The impact of Covid-19 on the capital structure in emerging economies: evidence from India

PurposeCapital structure is an important corporate financing decision, particularly for companies in emerging economies. This paper attempts to understand whether the pandemic had any significant impact on the capital structure of companies in emerging economies. India being a prominent emerging economy is an ideal candidate for the analysis.Design/methodology/approachThe study utilizes three leverage ratios in an extended market index, BSE500, for the period 2015–2021. The ratios considered are short-term leverage ratio (STLR), long-term leverage ratio (LTLR) and total leverage ratio (TLR). A dummy variable differentiates the pre-epidemic (2015–2019) and pandemic (2020–2021) period. Control variables are used to represent firm characteristics such as growth, tangibility, profit, size and liquidity. Dynamic panel data regression is employed to address endogeneity.FindingsThe findings point out that Covid-19 has had a significant, negative effect on LTLR, while the impact on STLR and TLR was insignificant. The findings indicate that companies based in a culturally risk-averse environment, such as India, would reduce the long-term debt to avoid bankruptcy in times of uncertainty.Research limitations/implicationsThe study covers the impact of the pandemic on Indian companies. Hence, generalization of the findings to global context might not be valid.Practical implicationsTo maintain economic growth in the post-crisis period, Indian policymakers should ensure accessibility to low-cost capital. The findings provide impetus to deepen the insignificant corporate bond market in India for future economic revival.Originality/valueDeveloping countries are struggling to revive the economies postpandemic. This is particularly true for Asian economies which are heavily reliant on banks for survival. This research finds evidence to utilize bond market as a source of raising capital for economic revival.

Resilience Based on Management Practices in Higher Education Institutions in an Emerging Economy

Although the potential benefits of management practices have been widely publicized, less is known about how management practices affect resilience in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in emerging economies. In this article, we test a research framework capable of capturing the relationships between management practices and resilience in HEIs in Brazil, in a context of post-pandemic SARS-CoV-2 (new normal). Primary survey-based data were collected from HEI managers using a scalar-type questionnaire (Likert). Data Mining, Spearman Correlation and Ordinal Regression techniques were applied. The calculations were developed using R software. The results of our research cover expected and unexpected results and suggest that the adoption of management practices in HEIs pays off in terms of economic and social resilience. Strategic planning and human resources are the most prominent practices. Our findings can be useful for HEIs from emerging economies that share similar characteristics with Brazil. This study is original, fills a gap in the literature and makes contributions to theory and practice: (i) it serves as a guide for managers in the formulation and implementation of management practices;(ii) advances the arguments of the literature on management in HEIs.

COVID-19 pandemic and stock market performance: A comparative study of emerging economies.

The paper investigates the co-movement of COVID-19 pandemic and performance of stock markets of four emerging economies. The Quantile-on-Quantile regression model was applied to daily share prices of stock markets from March 13, 2020 to November 30, 2021 in these economies. The results indicate varied relationships across various quantiles of COVID-19 cases and share prices. Whilst both positive and negative relationships are established at different quantiles of share prices for Brazil and Kenya, negative co-movements are recorded for India and South Africa for all quantiles of share prices. The varying dependence between COVID-19 and stock markets provide critical insights to policy makers.

Zoom-ing Past "the New Normal”? Understanding Students' Engagement with Online Learning in Higher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Although higher education institutes were the early adopters of remote learning through virtual, synchronous classrooms during the pandemic, the efficacy of this medium has received mixed reactions. Engaging online learners still remains a major challenge for instructors and institutions in general. Amidst variety of distractions at home, achieving positive learning outcomes and student engagement during the class is imperative for a quality learning experience. Achieving the same level of success with online learning requires overcoming the barriers of the modality while promoting collaboration, discussion and engagement, which encapsulate the essence of a great learning ecosystem. This demands our attention to acquire a comprehensive understanding of student engagement with online learning. Hence, the present chapter aims to provide a holistic view of student engagement from a stakeholders' perspective. The framework offers practical and actionable insights into the key stakeholders in enhancing students' engagement and offering quality online education during and post pandemic periods. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Drug abuse and suicidal thoughts among employees: an emerging economy perspective

Purpose: Anchored with turbulence emanating from the COVID-19 pandemic, the work environment has become more stressful with debilitating effects on the well-being of employees. Employees rely on varying means of coping including drug abuse. However, the association between drug abuse and suicidal thoughts among employees in Ghana is unknown. Therefore, this study sought to examine the relationship between drug abuse and suicidal thoughts among employees in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach: In a cross-sectional survey, this study purposively sampled 470 employees from three sectors of the Ghanaian economy (telecommunication, banking and manufacturing). The data was analysed using the multivariate analysis (MANOVA), Pearson's r test and hierarchical regression. Findings: Analysis of data revealed a positive relationship between drug abuse and suicidal thoughts, indicating that drug abuse is a risk factor for suicidal thoughts. Besides, it was also revealed that banking sector employees have a higher risk of having suicidal thoughts than employees in the telecommunication and manufacturing sectors. Practical implications: Managers of organisations need to redesign work to embrace the challenging circumstances brought about as a result of COVID-19 and post-COVID implications. The work environment needs to be more supportive to shield employees from the physical and emotional demands of work during and after this period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today than ever, investment in the implementation of employee-assisted programmes (EAPs) and employee well-being programmes (EWPs) to equip employees with the needed skills to cope with stressful conditions has been more than justified. Originality/value: From a broader perspective, this study identifies drug abuse as a key risk factor for suicidal thoughts among employees, thereby highlighting the fact that smoking cessation programs and drug management therapies are an integral part of well-being programmes aimed at establishing equilibrium and gradually creating a wide gap between employees and suicidal thoughts. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Inflation Spillovers among Advanced and Emerging Economies: Evidence from the G20 Group

The influence of recent global shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian–Ukrainian war on the variability of major macroeconomic trends not only shows synchronized behavior across economies but also induces similar policy responses to counter these shocks. The purpose of this article is to explore the transmission of inflation among the G20 economies and evaluate its contribution to domestic inflation. To this end, we use the Diebold and Yilmaz spillover approach. The results that emerge from unconditional analysis reveal stark dissimilarities in inflation spillover patterns between advanced and emerging economies. Advanced economies are subject to higher spillover rates and thereby more exposed to global shocks compared to their emerging counterparts. Inflation in emerging countries is mainly derived from idiosyncratic shocks, while global shocks have only a modest influence on domestic inflation. In addition, bilateral spillovers among the G20 members show that the average pairwise directional spillovers between emerging economies are lower compared to advanced economies. The results pertaining to the spillover dynamics, on the other hand, show that total inflation spillover has a clear upward trend, indicating that the overall interconnectedness between G20 countries is increasing over time. Moreover, the estimates of spillover dynamics show a growing influence of received inflation spillovers from external shocks in both advanced and emerging economies. Policymakers in advanced economies are expected to respond to global shocks to mitigate the influence of spillovers, which is essential for economies that display high spillovers and turn out to be net receivers of shocks. However, public agencies in emerging economies should concentrate more on internal shocks to control inflation while not ignoring global shocks.

Tourism and COVID-19: An economy-wide assessment

The promotion of domestic tourism is widely identified as a promising recovery measure to revive tourism economies severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper intends to estimate the economy-wide impacts of a hypothetical scenario of domestic tourism promotion in a small, emerging economy with heavy reliance on international tourism. The estimated impacts are compared with the economy-wide negative impacts of the pandemic via domestic and international tourism, to understand the potential level of compensation of domestic tourism promotion. The industry-level analysis indicates Dutch disease effects due to the decline in international tourism. A hypothetical boom in domestic tourism benefits non-tradable sectors to a significant level. Aggregate level analysis indicates a potential for economic gains through domestic tourism promotion, though such gains are inadequate to fully offset the foregone economic benefits due to loss in international tourism. © 2023 The Authors

A Note on the COVID-19 Shock and Real GDP in Emerging Economies

In this study, we estimate a multi-country Threshold-Augmented Global Vector Autoregressive (TGVAR) model to analyze the response of real GDP of emerging economies (Brazil, India, China, and South Africa) with reference to selected advanced economies (US, UK, & Germany) to the COVID-19 shock. The result of the counterfactual analysis beyond the 2019Q4 indicates that the impact of COVID-19 shock on real GDP is pervasive and more prevalent in the developed than the emerging economies. Our model forecasts real GDP growth of emerging countries more precisely, but we attribute the shortfalls in the projections for advanced economies to the efficacy of fiscal and unconventional monetary policies to speed up the recovery in these countries.

Introduction: Emerging Market Economies and Alternative Development Paths

In the twenty-first century many latecomer emerging economies are embarking on development paths that are fundamentally different from the well-known classical models and are shaped by historical and socio-political conditions peculiar to their modernization experiences. We explore the new perspectives on latecomer development in this post-crisis period of global capitalism, as the ways these statist economic systems are organized and coordinated, hence their operational logic still lacks a systematic exploration and explanation. This chapter provides an overview on recent tendencies of state capitalism, present existing theoretical approaches and offer novel perspectives to analyse contemporary capitalist varieties and alternative development trajectories of the Global South and East. We focus on the post-crisis cycle, and especially highlight the need to reconsider and revise existing theories and assumptions in the light of the most recent—and ever-changing—global circumstances paved first by the COVID-19 pandemic, and by the Russian invasion in Ukraine. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Are Exchange Rate Contagions Asymmetric? Evidence from Emerging Market Economies

In view of increasing importance of emerging market currencies in the global foreign exchange markets and the growing concerns regarding the vulnerability of these currencies to global crises, we assess the connectedness of 16 emerging currencies by employing asymmetric domains of time and frequency spanning March 2011 to January 2022. We first notice bidirectional interconnectedness (both positive and negative) among three clusters of sampled exchange rates. The currency contagions follow divergent directions during crisis periods. During US debt selling crisis, there is a short-run negative contagion pointing to the appreciation of currencies. Following the Chinese financial market crisis, emerging market currencies demonstrated devaluation. There is long-run positive contagion (devaluation) in response to European Debt Crisis, Russian Ruble Crisis, Brazilian economic crisis, and Argentinian monetary crisis. The sampled exchange rates demonstrate negative long-run connectedness (appreciation) after COVID-19. The major transmitters to total connectedness are South Africa, Poland, and Mexico and major receivers include Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, and Egypt. In the long run, China is emerging as a significant transmitter. Our study draws significant policy and practical implications for regulators, investors, and financial market participants. © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Determinants of health information acceptance to COVID-19 avoidance: the lens of information acceptance model and elaboration likelihood model

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the motivations underlying information usefulness, attitude and acceptance of health information related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) avoidance based on the information acceptance model (IAM) and the elaboration likelihood model (ELM). Design/methodology/approach: This study conducted a quantitative approach using survey that generated 364 valid responses. Structural equation modeling was applied to analyze the data and evaluate the hypotheses. Findings: The results of this study showed that the determinants of information usefulness are argument quality (comprising accuracy and timeliness) and peripheral route (comprising credibility and relevance), whereas no significant relationship was found between completeness and information quantity and information usefulness. Further analysis indicated that attitude and information usefulness significantly affect health information acceptance to COVID-19 avoidance. Research limitations/implications: Using ELM and IAM, an explanation of health information acceptance in the salient pandemic context was given. This study contributed to the current literature by offering insights into attitude and information usefulness for information acceptance. The validation of the model was strengthened by identifying the effects of argument quality and peripheral route attributes on information usefulness, which is stated to make contributions to the earlier literature. Practical implications: Practitioners should strive to understand the facilitators regarding argument quality and peripheral routes to broaden information usefulness. The findings of this study are helpful for practitioners to implement communication campaigns that foster attitude and health information acceptance in the COVID-19 pandemic as well as in similar disease situations. Social implications: This study provides individuals and organizations with necessary information about the importance of mobile applications (m-applications) in distributing online information and about reliable guidelines for the implementation of disease avoidance to improve their health status. Originality/value: Existing studies investigated users' health information acceptance in some contexts related to general disease, but less is known about this behavior among young individuals via m-applications at the moment of COVID-19 and in emerging economies. This study identifies the efforts made by the relationship between information and technological diffusion to help individuals surmount difficulties in times of crisis. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Emerging and advanced economies markets behaviour during the COVID‐19 crisis era

This article examines the consequences of the COVID‐19 crisis on the interdependencies between emerging and advanced economies. Using daily market index data from 22 developed and emerging markets, we develop a combination of statistical methods based on Diebold and Yilmaz spillover index and Toda–Yamamoto and Dolado and Lütkepohl causality approach. The results substantiate an increase in the interdependence between emerging and advances economies, which suggests an increase in the transmission of the stress and uncertainty between financial markets during the pandemic period. Our findings show that the emerging countries are affected by the financial markets of advanced economies during the COVID‐19 crisis and, in particular, by European markets, which appear to be the primary driver of contagion and transmission of stress and uncertainty to all other regional markets.

A new look at stock price-exchange rate nexus: Analysis of COVID-19 pandemic waves in advanced and emerging economies.

This study takes a new look at the stock price-exchange rate nexus and attempts contributions to the extant studies in a number of intuitive ways. First, we analyze the reverse relationships given the theory-backed two-way causality between the two variables. We reassess the nexus across the First, Second and Third Waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as comparison between advanced and emerging economies. Third, we adopt a panel modeling approach that simultaneously takes nonstationarity, cross sectional dependence, and asymmetry into account. The data analyses show that the relationship is statistically negative for the two nexuses. The magnitudes were higher during the crisis (the COVID-19 pandemic) although the relationship broke down during the Second Wave as the Delta variant surged. We identify relevant investment and policy implications of the findings.

Stock liquidity during COVID-19 crisis: A cross-country analysis of developed and emerging economies, and economic policy uncertainty

We investigate the impact of the COVID-19 on firms' stock liquidity across six developed and emerging economies. Unlike prior literature, we further compare the effects of the pandemic between developed and emerging economies, high and low economic policy uncertainty (EPU), and large and small firms. Our results document the significant negative impact of infection cases and deaths on firms' stock liquidity across the sample countries, and the similar effect of their interaction term. We find that the impact is more pronounced in the developed economies, high EPU and small firms, compared to emerging economies, low EPU and large firms, respectively. © 2023

The moderating role of COVID-19 pandemic on the relationship between CEO characteristics and earnings management: evidence from Bangladesh

This research uses accrual and real earnings management strategies in an emerging economy to evaluate how CEO characteristics (i.e. CEO nationality, duality, and compensation) affect earnings management and how the COVID-19 pandemic modifies this connection. The empirical investigation used annual reports from 2011 to 2021 of 118 listed enterprises in thirteen sectors of non-financial organizations in Bangladesh. The study divided the sample further into COVID-19 pandemic and pre-pandemic periods. Findings show that firms tend to engage less in real earnings management during the COVID-19 pandemic period compared to pre-pandemic period. CEO nationality significantly negatively affects accrual-earnings management, but CEO dualism positively affects real-earnings management. CEO compensation significantly impacts accrual and real earnings management. Finally, COVID-19 moderates the association between CEO compensation and real-earnings management positively. The study's findings contribute to the corporate governance literature by providing insights into the influence of CEO characteristics on earnings management. This is the first study to consider the moderating role of the COVID-19 pandemic on the relationship between CEO traits and earnings management. © 2023 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.

Capital flows to emerging economies and global risk aversion during the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper analyses recent changes in the relative importance of the determinants of capital flows to emerging market economies. For this purpose, we estimate vector autoregressive (VAR) models for the period 2009–2021. Based on these models, we estimate the effects on debt flows from shocks to their determinants. Then, we quantify the contribution of each of the variables included in the model to explain the evolution of these flows in each month of the sample through a historical decomposition analysis. The main results indicate that the contribution of global risk aversion to explain the evolution of debt flows increased during March 2020 compared to the past, although its relative importance has decreased since, particularly as central banks in systemically important economies restored liquidity and the performance of financial markets improved. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Assessing fiscal multipliers in times of crisis: evidence from selected CEE countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic proved to be an unprecedented socio-economic crisis in the last decades. More than three years after its outbreak, there is still uncertainty regarding its future evolution. National and international authorities adopted a prompt and synchronized response to limit the adverse effects of the health crisis, in terms of socio-economic damage. Against this background, this paper assesses the efficiency of the measures implemented by fiscal authorities in selected Central and Eastern European countries to ameliorate the economic repercussions of the crisis. The analysis reveals that the impact of expenditure-side measures is stronger than that of revenue-side ones. Additionally, the results of a time-varying parameter model indicate that the fiscal multipliers are higher in times of crisis. In view of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the related geopolitical turmoil and energy crisis, the findings of this paper are especially pertinent, given the need for additional fiscal support.

Impulse purchases during emergency situations: exploring permission marketing and the role of blockchain

Purpose: The paper explores how consumer behavior for purchasing impulse products changed in the complex and disruptive (emergency) situation of the COVID-19 pandemic when the customer is shopping in-home and not visiting the offline stores in an emerging economy context. This paper further explores how digital transformations like the use of blockchain technology can aid offline/omnichannel retailers in reviving sales via permission marketing for impulse products. Design/methodology/approach: The authors followed a qualitative research design and conducted 24 personal interviews with millennials and 15 interviews with offline/omnichannel retailers from an emerging economy. The data collected were analyzed using the thematic analysis procedure. Findings: The authors discuss their findings under three themes – customers' conscious impulse buying during the pandemic, customers' unconscious impulse buying during the pandemic, and a viable solution for retailers in response to the pandemic. Practical implications: The authors suggest that marketers primarily from an offline/omnichannel store should adapt to permission marketing and use technologies like blockchain for the digital transformation of their marketing strategies. Doing so can help offline retailers minimize future damages in the retail sector during emergency situations. Originality/value: This paper is one of the first that explores how impulse – pure, suggestion, planned and reminder – purchases got affected during the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions in an emerging economy. This paper is also one of the first to explore the role of permission marketing and digital transformation by the use of blockchain in helping offline retailers in forming swift trust and practice trust-based marketing. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

The COVID-19 pandemic impact on the global tourism industry SMEs: a human capital development perspective

Purpose: This paper aims to propose a model for increasing human capital competitiveness in the tourism sector in emerging economies. Using Indonesia as an example, the authors study the extent of the COVID-19 pandemic's impact and the sector's resilience. Design/methodology/approach: Data was collected using a survey of 199 tourism workers in Magelang city in Central Java Island. The data was analyzed using structural equation model with Smart PLS. Findings: The results confirm that social and human capital influence business success. Furthermore, innovation moderates the influence of human capital and social capital on business success. Originality/value: By conducting a primary survey with the tourism workers and those who work and interact with the tourism industry in Indonesia, the authors show how a promising approach to creating and sharing agile knowledge can enhance the tourism industry micro, small and medium enterprises in emerging economies during and post-COVID-19 pandemic and after. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Are sustainable firms more profitable during COVID-19? Recent global evidence of firms in developed and emerging economies

PurposeThis paper investigates whether sustainability performance (SP) protects financial performance (FP) for firms in both developed and emerging economies during the COVID-19-induced economic downturn.Design/methodology/approachUsing a recent sample of firms in 34 countries between 2003 and 2021, the authors employ ordinary least squares regressions, moderations and the Heckman two-step method to test the hypotheses.FindingsFirms with strong SP have higher FP in developed and emerging economies in the upcoming year. During the COVID-19 crisis in 2020–2021, the impact of sustainability on FP is pronounced in developed but not in emerging economies. Furthermore, cross-listings expose firms in emerging economies to high-standard institutional mechanisms in developed economies. Thus, sustainable firms in emerging economies cross-listed on European stock exchanges are more profitable.Practical implicationsFor regulators and standard setters, the global-level comparative analysis helps them find solutions that may assist firms in improving SP globally (e.g. mandatory reporting) and enduring crises resiliently. For institutional investors, the study reveals the relatively different impact of sustainability risk for firms in developed and emerging economies. For practitioners and private sector firms, this study contributes to the dialogue on what makes firms more resilient in COVID-19. Although COVID-19 might be temporary, the lessons learned could protect firms from future crises.Originality/valueThe authors contribute to the contingency perspective between sustainability and financial performance by providing recent empirical evidence in a global setting during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors demonstrate how different external institutional mechanisms (rule-based governance and relation-based governance) and cross-listing affect the SP-FP relationship during a crisis. The authors extend the knowledge in crisis management literature with a comparative study and fill the research gap on how SP affects FP for firms in emerging economies compared to developed economies.