Search results

Purpose: This conceptual paper aims to identify how financial inclusion relates to sustainability and the level of sustainable development.

Methodology: The paper used discourse analysis to identify how financial inclusion relates to sustainability and the level of sustainable development.

Finding: The paper argued that granting access to basic formal financial services contributes to greater sustainable development by ensuring that access to finance is guaranteed sustainably, and basic financial services are provided sustainably and based on sustainability principles to yield a lasting impact for sustainable development. The paper also argued that financial inclusion increases the level of sustainable development because financial inclusion increases the economic opportunities and social welfare of banked adults while it only provides limited benefits for the environment. This approach links financial inclusion to sustainable development by adopting sustainability principles in offering basic financial services to banked adults.

Implication: Consequently, a synergy between financial inclusion and sustainable development is needed. The synergy should be based on sustainability principles, requiring policies integrating financial inclusion into the sustainable development agenda.

Originality: This paper is the first to identify the relationship between the financial inclusion agenda, the sustainable development agenda and the sustainability agenda.

This paper examines the influence of financial leverage on the financial sustainability of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and the moderating role of the percentage of female borrowers (PFB).

The study uses a global sample of 646 MFIs drawn from the World Bank Mix Market and panel data for 2010–2018. The study employs ordinary least squares (OLS) and the one-step system generalized method of moments (SGMM) as regression estimation methods.

The findings of this study reveal that financial leverage and the PFB have a negative and significant effect on financial sustainability. The findings further show that the interaction between financial leverage and the PFB positively affects the financial sustainability of MFIs.

The findings inform MFIs' managers on the adverse effect of financial leverage and the PFB in their quest for financial sustainability. The findings also demonstrate that MFIs can leverage female borrowers to reverse the adverse effect of financial leverage on financial sustainability of MFIs.

Previous studies examined the direct effect of financial leverage and reported incongruent results. Because female borrowers are at the epicenter of MFI lending, this study fills the gap in the literature by examining whether the proportion of female borrowers moderates the relationship between financial leverage and MFIs' financial sustainability using a global dataset.

Financial problems of football clubs during economic crises (such as COVID-19 pandemic) highlight the necessity of achieving economic sustainability. In addition, the economic sustainability of football clubs is accepted as a principle of the development of sports business. Therefore, it is reasonable to conduct a study with the aim of examining economic sustainability in the field of sports club management.

The present study adopted a qualitative approach to research and used semi-structured interviews in order to develop a framework for the economic sustainability of football clubs. A total of 13 members of football clubs in the Iranian premier league participated in this study.

The findings highlighted the fact that a number of factors, including media and social networks, entrepreneurship and development of club business, commercialization of the club, privatization, investment and ownership, strategic communication plan, financial management and management instability, promoted the economic sustainability of football clubs and improved their financial performance.

This study highlighted the importance of the changes in the structure of football clubs and the strategic plans for promoting entrepreneurship and commercialization. Moreover, it underlined the major role of the environmental and management components of football clubs in their financial sustainability.

Construction sustainability (CS) is a strategic reaction to the sustainability expectations of the construction industry's external stakeholders. The extant literature has viewed the environmental, social and economic dimensions of CS as having independent effects on financial performance. Due to the influence of common stakeholders, however, interactions in these dimensions will be present in their effect on financial performance. Accordingly, this study identifies the mechanisms of the interactions between the three CS dimensions and how they jointly affect financial performance.

Content analysis of GRI reports of 60 large construction organisations, followed by a hierarchical regression analysis was used to identify the interactions between environmental, social and economic CS in their effect on financial performance.

Economic CS was found to indirectly, and not directly, affect financial performance, the effect being mediated by both environmental and social CS. Environmental CS was found to have a strong negative effect on financial performance, whilst social CS was found to have a strongly significant positive effect on financial performance.

The motivation for engaging in CS is that investment in economic CS will have a positive effect on both environmental and social CS outcomes, which, in turn can have a combined effect on financial performance.

This is one of the first studies investigating the effect of interactions between the environmental, social and economic CS dimensions on the financial performance of construction organisations. It is also one of the first studies that applies a sociotechnical framework to this relationship.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the financial sustainability of Islamic Saving Credit Corporative Society (SACCOS) and the factor(s) affecting their financial sustainability in the Tanzanian context.

The data set used in this study comes from four SACCOS audited financial reports from the year 2010 to 2014 and from interviews with SACCOS’s management.

The study found that the IMFIs in Tanzania are not financially sustainable. Additionally, having responsible staff members, regular review of financial guidelines, education to members, cooperation between employees and management and staff training are found to be highly contributing factors towards SACCOS’s financial sustainability. Moreover, the findings reveal that depending on the single source of income, i.e., charges on members contributed much in these SACCOS’s not being financially sustainable.

Only two available registered Islamic SACCOS was used. Additionally, conventional SACCOS have been in service provision for a long time as compared to Islamic ones; hence, caution must be taken for comparison purposes.

Based on these findings, the Islamic SACCOS needs to initiate productive projects that can enable them to have other income sources apart from charges on members.

This study traces the financial trend of Islamic SACCOS in Tanzania since its establishment in 2010. Such trace enables Islamic SACCOS and other stakeholders to be aware on the financial progress of Islamic SACCOS and act accordingly to ensure sustainability.

Global investors demand, regulators require, and companies disclose their sustainability performance information, and scholars have started to conduct research on sustainability performance, reporting and assurance. The goal of firm value creation can be achieved when management considers the interests of all stakeholders and integrates all five economic, governance, social, ethical, and environmental (EGSEE) dimensions of sustainability performance into managerial strategies, actions and reporting. This paper provides a synthesis of research on sustainability and presents a theoretical framework consisting of theories and standards relevant to all five EGSEE dimensions of sustainability performance and risks and their integration into corporate culture, business models and reporting in creating stakeholder value.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the financial sustainability of Tanzanian saving and credit cooperatives (SACCOs).

The data set used in this study comes from SACCOs’ audited financial reports for the year 2011. The performance was estimated using return on asset (ROA) and financial sustainability was estimated using the ratio of total expenses to total revenue. Linear regression was used to investigate the determinants of financial sustainability.

The results show that, about 61 per cent of the sample SACCOs is operationally sustainable and 51 per cent of the total sample is both operationally and financially sustainable. The average sustainability score was 127 per cent. On average, the results for profitability (measured by ROA) is higher than some of the results reported for standard microfinance in the region and globally. In terms of sustainability the result forecasts a promising future for financial cooperative business model as an alternative form of financing the poor.

Only SACCOs with audited financial statements were included in the study, thus the conclusion is limited to SACCOs with similar characteristics. Future work might consider extending the analysis to include SACCOs with non-audited financial statements.

Based on the sample SACCOs can under good management can be used as a sustainable social conduit for financial access and social economic development among the poor in Tanzania.

This study contributes in two ways. First, it contributes towards the scanty empirical literature on the performance of SACCOs in developing countries and in Tanzania in particular. Second, it provides provocative evidence which appears to contradict earlier and more pessimistic accounts and it challenges the ontology about extending member-based microfinance.

This paper aims to examine the factors of financial sustainability of project management when they face complexities using the complexity theory. This research argues that to manage project complexities, the employees’ performance readiness, situational leadership style and trust in leaders increase financial sustainability.

The study used a quantitative approach using a questionnaire survey with the Project Management Institute members in Indonesia. From the total population of 190 project managers, 91 questionnaires were valid and used for analysis. PLS-SEM is the statistical tool used to test the eight hypotheses formulated in this research. The survey was designed to analyze the factors influencing financial sustainability and how these variables are related to each other to overcome project complexity issues and deliver financial sustainability.

The research recommends that to overcome project complexities, the readiness of the employees to perform is important. These variables, which are supported by trust in the leader and situational leadership, have positively significant effects on financial sustainability. The findings strengthen the initial arguments of this research and confirm the existing studies.

This research, however, comes with several limitations. First, the situational leadership was chosen in this research because of the short project duration that requires the leader to be acting accordingly based on the employee’s abilities. The short project duration made it impossible for the leader to build any relationships with the team members. Therefore, this research might not be appropriate to explain the organizational long-term strategies. Thus, it is suggested that the future research should address this. Second, with the very limited studies regarding the performance readiness and maturity, where in this research are used interchangeably, there should be further research to explain both variables independently as it holds an important role in project management and to overcome project complexities. Hence, this research adds the various studies found on the project complexities and how performance readiness, trust in leaders and situational leadership interact to increase financial sustainability in projects.

This study contributes to the limited research on the financial sustainability of project management in developing countries. Moreover, the research on project complexities has not been related to financial sustainability and, therefore, promotes a high novelty. The findings of this study also provide substantial empirical evidence for future work in the project management area.

The study's main objective is to identify business sustainability performance indicators and analyze the mutual relationship between different business sustainability components in Iran.

To achieve research objectives, the 125 indicators of Business Sustainability Performance in Arianpoor and Salehi (2020) were used. For data collection, a questionnaire is designed and developed. Moreover, the Delphi method is used to determine the indicators related to business sustainability performance. Accordingly, we attempted to send the questionnaire to 346 experts and qualified opinion-leaders in the study area to utilize their opinions in our project. Finally, 108 questionnaires were analyzed statistically.

In this study, the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), binomial test, one sample t-test, one sample Kolmogorov–Smirnov test and Kruskal–Wallis test are used. The results of statistical tests show that among 125 proposed indicators, 11 indicators were eliminated. Hence, to assess business sustainability performance in the listed firm on the Tehran Stock Exchange, 114 indicators were analyzed. To achieve the study's objective, the relationship between financial and non-financial sustainability performance and their effect is analyzed using the Smart PLS Software. Findings indicate that there is a mutual relationship between financial and non-financial sustainability performance in Iran. There is also a relationship between the operational component and research component and non-financial sustainability performance. In contrast, as for the growth component and non-financial sustainability performance, there is no significant relationship. Also, root means squared error (RMSE) values suggest a reasonable model-data fit.

The type and characteristics of different regions have a significant role in the reporting and differ according to different economic conditions. The discussion of business sustainability and its reporting is important; therefore, essential indicators were identified in this study. In addition, all aspects of sustainability performance are considered cohesively to analyze the mutual relationship between different components of sustainability performance and to be able to make more appropriate decisions in future studies about performance evaluation and reporting using the results of this paper.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of financial sustainability indicators of higher education on foreign direct investment (FDI) using empirical evidence from 26 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The basic criterion for determining the financial sustainability of higher education institutions included indicators of income generated by higher education institutions being greater than the operational costs. However, this requires financial sustainability, which depends on financial self-sufficiency without seeking external financial assistance. This situation is affected by investment attractiveness.

Three quantitative proxies were used in this study to explain the financial sustainability indicators in higher education institutions of OECD countries: financial expenditures proxy measured by current tertiary education expenditure (CE); efficiency proxy measured by university-life expectancy (ULE) and endogenous growth proxy measured by gross enrolment tertiary ratio (GETR) to show the effect on FDI. Also, this study used six control variables considered an important part of experimental design and refers to contributing factors that were eliminated to clarify the independent variable and a dependent variable nexus. The quantitative data was collected from World Development Indicators (WDI). This study applied a STATA version using panel data techniques for over 15 years from 2001 to 2015 and also used fixed effect (FE) and random effect (RE) estimations to address problems of heterogeneity. To mitigate the endogeneity problem, the generalized method of moments (GMM) was also used.

The results of this study were derived from the adoption of financial models applied in higher education institutions to test the financial sustainability indicators. Based on the RE and FE results, a one per cent increase in the current tertiary education expenditure caused about 0.19 and 0.18 per cent increase in FDI in the OECD economies. This positive and significant impact was higher when considering the problem of endogeneity by applying the GMM estimations. FDI grew by about 0.22 per cent when the CE increased by one percent. Meanwhile, there was a significant and negative relationship between FDI and the GETR variable for the FE results but this previous relationship was insignificant for RE estimations. The FDI in OECD economies decreased by about 0.0006 per cent when the GETR increased by 1 per cent. This negative effect became larger when applying the GMM estimations. Finally, the ULE results showed there was a positive and insignificant relationship between ULE and FDI for all estimators.

The management and analysis of the financial health indicators is necessary to evaluate educational activities but is not sufficient to achieve financial sustainability, which extends beyond the indicators of financial health to encompass factors such as student achievements; research and scientific output; community engagement; productive capacity; quality inputs; risk and infrastructure; and systems.

This study is considered one of the few existing studies examining the ways in which to achieve financial sustainability in higher education institutions using quantitative financial methods. Specifically, this study adopted Pecking order theory in its analysis of the financial sustainability indicators to clarify whether the financial sustainability indicators of higher education institutions lead to an improvement in the attractiveness of foreign investment in OECD countries in the long run. The findings contribute to the necessity of adopting internal financing sources in accordance with the Pecking Order theory to help achieve financial sustainability growth.