Search results

The Russian export flow is highly concentrated on few trading partners that results in its high vulnerability to external shock. Furthermore, the Russian–Ukraine conflict and corresponding western sanctions has enhanced the need of export markets diversification for Russia. Therefore, this study is a baseline attempt to explore determinants of export flow along with identifying potential export markets. This objective is realized by employing an augmented version of gravity model on export flow of Russian Federation to 108 trading partners from 2000 to 2020.

The augmented gravity model of export flow is estimated by using employing contemporary panel econometrics such as panel generalized ordinary least square estimation technique with cross-sectional weight along with heteroskedasticity consistent white coefficients is employed to explore impact of selected macroeconomic and policy variables. Furthermore, the sensitivity analysis is performed by using panel random effect along with the Driscoll–Kraay standard errors with pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and random effect generalized least square (GLS) estimator techniques. The estimated result of panel GLS technique is subjected to in-sampled forecasting technique to explore potential export markets.

The findings show that an increase in the income of trading partners and enhancement of domestic production capacity has significant positive impact on Russian export flow, whereas geographic distance has a significant negative impact. Income of trading partners emerged as major determinant of export flow with high explanatory power. Among augmented variables, the real exchange rate reveals a significant positive impact of lower intensity, whereas binary variables for the common border, common history and preferential/free trade agreement show a significant positive impact. The finding of export potential reveals a high concentration of export with existence of large potential for exports across the globe. For instance, many developing countries in Asia, Africa and America reveal high potential for Russian exports.

The findings urge Russian Federation to diversify its export markets by targeting potential export markets. Many emerging developing countries are witnessing a high potential for Russian exports, therefore attempts should be taken to diversify toward them. The expansion of existing transportation facilities along with development of cargo trade can be important policy instrument to realize objective of export diversification.

This study is the first comprehensive analysis that employs augmented gravity model to explore potential export markets for Russian Federation by using panel data of 108 global trading partners from 2000 to 2020. This finding of this study provides a framework of export diversification toward potential markets across the globe.

This study examines the impact of urbanization on growth and the role of international financial flows in the urbanization-growth nexus.

The study applies the panel least square estimation to examine the impact of urbanization on growth using panel data from 50 developing countries from 1980 to 2016. Further, addressing the endogeneity issues in panel estimations, the study applies the dynamic System-GMM approach to investigate the role of financial flows in urbanization and their impact on economic growth in developing countries.

Contrary to the conventional literature, we found a non-linear (U-shaped) relationship between urbanization and growth. Our findings demonstrate that growth is reduced at a lower level of urbanization due to less availability, concentration, and synchronization of production factors. The concentration of physical and human capital and technological advancement in urban areas help developing countries achieve economic growth at a higher level of urbanization. Robust estimations divulged that foreign aid spent on infrastructure development and expanding urban regions helps promote economic growth. Nevertheless, as a resilient factor, remittances buffer the rapid pace of urbanization and reduce growth by resisting the migration of labor and capital from rural to urban areas.

The paper's findings suggest policymakers promote urban infrastructure and development using local and international funds since its increased level spurs economic growth. Further, the results advise policymakers to reduce aid dependency, attract FDI, and facilitate the easy and low-cost transfer of money to promote remittance inflows since both FDI and remittances positively contribute to economic growth.

The paper contributes significantly to the literature by determining the U-shaped relationship between urbanization and growth and highlighting the role of international flows in the urbanization-growth nexus.

The objective of the research is threefold. First, the study examines the fiscal policy – income inequality nexus in SA. Second, the study addressed the potential asymmetric effects in fiscal policy – income inequality nexus in SA (i.e. we assessed the effects of fiscal policy on income inequality at different quantiles of the income inequality) using secondary data from 1980–2020. Third, the study also identifies the optimal fiscal policy instrument that achieve the greatest distributional objectives.

The study adopts the traditional ordinary least square (OLS) and the innovative Quantile estimation techniques.

The study found that fiscal policy marginally reduces the income inequality at the lower quantiles (t: 0.05). Specifically, the results show that government spending on health and education reduces income inequality at the lower quantiles (t: 0.05; t: 0.25), albeit exerts a statistically weak impact. On the other hand, the results show that at the upper quantiles, fiscal policy has no statistically significant impact on income inequality. However, we do not find either direct or indirect tax to have any impact on income inequality at any conventional level of significance. This suggests that government spending on health and education have the greater potential to reduce income inequality in South Africa. The research and policy implications are discussed.

The study addressed the asymmetric phenomenon in income inequality-fiscal policy nexus in South Africa.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-12-2023-0956

Modern renewable energy is crucial for environmental conservation, sustainable economic growth and energy security, especially in developing East African nations that heavily use traditional biomass. Thus, this study aims to examine urbanization and modern renewable energy consumption (MREC) in East African community (EAC) while controlling for gross domestic product (GDP), population growth, foreign direct investment (FDI), industrialization and trade openness (TOP).

This study considers a balanced panel of five EAC countries from 1996 to 2019. Long-run dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and fully modified ordinary least squares estimations were used to ascertain the relationships while the vector error-correction model was used to ascertain the causal relationship.

Results show that urbanization, FDI, industrialization and TOP positively affect MREC. Whereas population growth and GDP reduce MREC, the effect for GDP is not that significant. The study also found a bidirectional causality between urbanization, FDI, TOP and MREC in the long run.

Investing in modern renewable energy facilities should be a top priority, particularly in cities with expanding populations. The governments of the EAC should endeavor to make MREC affordable among the urban population by creating income-generating activities in the urban centers and sensitizing the urban population to the benefits of using MREC. Also, the government may come up with policies that enhance the establishment of lower prices for modern renewable energy commodities so as to increase their affordability.

MREC is a new concept in the energy consumption literature. Much of the research focuses on renewable energy consumption including the use of traditional biomass which contributes to climate change negatively. Besides, the influence of factors such as urbanization has not been given significant attention. Yet urbanization is identified as a catalyst for MREC.

Asian countries have had persistent unemployment levels. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of government spending on unemployment. Furthermore, this paper investigates the moderating role of institutional quality on the government spending–unemployment nexus.

Using data from 35 Asian countries from 2000 to 2022, the dynamic ordinary least squares and fully modified ordinary least squares technique is used to tackle with aforementioned issue. In addition, pooled mean group estimation is applied to verify the robustness of the findings.

The results show that an increase in government expenditure and better institutions reduce the unemployment rate. Interestingly, the negative impact of government expenditure on unemployment will enhance and intensify with better institutional quality. Furthermore, trade openness and foreign direct investment decrease unemployment in Asian countries. The results are robust to various specifications.

Findings from this study provide important implications for governments. Governments should use public expenditure efficiently and enhance and improve institutional quality to reduce unemployment.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study pioneers the investigation of the moderating role of institutional quality in the relationship between government expenditure and unemployment in Asian countries.

This paper attempts to study the relationship between the level of urban innovation and subjective well-being (SWB). The following questions are discussed: (1) Does improving the level of innovation in cities affect the SWB of residents? (2) If urban innovation levels affect residents' SWB, can improving urban innovation level improve residents' SWB? (2) If urban innovation level improves residents' SWB, what is the possible mechanism? (3) Is there any difference in the effect of urban innovation level on the SWB of different groups?

This paper chooses the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression method for baseline regression with robust standard errors, and the regression results of Oprobit will be presented in detail in the robustness test section. The model is constructed by matching the micro data and the macro data. Meanwhile, the instrumental variable (IV) method is also used to deal with the possible endogeneity problem.

This paper finds that urban innovation has significantly improved the SWB of residents. This finding still holds after considering the endogeneity issue and conducting a series of robustness tests. Moreover, the level of innovation positively influences residents' SWB mainly through the paths of increasing income levels, improving environmental quality and promoting convenience in life. What's more, urban innovation has a more significant effect on the SWB of low-income groups and those with low education levels. Finally, based on the findings, this paper also proposes some policy recommendations to further improve the SWB of residents.

Given the limitations of the data, the above study deals with China. In the future, international data can be further used to further explore the impact of the innovation level of international cities on the SWB of residents and then the research conclusions can be applied to the international community to provide theoretical basis and empirical support for policy makers of various countries, which will help improve the SWB of residents of various countries and enrich the theoretical and empirical research on the impact of innovation on the SWB of residents.

Well-being is a goal constantly pursued by human beings. This paper shows that urban innovation has significantly improved the SWB of residents. The findings provide guides to improve the SWB of residents and provide a certain theoretical basis and empirical reference for policy makers.

The possible innovations or contributions of this paper include: (1) based on the China Household Income Survey (CHIP) and the “Report on Innovation of Chinese Cities and Industries”, this paper studies the impact of urban innovation levels on residents' SWB, supplementing the gaps in existing literature; (2) through group analysis, the heterogeneity of the impact of urban innovation level on groups with different incomes and education levels was discussed and (3) the mechanism of urban innovation level on residents' SWB was identified. These studies and discussions provide a basis for more effective improvement of residents' SWB and provide a valuable reference for promoting people's pursuit of a better life.

This paper aims to examine the effect of conditional conservatism on audit fees and whether the firm’s engagement in sustainable practices moderates the relationship between conditional conservatism and audit fees.

Using a sample of 3,767 firm-year observations from 14 European Union countries over the period of 2006–2019, the authors adopt the ordinary least square estimator to perform a panel data analysis of the effect of conditional conservatism on audit fees, and the moderating role of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores on the relationship between conditional conservatism and audit fees.

The authors find that conditional conservatism has a significant negative effect on audit fees, suggesting that auditors charge lower audit fees on more conservative clients. The authors also find that firms engaging in ESG actions, whether combined or individual, pay higher audit fees. More interestingly, the authors provide evidence that the negative effect of conditional conservatism on audit fees is mitigated only when ESG performance is considered in combination. This implies that firms exhibiting less commitment to ESG sustainability practices are prone to paying reduced audit fees when engaged in more conservative reporting. The findings remain robust after conducting a battery of tests.

The findings of this study have practical implications for several parties, including companies, auditors and regulators. This study emphasizes the potential benefit associated with using conservative accounting practices in terms of shaping downward the amount of audit fees. However, it also highlights the importance of considering the additional audit costs associated with higher ESG scores when making decisions about implementing sustainable practices.

Unlike prior studies that investigate the direct impact of sustainable practices on audit fees, the present work contributes to the literature on the benefits and costs of ESG by examining the moderating role of ESG performance in the association between audit fees and conditional conservatism. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine this relationship. Theoretically, the research integrates the theories of audit risk and agency to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the drivers of audit fees.

This study aims to conduct a comprehensive methodological review, exploring the strategies used to address endogeneity within the realms of corporate governance and financial reporting.

This research reviews the application of various methods to deal with endogeneity issue published in the 10 journals covering the corporate governance discipline included in the Web of Science’s Social Sciences Citation Index.

With a focus on empirical studies published in leading journals, the author scrutinizes the prevalence of endogeneity and the methodologies applied to mitigate its effects. The analysis reveals a predominant reliance on the two-stage least squares (2SLS) technique, a widely adopted instrumental variable (IV) approach. However, a notable observation emerges concerning the inconsistent utilization of clear exogenous IVs in some studies, highlighting a potential limitation in the application of 2SLS. Recognizing the challenges in identifying exogenous variables, the author proposes the generalized method of moments (GMM) as a viable alternative. GMM offers flexibility by not imposing the same exogeneity requirement on IVs but necessitates a larger sample size and an extended sample period.

The paper sensitizes researchers to the critical concern of endogeneity bias in governance research. It provides an outline for diagnosing and correcting potential bias, contributing to the awareness among researchers and encouraging a more critical approach to methodological choices, recognizing the prevalence of endogeneity in empirical studies, particularly focusing on the widely adopted 2SLS technique.

Practitioners, including corporate executives and managers, can benefit from the study’s insights by recognizing the importance of rigorous empirical research. Understanding the limitations and strengths of methodologies like 2SLS and GMM can inform evidence-based decision-making in the corporate governance realm.

This study aims to explore the relationship between the level of busyness of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and investment efficiency in the context of emerging markets.

The sample includes firms listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 2010 to 2018 using ordinary least square estimation.

The findings suggest that companies led by busy CEOs tend to exhibit lower investment efficiency, thus providing support for the hypothesis that as CEOs’ commitments increase, their ability to concentrate on the company diminishes. Furthermore, our analysis reveals that companies with busy CEOs tend to demonstrate a greater tendency to over-invest, potentially in response to market pressures to showcase strong performance. A more in-depth examination of the data shows that the negative impact of busy CEOs on investment efficiency is especially noticeable in firms lacking risk and management committees (RMC).

These findings have substantial practical implications for the structuring and composition of corporate boards. They highlight the significance of conducting comprehensive assessments to gain insights into the external commitments of incoming CEOs.

This study underscores the importance of establishing RMC.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of Islamic finance on women empowerment in Africa between the periods of 1975 and 2021.

This paper uses secondary data for 27 African countries obtained from the World Development Indicators, World Population Review and the Varieties of Democracy databases. Four dimensions of women empowerment, namely, economic, social, political and household, are considered while Islamic finance is proxied by a binary variable with 1 and 0 representing the presence and the absence of Islamic finance, respectively. The two-staged least square estimation technique is used to control for the problem of endogeneity.

This study revealed that Islamic finance positively affects women empowerment in Africa. Specifically, Islamic finance has positive and significant effects on women political empowerment, women economic empowerment and women social empowerment in Africa but nonsignificant effect on home empowerment. These effects are more pronounced in middle-income than in low-income countries and in countries with higher penetration rate of Islamic finance.

Policymakers should put in place the necessary mechanisms for the promotion of Islamic finance such as the enacting of laws that ensures the creation of full-fledged Islamic banks, encouraging research in Islamic finance and Islamic economics. These policies should equally be backed by the creation of some accompanying measures such as the abolition of social norms that limit women’s ability to take part in decision-making.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study involving an Africa continent-wide analysis of the effects of Islamic finance on women empowerment.