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This study examines the roles of cross-sectional dependence, asymmetric structure and country-to-country policy variations in the inflation-poverty reduction causal nexus in selected sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries from 1981 to 2019.

To account for cross-sectional dependence, heterogeneity and policy variations across countries in the inflation-poverty reduction causal nexus, this study uses robust Hatemi-J data decomposition procedures and a battery of second-generation techniques. These techniques include cross-sectional dependency tests, panel unit root tests, slope homogeneity tests and the Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel Granger non-causality approach.

Unlike existing studies, the panel and country-specific findings exhibit several dimensions of asymmetric causality in the inflation-poverty nexus. Positive inflationary shocks Granger-causes poverty reduction through investment and employment opportunities that benefit the impoverished in SSA. These findings align with country-specific analyses of Botswana, Cameroon, Gabon, Mauritania, South Africa and Togo. Also, a decline in poverty causes inflation to increase in the Congo Republic, Madagascar, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo. All panel and country-specific analyses reveal at least one dimension of asymmetric causality or another.

All stakeholders and policymakers must pay adequate attention to issues of asymmetric structures, nonlinearities and country-to-country policy variations to address country-specific issues and the socioeconomic problems in the probable causal nexus between the high incidence of extreme poverty and double-digit inflation rates in most SSA countries.

Studies on the inflation-poverty nexus are not uncommon in economic literature. Most existing studies focus on inflation’s effect on poverty. Existing studies that examine the inflation-poverty causal relationship covertly assume no asymmetric structure and nonlinearity. Also, the issues of cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity are unexplored in the causal link in existing studies. All panel studies covertly impose homogeneous policies on countries in the causality. This study relaxes this supposition by allowing policies to vary across countries in the panel framework. Thus, this study makes three-dimensional contributions to increasing understanding of the inflation-poverty nexus.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the listed firms' debt level and performance on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) during a five-year period.

This study uses pooled ordinary least squares regression and fixed- and random-effects models to analyse a cross-sectional sample of 30 Pakistani companies operating in the automobile, cement and sugar sectors during 2013–2017 (N = 150).

The results indicate that both short- and long-term debt have negative and significant impacts on firm performance in profitability. This suggests that agency issues may lead to a high-debt policy, resulting in lower performance. However, both sales growth and firm size have positive effects on the profitability of non-financial sector companies.

This study suggests that when debt financing significantly and negatively influences firm profitability, company owners and managers should focus on finding a satisfactory debt level. However, this study is limited to the automobile, cement and sugar sectors of Pakistan. Future studies could address other sectors, such as textiles, fertilizers and pharmaceuticals.

This study focusses on enhancing the existing empirical knowledge of debt financing's influence on the PSX's major sectors' profitability.

This paper operationalizes insecurity and governance crises to study their effects on stock market response to two political events in Nigeria – the 2015 and 2019 presidential elections.

An event study was used to capture the market responses. Abnormal returns at the aggregate and sectoral levels were measured over several time windows before and after the respective election results were announced.

The market reacted strongly positively to a change in presidency from an incumbent to an opposition party candidate in the 2015 election but weakly positively, at best, to the re-election of the incumbent candidate in the 2019 election. In addition, banking stocks exhibited greater sensitivity to these events than oil and gas stocks.

There may be peculiarities with the Nigerian case and with the two elections analyzed. Therefore, future research could focus on understanding the extent to which the results generalize to the broader sub-Saharan context and other regions that face similar governance challenges.

Understanding that markets may have a different perception towards incumbent versus opposition candidate electoral victories during periods of insecurity and governance crisis is important for investors, policymakers, researchers and the wider society.

Past empirical studies on political events and stock returns in Sub-Saharan Africa contexts such as Nigeria ignore shifts in voter mood and produce contradictory findings. This paper helps to resolve some of these contradictions by providing insight into how the markets can have a different perception towards incumbent and opposition candidate electoral victories during periods of insecurity and governance crisis.

This techno-centric and too much busy day-to-day living style of citizens pressurizes the implementation of E-ticketing service to adapt with change. Thus, this study aims to examine the factors influencing railway passengers’ E-ticketing service acceptance and usage intention in Bangladesh and to extend the widely used Technology Acceptance Model through inserting two new constructs.

This paper employs structural equation modeling to test model’s paths developed through theoretical research framework. Moreover, a structured questionnaire was administered at different railway stations in northern and western parts of Bangladesh to collect data. Total of 302 responses were considered for statistical analysis to test hypotheses after considering anomalies and outliers in raw data.

The study results show that technology trust (TT) has the strongest impact on passengers’ E-ticketing usage intention rather than perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness (PU). Meanwhile, the easiness of using technology to reserve tickets does matter to female passengers rather than male passengers wherein PU and TT do not do that.

The findings of this study might be helpful for the railway authorities to improve the ticket reservation service quality online by developing the advanced booking application and minimizing the pressure on other transportation. Therefore, this empirical study will contribute to this domain for further study that ensures full satisfaction of passengers and uplift the railway passengers’ usage intention for E-ticketing which then helps the government to implement the digitization slogan with efficiency and effectiveness.

The primary objective of this study is to examine how trust and religiosity, in relation to halal products, impact Turkish consumers' intention to purchase such goods. Furthermore, the study aims to identify whether attitudes towards halal products play a mediating role in these effects.

Data were collected from 847 people living in Turkey using an online survey. The authors empirically tested the proposed conceptual model via structural equation modeling.

The study’s results show that trust in halal products has a positive impact on both the intention to buy halal products and the attitude towards them. Moreover, one’s attitude towards halal products affects the intention to purchase them. Additionally, one’s religiosity-belief level influences the intention to purchase halal products, while religiosity-practice level influences the attitude towards halal products. Furthermore, through indirect effect analyses, it was found that trust in halal products and religious practices has an indirect impact on intention through attitude.

These outcomes significantly contribute to understanding the complex interactions between trust in halal products, levels of religiosity, and attitudes in shaping consumers' purchase intentions and approaches towards halal products. These implications offer valuable insights into how consumers' religious beliefs, trust perceptions, and attitudes influence their purchase of halal-certified products. Validating these conclusions on a larger scale and exploring them in different contexts would be beneficial.

The practice dimension of religiosity pertains to performing actions prescribed by the religion, embodying the practical applications of religious teachings. According to the research findings, the belief dimension of religiosity significantly and positively affects the intention to purchase halal products. This finding aligns with several prior studies.

Sharing information on websites, social media platforms, or product packaging can be effective. If businesses genuinely adhere to halal standards and address the genuine needs of consumers who value halal products, they can enhance consumers' interest in such products.

This research was conducted in Turkey, where most people follow the Muslim faith. The main objective of the study was to examine the trust levels of consumers who have strong religious beliefs and are sensitive to consuming halal products. The study looked at trust on three levels: trust in the halal product, trust in the company that produces halal products, and trust in institutions that provide halal certification. The study also looked at the religiosity levels of the consumers using a two-dimensional approach, which included their beliefs and practices.

This study aims to examine the moderator effect of religiosity on the relationship between halal brand awareness and habit towards purchasing decisions of halal products.

The quantitative method is used in this study. Descriptive and statistical (multiple and moderated regression) analyses are employed to test the hypothesis according to the research model. The data is collected using a cross-sectional design from 197 respondents consisting of business owners in North Sumatera, Indonesia.

It is found that both halal brand awareness and habit have a positive and significant effect on the purchasing decision of halal products. Meanwhile, religiosity significantly acts as a moderating variable in the relationship between awareness and purchasing decisions, as well as habit and purchasing decisions.

This study revealed the important factor of religiosity as a moderating factor in purchase decisions of halal products. The government may need to collaborate with Islamic educational institutions to raise awareness of the halal concept and product awareness. It is assumed that individuals who know about the Islamic religion will have a higher degree of awareness of halal products compared to individuals with limited knowledge of Islam; thus, providers of Islamic education play a crucial role in raising the level of awareness of halal products. Schools may serve as catalysts for the dissemination of knowledge of halal products.

Developing halal product markets can be done by enhancing the religiosity level of consumers, one of them through attending formal or informal religious classes.

Due to increase in operational risk, banks are facing huge losses. In order to avoid losses, banks need to manage operational risk. This study aims to analyze the impact of operational risk management (ORM) processes, which include identification, assessment, analysis, monitoring and control in the presence of corporate governance (CG) that can also contribute to effective ORM practices.

Operational risk management processes are used to manage operational risk along with CG. Primary data are collected through questionnaire from (167) operational risk managers of commercial banks. Multiple linear regressions has been run to analyze the data.

Results indicate significant impact of CG and operational risk identification (ORI), monitoring and control on ORM practices in commercial banks of Pakistan.

The study suggests policy makers to improve the ORM framework by CG. Beside this, in order to lessen operational risk, proper identification, monitoring and control of operational risk could also contribute.

The purpose of this systematic literature review (SLR) is to examine the theoretical landscape of knowledge hiding (KH) research, identifies prevailing theories, the different ways KH is understood within these theories and the underlying assumptions that shape these views. Based on this, ideas for further research are derived to advance the theoretical basis of KH studies.

Using a theory-based SLR, the authors analysed 170 scientific papers from Scopus and Web of Science. This involved thematic analysis to categorise theories frequently applied in KH research and a detailed examination to link core assumptions to these theoretical perspectives.

The analysis revealed a reliance on 86 distinct theories, with a notable emphasis on social exchange theory and conservation of resources theory. KH is predominantly conceptualised as a negative, objective, reactive and relational behaviour rooted in social reciprocity and resource conservation. The review uncovers the multifaceted nature of KH, challenging the field to incorporate broader theoretical views that encompass positive aspects, subjective experiences, strategic intentions and non-relational determinants of KH.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to systematically map and analyse the theoretical underpinnings of KH research. It offers a unique contribution by categorising the diverse theories applied in KH studies and explicitly linking these theories to their inherent assumptions about KH. This approach provides a comprehensive overview that not only identifies gaps in the current research landscape but also proposes alternative theoretical perspectives for exploring KH, thereby setting a new direction for future studies in this field.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of internal and external variables on the profitability of conventional banks operating on developing and underdeveloped countries, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states.

In this paper, the author uses ordinary least squares fixed-effects model on an unbalanced panel data set of all conventional banks operating in OIC countries (52 countries included from 57) over the period 1989-2008, 686 banks.

The results suggest that equity, foreign ownership, off-balance sheet (OBS) activities, real gross domestic product growth, real interest rate and concentration foster banks’ profitability. In addition, the results showed that the banking sector development and loans will increase banks’ profitability in the long run in the countries of the studies. In contrast, the study reported that deposits lower profitability. The study also revealed that GDP per capita, market capitalization and banks size have no impact on profitability.

The findings of this study have considerable policy implications. First, policymakers need to regulate nontraditional activities to avoid any financial crisis because banks in OIC countries are heavily engaged in nontraditional activities to boost its profit. Second, policymakers are advised to improve the deposit insurance system to insure the stability of the financial system as well as improving banks’ profitability. Third, policymakers need to improve the efficiency of the stock market, maintain small banking system and encourage foreign investments in the banking system.

The paper adds to the literature on the commercial bank’s profitability determinants. In particular, such study has not been conducted on OIC countries, and the study included all mainstream banks and incorporated the effect of deposit insurance system so far. Also, pure sample of conventional banks used as many conventional banks in OIC countries have Islamic windows or offer Islamic products. In addition, this study investigated the effect of OBS activities on net interest margin (NIM) because the studies that explored this interrelationship are limited especially for developing and under developed countries. The results showed that OBS activities contributed significantly and positively to return on assets and NIM. Moreover, this paper used a pure sample of conventional banks to avoid any biasness; see data section. Moreover, this study gives an idea about the economic situation and financial conditions of OIC countries during the period of the study.

In the developing countries, formal credit has dominant role for the development of agriculture sector. It increases the farmer's purchasing power for better farm inputs and agricultural technology for high crop productivity. The main purpose of this study is to examine the influence of socioeconomic characteristics of smallholder farmers for credit demand in Sindh, Pakistan.

A cross-sectional data set randomly collected from 90 smallholder farmers in Thatta district, Sindh, Pakistan, is examined. Descriptive statistics, correlation and the OLS regression method were used to demonstrate the important factors affecting the demand for formal credit.

The results revealed that formal education, experience of farming, landholding size, road access and extension contacts positively and significantly influenced the demand for formal credit.

This study is the first, to the best of authors' knowledge, to demonstrate the influence of various socioeconomic characteristics of smallholder farmers on demand for formal credit in Sindh, Pakistan. It also illustrates the imperative contribution to the literature regarding credit access and demand to improve the agricultural productivity.