This study aims to comprehensively understand market reactions to Bursa Malaysia's announcement on mandatory climate-change-related disclosures, exploring sector-specific dynamics and cross-sectional influences.
The study uses event study methodology on 412 listed firms to analyze market reactions around the announcement date. The sector-wise analysis further delves into variations across industries. Cross-sectional analysis explores the significance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) scores and firm controls in explaining the differences across sample firms.
The event study reveals initial negative market reactions on the event day, with a subsequent shift from positive to negative cumulative impact, indicating the evolving nature of investor sentiment. The sector-wise analysis highlights heterogeneous effects, emphasizing the need for tailored strategies based on industry-specific characteristics. The cross-sectional findings underscore the growing importance of ESG factors, with firm size and performance influencing market reactions. Financial leverage and liquidity prove insufficient to explain cumulative abnormal return (CAR) differences, while past returns and volatility are influential technical factors.
The economic significance of the results indicates a growing trend where investors prioritize companies with more substantial ESG scores, potentially driving shifts in corporate strategies toward sustainability. Better ESG performance signifies improved risk management and long-term resilience in the face of market dynamics. Regulatory bodies may respond by enhancing ESG reporting requirements, while financial institutions integrate ESG factors into their models, emphasizing the benefits of sustainability and financial performance.
This research contributes to the existing literature by providing a nuanced analysis of market responses to climate-related disclosures, incorporating sector-specific dynamics and cross-sectional influences. The findings offer valuable insights for businesses and policymakers, emphasizing the need for tailored approaches to climate-related disclosure management.
This research examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and governance structure on corporate narrative reporting (CNR) concerning Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies in Jordanian commercial banks. The study aims to explore how these factors influence the extent and nature of disclosures in annual reports.
The study uses a comprehensive manual content analysis method to investigate the annual reports from all 15 Jordanian commercial banks from 2010 to 2022. This approach allows for the detailed examination of I4.0 disclosures, using a specially developed index to measure various disclosure dimensions. An ordinary least squares model is used to assess the determinants of CNR on I4.0, considering factors such as the pandemic’s impact and various governance attributes.
The findings indicate that both the COVID-19 pandemic and specific governance factors (e.g. board size and audit committee size) significantly enhance the disclosure of I4.0 technologies. The study reveals that during the pandemic, banks significantly increased their level of detailed disclosures about I4.0 strategies, challenges and benefits, reflecting a strategic response to the pandemic’s disruption.
This study introduces a novel I4.0 Reporting Index for banks, measuring disclosures across strategy implementation, business model transformation, challenges and benefits. It adds to the existing literature by offering insights into narrative reporting practices concerning I4.0 technologies within the banking sector and illuminates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these practices.
Interconnections among banks are an essential feature of the banking system as it helps in an effective payment system and liquidity management. However, it can be a nightmare during a crisis when these interconnections can act as contagion channels. Therefore, it becomes essentially important to identify good links (non-contagious channels) and bad links (contagious channels).
The article estimated systemic risk using quantile regression through the ΔCoVaR approach. The interconnected phenomenon among banks has been analyzed through Granger causality, and the systemic network properties are evaluated. The authors have developed a fixed effect panel regression model to predict interconnectedness. Profitability-adjusted systemic index is framed to identify good (non-contagious) or bad (contagious) channels. The authors further developed a logit model to find the probability of a link being non-contagious. The study sample includes 36 listed Indian banks for the period 2012 to 2018.
The study indicated interconnections increased drastically during the Indian non-performing asset crisis. The study highlighted that contagion channels are higher than non-contagious channels for the studied periods. Interbank bad distance dominates good distance, highlighting the systemic importance of banking network. It is also found that network characteristics can act as an indicator of a crisis.
The study is the first to differentiate the systemic contagious and non-contagious channels in the interbank network. The uniqueness also lies in developing the normalized systemic index, where systemic risk is adjusted to profitability.
The study aims to find out the impact of financial inclusion and financial development on financial stability using panel data from eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
To achieve the aim of the study, the researcher prepared two indicators of financial inclusion and governance to find out the impact of financial development on the relationship between financial inclusion and financial stability. Data on financial inclusion was obtained from the International Monetary Fund, data on financial development and financial stability were obtained from the World Bank.
The results of the fixed and random effect methods show that financial inclusion has a significant positive effect on financial stability. Additionally, financial development represents a moderating variable in the significant positive effect on the relationship between financial inclusion and stability in the MENA countries.
The current study suffers from some limitations that researchers must be aware of in future research. First, there is an inability to determine qualitative aspects such as time and cost when designing a composite indicator of financial inclusion. Second, due to limited data, we used only eight countries from the MENA. It is suggested to expand the sample to include other countries.
This paper contributes to the related literature between financial inclusion and financial stability by confirming or denying the results of previous studies. Also, to the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the only one that explains the role of financial development in the relationship between financial inclusion and stability in MENA countries, using a composite index to calculate financial inclusion. Finally, the study seeks to focus the attention of the government and policymakers to build a system of financial inclusion that leads to improving financial stability.
This study aims to analyze the effect of cognitive load and social value orientation on managers’ preferences when they face with two types of restructuring choices in financially distressed firms: the first belonging to the family of organizational restructuring (massive layoffs) and the second to the family of financial restructuring (debt increases).
The authors investigate experimentally the impact of managers’ cognitive load and social value orientation on the decision to restructure leveraged buyout (LBO) firms in financial distress by using either massive layoffs or debt increases.
By investigating the impact of managers’ cognitive load and social value orientation on the restructuring decision of an LBO firm in financial distress, the research reveals that, on average, cognitively loaded managers prefer massive layoffs over increased debt levels. The massive layoffs seemingly provide a relatively easier way to avoid conflict with influential, residual claimants. In contrast, social value–oriented managers actively avoid massive layoffs and prefer to increase debt.
These results imply that the performance mechanisms emphasized to improve agency relations, for example, in LBOs, have their own limitations during periods of financial distress. This study shows that one of these limits is related to cognitive distortions and personality traits.
In this research, the originality lies in understanding how managers’ internal factors affect their restructuring decision-making, in the case of LBO firms in financial distress.
This paper aims to examine the relationship between board structure and risk-taking, exploring how this association is influenced by advanced technologies in the banking sector.
This study uses a panel sample of 22 Pakistani banks from 2011 to 2018. To test the authors’ hypothesis, the authors use regression analysis with two-way cluster robust standard errors. Further, the authors also check the robustness of the authors’ findings using alternate proxies of board structure and bank risk-taking behavior. To address endogeneity concerns, the authors use the two-stage least square technique.
In the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Pakistani banks’ digitalization is modeled by the presence of Temenos-T24/Oracle as their core banking system (software providing end-to-end operational integration). Its interactional effect with corporate governance is evaluated to implicate informed risk-taking by the board as a result of improved information access and analysis. The authors find that board size has a positive association with risk-taking, and the use of modern technology reshapes this association in the banking sector.
The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, the impact of board structure on bank risk-taking has not been extensively researched in Pakistan – a highly volatile and unpredictable economy. Second, the evaluation of the role of technology on bank risk is being researched for the very first time – a uniqueness of this paper.
Green sukuk (GS) is an emerging financial tool that has gained momentum in recent years owing to increased attention being given to Islamic finance, socially responsible investing (SRI) and sustainability agendas. Yet, GS studies are fragmented, dispersed and lack comprehensive reviews. As a response to this gap in academia, this paper aims to synthesize the knowledge on GS into thematic clusters, providing a more comprehensive understanding of the subject and offering guidelines for future research.
This study implemented a systematic literature review approach to analyse studies on GS that were published prior to and including June 2023. The PRISMA 2020 protocol was used in the sample selection process. A total of 62 peer-reviewed journal articles from six databases were identified and categorized into various themes.
The results suggest that previous research has predominantly focused on the areas of GS advantages, drivers, market development and potential sectors, along with challenges and recommendations to improve the market. However, it was found that some other aspects, including GS pricing, performance and purchasing intention, require further research attention. The analysis also indicated that the use of theories in the GS context was limited, with only five theories employed in just four out of the 62 articles examined. Moreover, this paper’s findings revealed that the studies employing quantitative and empirical analysis methods were limited to four articles. Geographically, most of the studies were conducted in Indonesia and Malaysia, while other countries with high-potential markets (e.g. GCC) had limited GS practices and studies.
The results of this study have several practical implications. For investors, a review of GS will provide greater insight into the understanding of the GS market, helping them make better investment decisions. For policymakers, this paper empowers them with the knowledge to make informed decisions regarding GS markets by highlighting key recommendations identified in the literature. Finally, the proposed guidelines can be used in future research.
While Green Bonds have received significant attention, there is a dearth of research on GS and those that exist are fragmented. A systematic literature review is necessary to identify knowledge gaps for future research.
The study aims to investigate market reactions associated with the JUST 100 rankings published by JUST Capital, a non-profit organization, as well as differences in financial reporting quality and performance between selected firms and their industry peers.
This study uses a sample of 431 firms selected as the 100 America’s Most Just Companies between 2016 and 2020 by JUST Capital. This study performs both an event study to determine whether the rankings are useful to investors and cross-sectional regression analyses on the characteristics of selected firms compared to their peers.
This study finds that investors react positively to selected firms around the time of the release of the JUST 100 rankings, suggesting that the rankings are decision-useful. This study also finds that selected firms exhibit higher accounting quality and financial performance than their peers.
Rankings may not be free from bias because of JUST Capital’s ownership of an exchange-traded fund.
The findings validate the rankings as well as the methodology used by JUST Capital, as they show market participants value firms that engage in socially responsible actions through their commitment to positively impact five key stakeholder groups: employees, customers, communities, environment and shareholders.
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that shows the importance of the JUST 100 rankings for investment decisions. Considering the growing push for companies to disclose environmental, social and governance (ESG) activities, this study provides evidence to support ESG disclosure regulations.
The blue and green firms are notable contributors to sustainable development. Similar to other businesses in circular economies, blue and green firms also face financing constraints. This paper aims to assess whether blue and green lending help in optimizing the interest rate spreads and the likelihood of default.
This analysis is based on an unbalanced panel of banks from 20 eurozone countries for eleven years between 2012 and 2022. The key indicators of banking include interest rate spread and a market-based probability of default. The paper assesses how these indicators are influenced by exposure to green and blue firms after controlling for several exogenous factors.
The results show a positive relationship between green and blue lending and spread, while there is a negative link with the probability of default. This confirms that the blue and green exposure positively supports the credit portfolio both in terms of profitability and risk management.
The banking system is among the key contributors to corporate finance and to enable continuous access to sustainable finance, the banking firms must be incentivized. While many studies analyze the impact of green lending, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the very few that extend this analysis to blue economy firms.