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This study aims to evaluate cognitive, personal and environmental factors affecting investors’ behavioral intentions (BI) to invest in ṣukūk (Islamic investment certificates) in Pakistan.

Data from 462 participants were collected through survey-questionnaires by using the convenient sampling technique. Hypothesized proposed relationships among the constructs were examined by applying the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique through smart partial least squares.

Compatibility, internal influence, external influence and intrinsic motivation were found to be significant predictors of investors’ BI to invest in ṣukūk. In addition, it was found that the religious aspect not only affects investors’ BI positively but also works as a moderator in the relationships between BI and both internal and external influence.

The results are quite helpful for ṣukūk issuers and regulators to consider cognitive, personal and environmental factors that might enhance the adoption of ṣukūk, especially among Muslim investors.

This study is among the few research studies that shed light on investors’ BI to invest in ṣukūk. Using social cognitive theory, the study investigates the cognitive, personal and environmental factors influencing ṣukūk adoption, which were previously unexplored. In addition, this is the first study that unveils the influential factors of ṣukūk adoption in Pakistan, a Muslim-majority country.

This study aims to examine the relationship between board diversity and quality of corporate social responsibility (QCSR) disclosure.

The study estimates seven dimensions of board diversity including age, gender, nation, ethnicity, educational level, educational background and tenure by applying Blau’s index. The relationship between board diversity and QCSR disclosure from the perspective of the resource-based view theory is estimated by using panel random effects regression across 57 firms producing exclusive sustainability reports listed in the Pakistan Stock Exchange from 2010 to 2017. The robustness of the results has also been checked through alternative measurements of the variables under study.

The regression results reveal that gender and national diversities are the firms’ valuable resources, having the potential to promote QCSR disclosure. However, age diversity was found to be negatively associated to QCSR disclosure. Furthermore, educational level, educational background, ethnicity and tenure were insignificant on QCSR disclosure. The sensitivity analysis supports the findings of the baseline model.

Pakistani firms need to improve the level of board diversity through encouragement of the inclusion of diverse forces of gender and nationality to enhance disclosure on CSR practices.

This is the first study on board diversity and QCSR in the case of Pakistan.

This study aims to examine sustainability reporting through the lens of global reporting initiative (GRI) standards in developing economies, particularly in Pakistan, from the perspective of stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory, and system theory.

Qualitative and quantitative analyses on economic, social and environmental areas of sustainability reporting based on the GRI standards are applied across 57 organizations listed on the Pakistan stock exchange over the years 2016–2020.

The results from the content analysis and descriptive statistics show that overall sustainability reporting increased persistently over time and limited organizations disclose economic, social and environmental sustainability based on GRI standards. Moreover, the result from the two-tailed correlation analysis shows positive relations between economic, social and environmental sustainability reporting.

Following the GRI standards, the regulators, government and policymakers need to assess the sustainability reporting based on GRI standards to improve corporate operations' transparency, stakeholder trust and legitimacy. The organizations should move beyond the compliance of regulatory norms and adopt the globally accepted sustainability GRI standards to improve sustainability reporting. The same kind of sustainability reporting is also advised for other countries with similar backgrounds and sustainability challenges.

The integrated sustainability reporting framework based on GRI standards enables the organizations to work as a system of interconnected economic, social and environmental sustainability to resolve the issue of sustainability reporting, ensure the trust of multiple stakeholders and legitimize their business operations in society.

To the best of the authors' knowledge and thorough review of literature, this is the first study that examines the sustainability reporting based on GRI in the developing country of Pakistan to extend the findings of previous studies from conventional sustainability reporting to the globally accepted GRI based sustainability reporting. Using system theory, this study provides an additional contribution to the consideration concerning sustainability reporting based on GRI standards in the context of Pakistan.

This paper aims to examine the influence of financial inclusion (FI) on poverty, income inequality and financial stability from the perspective of public good (PG) theory in developing countries.

This study applies the fixed effects model (FEM), pooled ordinary least square (OLS) regression and generalized method of moment (GMM) across panal data of 69 developing countries from 2002 to 2020 inclusive.

Multiple regression analyses show that FI reduces poverty and income inequality while improving financial stability. Secondary enrolment ratio, GDP per capita, and trade openness reduce poverty and income inequality. However, a higher inflation rate increases poverty and income inequality while reducing financial stability. Finally, age dependency ratio and population do not affect poverty, income inequality or financial stability.

The regulators and policymakers in developing countries should raise the level of formal FI by expanding the size of the formal financial sector and improving the access of the large unbanked population to financial products/services. Improving FI enables the unbanked population to take over productive activities and ease consumption, which in turn complementing economic growth.

The increase in FI enables the developing countries to include the financially excluded population through formal financial products and services, which improve financial stability and eradicate poverty and income inequality in society. Thus, the FI enhances the social welfare of society.

This is the first study that examines the impact of FI poverty, income inequality and financial stability in the context of developing countries. This study contributes to the theoretical implications of the PG theory by examining the influence of FI on poverty, income inequality and financial stability in the context of developing countries.

The aim of the study is to examine the impact of financial inclusion on poverty, income inequality and financial stability using panel data of 54 African countries.

To achieve this objective, the current study used multiple regressions across an unbalanced panel data of 54 African countries which are based on the four years mean value for the period 2001–2019.

The results show that financial inclusion (FI) is a valuable indicator; it reduces poverty, income inequality and improves financial stability.

The study invokes the attention of government and policymakers to build up a financially inclusive system which, in turn, leads to improve financial stability and lower poverty and income inequality. They should focus on quality and sustainable financial products and services in terms of financial inclusion to avoid dominant accounts and ensure consumer protection.

This adds to the scarce literature on the impact of financial inclusion on poverty, income inequality and financial stability in the context of African countries. The study contributes to the literature on the issue of financial inclusion and poverty, income inequality and financial stability by reconfirming (or otherwise) findings of previous studies.

Given the relative importance of the Shari’ah supervisory boards (SSBs) in Islamic banks’ (IBs’) performance, this study aims to examine the impact of SSB diversity on IBs’ performance from the stakeholders’ perspective in the context of Pakistan.

Random-effects model and generalized method of moment are used to investigate the impact of SSB diversity on IBs’ performance across a panel data of 22 Islamic banks in Pakistan from 2005 to 2020 inclusive.

The findings of this study show that SSB size, SSB relevant educational background diversity, bank’s size and bank’s stability have a positive impact on IBs’ performance. In contrast, SSB age, nationality and cross-membership diversities have a negative impact on IBs’ performance. Moreover, SSB gender, tenure and general educational diversities have no significant impact on IBs’ performance.

SSB diversity and IBs practices are different across different jurisdictions. This study is conducted on IBs in Pakistan because of data constraints; thus, the results of this study may not be generalizable to other countries' IBs.

In structuring the SSBs’ framework, the regulatory authorities and policymakers should consider mandating an ideal SSB size and hiring relevant qualified members with low cross-membership to improve IBs' performance. Thus, the structure potentially attracts Muslim stakeholders, enhances their satisfaction and improves IBs' performance.

Having diversified members in the SSB, IBs equally benefit both individual and group stakeholders in society. Diversity in SSB members enhances IBs' performance and the social welfare of various stakeholders in society.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical research that examines comprehensively the impact of SSB structural and demographic diversities on IBs' performance in the context of Pakistan. This paper contributes to the unique Shari’ah governance structure in the context of Pakistan. Additionally, this study may serve to assist IBs’ stakeholders in better comprehending the SSB practices of IBs in Pakistan.

This study aims to investigate the impact of extensive board diversity on firm performance from the perspective of resource-based view (RBV) theory in the context of Pakistan.

The analyses are made using a panel random-effects model and generalized method of moment (GMM) across 188 non-financial firms listed in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) over the period of 2009–2020. The robustness of findings is checked through alternative measurements of the variables and alternative estimation techniques.

The results show that board members' nationality, ethnicity and educational level diversities are significantly positively related to firm performance. In contrast, age and educational background diversities negatively affect firm performance. However, gender and tenure diversities have an insignificant relationship with firm performance.

This study is conducted in the context of Pakistani firms; thus, the findings may not be generalizable to other economies because different economies have different institutional settings and governance structures.

The policy-makers should encourage the inclusion of board members' nationality, ethnicity and educational level diversities having relevant educational backgrounds to improve firms' competitive performance. The suggested structure of the corporate board may improve firm performance by attracting multiple stakeholders and fulfilling their expectations.

The appointment of a director should be based on merit rather than on political connections or personnel relationships to improve social welfare and avoid their negative impact on firm competitive performance.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that investigates the impact of board diversity on firm accounting-based performance and market-based performance in the emerging economy of Pakistan. This study uses RBV theory to provide a unique corporate governance structure based on board diversity, particularly in Pakistan.

The research paper examines the impact of perceived social media marketing activities (SMMAs) (interaction, entertainment, customization, trendiness and word of mouth (WOM)) on customer loyalty (CL) toward e-commerce providers. The study also explores the mediating role of customer relationship quality (CRQ) (commitment, trust and satisfaction) on the relationship between perceived SMMAs and CL.

The study is based on the S-O-R model, which states that characteristics of the environment (stimulus) arouse a cognitive state (organism) that results in positive or negative behavior (response). The present study proposes the characteristics of the e-commerce environment as stimuli (S), the inner state of customers as an organism (O) and consumer behavior as the response (R). This study investigated the responses of 487 social media users through structural equation modeling (SEM).

The results offer three crucial findings. First, the study validated that perceived SMMA comprises five dimensions (interaction, entertainment, customization, trendiness and WOM) in the Indian e-commerce context. Second, perceived SMMA significantly influences CRQ (commitment, trust and satisfaction). Third, CRQ significantly mediates the relationship between perceived SMMA and CL.

The study attempts to understand the effect of perceived SMMA on CL via CRQ in an e-commerce context, especially in an emerging economy like India. The present study argues that the SMMA of e-commerce is likely to be reflected in CL when the consumers experience CRQ through commitment, trust and satisfaction. Thus exploring the mediating role of CRQ is the authors' contribution.

This paper empirically investigates the impact of board diversity in terms of demographic and cognitive dimensions on financial distress likelihood in an emerging Chinese market to explore whether the Chief Executive Officers' (CEOs) power moderates the relationship between board diversity and the probability of financial distress.

To test the hypothesized relationships, demographic diversity through gender, age and nationality, and cognitive diversity through education, expertise and tenure, are taken as independent variables to investigate their impact on the probability of financial distress measured by the Altman China Z score. Data is collected for 13,740 firm-year observations from 2009 to 2018. This study employs panel data regression under fixed effect assumptions. Further, to control the possible endogeneity issue, this study uses a two-step System Generalized Methods of Moments (GMM) model as a robust check.

The results reveal that board diversity is positively associated with financial distress Z score, suggesting that diverse boards are helpful in reducing the likelihood of financial distress. Moreover, CEO power positively moderates this relationship. It means that board diversity, in the presence of powerful CEOs, is more effective in reducing financial distress likelihood by controlling the wrong financial decisions taken by top executives to reap personal benefits. Further, the robustness model confirms the relationship between board diversity and the probability of financial distress.

To the best of researchers' knowledge, this is one of the earliest studies to investigate board diversity by constructing demographic and cognitive board diversity indexes as a determinant of financial distress likelihood in China. Further, researchers found no study in the literature using CEO power as a contextual variable on the relationship between board diversity and financial distress.

This paper aims to examine the factors influencing the extent of information disclosed on the companies’ websites in the Middle East region.

This study uses multiple regression models to examine the impact of some companies’ characteristics (company size, leverage, profitability, size of the audit firm, ownership concentration) on the extent of online disclosure. The study was conducted on 170 listed companies in seven countries (Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey). The website content was analyzed during the period from September 2015 to December 2015.

The results reveal that the most important factors influencing the level of Web-based disclosure are company size, leverage and the size of the audit firm.

The results of the study will help regulators to formulate policies about Web-based disclosure as they offer insights into the characteristics of those companies which do and do not meet investors’ demands for online information. Thereby, the regulators might expect that the Middle East companies engage in the online reporting to be larger, have higher debt levels and audited by a big-four audit firm.

This study, added to the existing literature by analyzing seven countries in the Middle East region, allows having a clearer idea on the online disclosure in this region as a whole, which has not been examined before. In this paper, to assess the information’s disclosure on the website, the study has been interested in all of the information presented on the websites: financial and non-financial information.