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This study aims to examine whether diversified economies enhance the growth benefits from foreign direct investment (FDI). Diversified economies benefit from stable export earnings, stable investment composition and greater factor endowments through forward and backward linkages that can leverage superior foreign technology embedded in FDI. This is crucial as many African economies suffer from dependency while FDI is concentrated in the primary sector.

The authors use a dataset of 15 Economic Community of West African States from 1995 to 2020 and compile variables from various sources, including an export diversification index measured using the Herfindahl–Hirschman index of product concentration. The authors use a growth regression model estimated using dynamic panel estimators to control for endogeneity and simultaneity issues.

The results show that the effects of direct FDI are insignificant to growth considering diversification and controlling for other confounding factors. Meanwhile, diversification is associated with growth, which highlights the importance of industrial policy. More importantly, the authors find that the marginal effects of FDI are positively and significantly associated with growth when diversification levels are low, implying that production structure matters for the FDI–growth nexus in developing economies.

Previous studies have overlooked the role of export production structure on the FDI–growth nexus. Many developing economies are dependent on primary exports and suffer from dependency, which implies lower levels of factor endowments. As such, this reduces the growth gains from FDI. The authors provide new empirical evidence on the importance of export production structure on the FDI–growth nexus.

This study aims to examine the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows on tax revenue in 34 developed and developing countries from 2006 to 2020.

Feasible generalised least squares (FGLS), a dynamic panel of a two-step system generalised method of moments (GMM) system and a pool mean group (PMG) panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach were used to compare the developed and developing countries. Basic estimators were used as pre-estimators and diagnostic tests were used to increase robustness.

The FGLS, a two-step system of GMM, PMG–ARDL estimator’s results showed that there was a significant negative long and positive short-term in most countries relationship between FDI inflows and tax revenue in developed countries. This study concluded that attracting investments can improve the quality of institutions despite high tax rates, leading to low tax revenue. Meanwhile, there was a significant positive long and negative short-term relationship between FDI inflows and tax revenue in the developing countries. The developing countries sought to attract FDI that could be used to create job opportunities and transfer technology to simultaneously develop infrastructure and impose a tax policy that would achieve high tax revenue.

The present study sheds light on the effect of FDI on tax revenue and compares developed and developing countries through the design and implementation of policies to create jobs, transfer technology and attain economic growth in order to assure foreign investors that they would gain continuous high profits from their investments.

The main purpose of this research is to examine the impact of institutional quality and sectoral employment on environmental degradation in developing countries. This paper also re-examined the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis and estimated the long run impact of explanatory variables on CO₂ emissions.

In this paper, the balanced panel data for the period 2002–2016 was used based on data availability and applied two-step SYS-GMM estimators.

The results showed that institutional quality such as government effectiveness (GE) and the rule of law (RL) reduce CO₂ emissions and promote environmental quality in developing countries. Interestingly, the authors found new evidence that employment in agriculture and industry has a positive impact on pollution, while employment in the service sector was negatively associated with CO₂ emissions, and the validity of the EKC hypothesis was confirmed. In addition, the research suggests that strong institutional frameworks and their effective implementation are the most important panacea and should be treated as a top priority to counteract environmental degradation and achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

This is the first study to examine the short run and long run effects of institutional quality and sectoral employment on environmental degradation using the balanced panel data for a large sample of developing countries. This paper also used a special technique of Driscoll and Kraay standard error approach to confirm the robustness results and showed the different roles of sectoral employment on environmental quality.

This paper explores the implications of financial inclusion and financial development for the conduct of monetary policy in achieving price stability and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

The paper employs the system-generalized methods of moment (GMM) estimation technique using panel data spanning 2004 to 2019 and sourced from Databases of (International Monetary Fund's) IMF's Financial Access Survey (FAS), IMF's International Financial Statistics (IFS), World Bank's Global Financial Development Database (GFDD) and World Bank's World Development Indicators (WDI).

The authors find that financial inclusion has a double-edge effect in SSA. That is, it increases economic growth and lowers inflation in SSA. Furthermore, the results show that a simultaneous increase in financial inclusion and financial development have restrictive effects on economic growth. On the evidence provided, the authors conclude that financial inclusion is an important predictor of economic growth and the conduct of monetary policy in the sub-region.

This paper expands and contributes to the frontier of knowledge how financial inclusion is important for the conduct of monetary policy by monetary authorities in achieving its intended objectives in SSA. The paper highlights the need for ongoing enhancement of financial inclusion of many governments in the sub-region to achieving high economic growth and price stability. Thus, there is the need for policy makers to ensure that a more stringent, effective and appropriate policies and measures are put in place to enhance financial inclusion while taking into consideration the extent of financial development in SSA.

Despite the longstanding male dominance in the socio-politico-economic spheres, recent decades have witnessed remarkable improvements in gender inclusion. Although the issue of gender inclusion has been widely documented, answers to the question of whether institutional arrangements and information technology shape gender inclusion remain contentious. This study, therefore, empirically examines the effects of institutional quality and ICT penetration on gender inclusion on a global scale.

To control for the endogeneity of modeled variables and cross-sectional dependence inherent with large panel datasets, the study employs the Driscoll-Kraay Fixed Effects (DKFE) and the system Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) estimators for a panel of 142 countries from 1996 to 2020.

The empirical findings from the DKFE and system GMM estimators reveal that strong institutions significantly enhance gender inclusion. Moreover, by disaggregating institutional quality into various governance indicators, we show that besides corruption control, which has a positive but insignificant effect on women’s empowerment, other governance indicators significantly enhance gender inclusion. Furthermore, there is evidence that various ICT measures promote gender inclusion.

The study results suggest that policymakers in developing countries should implement stringent measures to curb corruption. Moreover, policymakers in low-income countries should create avenues to facilitate women’s access to ICTs. Hence, policymakers in low-income countries should create and equip ICT training centers and render them accessible to all categories of women. Furthermore, developed countries with high-tech knowledge could help developing countries by organizing free training workshops and sensitization campaigns concerning the use of ICTs vis-à-vis women empowerment in various fields of life.

The present study fills a significant research gap by comprehensively exploring the nexuses between governance, ICT penetration, and the socio-politico-economic dimensions of gender inclusion from a global perspective. Besides the paucity of studies in this regard, the few existing studies have either been focused on region and country-specific case studies in developed or developing economies. Moreover, this study is timely, given the importance placed on gender inclusion (SDG5), quality of institutions (SDG16), and ICT penetration (SDG9) in the 2015–2030 global development agenda.

This study aims to determine how Basel III capital requirements affect the stability of Islamic banks globally during the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The secondary data for all Islamic banks worldwide from 2004 to 2021 is obtained from the FitchConnect database. The main technique was a two-step generalized method of moment (GMM) system, and the data were tested using pooled ordinary least squares, fixed effects and difference GMM models for robustness checks.

Regression results support the moral hazard hypothesis based on evidence that both the total capital ratio and the Tier 1 capital ratio have a statistically significant positive impact on the stability of Islamic banks globally. Furthermore, neither the global financial crisis of 2008–2009 nor COVID-19 (2020–2021) significantly impacted the stability of Islamic banks worldwide. The results are robust across alternative measures of stability, capital buffers, dummy variables and estimation techniques. According to the descriptive statistics, the number of Islamic banks that disclose their regulatory capital ratios to the public has increased over the study period, and the mean of total capital and Tier 1 ratios are considerably greater than what is required by Basel II and Basel III.

Bankers, regulators and policymakers should benefit from the evidence on capital and risk management in Islamic banking according to Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and Islamic financial services board (IFSB) international standards in various jurisdictions.

This research builds on earlier studies that were both beneficial and instructive by exploring the relationship between BCBS and IFSB capital guidelines and the trustworthiness of Islamic banks in greater depth. This study uses numerous capital ratios, buffers and stability measures to provide an international context for research on Islamic banking. In addition, the database is up-to-date to include information about the COVID-19 pandemic aftereffects in the year 2021. This study also introduces the Basel membership of Islamic banks to provide context for countries still at the Basel II stage or are yet to begin implementing the Basel III international standard.

This study aims to examine the impact of institutional investors and their classes on the stock return volatility of an emerging market. The paper also determines the moderating role of firm size, crisis and turnover on such relationships.

The study covers nonfinancial companies of the Bombay Stock Exchange-100 index that are listed during the study period. The study uses fixed effects and systematic generalized method of moments estimators to look over the association between institutional investors and firms’ stock return volatility.

The study provides evidence that institutional investors destabilize the Indian stock market. It indicates that institutional investors do not engage in management activities; they earn short-term gains depending on information efficiency. Pressure-insensitive institutional investors have a significant positive relation with stock return volatility, while pressure-sensitive institutional investors do not. The study also reflects that pressure-sensitive institutional investors are underweighted in India, which jointly represents an insignificant nonlinear association between institutional ownership and stocks’ volatility. Furthermore, outcomes reveal that the intersection effect of the crisis, firm size and turnover is positively and significantly related to such relationships.

The outcomes encourage initiatives that keep track of institutional investors in the Indian stock market. To control the destabilizing effect of pressure-insensitive institutional investors, regulators should follow strict regulations on their trading patterns. Moreover, it guides the potential researchers that they should also take into account the impact of other classes of ownership structure or what type of ownership can help in stabilizing or destabilizing the Indian stock market.

Abundant literature studies the relationship between institutional ownership and firm performance in the Indian context. From the standpoint of making management decisions, the return and volatility of stock returns are both different aspects. However, this study examines the effect of institutional ownership and its groups on the volatility of stock return using the panel data estimator, which was previously not discussed in the literature.

The aim of the research is to examine in depth the relationship between financial support, entrepreneurship and economic growth in emerging African economies.

The study adopts the system-generalized methods of moments (sys-GMM) technique for data analysis and hypothesis testing on a sample of 34 African emerging economies (340 observations) from 2010 to 2019.

The results show that there is significant positive correlation between financial support, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. Moreover, entrepreneurship served as a partial mediator between financial support and economic growth in African emerging economies.

This research suggests that African governments should focus on entrepreneurial systems, which are essentially networks driven by the pursuit of individual opportunities and the promotion of new business creation; and introduce other forms of financial assistance, such as loans, loan guarantees, interest subsidies, technical assistance, insurance, etc.

The main novelty of the paper is that the authors empirically investigate the mediating role of entrepreneurship in the association between financial support and economic growth in 34 African emerging economies.

This study investigates the role of market concentration and efficiency in banking system stability during the COVID-19 pandemic. We empirically test the hypothesis that market concentration and efficiency are significant determinants of bank performance and stability during the time of crises, using a sample of 575 banks in 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

The main sources of bank data are the BankScope and BankFocus (Bureau van Dijk) databases, World Bank development indicators, and official websites of banks in MENA countries. This study combined descriptive and analytical approaches. We utilize a panel dataset and adopt panel data econometric techniques such as fixed/random effects and the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator.

The results reveal that market concentration negatively affects bank profitability, whereas improved efficiency further enhances bank performance and contributes to the banking sector’s overall stability. Furthermore, our analysis indicates that during the COVID-19 pandemic, bank stability strongly depended on the level of market concentration, but not on bank efficiency. However, more efficient banks are more profitable and stable if the banking institutions are Islamic. Similarly, Islamic banks with the same level of efficiency demonstrated better overall financial performance during the pandemic than their conventional peers did.

The main limitation is related to the period of COVID-19 pandemic that was covered in this paper (2020–2021). Therefore, further investigation of the COVID-19 effects on bank profitability and risk will require an extended period of the pandemic crisis, including 2022.

This study provides information that will enable bank managers and policymakers in MENA countries to assess the growing impact of market concentration and efficiency on the banking sector stability. It also helps them in formulating suitable strategies to mitigate the adverse consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our recommendations are useful guides for policymakers and regulators in countries where Islamic and conventional banking systems co-exist and compete, based on different business models and risk management practices.

The authors contribute to the banking stability literature by investigating the role of market concentration and efficiency as the main determinants of bank performance and stability during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study is the first to analyze banking sector stability in the MENA region, using both individual and risk-adjusted aggregated performance measures.

Insurance companies play a significant role in every economy; hence, it is essential to investigate and understand the factors that propel their profitability. Unlike previous studies that present a linear relationship, this study provides initial evidence by exploring the non-linear impacts of the determinants of profitability amongst life insurers in South Africa.

The study uses a panel dataset of 62 life insurers in South Africa, covering 2013–2019. The generalised method of moments and the dynamic panel threshold estimation technique were used to estimate the relationship.

The empirical results from the direct relationship reveal that investment income and solvency significantly predict life insurance companies' profitability. On the other hand, underwriting risk, reinsurance and size reduce profitability. Further, the dynamic panel threshold analysis confirms non-linearities in the relationships. The results show that insurance size, investment income and solvency promote profitability beyond a threshold level, implying a propelling effect on life insurers' profitability at higher levels. Below the threshold, these factors have an adverse effect. The study further points to underwriting risk, reinsurance and leverage having a reduced effect on life insurers' profitability when they fall above the threshold level.

The findings suggest that insurers interested in boosting their profit position must commit more resources to maintain their solvency and manage their assets and returns on investment. The study further recommends that effective control of underwriting risk is critical to the profitability of the life insurance industry.

The study contributes to the literature by providing first-time evidence on the determinants of life insurance companies' profitability by way of exploring threshold effects in South Africa.