Search results

This study aims to know whether board composition is effective in improving firm performance and particularly to determine whether this relationship varies across different levels of performance, that is, companies with very low performance, low performance, moderate performance, high performance and very high performance.

The authors use a data set covering 213 Indian companies registered on S&P Bombay Stock Exchange 500 Index over the period 2001 to 2019 by using Tobin's Q as a performance parameter. The study applies the quantile regression technique and compares the results with fixed effect generalized least squares (GLS) regression.

The findings reveal that board size positively affects the company's performance across all quantiles. Independent directors negatively impact the performance of companies across all quantiles. However, the strength of these relationships increases with increase in performance, thereby supporting agency theory and stewardship theory, respectively. The effect of executive directors on the performance of the companies varies across quantiles. The effect is adverse at moderate and high quantiles only.

The findings provide some grounds for regulators to exercise caution while designing board composition guidelines, keeping in mind the unique internal environment of each company which ultimately affects their performance levels. Similarly, Indian companies are also suggested to compose their boards keeping in mind their performance levels.

The study contributes towards the debate on the board composition and firm performance relationship by adding to the agency theory and stewardship theory that all the companies cannot have the similar board composition. Rather its composition depends upon the performance levels of the companies.

With the increase in uncertainty around the globe, an intensifying interest is seen in Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) as a topic of research. Researchers worldwide understand the significance of the impact of EPU on the country's development. EPU has a far-reaching impact as uncertainty shocks in one part of the world resonate worldwide due to the level of interconnectivity, globalization and quick communication. In order to facilitate these researchers, this study presents a bibliometric analysis of the existing research in this field using VOS viewer software, by consolidating all the studies from Scopus indexed journal articles, conference proceedings and review papers published in English language from 2006 to 2022. Bibliometric analysis on EPU has rarely been performed. The analysis identifies the publication trends, journal-wise citation, most influential authors, countries, institutions, keyword co-occurrence and authors of different countries who have collaborated for the research in the field. Finally, 1,055 papers were used for bibliometric analysis. The findings depicted that the most cited article on EPU is ‘Measuring economic policy uncertainty’ by Baker et al. (2016) and the most prolific author appears to be Rangan Gupta from University of Pretoria which as an institution also has the maximum publications on this topic. The Journal Finance Research Letters has published the greatest number of researches on EPU. This chapter also summarizes the limitations of the study along with new areas of research.

Gender equality and women empowerment which are part of the United Nations Sustainable Development goals have attracted researchers and policymakers worldwide. Various programmes and interventions aiming at empowerment have been designed and implemented by both national and international agencies. One of the flagship programmes of NABARD introduced in the year 1992, the self-help group (SHG)–bank linkage model is also known for its impact on the availability of credit and empowerment of women. Later, the SGSY scheme was restructured into the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) in the year 2013. Initially, SHGs focussed on savings and credit linkage, but now the emphasis has been changed to generate livelihoods and economically empowering women on a sustainable basis through training women to establish micro-enterprises. In this facet, the journey of microfinance in empowering women is systematically analyzed. The state of Haryana has consistently outperformed other states in terms of economic and agricultural growth but it ranks poorly in terms of its key human development indicators. Despite high productivity and low poverty, the state faces challenges related to the health and nutrition of children. Literature provides evidence that the health and nutrition status of children and women is closely linked to women empowerment. Using secondary sources of data, we conclude that micro-finance can be a useful tool for empowering women provided the roadblocks are identified and the requisite support is provided to women entrepreneurs.

Purpose: Post COVID-19 disruptions, a new era of online education has begun in India providing new opportunities for imparting quality education. This study aims to explore, identify and understand the factors motivating students to enrol in online courses and facilitate decision-making for students, EdTech firms and policymakers at government level.

Methodology: The study used predominantly a qualitative research design drawing data from students pursuing graduation/post-graduation from universities in the Delhi NCR region. In the first phase, 10 groups with 8–10 members were formulated, and focus group discussions were held. The deliberations were analyzed to identify and screen factors influencing their choice to enrol in online courses. In the second phase, identified factors were presented to the students for giving their rankings to identified factors.

Findings: The student inputs in focus group discussions led to identification of factors, namely low cost, convenience, accessibility, quality education, personalized attention, availability of expert faculty, scholarship opportunities, attractive course design, availability of internet technologies like Google Meet, credibility of degree, usefulness of knowledge and skills learnt and value of online courses towards employability.

Research Limitations/Implications: The study is limited to students from the Delhi NCR region. Thus, findings cannot be generalized for other regions.

Originality/Value: Existing literature suggests that no study has been conducted in India to explore factors influencing student choice of online education. The growth of EdTech companies and government inclination towards online education necessitates research on student perceptions of online courses.

The globe faces a difficult job in maintaining a sustainable ecosystem. Sustainable development goal (SDG-2030) is an important agenda for United National Organization. By 2030, the United Nations aims to have eliminated hunger, poverty, social protection, environmental protection, social security and inequality as described in different goals of SDG-2030. This cannot be accomplished without diligent work from each member. This study focuses on the strategy to removal of poverty with go green concept. The study is based on secondary data which was collected from different websites and previous research papers. This is analyst-based research. The go green notion is stressed in this chapter as aim to achieved SDG-1. The go green idea and its supporting industries were stressed in this chapter as a means of achieving SDG-1. This chapter discussed the many forms of poverty and an examination of their causes, as listed in SDG-1. Environment degradation is crucial for the SDGs. This chapter links SDG-1, 2, 6 and 7, which are concerned with hunger, clean water and sustainability of energy sources. This study explores achieving SDG while protecting the environment. This chapter explains how green growth policies, technology, good healthcare equipment, a strong education sector and effective communication technologies can all work together to achieve SDG-1 in a sustainable manner. This study focused on the resources needed to eradicate poverty in various regions. It is a crucial component of sustainable endeavours that help preserve a healthy environment for coming generations. Human development was dependent on a healthy environment. This study emphasised green growth, eco-friendly transportation and clean energy concept while achieving SDG-1. The study analyses different parameters to remove poverty with go green concept.