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In an emerging economy like India, the contribution of Indians in the stock market is very low, despite having the highest percentage of savings. The research tries to look for the variables which influence the investor's intentions to invest in the Indian stock market, by considering the theory of planned behavior (TPB). Moreover, the study incorporates financial literacy (FL) in the model to examine its influence on investors’ investment intention and also examine the moderation effect of financial literacy.

Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from a sample of 393 respondents by using the convenience sampling method which is followed by the snowball sampling technique. For testing the research hypotheses, SEM and PROCESS macro v3.0 for SPSS were taken into consideration.

The results explain that factors of TPB i.e. attitude (AT), subjective norms (SNs) and perceived behavioral control (PBC) are significantly associated with investment intentions (IIs). Furthermore, along with the original components of the TPB model, Financial Literacy (FL) was also incorporated in the model, which predicted the investors' intention better. The results also stated that FL has a positive impact on AT, PBC and II. Moreover, results reveal that FL moderates the association between AT, PBC and II.

The study describes that financial literacy can help in increasing the participation of investors in the stock market. Therefore, in this situation, the current research permits the Security Exchange Board of India (SEBI), governments and financial institutions (FIs) to plan and design seminars or courses, programs, to enhance FL among individuals and promote individuals in making well-organized and efficient investment decisions in stock markets that will in turn upsurge individual investors participation. The study contributes to the existing literature of investment behavior by incorporating FL as a moderator. Research avoids considering actual investment behavior. The study also neglects demographic and socio-psychological factors which are the major factor that affects an investment decision. Furthermore, the research has only considered the objective dimension of FL.

The current research tries to incorporate FL in TPB model. Moreover, tries to examine the moderation effect of FL. The research is one of its kind as the past research neglect to examine the moderation effect of FL in relationship between AT, PBC and investment intension to investment in stock market. The research helps to understand how FL encourages investors to invest in the Indian stock market.

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of personality traits (PTs) of individual investors on their investment intention (II). Further, to study the mediating role of overconfidence (OC) bias and financial literacy (FL) on the relationship between PTs and II.

The present study uses the quantitative approach for the data collection from the sample of 327 Indian investors investing in the stock market. The questionnaire was divided into segments to assess the investor’s PTs, OC, FL and II. The PT has been measured using the Big Five Personality Traits. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the reliability and validity of the constructs. The hypothesis was tested using structural equation modeling.

Findings of the study show that the PTs of an individual investor are associated with FL and II but insignificant with OC bias. Further, the FL and OC bias have a positive and significant influence on II. In addition, the mediation analysis showed that FL partly mediates the relationship between PTs and II.

The present study is helpful for financial companies, government, personal finance advisors and individual investors; they can keep in mind the behavior-related traits that can influence the investment decisions and design the portfolio accordingly. The policy-makers can implement programs on FL to enhance investment decisions in India.

This paper is unique that covers the mediating role of psychological bias, i.e. OC bias and FL, between the PTs and II of an Indian investor.

The purpose of this paper is to understand investment intention of prospective individual investors in a developing country (i.e. India) by using the “Theory of Planned Behaviour” (TPB) (where perceived behavioural control has been replaced with financial self-efficacy, FSE) and two additional constructs, i.e. financial knowledge and personality traits (i.e. risk-taking propensity and preference for innovation) have been introduced.

The study uses quantitative and cross-sectional approach wherein questionnaire based survey was done to collect responses from prospective individual investors (920 usable responses). AMOS and SPSS have been used to establish the hypothesised relationship between the constructs.

The results of the study suggested that attitude was responsible for partial mediation between the relationship of financial knowledge and investment intention, whereas financial self-efficacy was exerting a dual role on the relationship between personality traits and investment intention. Subjective norms, on the other hand, exerted a weak positive effect on investment intention.

This study is limited to measure the investment intention in financial markets in case of prospective individual investors; it does not incorporate the actual investment behaviour, the study also fails to include demographic factors which play a vital role in investment decision making. Furthermore, the study has only considered objective dimension of financial knowledge.

The findings will be useful for financial service providers who need to enhance the FSE and financial knowledge and design a “behavioural portfolio” according the personality traits of their clients.

The up-liftment of financial confidence among individuals in order to motivate them to participate in financial markets and enjoy “short-cuts” towards financial success.

This study is one of the initial attempts in the context of the Indian Stock Market to introduce FSE as a dual (both mediating and moderating) construct between personality traits and investment intention using TPB, moreover, this study also provides the necessary impetus to analyse the relationship between financial knowledge and investment intention with attitude as the mediating variable.

The purposes of this study are: to investigate how the dimensions of resource competitive strategies impact on small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) intention to invest in Ghana’s downstream petroleum sector and to develop a model to explain the moderating role of local content policy on the relationship between competitive strategies and investment intention of SMEs. Focusing on the Ghanaian SMEs, quantitative research approach and survey questionnaire have been used. The research hypotheses have been tested using variance-based structural equation modeling technique.

Since the Ghanaian Parliament passed the Local Content and Local Participation Policy (LI.2204) into law in 2013, successive governments have strived to optimize oil and gas benefits and encouraged local participation, yet the actual impacts are mixed, ambiguous and inconsequential. This paper further argues that the extent to which the local content policy role moderates the relationship between firms’ internal resources (proxied as competitive strategies) and investment intention in the energy sector remains largely unexplored.

The results have shown that competitive strategies such as entrepreneurial competency, finance resources and technological usage have positive and significant effects on SME's investment intention. Again, local content policies exert significant moderating effect on SMEs’ investment intention.

The policy implication of these results includes the need to strengthen regulatory capacity of the Petroleum Commission to enforce local content implementation in Ghana to enhance indigenous participation in the sector.

Theoretically, using the resource-based view theory, this study has offered a robust predictability of SMEs investment’s determinants in an emerging economy.

This study aims to explore the importance of past behaviour and financial literacy in the investment decision-making of individual investors and examines the validity of the theory of planned behaviour in this context.

The study used a self-administered questionnaire and adopted the convenience sampling technique followed by a snowball sampling method for the survey to collect data from the individual investors covering the four distinct states of India. Collected data were analysed on AMOS 20.0 using two-step structural equation modelling (SEM).

Results indicated a significant effect of all the predictive variables. Past behaviour showed no significant direct impact on investor's intention; however, it had an indirect significant relationship while mediated by the attitude of investors. The multiple squared correlation (R2) showed that the final model could explain 36% of the variance in investors' intention towards stock investment which signified a successful implementation of the TPB model along with external variables added to it. Moreover, Indian investors were found to be highly influenced, primarily, by social pressure which could be curbed through financial literacy.

A significant importance of subjective norms was found on stock market participation which could be a strategic theme for the government and the policymakers to educate investors through their opinion leaders for increasing their participation. Moreover, by doing so investors could control their behaviour and take rational decisions.

This study extended the understandings of investor's decision-making behaviour using TPB by incorporating the two external variables viz., Financial literacy and past behaviour. The addition of past behaviour is perhaps the novelty of this article since such examination has not been conducted empirically especially in the case of developing countries like India.

This paper aims to analyze whether the domestic policy reforms in India would suffice, or there is a need to conform to stricter international standards as well. The paper is arranged along the following lines. First, the paper offers a brief review of the cooperation in the field of harmonization of vehicle regulations which is provided by the so-called WP.29 Forum. Second, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) standards and their membership along with Indian participation in the forum are presented. Third, reforms in India through the “Make in India” (MII) initiative and its trade in the auto-component segment are analyzed. Fourth, the possible non-tariff barriers (NTBs) on imports of auto-components in select partner countries is computed and presented. Fifth, the penetration pattern of partner countries in India’s automotive sector export value chain is analyzed. Finally, based on the observations, key policy conclusions are drawn both from global and Indian perspectives.

This paper blends expertise in law and economics and enables readers to have a finer understanding of the automotive sector which is one of the most internationalized product groups in world trade, characterized by not only cross-border movement of final products, but also of intermediate products like auto-parts and components as well as major global investment and relocation decisions. This paper focuses on India for four crucial reasons, which makes India both a key player (and potential disruptor) at global level and the rather complex approach chosen by the country vis-a-vis many regulations (including UNECE and WTO), reflecting its tendency to rely on domestic consolidation through measures such as the 2014 MII initiative.

The data analysis in the current paper indicates that after conforming to the UNECE 1998 standard, India’s relative trade with these countries has increased both in terms of auto-components and automobile products. Moreover, the value contribution from these partner countries in India’s exports is rising. On the other hand, the relative share of the UNECE 1958 countries in India’s trade basket has declined and a mixed trend is noticed for the common contracting parties (CPs). In addition, the share of the countries without accession to any of the UNECE agreements in India’s trade has shown an upward trend. The observation indicates that the divergence in automotive product standards might crucially influence India’s trade flows. It seems that in the short run, an orientation for exporting to UNECE 1998 partners and non-members emerges as a dominant strategy, underlining a specialization in medium-quality segment. Nevertheless, the long-term robustness of such a move deserves closer analysis, particularly by focusing on whether India may need to join the UNECE 1958 agreement to sustain its export growth. Before joining UNECE 1998, the sector has enjoyed protection through high tariff barriers. Given the differing perspective on opening-up, automobile sector earlier emerged as an obstacle in conclusion of EU–India Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA), which is being negotiated since 2007. However, after entry into an regional trade agreement (RTA), tariff preference in itself may not provide a country the requisite market access. The recent standard-setting exercises in ASEAN, a group with which India is deepening trade integration since 2010, may be considered as a case in point.

The analysis so far indicates that absence of participation in UNECE 1958 standard may restrict future options for India. Presently, Indian vehicle exports are reaching UNECE 1998 member countries (e.g., Ford India sending Ecosport to USA). It is also directed towards African and Latin American countries, presently not part of any agreement. However, the ASEAN countries, currently partnering India through free trade agreement (FTA), are increasingly moving towards UNECE 1958 standards. India’s sectoral trade surplus with ASEAN countries over 2009-2013 to 2014-2018 has declined from US$548.44mn to US$529.53mn, respectively. The potential challenges in reaching ASEAN and other UNECE 1958 member countries, in turn, may influence the relocation decisions of global auto majors in India, defeating the core purpose of MII initiative.

Given the scenario, a number of policy choices for India emerge. First, joining UNECE 1958 may not be a short-run option for India, but after evaluating the evolving trade pattern, in the long run, the country may consider adopting certain core 1958 standards, in line with its economic interests. Such a move may facilitate greater export flows from India to UNECE 1958 countries. The experience of Indonesia and Vietnam, who have conformed to select UNECE 1958 standards in spite of not being formally part of any agreement, deserves mention in this regard. Second, it is observed that India’s trade balance (TB) is not improving for several Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries, in spite of obtaining tariff preferences through an existing trade bloc. Part of the poor performance has been explained by Indian exporters often using the most favoured nation route rather than the preferential route, to avoid the associated compliance-related complexities. The standards and mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) conformance provisions in ASEAN–India FTA are also found to be weaker vis-à-vis the comparable provisions for other ASEAN-centric bilateral RTAs with other RCEP members. This underlines the need for both rules of origin (ROO) reforms and agreement on MRAs, which may enhance the trade potential in general and in automotive sector in particular. In the short run, India should therefore attempt to enhance exports to the UNECE 1998 members and CPs, given the commonality in standards. However, in the long run, there is a need to explore harmonization with certain core 1958 standards, to promote exports in general and even within its RTAs in particular.

The automotive sector is one of the most internationalized product groups in world trade. It is known that harmonization of product standards with partner countries can facilitate bilateral trade flows. Presently, three agreements exist for harmonization of automotive standards relating to passenger and vehicle safety under the aegis of UNECE – UNECE 1958, UNECE 1997 and UNECE 1998. Through a series of reforms and launch of the MII initiative in 2014, India has deepened its presence in world automotive sector trade and aspires to play a bigger role in coming days. Moreover, India is a WTO member and has joined the UNECE 1998 standard in 2006, which means that several important conventions regulate and bind the country. The current paper intends to analyze whether the domestic policy reforms in India would suffice in promoting the exports from this sector, or there is a need to conform to stricter international standards. The data analysis reveals that India’s relative trade orientation is deepening towards the UNECE 1998 members and countries not part of any UNECE agreements. On the other hand, the relative trade share of the UNECE 1958 countries in India’s trade basket has declined and a mixed trend is noticed for the common CPs. The analysis indicates that the divergence in automotive product standards might crucially influence India’s trade flows in general and participation in international production networks in particular. The paper argues that in the long run, India needs to consider adherence to certain UNECE 1958 standards as well as speeding up the pending domestic reforms.

A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that contract. When such a repudiation has been accepted by the innocent party then a termination of employment takes place. Such termination does not constitute dismissal (see London v. James Laidlaw & Sons Ltd (1974) IRLR 136 and Gannon v. J. C. Firth (1976) IRLR 415 EAT).

Investigates the differences in protocols between arbitral tribunals and courts, with particular emphasis on US, Greek and English law. Gives examples of each country and its way of using the law in specific circumstances, and shows the variations therein. Sums up that arbitration is much the better way to gok as it avoids delays and expenses, plus the vexation/frustration of normal litigation. Concludes that the US and Greek constitutions and common law tradition in England appear to allow involved parties to choose their own judge, who can thus be an arbitrator. Discusses e‐commerce and speculates on this for the future.

The Equal Pay Act 1970 (which came into operation on 29 December 1975) provides for an “equality clause” to be written into all contracts of employment. S.1(2) (a) of the 1970 Act (which has been amended by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975) provides:

The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of the markets in financial instruments directive II (MiFID II) on investment services in the Baltic states.

The authors take an exploratory, qualitative approach, based on data conducted from interviews with nine investment industry professionals using the laddering technique. The pool of experts was selected using the purposeful sampling method, and experts must have had a minimum of five years investment experience in the Baltics, working familiarity with MiFID II, and a university education in the fields of finance or economics.

The strict requirements of MiFID II reduce the range of available investment products and services for customers in the Baltics. Also, the profitability of Baltic investment companies decreased due to high compliance costs and bans on inducements. The results indicate that this may lead to increased barriers to entry and mergers and acquisitions for small investment companies.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to research the implications of MiFID II implementation in the Baltic states. The qualitative approach chosen offers a unique opportunity to highlight the critical effects of MiFID II on financial intermediates in smaller geographical markets.