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Factor investment is booming in global asset management, especially environmental, social, and governance (ESG), dividend yield, and volatility factors. In this chapter, we use data from the US securities market from 2003 to 2019 to predict dividends and volatility factors through machine learning and historical data–based methods. After that, we utilize particle swarm optimization to construct the Markowitz portfolio with limits on the number of assets and weight restrictions. The empirical results show that that the prediction ability using XGBoost is superior to the historical factor investment method. Moreover, the investment performance of our portfolio with ESG, high-yield, and low-volatility factors outperforms baseline methods, especially the S&P 500 ETF.

The utilisation of renewable energy sources for generating electricity and potable water is one of the most sustainable approaches in the current scenario. Therefore, the current research aims to design and develop a novel co-generation system to address the electricity and potable water needs of rural areas.

The cogeneration system mainly consists of a solar parabolic dish concentrator (SPDC) system with a concentrated photo-voltaic module at the receiver for electricity generation. It is further integrated with a low-temperature thermal desalination (LTTD) system for generating potable water. Also, a novel corn cob filtration system is introduced for the pre-treatment to reduce the salt content in seawater before circulating it into the receiver of the SPDC system. The designed novel co-generation system has been numerically and experimentally tested to analyse the performance at Karaikal, U.T. of Puducherry, India.

Because of the pre-treatment with a corn cob, the scale formation in the pipes of the SPDC system is significantly reduced, which enhances the efficiency of the system. It is observed that the conductivity, pH and TDS of seawater are reduced significantly after the pre-treatment by the corncob filtration system. Also, the integrated system is capable of generating 6–8 litres of potable water per day.

The integration of the corncob filtration system reduced the scaling formation compared to the general circulation of water in the hoses. Also, the integrated SPDC and LTTD systems are comparatively economical to generate higher yields of clean water than solar stills.

The authors explore the relationship between the exchange rate, bond yield and the stock market as well as the effect of capital market dynamics on the exchange rate before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authors employ a non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) methodology using daily data of the Indonesian economy over the period 2012–2021.

Whilst, over the full sample period, the authors find no cointegration between the exchange rate, the 10-year bond yield and stock market, for the COVID-19 period, evidence of cointegration is present. Furthermore, the results suggest that asymmetric effects are evident both in the short as well as the long run.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that the relationship between the exchange rate, bond yield and the stock market as well as the effect of capital market dynamics on the exchange rate before and during the COVID-19 pandemic has been explored in the case of the Indonesian economy.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the effect of basin water depth towards the cumulative distillate yield of the traditional and developed single basin double slope solar still (DSSS).

Modified single basin DSSS integrated with solar operated vacuum fan and external water cooled condenser was fabricated using aluminium material. During sunny season, experimental investigations have been performed in both conventional and modified DSSS at a basin water depth of 3, 6, 9 and 12 cm. Production rate and cumulative distillate yield obtained in traditional and developed DSSS at different water depths were compared and best water depth to attain the maximum productivity and cumulative distillate yield was found out.

Results indicated that both traditional and modified double SS produced maximum yield at the minimum water depth of 3 cm. Cumulative distillate yield of the developed SS was 16.39%, 18.86%, 15.22% and 17.07% higher than traditional at water depths of 3, 6, 9 and 12 cm, respectively. Cumulative distillate yield of the developed SS at 3 cm water depth was 73.17% higher than that of the traditional SS at 12 cm depth.

Performance evaluation of DSSS at various water depths by integrating the combined solar operated Vacuum fan and external Condenser.

Over the last few years, the European Central Bank (ECB) has adopted unconventional monetary policies. These measures aim to boost economic growth and increase inflation through the bond market. The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of the ECB’s quantitative easing (QE) on the investor’s behavior in the stock market.

First, the authors theoretically identify the transmission channels of the QE shocks to the stock market. Then, the authors empirically assess the financial market’s responses to QE shocks in a data-rich environment using a factor augmented VAR (FAVAR).

The results show that the ECB’s unconventional monetary policy positively affects the stock market. A QE shock leads to an increase in stock prices and a drop in the realized volatility and the implied risk premium. The authors also suggest that the ECB’s QE is transmitted to the stock market through five main channels: the liquidity, the expectation, the portfolio reallocation, the interest rates and the risk premium channels.

The findings help to better understand the behavior of stock market assets in a data-rich economic context and guide investors and policymakers in the presence of unconventional monetary tools. For instance, decision-makers and investors should consider the short-term effect of the QE interventions and the changing behavior of the financial actors over time. In addition, high stock market returns can increase risk appetite. This can lead investors to underestimate the market risk. Decision-makers and market participants should take into consideration the impact of the large injection of money through the QE, which may raise the risk of a speculative bubble in the financial market.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that incorporates a theoretical and empirical analysis to explore QE transmission to the stock market in the European context. Unlike previous studies, the authors use the shadow rate proposed by Wu and Xia (2017) to quantify the effect of the ECB’s QE in a data-rich environment. The authors also include two key risk indicators – the stock market risk premium and the realized volatility – to capture investors’ behavior in the stock market following QE shocks.

This study aims to undertake a comprehensive examination of heat transfer by convection in porous systems with top and bottom walls insulated and differently heated vertical walls under a magnetic field. For a specific nanofluid, the study aims to bring out the effects of different segmental heating arrangements.

An existing in-house code based on the finite volume method has provided the numerical solution of the coupled nondimensional transport equations. Following a validation study, different explorations include the variations of Darcy–Rayleigh number (Ra_m = 10–10⁴), Darcy number (Da = 10^–5–10^–1) segmented arrangements of heaters of identical total length, porosity index (ε = 0.1–1) and aspect ratio of the cavity (AR = 0.25–2) under Hartmann number (Ha = 10–70) and volume fraction of φ = 0.1% for the nanoparticles. In the analysis, there are major roles of the streamlines, isotherms and heatlines on the vertical mid-plane of the cavity and the profiles of the flow velocity and temperature on the central line of the section.

The finding of a monotonic rise in the heat transfer rate with an increase in Ra_m from 10 to 10⁴ has prompted a further comparison of the rate at Ra_m equal to 10⁴ with the total length of the heaters kept constant in all the cases. With respect to uniform heating of one entire wall, the study reveals a significant advantage of 246% rate enhancement from two equal heater segments placed centrally on opposite walls. This rate has emerged higher by 82% and 249%, respectively, with both the segments placed at the top and one at the bottom and one at the top. An increase in the number of centrally arranged heaters on each wall from one to five has yielded 286% rate enhancement. Changes in the ratio of the cavity height-to-length from 1.0 to 0.2 and 2 cause the rate to decrease by 50% and increase by 21%, respectively.

Further research with additional parameters, geometries and configurations will consolidate the understanding. Experimental validation can complement the numerical simulations presented in this study.

This research contributes to the field by integrating segmented heating, magnetic fields and hybrid nanofluid in a porous flow domain, addressing existing research gaps. The findings provide valuable insights for enhancing thermal performance, and controlling heat transfer locally, and have implications for medical treatments, thermal management systems and related fields. The research opens up new possibilities for precise thermal management and offers directions for future investigations.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between prudence in risk attitudes and patience of time preference of Chinese apple growers regarding off-farm cold storage of production and marketing in non-harvest seasons. The authors also consider the effect of farmer participation in cooperative-like organizations known as Farm Bases (FBs).

The authors use multiple list methods and elicitation strategies to measure Chinese apple farmers' risk attitudes and time preferences. Because these farmers can either sell their apples immediately to supermarkets or intermediaries or place them in storage, the authors assess correlations between their storage decisions and their preferences regarding risk and time. The authors also differentiate risks involving gains and losses and empirically examine individual risk attitudes in different scenarios.

Marketing decisions are moderately associated with risk attitudes but not time preference. Farmers with memberships in local farmer cooperatives are likely to speculate more in cold storage. Thus, risk aversion behavioral and psychological motives affect farmers' decision-making of cold storage and intertemporal marketing activities. However, membership in cooperatives does not always result in improved income and welfare for farmers.

The research confirms that behavioral factors may strongly drive vulnerable smallholder farmers to speculate into storage even under seasonal and uncertain marketing volatility. There is the need to think deeper about the rationale of promoting cooperatives and other agricultural forms, because imposing these without careful consideration can have negative impacts.

Do risk and time preferences affect the decision of farmers to utilize storage facilities? This question is important because it is not clear if and how risk preferences affect the tradeoff between consuming today and saving for tomorrow, especially for farmers in developing countries.

Despite being a Muslim-dominated country, Bangladesh has widely embraced traditional microfinance since its inception in the mid-1970s. However, Islamic microfinance, which has a lot to offer to the poor, is still in its infancy and has yet to gain momentum in the country. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the importance of Islamic microfinance and propose alternative Shariah-compliant microfinance models in Bangladesh.

This study is based on the desk research method, which relies on existing literature to collect secondary data on key concerns of traditional microfinance programs. In addition, institutional-level secondary data were also collected from the Microcredit Regulatory Authority (MRA) of Bangladesh. Guided by the Maqasid-al-Shariah, this study then proposes several Islamic microfinance models to overcome selected challenges faced by the microfinance industry in Bangladesh.

This study suggested three composite Shariah-compliant microfinance models, which are likely to help the underprivileged and thus ensure the achievement of the sustainable development goals in Bangladesh. The first model explained how the operational strategy of incumbent microfinance institutions (MFIs) could be restructured, while the second proposed the organizational strategies for establishing a new MFI. The third model used the notion of Sadaqah (charity) to address the multiple borrowing issues of the industry. Meanwhile, the successful transformation of the conventional microfinance industry to an Islamic one is dependent on the effective collaboration between the regulatory authorities, practitioners and MFIs.

Albeit the paucity of literature on the topic, the findings of this study will guide policymakers/practitioners in designing relevant microfinance models to help transform conventional microfinance into Islamic microfinance in Bangladesh.

The study aims to estimate the short- and long-run effects of monetary policy on residential property prices in South Africa. Over the past decades, there has been a monetary policy shift, from targeting money supply and exchange rate to inflation. The shifts have affected residential property market dynamics.

The Johansen cointegration approach was used to estimate the effects of changes in monetary policy proxies on residential property prices using quarterly data from 1980 to 2022.

Mortgage finance and economic growth have a significant positive long-run effect on residential property prices. The consumer price index, the inflation targeting framework, interest rates and exchange rates have a significant negative long-run effect on residential property prices. The Granger causality test has depicted that exchange rate significantly influences residential property prices in the short run, and interest rates, inflation targeting framework, gross domestic product, money supply consumer price index and exchange rate can quickly return to equilibrium when they are in disequilibrium.

There are limited arguments whether the inflation targeting monetary policy framework in South Africa has prevented residential property market boom and bust scenarios. The study has found that the implementation of inflation targeting framework has successfully reduced booms in residential property prices in South Africa.

In this article, the aim is to document the divergences/convergences between the market perceptions of quality and the financial estimations for office buildings relative to the notion of centrality and the distance to the central business district (CBD).

Based on a hierarchical approach that decomposes and estimates the perceived quality of buildings from the stakeholders’ perspectives, we study the geographies of perceived quality measures in the Greater Paris Metropolis and compare them to the financial geography.

The perceived location quality decreases with distance from the CBD whereas judgments on the built structure and the workplace do not, exhibiting a ring-shaped pattern. The gradient of the components of the perceived quality are heterogeneous, having positive, negative or null values. Appraisers tend only to consider the quality of location in their estimations.

This article raises the issue of fair spatial judgments by appraisers and the financial market. Monocentricity is not the rule in the market perceptions of quality. It suggests that financial estimates are strongly biased, with mental representation of centrality as a judgmental heuristic.