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The paper aims to investigate the monthly and trading month effects in the stock market returns of the ASE using daily data before and after the crisis of 1999‐2001. In addition, the study seeks to consider data from both periods of the ASE, before and after the upgrade of the market (May 2001).

This paper examines the calendar effects in the Greek stock market returns using an ordinary least squares (OLS) model. Daily closing prices of the General ASE Index, FTSE/ASE‐20 and FTSE/ASE Mid 40 are used to calculate daily returns. The time period includes data from 26 November 1996 to 12 July 2002 for General ASE Index, 23 September 1997‐30 August 2001 for FTSE/ASE‐20 and 8 December 1999‐30 August 2001 for FTSE/ASE Mid 40.

The results show that there is no January effect. In other words, daily returns are not higher in January than in any other month. Moreover, the results for the trading month effect show higher (but not significant) returns over the first fortnight of the month.

The results have important implications for both traders and investors. The findings are strongly recommended to financial managers dealing with Greek stock indices.

The contribution of this paper is to provide evidence using data before and after the financial crisis of 1999‐2001 in Greece.

This study aims to test the impacts of risk-taking behaviour, competition and cost efficiency on bank profitability in China.

A two-step generalized method of moments system estimator is used to examine the impacts of risk, competition and cost efficiency on profitability of a sample of Chinese commercial banks over the period 2003-2013.

The paper finds that credit risk, liquidity risk, capital risk, security risk and insolvency risk significantly influence the profitability of Chinese commercial banks. To be more specific, credit risk is significantly and negatively related to bank profitability; liquidity risk is significantly and positively related to return on assets (ROA) and net interest margin (NIM) but negatively related to return on equity (ROE); capital risk has a significant and negative impact on ROA and NIM but a positive impact on ROE; there is a significant and negative impact of security risk on bank profitability (ROA and NIM). It is found that Chinese commercial banks with higher levels of insolvency risk have higher profitability (ROA and ROE). Finally, higher competition leads to lower profitability in the Chinese banking industry, and Chinese commercial banks with higher levels of cost efficiency have lower ROA. In other words, the structure–conduct–performance paradigm rather than the efficient–structure paradigm holds in the Chinese banking industry.

This is the first paper to investigate the impact of different types of risk, including credit risk, liquidity risk, capital risk, security risk and insolvency risk, on bank profitability. This is the first study which uses more accurate measurements of efficiency and competition compared to previous Chinese banking profitability literature and which tests their impact on bank profitability. The findings not only provide a general picture on the risk, efficiency and competition conditions in the Chinese banking industry, but also give valuable information to the Chinese Government and to the banking regulatory authorities to make relevant policies.

The paper's objectives are: to address the issue of cointegration (efficient market hypothesis) between Greek spot and futures markets over the period of the crisis, 1999‐2001; to investigate the short‐run and long‐run efficiency of the FTSE/ASE‐20 stock index futures contract and FTSE/ASE Mid 40 stock index futures contract traded on the Athens Derivatives Exchange (ADEX).

This paper examines efficiency of the Greek stock index futures market from 1999 to 2001. A variety of econometric models are employed to test for cointegration between prices. The paper uses daily data from the Athens Stock Exchanges (ASEs) and the ADEX. A more detailed discussion on the causal relationship between spot and futures price in ADEX is obtained by using the impulse response functions of the vector error‐correction model (to study the behaviour of series from real shocks).

The results show that the Greek futures and spot prices form a stable long‐run relationship. For both FTSE/ASE‐20 and FTSE/ASE Mid 40, futures markets play a price discovery role, implying that futures prices contain useful information about spot prices. Futures markets are informationally more efficient than underlying stock markets in Greece.

The results have important implications for both traders and speculators. The findings are strongly recommended to financial managers dealing with Greek stock index futures.

The contribution of this paper is to provide evidence using data from the early stage of the ADEX (started its official operation on 27 August 1999). It also investigates whether the hypotheses exist after the dramatic rise of ASE stock prices.

The authors examine the short-term stock market reaction surrounding US layoffs during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) period. The authors’ specific interest is on any changes that may be observed in US stock markets during the COVID-19 outbreak. This information will help us assess the extent to which policymakers adopted at time revenue and expenditures measures to minimize its negative impact.

The authors study the linkage between layoffs announced by firms and stock markets in US for the COVID-19 period between March 2020 and October 2020. This period shows important economic figures; a huge number of job cuts announced by blue-chip companies listed in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) due to widespread economic shutdowns. The authors examine whether and to what extent stock markets in US have reacted to layoff announcements during the COVID-19 pandemic using an event-study methodology.

The study’s results show that US layoffs during the pandemic did not cause any abnormalities on the stock returns, either positive or negative. Based on the mean-adjusted volume, the authors find that layoffs increase the stocks' trading volume, especially on the event date and the day following the event. US stocks become more volatile on the days following the event. Interestingly, on the event date, the authors find that stocks get the highest abnormal volatility; however, the result is statistically insignificant.

The authors suggest that layoffs announcements follow the business cycle quite closely in most industries. The study’s results have implications for investors, regulators and policymakers as they permit to examine the effectiveness of the measures adopted.

The study’s results show that policymakers reduced uncertainty implementing intensive measures quickly and should follow similar policy in the future pandemic and/or unexpected events.

This paper contributes to the literature in two directions: First, to the best of the authors’ knowledge this is the first study that provides empirical evidence and assesses the extent to which a major global shock such as the COVID-19 pandemic may have altered the reaction of US stock markets to layoff announcements. Second, this is the first study on this topic that examines volume and volatility abnormalities, while the authors check the robustness of the findings with different methods to calculate abnormal returns.

We investigate herding behavior and explore how risk aversion interacts with herding in a sample of selected sustainability indices. Furthermore, we evaluate volatility co-movements and dynamic and time-varying correlations of two notable indicators: the cross-sectional absolute deviation of returns (CSAD) and the risk aversion index (RAI). Moreover, we explore a spillover mechanism (in the short and long run) of risk aversion to sustainable investing.

Our study uses daily prices from 01/06/2012 to 15/07/2022 obtained from S&P Dow Jones Indices. We use autoregressive - Glosten, Jagannathan, and Runkle generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedastic (AR(1)-GJR GARCH) methodologies to measure the impact of cross-sectional absolute deviation of returns (CSAD) and risk aversion (RAI) indicators on the conditional variance of selected sustainability indices. Furthermore, we employ dynamic conditional correlation with generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity, generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity mixed data sampling and dynamic conditional correlation with mixed data sampling models to examine any dynamic correlation, spillover volatility effects and the predictability stance of the CSAD and the RAI factors on sustainable investing.

Our empirical outcomes capture no-herding behavior but display herding on the risk aversion indicator. The cross-sectional dispersion of returns positively affects the conditional variance of all selected sustainable markets, besides emerging markets, while the risk aversion factor negatively influences the conditional variance for Europe and the USA. We have identified long-term contagion effects relating to the variability of returns in our sample, with the exception of emerging markets.

The dispersion of returns can predict the swings of long-term volatilities of Nordic and Europe markets, while the risk aversion factor can predict the long-run volatilities of sustainable markets except Nordic.

The current study presents, for the first time in the sustainable finance literature, an empirical analysis of herding and risk aversion in sustainable investment returns over time. Our findings offer valuable insights to fund managers, finance professionals and investors, providing them with an opportunity to proactively manage their portfolios and reduce financial risk by understanding the volatility behavior of sustainable investing. Furthermore, it is crucial to explore and understand how the dispersion of returns and risk aversion interact with sustainable markets for the construction of optimal portfolios.

The paper's aim is to examine the influence of the Greek political elections on the course of the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE). Using daily data from the ASE General Price Index, it seeks to empirically examine the effect of political elections (Parliamentary and European elections) on the course of the ASE over the period 1996‐2002.

This paper examines the relationship between Greek political elections and ASE using ordinary least squares (OLS) models. It concentrates on the pre‐election and the post‐election periods of the last decade. Daily closing prices of the General ASE index are used for the period 1996‐2002.

The results show that two months prior to the elections index performance increases on average and the mean daily fluctuation decreases. One month before the elections, index performance decreases, the mean daily fluctuation increases and the change of daily exchange value increases on average. During the three‐month post‐election period, there is a considerable increase of index progress. Furthermore, between three and six months after the elections, a decrease in performance is found, while for a collective six months after the elections, there is remarkably positive course. Using a simple OLS model with a dummy variable, it is found that there is a negative effect of the political elections on the course of the ASE. However, this effect is always insignificant.

The results have important implications for traders, investors and political analysts. The findings are strongly recommended to financial managers dealing with Greek stock indices.

The main contribution of this paper is to provide evidence using data before and after the financial crisis of 1999‐2001 in Greece.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the stock market response to dividend announcements in high growth emerging markets of Gulf countries.

The sample includes 1,092 dividend announcements from 299 listed firms over the period 2010-2015.

In the environment where there is an absence of capital gain and income tax, the authors find some evidence for the stock price reaction that partly supports the signaling hypothesis. The findings show that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market is inefficient because of the leakage information before the announcement in bad news, and the delay of share price adjustment in good news. In addition, the authors report significant trading volume (TV) reaction in all the three announcements clusters, where dividends increase, decrease, and are constant, lending support to the hypothesis that the dividend change announcements have an impact on the TV response due to different investors’ preferences.

This is the first empirical paper on market reaction in share price and TV around dividend announcement using data for the majority of GCC countries.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of trading volume and open interest on volatility of futures markets. The authors capture the size and change in speculative behaviour in futures markets by examining the role of liquidity variables (trading volume and open interest) in the behaviour of futures prices.

The sample includes daily data covering the period 1996-2014 from 36 international futures markets (including currencies, commodities, stock indices, interest rates and bonds). The authors employ a two-stage estimation methodology: first, the authors employ a E-GARCH model and consider the asymmetric response of volatility to shocks of different sign. Further, the authors consider a regression framework to examine the contemporaneous relationships between volatility, trading volume and open interest. To quantify the percentage of volatility that is caused by liquidity variables, the authors also regress the estimated volatilities on the measures of open interest and trading volume.

The authors find that: market depth has an effect on the volatility of futures markets but the direction of this effect depends on the type of contract, and there is evidence of a positive contemporaneous relationship between trading volume and futures volatility for all futures contracts. Impulse-response functions also show that trading volume has a more relevant role in explaining market volatility than open interest.

These results are recommended to financial managers and analysts dealing with futures markets.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has yet considered a complete database of futures markets to investigate the empirical relation between price changes (volatility), trading volume and open interest in futures markets.

The purpose of this paper is to identify whether heuristic and herding biases influence portfolio construction and performance in Greece. The current research determines the situation among investors in Greece, a country with several economic problems for the last decade.

A survey has been conducted covering a group of active private investors. The relationship between private investors' behavior and portfolio construction and performance was tested using a multiple regression.

The authors find that heuristic variable affects private investor's portfolio construction and performance satisfaction level positively. A robustness test on a second group, consisting of professional investors, reveals that heuristic and herding biases affect investment behavior when constructing a portfolio.

The authors recommend investors to select professional's investment portfolio tools in constructing investment portfolios and avoid excessive errors, which occur due to heuristic. The awareness and understanding of heuristic and herding could be helpful for professionals and decision-makers in financial institutions by improving their performance resulting in more efficient markets.

The main contribution of this paper lies in the fact that it is the first study on two major behavioral dimensions that affect the investor's portfolio construction and performance in Greece. The rationale of the current research is that the results are helpful for investors in order to take rational, reliable and profitable decisions.

This paper examines the dividend smoothing (DS) behaviour in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in emerging markets where the response to news and the economic environment are different from those of developed countries.

The authors examine the effect of share price informativeness on DS in the GCC markets using unbalanced panel data for a sample of 628 GCC-listed firms during 1994–2016. For the regression analysis, the hypotheses are tested using panel regressions and generalised method of moments (GMM) estimation.

First, the Lintner model shows that the DS degree in GCC firms is comparable to that of a developed market. Second, and importantly, the results reveal that the DS in GCC firms is sensitive to private information of share prices. Finally, the findings indicate that information asymmetry (IA) and agency-based models affect the tendency to smooth dividends in the GCC markets.

This study is the first study to measure the degree of DS using data for all GCC countries. The authors also identify other determinants of DS behaviour and test the agency and IA explanations for DS in GCC-listed firms. The findings are highly recommended to financial managers and analysts dealing with the GCC markets. This study helps financial analysts to use the share price informativeness as an indicator for the presence of the IA. The study results are beneficial to researchers in understanding the relationship between DS and share price informativeness.