Pooled Panel Research Articles

Inside Microfinance Matrix: Microfinance Institutions’ Characteristics and Women Credit Access

This study aims to explore the role of Microfinance Institutions’ (MFIs) organisational characteristics including ownership structure, target market, and institutional size, in shaping the lending pattern in reaching women entrepreneurs. This study employs Ordinary Least Square and Fractional Logit regression using STATA on pooled panel data of 2,330 MFIs across 116 countries. A fuzzy algorithm and Principal Component Analysis are applied to verify the consistency of the results. Findings suggest larger MFIs demonstrate greater inclusivity towards women, attributed to their extensive resources and institutional capabilities. Similarly, MFIs targeting affluent clients exhibit a higher likelihood of catering to the financial needs of women. Non-government organisations (NGOs) emerge as key drivers of women credit access, consistently prioritizing women entrepreneurs through targeted interventions. This study contributes to theoretical implications of the interplay between institutional ownership and goals related to social welfare. This finding also expands microfinance literature by emphasising how ownership influences the strategic orientation of MFIs. This study holds significance for financial regulators, and policymakers to utilise this study as a framework to evaluate the interplay between organisational scale, financial sustainability, and the fulfilment of social objectives within the microfinance sector.

The efficiency of bankruptcy proceedings and the severity of insolvency regulations in view of the implementation of the New Opportunity Policy

Abstract The article investigates the relationship between the efficiency of insolvency proceedings, as measured by their duration, and measures the severity of bankruptcy law toward debtors in 27 countries, of which 23 are EU. This objective was achieved using quantitative methods – Pearson’s correlation, pooled panel regression and Granger causality. Research shows no direct correlation between the two variables mentioned above. The increase in sanctions in bankruptcy law contributed to a decrease in the efficiency of insolvency proceedings. In addition, less stringent conditions concerning the time taken to file a bankruptcy petition translated into a shorter duration of insolvency proceedings. Therefore, supporting the New Opportunity Policy, we recommend that regulators focus on softening the legal requirements for filing a bankruptcy petition, for setting a time limit for filing and on reducing the sanctions for honest debtors, including those imposed for failure to file for bankruptcy within the period prescribed by law.

Emissions effect of financial development in the GCC: is the effect asymmetric?

AbstractObviously, financial development is one of the factors to consider in designing climate policies. We investigated the effects of financial development on co2 emissions alongside income, total factor productivity, and international trade in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Ignoring common factors can lead to erroneous findings and misleading policy recommendations. The same consequences occur if the nature of a factor’s effects is incorrectly considered. Hence, the Asymmetric Pooled Mean Group augmented with common unobserved factors—a cutting-edge method allowing for the discovery of not only the features of the pooled panel but also the characteristics of each country—was applied to data from 1992 to 2021. Additionally, we accounted for key properties of the panel time series data—cross-sectional dependence, non-stationarity and heterogeneity. To our knowledge, there is no such application for GCC countries, and only one internationally. In designing climate policy measures, a few key findings of our research are worth considering. (i) policies should account for factors common to GCC countries, as ignoring them makes co2 effects of financial development misleading. (ii) an upturn in financial development leads to less emissions than a downturn in it. This asymmetric effect implies that policies should boost financial development. (iii) co2 in GCC countries may converge to an identical relationship in the long run implying that there are common climate initiatives and projects that GCC authorities should work on jointly.

DOES ESG INVESTMENT IMPACT THE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF NIGERIAN ENERGY COMPANIES: A PANEL REGRESSION APPROACH?

The destruction of around 5% to 10% of Nigerian mangrove ecosystems and the disappearance of approximately 7,400 square kilometres of rainforest have shifted managerial priorities in Nigeria's energy sector from purely financial gain to increased social responsibility. The rising concerns regarding climate change, environmental risks, social well-being, and sustainability have propelled ESG investment to the forefront of corporate sustainability considerations. The study delves into the influence of ESG investment on the financial sustainability of listed industry players in Nigeria's oil and gas industry. By utilizing quantitative data from sustainability and corporate annual reports of listed firms on the Nigeria Exchange Group from 2013 to 2023, a fixed pooled panel regression model was conducted to statistically test the three hypotheses anchored on the ESG nexus on financial sustainability. The findings indicate that the relationship between environmental investments, measured by environmental emissions, and return on assets (ROA) for the examined listed entities is insignificant. However, the research establishes a notable correlation between social investing practices, quantified by workforce size, and ROA, displaying a positive coefficient. Moreover, the study does not confirm a substantial impact of governance investing practices, measured by board size, on the ROA of the scrutinized corporations. The research acknowledged the impact of ESG on the financial sustainability of Nigeria’s energy sector. The research recommendations include integrating ESG factors into investment strategies, enhancing disclosure and transparency, improving risk management and resilience measures, and collaborating with policymakers.

The effect of forest composition on outdoor recreation

Climate change will shift the composition of northern Minnesota forests from boreal to temperate by the end of the century. This shift in forest composition will likely affect outdoor recreation, a valuable ecosystem service and a key economic driver for the region. In this context, the objective of our paper is to empirically examine the relationship between forest composition and recreation. We analyze the effect of changes in forest composition for seven forest types on seven types of recreation using a lognormal pooled panel regression model for Minnesota's Laurentian Mixed Forest Province. Earlier research showed forest composition affected recreation at the level of broad groups of broadleaved or coniferous species. We find a statistically significant empirical association between forest composition and recreation at the forest type level (forest types within those broad groups). This relationship varies across forest types and recreation categories. For example, big game hunting is positively related to elm-ash-cottonwood and white-red-jack pine and negatively associated with aspen-birch. We find individual forest types within broad groups of broadleaved or coniferous forests, have different relationships with recreation, so that these broad groups are not sufficient in capturing the effect of forest composition on recreation. Our results are of interest in the context of current shifts in forest composition caused by climate change, which could also affect recreation. Our findings suggest adding a forest composition lens to existing policies could facilitate strategies for more effective recreation management and climate change adaptation.

Impact of Agriculture Growth on Poverty Reduction: A Case of Karnataka, India

Karnataka is one of the progressive states in the country even though it experiences the challenges of poverty and it has wide variation, depending on rural-urban disparities, region, caste, and religion. Agriculture as primary sector contribute notably to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and being main occupation for majority population acts as largest source of livelihood for the rural poor by creating enormous employment opportunities thus by increasing the income levels, agriculture play a key role in reducing poverty. The present study was conducted to analyse the impact of agriculture growth on poverty reduction in Karnataka state by using secondary data. The relationship between poverty, agriculture GDP per worker and non-agriculture GDP per worker was analysed using pooled panel regression analysis. The results of the study shows that contribution of agriculture sector was far more in decreasing poverty than the non-agricultural sector, as every one per cent increase in agriculture GDP per worker reduced poverty by 1.36 per cent as against 0.80 per cent in non-agriculture GDP per worker. As majority of people depends on agriculture for their livelihood, it is evident that the agriculture sector has a greater impact on alleviating poverty among rural population. However, it suggested that the balanced growth across all three sectors of the economy will help to reduce the poverty rates by increasing income level of the population.

Network constraint and online group innovation: a dual perspective of inter-community group network and intra-community group network

PurposeThis study aims to explore the different effects of inter-community group networks and intra-community group networks on group innovation.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a pooled panel dataset of 12,111 self-organizing innovation groups in 463 game product creative workshop communities from Steam support to test the hypothesis. The pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) model is used for analyzing the data.FindingsThe results show that network constraint is negatively associated with the innovation performance of online groups. The average path length of the inter-community group network negatively moderates the relationship between network constraint and group innovation, while the average path length of the intra-community group network positively moderates the relationship between network constraint and group innovation. In addition, both the network density of inter-community group networks and intra-community group networks can negatively moderate the negative relationship between network constraint and group innovation.Originality/valueThe findings of this study suggest that network structural characteristics of inter-community networks and intra-community networks have different effects on online groups’ product innovation, and therefore, group members should consider their inter- and intra-community connections when choosing other groups to form a collaborative innovation relationship.

Corporate Sustainability and Shareholders’ Wealth in the National Financial Sector

The desire of every shareholder is to see that shareholders’ wealth is given strategic central point attention far and above other priorities of the management. Prior studies have shown that meeting shareholders’ wealth expectations in Nigeria is complex and full of challenges considering the infrastructural deficits, security challenges and lack of corporate legitimacy capable of enhancing shareholders’ wealth in the country. In addition, effective sustainability performance has been advanced as capable of improving corporate performance and increasing shareholders’ wealth. In contributing to knowledge, this study looked at how corporate sustainability affected shareholders' wealth in Nigeria's national banking industry. Using an <i>ex-post facto</i> research design, the study employed secondary data extracted from selected financial institutions from banking institutions. A total of 15 financial institutions were chosen using a purposive sample technique during a 15-year period, from 2008 to 2022, from the population of 65 financial institutions listed in Nigeria. The certification by the external auditors served as the foundation for the data's dependability and authenticity. Inferential (multiple regression) analysis was employed using a pooled panel data analysis. The result showed that corporate sustainability exerted a significant effect on shareholders’ wealth (<i>Adj. R2</i> = 0.7474, <i>F-stat/Wald test</i> (4, 220) = 18.30, <i>p </i>< 0.05). The study concluded that corporate sustainability had a positive and significant effect on shareholders’ wealth in the national financial sector in Nigeria. Consequent to the results, managers should ensure that effective corporate sustainability policies are instituted and practised in their companies.

Does expanded disclosure in the audit report involve unintended consequences? Evidence from tax avoidance

PurposeThis study aims to examine how new regulation changes for the auditor’s report, so-called key audit matters (KAMs), influence tax avoidance.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses data from firms listed on the Omani capital market over the period 2012–2019 and analyzes these data using pooled panel data regression with a robust standard error. It uses two common proxies for tax avoidance and two measures for the KAMs disclosure requirement.FindingsThis study finds a sharp decrease in the effective tax rate following the introduction of KAMs disclosure and the issuance of more KAMs in audit reports. This result is supported by several robustness checks. In an additional analysis, the authors observe interesting results, indicating that real earnings management mediates this association, while the audit committee plays a moderating role. The authors do not find a moderating effect of Big4 on this association, but find discrepancies within the Big4 firms in relation to this moderating effect.Originality/valueThe results of this study indicate that although the introduction of the KAMs disclosure requirement may have positive consequences, it may also lead to unintended negative consequences. This conclusion has not been comprehensively reported in literature.

Quality of audit and cost stickiness empirical evidence from emerging markets

This study aims to present further evidence of cost stickiness by employing Selling, General, and Administrative (SG&A) costs. It also provides empirical evidence on the effect of audit committee meetings and audit quality on cost stickiness. The study used data from listed companies on the Saudi Arabian stock exchange during 2015–2019. Based on pooled panel data regression, the study proves that the SG&A costs are sticky. The results show the level of SG&A costs increases more with an increase in sales revenue (activity) while it decreases less with an equivalent reduction in sales revenue (activity). Also, this study finds that the frequency of audit committee meetings decreases the magnitude stickiness of SG&A costs, which supports the view that frequent meetings of AC significantly enhance its overseeing function and effectiveness. The study further reveals that audit quality “by BIG4 audit firms” is not related to reduced cost stickiness. This result implies that there is no difference in CS between companies audited by BIG4 or by non-BIG4. In general, the research highlights the importance of AC diligence (i.e., meetings) in improving its effectiveness and controlling management’s discretions affecting the cost structure in the context of sticky cost behavior.

Does CSR expenditure reward the financial performance of Nigerian quoted oil and gas companies: A pooled panel regression model?

Does CSR expenditure reward the financial performance of Nigerian quoted oil and gas companies: A pooled panel regression model?

Assessing the Effects of CEO Characteristics on the Financial Performance of Firms in Nigeria

This study investigated the relationship between CEO characteristics and the financial performance of listed firms in Nigeria (2005 –2022). The regression analyses employed in this study are pooled panel regression, random panel regression and fixed panel regression. Under the firm performance indicator – ROA, the Hausman-statistics p-value of 0.23 indicated that we accept the null hypothesis which says that random effect prevails. But the fixed effect result was adopted because it best explains the model as it considers the constant variables and solves the omitted variable bias problem. The result showed that CEO origin has a positive and significant impact on return on assets (2%). Whereas, CEO gender showed a negative and insignificant effect on return on assets (30%). CEO tenure impacts a negative and insignificant relationship with return on assets (62%). Furthermore, this result showed a positive and insignificant relationship between leverage and return on assets. While capital expenditure shows a negative and insignificant relationship with return on assets. The study recommends that, Firms should adopt internal recruitment in appointing CEO, as they tend to possess insider-knowledge and experience peculiar to the firm’s nature of work and relationship with the staff that an outsourced CEO may not have opportunity to immediately after his appoint and could be a major set-back in fulfilling the goal of the firm.

Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity of Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Evidence from High-Speed Railway Operations in China

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reduction has become an ever-growing concern in China and the government has proposed the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality. To better address this concern, this work pays particular attention to high-speed railway (HSR) operations and examines their spatiotemporal effects and potential mechanism on CO2 emissions. Using a geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) model to fit a balanced panel dataset from the period 2008 to 2018, we have the following main findings. First, the GTWR model performs better than the pooled panel regression model as it considers temporal and spatial variations in factors of CO2 emissions simultaneously. Second, the temporally varying coefficients of HSR operations indicate their consistent contributions to emissions reduction, suggesting that the national development of HSRs can provide significant emissions reduction benefits. Third, as revealed by the spatially varying coefficients of HSR operations, most provinces can mitigate CO2 emissions by promoting HSRs, particularly in Shanxi, Hebei, and Shaanxi, owing to the larger contributions of HSR operations to CO2 emissions reduction. Finally, the contributions of HSR operations to emissions reduction can be transmitted through the mechanism of technological progress. These findings can offer valuable insights into cross-collaborative and province-specific policymaking for mitigating CO2 emissions.

DA LI UČINAK ROBOVSKOG ODNOSA PREMA DOMU DEPRESIRA MEĐUNARODNA TURISTIČKA PUTOVANJA?

This paper examines the relationship between "the house slave effect" and tourist outmigration in most European countries. The outline of this study is set up on the analysis of annual data on homeownership and tenant participants in plan to measure the relationship between housing wealth endowment and outbound traveling, with a panel framework that spans the period from 2007 to 2019. In the present empirical case, this paper examines whether or not there is a significant relationship in the sample of 32 countries by using a panel quantile regression method, a panel SGMM, and a panel OLS regression. Estimation outputs reveal that there is a strong negative trade-off between homeownership and outbound tourism for all quantile levels. This evidence along with the auxiliary SGMM and pooled panel estimation assessment strongly confirm that “the house slave effect” negatively affects outbound tourism. What is more, the results show that tenant rates help to boost the international tourism departures or expenditures per capita. The novelty of this work lies in the fact that it provides the pioneering study of the impact of home ownership on outbound travel in European area. The results suggest that a panel quantile regression method (due to data constraints arising from the skewness of international tourism outbound or per capita expenditure data) should be considered when examining the relationship between "the "house slave effect" and outbound tourism in country panel analyses.

Comparing Classical and Bayesian Panel Kink Regression Frameworks in Estimating the Impact of Economic Freedom on Economic Growth

This study aims to accomplish three main tasks. Firstly, it seeks to determine the more appropriate choice between classical and Bayesian methods in estimating a pooled panel kink regression model under the condition of a known but bounded policy variable choice that serves as a kink point. Secondly, as a product of the first target, the study seeks to provide empirical evidence for the economic growth–economic freedom nexus in five top-performing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Using index explanatory variables, which are bounded between 0 and 100, and using both numerical and graphical methods, the findings show that the use of the Bayesian method is more appropriate in characterizing the data than the classical OLS framework, as the former better accounts for randomness via the use of posterior distributions. Finally, the study further employed both threshold and Bayesian pooled panel kink regressions, with mixed results. The Bai–Perron test confirmed that the economic freedom index has a single threshold value of 56.70. Whereas the threshold estimates show a negative impact of economic freedom on growth in both low and high regimes, the Bayesian estimates reveal that economic freedom has a negative impact on growth in a low regime but a positive impact in a high regime. Our novel findings show that there exists a nonlinear impact of economic freedom on growth. This provides some guidance and caution in charting policy paths that seek to achieve economic growth.

Working Capital Management and Working Capital Policies on Firm’s Value: A Special Reference to the Listed Companies in Sri Lanka

The aim of this paper is to investigate the influence between working capital management and firm value in the Sri Lankan context. This research has used pooled panel data of 475 observations from 95 listed firms across 18 sectors. Secondary data which are gathered from the annual report published by the CSE for the five years period from 2018/2019 to 2022/2023. The findings states that this model in the study explains a rise in the number of days in the cash conversion period decreased the firm's valuation by 43%. Further, working capital investment policy increases, or in other terms, the degree of WCIP’s aggressiveness rises, the firm value decreases, and increases in financing policy leads to decreases in firm value. This study includes both working capital investment policy and working capital financing policy with control variables in Sri Lanka. This research provides limited literature on working capital management, working capital policies, and firm value in Sri Lanka.

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE DETERMINANTS OF EARNINGS MANAGEMENT IN NIGERIA

This study is based on the assessment of Tax Aggressiveness, Share Price, Return on Assets as determinants of Earnings Management among quoted industrial and consumer goods sectors in Nigeria between the periods of 2012-2022. A sample of thirty-two (32) firms were drawn out of the listed non-financial firms in Nigeria. The study was quantitative in nature and made use of secondary data which was sourced from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) factbook, National Bureau of Statistics, and annual reports of selected industrial and consumer goods firms. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis was used to determine the nature of the data as well as the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. The pooled panel regression analysis, the Hausman test and the random effect model (REM) method of model estimation employed was used in the study. The findings revealed that share price and return on assets are the primary determinants that significantly affect the earnings management of publicly traded companies in the industrial and consumer goods sectors during the observed timeframe. Moreover, firm size is perceived as a significant control factor in determining earnings management. Tax aggressiveness on the other hand showed no significant impact on earnings management. Based on the findings the study recommended that Projects that enhance the firms' profitability should be at the center of the investment objective of managers overseeing industrial and consumer goods firms that are publicly traded. In addition, projects with favourable net present values should be embarked on by managers of industrial and consumer goods firms listed on the stock exchange. Furthermore, cutting edge earnings management strategies should be adopted by managers of industrial and consumer goods firms that are publicly traded. They can as well prioritize the utilization of tax aggressiveness.
 Keywords: Earnings Management, Tax Aggressiveness, Share Price, Return on Assets, Hausman Test.

Competitive agricultural input markets in Ethiopia: Theoretical promises versus reality

AbstractUsing the agency theory framework to develop conceptual frameworks, this study investigates the main challenges to and potential determinants of competitive agricultural input markets by comparing intervention and control districts. Specifically, this study examines the impact of the Agriculture One‐Stop Shop Project on the competitiveness of agricultural input markets in Ethiopia. The paper uses data collected from farmers and project stakeholders through interviews and focus group discussions and compiles recorded price and quantity sold for each agricultural input for four years. The study employs a content analysis, concentration ratio, market margin, and pooled panel regression models to analyze the set of data. The finding shows the existence of weak innovative system functions that is the mirror of unsatisfactory project outcomes in some intervention areas. Overall, the findings indicate that the project has increased competition by reducing market margins and relative prices, delivering a high quantity of high‐quality agricultural inputs, and providing new services and a range of input choices. An input market's level of competitiveness is determined by contractual arrangements, capital, background, and risk management. An agricultural input market's function system is influenced by the structural composition of the public–private partnership network, coordination, and cooperation. The one‐stop‐shop approach, operationalized through institutional arrangements, has the potential to facilitate and coordinate the functions necessary to change competitiveness in the agricultural input market. This study's panel model results show that the project has had statistically significant effects on the competitiveness of the agricultural input markets. The government should replicate this new approach throughout the country going forward.

Unleashing the potential of mobile broadband: Evidence from Indonesia's underdeveloped regions on its role in reducing income inequality

Although numerous studies have explored the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) and socioeconomic development, limited research has focused on the impact of ICT infrastructure expansion on income distribution. This study aims to fill this research gap by investigating the effect of mobile broadband network coverage on income inequality in underdeveloped regions of Indonesia using unbalanced panel data encompassing 122 second-level subnational regions over the period from 2018 to 2021. This study utilizes map charts to visually depict the disparities in mobile broadband coverage and income inequality across the selected regions and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression on the pooled panel data to estimate the relationship between the two variables. The findings reveal an inverted U-shaped relationship between mobile broadband coverage and income inequality, indicating an adverse effect on inequality during the early stages of network deployment that persists until coverage reaches approximately 60 percent of the population area. Beyond this threshold, the effect becomes favorable in reducing inequality. The findings of this study remain robust even after accounting for potential biases, utilizing fixed and random effect models, and disaggregating the data for the pre- and during-pandemic periods. However, a minor discrepancy in statistical significance is observed when the dataset is disaggregated by the level of regional development. The implications of these findings are discussed, providing theoretical insights and policy/practical implications for addressing income inequality.

Identifying the drivers responsible for energy security in selected ASEAN countries by using panel data analysis

PurposeEnergy security has been talked about by governments and policymakers because the global energy market is unstable and greenhouse gas emissions threaten the long-term health of the global environment. One of the most potent ways to cut CO2 emissions is through the production and consumption of renewable energy. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the drivers that, if ambitious environmental policies are implemented, might improve energy security or prevent its deterioration.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses a balanced panel data set for Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam that covers a period of 30 years (1990–2020). The pooled panel dynamic least squares is used in this study.FindingsThe findings show that renewable energy consumption is positively related to gross domestic product per capita, energy intensity per capita and renewable energy installed capacity. Wherein renewable energy use is inversely related to per capita electricity consumption, CO2 emissions and the use of fossil fuel electricity.Originality/valueThere is a lack of research identifying the factors influencing energy security in the ASEAN region. Therefore, this study focuses on the drivers that influence energy security, which are explained by the proportion of renewable energy in final energy consumption. Without identifying the demand and supply sources of energy, especially electricity production based on renewable energy techniques, it is hard for policymakers to achieve the desired renewable energy-based outcome.