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Today, the sustainability and outreach of microfinance institutions (MFIs) are crucial to the success of microfinance and the sector’s potential to make a lasting impact. The ability of MFIs to operate financially well without sacrificing their social goals has come under scrutiny. This study aims to identify the kind of relationships between the two objectives of MFIs in Ethiopia.

This study investigated the association between the outreach and financial sustainability of Ethiopian MFIs from the years 2012 to 2021 using a balanced set of panel data. The study used secondary data and employed a descriptive research design and a quantitative research approach. To this end, random and fixed effects estimation models, as well as three-stage least squares, with the model of seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) are used.

According to the study, outreach performance enables MFIs to achieve sustainability/financial performance. On the other side, MFI that are financially sound improve social performance. There was therefore no trade-off between the two objectives.

As Ethiopia’s microfinance sector shifts away from government and non-government backing and toward commercialization, such research is crucial. This aspect of the Ethiopian microfinance industry has gotten little consideration in research. The SUR model was used in the study together with random and fixed effect estimators, and the most reliable estimation result was chosen based on the necessary tests.

This paper aims to analyze the heterogeneous effect of prudential regulation on the stability of banks in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).

The author uses in this study individual bank data from balance sheets, income statements of banks in the WAEMU space and annual reports of the banking commission formed into a three-year panel from the period 2017 to 2019. First, this study uses hierarchical clustering based on specific banking characteristics to determine whether the WAEMU region’s banking markets are heterogeneous or not. Second, this study uses quantile regression approach with fixed effects to explore how that prudential regulation affects the conditional distribution of WAEMU bank stability.

The analysis reveals heterogeneity resulting in two distinct groups. Using the quantile regression approach, this study demonstrates that prudential regulation has a significantly more substantial and positive effect on the upper quantiles than on the lower quantiles of the conditional distribution of WAEMU bank stability. Furthermore, the effect of banking regulation also varies among pan-African cross-border banks, national banks and foreign banks. Among these types of banks, pan-African cross-border banks remain the most stable by adopting prudential regulation. The results remain robust and vary across different WAEMU countries.

The contribution of this study to the literature is multifaceted. First, this study uses individual bank-level constituted in panel data from the WAEMU region to assess the effect of prudential regulation on the stability of the WAEMU’s banking sector. This approach allows for a more granular analysis as this study considers individual regional banks’ specific characteristics and behaviors. Second, this study considers the heterogeneous effect of regulation on the stability of banks within the WAEMU space. This means that this study acknowledges that not all banks are affected similarly by prudential regulations, and this research aims to identify and quantify these differences.

This paper aims to examine the reaction of energy inflation to geopolitical risks in the European Economic Area between 1990 and 2015.

This study applies the nonparametric time-varying coefficient panel data model with fixed effects. In addition, to further reveal potential tail effects that may not have been captured by conditional mean-based regressions, the method of moments quantile regression was also used.

The findings of this study are as follows: first, as European countries get exposed to geopolitical tensions, it is expected that energy prices will surge. Second, the ability of geopolitical risk to trigger energy inflation in recent times is not as powerful as it used to be. Third, countries with a lower inflation rate, when exposed to geopolitical risks, experience smaller increases in energy inflation compared to countries with a higher inflation rate.

The findings of this study lead us to the conclusion that transitioning from nonrenewable to renewable energy use is one channel through which the sampled countries can battle the energy inflation, which geopolitical risks trigger. A sound macroeconomic policy for inflation control is a complementary channel through which the same goal can be achieved.

Given the increasing level of energy inflation and geopolitical risks in the world today, this study is an attempt to reveal the time-varying characteristics of the relationship between these variables in European countries using a nonparametric time-varying coefficient panel data model and method of moments quantile regression with fixed effects.

This study aims to explore the relationship between chief executive officer (CEO) power and stock price crash risk in India. Furthermore, it seeks to analyse how insider trades may moderate the impact of CEO power on stock price crash risk.

A study of 236 companies from the S&P BSE 500 Index (2014–2023) have been analysed through pooled ordinary least square (OLS) regression in the baseline analysis. To enhance the results' reliability, robustness checks include alternative methodologies, such as panel data regression with fixed-effects, binary logistic regression and Bayesian regression. Additional control variables and alternative crash risk measure have also been utilised. To address potential endogeneity, instrumental variable techniques such as two-stage least squares (IV-2SLS) and difference-in-difference (DiD) methodologies are utilised.

Stakeholder theory is supported by results revealing that CEO power proxies like CEO duality, status and directorship reduce one-year ahead stock price crash risk and vice versa. Insider trades are found to moderate the link between select dimensions of CEO power and stock price crash risk. These findings persist after addressing potential endogeneity concerns, and the results remain consistent across alternative methodologies and variable inclusions.

This study significantly advances research on stock price crash risk, especially in emerging economies like India. The implications of these findings are crucial for investors aiming to mitigate crash risk, for corporations seeking enhanced governance measures and for policymakers considering the economic and welfare consequences associated with this phenomenon.

The study evaluates the effects of GVC participation on firm productivity and profitability. Hence this study aims to find evidence whether there is a clear difference between the productivity and profitability effects of simple and complex backward and forward participations for Turkish firms.

The authors employ a firm level data from the Türkiye's both first and second top 500 industrial enterprises from 1993 to 2019. In addition, the authors calculate country-sector level both backward and forward GVC participation indices with their simple and complex sub-indices for each year from 1990 to 2015 from the Full Eora data of the Eora Global Supply Chain Database. The authors estimate the model with OLS and fixed effects. To understand the role of the 2008 global crisis, the authors also undertake estimations for the pre-crisis and post-crisis. The authors also divide the data by R&D intensity of sectors.

While backward GVC participation lowers both labor productivity and profitability growth, forward GVC participation promotes both. Moreover, simple and complex backward participation have similarly negative effects on productivity and profitability growth, simple and complex forward participation have the completely opposite effects though. The authors then provide substantial evidence for the differing effects of participation on productivity and profitability growth between pre-crisis and post-crisis periods. Interestingly, backward participation has a negative impact for both hi-tech and low-tech firms while forward participation boosts the productivity growth only for low-tech firms, probably due to the relatively more upstream position of low-tech firms.

To the best of the knowledge, no previous study has yet examined the profitability effects of GVC for firms. Second, in addition to overall backward and forward GVC participation rates, the authors also calculate and utilize simple and complex GVC measures in the estimations. Third, to reveal whether the global financial crisis leads to a shift in the productivity and profitability effects of GVCs, the authors separately run the regressions for the pre- and post-crisis periods. Fourth, the authors then investigate the argument that hi-tech sectors/firms could benefit more from joining GVCs compared to firms in low-tech technology sectors.

The manufacturing industry and the producer service industry have a high degree of industrial correlation, and their integration will cause changes in the complex industrial network topology, which is an important reason for the synergistic effect. This paper describes the topology of industrial systems using complex network theory; further, it discusses how to identify the criticality and importance of industrial nodes, and whether node characteristics cause synergistic effects.

Based on the input-output data of China in 2007, 2012 and 2017, this paper constructs the industrial complex network of 30 Chinese provinces and cities, and measures the regional network characteristics of the manufacturing industry. The fixed-effect panel regression model is adopted to test the influence of agglomeration degree and centrality on synergies, and its adjustment mechanism is explored.

The degree of network agglomeration in the manufacturing industry exerts a negative impact on the synergistic effect, while the centrality of the network exerts a significant promoting effect on the synergistic effect. The results of adjustment mechanism test show that enhancing the autonomous controllable ability of the regional industrial chain in the manufacturing industry can effectively reduce the effect of network characteristics on the synergistic effect.

Based on input-output technology, this paper constructs a complex industrial network model, however, only basic flow data are used. Considerable in-depth and detailed research on the economic and technological connections within the industry should be conducted in the future. The selection of the evaluation index of the importance of industrial nodes also needs to be further considered. For historical reasons, it is also difficult to obtain and process data when carrying out quantitative analysis; therefore, it is necessary to make further attempts from the data source and the expression form of evaluation indicators.

In a practical sense this has certain reference value for the formulation of manufacturing industrial policies the optimization of regional industrial layout and the improvement of the industrial development level. It is necessary to formulate targeted and specialized industrial development strategies according to the characteristics of the manufacturing industry appropriately regulate the autonomous controllable ability of the industrial chain and avoid to limit the development of industries which is in turn limited by regional resources. Industry competition and market congestion need to be reduced industry exchanges outside the region encouraged the industrial layout optimized and the construction of a modern industrial system accelerated.

The above research results hold certain reference importance for policy formulation related to the manufacturing industry, regional industrial layout optimization and industrial development level improvement. Targeted specialized industrial development strategies need to be formulated according to the characteristics of the manufacturing industry; the autonomous controllability of the industrial chain needs to be appropriately regulated; limitation of regional resources needs to be avoided as this restricts industrial development; and industry competition and market congestion need to be reduced. Agglomeration of production factors and optimization of resource allocation is an important part of a beneficial regional economic development strategy, and it is also an inevitable choice for industrialization to develop to a certain stage under the condition of a market economy. In alignment with the research conclusions, effective suggestions can be put forward for the current major industrial policies. In the process of promoting the development of the manufacturing industry, it is necessary for regional governments to carry out unified planning and guidance on the spatial layout of each manufacturing subsector. Regional governments need to effectively allocate inter-industry resources, better share economies of scale, constantly enhance the competitive advantages and competitiveness of development zones and new districts and promote the coordinated agglomeration and development of related industries with input industries. Industrial exchanges outside the region should be encouraged, the industrial layout should be optimized and the construction of a modern industrial system should be accelerated.

Complex network theory is introduced to study the industrial synergy effect. A complex industrial network of China's 30 regions is built and key network nodes are measured. Based on the dimensionality of the “industrial node – industrial chain – industrial complex network”, the research path of industrial complex networks is improved.

This study aims to examine the impact of employee treatment on stock price crash risk in emerging markets. The study further sheds light on the economic channels and boundary conditions between employee treatment and crash risk.

This study employs a large-scale archival dataset of Chinese A-share listed firms covering 2010 to 2021. To establish causality, the study leverages multi-way fixed effects, Oster’s test, change regression and instrumental variable methods to alleviate endogeneity concerns.

The results reveal that employee-friendly treatment leads to a lower crash risk. Moreover, improving internal control quality and enhancing firm reputation appear to be the two plausible economic channels through which employee treatment mitigates crash risk. Cross-sectionally, the documented impact is more evident for human-capital-intensive firms, firms with weaker external monitoring and those operating in fiercely competitive industries.

This study is among the first to show that employee treatment has a favorable consequence for shareholder benefit through reducing crash risk. The study thus adds to the ongoing debate regarding the relationship between employee treatment and shareholder wealth. The study also extends the nascent literature on the role of rank-and-file employees in shaping corporate information landscapes.

This study aims to explore the relationship between promoter share pledging and the company’s dividend payout policy in India. Furthermore, this study also analyses the moderating impact of family involvement in business on the association between share pledging and dividend payout.

A sample of 236 companies from the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive (BSE) 500 Index (2014–2023) has been analysed through fixed-effects panel data regression. For additional testing, robustness checks include alternative measures of dividend payout and promoter share pledging, as well as alternative methodologies such as Bayesian regression. Lastly, to address potential endogeneity, instrumental variables with a two-stage least squares (IV-2SLS) methodology have been implemented.

Upholding the agency perspective, a significantly negative impact of promoter share pledging on corporate dividend payouts in India has been uncovered. Moreover, family involvement in business moderates this relationship, highlighting that the negative association between promoter share pledging and dividend payouts is more pronounced in family companies. The findings are consistent throughout the robustness testing.

The present study represents a pioneering endeavour to empirically analyse the link between promoter share pledging and dividend payouts in India. It enhances the theoretical underpinnings of the agency relationship, particularly by substantiating the existence of Type II agency conflicts between majority and minority shareholders. The findings of this research bear significant implications for investors, researchers and policymakers, particularly in light of the widespread prevalence of promoter-controlled entities in India.

This paper aims to investigate how information and communication technology (ICT) services and digital finance affect the development of international tourism.

The two-way fixed effect panel regression model, spatial econometric model, panel threshold regression model and panel quantile regression model are used. Data on tourism, economic and social development in 198 Chinese cities from 2011 to 2020 are analyzed.

This study finds that digital economy including ICT services and digital finance has significantly promoted the development of international tourism industry, while there is a negative spatial spillover effect. The promotion effect of international tourism increases significantly after digital innovation reaches the threshold value. International tourism is benefiting more from digital economy with the development of international tourism industry.

The development quality of international tourism industry has not been analyzed due to data limitations, and the mechanism has not been tested.

This study creatively reveals the development of international tourism industry in the digital economy era from ICT services and digital finance perspectives. This study also shows the spatial, nonlinear and asymmetric relationship between digital economy and international tourism.

This study aims to explore the determinants of public debt in selected South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries for 19 years, from 2001 to 2019.

Using ordinary fixed and random effect models, the authors examine the role of internal and external factors in determining the composition of public debt. Furthermore, for robustness, they compare the results with two-stage least square (2SLS) regression estimates after considering the problem of endogeneity, overidentification, under-identification and weak instruments.

The findings show that among the selected macroeconomic variables, inflation, exchange rate and broad money have significant negative effects on the debt-GDP ratio. In contrast, military spending, corruption and interest rates appear to positively influence the same as per 2SLS results. From the policymaking perspective, SAARC countries should focus more on reducing military spending and make a concerted effort to augment investments in productive projects. Further, with strong fiscal consolidation and institutional quality, it is important to mitigate the frequent occurrence of corruption conundrums in emerging economies for the development of a transparent economic system.

The study is distinct from previous studies in two ways. First, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no studies focusing on SAARC countries in the context of public debt. Second, the study expands the existing literature on public debt by taking into account both external and internal debts to decipher the within-country and cross-country determinants of debt accumulation. More specifically, this model considers accountability and transparency in the public sector, cross-border security challenges and benefits of globalization by including explanatory variables such as corruption, military expenditure spending and capital inflows.