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This paper aims to demonstrate how financial leverage impacts firm investment and the extent to which this relationship is conditional on the level of information asymmetry as well as growth.

The paper relies on data from 2,403 Indian firms during the period 1995-2014, generating a total of 19,544 firm-year observations. Analysis is conducted by using various panel econometric techniques.

Drawing insights from agency theories, the paper uncovers that financial leverage is negatively and significantly related to firm investment. It is also observed that the impact of financial leverage on firm investment is significant for high information asymmetric firms. Finally, the paper shows that the relationship between leverage and firm investment is significant for low-growth firms. However, no significant relationship is found between leverage and investment for high-growth firms.

This paper provides fresh evidence on the leverage–investment nexus and, to the authors’ knowledge, it the first paper to examine the extent to which this leverage–investment relationship is driven by the level of information asymmetry.

Foreign market entry is considered as a key strategy to grow and survive over longer period of time for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The decision to enter a foreign market is not a straightforward story. Considering resource limitation, SMEs need to analyse the key barriers to entry in foreign markets very carefully. The purpose of this paper is to identify these barriers for the SMEs in a developing country.

This study has used primary data collected through questionnaires from 212 Bangladeshi SMEs. A mixed method data analysis technique is used to analyse the firms both from micro- and macro-levels. Following the running example-based case study approach, this study has developed and validated a partial least square-based structural model to assess the key barriers to entry in foreign markets.

This study has identified the key socio-economic barriers faced by the SMEs in a developing country to enter in foreign markets. It has successfully framed the socio-economic barriers to enter in foreign markets for Bangladeshi SMEs as a second-order hierarchical model.

It is often believed that foreign market entry is more affected by social barriers as explained by the existing theories including the Uppsala model. This study, however, revealed that the international market expansions of SMEs in developing countries are more sensitive to the economic barriers.

The aim of this paper is to consider the short‐run performance of UK firms acquiring foreign target firms over a period of 1994‐2003 and to explore the impact of deal size and other firm‐specific factors on performance. Cross‐border mergers and acquisitions have witnessed a substantial growth worldwide, with the UK being one of the top acquiring nations in the global market for corporate control.

The paper first uses event study methodology to analyse short‐run share price performance. Then a univariate analysis to examine the factors influencing the short‐run performance based on a sample of 373 acquisitions over the period of 1994 to 2003.

The study finds that the UK acquirers do not earn statistically significant positive abnormal returns in the short‐run. Univariate analysis shows that short‐run performance of UK acquirers is influenced by the form of target, acquisition strategy, geographical origin of target firm and the payment methods. However, the study finds no support for size of acquisition deal as a determinant of performance of acquiring firm.

The paper attempts to shed more light and extend existing research in cross‐border mergers and acquisitions by examining short‐run performance and factors influencing performance.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating effects of cognitive style dimensions on the relationship between entrepreneurs’ optimism and persistence.

This theoretically derived research model is empirically validated using survey data from 198 small and medium-sized enterprises in Ghana.

The study’s empirical findings are that the relationship between entrepreneurs’ optimism and entrepreneurial persistence is enhanced at higher levels of cognitive planning and creating styles. Somewhat interestingly, cognitive knowing style negatively moderates the relationship between optimism and entrepreneurial persistence.

The cross-sectional design of the study does not permit causal inferences to be made regarding the variables examined. Future studies may use longitudinal design to examine the causal links of the variables.

The results of this paper can assist entrepreneurs and policy-makers in understanding the dynamics and processes involved in entrepreneurial decision making. The understanding of this issue can promote the development and maintenance of entrepreneurial ventures.

The paper has a strong theoretical value as it relies on cognitive explanations of human behaviour, and seeks to advance the theoretical field by demonstrating the value of cognitive style within the domain of entrepreneurship.

This paper empirically examines the perceived relationship between banking sector performance and FDI inflows, thereby highlighting an underexplored area in the existing literature.

To provide evidence from the South Asian context, this study selected five economies of the same region based on the data availability. A panel dataset, collected from the internationally reliable sources for the period 1998–2017, is analyzed with the help of different econometric techniques, including pooled least squares, fixed effects, generalized least square and two stages least squares.

The results indicate a significant negative relationship between banking sector performance and FDI inflows while demonstrating a significant positive association of inflation and trade openness with FDI inflows Moreover, higher per capita income, which is one of the indicators of a growing economy, exerts a statistically significant positive impact on FDI inflows. Finally, institutional factors have not played a significant role in attracting FDI in the sampled countries.

The results demonstrate a unique outcome from the perspective of the relationship between banking sector performance and FDI inflows, and hence policymakers of the developing countries in general and South Asian countries in particular would benefit from the current study significantly.

The obtained results are original as we have provided comprehensive evidence on the relationship between FDI and banking sector performance in the SAARC context for the first time.