Youth Unemployment, Education and Job Training: An Analysis of PLFS Data in India

This paper highlights the changes in the unemployment rate across different age cohorts among young people in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study observes that the youth unemployment rate increased at a much higher rate in urban areas both for male and female youth during the initial phase of pandemic. To understand the severity of the effects of pandemic on unemployment across different age groups among the youth, this study enquires into the nature and causes of unemployment among them. The probit estimates of unemployment function for the youth reveals that the likelihood of youth being unemployed is less in upper age cohorts within the young age range. An inverse relationship is observed between general education and employment among the youth in the Indian youth labour market. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.

Dividend payouts under a societal crisis: Financial constraints or signaling?

Dividend payouts of Chinese firms are typically flexible and unstable, and firms have leeway to change dividends in response to a crisis. Using this setting, we document that Chinese listed firms tend to decrease dividend payouts under the coronavirus crisis, supporting our financial constraints hypothesis instead of the alternative dividend signaling hypothesis. The baseline result is robust to a series of sensitivity checks. Underlying mechanism tests show that the negative effect of COVID-19 on dividend policies is enhanced in high-constrained groups compared to that in low-constrained groups. Further analysis of crisis-related factors reveals that the main result is enhanced when firms engage in international diversification, when firms have greater labor intensity and when firms are nonstate-owned.

African youth rising: The emergence and growth of youth-led digital enterprises in Africa

Africa has been viewed as a continent abundant with natural resources but deficient in human capacity to capitalize on this potential. Africa's youth have been the pariah of western prognosticators with reports of youth soldiers and the mass exodus across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Demographics show that Africa has more people under age 18 than on any other continent. This youth population is projected to double by 2050, stressing economic and educational resources. Resultantly, numerous vulnerable and needy youth have become targets for extremist groups. The collision of youth growth and exploitation, coupled with scarce resources, has caused some researchers to label this a "ticking time bomb." This is the dominant narrative that researchers and the media have used to portray Africans. This chapter presents a counter-narrative. It points to a crop of highly creative African youth entrepreneurs who present the potential to transform and rewrite the continent's future. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022. All rights reseverd.

The Moderating Role of Good Corporate Governance: The Influence of Capital Structure, Profitability, Dividend Payment and Inflation on The Value of Mining Companies in Indonesia: Acces la Success

The objectives of this research include: (1) examining and analyzing the effect of capital structure, profitability, dividend payments and inflation on the value of mining companies;(2) examining and analyzing the moderating role of Good Corporate Governance (GCG) on the effect of capital structure, profitability, dividend payment and inflation on the value of mining companies listed on the IDX. The population of this study is all mining sector companies listed on the IDX for the period 2014-2020. The purposive sampling method is used as the sampling technique. The total population is 49 companies and the number of samples that meet the criteria are 44 companies. The research period is 7 years, so the total number of observations is 308 data (pooled data). The Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA) is used as the analysis method. The result is as follow: (1) capital structure has a negative significant effect on firm value;(2) profitability has a positive significant effect on firm value;(3) dividend payment has no significant effect on firm value;(4) inflation has a negative significant effect on firm value;(5) GCG has a moderating effect on the influence of capital structure, profitability and inflation on firm value, with the type of Quasi Moderating, whereas on the influence of dividend payments on firm value, it was the type of Pure Moderating.

ACHIEVING EMPLOYMENT DIVIDEND IN THE POST-COVID-19 ERA: AN EXPLORATION FROM CHINA'S CARBON MARKET

Under the pressure of economic uncertainty and environmental protection in the post-COVID-19 era, achieving a new round of employment dividends has become one practical choice. Using the panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2007 to 2019, this study estimates the employment outcomes of carbon ETS pilots based on the difference-in-differences model. The findings of this study indicate the following: (1) Carbon ETS pilots can positively increase employment scales with an average effect of 7.12%. (2) This promoting effect will become more significant in provinces with high education levels, provinces with high average wages, and eastern region provinces. But there is no obvious difference between gender. (3) This positive effect can be transferred and enhanced by market competition and energy consumption. At the crossroads of green economic recovery, it will be greatly beneficial to formulate the national carbon market development roadmap under the carbon neutrality strategy.

Do dividend announcements override the pandemic impacts? Evidence from the BSE 500 constituent firms

With a sample of 332 dividend announcements from January 2019 to December 2020, using the event study methodology with the market model, we provide evidence that the dividend announcements failed to influence the stock prices under the pandemic stress. Although the pre-pandemic period announcements significantly impacted the stock returns, the pandemic period dividend announcements failed to generate significant abnormal returns even for an increase in dividend over the previous year. The pre-pandemic period results are consistent with previous literature with significant returns for constant, increase, and decrease in dividends. During the pre-pandemic period, we also find the possibility of information leakage in the Indian stock market as the pre-announcement period is marked with positive significant abnormal returns while the post-announcement period seems to be profit booking. The industry-wise analysis reveals the presence of positive returns in the Information Technology, Media and Telecommunication sector. However, the rest of the results are in line with the previous analysis. The findings suggest that before making such announcements, the companies should wait for the market to recover;else, the positively impacting dividend announcement will fail to influence the stock prices when the market is already under pandemic stress. We conduct the first-ever study to examine the impacts of dividend announcements during a pandemic stress period with also comparing the impacts during the pre-pandemic period. (c) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of College of Management, National Cheng Kung University.

Dividend policy, its asymmetric behavior and stock liquidity

Purpose: This paper examines the impact of dividend policy on stock market liquidity, and whether the dividend payouts has an asymmetric effect on stock liquidity. Design/methodology/approach: A multivariate panel-data regression analysis is conducted for a sample of the largest 411 nonfinancial US firms. Three main hypothesis are tested: (1) whether dividend payouts impact affect stock liquidity, (2) whether low and high dividend payments can asymmetrically effect on stock liquidity and (3) whether the presence of the GFC has an impact the relationship between dividend payments and stock liquidity. Findings: The study finds that dividend policy is adversely associated with stock liquidity. This supports the prediction of the liquidity-dividend hypothesis. The authors also report that stock liquidity asymmetrically responds to changes in dividend payouts, confirming the prediction of the dividend-signaling approach. More specifically, higher dividend payments decrease stock liquidity by a lower magnitude than the increase in stock liquidity resulting from lower dividend payments. Finally, the presence of the GFC weakened the relationship between dividend payments and stock liquidity. Research limitations/implications: The paper can help in performing future research by using different dataset covering the COVID-19 crisis. Practical implications: The paper allows market participants to better understand the impact of dividend policy and its asymmetric effects on stock liquidity. The authors' analyses can direct investors and regulators to adopt new supervisory devices to create an appropriate level of dividend payouts that helps to effectively support the level of stock liquidity. Social implications: The paper intends to support the business community and to make strong contributions to the economic development and the welfare of the community. Originality/value: The originality comes from its new evidence as it can help in assessing the importance of dividend policy and its asymmetric impact on stock liquidity in the full sample and during the GFC. The paper is helpful in performing future analyses using a new sample period for another set of data as well as accounting for COVID-19 pandemic crisis. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Economic Studies is the property of Emerald Publishing Limited and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Investigating the link between board independence and dividend distributions in South Africa

Purpose: As shareholder-elected monitors, independent non-executive directors (INEDs) should ensure that managers do not retain earnings to promote their own interests. The relationship between board independence and dividend distributions was hence investigated for selected companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The country offers a well-developed corporate governance framework to listed companies. Design/methodology/approach: Data on the considered companies' dividend payout ratios (DPRs), board independence and six control variables were obtained from Bloomberg for the period 2007-2021. The significance of the observed trends in these variables was considered by conducting analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Fisher's least significant difference (LSD) tests. The hypothesised relationship was assessed using a mixed-model regression. Findings/results: The results are in line with prior research showing that dividends are often omitted or reduced during and after crisis periods, that is, the global financial crisis (2008/2009) and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (2020/2021). A negative but statistically insignificant relationship was reported between DPR and board independence. Practical implications: Although board independence was not significantly related to dividend distributions for the sampled companies, INEDs still perform an important monitoring role. Shareholders are thus encouraged to play a more active role in the election of these directors. Originality/value: This study extends and refines previous research in South Africa and reveals new insights regarding board independence and dividend distributions during three King regimes and distribution-related regulatory changes. Copyright: © 2023. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.

Corporate going-concern report in early pandemic situation: Evidence from Indonesia.

A going-concern report (GCr) in the audit opinion adds value and ensures that the firm's sustainability is secured. This study sheds light on this relationship of listed infrastructure, utility, and transportation firms in Indonesia as the most affected firms by Covid-19. Data were collected from published audited annual reports and extracted from 73 firms as a sample. Logistic regression was employed to test the hypotheses. The results show the importance of leverage, audit quality, prior opinions, and dividend policy in ensuring corporate GC. In contrast, audit committee and institutional holder as corporate governance indicators are unrelated to GCr. Beyond its contribution to the literature, this study offers valuable feedback for regulatory bodies to consider the enforcement of corporate governance implementation and assists investors in making better-informed decisions. Furthermore, due to a pandemic crisis, a postponed dividend payment has not caused the firm to accept a GCr.

Dividend payout decisions under uncertainty: the ownership influence in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in Finland

PurposeThis paper examines whether ownership type has a moderating influence on dividend payouts during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis with respect to changes in profits. Future uncertainties because of the pandemic will result in a perceived need for liquidity within the company, but retaining cash may be risky for shareholders who could look for less risky alternatives. The dividend payout strategy is thus even more closely related to the overall type concentration and strategy of the owners during the crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe effects are explored and tested on early data from 2019 to 2020 of Finnish companies using ANCOVA while controlling for profitability and sector variables.FindingsA significant effect on dividend payout during the COVID crisis was found when the companies are dominantly held by individual owners validating early suggestions on such an influence. Therefore, this study contributes further to the academic debates on the influence of ownership concentration in times of crises. This study lists certain sectors which experience diminished profits during such a crisis which pinpoints sector separation in future discussions.Research limitations/implicationsThis study explores early data from a specific context in the Nordic countries. However, it does so out of purpose as explained in the paper.Practical implicationsOwnership type and concentration matters when it comes to dividend payout decisions under uncertainty with regard to changes in profit. Investors need to accept these behavioural insights into their decisions.Originality/valueThis study examines the signalling effect of dividends by analysing how actual or anticipated change in profitability due to a crisis is reflected by owners and leads to dividend payout decisions under uncertainty.

HOW DO DEPOSITORS RESPOND TO BANK DIVIDEND POLICY? EVIDENCE FROM MARKET DISCIPLINE, GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS AND COVID-19 PANDEMIC

This study investigates how depositors respond to the bank dividend policy via the interest rate channel. The results suggests that by paying dividend, banks mitigate the information asymmetry between insiders and outsiders, then enjoying a lower deposit cost than banks that do not pay dividend. Dividend-paying banks that are subject to higher funding costs may enjoy a greater decrease of funding costs than non-payers. Banks that are under greater pressure from regulators, but encounter losses have to pay higher deposit costs when deciding to pay dividend. The study emphasises the downside of deposit insurance scheme when documenting the indifference of insured but uninsured depositors during the global financial crisis, but the COVID-19 crisis, suggesting the wake-up calls for depositors. © Asian Academy of Management and Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia, 2022.

Covid-19 crisis and corporate cash dividend policies: evidence from Chinese listed companies

Drawn on signalling theory, this paper investigates the impact of uncertainty caused by COVID-19 on corporate dividend policy. Using data from Chinese listed companies, the empirical results document a negative relationship between the COVID-19 crisis and corporate cash dividend payments. Moreover, the negative association between COVID-19 and cash dividend is more pronounced in large-scale firms and state-owned enterprises (SOEs). These findings imply that, compared with large-scale firms and SOEs, the competitive position of small enterprises and non-SOEs are more fragile and thus more dependent on cash dividends to release positive signals to outsiders, so as to deal with the uncertainty caused by COVID-19. In further analysis, this study also finds that those industries related to transportation and entertainment have a negative effect during the epidemic, and they are more likely to cut dividends to assure additional cash and flexibility. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Harnessing Demographic Dividend Before it is Lost Forever in India.

Based on the secondary data taken from Population Census, and the Employment-Unemployment Surveys and Periodic Labour Force Survey of the National Sample Survey, it is found that Indian economy is passing through a critical phase of economic development in which it is likely to lose its demographic advantage. Because, in India while about 4.5 million people were leaving agriculture every year prior to the Covid-19 pandemic years, the non-farm sectors job was not growing adequately to accommodate the persons leaving agriculture, and the newly educated non-farm job seekers. As a result there was an upsurge in educated youth unemployment (18% and about 24 million) rate, and hence the discouraged youth labour force. On the other hand, an increase in the share (from 8.0 to 10.2%) and growth (3.0-5.1%) of elderly population put a question on the process of harnessing demographic dividend in India. Based on these findings it is argued that an integrated approach of development is necessary to boost the labour force participation of youth and overall population to boost the growth of per capita national state domestic product (NSDP) in Indian states. This could be achieved through the promotion of micro and small enterprises along with infrastructure development along with a systematic emigration and remittances policy.

Payout suspensions during the Covid-19 pandemic.

We provide evidence on the unprecedented rate at which firms suspended dividend payments and share repurchases following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, compare it to the Global Financial Crisis, and estimate the amount of cash firms saved through payout suspensions.

Determinant of earnings response coefficient on the Indonesian and Singaporean stock exchanges during the COVID-19 pandemic

Earnings response coefficient (ERC) is one of the important things for companies and investors, as it reflects a company's good value. The COVID-19 pandemic, which is happening globally, has greatly affected capital market conditions and companies in general. It is necessary to examine what factors affect ERC significantly to provide an overview to the company while maintaining the good name of the company. This study aims to analyze the effect of firm growth, leverage, information asymmetry, and systematic risk on ERC with dividend payout ratios as moderating on the Indonesia Stock Exchange and Singapore Stock Exchange. The study uses a quantitative approach with secondary data in the form of companies' annual reports. Population was made up of food and beverage and tobacco manufacturing companies in 2018-2020. It consists of 38 JASICA index companies on IDX, and 33 SGX index companies on SGX. The results showed that, firstly, leverage and systematic risk had a significant negative effect on ERC. Second, firm growth and information asymmetry have no effect on ERC. Third, dividend payout ratio can weaken a positive influence of information asymmetry on ERC. Fourth, dividend payout ratio failed to moderate a positive effect of firm growth and a negative effect of leverage and systematic risk on ERC. All variables have no significant statistical difference between the two stock exchanges. These results indicate that a company must improve the performance and quality of information;pay attention to obligations, mitigate and manage risk to obtain optimal ERC. © Niswah Baroroh, Heri Yanto, Muhammad Khafid, Kuat Waluyo Jati, Dinda Ayu Setyowati, 2022.

The Impact of Macroeconomic Indicators on the Share Prices of Dividend Companies - A Comparative Analysis of Polish and US Issuers for the Period 2016-2020

Research background: The aim of the article is to compare Polish and US dividend companies with potential growth with dividend companies with potential value, including in the period of economic turbulence caused by the pandemic, and to identify macroeconomic determinants that affect changes in the level of share prices of dividend companies with potential value listed on the stock exchange in Poland and the US. An analysis of the literature and international studies conducted allows us to identify inflation, gross domestic product (GDP), interest rate levels, exchange rate changes, and market P/E and P/BV ratios, as well as the PMI index, as the most important macroeconomic factors. Purpose: The aim of the article was to present research on the impact of macroeconomic indicators on the prices of Polish and US shares of dividend companies, divided into shares with potential value and potential growth for the period 2016-2020. The research was enriched by analyzing the return rate on shares and the risk of the share prices of companies with potential value during the turbulence of the economy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Research methodology: The study was conducted using the Spearman rank correlation coefficient and significance test for the Spearman rank correlation coefficient. A non-parametric t-test was carried out to check whether the estimated correlation is statistically significant. Results: The research indicates that Polish and US dividend companies with potential value have lower average annual return rates than dividend companies with potential growth. Referring to the determinants of the share prices of US dividend companies with potential value, it was found that they are significantly determined by inflation and moderately determined by industrial production and GDP, as well as the P/BV ratio. Novelty: The added and application value are the recommendations regarding the attractiveness of investing in Polish dividend companies with potential value as compared to companies from the US market. © 2022 Bartłomiej Jabłoński et al.

Dividend suspensions and cash flows during the Covid-19 pandemic: A dynamic econometric model.

Firms suspended dividend payments in unprecedented numbers in response to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. We develop a multivariate dynamic econometric model that allows dividend suspensions to affect the conditional mean, volatility, and jump probability of growth in daily industry-level dividends and demonstrate how the parameters of this model can be estimated using Bayesian Gibbs sampling methods. We find considerable heterogeneity across industries in the dynamics of daily dividend growth and the impact of dividend suspensions.

A Study on Impact of Dividend Policy and Stock Price Volatility on Health Care Market

Our target to be reached through this research to measure the impact of the strength of electronic rumours circulating through social networking sites on the demand of the consumer for foodstuffs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. For which purpose, analysis has been made for the dimensions of both electronic rumours and social networking sites, in addition to the demand for foodstuffs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides, based on the field study using the questionnaire that has been distributed to a specific sample consisting of 394 consumers using one of the social networking sites, the study demonstrated the existence of a statistically significant effect of the electronic rumours on the consumer demand for foodstuffs in light of such pandemic. More to the point, this study attributed that effect to three factors pertaining to the nature of the electronic rumours and the means of their distribution, in addition to factors relating to the consumer personality, and other factors associated with the environmental conditions created by the pandemic in terms of economic, social and psychological aspects. Furthermore, amongst the most important of such factors, we uncover: the relative importance of rumours with regards to the consumer, and the degree of ambiguity that distinguished the crisis period about the measures taken by government to cope with the crisis, along with the degree of credibility and confidence that the consumer allocates to those rumours, in addition to the spread of anxiety and stress resulting from the crisis in question.

Achieving Employment Dividend in the Post-Covid-19 Era: An Exploration from China’s Carbon Market

Under the pressure of economic uncertainty and environmental protection in the post-COVID-19 era, achieving a new round of employment dividends has become one practical choice. Using the panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2007 to 2019, this study estimates the employment outcomes of carbon ETS pilots based on the difference-in-differences model. The findings of this study indicate the following: (1) Carbon ETS pilots can positively increase employment scales with an average effect of 7.12%. (2) This promoting effect will become more significant in provinces with high education levels, provinces with high average wages, and eastern region provinces. But there is no obvious difference between gender. (3) This positive effect can be transferred and enhanced by market competition and energy consumption. At the crossroads of green economic recovery, it will be greatly beneficial to formulate the national carbon market development roadmap under the carbon neutrality strategy.

Infectious disease and corporate activities

We investigate the effect of equity market volatility due to infectious disease on U.S. firms’ corporate activities from 1985 to 2020. Consistent with the theoretical framework, firms decrease their debt levels, debt maturity, corporate investments and dividend payout, and increase their cash holdings, research and development expenditure.