COVID-19 and connectedness between Sustainable and Islamic equity markets

Because of the increasing importance of and demand for ethical investment, this paper investigates the dynamics of connectedness between sustainable and Islamic investment in nineteen countries that represent developed and emerging financial markets worldwide. To this end, we apply models proposed by Diebold and Yilmaz and Barunik and Krehlik to explore the overall and frequency-based connectedness between selected ethical investments. Our results reveal evidence of a moderate to strong intra country-level connectedness between sustainable and Is-lamic investment and limited cross-country connectedness between ethical investments. The time-varying connectedness analysis suggests enhanced connectedness during periods of market-wide turmoil, such as the European debt crisis, the Chinese financial crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the COVID-19 subsample analysis shows an enhanced and idiosyncratic country-level and cross-country connectedness structure between ethical investments, indicating the evolving nature of the relationship between sustainable and Islamic investment. Copyright (c) 2022 Borsa Istanbul Anonim S,irketi . Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Corporate governance mechanisms and firm performance in Saudi Arabia before and during the COVID-19 outbreak

This study examines the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on the performance of listed firms in Saudi Arabia before and during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The study applied univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses to data collected from 258 annual reports from 2019 to 2020. The results show that during the COVID-19 pandemic, firm market performance (Tobin's Q ratio) has decreased with larger board size, more board meetings, while it has increased with board experience, board education, and board gender (number of women on the board). Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic, board gender was found to have a significant positive impact on the firm's operational performance (return on assets), implying that gender diversity on boards plays a crucial role in times of crisis. The findings have significant implications for Saudi Arabian firms, managers, investors, and policymakers. Furthermore, the latest corporate governance regulations in Saudi Arabia are almost certain to have a significant impact on firm performance, particularly during times of crisis. In addition, corporate governance regulations should consider the importance of small board size, lower board independence, board member experience and education, and board gender diversity to improve corporate performance, especially in times of crisis. Governments and regulators should collaborate to reduce the financial and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Comprehensive policies are needed to address the negative consequences of current and future crises. © 2023 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

DETERMINANTS OF FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE IN THE BANKING SECTOR: A CASE STUDY OF LISTED KUWAITI BANKS

This study explores the determinants of the profitability of banks listed on the Kuwaiti stock exchange, Boursa Kuwait. This study also investigates the financial performance of the listed Kuwaiti banks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study is to examine the correlation between profitability and the factors that determine profitability for 11 listed Kuwaiti banks from 2013 to 2020. Relevant data was statistically analyzed using the generalized method of moments (GMM) model. The empirical findings of this research indicate that deposit volume and oil prices positively impact the profitability of the Kuwaiti banking sector. Conversely, bank size, leverage, and capitalization had a significant negative impact on the earnings of the listed Kuwaiti banks. Based on the findings of this study, several policy recommendations are made that would grow the profits of the Kuwaiti banking sector and mitigate the effects of negative factors. © 2022 AESS Publications. All Rights Reserved.

Analyzing the Impact of COVID-19 on the Top US Startups: A Close Look at their LinkedIn Profiles

Nowadays, startups are growing massively, altering talent flows around the world and often, changing how we work and live. In recent years, there has been a growing interest from world-wide data scientists to analyze actions generated by LinkedIn members with an aim to understand practices related to startups. For example, in 2020, over 171 million LinkedIn profiles in the U.S. were analyzed to obtain the top 50 startups list. And in 2019, over 645 million LinkedIn profiles were analyzed. In this study, we analyze the top 50 US startups LinkedIn profiles in 2019 and 2020. Our results show that the technology startups are dominant during the two years. In particular, those related to cloud computing were found to be the most growing and widespread. Where the COVID-19 pandemic has not affected the growth of these startups but has made them more influential.

Differential impact of the angiotensin‑converting enzyme‑2 (ACE2 rs4343 G>A) and miR‑196a2 rs11614913 C>T gene alterations in COVID‑19 disease severity and mortality

The recent coronavirus outbreak from Wuhan China in late 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus‑2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) resulted in a global pandemic of coronavirus‑19 disease (COVID‑19). Understating the underlying mechanism of the pathogenesis of coronavirus infection is important not only because it will help in accurate diagnosis and treatment of the infection but also in the production of effective vaccines. The infection begins when SARS‑CoV‑2 enters the cells through binding of its envelope glycoprotein to angiotensin‑converting enzyme2 (ACE2). Gene variations of ACE2 and microRNA (miR)‑196 are associated with viral infection and other diseases. The present study investigated the association of the ACE2 rs4343

IMPACT OF COVID-19 LOCKDOWN ON MENTAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL LIFE OF DOCTORS IN PUBLIC SECTOR HOSPITALS: A CASE STUDY IN SAUDI ARABIA

Present study is exploratory in nature and focuses on the impact of COVID-19 lockdown in mental health and social life of doctors in public sector hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire specifically designed/developed for the current study. Questionnaire consisted of 18 items covering socio-demographic characteristics, preventive measures, mental health and social life of doctors. Inclusion/Exclusion criteria were established prior to the collection of data. The data were collected by students of the first semester studying in Executive Masters' Program HSAE613 in King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah. Statistical analyses were carried out using a statistical software NCSS to unleash the latent patterns existing between socio-demographic characteristics and other study variables. Outcomes of the study provide necessary impetus to the administrative staff in health institutions to devise Post-COVID counselling and training sessions for the doctors to overcome the mental, social and physical stresses that they encountered during COVID-19.

Satisfaction of Pakistan’s Islamic banking system during the COVID-19 pandemic Logistic model-based identification of the determinants to improve customer

Purpose: This study aims to explore the potential determinants of customers’ satisfaction with the Islamic banking system and highlights the fact that both internal and external factors play key roles in customer satisfaction (CS) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: Primary data from six Islamic banks (Al Baraka Bank Ltd, BankIslami Pakistan Ltd, Burj Bank Ltd, Dubai Islamic Bank Ltd, Meezan Bank Ltd and MCB-Islamic Bank Ltd) were analysed using a binary logit method. Findings: The results showed that internal factors such as hand sanitisation facilities, strict compliance with wearing a mask before entering the bank, the distance between customers and dealing officers, an organised network of branches (in terms of health safety protocols), the behaviour of dealing officers and extended banking hours contributed significantly to enhancing the satisfaction of Islamic banking customers during the pandemic in Pakistan. The results showed that high service charges on loans have a significant adverse impact on CS. Concerning external factors, the results showed that mass media platforms that can update customers about new services and customer transactions’ processing timing, the number of operational branches in the pandemic period, available parking space in front of a bank and recommendations from family and friends to open an account with a particular bank increase CS levels. Practical implications: The study’s results will be helpful for the policymakers and practitioners to design such policies that can promote the Islamic banking system in developing countries such as Pakistan. Originality/value: Under the pandemic situation, the present study highlights the internal and external determinants of Islamic banking customers’ satisfaction in Pakistan. The study provides a foundation for Islamic Banks to revise their policy frameworks and marketing strategies to attract customer interest and improve their satisfaction levels. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Did COVID-19 Impact the Connectedness Between Green Bonds and Other Financial Markets? Evidence From Time-Frequency Domain With Portfolio Implications

COVID-19 has morphed from a health crisis to an economic crisis that affected the global economy through several channels. This paper aims to study the impact of COVID-19 on the time-frequency connectedness between Green Bonds and other financial assets. Our sample includes the global stock market, bond market, oil, USD index, and two popular hedging alternatives, namely Gold and Bitcoin, from May 2013 to August 2020. First, we apply the methodologies of Diebold and Yilmaz (International Journal of Forecasting, 2012, 28(1), 57-66) and Barunk and Krehlk (Journal of Financial Econometrics, 2018, 16(2), 271-296). Then, we estimate hedge ratios and hedge effectiveness of green bonds for other financial assets. Green bonds are found to have a great weight in the overall network, particularly strongly connected with the USD index and bond index. While the bi-directional relationship with USD persists during COVID, the connectedness with conventional bonds is also strengthened. Notably, we find a weak relationship between Green bonds and Bitcoin, both in the short and long run. As portfolio implications, Gold and USD have the highest hedge ratio, which is confirmed by the hedging effectiveness. In contrast, oil and stocks exhibit the lowest hedging effectiveness. Our findings imply that financial assets might have a heterogeneous relationship with green bonds. Furthermore, despite its infancy, it seems that the role of green bond during a crisis should not be ignored, as it can be a hedger for some assets, while a contagion amplifier during crisis times.

Investigation of the dynamics of COVID-19 with a fractional mathematical model: A comparative study with actual data.

One of the greatest challenges facing the humankind nowadays is to confront that emerging virus, which is the Coronavirus (COVID-19), and therefore all organizations have to unite in order to tackle that the transmission risk of this virus. From this standpoint, the scientific researchers have to find good mathematical models that do describe the transmission of such virus and contribute to reducing it in one way or another, where the study of COVID-19 transmission dynamics by mathematical models is very important for analyzing and controlling this disease propagation. Thus, in the current work, we present a new fractional-order mathematical model that describes the dynamics of COVID-19. In the proposed model, the total population is divided into eight classes, in addition to three compartments used to estimate the parameters and initial values. The effective reproduction number ( R 0 ) is derived by next generation matrix (NGM) method and all possible equilibrium points and their stability are investigated in details. We used the reported data (from January 23, 2020, to November 21, 2020) from the National Health Commission (NHC) of China to estimate the parameters and initial conditions (ICs) which suggested for our model. Simulation outcomes demonstrate that the fractional order model (FOM) represents behaviors that follow the real data more accurately than the integer-order model. The current work enhances the recent reported results of Zu et al. published in THE LANCET (doi:10.2139/ssrn.3539669).