SN Business & Economics

In this article, we scrutinize volatility spillover between oil and individual non-energy commodities during crisis and non-crisis periods. We use high-frequency data to capture the effects of both the global financial crisis (2008) and the COVID-19 pandemic between 2008 and 2022. To this end, we utilize wavelet coherence analysis to diagnose the magnitudes of dynamic co-movements and lead-lag effects between commodities. Our results provide evidence of strong coherence between oil and the majority of individual non-energy commodities during both crises. Precious metals were generally found to exhibit heightened levels of co-movement with oil as opposed to other non-energy commodities. On the other hand, weak co-movements were found between oil and a few commodities, namely soy, wheat, zinc, and tin. The lead-lag effects of oil on agricultural commodities, base metals, and precious metals were evident, especially during crisis periods. However, aluminium and precious metals, especially gold, silver, and palladium, also had a lead-lag effect on oil at different points in time, including during the pandemic. We further utilize dynamic frequency-domain connectedness for capturing pairwise volatility spillover indices, with the results providing evidence of heightened volatility spillovers during turbulent times. Our findings have significant implications for retail investors, portfolio managers, and policymakers.

Prior research, which has extensively documented bank credit risk behaviours, focused largely on credit risk decision-making under rationality. Nonetheless, credit risk decision-making often occurs under conditions of risk and uncertainty. In this article, drawing on prospect theory, our purpose is to examine bank credit risk decision-making behaviour under conditions of risk and uncertainty. In doing so, we employed a systematic literature review to synthesize the literatures at the intersection of prospect theory and risk behaviours over a three-decade period. Our research contributes to existing studies in management and risk behaviours by uncovering salient factors, loss aversion and risk perception, which mediate bank credit risk decision-making behaviour under conditions of risk and uncertainty. We discussed the theoretical model of prospect theory and main challenges in applying it when attempting to provide a greater understanding of bank credit risk behaviours. The paper documents the application of prospect theory within and outside of the banking industry and finds that bank risk perception and reference point shape credit risk decision making behaviours. In conclusion, we uncover several promising avenues for future research and draw attention of researchers to prospect theory application within bank credit risk behaviour domain.

Main purpose of the present study is to know whether the dirty dozen bankrupt companies that were declared by RBI were also bankrupt companies according to Edward I Altman Z-score. Descriptive method was followed under quantitative research design using secondary source of data. Descriptive statistical measures like Mean, Standard Deviation, and Kurtosis were also used to know mean performance, consistency in performance, and degree of risk involved in terms of Z-Score and its components of each company under study. The select dirty dozen bankrupt companies were also bankrupt as per their Z-score which was found to be below the benchmark of 1.81 in case of manufacturing companies; and 1.23 in case of non-manufacturing and unlisted companies. Kurtosis of more than 2.5 indicates a very high degree of risk for investment as was observed in case of Amtek Auto, Electrosteel, Bhushan Steels, and Jaypee Infratech. ___________________________________________________________________________.

The COVID-19 pandemic induced governments all over the world to momentarily accumulate higher levels of public debt in order to invest in deficit spending and social protection programs to tackle the anticipated economic slump. The Nigerian government has borrowed heavily from domestic and foreign sources in order to resolve the growing budget deficits and return the economy to a sustainable growth trajectory. Previous studies frequently made the incorrect assumption that the relationship between public debt and growth is linear and symmetric, leading to empirical results that is frequently disputed and imprecise. This study’s main objective is to examine the asymmetric impact of public debt on economic growth in Nigeria from 1980 to 2020 using the Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag method. Empirical evidence indicated that external debt have a significant positive and symmetric impact on economic growth in the long and short run, while debt service payment supporting the debt overhang hypothesis activated a symmetric effect that stifle growth. Domestic debt retarded growth asymmetrically in the short term and linearly over the long term. Foreign reserve holding, on the other hand, had an asymmetric long-run influence and a symmetric short-run impact on growth motivation. To mitigate the negative effects of unsustainable public debt, the study advocated for fiscal reforms that effectively reduce deficit financing to keep the level of government debt low and be able to respond robustly to an economic shock, improve domestic revenue generation and infrastructure spending, and strengthen governance practices and institutions.

In this paper, we investigate the effect of political and legal institutions on the growth of financial markets in 50 African countries over the period 1996–2016. Using the system generalized methods of moment strategy, we find that in Africa, f inancial market growth is explained by the quality of political and legal institutions. High levels of political constraints on the executive and protection of investors’ rights result in improved performance of these markets. The results further reveal that political instability and corruption reduce the performance of political and legal institutions, eroding the African financial market’s performance, thereby constraining their growth. These results are consistent with several tests conducted. As a policy recommendation, governments should strengthen their political and legal institutions. This can be done through the adoption of anti-corruption measures and strong political stability.

Currently, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine could have an impact on the EU region’s energy-dependent relationships. This study lays out a strategy for luring energy corporate investors to make investments in clean energy technology, thereby helping to mitigate the effects of global warming caused by wood burning while also advancing the regional long-term technological development and energy sustainability. On the other hand, we assessed the financial, technological, and environmental elements of suggested energy plans for the country using RETScreen simulation. We used a NASA satellite database to evaluate the climate data of the proposed site, and the local currency, the Euro, was used to assess the financial viability. In addition, our analysis encouraged policymakers, energy operators, entrepreneurs, and energy industry stakeholders to invest in green technology innovation. The research details the technical analysis and optimal orientation for installing solar arrays in the Porto/Pedras Rubras area, as well as discussing the architecture of a 100 MW grid-connected solar photovoltaic system. Financial, carbon emission, and risk analyses of the proposed system are also presented in this study. There are a number of other significant benefits to this study as well. It makes the state less reliant on volatile energy markets in other countries and shows how to get long-term energy security. Second, the RETScreen results inspired business owners and other stakeholders to make investments in green technologies.

This article focused on the economic assessment and sustainability analysis of climate change adaptation strategies taken by the rice farmers of Bangladesh. A binary probit model, PSM model, and a Tobit regression model were applied to analyze the determining factors of the adaptation choices and to measure the economic impact and sustainability levels. The study was based on primary data, and the data were collected from Iswardi upazila, Pabna District. The binary probit model was applied to determine the influencing factors in the adaptation choices. Farming experience, extension contact, credit availability and education affected choosing adaptation options. The PSM model found that adaptation strategies, such as chemical fertilizer, irrigation, income diversification, crop rotation and high-yielding (HYV) rice varieties gave additional profits of 14,701.1 TK, 4,259.19 TK, 13,218.3 TK, 890.23 TK and 17,894.3 TK, respectively. The Tobit regression model emphasized that farmers’ socio-economic features such as education level, getting extension service, credit availability, and land size were sustainable in all three dimensions. In addition, crop variation, off-farm diversification, and use of HYV had substantial relationships with the agricultural sustainability in its three indicators of economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Policies such as encouraging adaptations, improving extension service, dual or triple cropping system, use of high qualities of seeds, and subsidy for high production cost were suggested for agricultural sustainability.

One of several SDGs is to gain zero hunger which also means strong food security sustainability. As a strategic sector, agriculture reinforces the provision of food needs. The existence of diversification of food materials from the agricultural sector will also strengthen the food security of a country/region. Various alternative foodstuffs can prevent or avoid food crises in an area. However, another issue about what kind of staple food suits local habitants raised our awareness about the readiness stocks of rice and other local staple foods consumed daily by local society. There is no recent research about the position of this food in the ranking of staple foods. Factors that affect the elasticity of demand include prices, prices of other goods, tastes, incomes, and seasons. This paper answers whether Sago (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) acts as a complement or substitution product. The issue about rice and Sago supports the hypothesis that Sago has been consumed widely for long periods but might not be enough to substitute for rice. Using SUSENAS data in 2014 and 2018, this study analyses the demand for rice and runs a regression model to answer the research question. Demand for rice is affected by its price, sago price, and income. Therefore, this study considers the current issue that Sago has a negative position in the demand equation for rice, but research is still underway to prove this. The results show that Sago is a substitute product for rice. It can be seen from the positive cross-price elasticity. Thus, food security in Papua will be better if it is supported by policies that support Sago as a substitute staple food besides its function as local food.

By the start of 2020, the daily and business world had to undergo a radical change with the widespread pandemic known as COVID-19. Many people had to replace their everyday purchase medium to meet the enforced restrictions, and local businesses had to adjust their operations to accommodate the negative impacts brought upon by the disease’s rapid spread. Groceries and FMCG sub-sectors of the retail industry were forced to adapt to consumers’ stockpiling and panic-buying behaviors. We studied the impact of similar purchase attitudes for various product groups during the COVID-19 and probed the differences between sales of online and physical markets. Initially, a cluster analysis identifies which product groups were affected by similar shopping behaviors during the pandemic. Subsequently, the impact of the number of COVID cases on sales levels was measured using stepwise, lasso, and the best subset models. All the models were applied to both physical and online market datasets. The results showed a significant shift from the physical to the online markets during the pandemic. These findings can provide an essential guideline to retail managers in adapting to the new world.

This study was carried out to know the consumption pattern, elasticities and demand projection of coarse cereals in Gujarat. The study was based on secondary data, collected from the various rounds of National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) report. The elasticities were calculated by taking 2011 as the base year, using multi-stage budgeting technique of Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System (QUAIDS) model. Demand projections were calculated up to the year 2036 based on the data collected from various resources. The expenditure elasticity of coarse cereals was found as negative and has value of 0.95 in urban Gujarat, whereas it was slightly positive (0.12) in rural Gujarat by 2036. The uncompensated own-price elasticities of coarse cereals were found as 0.76 and 1.3 in both rural and urban areas of Gujarat by the same period of time. The positive value of own-price elasticities shows the inferior nature of coarse cereals. The cross-price elasticities showed that coarse cereals have complementary relationship between all commodities except wheat and pulses in Gujarat. The total demand for coarse cereals would expect to be reached at 5.39, 0.23 and 5.62 million tons by 2036 from 2.99, 0.55 and 3.54 during 2011 in rural, urban and overall Gujarat, respectively, under actual income growth scenario.

Unlabelled: This study analyses the distributional effects of corruption on public spending in developing countries. It hypothesized that public expenditures with long and complex budgetary procedures are more prone to corruption. However, the new instrumental variables method proposed by Norkute et al. (J Economet 10.1016/j.jeconom.2020.04.008, 2021), was used to correct for the endogenous nature of corruption and the cross-sectional dependence bias of the panel units. The empirical analysis involved data from a sample of 40 countries, observed over the period 2005-2018. The main results show that the bias induced by corruption on the allocation of public expenditure depends as much on the opportunity offered by the expenditure in terms of payment of bribes as on the recipient of this expenditure. Investment spending with complex procedures is favored by corrupt bureaucrats over current spending. Wages and salaries are favored by corruption because they increase the financial benefits of bureaucrats. National and international anti-corruption institutions need to pay particular attention to the channels through which these public expenditure components are processed to establish greater transparency. Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43546-023-00452-1.

It has long been assumed that entrepreneurship has significant social and economic benefits, including the creation of jobs. Based on the literature, however, small businesses have often had difficulty expanding to recruit and even surviving due to their plight. In spite of this, little is known about how institutional factors facilitate and constrain the path from entrepreneurial intention to create jobs. Therefore, we develop and test a moderated mediation model to examine how the government's policymaking and national entrepreneurship culture regulate entrepreneurship-based job creation. With the Adult population survey and the National expert survey of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), this study compiled 417 observations from 39 European and North American countries between 2002 and 2020. We prove the partial mediation effect of entrepreneurial behaviour on the relationship between individuals' entrepreneurial intention and job creation. The findings of our study suggest that institutional changes should be mobilised to relieve the pressures on small business owners instead of residing on size-neutral approaches. Furthermore, a progressive, contextually based entrepreneurial culture serves as a critical stimulant to the growth of latent entrepreneurs and early-stage start-ups. Therefore, the study not only describes a new path that underpins entrepreneurship-based job creation, but also highlights a new motive for necessary institutional change.

This study uses a common trend method of Warne (A common trends model: Identification, estimation and inference, 1993) to identify fundamental and bubble components of stock prices for India, the USA, and Japan. The identified fundamental and bubble components of these stock markets are further evaluated with the Diebold and Yilmaz (Int J Forecast 28:57–66, 2012) return and volatility spillovers along with the wavelet coherency analysis to find out the origin and their relationship in a frequency–time domain. The empirical results from the monthly data for the period April 1994 to July 2018 indicate that during the global financial crisis of 2007–2009, all these stock markets are invariably driven by the bubbles of different sizes. The results from the return and volatility spillover across these stock markets indicate that the major part of the spillover is coming from the fundamentals than the bubble components. Further, the results from the wavelet coherency analysis also show that the fundamental components have consistent longer horizon coherency, while there is none among the bubble components. These results imply that the bubble components of these markets are purely transitory and have no impact across them, so focusing on fundamentals is a better strategy for longer horizon investments.

This study contributes to the literature on the link between institutions and economic complexity by investigating, as a first attempt, the effects of different types of democracy on economic complexity. Using an unbalanced panel of 116 countries and the latest version of the Varieties of Democracy dataset (V-DEM), we address the weak time-variance of our main regressors by using the most recent sequential linear panel dynamic estimator. The main results are as follows: first, democracy (consisting of electoral, egalitarian, participatory, liberal, and deliberative democracy dynamics) increases economic complexity. Our findings remain robust to the comprehensive inclusion of relevant covariates, to the use of an alternative dependent variable and an alternative key regressors, to the use of different samples, and to the instrumentation with regional waves of democratisation. Second, we provide evidence that the effect of democracy on economic complexity is heterogeneous with respect to the initial level of economic complexity, with democracy being associated with greater economic complexity in countries with a higher level of economic complexity. Finally, we provide evidence that human capital, innovation, and financial development mediated the effect of democracy on economic complexity.

This paper fills a significant literature gap by examining the nexus between institutional governance and quality of life. We construct a panel data set of 21 developing countries and use the methods of linear and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag models (ARDL). To measure the level of institutional quality, we use the World Governance Indicators developed by Kaufmann D, Kraay A, Mastruzzi M (World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, 2010). The worldwide governance indicators methodology and analytical issues. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 5430. The results of the linear model show that improvements in indicators of institutional quality such as voice and accountability, quality of regulation and rule of law have a positive long-term impact on quality of life. In addition, the findings of the non-linear ARDL model show that positive shocks in the areas of voice and accountability, political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, control of corruption and rule of law have a significant positive influence on long-term quality of life. In contrast, negative fluctuations in institutional quality indices, with the exception of voice and accountability and rule of law, have quality of life implications.

The global financial crisis of 2007/2008 has shown the importance of modeling economic agents not in isolation but as interconnected and interactive components of dynamically evolving systems. Within this framework, the field of complex systems for the study of economic dynamics has been the object of renewed interest. This paper is based on Minsky’s Financial Instability Hypothesis and on the literature of Agent-Based Models to analyze a bank credit market where heterogeneous firms and banks interact following game theory rules. The objective is twofold: (1) to evaluate the influence of bank behavior on the formation of the credit network and the spread of financial difficulties in an agent-based model; and, (2) to analyze the properties of the emerging credit network and its influence on macroeconomic performance. Our simulations suggest that aggregate economic instability may arise as a result of the liquidity preference behavior of banks that restrict credit to the productive sector when they have pessimistic expectations.

This paper examines the role of housing in predicting macroeconomic outcomes. We do so by incorporating real-estate loans securitization, an important housing-related variable, in our investigation. Our in-and out-of-sample results show that (1) securitized real-estate loans contain leading information about the real economy after accounting for other predictors such as residential investment; (2) securitized real-estate loans significantly improve corporate bond credit spreads’ ability to forecast economic indicators; (3) while house prices lead the economy, after accounting for securitized real-estate loans and residential investment, the predictability appears to be more about economic contractions than expansions; (4) shocks to securitized real-estate loans have sustained economically significant effects on economic growth.

The previous work on political accountability and transparency mainly exists about the voter’s reaction when any negative information is provided about their incumbents. A little bit of work on politicians’ actions to publicly disclose information is available. To the best of my knowledge, there was no study available that simultaneously explores the politician’s actions when they know that their actions are easily accessible by the general public and then the response of voters to their actions. This study tries to fill this gap by examining the behavior of Pakistani politicians towards tax compliance even when they knew that their income tax payments can easily be accessible by individuals and then the response of voters to politicians’ actions in the next general election. Using assets ownership and tax payment data from 2013 to 2017 in the case of Pakistan under the regression as control strategy that was pioneered by George Udny Yule first, we give strong evidence that the members of the ruling parties feel less pressure and are less interested in tax compliance than the member of non-ruling parties and second, voters electorally punish tax cheaters. These results also hold by controlling the other correlating factors, which support our hypothesis that the opposition parties are highly interested to change their status from powerless to becoming powerful and act accordingly.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s43546-022-00347-7.].

Do you feel more satisfied with life when you think you are richer? How does the perception of your own economic welfare affect your life satisfaction? This study draws from the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS) from years 1994 to 2018 to investigate the effects of self-perceived economic welfare on subjective well-being (SWB). Moreover, we aim to better understand why life satisfaction follows the trends in income in transition economies, contradicting the Easterlin paradox. The paradox posits that an increase in income does not increase life satisfaction over time, which extant literatures have found to not hold in transition economies (Easterlin Easterlin, J Econ Behav Organiz 71:130–145, 2009; Gruen and Klasen 2012; Selezneva Selezneva, Econ Syst 35:139–157, 2011). Our results suggest that the way one perceives their own economic welfare is a significant determinant of life satisfaction. We suggest that the general increase in life satisfaction in Russia since the 1990s, which follows the increase in income during the time-period, is partially driven by the overall changes in perceived economic welfare as a result of the transition, as well as the vast economic and political reforms that followed.

Socially mandated expenditures on occasions like weddings and death rituals are unique to the Indian socio-cultural milieu, and are often excessive, being disproportionate to poor families’ income and earnings potential. Combined with economic shocks like illnesses, loss of jobs, or death of the principal bread earner, these expenses serve as major setbacks to economic stability, often leading to borrowings and incidences of high indebtedness. This study examined the social expenditure patterns and outlays, vis-a-vis earnings and savings, among poor informal sector workers in urban settings, and tried to find out the extent to which obligatory and contingent expenditure was responsible for indebtedness, and whether the cost of debt was mediated by informality of occupation. The study found that disproportionate spending beyond earning capacity was the cause of indebtedness and compounding penury among the respondents. Comparing the prevalence and cost of debt with formal sector workers in similar income brackets, it concluded that though the extent of indebtedness did not vary by the formality of occupation, high-cost debt was the norm in the informal sector but not in the formal sector.

Climate change brings with it new risks for the finance sector, which in turn provides new opportunities to mitigate this risk, emanating from climate change. To invest sustainably and move away from firms that have disproportionately high carbon footprints, investors need suitable risk measures and appropriate portfolio management approaches. In this paper, we conduct a review of the mathematical models used to measure carbon risk. Subsequently, we review portfolio optimization models based on modern portfolio theory and the incorporation of risk measures into portfolio optimization strategies. We find that there is a lack of consensus about the existence of a carbon premium or an equity greenium in stock prices. We also find that the literature on portfolio optimization techniques is comparatively nascent.

The production tax credit (PTC) and the investment tax credit (ITC) have been the US federal government’s primary means of economically supporting a variety of renewable energy sources, including wind energy projects. The PTC is a tax credit for power producers that allows them to gain a tax rebate for each kilowatt-hour (kWh) of power that they produce. The ITC meanwhile enables power producers to receive a deduction on a certain percentage of their investment costs. Both tax credits are set to expire at the end of 2021, though the Inflation Reduction Act would extend both tax credits while altering their amounts and structure. While the Act has many positive provisions, the bill’s PTC value of 2.5 cents/kWh is too high in comparison to a 30% ITC, as wind power producers will usually be economically incentivized to choose the PTC over the ITC as investment costs fall and wind farm capacities increase. This composition will offer a proposal for a 1.5 cent/kWh PTC and an ITC worth 30% of the investment tax basis for power producers, effective between 2022 and 2026, with a refundability option making the investment environment more stable compared to the many bumpy rides in the US PTC and ITC history.

Unlabelled: Since December 2020 vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus have been available. However, little is known regarding their effects on infections and on hospitalizations. To gain insight into this topic we empirically analyze the effects of the vaccinations against SARS-CoV-2 for European countries beginning 2021 to February 2022 with weekly data. We perform panel fixed effects estimations, GMM estimations and nonlinear penalized spline estimations. We find a statistically significant and positive relationship between the share of infections with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the share of vaccinated people in nine estimations while one estimation output was insignificant. Regarding hospitalizations, six out of ten estimations yielded a statistically insignificant relationship, and three estimation results were weakly statistically significant with a negative coefficient and one indicated a statistically significant negative relation. Hence, there is empirical evidence for a positive relationship between infections and the share of vaccinated people whereas we find weak empirical evidence for a negative relation between vaccinations and hospitalizations. The implication of our analysis is that vaccinations alone cannot end the pandemic. Rather developing effective medicines should be seen as an additional measure. Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43546-023-00445-0.

In this study, we analyze that how free goods, such as music video provided freely, affect sales of contents in the Japanese creative industries. The contributions of this study are below three points: (1) we focus on three major creative industries: music industry, video industry, and book industry. (2) We focus on the impact of both licensed and unlicensed free goods. (3) We use a large amount of questionnaire survey data, and then we use unique instrumental variables “Preferences of using free goods on the Internet.” As the results, licensed free goods have a significant positive effect on paid goods in the music industry with an elasticity of 0.11, but no significant effect in the video and book industries. Unlicensed (pirated) free goods have no significant effects in the book industry, but have a significant negative effect in the music and video industries with elasticities of − 0.23 and − 0.19, respectively.

Unlabelled: Over the last decade (2010-2020), Tunisia foreign debt has experienced a phenomenal jump. It has increased at a faster pace than domestic debt. It has doubled without any significant positive effect on investments or economic growth. This study aims to identify the major causes of this abnormal increase in Tunisia foreign debt. Since the model variables are not all stationary at level, the paper applies the autoregressive distributed lag technique to quantitative quarterly economic data covering the 2009-2020 period. Findings show that the economic growth, the exchange rate, the current deficit, the coverage ratio, and the lagged foreign debt itself are the major causes leading to the phenomenal increase of Tunisia foreign debt. Based on these findings, the paper suggests boosting foreign currency-generating activities, containing current public expenditures, stabilizing the exchange rate, and making structural economic adjustments as possible escape roots. Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43546-023-00443-2.

A startup firm often worries that entry into an industry with incumbents having power in both the input and output markets guarantees no success for its investments. I analyze how firms’ asymmetries, on the basis of the residual demand for their outputs, fixed demand-increasing costs and power in the input market, affect their revenue shares. Results are counterintuitive in that the incumbent firms’ market power in both the input and output markets can go against their revenue shares. The reason is that the profit-maximizing incumbents buy inputs at low prices but sell at high oligopolistic prices; this will entice the entry of new firms benefitting from (or paying just a little above) the low oligopsonistic input price and selling its differentiated products at a more competitive (i.e., lower than oligopolistic) price. The revenue share of a new entrant increases with (1) the ratio of its own fixed cost to the incumbents’ fixed cost, (2) the ratio of the price elasticity of its residual demand to that of the incumbents, and (3) the interaction between the incumbents’ level of market power in the input market, and the ratio of their variable costs to their fixed costs. Trade analyses of US import demand for semi-processed cocoa and coffee provide evidence supporting these findings. The main implications are that the incumbents’ double market power is a blessing in disguise for a new entrant and that the new entrant can differentiate its product and expand its revenue share by investing in fixed demand-increasing costs.

As in many other countries, markets are found to be cardinal centres of job creation, income generation, and revenue mobilisation in Ghana, especially in the urban milieu. They are vital places for expanding community access to basic amenities, social services, and infrastructure development. However, the full prospects of markets, including satellite markets (SMs), may not be realised if they are not effectively managed by local governments. Drawing on the experiences of five SMs in Kumasi, Ghana, this qualitative study through interviews examines the management structure of markets teasing out its challenges. The study found that the management structure of markets involves mainly three-tier levels. Occupying the apex are the local assemblies (local governments) who have the constitutional power to allocate trading space, collect revenues, manage wastes, ensure security and safety, and repair and maintain the market, among others. The local assemblies are conventionally supported by market queens (Dwahemaa) and commodity-specialised leaders (Adwadifuokuohemaa). A major challenge identified was that weak collaboration existed among these actors of market management. For effective management of trading activities in the city geared towards the maximisation of market benefits, the study recommends the creation of a well-resourced and coordinated market management structure involving all relevant actors and stakeholders.

The results of surveying the literature on knowledge productivity in electronic banking, specifically in the field of electronic word-of-mouth marketing for banks, indicate that no comprehensive model has been proposed in previous studies, and there exists a research gap in this regard. Therefore, the objective of the present study is to develop a comprehensive model for knowledge productivity in electronic word-of-mouth marketing for banks. To present the research model, the mixed method was used with the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. The grounded theory method was used in the qualitative part of the research. Also, to analyze the quantities’ data of the study, structural equation modeling with partial least square approach and SmartPLS software were employed. The results of the study confirmed that the model presented here possesses proper fitness. Moreover, in the quantitative section, the extent and coefficient of relationships between the model variables were determined. As indicated in the results, “consequences” had a coefficient of 0.84, which was the highest level of relationship with “knowledge productivity in electronic word-of-mouth marketing for banks.” Following this coefficient, the variables of “strategies,” “contextual conditions,” “causal conditions,” and “intervening conditions” had coefficients equal to 0.79, 0.67, 0.66, and 0.63, in respective order.

This study seeks new insights into how vegetable farmers in a developing country can beneft from using modern agro-technologies to induce their farm performance and family livelihood. The results based on a structural equation model on data from the fnal sample of 192 Bangladeshi vegetable farmers suggest that (1) the use of modern agro-technologies is directly and positively related to farm performance and family livelihood; (2) the farm performance directly fuels the family livelihood; (3) the farm performance positively mediates the infuence of using modern agrotechnologies on the family livelihood. Based on these results, this study uncovers that modern agro-technologies’ use can trigger farm performance and improve the family livelihood of vegetable farmers in Bangladesh. This study enhances modern agro-technologies’ use, farm performance and family livelihood literature by ofering a conceptual model, empirical evidence on the mentioned nexuses and policyoriented implications for vegetable farmers in a developing country context.

The present study aims to analyze the electronic customer relationship management system based on marketing performance and knowledge management of the company using the Fuzzy cognitive map approach. To the best of our knowledge, this issue is not investigated in previous studies. To identify and select the model elements, we reviewed the literature and previous works and utilized the opinions of 20 senior managers of the largest online retailer in Iran as experts in the field. Moreover, for the analysis of the data in our study, we employed the Fuzzy Cognitive Map approach and FCMapper software to present the Fuzzy cognitive map of the electronic customer relationship management based on marketing performance and knowledge management. According to the analysis results, the element of “having a database of online customers” has the highest centrality degree (4.96) and the highest significance (based on the priority of the weights) among the elements relative to the electronic customer relationship management based on marketing performance and knowledge management.

This paper use three-stage Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model to evaluate the change of transport freight efficiency. In this paper, the panel data of 31 provinces listed in Chinese transport freight market from 2015 to 2019 were used. Empirically, it was found that the road freight transport was affected by the environmental protection measurements. Under the influence of environmental factors, the level of road freight transport in most provinces has been a significant increase. A deep analysis showed that technical efficiency of environmental conservation was a main impetus for the total efficiency of road freight growth. According to the research results, the relevant improvement strategies were proposed for the future policy implication.

This study's goal is to review the body of research regarding financial inclusion. The bibliometric analysis of the subject under consideration was conducted using the Scopus database. The PRISMA technique was used to carry out the sampling process. Software called VOSviewer was used to examine 891 publications. This revealed the network’s expansion, the most contributors, the intellectual structure’s background, the most popular subjects, and the research gap for future studies. We discovered that the Scopus database started accepting articles about financial inclusion research in 2005. The terms "financial inclusion,” “financial development,” and “microfinance” have appeared frequently since 2005. Financial inclusion, fintech, microfinance, economic growth, financial literacy, mobile money, and remittances are some of the recent themes that are shown in the density map. However, research gaps have been identified due to the words' recentness and the frequency of their persistence in the current sub-period. The results will inform researchers about the implications for the past, present, and future, as well as the gaps in their understanding.

The sources of knowledge are diverse, as each firm interacts with multiple actors in pursuing its mission: partners and strategic allies, suppliers, customers, competitors, specialist organizations such as knowledge-intensive business services, universities, technology centres, public research organizations, innovation intermediaries and public administration bodies. Different kinds of knowledge, both tacit and codified, are relevant for firms. Nevertheless, knowledge needs to be translated into the capacity to act. Hence, knowledge generation and absorption can be understood as two sides of the same coin and it is necessary to take factors that shape both facets into account, in addition to the relationship between the production, transfer and valorisation of knowledge. This article reviews crucial factors for knowledge in firms, aggregated as influential, contextual and internal. Influential factors are associated with knowledge tacitness and the existing knowledge base, whereas the internal characteristics of the firm are also crucial and concern aspects such as the existing innovation culture, leadership attributes and internal research and development capabilities. Finally, contextual factors, such as the territorial dynamics, are essential as environmental enablers for generating and absorbing knowledge. Together, these factors reinforce the dynamic capabilities of the firm and influence the decision to either engage in open innovation strategies or prioritize actions that protect and codify knowledge, thus affecting the firms’ competitiveness.

Abstract This study identifies the influence of interdisciplinary variables on tourist online purchasing intention, such as consumers' online purchasing experience, novelty-seeking behavior, perceived ease of use, risk taking, tourism service and destination characteristics. The study population includes international tourists who purchased Yazd sightseeing tours. Using convenience sampling, 386 visitors were chosen to complete the variable scale questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SmartPLS and SPSS software. Results indicated that “prior experience,” “ease of use,” “risk taking”, and “novelty-seeking behavior” have a direct and meaningful effect on “online purchasing attitude” and have an indirect effect on “tourist online purchasing intention” with the mediating role of online purchasing attitudes. Furthermore, “tourism services and destination characteristics” and online purchasing attitudes directly and significantly affect tourists' online purchasing intentions. Moving between disciplines improves the quality of industry-relevant research and makes it more practical and valuable. The identified interdisciplinary variables influencing tourists’ online purchasing intentions are valuable for the destination marketing of World Heritage Cities.

Understanding how an irrational investors’ sentiment affects the realty market returns, especially during the pandemic, is imperative to take any financial decisions. The effect of investor sentiment on the movement of the realty market leading to market volatility is dynamically represented in a numerical form. The study incorporates daily market data and their implicit indices to construct a sector-specific investor sentiment index by using the principal component analysis method. To analyse the relationship between the variables, a quantitative approach is used by incorporating an econometric model—dynamic conditional correlation–generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (DCC–GARCH). The directionality of the relationship between the variables is assessed by the Diebold–Yilmaz method. This study is done to investigate the return deviation in the realty sector due to sentiment impact during the pandemic in the Indian context. The findings indicate the existence of an asymmetric impact of the sentiment, leading to extreme volatility and returns in the realty sector. The results confirmed the presence of bi-directional relationship between asset returns and investor sentiment and quantified the relationship numerically. This study focused on the development, applicability, and validity of a sentiment index pertaining to the Indian realty sector. This study highlights the impact of a qualitative non-fundamental factor like sentiment as a measurable factor in determining the volatility on market returns.

Indian agricultural landscapes can provide solid empirical evidences on the immensity of farmer efficiency levels in comparable countries with a preponderance of small and marginal farmers. This article analyses the technological efficiency of India's major crop producers. To estimate the production frontier function and technical inefficiency values for the 12 major crops that cover more than 70% of the area under cultivation, a stochastic production frontier (SPF) with a flexible model is applied to plot level data. This study uses cross-sectional plot level data for the years 2013–2014, a normal monsoon year and 2017–2018, a deficit year. The error terms are assumed to represent a combination of technological inefficiencies and random noises that would otherwise obscure the technological inefficiencies and result in erroneous conclusions. The results demonstrate empirically that inefficiency levels exist across crops. Wheat has the lowest mean technical inefficiency (15%), followed by paddy and sugarcane (both 24%) (year 2017–2018). There is enormous potential for farmers to increase their efficiency by 30–40% in crops such as pulses, oilseeds, and cash crops. Furthermore, results indicate that educational attainment, soil quality, and seed variety can contribute significantly to farmers' technical efficiency.

Dividend policy inconsistency is a rarely examined phenomenon that happens frequently and dominant. This research examines nine predictors that affect dividend policy inconsistency in manufacturing companies listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange in 2013–2019. The developed hypotheses were tested using the dynamic panel data regression with FD-GMM and SYS-GMM techniques and three model specification tests. The results showed that profitability and lagged dividend are robust predictors of the two parameters estimated. Furthermore, of the seven unproven hypotheses, four predictors had a significant effect but different directions. Investment opportunity, company size, financial leverage, and company age are predictors proven in the SYS-GMM parameters estimated. These results are a proven predictor for practitioners to consider investors to obtain optimal returns and company management to formulate optimal dividend policies to support a stable and sustainable business. The research originality examined the predictors suspected of affecting dividend policy inconsistency with the relevant statistical tools.

The purpose of the present paper is to study the effect of corporate governance variables on Human Resource Disclosure Index (HRDI) in Indian corporate sector. The sample contains the Indian firms listed on NSE-500 Index. The final sample contains 336 companies. The data of human resource disclosure are collected from annual reports using content analysis approach for the time period of 8 years (Financial Year 2012–13 to 2019–2020). In addition, the data of corporate governance variables are also gathered from annual reports of the sample companies. For analysis purpose, descriptive statistics, Pearson’s correlation matrix and one-way least square dummy variable regression model have been used. The outcomes show that board size, board meeting and audit committee have significant positive effect on HR disclosure of the Indian listed companies. However, board independence and CEO duality have insignificant but positive effect on HRDI. Overall, it can be said that the HRDI constructed in the present study will be a useful tool and set as a benchmark for the companies to increase their human resource disclosure practices in the near future.

This exploratory study assessed the leadership dispositions of nonprofit leaders, particularly those in executive director roles or higher. The Nonprofit Leadership Dispositions Survey was completed by 99 nonprofit leaders in private human services nonprofits in New York State. Descriptive analysis was used to understand the dominant dispositions. The results indicated that, apart from prudence, participant responses demonstrated evidence of the dispositions and strengths commonly associated with successful leadership. Recommendations for leadership training and development programs, as well as nonprofit organizations, are suggested.

Services have become the engine of the global economy. However, the role of services in the internationalization strategy of emerging market firms remains under researched. In a case study of Indonesia, we focus on the role played by manufacturing firms’ increasing use, production, and sale of services (or “servicification”) in their productivity and exports. We provide a theoretical and empirical framework to study the relationship between servicification, productivity, and exports at firm level. In terms of theory, we rely on the Resource-Based View of internationalization in a heterogeneous firms setting. Regarding methodology, we use panel techniques with administrative firm-level data from the automobile industry. We show that servicification increases the probability of emerging market manufacturing firms exporting, both directly and indirectly through increases in productivity. Results from our case study provide evidence for emerging market firms that, on the one hand, productivity mediates the relationship between servicification and internationalization, and on the other hand, servicification moderates the relationship between productivity and internationalization. Our findings imply that creating unique resources through servicification allows firms to gain a competitive advantage that increases their productivity and helps them to internationalize.

This paper investigates whether and how vertical industries have the characteristics to be targeted with the subsidy policy instrument. Under both price and quantity competition, the results of the established literature are reversed when exporters are in vertical relations. In particular, the conventional result that the emerging subsidising equilibrium is Pareto inefficient (the well-known prisoner’s dilemma outcome) vanishes in the following cases: (1) under quantity competition, when products are sufficiently differentiated, and (2) under price competition, when products are neither too differentiated nor too substitutes. In such cases, the policy intervention leads to welfare improvement with respect to the free trade regime in both producing countries. Moreover, under price competition, export subsidization becomes the rule instead of taxation. Our results suggest that, depending on the degree of competition, vertical industries can be efficiently targeted through the subsidy policy.

This paper analyzes the aspects that contribute to the success of an innovative environment taking as reference 119 socio-economic indicators of historical development that have been made available in various databases from 1960 until 2020. The data was associated with 32 economies in the ranking of the most innovative countries in the seven world regions. The chosen method of mining this data in the J48 consolidated algorithm. This tool highlights the most relevant socio-economic indicators in the early years of the decades from 1960 to 2020. The indicators were based on the Global Innovation Index (GII 2020) report. It is possible to observe in the results a logical sequence in the indicators reported in economic development in the decade approach. In addition, demographic control of labor availability, relevance in the productivity of high and medium-technology goods, and government efficiency are notorious aspects of this innovation process. Many pieces of research correlated with each year, and each indicator corroborates the results found herein. They also show how data mining can contribute as a resource in the elaboration of public policies, in the learning process for constructing business models, and in the decision-making towards development using innovation to search for better living conditions for people worldwide.

Many companies digitally transform their business models, processes, and services. They have also been using Enterprise Architecture Management approaches for a long time to synchronize corporate strategy and information technology. Such digitalization projects bring different challenges for Enterprise Architecture Management. Without understanding and addressing them, Enterprise Architecture Management projects will fail or not deliver the expected value. Since existing research has not yet addressed these challenges, they were investigated based on a qualitative expert study with leading industry experts from Europe. Furthermore, potential benefits of digitalization projects for Enterprise Architecture Management were researched. Our results provide a theoretical framework consisting of five identified challenges, triggers and a number of benefits. Furthermore, we discuss in what ways digitalization and EAM is a promising topic for future research.

This study provides formal theoretical evidence that the credibility of underwriters’ pricing services is evident in the magnitude of intertemporal dampening that is imposed on IPO underpricing by underwriters in response to increases to the severity of valuation uncertainty risk. Using aggregate IPO volume as the measure for the reputation of underwriters, and a formally and theoretically motivated measure for the severity of valuation uncertainty risk—in this specific study, the proxy for the measure is derived from the Fama–French HML (high minus low book-to-market) factor—empirical results show reputable underwriters dampen underpricing by much more than less reputable underwriters, as such provide exogenous evidence for the robustness of casting of IPO volume as a proxy for the credibility of underwriting. Evidence that high IPO quality can be associated with either of low or high underpricing facilitates the inference that the credibility of underwriting cannot be robustly inferred from time specific realizations for IPO underpricing. Necessarily, as such studies of the credibility of underwriters’ pricing services are specified to be intertemporal, not cross-sectional. Robustness of study inferences is evident in the conformity of empirical findings with the stylized fact that high quality issuers exhibit preference for reputable underwriters.

This paper tests the hysteresis of the Iran’s unemployment rate disaggregated by territory (urban and rural), gender (male and female), and age groups (15–24, 25–29, 30–More) covering the period 2001Q2–2020Q1. Using a recent generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) unit root test, our findings mostly support the hysteresis in unemployment and so shocks have a persistence effect on the unemployment subgroup series. When we extended the analysis to allow for two structural breaks with the GARCH unit root tests, this conclusion remains unaltered. Deregulation in the direction of labor market policies, creating employment opportunities for youth and female, diversification of economic activities in rural areas to deny migration from rural to the urban areas are the main reforms that can facilitate the unemployment persistency in Iran.

The study aims to evaluate the economic importance of two world heritage sites (WHS), the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and the Shat Gambuj Mosque (SGM), a medieval edifice, located in Bangladesh as tourist destinations. In addition, we explored the socio-cultural and environmental externalities that evolve from tourism. The study applied the Travel Cost Method (TCM) to perform the economic valuation of these two heritage sites, and adopted Key Informant Interviews (KII) technique to understand the social and environmental externalities. This tridimensional investigation in heritage tourism marks a unique contribution to the field of existing literature. Results reveal a substantial consumer surplus (CS), which is almost five times larger than the current average travel cost. The CS yields an annual economic benefit worth US$ 68.4 million for these two sites. The factors associated with tourists’ travel demand provide evidence that traveling habits along with socioeconomic attributes are crucial determinants of heritage tourism. Although heritage tourism has a positive effect on societal elements, some negative externalities pose threats to the Sundarbans’ natural resources and biodiversity. The resulting tourism value and externalities on society and the environment should be rethought in the site conservation and further flourishment of sustainable heritage tourism.

The study aims to evaluate the economic importance of two world heritage sites (WHS), the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and the Shat Gambuj Mosque (SGM), a medieval edifice, located in Bangladesh as tourist destinations. In addition, we explored the socio-cultural and environmental externalities that evolve from tourism. The study applied the Travel Cost Method (TCM) to perform the economic valuation of these two heritage sites, and adopted Key Informant Interviews (KII) technique to understand the social and environmental externalities. This tridimensional investigation in heritage tourism marks a unique contribution to the field of existing literature. Results reveal a substantial consumer surplus (CS), which is almost five times larger than the current average travel cost. The CS yields an annual economic benefit worth US$ 68.4 million for these two sites. The factors associated with tourists’ travel demand provide evidence that traveling habits along with socioeconomic attributes are crucial determinants of heritage tourism. Although heritage tourism has a positive effect on societal elements, some negative externalities pose threats to the Sundarbans’ natural resources and biodiversity. The resulting tourism value and externalities on society and the environment should be rethought in the site conservation and further flourishment of sustainable heritage tourism.