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The authors investigate the role of financial literacy in influencing the relationship between human capital and social capital, with access to finance of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Data were gathered from 337 MSMEs in Brunei Darussalam, and analysis on the data was carried out using a number of statistical methods. The relationships between human capital, social capital, financial literacy and access to finance were analyzed using PLS-SEM.

The results show that human capital does influence access to finance but contrary to previous studies, the influence is negative. Financial literacy is an important element in the relationship between human capital, social capital and access to finance, although it plays a greater role in the relationship between social capital and access to finance. Further analysis shows that financial knowledge is significant in moderating the relationships between human and social capital with access to finance. Financial skills is found to only moderate the relationship between social capital and access to finance.

To the authors' knowledge, this study is the first that integrates the human capital, social capital, financial literacy and access to finance in a single model. The authors also highlight the importance of enhancing the financial literacy of MSMEs so that the problem of access to finance can be alleviated, especially in developing countries.

This study proposes an analysis of the performance of companies that have assumed the responsibility of facilitating the digitalization of economic activities. Because of their potential to accelerate digitization, these companies have been financially supported. The monitoring of the performances recorded by these companies, including the evaluation of the impact of different determining factors, meets both the needs of the financiers (concerned with the evaluation of the efficiency of the use of nonreimbursable financing) and the needs of continuous improvement of the activities of the companies in the field.

The study assesses performance dynamics and the impact of its determinants. The model allows achieving a simplified vision of performance and its determinants, supporting decision-makers in the management process. The construction of an estimation model based on the multiple regression method was considered. Robustness tests were performed on the results, using parametric and nonparametric tests.

The results of the analysis at the level of the extended sample indicated that, during the analyzed period, the economic and commercial performances decreased, and significant influences in this respect include the financing structure, sales dynamics and volume of receivables. The analysis at the level of the restricted sample confirmed these interdependencies and provided additional evidence of the impact of other determinants.

The study contributes both to performance research and to the assessment of the prospects for accelerating digitalization in support of economic activities. Since the empirical research was carried out on a sample of Romanian companies that provide services in information technology, which accessed nonreimbursable financing, the representativeness of the results is limited to this sector. For the analyzed sample, the study provides support for improving performance.

The results of the study prove to be useful from a microeconomic and macroeconomic perspective as well, as they provide evidence on the performance of companies that have implemented information and communication technology (ICT) projects and on the efficiency of the use of non-reimbursable funding dedicated to business support.

The study fills the literature gap regarding the performance of companies that have developed ICT projects and received grant funding for the implementation of these projects. The literature review indicated that there are few studies conducted on these companies, which did not include Romanian companies.

Little is known about the determinants of supply chain finance (SCF) adoption among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. This study aims to address this relevant research gap and hence, draws on the resource-based view and transaction cost economies to empirically investigate five factors that make SCF adoption practicable among SMEs in Ghana.

The approach involves a sample of 257 SME managers/owners and modelling via structural equations modelling.

All five factors (innovative capability, information sharing, inter- and intra-firm collaboration, external financing and trade process digitization) were found to impact positively and significantly on SCF adoption. The findings provide SME managers/owners with a research model which guides them on how to settle the SCF process.

This paper used a cross-sectional survey, which makes it impossible to access changes over time. In addition, the use of quantitative method limits respondents from expressing their feelings fully. Using a mixed or qualitative methodology will provide avenues for future research.

This paper offers a completive advantage for Ghanaian SMEs to strengthen their relationships while collaborating with each other. The findings suggest that by adopting SCF solutions, SMEs can optimize their liquidity and working capital. The factors underpinning SCF adoption are of incredible attractiveness for SME managers/owners to discover the relevant practice of SCF solutions. SMEs should adopt SCF strategies for improving their capability to respond promptly to transactions.

This paper is among the few papers that have examined these five factors in a developing economy context. The study also provides new understanding of the factors that influence SCF adoption in the context of a developing economy.

This study compares the motives of holding cash between developed (Australian) and developing (Malaysian) financial markets.

For the period 2006–2020, the t-test, fixed-effect and generalised method of moment (GMM) model have been applied to a sample of 1878 (1,165 Australian and 713 Malaysian) firms.

The empirical results reveal that firms in developed financial markets hold higher cash compared to the developing financial markets. The findings confirm that motives to hold cash differ between developed and developing financial markets. The GMM findings further show that cash holdings (CH) in Australia are higher due to higher ratios of cash flow, research and development (R&D) and return on assets (ROA), and lower due to larger dividend payments. In the Malaysian market, however, cash flows and R&D are ineffectual, ROA falls and dividend payments rise CH.

The study helps managers, practitioners and investors understand that firms' distinct economic, institutional, accounting and financial environments are important. To attain the desired outcomes, they must thus comprehend and consider these considerations while developing suitable liquidity strategies.

To the authors' best knowledge, this is the initial research demonstrating how varied cash motives and their ramifications are in developed and developing financial markets. Therefore, this study identifies the importance that CH motives varied among financial markets and that findings from a particular market cannot be generalised to other markets because of the market and financial structural variations.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of a waqf-based microfinance program on clients’ well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study obtained primary data from a survey distributed to 282 respondents, consisting of 150 clients and 132 nonclients of the Bank Wakaf Mikro (BWM) Al Kausar in Indonesia. This study constructed a well-being index (WBI) and compared clients’ and nonclients’ WBI before and during the pandemic using the difference-in-differences (DID) method. DID measures the effect of a treatment in a “treatment group” versus a “control group” using data from two periods.

This study found that clients and nonclients alike experienced an increase in well-being throughout the pandemic, but the increase was greater for clients than for nonclients. This study argues that the waqf-based microfinance program run by Bank Waqf Mikro model can assist their clients – as more vulnerable groups in society – to maintain their well-being during the pandemic.

To ensure the effectiveness of waqf-based microfinance programs in diverse settings, this study should include more respondents from different institutions.

This research has several practical recommendations, particularly for integrating Islamic charity for microfinance. The findings of this study suggest that the BWM model, which combines three institutions – the government, zakat groups and Islamic boarding schools (pesantrens) – can play a substantial role in enhancing the welfare of its members during the pandemic.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge on Islamic microfinance by providing empirical evidence of the importance of waqf-based microfinance in reducing the pandemic’s impact on clients well-being.

This paper aims to challenge the view of Sweden’s climate leadership by problematizing its domestic climate adaptation governance and highlighting the need for a more holistic view of adaptation. The paper highlights aspects that are troublesome for not only the built environment along coastlines but also the future of Sweden’s standing as a climate leader. The paper concludes with recommendations addressing the key areas of climate adaptation fragmentation in Sweden and calls for a more holistic view of adaptation, and one that takes into account resources, collaboration and coherence of governance vision.

The paper is a comprehensive analysis of internal governance processes in climate change adaptation. It is based on an extensive literature review and semi-structured interviews at the local level – i.e. municipalities – who have the primary responsibility for adaptation to climate change in Sweden.

Findings point to three-fold concerns. First, there is a lack of clarity on roles and responsibilities in adaptation among municipalities, regions and governmental agencies. Second, the gap between available finance and actual needs for climate change adaptation presents a major challenge when channels and pathways are not clear either. Finally, some adaptation strategies on both the local and national scales may be maladaptive in the long term.

Sweden consistently ranks highly in different climate performance indices and has acquired an international reputation as a climate leader. The paper challenges this narrative. Through a closer look the paper’s findings reveal a more fragmented picture of climate adaptation governance in the country with a myriad of unresolved questions and ad hoc solutions, where adaptation challenges are more pronounced and manifest in the built environment along the coastlines.

This paper aims to examine the antecedents of adoption intention of profit-sharing investment deposits (PSID) among Moroccan customers.

Applying an extended version of diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory and using a non-probability sampling technique with convenience approach, a quantitative survey was developed and administered to 171 Islamic banking users. Structural equation modeling was then used to evaluate the significance of relationships between the various variables under study using SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 26.0 statistical packages.

Empirical findings of the structural analysis indicated a significant direct relationship between adoption intention and six out of seven variables: perceived relative advantage, perceived compatibility, perceived complexity, perceived risk, religiosity and social influence, all of which had a significant effect on Moroccan customers’ intention to invest their funds in profit-sharing based deposit instruments, whereas customer awareness exerted an insignificant positive effect.

The absence of a longitudinal study tracking the actual adoption behavior is the main limitation of this study. Furthermore, data were collected solely from Islamic banking users. Finally, despite being insightful, the empirical findings should be generalized with caution since the sample was purposely selected by the banks’ management.

This study implied that participatory banks should pay substantial attention to risk perceptions, as PSID adoption intention is typically inhibited by high perceived risks associated with these products. Moreover, this study provides great indications to Moroccan regulators and policymakers on a number of issues related to this emerging business.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper represents the first attempt to confirm the effectiveness of the Rogers’ DOI in examining the intention to adopt a financial innovation in the Moroccan context. It is also the first of its kind to address customers’ apprehensions regarding profit-sharing investment products.

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between corporate tax avoidance and environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance and the moderating effect of financial constraints on the relationship between corporate tax avoidance and ESG performance.

The sample consists of a global data set involving 24,259 firm-year observations from 49 countries for the years 2011–2020. Corporate ESG performance was extracted from the Thomson Reuters database. The book-tax difference model was used for measuring corporate tax avoidance, while financially constrained firms were identified using the Kaplan and Zingales (1997) index.

The results show that firms with higher tax avoidance are associated with higher ESG performance, but lower ESG performance is shown for firms with higher financial constraints. The results further indicate that the positive impact of corporate tax avoidance on ESG performance becomes weaker for firms with higher financial constraints.

The findings imply that policymakers and regulators should focus on mechanisms to promote more internal funds to assist firms in pursuing ESG-related initiatives, such as through tax incentives. Investors should understand the “smokescreen” effect of corporate tax avoidance on ESG performance, especially for firms with financial constraints.

This analysis provides international evidence on the link between tax avoidance and ESG and considers the joint effect of pressures for internal funds, through tax and financing constraints, on corporate ESG performance.

This article aims to investigate the status of and the trends in the intertwining of crowdfunding and innovation literature by identifying, evaluating and synthesizing the findings from previous research. This paper provides a bibliometric meta-analysis of the already substantial and growing literature on innovation and crowdfunding research.

Using a bibliometric approach, this research scrutinizes all articles that include terms related to “crowdfunding” and “innovation” (in their title, abstract or keywords) in Elsevier’s Scopus database. VosViewer and Bibliometrix package in R have been used to analyse 150 articles.

The results suggest that there are three main research clusters in the innovation and crowdfunding literature. The first cluster highlights the role of crowdfunding in fostering radical and incremental innovation. The second cluster focuses on the concept of openness and its effect on innovation in crowdfunding campaigns, while the third cluster explains the role of platforms’ innovation in crowdfunding success.

Taking a holistic perspective, this contribution advances new knowledge on the intertwining of crowdfunding and innovation research fields. It implies that crowdfunding is facilitating the flow of knowledge between different stakeholders, including project initiators and crowd investors, among others, as they all benefit from open innovation platforms.

This paper aims to conduct a systematic review of the literature on the quality of integrated reports (IR) and highlight the gaps in the existing research to provide directions and suggestions for future research.

This study was conducted through a systematic literature review using content analysis based on 40 papers from the Scopus, Web of Science and EBSCOhost databases on IR quality. While reading the full-text papers, the authors found six additional papers referenced by the literature being reviewed that were relevant to IR quality. Thus, there were 46 papers in the final review. The analysis begins with the definition and dimension of IR quality and theoretical lenses. Furthermore, this study outlines constructs or variables used in the previous literature.

The authors found that most studies used the quantitative method (41 papers or 89%). Five papers in the literature used qualitative methods (11%). Most researchers (34 papers or 72%) defined IR quality as consistent with the International Integrated Reporting Council framework, specifically the eight content elements. In particular, with the constructs that make up the quality of the IR, variations between researchers were found. Furthermore, there were some gaps that could be the directions for future research.

The literature that provides academic knowledge about IR quality is still limited, and research on IR is still growing. The literature review conducted by this study can provide an overview of the current research positions on the quality of IR and directions for future research in this area.

This study intends to show corporate executives a framework demonstrating the quality of corporate reporting. It can impact not only investors as a specific stakeholder group but also other stakeholder groups.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first literature review to examine the quality of IR, thus providing a map of current research to suggest directions for future research. Most of the previous literature reviews have been focused on integrated reporting (IR) in general and not quality.