ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the impact of mainstream Sharia‐based screening methodologies on equity risk. The study is based on the daily returns of 23 pairs of stock indices belonging to different index providers, namely Dow Jones, FTSE, and S&P. For risk measurement, the study uses five Value at Risk (VaR) methods. Moreover, the conditional VaR (CVaR) is used to analyze the tail behavior of return distributions. The results show that Sharia‐based screening is a source of significant differences in risk. There is strong evidence that Islamic stock indices (ISIs) tend to be less risky than their conventional peers. Also, the screening process allows for keeping extreme negative returns at a lower level relative to unscreened indices. The analysis during the Dotcom and Subprime crises shows that, globally, the results are time‐invariant. In sum, Islamic screening is tantamount to prudential rules that lead to low‐risk portfolios; it is, in its essence, a risk‐reduction strategy. Findings suggest that Sharia‐compliant stocks would be of great attractiveness to risk‐averse investors. They will find their claim in this asset class, as its riskiness is relatively low. For banks, a lower VaR of Islamic investing implies fewer capital requirements for market risk when holding portfolios that include Sharia‐compliant stocks. Fewer capital requirements will enhance the banks' ability to invest and make profits, which will, in turn, result in reducing the cost of capital.

ABSTRACTThis study explores how subnational institutional differences in a large emerging economy—Russia—influence the relationship between research and development (R&D), foreign direct investment (FDI) spillovers, and firm performance. We find that the relationship between R&D and firm performance is positively moderated by subnational institutional development. Furthermore, we find that FDI will more positively moderate the relationship between R&D and firm performance if subnational institutional development is also higher, thus showing that subnational institutional development may foster the positive spillover effect of FDI on local firms.

ABSTRACTUtilizing a panel data set consisting of 144 Middle East and North African (MENA) banks covering the period 2014–2021, this study (a) explores the correlation between CEO narcissism and insolvency risk (risk‐taking) and (b) investigates whether certain CEO attributes can moderate this association. We identify a significant positive relationship between CEO narcissism and insolvency risk, shedding light on the dark side of CEO narcissism as elucidated within the upper echelons theory. Furthermore, our findings indicate that the presence of returnee CEOs or politically connected CEOs strengthens the aforementioned relationship by increasing the likelihood of narcissistic CEOs contributing to amplify insolvency risk.

ABSTRACTThis paper gives insight into innovative facilities' role in the effect of economic freedom on inclusive finance in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) using data from 2008 to 2020. After using the generalized method of moment for the analysis, the study concluded that improving economic freedom promotes financial inclusion while expanding innovative facilities in SSA inhibits inclusive finance. The study also discovered that innovative facilities improve the impact of economic freedom on inclusive finance in SSA and subsequently diminish the effect of economic freedom on inclusive finance after certain thresholds (mobile usage 100.75, internet usage 34.1064, fixed broadband usage not applicable, telephone usage 13.3494, and innovative facility index 1.5619). Hence, policymakers are advised to increase freedom in SSA economies to boost financial inclusion by ensuring the bureaucracy for establishing financial institutions is minimized and institutions that ensure property rights and free will are instituted to encourage people to participate in financial services. When it comes to using innovative facilities to enhance freedom‐induced inclusivity in finance, technical and financial knowledge should be enhanced in addition to lowering the cost of using innovative facilities to access financial services in order to eliminate the threshold levels at which innovative facilities reduce inclusive finance SSA.

ABSTRACTBlockchain is a technology that combines a set of properties to guarantee network security, transparency, and visibility, including a decentralized structure, distributed notes and storage mechanism, consensus algorithm, intelligent contracts, and asymmetric encryption. Supply chain management activities, including supply chain management provenance, business process reengineering, and security enhancement, have enormous potential to be transformed by blockchain. This research uses the integrated interpretive structural modeling–cross‐impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (ISM‐MICMAC) technique to ascertain the hierarchical relationships and to comprehend the severity of interrelationships among various components in tackling our research questions. In MICMAC analysis, the enablers were classified into four categories based on their dependence and driving powers. The combined ISM‐MICMAC methodology employed for this study relies on experts’ individual evaluations and subjective assessments. Therefore, even with extreme caution, it is impossible to guarantee that the results are entirely devoid of personal biases. To further validate the linkages discovered in this study, we suggest employing more multiple‐criteria decision‐making (MCDM) methodologies and comparing the results with those of our research. Another method for confirming the results of the current study is to use an empirical research design based on survey methods.

ABSTRACTEntering a foreign market entails making the important mode decision of how to operate there. But the initial mode choice is not always forever and may be reassessed as business circumstances change. The mode shifting process—that is, how switches from one mode to another unfold—has scarcely been described, so we lack a systematic outline of this process. In this article, we take a first step toward such an outline. Adopting the established distinction between the formation and implementation phases of strategy making and execution, we describe the critical strategic decisions managers need to make about how to carry out a mode switch. Regarding the formation phases, we discuss the identification and consideration of entry mode switches as viable options, and whether companies plan or not for such shifts. Regarding the implementation phases, we differentiate between the integrating and collaborating decisions that define the type of switches made by companies.

ABSTRACTThe growth of FinTech has increasingly attracted the attention of financial industry players. The speed and complexity with which new financial technologies have spread around the world have created regulatory challenges for the United States and Canadian authorities. Unlike the United States, where there is regulatory fragmentation and a supervisory instrument with regulatory relief, Canada has a more integrated regulatory approach managed by regulatory sandbox principles. The aim of this article is to study and compare the impact of FinTech adoption on commercial banks over the 2018–2023 period in the United States and Canadian FinTech ecosystems. The results essentially show that FinTech has a positive impact on commercial banks' performance and financial growth, and a negative impact on liquidity and financial risk. Our results present several contributions and mainly show that: (1) In the presence of multiple entry channels for FinTech startups, the impact of FinTech on financial performance is higher in the United States than in Canada. (2) Because of its regulatory approach, Canada lags behind the United States in the adoption rate of financial technologies. (3) Balance of power in the financial sector induces commercial banks not to consider FinTech startups as threats but rather as partners that offer opportunities for expertise and reduced regulatory costs. Finally, FinTech can be disruptive and presents many challenges for regulators given the complexity and speed of innovation it promotes.

ABSTRACTThe suboptimal level of vaccine research and development globally contributes to millions of people losing their lives to vaccine‐preventable diseases each year, the vast majority of whom live in developing countries. Vaccine manufacturers based in developing countries are increasingly participating in vaccine research and development to improve the availability of these life‐saving vaccine products. To understand the extent to which these emerging market vaccine manufacturers can contribute to global vaccine research and development, and thus improve health and societal outcomes, we examined the capabilities, priorities, and strategies of these organizations. We identified that emerging market manufacturers often engage in partnerships and solicit external support to alleviate the technical and financial hurdles associated with the complexity and cost of vaccine development. Focusing on unmet medical needs facilitates emerging market manufacturers' access to partners and external support and is critical in establishing a reputation in the global vaccine research and development ecosystem.