Nirosha Wellalage

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at University of South Australia

This paper provides analyses of the effect of corruption in South Asia on (1) credit access for small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), and (2) credit constraints faced by female-owned and male-owned SMEs. By addressing potential endogeneity and reverse causality of corruption and credit constraints via instrumental variables, this study reports...

This study investigates the effects of paying bribes on access to credit for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Bribery is variously portrayed, in the literature, as greasing the wheel (helping) or sand in the wheel (impeding) applications for credit. Studies supporting both perspectives leave the issue unresolved, encouraging further analysis, u...

This paper explores the relationship between firm-level innovation and external finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Our sample consists of 13,430 firms from Eastern Europe and Central Asian countries. A propensity score matching approach reports a positive relationship between formal finance and product and process innovation, which is...

Financial inclusion (FI) provides significant possibilities for poverty alleviation. Information communication technology (ICT) is an essential component of any FI strategy aiming to enable access to a wide range of financial products and services. This study explores entrepreneurs’ assessments of the role of ICT for their FI and its effect in Afri...

Using a comprehensive dataset on unlisted firms in 22 developing countries this paper analyses the relationship between gender, microfinance and access to bank credit. Using heckprobit to control sample selection bias, we reveal evidence of discrimination against female-owned and female-led firms. Also, we find that a mechanism for microfinance to...

Purpose This paper aims to empirically examine the link between negative social media sentiments (SMS) and firm risk, measured by total risk. Design/methodology/approach This paper collected data from Fortune 500 companies in the USA from 2010 to 2017. The analyses used the pooled ordinary least squares, Fama–McBeth regression, fixed-effects regre...

This study examines the interplay between social media sentiment (SMS) and corporate reputation (CR) in shaping the relationship between corporate environmental performance (CEP) and corporate financial performance (CFP). Using a dataset of S&P 500 companies from 2017 to 2022, the results indicate that both CR and SMS positively influence the CEP–C...

Finance is undergoing a profound transformation. Digital technologies are reshaping payments, lending, insurance, and wealth management. Big data technology is now an integral part of the financial services industry and will continue to drive future innovation. Digital finance has fundamentally changed how we live and do business, and it has been a...

Integrating robots and advanced technology in firm-level production processes represents a transformative shift in modern industrial practices. However, there is a lack of cumulative knowledge about the advancement of technology in the production processes, which affects mitigating the gender gap. Through the lens of financial accessibility, the st...

Using survey data of owners of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), we investigate the nexus between financial literacy (FL) and financial inclusion (FI). Furthermore, we examine whether the FL_FI nexus is different by gender. Our results show that FL has statistically significant positive effects on all three dimensions of FI (access, usag...

Purpose This study investigates the impact of temporary employment on various forms of financial distress for firms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach The authors apply a logit model to evaluate the differences in the probabilities of experiencing financial distress for firms with or without temporary reemployment and for fi...

This study re-conceptualises the relationship between symbiosis and risk/return as an influence for economic benefit or harm for micro, small and medium enterprises in tourism. A critique of predictive literature identifies Monte Carlo simulation's capacity to use non-parametric data and input of multiple, concurrent variables as best suited to for...

This paper examines the effects of audit quality and firm growth on the relationship between corporate cash holdings and firm performance by using a sample of about 2500 unique non-financial Indian firms from 2000 to 2017, consisting of 51,388 firm-year observations. The results obtained by controlling for potential endogeneity using the dynamic pa...

Extending past research, this paper proposes that the quadratic inverse-U relationship between family ownership and the performance of entrepreneurial firms when moderated by the presence of family management and external blockholding. Specifically, it proposes that both factors exacerbate the decline in performance when the proportion of family ow...

This study investigates how firm-level political connections (PCs) play a role in their access to bank credit. We decompose the bank loan application process into the self-selection process of firms and the selection process of banks. Using 17,249 firms from 2018 to 2020, World Bank Enterprise surveys, we find that PCs are positively associated wit...

Purpose This paper aims to examine the association between environmental disclosure and waste performance. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on a sample of S&P 500 firms over a nine-year period from 2010 to 2018. The pooled ordinary least squares (OLS), logistic, propensity score matching (PSM) and instrumental variable-generalized m...

This study investigates the roles of different measures of environmental performance in firms' financing choices. Environmental performance is measured through energy-efficiency investments, energy intensity, and energy consumption disclosures, which correspond to input-based, output-based, and disclosing perspectives, respectively. We further dist...

When confronting credit constraints, female-led or -owned firms may adopt environmental assurances to increase access to credit. However, this depends on how financial institutions integrate gender diversity and environmental risk into the rating phase of their credit management system. This study uses comprehensive firm-level data from small and m...

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in substantial constraints for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) worldwide. The techniques in which SMEs handle recent crises and the degree to which environmental performance is advantageous when the marketplace experiences an adverse shock is fairly untouched in the literature. To assess this probability, we e...

Purpose This study investigates whether there is an association between business symbiosis and the performance of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted 200 surveys, using ordered logistic regression to evaluate the results. Participants are MSME business owners in Cambridge, New Zealand. Fi...

This paper examines the effects of bribery on product and process innovation at the firm level in Latin American countries. We provide insights into the heterogeneous effects of bribery on the types of innovations across firms. Using the locality-sector average of bribe payments as a percentage of firm annual sales, we control for endogeneity bias,...

Using gender as a theoretical framework, we analyse the dynamics of debt and equity financing during the COVID-19 pandemic for a cross-country sample of 8,921 private firms. We provide evidence of a slight gender bias in debt financing, with creditors favouring female entrepreneurs when dealing with cash flow problems during the COVID-19 pandemic....

Growing public concerns about sustainability and adopting environmentally responsible practices increase risks as well as opportunities for firms and banks. It is unclear whether being environmentally responsible matters for unlisted firms, which are significant contributors to the degradation of the environment but which are not under strict scrut...

This study investigates whether the use and ownership of information and technological amenities by SMEs enhance their access to external credits. The data on the website ownership of, and email usage by 6805 firms in the emerging South-East Asian (SEA) markets collected from the World Bank Group Enterprise Survey (WBES) micro-database served as ou...

This study uses a financial lens to investigate and discuss how symbiotic relationships can enhance business performance, particularly in terms of risk and return for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). A mixed-method approach, using both Partial Least Square Structure Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and thematic analysis, is employed to anal...

This paper examines the effect of firm environmental performance on firm financing during the COVID-19 outbreak. Crises in multiple forms curtail Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) stability and the livelihood of hundreds of millions of people who derive their living from these activities. The way in which MSMEs deal with crises and the ex...

In this paper, we address an important and emerging question: Can firms’ voluntary waste disclosure affect corporate cash holdings? Using a sample of S&P 500 firms, we find strong evidence for a positive relationship between waste disclosure and the cash holding policy of firms. Furthermore, we find that waste disclosure significantly increases cas...

In this study, we examine whether bribery impairs gender-based asymmetries in product/process innovation in developing economies. Based on firm-level data from Latin American countries, we reject the proposition that women behave differently with respect to bribing on the grounds of higher ethical/moral standards. After controlling for endogeneity...

This paper investigates the impact on remittances on financial inclusion of refugee migrants. While financial inclusion is gaining traction in the humanitarian and development literature, the linkage with the potential to improve the wellbeing of refugees, who are part of an upward spiral in numbers, has not been tackled. We examine World Bank surv...

The study compares the impact of the commercial environment on external financing of female- owned micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) compared to those that are male owned in seven South Asian countries. The region exhibits weak institutional and regulatory regimes which result in expropriation of profits from MSMEs. It is likely that such...

We investigate the impact of bribes on firm level innovation of micro-, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), using data for seven South American countries. As corruption is endemic in many parts of the world, our purpose, using the reputable World Bank Economic Survey data, is twofold. First, it is to determine whether bribery expands the returns...

Purpose–This paper aims to investigate the relationship between board composition and firm corporate social responsibility (CSR) scores of the top 30 listed companies in Australia, France, UK and USA.Design/methodology/approach–Using a sample of 120 publicly listed companies covering a 10-year period from 2006 to 2015, the authors examine this rela...

The study compares the impact of the commercial environment on external financing of female- owned micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) compared to those that are male owned in seven South Asian countries. The region exhibits weak institutional and regulatory regimes which result in expropriation of profits from MSMEs. It is likely that such...

This study investigates the factors that have potential to affect profit reinvestment decisions of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in small island countries. Using World Bank Enterprise Surveys data, and Generalised Least Square regression model, we report that access to bank loans and overdraft facilities increases profit reinvestment b...

This study investigates gender balance in the credit market for small and medium enterprise (SME) finance in South Asia. This study is significant in that it provides insights for emerging economies into the danger of second-best solutions resulting from capital market imperfections. Using data sourced from World Bank Enterprise Surveys, it recogni...

This study investigates gender balance in the credit market for small and medium enterprise (SME) finance in South Asia. This current study is significant in that it provides insights for emerging economies into the danger of second-best solutions resulting from capital market imperfections. Using data sourced from World Bank Enterprise Surveys, re...

The relationship between principal-principal (PP) agency cost (AC) and corporate governance (CG) is analysed in this paper. A dynamic modelling framework, which controls for potential endogeneity, is used to investigate 120 family firms and 90 non family firms from 2006-2014. The results indicate that traditional corporate governance mechanisms can...

The relationship between principal-principal (PP) agency cost (AC) and corporate governance (CG) is analysed in this paper. A dynamic modelling framework, which controls for potential endogeneity, is used to investigate 120 family firms and 90 non family firms from 2006-2014. The results indicate that traditional corporate governance mechanisms can...

The attributes of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) influencing access to credit, in particular the level and role of firm informality, are analysed in the article. The puzzle is the push for MSEs to join the formal sector and the tug to avoid the extra burden it places on the firm. It is important to know more clearly what forces are at work and...

This study examines the link between financial inclusion, development and economic growth in low income countries (LICs). The analysis is quantitative, covering the period 1998-2013 and uses International Financial Statistics (IFS) and Bankscope data from the World Bank database. The use of a quantile regressions model in the analysis provides an e...

Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) that have a mission to provide credit to the poorest of the poor appear to be the panacea for rural poverty and hardship and bring forward a promise of better tomorrows. However, MFIs as a means of expanding financial inclusion and competing with the informal financial sector are not such a success story in rural Ne...

The study compares the impact of the commercial environment on external financing of female- owned micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) compared to those that are male owned in seven South Asian countries. The region exhibits weak institutional and regulatory regimes which result in expropriation of profits from MSMEs. It is likely that such...

This paper investigates the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and principal-principal (PP) agency conflict in Sri Lankan listed family firms. In many countries, the family business sector is seen as a means of rejuvenating the economy and developing sustainable growth. A dynamic modelling framework, which controls for potential e...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use a panel of New Zealand unlisted firms from 1998 to 2009 to examine the relationship between ownership structure and firm leverage ratios. Although, the choice of the debt in capital structure is important for all firms, the scale effects may influence the degree of influence of particular financial theo...

The attributes of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) influencing access to credit, in particular the level and role of firm informality, are analysed in the article. The puzzle is the push for MSEs to join the formal sector and the tug to avoid the extra burden it places on the firm. It is important to know more clearly what forces are at work and...

This study investigates the effects of equity ownership structure on financial performance of Sri Lankan listed businesses. Using dynamic panel generalised method of moment this study finds an inverse hump shape relationship between insider ownership and firm financial performance. The results of this study confirm that the effect of insider owners...

This study empirically explores the relationship between firm characteristics and capital structure in Sri Lankan companies. Six years of data for 158 firms listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange are analyzed using a conditional quantile regression. The findings indicate that the capital structure of Sri Lankan firms differ between firms in different...

Recently, it has been identified that firms in developing economies suffer an agency conflict called principal-principal (PP) conflict, distinct from the traditional principal-agent (PA) conflicts. Little is known about these conflicts in the Islamic banks. Using five years panel from 37 Islamic banks across ten countries, this paper investigates t...

This study empirically investigates the impact of managerial entrenchment on firm financial performance of Chinese firms initial public offerings (IPOs). Using 142 firms listed in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE), which was collected from the Guotaian Research Service Center (GTA-RSC) databases, this study uses two proxies to measure firm perform...

This paper investigates demographic diversity of board members in the Sri Lankan boardroom and their effect on the firm financial performance. Board diversity is measured by gender, ethnicity, age, education and occupational diversity. After controlling for potential endogeneity, this study finds that though board ethnicity and age diversity increa...

The global financial crisis had major effects on the New Zealand (NZ) capital market, financial system and economy. It prompted responses across the full range of the NZ Securities Commission and the NZ Reserve Bank policies, including amendment of the Securities Act 2009, monetary policy, liquidity management and prudential policies. This paper in...

This study investigates the linkages between corporate governance and capital structure decisions in listed business in Sri Lanka. Five years of data for 113 listed companies are collected and 565 observations are analysed using a dynamic panel generalised method of moment estimation controlling for the endogeneity effect of corporate governance va...

The current study aims to empirically explore the relationship between firm characteristics, corporate governance and capital structure in New Zealand’s large listed companies. Eight years of data for 40 firms listed on the NZX50 Stock Exchange, are collected and observations are analysed using a conditional quantile regression. This study finds fi...

The current study investigates the relationship between family firm board structure and financial performance in Sri Lanka. This study uses five years (2006-2010) of data from 65 family firms listed on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). In order to investigate the impact of board structure on family firm financial performance, a dynamic panel genera...

This study investigates the potential relationship between bankruptcy risks, and financial and non-financial characteristics in small businesses. Given the importance of small businesses to a country’s economy, identifying factors that leads to small business bankruptcy is important for assisting policy makers and businesses. Using logistic regress...

This study investigates the link between ethnic minority directors and agency conflict in Sri Lankan listed companies during a global financial crisis. Due to social and economic pressures in recent decades, ethnic minorities now make up a larger proportion of directors on corporate boards in Sri Lanka. In addition, the global financial crisis has...

This paper investigates the determinants of capital structure in unlisted firms in New Zealand. Hypotheses utilising pecking-order theory, trade-off theory and agency costs theory are empirically examine the effects of firm ownership structure, firm characteristics and industry on small business capital structure determinants. Eleven years of data...

This study investigates the linkage between agency costs, ownership structure and corporate governance in small business. Eleven years of data for 100 unlisted small businesses, are collected and 1099 observations are analysed using as dynamic panel GMM estimation. Various diagnostic tests are utilised to check for stationary and convergence of var...

This study investigates the link between female board directors and company financial performance and agency costs in Sri Lanka’s publicly listed companies. A well-balanced board is critical to the effective strategic direction and running of any company, especially in countries where external corporate governance mechanisms are less developed. In...

The relationship between board leadership, firm financial performance and agency costs is examined on behalf of a sample of multinational company subsidiaries (MNCs) and local public companies (LPCs) in Sri Lanka. Five years of data for 86 MNC subsidiaries and 113 LPCs, are collected and observations are analyzed using a dynamic panel GMM estimatio...