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This study aims to outline the role of causal attributions in consumer responses to irresponsible corporate behaviour. Specifically, this paper presents a moderated mediation model that explains how four types of perceived motives behind an irresponsible action shape corporate blame and word-of-mouth recommendations.

To test the hypotheses, the study uses data from a large survey assessing consumer reactions to a real case of corporate socially irresponsible behaviour in the banking industry.

The findings show that market-, unethicality- and rogue employee-driven attributions increase corporate blame and subsequently make people more likely to spread negative comments regarding the culprit. The difficult situation of a bank, as a perceived reason for wrongdoing, does not reduce the blame attributed to the irresponsible organisation.

The literature offers little information on the attributions people make following egregious corporate behaviour; however, such cognitions can play an important role in stakeholders’ reactions to wrongdoing. This study therefore extends the understanding of how irresponsibility attributions affect consumers’ responses to misbehaviour. Given the empirical context, the findings might be particularly important for communication and bank managers.

This paper aims to investigate the idea of building responsible borrowing and lending into sovereign wealth fund (SWF) decision-making. SWFs, which currently manage US$8 trillion in assets, are influential institutional investors, but their role in sovereign debt markets needs to be further explored. In this context, this paper aims to critically assess the linkages and convergences between the Santiago Principles on SWF and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) principles on responsible sovereign lending and borrowing.

This paper draws on legal scholarship, reports, policy papers and other open-source data to explore the role of SWFs in sovereign lending, borrowing and debt restructuring.

Building responsible borrowing and lending into SWF decision-making is feasible and justified on the grounds of both ethics and public duty. It is also justified in financial terms because it would protect SWFs from irresponsible lending and borrowing practices at the micro level while contributing to global financial stability at the macro level.

This is the first comprehensive study to juxtapose two important normative processes, the Santiago Principles and the UNCTAD Principles.

Subprime mortgage was a kind of high-risk and high-interest lending, especially targeted at low-income and minority borrowers. The majority of subprime mortgage loans were made to non-affluent, low-income and poor borrowers who were previously unable to buy properties and might have poor credit histories (Pitcoff, 2003; Schwarcz, 2009). Why did mortgage lenders compromise their lending standards and dare to take obviously huge risks in mortgage lending? It is clear that the origin of the aggressive subprime mortgage practices were linked to the US Government's policy for increasing national homeownership and encouraging lenders to provide mortgage loans and other credits to low-income and minority borrowers, as a specific stakeholder group.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the link between financial consumer protection (FCP) and economic growth.

The authors use cross-country data on 114 countries surveyed in the World Bank Global Survey on FCP and Financial Literacy (2013) and endogenous treatment regressions for the estimation.

The results indicate that FCP enhances economic growth through fair treatment, responsible lending, enforcement and dispute resolution and recourse regulations. The authors find no evidence to suggest that disclosure and compliance monitoring regulations have an effect on economic growth.

This study provides rich insight into the important question faced by policy makers, as to which FCP regulatory mechanisms to put in place to enhance economic growth.

This study provides current, cross-country empirical evidence on the debate as to whether FCP enhances economic growth.

To improve the loan repayment performance (LRP) of microfinance banks (MFBs) in Pakistan, this study aims to look at the direct impact of multiple borrowing (MB) on LRP and client-business performance (CBP), as well as the direct impact of CBP on LRP. The moderating function of pandemic factors in the relationship between MB and CBP, as well as the mediating effect of CBP in the association between MB and LRP, was also investigated in this study.

A questionnaire was used to obtain data from 531 lower-level workers of microfinance institutions (MFIs) for the study. The respondents were chosen using stratified sampling, which divided the target population into four influential groups: lending officers in agriculture, lending officers in businesses, lending officers in gold loans and lending officers in salary loans. In this study, a two-stage structural equation modeling approach was used, including a measurement model (outer model) and a structural model (inner model). The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were investigated using the measurement model (outer model), whereas PLS-SEM bootstrapping was performed to test the hypothesis and find the relationship among different underpinning constructs by using the structural model (inner model).

The outcomes of this study demonstrate that MB has a direct impact on CBP, and that CBP has a direct impact on LRP. MB, on the contrary, had no direct and significant impact on LRP in this study. The idea that CBP mediates the relationship between MB and LRP, as well as the moderating effect of pandemic factors on the relationship between MB and CBP, is supported by this research.

Until now, the influence of MB on LRP via the mediating role of CBP and the moderating role of a pandemic factor in the setting of Pakistani MFBs has received little attention. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this research also aids MFBs in better understanding MB and its impact on LRP. Furthermore, based on the findings of this study, Pakistani MFIs can enhance their LRP by implementing new lending regulations, particularly with reference to MB and the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study takes the position that the concept of fraud is socially constructed. Moreover, it asks why and how different understandings of fraud have emerged. Insights from the work of Lakoff and Johnson (1999, 2003; Lakoff, 2002, 2004, 2009) are used to analyze language revealing dominant worldviews and metaphors regarding fraud. The research method is a case study (Yin, 2014), and the analytical approach used parallels the one described in O’Dwyer (2004). The research setting is a report issued by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, which provides a context to study different understandings of fraud due to the report’s divided nature. The analysis reveals three alternative worldviews, representing different assumptions about reality, that are at the root of the different understandings of fraud. These worldviews also lead to the usage of different conceptual metaphors which allow the commissioners to interpret facts in a manner that supports each worldview’s assumptions. The paper also concludes by providing a nuanced and critical examination of the results of the commission concerning its understanding of fraud.

The downturn in the residential housing market in Northern Ireland (NI) has been the most pronounced of any UK region, with house prices contracting circa 40 per cent between 2007Q3 and 2009Q4. The downturn at first glance appears to have increased the “ability to afford” however this is nonetheless a “false dawn”. Significant deposit levels coupled with a more prudent lending culture has ensured that housing affordability remains a primary policy concern. The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyse the interrelationships between mortgage liquidity and housing affordability in NI during the boom‐bust cycle in the residential property market.

The paper analyses mortgage‐lending statistics for NI in the period 1993‐2009, using time series panel data. House price data are drawn from the University of Ulster House Price Index over the same time series. To facilitate analytical interpretation and outcome analysis, quantitative evaluation is applied within a first‐time buyer (FTB) affordability framework.

This study finds that the relationship between mortgage finance and affordability has been driven by deregulation of the mortgage market contributing to the rise in house prices and affordability pressures during the market up cycle. More recently, ongoing liquidity constraints within the financial sector are impairing recovery in the residential property market culminating in heightened concerns of both purchase and “deposit gap” affordability. The key findings suggest that the new significant capital requirement needed to access the housing market will inevitably prolong affordability pressures for the foreseeable future.

This paper contributes to affordability debate in two ways. First, it examines the effect of both liberalised and contracted patterns of mortgage finance on affordability and argues that conventional approaches appear to present a “false dawn” for FTBs in NI. Second, the paper demonstrates that affordability post‐financial crisis has shifted in genre towards a purchase and deposit gap (lag time) issue.

In the first decade of the 21st century, the financial crisis of 2007–2010 stands out as a landmark political, societal, business and economic event. Its impact on the financial sector is evident as seen by the collapse of banks such as Lehman Brothers, the sale of Bear Stearns to JP Morgan Chase and by the full or part nationalisation of others such as Northern Rock, Bradford and Bingley, Lloyds (including Halifax Bank of Scotland which they acquired during the crisis) and RBS. Its scope and breadth of impact has spread beyond the financial sector and has affected the broader economy and society. The North American along with a number of European and other economies fell into recession. The UK economy suffered its longest and deepest recession since the Second World War. Government and central banks announced unprecedented policy responses and initiated measures such as record low interest rates and quantitative easing (the printing of money) to stave off a 1930s style depression. Policies such as the car scrappage scheme introduced by the UK and American governments were designed to reduce inventories, stimulate economic recovery and help re-build confidence. Nevertheless, businesses suffered and a number of them collapsed, for example in the United Kingdom, high street retailers Zavvi, Woolworths and among others Borders ceased trading and were put into administration. The story of the financial and economic crisis has been well documented by, among others, Tett (2010), Roubini and Mihm (2010), and Bishop and Green (2010).

Some sections of society have expressed concerns that consumer debt has risen to a dangerous level. However, there is little evidence regarding how consumers themselves feel about debt. This paper reports up‐to‐date findings from the International Institute of Banking and Financial Services’ Financial Well‐being Survey about consumers’ attitudes towards debt in general and their current levels of borrowing. The implications for the financial services industry and its regulation are discussed.