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Literature on the effects of socio‐political factors and the quality of political‐economic institutions on banking performance is scarce and mixed. To contribute to this literature, this study analyzes whether democracy and economic freedom affect the banking sector in European Union member countries. We provide empirical evidence of the influence of democracy and economic freedom on banking performance using a sample of 27 countries from 2001 to 2020, and accounting‐based return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) as performance measures. A dynamic model (system GMM) was used to address issues such as heteroscedasticity, serial correlation, and endogeneity. These findings indicate that democracy is positively associated with banking performance, whereas economic freedom negatively affects it in the sample countries. Additionally, this study adds to the growing literature on the relationship between control variables (macroeconomic determinants, bank‐specific factors, or a country's legislative regime) and banking performance. This study is practically valuable for managers, investors, stakeholders, policymakers, and academicians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the influence of confirmation bias on Expectile Value at Risk (EVaR) forecasting among fundamentalist, optimistic, and pessimistic investors in cryptocurrency, commodity, and stock markets before and during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Utilizing the DCC‐range GARCH model, we also explore the conditional minimum downside risk hedge ratios. Our findings demonstrate that confirmation bias leads to excessive EVaR for financial market returns, regardless of the period being before or during COVID‐19. Moreover, fundamentalists' expectations in all markets remain constant, while without confirmation bias, optimists' and pessimists' expectations tend to converge to zero over time but diverge significantly during turbulent periods. When confirmation bias is present, the average distance between these expectations widens. Analysing the hedge ratio results, with or without confirmation bias, also unveils the conditional minimum downside risk hedge ratios. These ratios indicate the optimal proportions for hedging downside risk in each financial market during different periods. We find that the conditional minimum downside risk hedge ratios are generally lower (higher) during the pre‐COVID‐19 (COVID‐19) period, implying that hedging costs are higher during the COVID‐19 period. These insightful findings offer valuable insights for traders and regulators in identifying and understanding the risk conditions of cryptocurrency, commodity, and stock markets. Additionally, the analysis of conditional minimum downside risk hedge ratios provides investors with essential information on how to strategically position their portfolios to mitigate and manage risk during both tranquil and turbulent market conditions, with and without confirmation bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the unprecedented levels of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) recently experienced in Europe, we study how EPU affects capital structure and whether cultural, institutional, and financial conditions and corporate diversification moderate this relationship in a sample of 3175 firms from eleven European countries. Firstly, our results indicate that financial leverage is positively related to EPU, with this relationship being moderated by uncertainty avoidance, institutional quality, and financial development. Secondly, corporate debt is positively related to corporate diversification. This relationship is stronger for unrelated than for related diversification. In addition to the direct effect, both types of diversification indirectly moderate the positive influence of EPU on leverage, with this effect being stronger for unrelated diversification. Our results show that debt and uncertainty avoidance, institutional quality, and financial development work as substitute mechanisms to alleviate the agency costs caused by EPU and that corporate diversification reduces the informational gap between firm insiders and outside investors exacerbated by EPU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to analyze the dynamic linkages of the energy market with the forex market. The energy market is measured by crude oil WTI, while the forex market is proxied by Brazilian real (RBRL), Mexican peso (RMXN), South African rand (RZAR), Turkish lira (RTRY) and British pound sterling (RGBP) exchange rate. Design/methodology/approach: For the study, daily observations of these constituent asset classes extending from December 31, 2019, to August 16, 2022, are taken as the data. Furthermore, it is categorized into two different sub-samples in the form of the COVID-19 outbreak (December 31, 2019 to February 23, 2022) and the Russo−Ukraine invasion (February 24, 2022 to August 16, 2022). For empirical estimation, Diebold and Yilmaz model (2014) and Barunik and Krehlik test (2018) are used to examine the dynamic linkages. Findings: The study concludes that the Mexican peso (RMXN) receives and transmits the highest spillover, while crude oil (RCOWTI) receives and transmits the least volatility to the network connection in full sample. In addition, the authors report that the dynamic linkage is not constant in the short, medium and long run. Furthermore, the spillover index in the Russo−Ukraine invasion is higher (29.92%) than full observation (22.03%) and COVID-19 outbreak (21.10%) in the short run. Originality/value: This paper ventures to offer insight to investors, traders and policymakers based on normal trading days and crisis periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to the relationship between environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings and the investment performance of mutual funds with significant exposure to the technology sector. It aims to explore whether ESG-aligned funds deliver superior financial performance, particularly in terms of risk-adjusted returns and if these funds demonstrate better market timing abilities compared to their lower-rated counterparts. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis covers a 10-year period from January 2013 to December 2022, focusing on Eurozone-based mutual funds with more than 40% of their assets under management (AUM) invested in technology firms. The sample includes 912 funds, categorized by their ESG ratings (AAA to CCC), using MSCI ratings as the classification metric. The performance evaluation uses risk-adjusted measures such as the Sharpe ratio, Sortino ratio and Jensen's alpha, along with an assessment of market timing capabilities based on an extended four-factor model. Findings: The results show that mutual funds with higher ESG ratings consistently outperform their lower-rated peers in both absolute and risk-adjusted returns. These funds also exhibit superior market timing abilities. ESG-aligned funds not only provide a favorable risk-return profile but also enhance the appeal of responsible investment strategies, particularly within the volatile and innovation-driven technology sector. The study reinforces the notion that ESG factors contribute positively to long-term value creation for investors. Practical implications: The findings are valuable for investors and policymakers aiming to incorporate ESG factors into investment strategies, especially in sectors characterized by rapid technological advancements. The superior performance of ESG-compliant funds highlights the importance of sustainable investing and its potential to align financial returns with broader environmental and social goals. Originality/value: This study adds to the growing body of literature on ESG investing by specifically focusing on tech-heavy mutual funds in the Eurozone. It offers new insights into how ESG ratings at the fund level, rather than at the firm level, influence investment performance and market timing within the high-growth, high-risk technology sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the causal complexity of ECF investors' peer effect through two different paths of structural social influence. Design/methodology/approach: Using the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) approach, we employ 157 samples from a Chinese ECF source to explore how peer-effect are caused by both informational and normative mechanisms. Findings: The findings suggests that there are multiple configurations could lead to ECF investors' high level peer-effect through both informational and normative mechanisms, and the informational mechanism' role depends on the normative mechanism, while the normative mechanism could lead to peer-effect independently. Research limitations/implications: The findings enrich the literature on ECF investors' behaviors by revealing the diverse configurations resulting in investors' peer-effect and shedding new light on investigating the decision-making driven by information asymmetry and relationship settings for individuals at a disadvantage. Originality/value: This is the first study that investigates the multiple-driven of ECF investors' decision-making and the importance of mutual norms in individuals' decision-making by complex network analysis approach and qualitative comparative analysis from the perspective of complexity. The results reveal the complexity of investors' decision-making in ECF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This article aims to evaluate the informativeness of accruals on stock prices. Investors may misinterpret the information contained in accruals and produce accrual anomalies. Accruals accounting improves the quality of financial statements by providing useful information, although it also contains judgments and is less objective than operating cash-flows. Design/methodology/approach: We employ data panel regression analysis to investigate the value relevance of financial information. Our study takes the object of companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange (NASDAQ) as the representative of the prominent stock exchange for technology-driven enterprises and entrepreneurs. Expanding the findings, we also use Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) data. Findings: Our research finds that accruals are still relevant. However, firms with R&D expenditures reduce the ability of accruals to explain stock prices for non-technology firms and firms without intangible assets. After analyzing only tech firms (and firms with intangible assets), our tests show that R&D expenditures improve the relevancy of accruals. These findings apply to both Nasdaq and SSE. Practical implications: Practitioners and the investment community get valuable insights into how the recognition and measurement of R&D expenditures affect the value relevance. Information about R&D increases relevancy only in firms with intangible assets and those that operate in the technology industry. Originality/value: Our paper provides benefits by using R&D expenses to affect accruals' informativeness by comparing two countries with different recognition of R&D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine whether the gender of an audit engagement partner (EP) is associated with the quality of the EP's audit output. Design/methodology/approach: This paper defines a low-quality EP as an EP who leads the audit of at least one client firm that subsequently restates its financial statements, while a high-quality EP is an EP that is not associated with any restatement. Using a sample of 6,082 observations from 2016 to 2020, the study estimates a logistic regression of EP quality on EP gender and control variables. Findings: The results show that female EPs are more likely to be high-quality EPs. With an odds ratio of 1.25, the results imply that female EPs are 1.25 times more likely to be associated with higher-quality audits compared to male EPs. Research limitations/implications: The results of this study imply that female EPs are more likely to perform high-quality audits, and it supports the assertion that EP gender plays a significant role in determining EP quality. Further studies may apply gender theory to investigate the behavior of female EPs. Practical implications: The results show that female EPs are more likely to be high-quality EPs. With an odds ratio of 1.25, the results imply that female EPs are 1.25 times more likely to be associated with higher-quality audits compared to male EPs. Originality/value: The results of this study should be of interest to stakeholders such as audit committees, regulators, investors and creditors, as they provide an indicator for assessing the quality of audits. Moreover, considering the EP's important role in an audit, the current study extends the existing literature by providing evidence of a relationship between EP gender and EP quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the association between corporate risk-taking and cash holdings, and whether financial constraints moderate this association. Design/methodology/approach: Regression analyses were applied to 606 firm-year observations from Saudi Arabia from 2011 to 2020. Findings: Firms with higher risk-taking exhibit higher cash holdings, whereas financially constrained firms have lower cash holdings. The positive association between corporate risk-taking and cash holdings is weaker for financially constrained firms than for nonconstrained firms. Practical implications: For investors, investment decisions that include the cash holding assessment would also consider the firm-level uncertainty surrounding the firms. Originality/value: This study explores the joint effect of corporate risk-taking and financial constraints on cash holding, and hence considers the strategic adaptations to navigate uncertainty in strategies related to cash holdings in Saudi Arabia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the performance discrepancies between shariah-compliant and non-shariah-compliant exchange-traded funds (ETFs), aiming to enrich the academic and practical understanding of Islamic finance's nuances in the ETF sector. Design/methodology/approach: Initiating with a broad literature review to cement a theoretical backdrop on Islamic investment principles and the mechanics of shariah-compliant ETFs, the research progresses to devise a comparative analytical framework. This framework focuses on assessing ETF performance through metrics like net asset value returns and volatility, specifically analyzing Blackrock ETFs to draw distinctions in portfolio outcomes and asset compositions. Findings: The examination highlights discernible variances in portfolio performance between shariah-compliant and their conventional counterparts, presenting instances where shariah-compliant ETFs, such as ISUS from Blackrock, deliver competitive returns despite their generally lower net assets compared to conventional ETFs like VUSA from Vanguard. Moreover, the ISUS ETF's holdings investigation revealed discrepancies with AAOIFI standards, questioning its strict Shariah compliance and adding depth to the analysis of Islamic financial instruments' integrity. Originality/value: This paper significantly advances the scholarly dialogue on Islamic financial practices within the ETF landscape, providing empirical evidence of performance differentials and compliance intricacies. While prior research has touched upon Islamic investing, this study pioneers a detailed comparative scrutiny, equipped with a novel methodological approach, to dissect the shariah-compliant ETFs' operational and ethical frameworks, offering invaluable insights for investors, financial analysts and Islamic finance scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to demonstrate the impact of Sharia-compliance (SC) on attracting various types of investment, including foreign, family, institutional, royal, government and large individual investments. Design/methodology/approach: The sample comprises 168 nonfinancial companies listed in the financial markets of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries from 2009 to 2019, totaling 1,848 observations. The researchers used the ordinary least squares panel data method, with additional tests conducted using the two-stage least squares method. Findings: The results indicate a negative relationship between SC and both foreign and institutional investments. Conversely, there is a positive relationship between SC and both family investment and large individual investor investment. Furthermore, the study found no significant relationship between SC and both government and royal investments (RIs). Practical implications: The study enhances understanding of the role of Sharia-compliant companies in attracting investment. For managers of such companies, there is a need to make their firms more appealing to diverse investor types. Current and potential investors in Sharia-compliant companies should be aware of the investor nature controlling these companies. This study is beneficial for policymakers and regulators to assess the impact of Islamic Sharia-imposed restrictions on financial decision-making in companies. Policymakers should develop and monitor indicators of companies' adherence to SC law in the six GCC countries and should also issue rules to enhance Sharia-compliant companies' commitment to governance and transparency. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to address the impact of SC on attracting different investment types. It includes six distinct investment types, notably RI, a significant variable in GCC countries' business environment due to the considerable wealth and influence of royal family members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper investigates the effect of internal control quality and mandatory internal control disclosure regulation on executive perks in China. Based on a sample of Chinese firms between 2008 and 2019, this study finds that internal control quality and the mandatory disclosure regulation limit both under‐consumption and over‐consumption of executive perks. Furthermore, the mandatory regulation strengthens the relationship between internal control quality and the levels of executive perks. The results are consistent across alternative measures of key variables and are robust to endogeneity analyses. The findings of this study have important implications for policymakers, managers, and investors seeking to understand the determinants of the abnormal consumption of executive perks and the associated economic consequences of the internal control system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Applying universal ownership theory and drawing on a multiplecase study design, this study aims to analyze what drives institutional investors to engage with government entities and what challenges they find in the process. Design/methodology/approach: The authors relied on document analysis and conducted 12 semi-structured interviews with representatives from asset owners, asset managers, investor associations and academia. Findings: The authors identify a trend where investors conduct policy engagement to fulfill their fiduciary duty, improve investment risk management and create an enabling environment for sustainable investments. As for engagement challenges, investors report the longer-term horizon, a perceived limited influence toward governments, the need for capacity building for investors and governments, as well as the difficulty in accessing government representatives. Originality/value: This research contributes to filling a gap in the literature on this new form of investor activism, as a growing number of investors engage with sovereign entities on environmental, social and governance issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Millennials are a vital generational cohort of the Indian population, and understanding their motivation to participate in the stock market is crucial. This study aims to understand the investment decision-making behavior among millennials in the Indian Stock Market. Design/methodology/approach: Using a cross-sectional research design that entails in-depth personal interviews, this study aims to understand the equity investment behavior of millennials. Verbatim texts from interview transcripts were used to analyze the content and arrive at themes. Findings: The study investigated the motivation to enter the stock market and gained insights into how individuals make equity investment decisions considering economic and behavioral dimensions. The basis for stock selection was predominantly on the self-analysis of investors. Multiple stock selection priorities are also discussed. In addition, informants ensured asset diversification and exercised various strategies to overcome emotions. Furthermore, they suffered from various behavioral biases. Practical implications: Individual investors are the least informed and most impacted stakeholders in the stock markets; therefore, this study contributes fresh insights to enhance their financial security. The paper also examines some noticeable behavioral tendencies retail investors exhibit and gathers helpful strategies for mitigating behavioral biases. Originality/value: The uniqueness of the research lies in its adoption of a qualitative methodology that uses the investment experience of millennial investors to reveal the components of decision-making behavior and investor psychology. The findings are thereby unique and have significant managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates how business angels (BAs) add sustainability value to green ventures and how these value-adding activities are dependent on the BAs' sustainability characteristics, i.e., motivation to invest, sustainability competence, and sustainability investor activity. This explorative qualitative study is based on interviews with 14 BAs from Germany and the Nordics. A cross-case analysis of the interview data reveals that different groups of BAs invest in green start-ups: green angels and light green angels. These BAs differ in their motivation for investing in green start-ups, with some wanting to contribute to the sustainability transition and others investing to be a part of the shift of capital and talent toward green ventures. The BAs offer different sustainability-value-adding activities to their start-ups. Green angels provide activities that are aimed at enhancing the sustainability performance of their investees. Light green BAs add value very similar to conventional BAs. This study contributes to the green entrepreneurial finance literature by exploring the specificity of green angels. By shedding light on how BAs add sustainability value as investors for green ventures, the study places green angels more distinctly in the ecosystem of early-stage financing for green start-ups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper examines the volatility spillover effects from traditional financial assets to cryptocurrency markets and vice versa. It aims to provide insights into the dynamic interconnectedness of these markets. Design/methodology/approach: This paper employs the time-varying parameter vector autoregression technique to examine the volatility spillover among the crypto markets (across leading cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), USD Tether, NEAR Protocol (NEAR), Immutable and Dogecoin) and traditional financial instruments (Treasury Bills (TBILL) and Volatility Index). Findings: The results reveal significant bidirectional volatility spillovers between cryptocurrencies and traditional financial assets. NEAR and BTC act as a major transmitter of volatility, both influencing others significantly (71.63 and 68.17%, respectively) and being influenced by others (54.74 and 62.3%, respectively). TBILL and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF are the largest net receivers of volatility, indicating a higher dependency on other assets' volatility. Practical implications: Understanding the volatility spillover dynamics can aid investors in portfolio diversification and risk management. The findings provide actionable insights for constructing portfolios that include both cryptocurrencies and traditional financial assets, allowing for more informed investment decisions under volatile market conditions. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the literature by analyzing volatility spillovers among traditional financial markets and various major cryptocurrencies. It offers a framework for assessing how shocks in one market or cryptocurrency can propagate to others, thereby enhancing the understanding of interconnectedness between markets. This understanding improves our ability to risk manage modern portfolios, which increasingly include significant alternative assets like cryptocurrencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to identify individuals' biases while making investment decisions and explore how these biases can be incorporated into a robo-advisory platform to help mitigate these biases. This paper identifies eight investment-related behavioral biases: mental accounting, gambler's fallacy, hindsight, regret aversion, disposition, trend-chasing, loss aversion and herding. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses primary data from 263 respondents across various age groups, of which approximately 50 were wealth management professionals in the UAE. A random sampling method from probability sampling is employed to gather the primary data. The identified biases serve as dependent variables; the age and income of individuals serve as the independent variables. Findings: Age and income are significantly related to mental accounting, herding, gambler fallacy and loss aversion. Existing studies on behavioral finance demonstrate that individuals who make investment decisions are susceptible to cognitive fallacies, leading to nonrational investment decisions. Practical implications: By studying these biases affecting individuals of varying ages and income levels, wealth management professionals can tailor their financial robo-advisory services to address these biases and help clients build wealth with consistent investment. Originality/value: This study uses survey-based sampling in the context of the UAE; hence, the data and analysis represent originality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study delves into Bitcoin's return dynamics to address its pronounced volatility, particularly in extreme market conditions. We analyze a broad range of explanatory variables, including traditional financial indicators, innovative cryptocurrency-specific metrics and market sentiment gauges. We uniquely introduce the Conference Board Leading Economic Indicator (LEI) to the cryptocurrency research landscape. Design/methodology/approach: We employ quantile regression to examine Bitcoin's daily and monthly returns. This approach captures timescale dependencies and evaluates the consistency of our findings across different market conditions. By conducting a thorough analysis of the entire return distribution, we aim to reveal how various factors influence Bitcoin's behavior at different risk levels. The research incorporates a comprehensive set of explanatory variables to provide a holistic view of Bitcoin's market dynamics. Additionally, by segmenting the study period, we assess the consistency of the results across diverse market regimes. Findings: Our results reveal that factors driving Bitcoin returns vary significantly across market conditions. For instance, during downturns, an increase in transaction volume is linked to lower Bitcoin returns, potentially indicating panic selling. When the market stabilizes, a positive correlation emerges, suggesting healthier ecosystem activity. Active addresses emerge as a key predictor of returns, especially during bearish phases, and sentiment indicators such as Wikipedia views reveal shifting investor optimism, depending on market trends. Monthly return analysis suggests Bitcoin might act as a hedge against traditional markets due to its negative correlation with the S&P 500 during normal conditions. Practical implications: The study's findings have significant implications for investors and policymakers. Understanding how different factors influence Bitcoin returns in varying market conditions can guide investment strategies and regulatory approaches. Originality/value: A novel contribution of this study is the identification of Bitcoin's sensitivity to broader economic downturns as demonstrated by the negative correlation between LEI and returns. These insights not only deepen our understanding of Bitcoin market behaviour but also offer practical implications for investors, risk managers and policymakers navigating the evolving cryptocurrency landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This research aims to examine mutual funds investment behavior to further understand the dynamics of sustainable investments in the global marketplace and their evolution. Sustainable investing is increasing in the market due to (1) its performance, (2) the investors' criteria and (3) the companies' interest in contributing to sustainable development. Design/methodology/approach: To explore this area, we evaluated Morningstar's best-in-class funds, that is, five-star rated in profitability and five globes in sustainability, while adding rankings such as Sustainalytics to further test the performance against ESG criteria. To test the hypotheses, we used regression statistics to find correlations between quantitative and qualitative factors such as diversification of the investments per sector and region or fund category. Findings: The results show that funds invested in different sectors, such as technology and healthcare, contributed to an increase in the overall profitability of the fund, while investments in other industries were less profitable. The contribution of this study is based on empirical data that shows why and how ESG investments are growing based on their market evolution. Originality/value: This study aims to advance knowledge of SRI investment, profitability and market growth, particularly by showing sustainable investment dynamics per industry (e.g. Technology) and regions (e.g. Europe) which not only favor future investments but also sustainable economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Should entrepreneurs display their passion when pitching a business idea to potential funders? Entrepreneurial passion is important, but evidence about the effect of displayed passion in venture financing appears contradictory. We integrated the emotions-as-social-information perspective and regulatory focus theory in two studies using crowdfunding projects and survey responses (total N = 2,187 participants) to reveal that entrepreneurs' displayed passion exerts two opposing effects: increasing the likelihood of funding success by fostering potential investors' enthusiasm, while decreasing the likelihood of funding success by intensifying potential investors' perception of risk. We also showed that an entrepreneur's use of promotion-focused language can mitigate the negative effects of displayed passion. The results illuminate the links between displayed passion and investors' funding decisions, resolve apparent conflict in prior findings, offer guidance for future study, and have practical implications for entrepreneurs and investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the operating and financial performance of venture firms conducting initial coin offerings (ICOs) with different types of investors and at different points along a venture's life-cycle. Relative to purely crowdfunded ICO ventures, institutional investor-backed ICO ventures exhibit weaker operating performance and fail earlier. However, conditional on survival, these ventures financially outperform their peers that do not receive institutional investor support. The diverging effects of investor backing on financial and operating performance are consistent with our theory of "certification exploitation" through a new form of a pump-and-dump scheme. Institutional investors exploit their reputation to drive up ICO valuations and quickly exit the venture post-ICO, with the difference in pre- versus post-certification token prices being their exploitation profit in liquid markets for startups. Our findings further indicate that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the financial success of an ICO and the timing along a venture's life-cycle, with the product piloting phase representing the pivotal point. JEL Codes: G24, G32, K22, L26 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open-ended funds have been widely favoured by investors in China due to their high liquidity and the sufficiency of their information disclosure. We construct an interfund network to investigate the relationship between fund centralities and fund systematic risk. The results confirm the existence of a linkage effect in the fund network during the stock market crisis of 2015 while the fund network returned to a looser state after the crisis. In addition, the degree centrality and closeness centrality of funds in the network have significant positive effects on systematic risk, with a fund either playing a relatively crucial role in the network or maintaining sufficient proximity to other funds, both of which amplify the level of systematic risk. In addition, the fund shareholding ratio has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between fund centrality and systematic risk. We speculate that systematic risk can be diffused across funds through the stock market, which directly relates to fund network characteristics. Fund interconnectedness plays a more pronounced role than fund size in systematic risk, thus supporting the 'too connected to fail' perspective. Regulators are recommended to focus on 'social star' funds with high degrees or proximity centralities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Inspired by the groundbreaking novel European regulations on financial investors' profiling (MiFID II regulation and the ESMA 2022 Guidelines), this paper aims to establish which distinctive socio-demographic traits distinguish investors who declare a generalized interest in all three environmental (E), social (S), and governance (G) pillars and investors who express interest in just one individual pillar or a combination of two pillars. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a unique dataset of 190 real-world retail investors, this paper aims to create a profile of three types of investor: those whose interest lies in just the environmental pillar, those interested in a combination of the environmental and social pillars, and those interested in all three E, S, and G pillars jointly. Moreover, we try to ascertain whether it is possible to observe statistically significant differences between the different types of investors. Findings: The results obtained indicate that it is possible to profile investors who are environmentally-oriented and investors who are ESG-oriented. Notably, levels of financial literacy do not influence investor ESG attitudes. Practical implications: The results obtained may have multifaceted implications for financial advisors, the banking and financial institution industry, and marketing strategists, as well as for further research. Originality/value: The originality of this paper derives from the responses used in the analysis, which were collected from a sample of real-world retail investors who completed a mandatory MiFID-questionnaire, validated by the Italian Securities and Markets Supervisory Authority. Our paper thus represents a bridge between a theoretical approach and real-world practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We analyze the role of trust as a driver of speculative investment decisions in technology firms. Design/methodology/approach: Structural Equation Modeling analysis in the context of blockchain technology supports our hypotheses. Findings: Our findings indicate that a general propensity to trust technology leads to trusting beliefs in a service based on technology and that trusting beliefs in a technological service leads to a higher propensity to invest in any firm associated with that service. In addition, we show that in a non-technological context, there is no evidence for such an effect of trusting beliefs in a service on investment decisions. These results support the notion that trusting beliefs are facilitators of speculative investment in technology firms. Research limitations/implications: The research advances knowledge about the influence of trust in technology on investment decisions; its findings can help build new theoretical models regarding investment decisions using Fintech. Practical implications: For investors, it is important to realize the potential bias identified in this study, so they can actively avoid adhering to it, thus avoiding exposure to unnecessary risk. Further, beyond individual investors, investment firms take active measures to avoid biases in their own decision-making. Banks and investment firms can help guide their clients about trust-based bias when building their investment portfolio. Originality/value: Although trust in information systems has been studied extensively, research on the relationship between trust in technology and decisions to invest in technology-related firms is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the correlation between state-owned capital and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance, with a nuanced exploration of the moderating influence of political connections. Drawing on data from publicly listed Chinese companies in a political-oriented developing nation over the span of 2013–2022, panel regression analyses unveil a noteworthy positive association between state-owned capital and ESG performance. Companies endowed with investments from state-owned capital demonstrate their commitment to sustainable practices, leveraging the resources provided by the government to enhance their ESG performance. Intriguingly, the affirmative impact is more pronounced for high market maturity provinces and heavy polluting industries compared to low market maturity provinces and non-heavy polluting industries. Moreover, political connections exhibit a positive moderating effect between the state-owned capital and ESG performance, with a particularly discernible impact on firms in high market maturity provinces and heavy polluting industries. The robustness of these findings persists through sensitivity analyses employing alternative metrics and estimation methodologies. These outcomes carry implications for investors, management, analysts, and policymakers, offering invaluable insights for companies and markets keen on fortifying their ESG policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We construct a new informed trading index based on the high-frequency trading data of the Chinese A-share market using the ensemble neural network algorithm. We find that the informed trading index is a strong negative predictor of future aggregate stock market returns, with monthly in-sample and out-of-sample ${R^2}$ R 2 of 5.45% and 3.53%, respectively, which is far greater than the predictive power of other previously studied informed trading indicators and macroeconomic variables. The asset allocation strategy based on our index can generate large economic gains for the mean-variance investors, with annualized CER (certain equivalent return) gains ranging from 10.91% to 7.80% as the investor's risk appetite varies. The driving force of the predictive power appears to stem from the liquidity provider role that informed traders play, which decreases the market's illiquidity risk and lowers the risk premium of equity. Our analysis complements the returns predictability study by adding a new predictor on the one hand and informs market timing strategies on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Empirical examinations of initial public offering (IPO) initial returns often rely heavily on linear regression models. However, these models can prove inefficient owing to their susceptibility to outliers, a common occurrence in IPO data. This study introduces a machine learning method, known as random forest, to address issues that linear regression may struggle to resolve. Design/methodology/approach: The study's sample comprises 352 fixed-priced IPOs from the year 2004 until 2021. A unique aspect of this research is its application of the random forest method. The accuracy of random forest in comparison to other methods is evaluated. The findings indicate that the random forest model significantly outperforms other methods in all of the evaluated aspects. Findings: The variable importance measure indicates that investors' demand, divergence of opinion among investors and offer price are the most crucial predictors of IPO initial returns. These determinants hold particular significance due to the widespread use of the fixed-price method in Malaysia, as this method amplifies the information asymmetry in the IPO market. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is among the pioneering works in Malaysian literature to apply the random forest method to address the constraints of conventional linear regression models. This is achieved by considering a more extensive array of factors and acknowledging the influence of outliers. Additionally, this study adds value to Malaysian literature by ranking and identifying the ex-ante information that best signals the issuing firm's quality. This contribution facilitates prospective investors' decision-making processes and provides issuing firms with effective means to communicate their value and quality to the IPO market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper investigates whether trading activity in the derivative markets, specifically options, can offer incremental information and insights into the underlying stock's valuation beyond what is reflected in the company's current stock price. By incorporating options market data into the analysis of an economic event, the proposed multivariate model aims to evaluate whether certain derivative investors may have capitalized on information not yet incorporated into the stock market price. Design/methodology/approach: The existing capital markets' literature typically considers stock prices and (abnormal) returns in response to economic events; thus, this paper examines alternative measures. This analysis introduces a multivariate regression model incorporating the put-call ratio as an independent variable and examining its association with stock prices. Findings: This paper investigates whether trading activity in the derivative markets, specifically options, can offer incremental information and insights regarding the underlying stock's valuation beyond what is reflected in the company's current stock price. By incorporating options market data into the analysis of an economic event, the proposed multivariate model aims to evaluate whether certain derivative investors may have capitalized on information not yet incorporated into the stock market price. Research limitations/implications: Access to historical option market data is not readily available and is relatively expensive. Thus, the analysis was limited to the sole event of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Originality/value: The introduction of including deviate market movements could be especially beneficial for an industry like oil and gas, where the product is a commodity, and the firm's value is largely driven by its identifiable assets and proven oil reserves. In addition, this may provide management insight into how the market perceives actions during an economic event. Based on the put-call ratio, management may be able to predict how their actions will impact future company share prices in the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of mainstream Sharia‐based screening methodologies on equity risk. The study is based on the daily returns of 23 pairs of stock indices belonging to different index providers, namely Dow Jones, FTSE, and S&P. For risk measurement, the study uses five Value at Risk (VaR) methods. Moreover, the conditional VaR (CVaR) is used to analyze the tail behavior of return distributions. The results show that Sharia‐based screening is a source of significant differences in risk. There is strong evidence that Islamic stock indices (ISIs) tend to be less risky than their conventional peers. Also, the screening process allows for keeping extreme negative returns at a lower level relative to unscreened indices. The analysis during the Dotcom and Subprime crises shows that, globally, the results are time‐invariant. In sum, Islamic screening is tantamount to prudential rules that lead to low‐risk portfolios; it is, in its essence, a risk‐reduction strategy. Findings suggest that Sharia‐compliant stocks would be of great attractiveness to risk‐averse investors. They will find their claim in this asset class, as its riskiness is relatively low. For banks, a lower VaR of Islamic investing implies fewer capital requirements for market risk when holding portfolios that include Sharia‐compliant stocks. Fewer capital requirements will enhance the banks' ability to invest and make profits, which will, in turn, result in reducing the cost of capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following piece is a work of fiction. The trigger for this text was to explore a “what if” question. “What if X happened?” “What scenarios would emerge as a consequence of X?” This premise guided the scenarios presented in this text: what if the movement of every US dollar was made completely traceable? What other currencies, monies, and types of political, social, and economic organization would emerge because of this measure? As a result, four scenarios are presented. The first one responds to the former question, and the other three refer to states and monies that would emerge, grow, or strengthen, as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the first scenario. This way of organizing the text combines finance, economics, fiction, and speculative design. In terms of genre, the piece was originally organized as a brochure destined for potential investors who might be interested in profiting from these alternative currencies ‐ which I have adapted to fit the journal format. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the association between audit committee characteristics (ACC) and risk disclosure (RD) of firms, focusing on the moderating effect of audit quality (AQ). The importance of RD to investors and stakeholders is that such a practice offers a better evaluation of the overall risk profile of companies. Based on agency theory complemented by the resource dependence theory, this paper therefore suggests that effective audit committees have an effect of reducing information asymmetry while increasing audit quality monitoring capacities and consequently enhance risk disclosure practices. In this respect, the literature sources were reviewed, and a hypothetical framework was developed to test the hypotheses. The sample selection comprises 54 companies with non-financial companies listed in the Egyptian Exchange Market, EGX100, for the period 2018 to 2021, which amounts to 216 observations. According to the results, ACC, such as size and financial expertise, are significant for RD, while ACC relating to meetings and independence are less important for RD. The study further established that AQ moderates the relationship between ACC and RD, implying that the significant influence of ACC is stronger when AQ is high. These inferences are of essence to policy makers and companies in understanding the implication of ACC on RD and the relation to high-quality audits in improving the effectiveness of audit committees. It underlines the importance of audit committees in giving assurance about transparency and accountability in financial reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, global crisis events have become increasingly common. Gold, recognized as a safe asset, and crude oil, an essential industrial commodity, have attracted the attention of many scholars seeking to understand the impact of such crises on both. On the basis of a Markov regime-switching (MRS) model, copula function, and conditional value at risk (CoVaR) model, this paper proposes an MRS copula CoVaR model to investigate the changes in the level of dependence between these two assets and examine the risk spillover effects between them. This study obtains the following conclusions. (1) From 2018 to 2023, there are two distinct dependence regimes between the two assets. The tranquil regime is characterized by positive dependence, whereas the crisis regime is characterized by negative dependence. (2) In the crisis regime, there is downside risk spillover between the two assets, whereas in the tranquil regime, there is an upside risk spillover. These findings contribute to theoretical research and offer valuable insights for policymakers and investors in making informed decisions and developing appropriate investment strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crypto assets market is growing rapidly, exposing investors to new risks. As a result, finding viable candidates to hedge and diversify crypto portfolios is a critical and timely topic. In this paper, we explore the potential of gold-backed cryptocurrencies as safe haven assets in the context of building a diversified digital assets portfolio. Empirically, we investigate the financial properties (diversification, safe haven, and hedging capabilities) of two gold-backed cryptocurrencies against the three main digital assets categories, i.e. traditional cryptocurrencies, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and Decentralized Finance (DeFi) tokens, considering major external and internal crises. We also estimate the hedge ratios and the hedging effectiveness of the considered pairs. Overall, our findings indicate that the examined gold-backed cryptocurrencies are good diversifiers, with varying hedging, and safe haven properties depending on the nature of the crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine War, as well as the digital asset category considered. Several financial implications for investors and policymakers are proposed and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to contribute to our understanding of the relationship of environmental and social attitudes of investors and their investment into crypto-assets compared to traditional assets. Given the controversies over the environmental footprint of some crypto-asset classes, primarily due to energy-intensive mining, they present an intriguing subject for investigation. Leveraging a unique household finance survey representative of the Austrian population, we examine whether environmental and social attitudes can elucidate the variance in individual portfolio exposure to crypto-assets. Results indicate a robust link between investors' environmental and social attitudes and their exposure to crypto-investments, yet no significant association was found with traditional asset benchmarks like bonds and shares. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent periods of US monetary policy normalization after quantitative easing during COVID-19, global financial markets have encountered elevated levels of volatility and risk. In response, investors have increasingly sought out unconventional financial assets, such as Bitcoin, to mitigate exposure and enhance portfolio diversification. This study utilizes a Dynamic Conditional Correlation (DCC) Multivariate GARCH model, specifically employing the GARCH (1,1) specification, to analyze the relationship between stock markets index of major countries and cryptocurrency, with a particular focus on Bitcoin. The results indicate statistically significant correlations between Bitcoin and stock market returns in several countries during the COVID-19 period. Volatility appears to be influenced by historical stock market performance during both the pandemic and the subsequent normalization of monetary policy. Furthermore, the DCC-GARCH models reveal low significant coefficients for ASEAN stock market indices before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating that these markets may have displaced Bitcoin as a hedge asset. In contrast, stock market indices in America and Europe consistently show statistical significance across all periods, suggesting that Bitcoin's role as a hedge in these regions is limited. In contrast, gold clearly demonstrated safe haven properties before the COVID-19 pandemic which a characteristic had not been observed for Bitcoin. However, gold has emerged as a safe haven for only ASEAN stock markets since the U.S. initial 0.25% interest rate hike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presented a risk analysis using information gap decision theory (IGDT) in risk‐seeking and risk‐averse approaches to invest in the construction of virtual power plants (VPPs), considering the uncertainties of wind speed, solar radiation, and load demand. The construction of VPP has financial and operational risks, such as investment costs, maintenance, power exchange with upstream grid, unsupplied energy, and combined heat and power (CHP) system fuel for investors in terms of uncertainties related to load demand and various sources of distributed energy generation (distributed energy resources [DERs]). Investing risk analysis on an experimental system, including photovoltaic (PV) and wind, thermal, and combined power plants (CHP), battery energy storage system (BESS), and electric and thermal loads, using a multiobjective function to minimize the total cost of VPP construction in risk‐seeking modes (πo) and risk aversion (πc), was performed. The risk analysis involved 8% reducing/increasing of the total VPP construction investment cost in 2% steps for the risk‐seeking owner (ρ)/risk‐averse owner (σ). The results of this article showed that despite high uncertainty in the studied VPP, it is still possible to make a decision for risk‐seeking and risk‐averse investors to build VPP. In the risk‐averse mode, due to the increase in cost, there is more flexibility in choosing and using equipment, as well as in determining its amount. On the contrary, in risk‐seeking mode, VPP designer should determine the smallest radius of uncertainty (αwind, αpv, and αload) in ideal conditions, because to formulate a suitable investment proposal to use equipment and their quantity in a way that leads to cost savings is vital. The key numerical results include the following: (1) The base investment cost is 18,731.2 monetary units; (2) a risk‐averse scenario achieves a critical cost of 20,229.7 monetary units at a risk tolerance of σ = 0.08; (3) for a risk‐seeking scenario, the critical cost is 17,232.7 monetary units with a risk parameter ρ = 0.08; (4) in the risk‐averse case, optimal robustness ensures critical cost πc = 17,232.7 monetary units at risk parameter σ = 0.06 assurance at an uncertainty radius where αwind = 2.353%, αpv = 1.176%, and αload = 14.118%; (5) in the risk‐seeking case, optimal opportunity ensures critical cost πo = 17607.3 monetary units at risk parameter ρ = 0.06 assurance at an uncertainty radius where αwind = 2.353%, αpv = 17.647%, and αload = 18.824%; and (6) the harmony search algorithm (HSA) algorithm demonstrated an 18% faster convergence speed compared to genetic algorithm (GA). This approach makes sure VPP design stays strong and full of chances even when things get tough. It is a useful way to handle investment risk and get the best results when there is a lot of uncertainty. Finally, the actual numerical results applying the proved test case prove the introduced approach to be effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TikTok has become a useful tool for businesses eager to capitalize on the platform's expanding user base. Mothers have been using TikTok to share their experiences raising children, trying new meals, shopping, etc. Mothers are, therefore, increasingly seen as a firm's business and marketing ideal. This study empirically evaluates whether investors value the frequent occurrence of the word 'Mom' in postings or online bios on TikTok. Based on a sample of Fortune 500 companies, our results firstly imply that 'Mom' on TikTok is linked to a greater firm value. We next look into whether investors value the intersection of 'Mom' on TikTok and particular themes indicators taken directly from TikTok. The study finds that, 'Mom' only has a positive effect on firm value in companies where the themes of promotion, location, quality, and convenience are present in significant quantities. However, the positive relationship between 'Mom' and firm value is consistently significant for one theme—service—both in the high and low subsamples. Hence, companies can align with core values related to mothers' concerns and interests and explore strategic opportunities for engaging with mothers, fostering positive perceptions and support among investors and encouraging further research in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investors are using the stock market to invest their money for capital appreciation. Recent advancements in the information system have made stock market investments accessible to various investors. This study aims to examine the relationship between the stock price index and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) using empirical data, focusing on the short-term or long-term relationship, as well as the impact of available information on stock prices. The research is supported by theories such as the efficient market hypothesis, stock valuation theory, the balance sheet model, and Tobin's q theory. Secondary data from 1995-2022 were utilized, with quarterly data obtained from the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Macrotrend. Net. Diagnostic tests were conducted to ensure there were no violations of normality, homoscedasticity, and serial correlation. Econometric tests were utilized to test the historical data, including the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test for stationarity, the lag length test, the Johansen cointegration test, and the Granger causality test. The results indicate a positive long-term relationship between the stock price index and GDP. The Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) supports this finding, revealing that a 1.02% increase in the stock price index corresponds to a GDP increase. These findings support the balance sheet theory, indicating that wellperforming companies attract investment, leading to higher investment income and subsequent positive economic impacts. Additionally, the availability of information plays a role in stock prices, emphasizing the importance of information security for companies. Future research could explore the effects of specific stock classes on GDP, conduct comparative studies among different countries, or examine other economic indicators' influence on stock prices and the economy. Moreover, investigating the impact of information system advancements on stock prices and the overall economy presents an interesting avenue for further exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the problem posed for the monetary theory of distribution by the coexistence of stagnating real wages and near-zero interest rates. The difficulty in explaining this economic phenomenon paves the way to a more general discussion of the dynamics inherent in the contrast between workers and capitalists and between financial and productive capitalists. First, the paper shows how the introduction of the banking sector into the framework of the monetary approach to distribution makes it possible to explain the persistence of near-zero rates in an advanced capitalist system. Next, the idea of increased enterprise profit is analysed, and the study is extended to approaches to distributional conflict other than the monetary theory of distribution. Thus, the analysis shows that six different distributional configurations are possible, of which only two can be easily explained through the monetary theory of distribution. The other four can be explained by developing more recent approaches that continue, enrich and develop Marx's ideas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article assesses the hedging and safe haven properties of energy and agricultural commodities (crude oil, natural gas, and wheat) against the G7 stock market indices and banking sector stock indices during the COVID‐19 pandemic, the Russia–Ukraine military conflict, and the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse. Using wavelet coherence analysis, our results showed dynamic correlations in which commodities shifted from diversifiers to strong safe havens during periods of turmoil. Particularly, WTI became a safe haven during the SVB collapse, natural gas acted primarily as a safe haven during the pandemic, and wheat evolved into a robust safe haven during crises. Moreover, our results with the G7 banking sector stock indices underscore the safe haven ability of commodities against these financial assets, furnishing valuable insights for investors during unstable financial situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finding suitable safe haven opportunities to protect emerging investments, such as cryptocurrencies, from external factors, such as Geopolitical risk, is a major concern for investors. Recognizing safe havens for these assets can help investors and traders manage risk, stabilize their portfolios, diversify their investments, and preserve capital against Geopolitical risk. To find the safe havens for cryptocurrencies regarding Geopolitical risk, this study proposes an approach to identifying the most suitable safe havens for cryptocurrencies highly affected by Geopolitical risk. First, the study identifies the cryptocurrencies that are more influenced by Geopolitical risk than others; by this, the assets that require hedging are discovered. Then, a new method, quantile-on-quantile regression, is employed to test the hedging ability of multiple assets from different markets. Once the outcomes of the quantile-on-quantile regression are cleared, the hedge effectiveness index by dynamic conditional correlation GARCH is calculated to validate the results. Both methods yield similar results, suggesting that the Forex market and stock indexes are the most suitable options as safe havens for cryptocurrencies. The study also finds that assets from the energy sector of the commodity market, such as Crude Oil and Natural Gas, are the weakest safe haven options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volatility in the cryptocurrency market is an extremely important indicator for investors, as it allows them to manage their investment risk and define strategies that will result in profit maximization. Thus, this study focuses on determine which of the GARCH, EGARCH, and TGARCH models is the optimal model that best describes the daily returns' volatility of MATIC, SOL, BTT, and VET – four cryptocurrencies with relatively limited presence in the market compared to Bitcoin. The optimal model is selected by using the AIC statistical quality criterion. For the chosen sample period, empirical evidence suggests that EGARCH(1,1) and GARCH(1,1) are the most suitable models for describing the returns' volatility of MATIC and VET, respectively. In the cases of SOL and BTT, the lack of success in validating all the assumptions needed to apply GARCH models reveals that these models are not the most adequate for describing the cryptocurrencies under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standard portfolio theory predicts that investors should invest in diversified portfolios, whatever their risk aversion. The asset management industry, however, is characterized by a lot of differentiated investment funds advertised to investors. This is inconsistent with the predictions of standard portfolio theory and standard rationality assumptions. Apart from the recent inflation of funds there exists also an increase of fund families, which is inconsistent with portfolio theory. The number of funds managed by managing companies has increased tremendously. The paper aims at providing an explanation based on behavioural aspects as documented by the behavioural economics literature. We focus on the flow–performance relationship and show how the convexity of the flow–performance relationship creates incentives for management companies to inflate the family of funds offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the global trend of increasing efforts to improve employee wellness and transparency at the workplace, this study is motivated to investigate whether and how investors value job information disclosure. Based on the sample of Japanese listed firms, we find that the abnormal returns around the job information announcement date are higher in firms that disclose more information in terms of employee welfare policy. Robustness tests indicate that our empirical inference is not driven by alternative measurements and unobserved confounding variables. In addition, cross-sectional analyses show that this effect is more pronounced in firms with higher capital intensity and income per employee. Overall, our empirical findings are consistent with the inference that, following the rise of stakeholder capitalism, investors do value responsible employee investment as such investment gains employee trust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the factors influencing Informal Investment Intentions among potential investors, focusing on Risk Propensity and Subjective Norms. It examines the mediating effect of Entrepreneurial Alertness and the moderating role of gender, aiming to understand how these elements shape investment decisions among management students in India. A survey-based cross-sectional research design is followed to evaluate a 340 cross-sectional sample. Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) database, SEM, and the PROCESS macro have been utilized to understand the synchronization between the variables. CFA, RMSEA, GFI, and TLI tests are employed to check the fitness and validity of the model, and CMB, together with PFA, have been applied for variance testing. The study found that Subjective Norms significantly influence Informal Investment Intentions, mediated by Entrepreneurial Alertness. Gender exuberates the relationship between Risk Propensity and Informal Investment Intentions through Self-Efficacy, with stronger effects observed among male students. Findings offer insights for policymakers and educators to design interventions fostering Informal Investment Intentions by enhancing Entrepreneurial Alertness and addressing gender-specific differences, particularly among management students. This study adds to the literature by examining gender's moderating role in the relationship between Risk Propensity and Informal Investment Intentions, providing a nuanced understanding of informal investment behavior in an Indian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Unexpected circumstances, like distress or bankruptcy, might impact the time or amount of dividends delivered to investors. Therefore, in the current study, we have attempted to reveal the impact of financial distress (FD) on the dividend decisions of firms working in India. Methodology: In this study, we looked at secondary data from 78 non-finance firms working in different sectors of the Indian economy that had been collected over five years (2016–2020). Panel data analysis (PDA) determines the relationship between the impact of FD and corporate dividend decisions. Findings: FD has no significant influence on the enterprises' dividend decisions. The association between FD and dividend decisions has also been found to be strongly and positively impacted by one of the interaction variables, environmental, social, and governance. Limitation: One study constraint is that researchers may choose to conduct their research in different industries or areas. Furthermore, researchers may choose to include other factors as interaction terms that they believe are relevant to the domains of FD or dividends. Implication: They will be inspired to start effectively managing their finances and debts due to this education. Comprehending these dynamics can aid decision-makers in financial uncertainty and support long-term sustainable value creation for investors, management, and policymakers when making dividend decisions. Originality: This scholarly work is novel because of the way its variables are combined, especially the way it looks at how four moderators—PBIT, ESG, LII, and debt ratio, interact with one another. To the best of our knowledge, this specific combination has not yet been studied in the literature, which emphasizes the originality of our research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study introduces a novel methodology that integrates the Black–Litterman model with Long Short-Term Memory Neural Networks (BL–LSTM). We use predictions from the LSTM as views in the Black–Litterman model. The resulting portfolio performs better than the traditional mean-variance (MV) and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) used as benchmarks. The proposal empowers investors to make more insightful decisions, drawing from a synthesis of historical data and advanced predictive techniques. This methodology is applied to a water market. Investing in the water market allows investors to actively support sustainable water solutions while potentially benefiting from the sector's growth, contributing to achieving SDG 6. In addition, our modeling allows for companies' environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores to be considered in the portfolio construction process. In this case, investors' decisions take into account companies' socially responsible behavior in a broad sense, including aspects related to decent work, respect for indigenous communities and diversity, and the absence of corruption, among others. Therefore, this proposal provides investors with a tool for promoting sustainable investment practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to study the behavior of non-ferrous metal futures' volatilities in Chinese future market by applying a multifractal perspective. In particular, in order to obtain key indicators that describe the characterization of non-ferrous metal futures' volatility behavior, we uses noise-removed EMD-MF-DFA and original MF-DFA methods to conduct a comparative analysis on the return time series of four non-ferrous metal futures, which are Aluminum future, Copper future, Zinc future and Lead future traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange. This numerical study shows that the indicator established in characterizing the volatility of four non-ferrous metal futures is robust. In addition, we have the following four conclusions: First, there are obvious multifractal phenomena of non-ferrous metal futures in Chinese market, and it shows that Aluminum future has the largest degree of multifractality, and Copper future has the smallest degree of multifractality, which indicates that Aluminum future has the highest volatility complexity, and Copper future has the smallest volatility complexity. Second, it is found that the volatility complexity of these four non-ferrous metal futures is caused by long-range correlation. Third, this study also supports the current judgment that "Copper future has the greatest investment opportunity". Finally, combined with analysis results, we also give suggestions to investors, producers, and regulators body for non-ferrous metal futures market in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the planning and construction of electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs), consideration of the long-term operating revenue loss for investors is often lacking. To address this issue, this study proposes an EVCS planning method that takes into account the potential loss of long-term operating revenues associated with charging facilities. First, the method combines the Bass model with electric vehicle (EV) user travel characteristics to generate a charging load dataset. Then, the cost of profit loss—which represents the EVCS utilization rate—is incorporated into the construction of the objective function. Additionally, a parallel computing method is introduced into the solution algorithm to generate the EVCS planning scheme. Finally, the cost-to-profit ratio of the EVCSs is used as a filtering condition to obtain the optimal EVCS planning scheme. The results show that the EVCS planning scheme considering the profit loss reduces the annual comprehensive cost by 24.25% and 16.93%, and increases the net profit by 22.14% and 24.49%, respectively, when compared to the traditional planning scheme under high and low oil prices. In particular, the charging station strategy proposed in this study has the best effect in the case of high oil prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]