its findings are invaluable for the efficient management of credit risk in the banking industry. This study provides policy recommendations which will enhance shareholder value and, in this way, contribute to greater stability in the banking sector in developing countries, in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This study aims to examine the role the structure of corporate boards plays in the failure of the firm. Specifically, it examines whether the remuneration committee is related to corporate failure in the UK. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses 1,835 firm-year observations for 98 failed and 269 non-failed UK-listed non-financial firms between the periods of 1994 and 2011. This study used pooled cross-sectional, fixed and random effects LOGIT models to estimate whether corporate failure is related to remuneration committee in the UK. Findings – The findings indicate that corporate failure is negatively related to the independence of the remuneration committee chairman and remuneration committee’s effectiveness but not remuneration committee’s presence, size and meetings. However, a positive and significant relationship was observed between corporate failure and remuneration committee independence. Practical implications – The findings of the study provide support for the appropriateness of agency theory as analytical lens through which to study the efficacy of remuneration committee, especially the independence of the remuneration committee chairperson, as a board monitoring device, in the context of corporate failure. Originality/value – The paper adds to existing literature on corporate governance by establishing the likely causes of corporate failure in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to review the existing literature systematically so as to contribute towards a better understanding of methodological problems of the classical statistical techniques, artificially intelligent expert systems and theoretical approaches to solve the corporate failure syndrome. Design/methodology/approach – This paper presented a systematic review of 83 articles reporting 137 prediction failure models published within 1966-2012 in scholarly reviewed journals in four main disciplines, namely, accounting, finance, banking and economics. The authors performed the systematic literature review with five main sources, namely, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Wiley Interscience, Metalib, Web of Science and Business Source Complete of the Social Sciences. The review modified the approaches used by Aziz and Dar (2006), Ravi and Ravi (2007) and Balcaen and Ooghe (2006). Findings – The results indicate significant body of prior literature on prediction of corporate failure, but a theoretically sound, highly accurate, simple and widely used corporate failure prediction model for stakeholders has yet to be developed. Originality/value – This paper contributes towards a systematic understanding of the methodological problems associated with the statistical, artificially intelligent expert systems and theoretical approaches to solve the corporate failure prediction problems faced by firms in 11 countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a research which uses relevant financial information of private medium-sized failed and non-failed manufacturing firms in Great Britain during 1994-2004 to determine whether corporate failure can be predicted by developing a Z-score model. The paper used multiple discriminant analysis to develop the Z-score. Z-score could help to overcome the difficulties associated with using single ratios to measure companies' health or risk of failure. The research provides a method to more accurately predict corporate failure in the area of benchmarking.

This study analyzes seven bioeconomy sectors with the aim of establishing the leading contributing sectors to gross domestic product (GDP), and also determines the future relationship between bioeconomy and the national economy in Japan. We use data from World Input–Output Database (WIOD), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), and the World Bank Group for this analysis. First, we use principal component analysis (PCA) techniques to identify the bioeconomy sectors that contribute significantly to the national economy. We find through the PCA that all the bioeconomy sectors that we analyzed contribute almost uniformly and significantly to the national economy. We also find forestry and wood sectors to be the most significant contributing bioeconomy sectors. We use the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test to prove the existence of short-run and long-run relationships between bioeconomy and gross domestic product (GDP). We finally use the vector error correction Granger causality model to establish a bicausality between bioeconomy and GDP in the long-run, but not in the short-run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]