Impact of Pandemic Outbreak and Targeted Required Reserve Ratio Cut Policy on Stock Return Rate: Evidence from China

This study analyzed the impact of COVID-19 outbreak and targeted required reserve ratio cut policy on stock returns of Chinese listed companies. This paper uses the data of 3,449 A-share listed companies from February 3, 2020 to December 31, 2020 for research, the empirical results showed that stock prices of private enterprises with stronger debt-paying ability and looser financing constraints, and state-owned enterprises with less supply chain credit risks performed better, in the central and western regions, enterprises with stronger solvency and looser financing constraints have better stock price performance during the early stages of pandemic. After the implementation of the targeted RRR cut policy, the stock prices of enterprises with poor solvency, private enterprises, and enterprises in central and western regions with strong financing constraints, state-owned enterprises, and enterprises in eastern region with high credit risks all showed significant reversals, and the stock prices reflected the effect of the targeted RRR cut policy in the short and medium term. Over time, the pandemic has been controlled, and the resumption of work and production has freed most enterprises from financial difficulties. However, due to sporadic outbreaks, large private enterprises and eastern enterprises with strong risk resistance and loose financing constraints enjoy better stock price performance. This study is helpful for enterprises to understand the value of financial flexibility and solvency and provides a reference for enterprises to make financial decisions: how to balance the benefits and costs of solvency. © Tian Wang, Fang Fang and Linhao Zheng, 2023.

REVISITING TEMPORAL CAUSALITY BETWEEN ISLAMIC FINANCE INSTRUMENTS AND OUTPUT

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, financing would again be the crux of the recovery process. This paper revisits existing literature on how financial development promotes growth by focusing on the role of Islamic finance in Malaysia. Specifically, the role of sukuk and loans by Islamic banks on output is examined in Malaysia. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the causal nexus between sukuk, Islamic banking loan, and output using a bootstrap causality test applied to both full sample and rolling window sub-samples. Data ranges from 2000M1-2021M6 for the sukuk market and 2006M12-2021M6 for Islamic banking loans. We rely on bootstrap rolling windows which allow for time-varying causalities within time-series data. Results indicate evidence that Islamic financing instruments, in this case, sukuk and loans by Islamic banks Granger-cause output in the long run. Even in the long run, non-constancy in the parameters is detected for total sukuk, sukuk for finance, and sukuk for transport. The parameter stability tests indicate parameter non-constancy in the short run for total sukuk, sukuk for finance, sukuk for transport, and sukuk for utility for the output-sukuk equation. In the case of Islamic financing via loans, short-run parameter instability is prevalent for all loan–output equations. We take the analysis further by examining the direction of the lead variables on a multi-time scale using continuous wavelet transforms and wavelet coherence. Results show that causality runs from sukuk output for total sukuk, transport, and utility sukuk whereas construction sukuk seems to exhibit a mixed behaviour. In the case of sukuk for finance, the impact is more pronounced in the very-long run. These findings could be a guide for countries intending to use Islamic financing instruments as one of the tools for fiscal stimulus or post-pandemic economic recovery. © 2023, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. All rights reserved.

Africa's Air Transport Infrastructure: Challenges, Complexities and Opportunities

African aviation has witnessed steady growth pre-COVID and as result of increased demand for air travel, there is an urgent need to improve the air transport infrastructure. This chapter examines the underlining complexities and challenges that are undermining the African region's propensity to exploit its growth trajectory. The chapter explores multiple differences in regional airport infrastructure. Infrastructure is considered a key component of the investment climate, reducing costs of doing business and enabling people to access markets. In general, Africa, by every measure of infrastructure coverage, lags behind their peers in other parts of the developing world. Poor infrastructure of most African airports is seen as a principal reason why the region continues to struggle to fulfil its undoubtedly economic potential. These infrastructure problems can hardly be solved due to limited financial resources and will therefore consequently lead to retaining infrastructure problems. The chapter proposes a series of blueprint measures in order to galvanize Africa's growth potential within air transport development. This calls for speeding up privatization and allowing more private equity investments to support air infrastructure improvements. The most desired option to finance airport infrastructure would be the Public–Private Partnership (PP). However, on the local level, banks have relative weak capital coffers, which also limit access to infrastructure capital loans. Investors see some underlining risks in financing airport projects in Africa, namely uncertainty related to forecasts of passenger growth numbers. Other risks are embedded in currency markets, whereby most domestic airport infrastructure with project revenues is generated in local currencies, but servicing foreign debt and equity involves payment in foreign currency. The chapter finally examines the impact of COVID-19 on airport operations. From 2019 to 2021, airports were severely affected by the global pandemic causing massive loss of revenues for both airport operators and airlines. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Covid-19 disruption, resilience and industrial policy: the automotive sector in the West Midlands

The Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit have focused attention on the resilience of key sectors and firms. This paper explores the financial resilience of the 50 largest automotive firms in the West Midlands region of the UK in their response to disruption and economic shocks. The findings demonstrate that 22 firms are at high risk due to poor current liquidity ratios, with Coventry and Birmingham emerging as locations most susceptible to firm closures. High-risk firms include key flagship original equipment manufacturers operating at the downstream end of supply chains. If these firms were to fail, there would be a significant destructive impact on both the industry and the local economy. We assert an effective subnational industrial policy is required in order to support economic resilience in regions such as the West Midlands where a few firms account for a disproportionate share of employment and value-added.

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.

Professional shariah audit training via the e-learning approach during COVID-19: challenges and prospects

PurposeThis study aims to explore and identify potential challenges and prospects for conducting the professional shariah audit training programme via an e-learning approach during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaires were administered to 296 participants who were enrolled in the professional shariah audit training programme via e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in 2020. These participants were final-year students from selected Malaysian public universities.FindingsFindings show that several main challenges are faced in adopting an e-learning approach for conducting the professional shariah audit training programme such as the inability to do more hands-on, group and physical activities, different understandings based on academic backgrounds, difficulty in learning practical and technical topics, technical issues and problems during e-learning sessions. These lead to the unsuitability of conducting professional training via the e-learning approach. In terms of prospects of knowledge learnt via the e-learning approach, participants showed that they are able to master all six modules covered in the professional shariah audit training programme via the e-learning approach. These include (1) shariah principles;(2) shariah governance;(3) Islamic financial transactions;(4) shariah risk management;(5) shariah audit planning and programme;and (6) shariah audit fieldwork and communication.Practical implicationsBased on the findings, it is suggested to have more time spent and earlier preparation on the learning contents and sessions, more discussion on actual contents and practical exercises and competency of the trainers in delivering e-learning sessions.Originality/valueThis study is believed to be one among the pioneering studies on the potential challenges and prospects in adopting e-learning for conducting the professional shariah audit training programme due to COVID-19.

Fintech in the Face of the Economic Crisis Caused by COVID-19

This paper aims to analyze the opportunities of fintech in the face of the economic crisis generated by COVID-19, which has had a great impact on companies and on the lives of people who have been forced to reinvent their work, consumption habits and their interaction with the environment in order to sustain themselves in an increasingly competitive market that affect their lifestyle. It is es-sential to bear in mind that the traditional system and the government have made efforts to main-tain the country's economic stability, but the results have not been very satisfactory. Therefore, a triangular-type exploratory research is carried out from the qualitative and quantitative aspects, through the application of information collection instruments, identifying financial, organizational and strategic of the SMEs in the city of Bogota, that reported their financial statements with cutoff to December 2021 to the Superintendency of Corporations. Finally, it is evident the opportunity for fintech to do disruptive technological innovation for the development of financial products through connectivity from mobile devices for personal use that allow monitoring, electronic commerce, transaction systems, financing, decision-making models and optimization of financial processes at a low cost, which makes it possible to open a range of multiple opportunities for SMEs that seek greater participation and competitiveness where they can offer their products and services in an efficient, agile, comfortable and reliable way.

Financing the Social Sector in Zimbabwe's Post-Mugabe Era—Obstacles and Opportunities

This chapter reviews the trends in social sector outcomes in Zimbabwe and assesses the financing challenges in the post-Mugabe era. While Zimbabwe made significant progress in developing its social sectors in the post-independence era, the economic crisis experienced from 1998 to 2008 reversed some of the gains that had been achieved. When the country adopted a multiple currency system in 2009, social sector outcomes improved, driven by a favourable macroeconomic environment. From 2016, however, the country's economic fortunes reversed as the economy began to experience renewed challenges, including falling revenues and declining fiscal space, and shortage of foreign currency to import critical drugs, among other factors. In addition, continued depreciation of the domestic currency since its introduction in 2019 presented additional challenges to the Second Republic, as people's incomes were eroded while fiscal space continued to be squeezed. The situation was further exacerbated by the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic which affected both the education and health sectors in negative ways. These developments underlined the need for additional financing requirements to close the widening financing gap in social sectors in Zimbabwe. As this chapter shows, some of the possible financing options include broadening the tax base to unlock additional resources particularly from the informal economy, exploring contributory schemes, tapping into international financial assistance, strengthening public–private partnerships and tapping into diaspora remittances. There is also a need for strengthening public institutions to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in utilisation of public funds earmarked for social sectors. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Evaluating Business Performance and the Impact of Funding Diversity during Covid-19: Kosovo Evidence

This paper aims to examine the barriers and challenges faced by busi-nesses in Kosovo in terms of access to SMEs funding sources during the pandemic, as well as their impact on the business evaluation of SMEs. Given that more than 99 percent of businesses in Kosovo are SMEs, which are considered essential for economic development, they also contribute to job creation. This study employs a quantitative approach, with reported data provided directly by SMEs via questionnaires. The empirical approach used in the study is ordered logit regression to measure the effect of credit lending, business plan, own investment, donations, and borrowings from family or friends on business evaluation during the Covid-19 pandemic. Empirical re-sults show that credit lending and business plans have a signiAcant positive impact on business evaluation, whereas borrowings from family or friends and donations have a signiAcant negative impact. Despite the study's limi-tations, we are convinced that it should spark a debate between research-ers, academics, and policymakers. The study contains the original value and contribution in the empirical aspect, which is designed on the data provided for Kosovo to evaluate the association between SMEs and the use of funding sources during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lessons Learnt and Policy Implications from Implementing the POWERPOOR Approach to Alleviate Energy Poverty

Energy poverty is a multifaceted phenomenon that affects many Europeans. Alleviating energy poverty is high in the EU, national, and local policy agendas. Despite the attention the phenomenon has been gaining from a policy perspective, especially after the current energy crisis, there are still some gaps due to the complexity of the issue and its vastly different manifestations across Europe. This manuscript presents the policy implications stemming from the implementation of the POWEPROOR approach in alleviating energy poverty in eight European countries, as co-created with relevant stakeholders in each country. The knowledge gained from empowering energy-poor citizens by promoting behavioural changes and small-scale energy efficiency interventions, as well as by encouraging the uptake of renewable energy sources in the form of collective energy initiatives while leveraging innovative financing schemes, resulted in policy recommendations for national and sub-national governments and lessons for civil society and the private sector.

Variables Affecting Congregation's Trust and Mosque Organizational Performance: Acces la Success

Mosque is a non-profit community organization, where the purpose of its establishment is not to seek profit, so this objective makes it different from commercial organizations. "Takmir" (manager of a mosque)as a manager, has the responsibility and trust of the congregation. This was explanatory research with a quantitative approach. The level of a good trust can be improved by consinously improving the quality of variabels so that the mosque organization managed can run properly and correctly and the congregation's trust can be achived. When the good mosque governance concept with the principles, internal control and services are used properly, it will be able to improve organization performance. Congregation's trust in the takmir to improve the performance of the mosque's organization can be achieved by increasing the ability, kindness and integrity of the takmir. The congregation's trust in the takmir will affect its intensity in participating in activities organized by the mosque, in which it will directly affect the performance of the mosque's organization. For Next research, it is recommended to add a variable of the concept of leadership from organizational managers. The participation variable from the congregation and the community, and professional variables, Professional someone will have a positive and significant impact on the quality of work.

ASIAN BIOTECH CLINICAL TRIAL DEMAND MOVES TO THE WEST

The critical element, of course, is that there can be no compromise on trial design, execution and data collection to deliver a robust drug development package. AUM's strategy is to reverse this flow and go from Asia to the West, satisfying the need of the Asian population for innovative and affordable drug development and reducing the cost of health care in Western countries by introducing drugs at an "Asian" price point. [...]the dislocation in services from widespread lockdowns resulted in significant delays in data collection and management of research samples. Even when we could transfer them to appropriate laboratories for analysis, the staff shortages, backlog of samples, and supply chain disruption of critical reagents and parts caused troubling delays in obtaining and analyzing data.

Two Major Economic Crises in the Early Twenty-First Century and their Impact on Central Bank Independence

Two major economic crises in the early twenty-first century have had a serious impact on monetary policy and CB independence. Disruption in financial intermediation and associated deflationary pressures caused by the global financial crisis of 2007–2009 and European financial crisis of 2010–2015 pushed central banks (CBs) in major currency areas towards adoption of unconventional monetary policy measures, including large-scale purchase of government bonds (quantitative easing). The same approach has been taken by CBs in response to the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 even if the characteristics of this crisis differ from the previous one. As a result of both crises, CBs have become major holders of government bonds and de facto – main creditors of governments. Against rapidly deteriorating fiscal balances, CBs have become hostages of fiscal policies, which compromises their independence. Risks to the CB independence also come from their additional mandates (beyond price stability) and populist political pressures.

Patient's Claim Financing at Kariadi Hospital Semarang during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Findings on health status and condition of patients who came to Kariadi Hospital were classified into two categories comorbid and co-incident. For patient claims to be funded, an assembling process and case-mix coding are carried out for the submission process based on the results of checking the status and health conditions of comorbid and co-incident patients. This study is to know the process of financing the patient's claim at Kariadi Hospital Semarang during the Covid-19 pandemic. The research was conducted in a phenomenological descriptive qualitative manner with the data sources coming from primary informants. Sampling technique with the selection according to the criteria then conducted an interview. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. For Covid-19 patients with comorbidities, previously a claim was made for Covid-19 cases, and if the Covid-19 case was completed but the comorbidi-ties persisted, the guarantor switched from the Ministry of Health to BPJS Health. In the process of financing a patient's claim at Kariadi Hospital Semarang during the Covid-19 pandemic there were two guarantees from the Ministry of Health and BPJS Health. © 2022, Universitas Negeri Semarang. All rights reserved.

Corrigendum: Saving more lives on time: Strategic policy implementation and financial inclusion for safe abortion in Indonesia during COVID-19 and beyond.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fgwh.2022.901842.].

The Impact of Entrepreneurship Financial Opportunities and Business Environment on the Country's Innovation Development and National Wealth

The Covid-19 pandemic caused negative consequences for the economic growth and national wealth of countries worldwide. In 2020 the GDP per capita growth was -4,3% worldwide and -5% in Azerbaijan. However, in 2021, it was 4,8% and 5,1% in accordance, indicating Azerbaijan's economic potential. At the same time, Azerbaijan takes only 80th place from 132 countries in the Global Innovation Index Rank, which is not sufficient and requires further innovation development of the country. Also, Azerbaijan is the 34th of 190 countries in the Ease of Doing Business rank. Still, according to the Enterprise Surveys made by the World Bank, 23,7% of firms in Azerbaijan choose access to finance as their biggest obstacle. At the same time, the average world indicator is 14,2%, and the average one in Europe and Central Asia is 9,4%. Therefore, this research aims to prove the hypothesis about the positive impact of entrepreneurship financial opportunities and the business environment on the country's innovation development and national wealth. In the first stage, a bibliometric and analytical analysis was carried out using the tools of the Scopus database, the VOSviewer, and Google Trends. In the second stage, a sample of 20 countries was formed. It includes the top 10 leaders in the Global Innovation Index Rank with high-income economies (as benchmark countries for innovation development, according to which Azerbaijan should increase its position) and the top 10 leaders with upper-middle-income economies (similar to Azerbaijan). The informational base consists of data from the World Bank, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the World Economic Forum for the last 10 available years. In the third stage, the correlation analysis was made to identify the relationship between the indicators of entrepreneurship financial opportunities and business environment (financing of SMEs, venture capital availability, domestic credit to the private sector, ease of doing business, ease of starting a business, ease of getting credit, ease of resolving insolvency, protecting minority investors, number of new limited liability companies, new business density) and the indicators of the country's innovation development (Global Innovation Index) and national wealth (total wealth per capita). And at the fourth stage, the impact of entrepreneurship financial opportunities and business environment on the country's innovation development and national wealth was determined based on regression modeling results. The obtained results could be useful for scientists in further research on this issue and for government officials in improving the state's economic policy.

Islamic Bank Merger and Economic Crisis: Event Study Analysis: Acces la Success

This event study examines the stock price reaction to the merger announcement of three major Islamic banks in Indonesia, namely BNIS, BRIS, and BSM to become Indonesia Islamic Bank (ticker code BRIS). This study analyzes whether there is an abnormal return around the merger announcement on 14 days window period. Using a daily stock price of BRIS, market index, and trading volume we calculated abnormal return and risk using market model Sharpe 's single index model. Analysis of the 14 days window period found that there is an insignificant abnormal return before and after the Islamic banking merger and Indonesia Stock Exchange has been categorized as weak-form efficiency. The results of statistical tests reveal that stock returns and trading volume react positively after the merger announcement and are significant at 5% alpha.

Pricing the Pandemic: Evidence from the Bond Market in China

This study investigates whether and how the pandemic is priced in the bond market in China. Using the city-level COVID-19 cases on a daily basis, we find a significant positive relationship between the pandemic outbreak and corporate credit spreads, implying that investor risk perception on pandemic exposure attracts a premium. Consistent with the default risk channel, corporate financial resilience alleviates pandemic pricing. Information asymmetry and tail risk can amplify the pricing effect because of reduced investor risk-bearing capacity. These findings are robust in addressing endogeneity concerns. We contribute to the emerging literature on the pandemic effect on credit markets. © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Optimization of investment performance based on personality traits: Acces la Success

To achieve their investment objectives, each investor has a strategy in place. A high amount of personality traits element influenced (perceived) investment performance. The purpose of this research was to test how the Big Five personality qualities affected (perceived) investment performance. The hypotheses were tested using PLS-SEM. Individual stock investors in Indonesia were studied, and the results revealed that openness and neuroticism personality had a negative impact on (perceived) investment performance. Consciousness, extraversion, and agreeableness, on the other hand, all had a positive effect on (perceived) investment performance. This research shows the importance of personality traits when allocating assets to meet investment objectives and improves behavioral finance theory.

Modification Stability of Health Care Financing Systems Inconditions of Geoeconomic Instability: A Situation Analysis of Pandemiccrisis Experience in Eu and Ukraine

The global experience of health care financing systems, acquired as a result of the geoeconomic pandemic crisis of 2020-2022, requires a deep systemic retrospective study. It is substantiated that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic showed the weakness ofthe healthcare systems of the EU and Ukraine. However, it is advisable to consider it as a powerful multisystem trigger and catalyst for the transformation of healthcare sys-tems, the maximum impact of which is predicted in the financial and logistics sectors, which are considered the weakest link of local healthcare systems. It was determined that during the period of geo-economic pandemic instability, a fun-damental difference in ensuring the functioning of healthcare systems was clearly out-lined. The needfor a constructive redistribution of limited financial resources to combat the pandemic was combined with a global shortage of unique specialized resources. I n the process of analysis, the economic, epidemiological, and social effectiveness of the use ofthe Government Stringency Index (GSI), the Containment and Health Index (CHI) and Global Health Security Index (GHS) are emphasized. The study confirmed that during the period of geo-economic instability in the EU, the concept of global collective responsibility and increasing the sustainability of the health care financing system was conceptualized within the scope of the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA);EU4Health programs;single digital European health data space. The authors to introduce the concept of modification stability of health care financing systems, which is understood as process of transformation of the health care financing system, which make it possible to overcome unforeseeable variations of external and internal influences not with the aim of preventing their relapse, but with the prospect of stable recovery and self-improvement