"Exploring the relationship of organizational virtuousness, citizenship behavior, job performance, and combatting ostracism" through structural equational modeling.

BACKGROUND: This theoretical model has been drawn on principles of social exchange theory to scrutinize the connection between organizational virtuousness and job performance with the mediating role of Organizational citizenship behavior and moderating role of workplace ostracism. A survey was conducted in Pakistan, gathering data from 486 employees working for various private and commercial banks. METHOD: Soft and hard questionnaires were distributed to the participants, with social media platforms used for the soft questionnaires and meetings with employees for the hard questionnaires. A 7-point Likert scale was employed in data collection, and measures for the variables were adapted from reliable and valid sources. A demographic analysis was performed to summarize the sample collected from participants. The demographics results were analyzed using SPSS, while the measurement model and path analysis were conducted using Structural Equational Modeling with Smart PLS-4. RESULTS: The study's findings showed a significant and positive relationship between organizational virtuousness and job performance, with organizational citizenship behavior serving as a mediator. Additionally, a negative moderation of workplace ostracism was observed in the mediation of organizational citizenship behavior toward the relationship between organizational virtuousness and job performance. CONCLUSION: The study's results contribute to the implementation of social exchange theory and related concepts in the banking sector of Pakistan, providing practical guidance for implementing virtuous practices within organizations and discouraging ostracism in banks to enhance overall performance. The study suggests that policies regarding the implementation of virtuous practices in organizations can be established, and workplace ostracism can be avoided by providing a platform for social gatherings and training employees. Managers should adopt appropriate leadership styles and relevant communication patterns to impact the organizational climate which can also help reduce the influence of ostracism in the organization. Additionally, a complaint cell should be established with complete confidentiality to reduce ostracism.

Economic policy uncertainty and financial system efficiency.

Economic policy uncertainty (EPU) adversely affects financial system functioning with potentially critical repercussions for economies and corporations worldwide. Financial system efficiency (FSE) has a vital influence on fostering optimal economic growth and development; however, the impact of EPU on FSE remains under-explored. This study investigates the effect of EPU on FSE along with its components financial institution efficiency (FIE) and financial market efficiency (FME). Using data from 22 countries over a 20-year period (2002-2021), our analysis reveals a significant negative effect of EPU on FSE, FIE and FME. Notably, our split-sample analysis highlights the accentuated adverse effects of EPU in high-EPU regimes, emphasising the importance of vigilance during periods of elevated policy uncertainty. We conduct a series of sensitivity tests, including alternative measures of EPU, FSE, FIE and FME, and apply two-stage least squares and two-step dynamic system generalised method of moments estimators and introduce additional control variables. These tests consistently reaffirm the core conclusions of our study. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for policymakers.

Democracy's limited impact on innovation: Panel data evidence from developing countries.

This study investigates the relationship between democracy and innovation across 61 developing countries from 2013 to 2020, utilizing data from Global Innovation Index. Employing the Freedom House Index and Polity2 indicators as proxies for democracy, research employs Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Fixed Effects and SystemGMM techniques to analyze their impact on innovation. The findings of the study reveal no statistically significant relationships between democracy and innovation in developing nations within specified timeframe. Through empirical analysis, including various econometric approaches, it is observed that the level of democracy as measured by these indicators, does not appear to exert a discernable impact on the innovation landscape of these countries. These results carry important implications for public policy. While the promotion of democracy remains a crucial goal, especially for societal development and political stability, this study suggests that solely focusing on enhancing democratic institutions might not necessarily yield immediate direct improvements in the innovation capacities of developing nations. Policymakers and stakeholders involved in fostering innovation ecosystems in these regions may need to consider a more nuanced approach, encompassing factors beyond the scope of democratic governance to effectively spur innovation. Understanding the nuanced relationship between democracy and innovation in developing countries has significant implications for designing targeted policies aimed at enhancing innovation capacities, economic growth and overall societal development in these regions.

Role of workplace bullying and workplace incivility for employee performance: Mediated-moderated mechanism.

Workplace events play a significant role in shaping the performance of employees and organizations. Negative events, in particular, require careful attention due to their severe impact on employee wellbeing and performance. Workplace bullying and incivility are two negative events that can cause significant harm to employees and contribute to poor performance. This study examines the effects of workplace bullying and incivility on employee performance in the presence of perceived psychological wellbeing (PWB), with the moderating role of perceived organizational support (POS) considered for both independent variables and employee performance (EP). The study focuses on female nurses working in the healthcare sector of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The results of the study indicate that workplace bullying and incivility have adverse effects on employee performance and that PWB mediates these relationships. Moreover, perceived organizational support moderates the relationship between both predictors and the employee performance criterion. In conclusion, the findings of this study highlight the importance of creating a positive and supportive work environment to mitigate the negative effects of workplace bullying and incivility on employee performance.

Does sustainable banking facilitate reducing the SDG-10 in weak rule of law setting?

Facilitating economic opportunities is a critical function of the financial sector, and this contributes significantly towards the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals 10 (SDG-10), which aims to reduce income inequality. This research examines the role of sustainable banking practices in reducing income inequality and achieving SDG-10 under weak rule of law settings. We employed a panel cluster regression model to examine the data collected from 890 banks across 49 nations over a nine-year period (2014-2022). Specifically, we opted to cluster the observations based on industry and year to produce unbiased standard error. The findings reveal that sustainable banking practices are more effective in reducing income inequality, especially in settings with weak rule of law. They also contribute to combating money laundering, which is a significant barrier to achieving SDG-10. The study highlights the importance of transparent and responsible financial transactions in promoting investment opportunities that contribute to sustainable development. Moreover, we find that sustainable banking can accelerate the impact of Fintech in reducing income inequality in weak rule of law settings. The use of Fintech in the financial industry can improve transparency, accountability, and fairness, which are essential for progress towards achieving SDG-10. These findings have significant implications for the expansion of sustainable banking practices in regions with weak institutional frameworks.

Dynamic association of stock market volatility, foreign portfolio investment and macroeconomic indicators by taking the impact of structural breaks.

In an asymmetric information environment, investors diversify their investments to minimize risk and maximize their wealth. Such diversification ranges from one market to another market and from one country to another country. Investors prefer foreign portfolio investment over foreign direct investment because of the economy's turmoil, changes in macroeconomic indicators, and market liberation. This study analyzes the dynamic relationship among stock market volatility, foreign portfolio investment, and macroeconomic indicators (foreign exchange rate, interest rate, and Gross Domestic Product) using the dynamic long-run Auto-regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model concerning the Pakistan environment. This study also considers the impact of multiple structural breaks, representing variables' endogenous and exogenous shocks. The secondary data is used from Oct. 01, 2009, to Sept. 30, 2019, with monthly frequency. The results indicate a co-integration between SMV, FPI, FXR, IR, and GDP. In short-run analyses, the error correction term is statistically significant, while in the long run, the SMV, FPI, and FXR are not impacted. As no evidence of volatility has been found between SMV and FPI, unidirectional or bi-directional policies can be devised to further attract the new FPI for strengthening the foreign reserves, the balance of payments, and other macroeconomic variables. Additionally, investors should update their knowledge based on considering the endogenous and exogenous shocks on the SMV.

Country-level institutional quality and financial system efficiency: An international evidence.

The optimum economic outcome of financial system development depends on its level of efficiency. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of institutional quality on financial system efficiency. For empirical analysis, we have used a panel dataset of 108 countries from 1996-2020 and employed fixed effect regression and two stages least squares (2SLS) regression methods. The empirical results show that institutional quality has a significant positive effect on financial system efficiency. Particularly all the constituting elements-voice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence, regulatory quality, government effectiveness, rule of law, and control of corruption-of institutional quality are found to have a significant positive impact on financial system efficiency. Moreover, we found that the effect of institutional quality is more pronounced in countries with low-income levels and strong institutional quality. These findings are robust across several robustness tests conducted using additional controls, alternative methodologies, an alternative measure of institutional quality, and financial system efficiency. The results of the study suggest that policy makers should prioritize both enhancing and sustaining institutional quality to promote the efficiency of the financial system, which is crucial for sustainable growth and development.

Economic policy uncertainty and stock market in G7 Countries: A panel threshold effect perspective.

Based on the literature, it is commonly understood that stock prices (SP) are influenced by economic policy uncertainty (PU), with a rise in PU typically having a negative impact on SP. However, the relationship between PU and SP may not always be linear due to the varying risk preferences of individuals. Risk preference theory posits that individuals respond differently to different levels of risk. Therefore, this study aims to investigate whether PU determines SP asymmetrically (i.e., in a non-linear manner) by considering risk preferences and addressing a gap in the literature. To answer this question, the study employs a panel threshold approach to examine the effect of PU on SP in the Group of Seven (G7) countries, namely Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, and the US. In contrast to previous research, this study finds evidence of an asymmetric effect of PU on SP in the G7 countries. Specifically, the panel threshold results reveal that the impact of increased PU on SP is positive up to a certain level (Threshold1), beyond which it becomes negative (Threshold2). These findings are in line with information asymmetry hypothesis, prospect theory, behavioural finance hypothesis, and market liquidity hypothesis and shed light on the asymmetric behaviour of SP in response to varying levels of PU. The implications of these findings are significant for understanding how to manage risks effectively in the financial markets.