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This paper aims to investigate the relationship between firm size and growth under the framework of Law of Proportionate Effect (LPE) for Asian firms.

An unbalanced panel data for about 12,001 unique non-financial listed and active firms from 1995 to 2016 for 12 industrial and emerging Asian economies was examined. Total assets and net sales were used as size variables. Firm-specific variables such as return on equity, leverage and liquidity ratio were used along with macroeconomic variables such as GDP growth and two financial development indicators. The fixed effects and random effects approach were used to estimate the dynamic growth model after taking into account econometric issues such as correlation between the cross-country-specific error component and the regressors and heteroscedasticity.

The estimated coefficient of firm size was found to be always significant and negative rejecting the Gibrat’s law for Asian firms confirming that the small-sized firms are growing faster than larger-sized firms. Also, the persistence of growth coefficient suggested that a positive persistence of firm growth does not exist for the selected Asian firms. Gibrat’s LPE was also rejected across small, medium- and large-sized companies. For the aggregate sample, the coefficient of leverage was found to be negative and significant, whereas liquidity ratio, GDP growth, banking sector and stock market variables are found to have positive and significant relationship with growth of firms. For individual economies, a mix of positive and negative (significant and insignificant) estimated coefficient was observed.

At macro-level, the examination of firm growth is likely to have significant policy implications for the regulators and various government agencies as firm growth may increase economic activity in general and employment opportunities in particular. The policymakers can control economic and employment activity by designing specific firm growth policies. At micro-level, the study will have significant implications for managerial decision-making.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to test the validity of Gibrat’s LPE for large Asian economies and firms using recent data under a dynamic growth framework using firm-specific and macroeconomic variables. Also, persistence of growth of firms under LPE (that growth does not persist from one period to the next) is uniquely examined for Asian firms.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the correlation between firm size, growth and profitability along with other firm-specific variables (like leverage, competition and asset tangibility), macroeconomic variable (like GDP growth-business cycle) and stock market development variable (like MCR).

Using the COMPUSTAT Global database this work uses panel dynamic fixed effects model for nearly 12,001 unique non-financial listed and active firms from 1995 to 2016 for 12 industrial and emerging Asia–Pacific economies. This interrelationship was also examined for small, medium and large size companies classified based on three alternate measures such as total assets, net sales and MCR of firms.

The persistence of profits coefficient was found to be positive and modest. There is evidence of a negative size-profitability and positive growth-profitability relationship suggesting that initially profitability increases with the growth of the firm but eventually, overtime, gains in profit rates reduce, as size increases indicting that large size breeds inefficiency. The relationship between firm's leverage ratio and its asset tangibility is found to be negative with profitability. The business cycle and stock market development variables suggest a positive relationship with the profitability of firms. However, the significance of estimated coefficients was mixed and varied among different selected Asia–Pacific economies.

The study has economic implications on issues such as industrial concentration, risk and optimum size of firms for practicing managers of modern enterprise in emerging markets.

The analysis of the relationship between the firm size, growth and profitability is uniquely determined under a dynamic panel fixed effects framework using firm-specific variables along with macroeconomic and financial development determinants of profitability. This relationship is estimated for a large and new data set of 12 industrial and emerging Asia–Pacific economies.

本研究擬探討公司的規模、成長和盈利能力之間的關係， 同時亦涵蓋公司特有的其它變量 （如愩杆作用， 競爭和資產的有形性）， 宏觀經濟變量 （如國內生產總值增長與景氣之循環）， 以及股市發展變量 (如MCR) 。

本研究以COMPUSTAT 全球資料庫、使用動態面板固定效應模型，涵蓋幾近12001間獨特的、非金融上市及活躍的公司、覆蓋期由1995年至2016年，涉及12個工業及新興的亞太經濟體。這相互關係分析研究亦於大、中及小型企業內進行，而這些企業就規模方面的分類是基於三個交替的測量而釐定的，如總資產、銷售淨額、以及企業的MCR。

研究發現、利潤係數的持續性是正且適中不強的。有證據顯示、規模的大小與盈利能力是負相關的，而增長與盈利能力則為正相關；這暗示盈利能力初時會因企業的成長而增強，但隨著時間的推移最终當規模增大、利潤率的增長會下降，這提示我們：大的規模會導致效率低下。企業的杠桿比率與其資產有形性的關聯被發現與盈利能力成負相關。經濟週期及股市發展變量暗示與企業的盈利能力之關聯為正相關。唯估計係數的意義會因被挑選之各個不同亞太經濟體而有異和不統一的。

本研究對在新興市場的現代企業內工作的業務經理有其實際作用，因研究為他們在業務問題如產業集中度、危機、公司的最佳規模等問題上提供了經濟方面的啟示。

本研究分析公司規模、成長與其盈利能力的關係時，獨特之處是採用了動態面板固定效應模型，並於應用盈利能力的宏觀經濟和金融發展的決定因素的同時，也使用了企業特有的變量。而這關係的分析研究涵蓋12個工業及新興的亞太經濟體的龐大且新的數據集。

This study investigates the effects of elements of corporate governance along with firm specific variables on the financial leverage of listed Indian firms in the context of agency conflicts and new governance laws.

A series of panel ordinary least squares as well as fixed/random effects regression models of book and market value of financial leverage on variables of corporate governance (board size, board composition, board meeting, board attendance and board gender) along with a set of control variables (asset tangibility, firm size, growth, liquidity and profitability) were estimated by employing 113 listed Indian firms during 2010–2021. Dynamic panel generalized method of moments models were also estimated to check the robustness of empirical results. Further, the full sample of firms was divided into small and large board sized companies using the median approach to investigate differences between small and large board characteristics on financial leverage.

The evidence predominantly suggested that the governance variables have significant impact on leverage ratios of selected firms. Governance variables such as board size, composition, attendance and gender are significantly found to be reducing the financial leverage of firms indicating that in general these attributes in a way, through monitoring managers, put pressure on them to pursue lower financial leverage. Board meeting is found to be positive and significantly related with financial leverage suggesting that the frequency of meetings signals its monitoring ability that may influence lenders' risk assessment lowering borrowing cost. The results on small and large board sized companies indicate that firms with small boards relatively issue more debt compared to firms with large boards suggesting that small boards adopt high debt policy.

The main policy implication of the study is that elements of internal corporate governance is a significant governance tool that has the potential to reduce agency conflict between the managers and agents through monitoring and decision making that has tangible effects on critical corporate decisions such as capital structure choices.

This paper contributes to the existing literature by bringing new evidence relating to agency conflicts and capital structure decisions in an emerging market like India post adoption of new regulations related to corporate governance specified in Clause 49 of Securities and Exchange Board of India and Companies Act, 2013 as there is significant dearth of such empirical work.

This work investigates the volatility spillovers across stock markets and the nature of such spillovers through different periods of crises and tranquility.

Using daily stock return volatility data from June 2003 to June 2021, the generalized forecast error variance decomposition method (based on Diebold and Yilmaz, 2012 approach) is employed to measure the degree of volatility spillovers/connectedness among stock markets of 24 Asia–Pacific and 12 European Union (EU) economies.

The empirical results from static analysis suggested that about 28.1% (63.7%) of forecast error variance in return volatility for Asia–Pacific (EU) markets is due to spillovers. The evidence from dynamic analysis suggested that during mid of the global financial crisis, European debt crisis (EDC) and Covid-19, the gross volatility spillovers for Asia–Pacific (EU) was around 67% (80%), 65% (80%) and 73% (67%), respectively. The degree of net volatility transmission from Singapore (Denmark) to other Asia–Pacific (EU) markets was found to be highest.

The findings have crucial implications for the investors and portfolio managers in assessment of risk and optimum allocation of assets and investment decisions.

This study adds to the literature on risk management by systematically examining the impact of global financial crises, EDC and Covid-19 on the market interactions by capturing the magnitude, duration and pattern of the shock-specific market volatilities for a large sample of Asian and European markets using recent and large data set.

This work aims to examine the access and disparity of institutional agricultural credit for small and marginal farmers across various social groups from three Indian states.

Field data on socio economic variables were collected using multi-stage stratified random sampling and purposive sampling through a structured questionnaire by interviewing about 400 cross sectional small and marginal farmers belonging to various social groups such as general caste, other backward caste, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Disparity of agricultural credit across different social groups is assessed using measures such as credit access, credit adequacy ratio, credit gap and newly constructed Agriculture Credit Disparity Index (ACDI).

The credit access, credit access ratio and newly constructed ACDI suggest that, by and large, farmers belonging to socially advantaged groups have better access to institutional agricultural assistance than farmers belonging to socially disadvantaged groups.

The agricultural credit policy of the government needs to incorporate measures to eliminate credit disparity primarily by correcting the poor socio-economic profile (especially lower asset ownership and higher illiteracy) of socially disadvantaged farmers compared to the farmers' counterparts.

This study contributes to the existing work by providing fresh evidence from the field across social groups for both kharif and rabi crops using recent survey data from small and marginal farmers which have important policy implications.

This work examines the impact of institutional agricultural credit on crop productivity of some major crops such as paddy, cotton, wheat and pulses for small and marginal farmers across various social groups.

The cross-sectional field data on socio economic variables was collected from three Indian states from about 400 small and marginal farmers across various social groups using multi-stage stratified random and purposive sampling through a structured questionnaire by interviewing. The method of propensity score matching (PSM) was employed to calculate average treatment effect (ATE) and average treatment effect on the treated (ATET) by categorising sample farmers as treatment group and control group where crop productivity was considered as outcome variable and access to institutional credit was considered as treatment variable.

The PSM estimates reveal that ATE and ATET for all the selected crops are found to be significantly higher for the treated group vis-à-vis non-treated group suggesting that institutional agricultural credit has a statistically and significant positive impact on the crop productivity.

Similar study can be extended for more crops and across regions in India for a universal coverage.

The agricultural credit policy of India has been to increase the access and availability of institutional farm credit. This has led to in general increase in the flow of formal farm credit to agricultural sector. However, the impact of institutional credit and crop productivity especially for small and marginal farmers across social groups is not well recognized in India using field data. Accordingly, this field data study contributes to the existing research by providing fresh evidence from field across social groups for both kharif and rabi crops using recent survey data from small and marginal farmers which has important policy implications.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the impact of financial integration on macroeconomic volatility for developing and emerging economies of Asia.

The effects of financial integration and dynamics of macroeconomic volatility over time and across different groups of Asian economies vis-à-vis advanced economies are investigated using four different variables such as consumption, output, income and the ratio of consumption to income. Further, an empirical link between the degree of international financial integration and macroeconomic volatility for Asian economies is econometrically investigated using generalized method of moments (GMM) system one-step estimator.

Macroeconomic volatilities of per capita output and consumption growth tend to be lower for advanced economies compared to Asian economies. The computed cross-sectional median of the volatility of consumption, output, income and the ratio of consumption volatility to income suggested that the volatility of advanced economies is lower compared to all the regions of Asia. GMM results suggested that the financial openness, trade openness and broad money are negatively and significantly associated with macroeconomic volatility whereas inflation is positively and significantly associated with macroeconomic volatility but the magnitude of trade openness is found to be negligible.

The present study has not included the effects of other country-specific variables (such as fiscal policy volatility) and other external factors to understand macroeconomic volatility.

High integration of economies promote economic growth, reduce macroeconomic volatility and reduce vulnerability to external shocks. This implies that policy makers should thrive to reform and create institutional infrastructure to deepen the integration.

The paper is an important empirical contribution toward examining the effects of financial integration on dynamics of macroeconomic volatility for a large number of Asian developing and emerging economics over time and across different groups using recent data and latest analytical framework and techniques.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between financial development and economic growth for five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South (BRICS) during 1993 to 2014 using banking sector and stock market development indicators.

To begin with, the study first examined some of the principal indicators of financial development and macroeconomic variables of the selected economies. Next, using generalized method of moment system estimation (SYS-GMM), the relationship between financial development and growth is investigated. The banking sector development indicators used in the study include size of the financial intermediaries, credit to deposit ratio (CDR) and domestic credit to private sector (CPS), whereas the stock market development indicators are value of shares traded and turnover ratio. Also, some macroeconomic control variables such as inflation, exports and the enrolment in secondary education were used.

The examination of the principal indicators of financial development and macroeconomic variables have shown considerable differences between the selected economies. Results from the dynamic one-step SYS-GMM estimates confirm that in presence of turnover ratio, all the selected banking development indicators such as size of financial intermediaries, CDR and CPS are positively significantly determining economic growth. Similarly, in presence of all the selected banking sector development indicators, value of shares traded is found to be positively significantly associated with economic growth. However, the same is not true when turnover ratio is regressed in presence of banking sector variables. Overall, the evidence suggests that banking sector development and stock market development indicators are complementary to each other in stimulating economic growth.

A positive association between financial development and growth indicates that the policymakers should take necessary measures toward simultaneous development of both banking sector as well as stock market for inducing growth.

The present paper attempts to examine the relationship between financial development and growth using both banking sector and stock market development indicators which has not been attempted before for BRICS. Also, most of the existing studies are found in case of developed economies. This paper tries to fill this void by studying five major emerging economies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the issue of high current account deficit (CAD) from various perspectives focussing its behaviour, financing pattern and sustainability for India.

To begin with the trends, composition and dynamics of CAD for India are analysed. Next, the influence of capital flows on current account is investigated using Granger non-causality test proposed by Toda and Yamamoto (1995) between current account balance (CAB) to GDP ratio and financial account balance to GDP ratio. Also, the sustainability of India’s current account is examined using different econometrics techniques. In particular, Husted’s (1992), Johansen’s cointegration and vector error correction model (VECM) is applied along with conducting unit root and structural break tests wherever applicable. Further, long-run and short-run determinants of the CAB are estimated using Johansen’s VECM.

The study found that the widening of CAD is due to fall in household financial savings and corporate investments. Also, it was found that a large part of India’s CAD has been financed by FDI and portfolio investments which are partly replaced by short-term volatile flows. The unit root and cointegration tests indicate a sustainable current account for India. Further, econometric analysis reveals that India’s current account is driven by fiscal deficit, terms of trade growth, inflation, real deposit rate, trade openness, relative income growth and the age dependency factor.

Since India’s CAD has widened and is expected to widen primarily due to rise in gold and oil imports, policy makers should focus on achieving phenomenal export growth so that a sustainable current account is maintained. Also, with rising working-age and skilled population, India should focus more on high-value product exports rather than low-value manufactured items. Further, on the structural side it is important to correct fiscal deficit as it is one of the important factors contributing to large CAD.

The paper is an important empirical contribution towards explaining India’s CAD over time using latest and comprehensive data and econometric models.

This study empirically examines the effect of capital controls on the volume and composition of capital flows at aggregated as well as at disaggregated level by different asset classes such as debt, FDI, equity, and derivatives.

Several dynamic panel SYS-GMM models are employed on two sets of unique data on cross-border capital flows and capital control index along with control variables at aggregated and disaggregated level by different asset classes during 1995–2015 for a sample of 31 Asian economies.

Econometric findings suggest that higher capital controls effectively reduce gross capital flows. The reduction in gross capital flows is largely found to be on account of effectiveness of controls on equity flows. However, the impact of controls on overall debt and derivative flows is found to be insignificant. Further, it was found that an increase in direct capital controls disaggregated by inflow and outflow categories significantly reduced the inflow of debt and equity + FDI flows and outflow of equity + FDI and derivative flows. Finally, the study did not find any substitution effect (due to indirect controls) and net effect on capital flows.

Results of such empirical examination may enable governments in respective countries to pursue prudent and rational capital controls as a shield against capital flight and shock transmission.

Preventing capital flight through effective controls has macroeconomic benefits such as maintaining stability in income, growth, interest rate, exchange rate, and employment levels for the society.

The primary contribution of the study is the analysis of effectiveness of capital controls disaggregated by different asset categories such as debt, equity, FDI, and derivatives using two unique recent data sets for a large sample of Asian economies.