Guest editorial: Islamic finance in South Asia

Islamic financial institutions have a significant role to play in the post-COVID world, as they have shielded market participants from a full-scale meltdown (Hassan et al., 2022, 2021;Naeem et al., 2021). [...]there is a pressing need to research the successful management of Islamic financial institutions and clarify what stakeholders can learn from them. Many international financial institutions and other multilateral organizations in Asia, especially small and medium organizations, are currently using Islamic Finance to promote economic development by encouraging individuals to participate in financial markets through Islamic saving and lending instruments (Abdul-Rahim et al., 2022), or on a macro level by providing Islamic approaches into the monetary system (Mojahedi Moakhar et al., 2022), or to simply hedge risk (Afzal et al., 2023;Yoon et al., 2022). [...]Islamic Finance has proven to be a dependable alternative to initial public offerings (Hanieh, 2023) and public–private partnership financing and entrepreneurship (Anggadwita et al., 2021), more specifically technological entrepreneurship (Motiei, 2022). [...]this study calculates the accuracy of the pre-IPO reports to be 61% and views the high precision as related to DDM. [...]Saeed Akbar and Shehzad Khan et al. evaluate capital construction determinants' impact on the influence levels of SC and non-compliant firms in Pakistan.

The impact of ownership structure and corporate governance on energy intensity: evidence from Indian business groups

Purpose>Energy efficiency is critical for global sustainability (International Energy Agency, 2019). The purpose of this paper is to examine how agency conflicts arising from pyramidal ownership structures impact the energy intensity (EI) of group-affiliated Indian firms. Group-affiliated firms face unique governance challenges. For instance, parent owners (promoters) may transfer profits from one group-affiliated firm to another firm in which they have greater ownership. The authors hypothesize that such governance issues will lead to underinvestment in energy-saving projects among group firms in which promoters have a low ownership stake, resulting in their greater EI.Design/methodology/approach>The authors measure EI as the ratio of total energy expense to total sales revenue (EI) and as the industry-adjusted version of this ratio. Group-affiliated Indian firms are divided into high- and low-stake firms based on the sample’s median promoter ownership.Findings>Results support the authors’ prediction: group firms in which promoters have low ownership are more energy intensive, consistent with these firms being exposed to greater governance challenges and agency conflicts that result in operating inefficiencies and/or underinvestment in energy-saving projects.Practical implications>Given energy efficiency will be key in addressing climate change, this study could raise awareness among activists, motivate regulators to consider agency problems among group-affiliated firms in emerging markets and may underscore the importance of environmental-related corporate disclosures.Originality/value>To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to identify the significant impact that firm ownership structure and associated governance challenges have on corporate EI.

An Approach of Decision-Making under the Framework of Fermatean Fuzzy Sets

Because of its influence on various elements of human life experiences and conditions, the building industry is a significant business. In the recent past, environmental considerations have been incorporated in the design and planning stages of building supply chains. The process of evaluating and selecting suppliers is one of the most important issues in supply chain management. A multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) problem can be utilized to handle such issues. The goal of this research is to present a new and efficient technique for selecting suppliers with ambiguous data. The suggested methodology’s structure is based on technology for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), with Fermatean fuzzy sets (Fr FSs) employed to cope with information uncertainty. In this article, authors modified the distance between Fr FSs to propose the similarity measure and implemented it to form the MCDM model to resolve the vague and uncertain data. Moreover, we used this similarity measure to choose the optimal alternative. A practical example for alternative selection is provided, along with a comparison of the acquired findings to existing approach. Finally, to strengthen the outcome obtained through the proposed model, sensitivity analysis and time complexity analysis are performed.

An Enhanced Fermatean Fuzzy Composition Relation Based on a Maximum-Average Approach and Its Application in Diagnostic Analysis

The idea of composition relations on Fermatean fuzzy sets based on the maximum-extreme values approach has been investigated and applied in decision making problems. However, from the perspective of the measure of central tendency, this approach is not reliable because of the information loss occasioned by the use of extreme values. Based on this limitation, we introduce an enhanced Fermatean fuzzy composition relation with a better performance rating based on the maximum-average approach. An easy-to-follow algorithm based on this approach is presented with numerical computations. An application of Fermatean fuzzy composition relations is discussed in diagnostic analysis where diseases and patients are mirrored as Fermatean fuzzy pairs characterized with some related symptoms. To ascertain the veracity of the novel Fermatean fuzzy composition relation, a comparative analysis is presented to showcase the edge of this novel Fermatean fuzzy composition relation over the existing Fermatean fuzzy composition relation.

The Negotiated Settlement of the Crisis and the Cash Flows of Large Unlisted Italian Companies

Purpose: The recent introduction in Italy of the negotiated settlement of the crisis represents further progress towards the creation of useful tools to counter the failure of illiquid or close to insolvency companies. Access to the negotiated settlement of the crisis and the outcome that can result from it are strongly connected to the financial situation of the company. The purpose of this research is to analyze the financial situation of large unlisted Italian companies, in order to verify the advisability of using the new institute and the depth of the consequent management interventions. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research used the methodological scheme referred to in the Decree of the Ministry of Justice of 28 September 2021 to identify which variables were relevant for the purposes of accessing the procedure of crisis' negotiated settlement. The variables thus identified were analyzed according to the statistical method both in the year 2020, which experienced the exceptional nature of the pandemic shock, and, for comparison purposes, in the previous four years. Findings: The research has highlighted how the majority (53%) of the companies observed showed substantial economic stability and considerable financial resistance to the crisis. Furthermore, based on data for the financial year 2020, it was estimated that the number of large Italian companies potentially interested in the new institute of crisis' settlement is around 400, out of a total of over 900 companies. Practical Implications: The analysis scheme developed by the research can represent a useful tool for verifying the potential of the new procedure of crisis' negotiated settlement and can also be applied to the study of specific sectors or to small and medium-sized enterprises. Originality/Value: The originality of the research consists in having adapted the individual practical test provided for by the Law Decree of 24 August 2021, no. 118, to obtain an analysis tool applicable at an aggregate level.