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Social information is crucial to credit ratings and can improve the accuracy of the traditional credit assessment model. Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV) and social capital theory (SCT), this research explores the relationships between corporate social activities, network centrality and corporate credit behavior.

The authors used social network analysis (SNA) and regression analysis to analyze the data collected from 14,544 enterprises on the Alibaba platform.

The results indicate that among the four types of social activities, the number of corporate questions and posts shows a positive relationship with credit behavior; while the number of corporate comments has negative relationship with credit behavior. Further, degree and betweenness centralities mediate the relationship between the number of corporate questions, posts and comments with credit behavior.

This study contributes to the literature on non-financial factors (soft information) by exploring the social behavioral factors related to corporate credit. In addition, this study offers a new theoretical lens and reasonable explanations for investigating the relationship between corporate social activities, network centrality and credit behavior from the perspective of the resource-based view, while most studies are predictive and methodological. Moreover, this study provides new insights for platforms to evaluate enterprise credit and for managers to improve credit behavior.

The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore how China uses a social credit system as part of its “data-driven authoritarianism” policy; and second, to investigate how datafication, which is a method to legitimize data collection, and dataveillance, which is continuous surveillance through the use of data, offer the Chinese state a legitimate method of monitoring, surveilling and controlling citizens, businesses and society. Taken together, China’s social credit system is analyzed as an integrated tool for datafication, dataveillance and data-driven authoritarianism.

This study combines the personal narratives of 22 Chinese citizens with policy analyses, online discussions and media reports. The stories were collected using a scenario-based story completion method to understand the participants’ perceptions of the recently introduced social credit system in China.

China’s new social credit system, which turns both online and offline behaviors into a credit score through smartphone apps, creates a “new normal” way of life for Chinese citizens. This data-driven authoritarianism uses data and technology to enhance citizen surveillance. Interactions between individuals, technologies and information emerge from understanding the system as one that provides social goods, using technologies, and raising concerns of privacy, security and collectivity. An integrated critical perspective that incorporates the concepts of datafication and dataveillance enhances a general understanding of how data-driven authoritarianism develops through the social credit system.

This study builds upon an ongoing debate and an emerging body of literature on datafication, dataveillance and digital sociology while filling empirical gaps in the study of the global South. The Chinese social credit system has growing recognition and importance as both a governing tool and a part of everyday datafication and dataveillance processes. Thus, these phenomena necessitate discussion of its consequences for, and applications by, the Chinese state and businesses, as well as affected individuals’ efforts to adapt to the system.

China is establishing a social credit rating system with the aim to score the trust level of citizens. The scores will be based on an integrated database that includes a vast range of information sources, rating aspects like professional conduct, corruption, type of products bought, peers’ own scores and tax evasion. While this form of gamification is expected to have dire consequences on brands and consumers alike, the literature in that particular area of interest remains non-existent. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

A conceptual framework is suggested that highlights early on the risks and implications on brands and companies operating in that particular upcoming landscape.

The gamification of trust that the social credit system focuses on presents potential risks on brand and consumer relationships. This in turn will affect brand sustainability vis-à-vis the expected drastic changes in the Chinese business landscape. This study suggests the strategies to follow which will be of high interest to companies, consumers, as well as to the Chinese authorities during and after implementation stage.

This paper is amongst the first to discuss the potential effects of the Chinese social credit rating system on brands. The conceptual framework fills a sizeable gap in the literature and pioneers the discussion on potential dilemmas brands will be faced with within this new business landscape.

This work aims to examine the access and disparity of institutional agricultural credit for small and marginal farmers across various social groups from three Indian states.

Field data on socio economic variables were collected using multi-stage stratified random sampling and purposive sampling through a structured questionnaire by interviewing about 400 cross sectional small and marginal farmers belonging to various social groups such as general caste, other backward caste, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Disparity of agricultural credit across different social groups is assessed using measures such as credit access, credit adequacy ratio, credit gap and newly constructed Agriculture Credit Disparity Index (ACDI).

The credit access, credit access ratio and newly constructed ACDI suggest that, by and large, farmers belonging to socially advantaged groups have better access to institutional agricultural assistance than farmers belonging to socially disadvantaged groups.

The agricultural credit policy of the government needs to incorporate measures to eliminate credit disparity primarily by correcting the poor socio-economic profile (especially lower asset ownership and higher illiteracy) of socially disadvantaged farmers compared to the farmers' counterparts.

This study contributes to the existing work by providing fresh evidence from the field across social groups for both kharif and rabi crops using recent survey data from small and marginal farmers which have important policy implications.

To enhance the loan repayment performance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Pakistan, this study aims to analyze the direct impact of social capital and loan credit terms on loan repayment performance and microenterprises’ business performance while considering the mediating role of microenterprises’ business performance on the relationship between social capital, loan credit terms and loan repayment performance.

The analysis was conducted based on the data gathered via a questionnaire distributed to 316 microenterprises owners. The respondents were selected using the stratified sampling technique by dividing the target population into three influential groups of manufacturing, trading and services microenterprises. The reliability and validity of the constructs were established using (1) factor loading, (2) Cronbach’s alpha, (3) composite reliability, (4) average variance extracted, (5) the variance inflation factor, (6) the Fornell–Larcker criterion and (7) the heterotrait–monotrait ratio. The structural equation modeling technique was then applied, and the hypotheses were tested based on the structure model generated through bootstrapping by using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

The results confirm the direct impact of social capital and loan credit terms on microenterprises’ business performance and loan repayment performance. It also supports the mediating role of microenterprises’ business performance toward the relationship between social capital, loan credit terms and loan repayment performance while considering the direct impact of microenterprises’ business performance on loan repayment performance.

To date, the direct impact of social capital and loan credit terms on microenterprises’ business performance and loan repayment performance has been hardly investigated in the context of Pakistan. This study also examines the mediating role of microenterprises’ business performance toward social capital, loan credit terms and loan repayment performance. The findings will enable both MFIs and microenterprises to improve their business performance and loan repayment performance through enhanced social ties and the development of more flexible credit products that protect the borrowers’ interests and the interest of lenders.

The use of consumer credit by Chinese citizens has risen rapidly in the Internet era. The purpose of this paper is to predict a mechanism for credit consumption through Internet usage, with social comparison and materialism as mediators. Four types of Internet usage (social use, entertainment use, informational use, and online shopping) were identified to investigate whether different types of Internet usage influence credit consumption differently and whether the influencing mechanisms vary.

A structured online survey involving 558 valid responses from Chinese college students was completed, with structural equation modeling being applied to analyze the collected data.

Among the four types of Internet activities, online shopping was found to be the most significant predictor of credit consumption; results show that it influences credit consumption through two indirect pathways: materialism and a combination of social comparison and materialism. Social use was found to only affect credit consumption through materialism. In contrast, the influences of both informational use and entertainment use on credit consumption were insignificant.

By testing the concurrent mediating effects of social comparison and materialism, this study broadens our understanding of how Internet usage and credit consumption are connected. While most studies empirically test overall Internet usage and focus on direct relationships, we identify four types of Internet activities and demonstrate the mechanisms by which different types of Internet usage influence credit consumption, and how consumption varies based on Internet activity.

The aim of this paper is to investigate causal link between social capital and microfinance by testing the role of social capital in explaining the household's access to microcredit under the group‐based lending approach.

Household level primary data was collected from a rural district of Pakistan. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to construct a social capital index, whereas two logit models were developed to predict the probabilities of access to credit. Besides, few qualitative statements have also been used to supplement the results from main empirical analysis and to understand the impact mechanism of social capital on microfinance participation.

Participation in local organizations, heterogeneity of associations and level of both generalized and institutional trust were identified as the key dimensions of structural and cognitive social capital to influence households' access to credit. On the other hand, when these dimensions were combined in a single social capital index, the result indicated that social capital index has no significant effect on microfinance participation. This result provides support to the argument that grouping all the dimensions of social capital into one index may run the risk of losing the explanatory power of social capital.

The results of the study could be encouraging for governments and other development agencies. The existing social capital could be utilized in the design and delivery of microfinance programs as well as other rural development activities. The results of the study also encourage policy makers to invest in the creation of social capital either directly or by providing environment supportive of its creation.

The study is a contribution to the limited empirical literature on social capital and microfinance. This study is the first of its kind in Pakistan and hopefully will contribute to the limited knowledge on social capital literature in the country generally and in the context of rural development specifically.

This study aims to provide further insights into the connection between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and companies’ credit ratings, while also exploring the role of corporate governance as a moderating factor. The hypotheses for this relationship are rooted in both legitimacy and stakeholder theories.

Using a sample of French non-financial listed firms from 2007 to 2020, this paper uses the ordered probit model introduced by Greene (2000). The issue of endogeneity has also been addressed.

The study reveals that CSR practices positively impact companies’ credit ratings by enhancing solvency and financial performance. Specifically, firms that prioritize CSR, particularly in the social and environmental dimensions (such as community relations, diversity, employee relations, environmental performance and product characteristics), tend to have higher credit ratings and a reduced risk of default. This suggests that credit rating agencies likely incorporate CSR performance when assigning credit ratings. Furthermore, the quality of corporate governance acts as a moderator, strengthening the relationship between CSR and credit ratings. The findings remain robust even after accounting for key firm attributes and addressing potential endogeneity between CSR and credit ratings.

This research provides valuable guidance for policymakers, corporate managers, investors and other stakeholders, as it offers insights into the influence of CSR activities on risk premiums and financing costs. For financial institutions, expanding credit decisions to encompass non-financial factors such as CSR can result in more accurate predictions of firm credit quality compared to relying solely on financial indicators.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study stands out as the first to systematically examine the relationship between CSR and credit ratings within the French context. Moreover, it distinguishes itself by investigating the moderating influence of corporate governance on this relationship, setting it apart from prior research.

By applying the information-motivation-behavioral (IMB) skills model, the purpose of this paper is to examine the direct and indirect effects of credit card knowledge and social motivation on credit card misuse behavior mediated through credit card self-efficacy among college students in the USA.

A sample of 427 participants was surveyed. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the hypothesized model.

Credit card knowledge and social motivation were inversely associated with credit card misuse mediated through credit card self-efficacy. Credit card knowledge had a direct negative relationship with credit card misuse. The results confirm the theoretical relationships in the IMB model.

The results offer several implications for bank marketers and policy makers. The IMB model could be used to predict credit card abuse among college students; credit card literacy programs should incorporate strategies that can enhance students’ knowledge, social motivation, and behavioral skills with regard to responsible use of credit cards.

This study is unique in that it applies the IMB model to examine predictors of credit card misuse among college students.