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Attitude for inclusive finance: influence of owner-managers’ and firms’ characteristics on SMEs financial decision making

Rabia Rasheed (Universiti Utara Malaysia, Sintok, Malaysia)
Sulaman Hafeez Siddiqui (The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan)

Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences

ISSN: 1026-4116

Article publication date: 6 December 2018

Issue publication date: 11 September 2019

1283

Abstract

Purpose

The adoption and use of financial services by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are pivotal in the development of inclusive financial markets. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of attitude on financial decision making of SMEs owner-manager. The attitude of SMEs owner-manager comprises of several factors; however, current study identifies few critical factors such as motivation, awareness and risk in the context of Pakistan. The study also includes the personal and firm characteristics as moderating variables to examine their effect on the relationship between attitude and financial decision making of owner-managers.

Design/methodology/approach

With the help of a structured questionnaire, total 285 valid responses are analyzed to accomplish the research objectives. The study uses SPSS and partial least square-structural equation modeling techniques in order to conduct analysis. The results of study highlight the importance of attitudinal factors such as awareness and risk. Moreover, the moderating effect of personal characteristics on the relationship between attitude and financial decision making has been found strong instead of firm characteristics.

Findings

The results show that the low awareness level of owner-managers regarding financial products and procedures significantly affects their attitude. Moreover, the less knowledge of financing terms as well as dominant role of owner-managers in taking firm decisions also increase the negative effect of risk factor on SMEs owner-manager attitude.

Research limitations/implications

The study suggested that policy makers should focus on the financial awareness of SMEs owner-manager to reduce the negativity of risk factor.

Originality/value

The study contributes toward the literature of inclusive finance and sustainability studies through better understanding of financial decision making of SMEs in emerging economies.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors of this article have not made their research dataset openly available. Any enquiries regarding the dataset can be directed to the corresponding author.

Citation

Rasheed, R. and Siddiqui, S.H. (2019), "Attitude for inclusive finance: influence of owner-managers’ and firms’ characteristics on SMEs financial decision making", Journal of Economic and Administrative Sciences, Vol. 35 No. 3, pp. 158-171. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEAS-05-2018-0057

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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