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This paper aims to investigate the drivers of the resilience of the fintech sector in emerging Europe (EU) by analyzing the performance of 128 Bulgarian fintech companies in the period around the Referendum for Brexit in 2016. The Referendum was followed by a rapid growth of the Bulgarian fintech sector at a moment when venture capital funding was limited, which challenged firms to improve their fundamentals.

This empirical paper uses descriptive and panel data analysis based on the firm balance sheet and income statement data at the annual level.

The results show that larger and better-capitalized firms, which outsource their non-core activities and focus on their main competitive strengths, tend to have higher operating income and profit. The authors also find positive real-economy effects as these companies hire more actively to maintain growth. The results are primarily driven by the post-Brexit period of 2016–2019 when the authors find a tighter link between performance and firm fundamentals. These results have important managerial and policy implications and provide interesting directions for future research.

The findings have important management and policy implications. The authors argue that the flexibility of the Bulgarian fintech cluster, including the practice of Bulgarian fintech startups to outsource non-core activities; the readiness of universities to open new master programs to address firm demand for skilled labor and the startup-friendly environment in the main cluster hotspot, Sofia, has contributed to the resilience of the sector and can explain the drivers behind our findings. Fintech firms are very efficient in utilizing external services to foster their performance and growth, which may suggest that public policies that provide financial support for cloud services and outsourcing for startups during downturns or crises may improve economic growth and may have positive externalities for the supporting sectors that provide these services.

This paper fulfills an identified need to study the drivers of Fintech performance to identify best practices for managerial actions during economic or political crises, as well as government policy recommendations. To the best of the authors knowledge, this is one of the first empirical academic studies that examine the impact of Brexit on the European Fintech sector and real economy. The identified managerial strategies for ensuring regional resilience to economic crises and political shocks can be applied in various settings within and outside the EU.

This research examines whether mentoring is a predictor of entrepreneurial intentions. It also explores how intent translates into action through implementation intentions. The study tests if the mentoring-intentions association is mediated by self-efficacy. The potential moderating effect of achievement motivation on the relationship was also investigated.

PLS-SEM was used to test the hypotheses of the 242 valid responses collected from final-year students from Libyan public universities.

Results show that self-efficacy partially mediated the mentoring-intentions association, while motivation negatively moderated the relationship. Entrepreneurial intentions had a significantly strong effect on implementation intentions.

The results verify mentoring as a practical socializing instructional approach. Therefore, universities should implement structured mentoring programs, offering emotional guidance, counsel and networking opportunities. Also, mentors should undergo training, and progress tracking is essential for improvement.

Examining entrepreneurial self-efficacy as a mediator and achievement motivation as a moderator in the mentoring-intentions association is unprecedented. The findings narrow the search for antecedents to entrepreneurial intentions and pinpoint intervention points.

Bootstrapping is a practitioner-based term adopted in entrepreneurship to describe the techniques employed in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to minimise the need for external funding by securing resources at little or no cost and applying strategies to effectively use resources. Working capital management (WCM) is a term used in financial management to define a set of practices used to manage business resources, including cash management. This paper explores the overlap and divergence between these two disciplinary distinct concepts.

A dual methodology is employed. First, the usage of the two terms in prior literature is analysed and synthesised. Second, the study uses factor analysis to explore how bootstrapping practices described by owners of 167 established MSMEs relate to the components of WCM in financial management.

The factor analysis identifies two main bootstrapping practices employed by MSMEs: (1) delaying payments and owner-related bootstrapping and (2) customer-related bootstrapping. Delaying payments is an integral practice in trade payables management and customer-related bootstrapping includes practices that are integral to trade receivables management. Therefore, links between bootstrapping practices and WCM practices are firmly established.

The study is not without limitations. Based on cross-sectional evidence for established firms in Ireland only, future studies could explore cross-country longitudinal panel data to fully examine life cycle and sectoral effects, as well as other external shocks (for example, COVID-19) on bootstrapping and WCM practices. This study does not explain why some factors (for example, joint utilisation and inventory management) are present in some bootstrapping studies and not in others; further case study research might help explain this. Finally, changes in the business environment facing start-ups and established enterprise, including increased digitalisation, online trading, self-employment, remote hub working and sustainability, offer new avenues for bootstrapping research.

This is the first study to comprehensively explore the conceptual and empirical links between bootstrapping and WCM. This study will enable researchers and practitioners in these two distinct disciplines to learn from each other. Accounting researchers and practitioners can broaden their understanding of how WCM “works” in MSME settings. Similarly, entrepreneurship researchers and practitioners can deepen their understanding of how bootstrapping can be adopted by businesses to manage resources effectively.

This study investigates clean energy, commodities, green bonds and environmental, social and governance (ESG) index prices forecasting and assesses the predictive performance of various factors on these asset prices, used for the development of a robust forecasting support decision model using machine learning (ML) techniques. More specifically, we explore the impact of the financial stress on forecasting price.

We utilize feature selection techniques to evaluate the predictive efficacy of various factors on asset prices. Moreover, we have developed a forecasting model for these asset prices by assessing the accuracy of two ML models: specifically, the deep learning long short-term memory (LSTM) neural networks and the extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) model. To check the robustness of the study results, the authors referred to bootstrap linear regression as an alternative traditional method for forecasting green asset prices.

The results highlight the significance of financial stress in enhancing price forecast accuracy, with the financial stress index (FSI) and panic index (PI) emerging as primary determinants. In terms of the forecasting model's accuracy, our analysis reveals that the LSTM outperformed the XGBoost model, establishing itself as the most efficient algorithm among the two tested.

This research enhances comprehension, which is valuable for both investors and policymakers seeking improved price forecasting through the utilization of a predictive model.

To the authors' best knowledge, this marks the inaugural attempt to construct a multivariate forecasting model. Indeed, the development of a robust forecasting model utilizing ML techniques provides practical value as a decision support tool for shaping investment strategies.

The burgeoning literature on climate-related finance suggests that climate change influences financial markets. Building on this foundation, the present study aims to investigate the time-varying predictive power of news related to physical and transition climate risks for financial instability across the financial systems of the US, EU, and the ASEAN+3 countries (comprising the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus China, Japan, and South Korea), from January 2003 to August 2022, on a monthly basis.

In this study, we use the VAR-based Granger-causality test in the presence of instabilities introduced by Rossi and Wang (2019), and combine it with the innovative rolling and recursive bootstrap time-varying Granger-causality approach of Shi et al. (2020). These methods were chosen for their capacity to effectively capture the dynamic influence of climate risk-related news on financial instability over time, offering an advantage over traditional constant parameter regressions and standard Granger causality methods. Additionally, we make use of the Media Climate Change Concerns indices recently developed by Ardia et al. (2022), coupled with regional financial stress indices.

Our findings indicate that the predictive power of climate change news for financial instability is substantial but varies over time. This influence becomes especially pronounced during periods that align with specific local and global events. In the US and EU, the predictive power is influenced by a combination of global and local macroeconomic, political, health, and climate-related factors. In contrast, ASEAN+3 financial systems show a stronger response to regional and local events, with comparatively less sensitivity to global events.

The results of this study are noteworthy for investors, highlighting increased market instability during periods with prevalent climate change news. Investors can adjust their strategies to mitigate risks and respond to macro-events that trigger climate news-related market instability, while considering regional sensitivities. Similarly, these findings are significant for policymakers, emphasizing the need to consider the influence of climate news on financial markets when designing regulatory frameworks. This could involve enacting measures to stabilize the financial system during periods of significant climate news. Policymakers might consider developing macroprudential regulations to bolster financial institutions’ resilience against climate change news effects.

This study pioneers the exploration of how climate change news affects financial system stability at the macro level. It extends beyond traditional research, typically focusing on direct effects of climate change in banking and asset markets, by examining broader implications of climate risk-related news for financial system instability. Furthermore, this study enhances our understanding of the predictors of global financial stability by examining the financial systems of the US, the EU, and ASEAN+3. It specifically investigates the impact of climate change news, a topic not extensively explored in previous research focusing mainly on macro-factors such as financial liberalization and business cycles.

With reference to the global financial crisis and lessons learned, advocacy for distributing suitable financial products by financial intermediaries remain key if consumers, especially the illiterate in underdeveloped financial markets, are to be absorbed into the formal financial system. Financial intermediaries such as microfinance banks should provide suitable financial products, with full disclosure of information and customer protection relating to distribution of all financial products within the financial market to prevent financial vulnerability. The main purpose of this study is to establish the mediating role of financial product suitability in the relationship between access to microfinance products and survival of women micro-agribusinesses in rural Uganda.

SmartPLS with bootstrap based on 5,000 samples was used to test for the mediating role of financial product suitability in the relationship between access to microfinance products and survival of women micro-agribusinesses in rural Uganda.

The results revealed that financial product suitability improves access to microfinance products by 29 percentage points to promote survival of women micro-agribusinesses in rural Uganda. In reality, delivering suitable financial products that suit the economic condition of poor women micro-agribusiness borrowers, can allow them to use these products to generate income to meet timely repayment obligations and business demands.

The current study selected samples from only women micro-agribusinesses operating in rural Uganda, with a specific focus on the northern region. Thus, studies involving samples selected from other rural developing countries may be necessary in future. Additionally, while the findings are significant, the data were collected from only women microenterprises who are clients of microfinance banks. Future studies focusing on women microenterprises who are clients of other financial institutions may offer insightful comparative data.

The findings from this study offer strategies for managers of microfinance banks to invent and design financial products that suit the economic status and condition of different microcredit clients, especially the women micro-agribusinesses. This can help them to solve the problem of defaults in loan repayment and delinquency common while lending to the rural poor. In fact, microfinance banks should adopt a customized loan pricing model that can promote the operational sustainability and commercial viability of women micro-agribusinesses in the current situation of mission adrift.

The current study uses the suitability rule and economic theory to elucidate the importance of microfinance product suitability to increase microfinance inclusion of women micro-agribusinesses in rural areas in developing countries. The novelty in this paper is in combining the suitability rule and economic theory with microfinance theory to promote access to microcredit by the women micro-agribusinesses in rural Uganda under the situation of mission adrift. This is limited in the existing microfinance literature and theory, especially in developing countries like Uganda.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to businesses worldwide, compelling them to swiftly adapt their strategies to the evolving landscape. This study explores the relationships between uncertainty shocks (i.e. COVID-19), strategic responses, and performance outcomes, with a specific focus on general and green strategic responses.

Drawing from a sample of sustainability-oriented exporters in different industries, we examine the impact of these responses on market, financial, and operation performance by gathering data from 212 managers in Vietnam – an emerging country, and then applying PLS-SEM for analysis.

Our findings reveal that sustainability-oriented exporters have exhibited adaptability by adopting general and green strategic responses in the face of the pandemic’s disruptions. Green strategic responses positively influence market, financial, and operational performance, underscoring the strategic significance of integrating sustainability considerations. However, while general strategic responses show alignment with uncertainty risks, they just impact operational performance, but do not significantly influence market and financial outcomes.

Future research should consider diversifying the sample to encompass a wider range of firm types and geographical locations to enhance the external validity of the results. In addition, the study does not extensively explore the mechanisms that mediate or moderate the relationships between uncertainty shocks, strategic responses, and performance outcomes.

The study’s implications guide practitioners toward agile responses that balance adaptability, sustainability, and performance. This study provides timely insights for sustainability-oriented firms, managers, policymakers, and researchers aiming to navigate disruptions effectively and sustainably.

These findings contribute to the fields of strategic management and sustainability by emphasizing the complexities of strategic responses during uncertainty shocks, and disruptions and the pivotal role of sustainability-driven strategies in enhancing performance.

This study aims to delve into the mechanisms through which financial statements readability (FSR) may impact the probability of stock price crashes. It specifically examines how information asymmetry and stock liquidity mediate this relationship.

The study uses data from 107 nonfinancial firms listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange between 2016 and 2019 to investigate the mediating roles of information asymmetry and stock liquidity using structural equation modeling (SEM). To enhance robustness, the author incorporates the Bootstrap method, conducting 5,000 iterations for consistent validation of results.

The findings of this study identify two crucial mediators in the correlation between the readability of financial statements and stock price crash risk. First, information asymmetry partially mediates this association. Complex financial statements allow managers to hide adverse news, thereby increasing information asymmetry. Consequently, investors face challenges in assessing the company’s risk and performance, elevating the probability of stock price crashes when such concealed information is disclosed. Second, the results indicate that stock liquidity plays a key mediating role. Less-readable financial statements hinder stock liquidity, making it more difficult for investors to trade shares efficiently. This reduced liquidity amplifies the influence of negative news, potentially increasing the crash risk. Importantly, our findings demonstrate robustness across various measures, encompassing two readability indicators and two crash risk proxies, validated through both SEM and Bootstrap methods.

Although this research provides valuable insights, it is critical to acknowledge its limitations. The relatively limited sample size may affect the broader applicability of the findings. Moreover, this study was carried out in the Egyptian setting, where financial reporting is conducted in Arabic. This linguistic and cultural specificity could influence the interpretation and generalizability of the findings beyond the Egyptian and Arab contexts. To overcome this limitation, this paper recommends conducting comparative research in diverse linguistic and cultural environments.

The outcomes of this research carry substantial implications for policymakers and regulators, emphasizing the need for ongoing efforts to enhance financial reporting standards. Clear and readable financial reports contribute not only to market transparency but also to the overall stability and resilience of financial markets. Policymakers are encouraged to consider our findings when shaping or revising standards to ensure readability and transparency, potentially reducing the risk of market disruptions. Furthermore, companies should recognize the adverse impact of complex financial reports, prioritizing transparent and readable reporting to foster investor trust and mitigate crash risks.

This research comprehensively analyzes the intricate relationships among FSR, information asymmetry, stock liquidity and stock price crash risk. Focusing on the mediating roles of information asymmetry and stock liquidity, this paper provides novel insights, advancing theoretical understanding and practical implications for risk management and financial reporting. This study expands the current body of knowledge on how FSR is related to the probability of stock price crashes.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has gained tremendous importance after several corporate scandals, financial crises and the rise of the hyper-competitive world. Firms must address multiple stakeholders’ interests to increase firm value. This study aims to investigate the effect of CSR on firm value. This study also examines the mediating role of enterprise risk management (ERM) and the moderating influence of corporate governance (CG) in this CSR-firm value relationship.

The sample of the study comprises 119 Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) listed firms and the study covers the period from 2010 to 2021. The corporate social responsibility performance has been quantified across five dimensions. These aspects are product, environment, employee relations, diversity and community. Four proxies i.e. strategy, operation, reporting and compliance, have been used to measure ERM. The governance quality of the sample companies was evaluated using the governance index, which included 29 governance provisions. The authors used the dynamic panel data technique (system-GMM) is used to achieve the objectives of the study. Furthermore, a firm’s engagement in CSR activities can also be measured through a multinational financial approach to check the robustness of the result.

Based on the regression analysis, the authors discovered that CSR was positively connected with firm value, validating the stakeholder view of CSR. Furthermore, following Baron and Kenny’s (1986) mediation technique, the findings confirm that ERM mediates this association. These results are robust by using the bootstrapping tests by Preacher and Hayes (2004). Furthermore, the result shows that corporate governance (CG) is positively connected with firm performance, and this relationship is strengthened in the presence of an effective governance system in the organization.

This study provides useful insights to regulators, investors and policymakers to consider CSR as a value-enhancing factor and encourage the development of enterprise risk management and compliance with CG mechanisms to improve firm value.

The presented analysis strengthens the existing CSR–firm value relationship by analyzing the mediating and moderating roles of ERM and CG, which have not yet been tested, particularly in the context of Pakistan.

The global emphasis on sustainability is driving organizations to embrace financial technology (Fintech) solutions as a means of enhancing their sustainable performance. This study seeks to unveil the intermediary role played by green finance and competitiveness, along with the moderating impact of digital transformation (DT), in the intricate relationship between Fintech adoption and sustainable performance.

Drawing on existing literature, we construct a comprehensive conceptual framework to thoroughly analyse these interconnected variables. To empirical validate of our model, a dual structural equation modelling–artificial neural network) SEM–ANN approach was employed, adding a robust layer of validation to our study’s proposed framework. A sample of 438 banking employees in Pakistan was collected using a simple random sampling technique, with 411 samples deemed suitable for subsequent analysis. Initially, data scrutiny and hypothesis testing were carried out using Smart-PLS 4.0 and SPSS-23. Subsequently, the ANN technique was utilized to assess the importance of exogenous factors in forecasting endogenous factors.

The findings from this research underscore the direct and significant influence of Fintech adoption and DT on the sustainable performance of banks. Notably, green finance and competitiveness emerge as pivotal mediators, bridging the gap between Fintech adoption and sustainable performance. Moreover, DT emerges as a critical moderator, shaping the relationships between Fintech adoption and both green finance and competitiveness. The integration of the ANN approach enhances the SEM analysis, providing deeper insights and a more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter.

This study contributes to the enhanced comprehension of Fintech, green finance, competitiveness, DT and the sustainable performance of banks. Recognizing the importance of amalgamating Fintech adoption, green finance and transformational leadership becomes essential for elevating the sustainable performance of banks. The insights garnered from this study hold valuable implications for policymakers, practitioners and scholars aiming to enhance the sustainable performance of banks within the competitive business landscape.