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This study investigates the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance in the Bangladeshi insurance sector, focusing on variables like board independence, female directors, audit committee size, leverage, and firm age. Using a sample of 42 insurance firms from 2017 to 2021, regression analysis is employed to assess these relationships. The findings show that board independence positively impacts performance, while audit committee size, leverage, and firm age have negative effects. Female directors exhibit a marginal but weak positive influence. This research contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence from a developing economy, where limited studies exist. It also offers insights into governance practices in emerging markets. The implications suggest that policymakers and corporate leaders in Bangladesh should prioritize enhancing board independence, managing leverage, and promoting gender diversity to improve performance. Future research could explore causal relationships and extend the analysis to other sectors or emerging markets, considering cultural and regulatory factors.

The banking sector is a linchpin of economic growth and development, with its prosperity heavily influenced by various factors of the economy. The cooperative model of banking to achieve both of personal and community development goals has been chosen as an instrument for fostering high and stable financial growth. As a key metric for assessing the financial health and profitability of banks, including cooperative banks, NPAs plays a crucial role in evaluating their stability and resilience. Notably the Indian Banking system, now, compares with the global benchmarks, reflecting commendable Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE) and Credit risk (NPAs). The purpose of this article is an attempt to analyze the trends of NPAs (Gross NPAs and Net NPAs) of selected Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) and assessing the profitability using ROA and ROE over the period of 2016-2022 by employing the linear trend analysis and multiple regression model. Secondary sources provided the information gathered for the study. The study indicates that the trend of NPAs is fluctuating over time with low minimal correlation. GNPAs and NNPAs have a significant impact on ROA for the selected UCBs- Nagarik Samabay Bank (NSB) and Gauhati Cooperative Urban Bank (GCUB). However, during the period 2020-2022, GNPA sand NNPAs did not exhibit significant influence on ROE for Gauhati Cooperative Urban Bank. Hence, the dynamism of NPA and their impact on profitability on banking sector will reflect the growth of financial sector of the economy.

This paper investigates the factors that form bank risks in Bangladeshi state-owned banks. As a representation of bank risk, non-performing loans have been considered the dependent variable for this study. The relevant data have been extracted from six state-owned banks in Bangladesh from 2013 to 2022. The final dataset consists of 60 firm-year observations. The ordinary least square (OLS) regression with robust standard errors model is utilized to find the relationship of bank risks with determinants like asset size, efficiency, liquidity, profitability, leverage ratio, capital adequacy ratio, and loan to asset ratio. The findings say that bank size and loan-to-asset ratio have a highly significant positive relationship with bank risk, whereas profitability, capital adequacy ratio, and bank efficiency have a significant negative association with bank risk. On the other hand, leverage and liquidity are negatively and positively correlated with no statistical significance. To check the study's robustness, another proxy of bank risk, loan loss provision has been used and the results are almost similar. State-owned banks operate in every economy with a different mindset than the general commercial banks. Hence, policymakers should take necessary initiatives based on this study to bring down the high bank risks in state-owned banks in Bangladesh.

The novelty and advancement of technology have explored new avenues in the education sectors. Now e-learning has blended with face-to-face learning to increase its effectiveness. An integrated model is being proposed in this study to measure the continuance usage intention of students adopting e-learning services. With the constructs of ECM (confirmation, perceived usefulness), perceived ease of use and perceived self-efficacy proposed to measure their effect on satisfaction. Besides, to explore the impact of quality features on satisfaction and continuance intention, three major determinants of D&M’s ISS model such as system quality, service quality and information quality included in this study. 410 responses collected to do quantitative analysis. The PLS-SEM analysis showed that perceived ease of use has the strongest effect on perceived usefulness, followed by perceived self-efficacy on perceived ease of use and satisfaction with continuance intention.The study reveals that challenges in developing countries are unique and drives the learners differently than developed countries. The growing e-learning industry requires widespread research from national and institutional perspectives for holistic development in the Bangladesh education market.

This paper examines the consequences of banks’ performance on bank risk. The paper forms a theoretical model and delivers empirical evidence to identify that banks suffer in performance as the loans become bad. Using panel data from a sample of five (05) South-Asian emerging economies from 2011 to 2019, we have found that the banks are highly influenced by the development of non-performing loans (NPLs). We have primarily used Return on Asset (ROA) followed by Return on Equity (ROE) as a substitution to the performance of the banks and NPL as the proxy of bank risk. Simultaneous regression applying 3sls finds that Non-Performing Loan (NPL) hinders banks' growth, negatively affecting their profitability.

This paper aims to analyse the effects of financial statement indicators and off-balance sheet items affecting risk measures among Indian banks employing both panel data regression and a non-parametric decision tree approach. We explore the effects of bank size, leverage, exposure to contingent liabilities including off-balance sheet derivatives usage and macroeconomic factors on risk measures for banks. In this paper, it is also aimed to examine the effects of the major financial liberalization policy period in the domestic market in India that started in the mid-1990s and ended around 2004 as well as impacts of the 2008 global financial crisis on the risk measures of banks operating in India.  As risk measures, we present a comparative analysis of liquidity, solvency, and interest rate risk measures of Indian banks across public (government) and private ownership categories. Main findings from our study demonstrate (i) significant impact of capital adequacy and the bank size on all the risk measures, (ii) contingent liabilities (including derivatives usage) at banks is observed to significantly impact the asset management measure of liquidity risk and the solvency risk of banks, (iii) GDP growth is observed to impact the asset management and liability management measure of liquidity risk, (iv) the global financial crisis is found to have a significant impact on the liquidity risk measures and interest rate risk, but a weak effect on solvency risk of Indian banks, (v) bank ownership category (government owned versus private sector banks) is observed to have a significant impact on all the risk measures, and finally (vi) financial liberalization reforms had a highly significant effect on the liquidity risk at banks.

Human capital is a significant element in the attainment of sustained competitive advantage and economic survival of organizations. The study explored whether human capital mediates the nexus of human resource management practices and organizational performance. A field study was conducted among 11 internationally and 4 indigenously owned banks. The hypothesized relationships were supported by the data. The results show that the association between selective staffing with the levels of human capital was significant. The results also show that the levels of human capital influenced organizational performance significantly. The results further show that human capital mediated the nexus of HRM practices and organizational performance. The generalizability of the results obtained may be constrained since the present study focused on the banking industry. The study suggests the creation and maintenance of valuable human capital promote competitiveness and sustained competitive advantage. The study contributes to the extant literature by empirically evidencing that human capital mediated the nexus of HRM practice and organizational performance.  

Customer satisfaction is an indicator of an organization's overall health and future prospects.  The study evaluated the impact of customer satisfaction attributes on hospitality services. Data were collected from 680 guests of one to three star rated hotels in the Greater Accra Region. The hypothesized relationships were supported by the data. The results show an insignificant relationship between accessibility and hospitability services. Reliability had an insignificant relationship with hospitability services. The results also show that competence had a significant relationship with hospitability services. The results further show that friendliness had an insignificant relationship with hospitality services. The generalizability of the results obtained may be constrained since the present study focused on the hotel industry with its unique characteristics. The study suggests the enhancement of customer satisfaction to establish customer loyalty, improve brand reputation and competitive advantage. The study adds to the extant literature by empirically evidencing that customer satisfaction attributes significantly impact hospitality services.

This paper aims to examine the association between Indian stock market return and seasonally adjusted trade for Indian Banking sector shares. The objective of the study is to measure the association between stock return and seasonally adjusted trade in the Indian stock market and recommend strategies. Due to the Covid 19 outbreak banking sector was highly affected, the Government of India also announced a moratorium on all categories of loans, banking business majorly depending on the deposit and loan creation, so the Government decision threaten the banking sector. Many private sector banks terminated temporary staff because of cut cost policies.  We divided the banking sector into three segments. Namely, Public, Private and Small Finance Banks. Utilizing daily data from February 2020 to July 2020, consisting of 2196 in numbers, we ran a panel Vector Autoregression model to analyze the association. It was found that the return of stocks is influencing the volume of trade during this period. Also, while measuring the short-run causality, it is found that the return of banking stocks specifically granger causes the volume of trade. The suggestions of the study lie in providing importance to framing policies on improving the financial health of the economy through different fiscal policies. Strategic policies are required to face post-Covid situations. The turnaround strategies to combat the effects of the pandemic are characterized by the availability of the sustainable resources of the particular sector in consideration.

The automotive industry is standing on the edge of the digital era. Digitization is the motivating force behind this change and is influencing every aspect of consumer behavior. Forces behind this digital transformation are the new technological possibilities which range from comprehensive connectivity, 3D printing, and the social network of virtual solutions as well. The impact of digitization can already be seen in today’s world and also in the automotive industry of India. Digitization will play an imperative role in the upcoming years such as artificial intelligence. This paper is primarily concerned with the recent trends of digitization and it also tries to measure the impact of digitization on the automobile supply chain between automobile manufacturers and suppliers. It is discussed the thrust on the potentialities of digitalization in the automobile industry of India and its impact on the overall performance of the industry. The study concluded that digitization has a significant impact on the automotive industry of India. Today, all the business practices become digitalized and foreign players use advanced technology in their products as compared to the national automotive players. The selling of automotive products is increased after the adoption of more advanced technology. It upgrades the quality of products and its service after sale which ultimately leads to the customer and brand loyalty used by the consumers.

High-value denomination currency was scrapped off from the Indian economy on 8th November 2016, Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 currency notes were declared invalid at midnight hour. Taking such a bold step by Hon. Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi, means declaring 86% of cash in circulation an illegal tender overnight. This study is conducted on the immediate effect of demonetization on the microfinance industry in India and its after-effects in the later years. We have analyzed the data collected from the rural sector, on the collections and lending, impact on the farmers, how it has affected the small microfinance companies. We have also analyzed RBI’s initiative towards financial inclusion, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), the emergence of new Small Finance Banks, Digital Banks, Payment banks, etc. We have critically analyzed the impact of cost versus the benefit from the demonetization exercise for the rural and microfinance industry. The aim of this study is to analyze the overall financial inclusion of the rural and small sectors towards the dream of a Cashless Economy.  

In this paper, students, and teachers' attitudes towards shifting to an entirely online learning environment were assessed due to COVID-19.  The main objective of the study was to investigate the students’ and teachers' attitudes towards Online learning during the COVID-19 situation in Bangladeshi Government Colleges. Findings revealed that cost and time-effectiveness, safety, convenience, and improved participation were the most frequently cited positive aspects of the online learning experience, while distraction and reduced focus, heavy workload, problems with technology and the internet, lack of ICT knowledge, and poor network infrastructure,  limited availability of educational resources, low attendance of learners, uncooperative learners and insufficient support from instructors and colleagues were the most recurrent negative aspects. The qualitative and quantitative research method was adopted, with semi-structured interviews conducted via Zoom with 10 College teachers and Focus group discussion conducted via Zoom with 18 and survey 100 college students via Google platform from three Bangladesh renowned Government College from Hons 1st year to masters’ level located in Rajshahi divisional district town of the country. A sample of these essays was analyzed using open coding. The findings of the study help instructors and institutions understand students’ and Teachers' attitudes regarding online teaching & learning under abnormal circumstances. Several recommendations informed by the interpretation of the participants’ feedback are offered to assist instructors, administrators, and policymakers improve future online learning experiences.  After conducting the whole study, it can be said that though have some problems adapting to online classes in three regarding BGCs colleges affiliated to the National University of Bangladesh, they are slowly becoming accustomed to it.  

This study aims to evaluate the effect of rapid changes in financial technologies and their impact on the financial services industry of India. A descriptive study has been made on the implementation of financial technologies in modern-day financial services Industries. An intensive literature review has been done from the existing most recent available journals, newspaper articles, government websites, and magazines. We have discussed the effects of the financial technologies on the existing financial system of India, the threats and challenges faced by the regulators in regulating the novel disruptive technologies. We have also discussed potential threats, challenges and future prospects of upcoming technologies in the mutual funds industry in India. Based on the literature review, it is found that financial technologies (FinTech) have a positive and important effect on the financial services industry of India. The AUM (Asset Under Management) has seen a tremendous jump in the recent past. It has also increased the customer experience with better access to the back office, even from remote places. In addition, the paper has also discussed the challenges faced by the regulators, who are yet to fully understand the implication of the fast-changing technological environment around us. Finally, this article contributes to the knowledge building and understanding of financial technologies and its impact on the financial industry, challenges, and future prospects.

The object of this study is to explore the effect of cultural distance on both the long run and short run performance of cross border mergers and acquisitions undertaken by Indian acquiring firms. We utilize buy and hold returns (BHAR), cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) and cross-sectional regression analysis in our study. Adopting the traditional Hofstede measure of cultural distance and other pertinent variables, commonly used to measure cultural differences, we document a negative and statistically significant influence of cultural distance on Indian cross-border M&As and corroborate some of other findings reported in prior research. Also, we find that the BHAR is nevertheless higher when the acquisitions are friendly, paid for 100% cash, and the acquiring firm is large, older and belongs to a business group. The inclusion of the variable ‘business group’ along with industry relatedness and acquirer size provides valuable insights into the Indian cross border acquisition landscape, wherein business groups dominate to a great extent.

There have been significant changes in the GATT / WTO system, one of them is its expansion in membership. The regime has up grown from its original 22 founding members to over 140 at the turn of the 20th century. The enlargement has led to the fundamental change in the character of the regime. In the early years the GATT / WTO was perceived of by China as a “Rich Nations’ Club” or “the Club of the Rich,” in which wealthy countries imposed rules on poor and weak developing countries. By the year 2000, the WTO included a majority of developing countries, many of which are among the poorest countries of the world. Furthermore, with the inclusion of China and Russia, the WTO community included all the major nations of the world, even those that were previously uninterested in open trade and thus stayed outside the trade regime. The paper in the above context begins with a brief history of China’s accession to the WTO, including a review of China’s objectives and motivations in joining. It reviews how its entry has supported its substantial growth and further integration into the global economy in terms of trade patterns and other economic indicators such as FDI along with regulations governing IPRs in tune with the WTO obligations. A brief portrait of comparison of Chinese economy with Indian economy is also laid down because both are leading emerging market developing economies — one is the Dragon and the other the Elephant.
  

The introduction of the New Economic Policy (NEP) in 1991 by the Government of India (GoI) made it very clear that the viability of commercial banks is conditioned on their ability to make profits. In a globalized world, the whims and fancies of business cycles govern the fate of banks and a recessionary phase hampers the bank’s ability to pile on the profits thereby increasing their stock of non-performing assets. India, recently, is placed in a very bizarre situation, — some of the renowned banks are reporting huge losses but there is a very limited impact on stock markets. Strategically, the government, however, has taken corrective measures to arrest the growth of non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks. This paper builds upon a time series model capturing the position of NPAs of banks in India (excluding foreign banks operating in India). Empirically, there is a uni-directional causal relationship running from NPAs of banks to growth. Theoretically, what we can conclude is that imposing strict lending norms on banks actually manifests itself into a deeper recession, lowers growth and in turn aggravates the NPA problem further.

The paper assesses the relationship between leader behaviours and subordinates’ work performance in the context of tax administration. Data were collected in Malawi using two validated questionnaires administered online for subordinates and team leaders at a field office of a tax administration. Frequency distributions were used to identify dominant primary leader behaviours and the Spearman’s rank-order correlation analysis was used to assess the relationship between leader behaviours and subordinates’ work performance. Participative path-goal leadership behaviour is the most common primary leadership behaviour that team leaders in tax administration employ. Secondly, supportive and achievement oriented leader behaviours have a significant relationship with subordinates’ work performance in tax administration. The study concluded that achievement oriented path-goal leadership behaviour could be effective for public organisations involved in law enforcement. It is recommended that leaders should conduct a self-assessment of their leadership; adopt the relations-oriented leadership behaviours and incorporate coaching during performance evaluation exercise; and that organisations should equip leaders with leadership and management skills through training.The study is limited by the small sample-size, therefore, future studies could repeat the assessment with a larger sample and determine the mathematical equations for predicting the effect of each leadership behaviour on subordinates’ work performance.

Freshwater fish output is taken as a proxy variable for empirical assessment of indirect benefits in terms of enhanced quantity of freshwater fish (output) cultivation. It is not unlikely to assess empirically the productivity of subsidized public scheme when rural development or rural asset generations are underlined in the said scheme, MGNREG Act, 2005. Rainwater harvesting is a major component part of the scheme since about 49.5 per cent of the total fund is already utilized on water conservation and obviously it has an impact on the cultivation of freshwater fish output. Time series data on annual expenditure on MGNREG and corresponding freshwater fish output at the state level are taken during the period 2006-07 to 2013-14 for 16 major Indian states. Fixed effect model and random effect models are being applied and the Hausman specification test suggests that fixed effect model is more appropriate than random effect model. Significant differences among the intercepts of the selected states are revealed as per F test. The results of fixed effect panel regression establish that fish output is enhanced by 0.000257 thousand tones or 0.26 tones if MGNREG expenditure rises by one crore or 10 million rupees. 

<p><em>The link between </em><em>stock market development and economic activity has always been the subject of considerable debate in the field of economics and it raises empirical question whether stock market development influences economic activity or whether it is a consequence of increased economic activity. This study attempts to investigate the direction of causality between stock market development and economic growth in the Indian context. Using the cointegration and causality tests for the period June 1991 to June 2013, the study confirms a well defined long-run equilibrium relationship between the stock market development indicators and economic growth in India. The empirical results show bidirectional causality between market capitalisation and economic growth and unidirectional causality from turnover ratio to economic growth in the long-run and short-run. By and large, it can be inferred that the stock market development indicators viz. market capitalisation and turnover ratio have a positive influence on economic growth in India.</em><em></em></p>

<p>The proactively evolved banking regulations in the Indian Banking sector under the authorative directive of the Reserve bank of India (RBI) has often brought about a change in the business strategy, capital structure and operations of the banks in the Indian banking sector. During these events of continuous change and adoption of Basel norms, we analyse the efficiency of the Indian banking sector with using Data Envelopment Analysis across three economic eras andacross the different ownership structures. The determinants of efficiency are selected on the basis of intermediation approach. We also attempt to identify whether the inefficiency arises from managerial incompetence or improper size and resource allocation. From our analysis, we identify the main cause of inefficiency in the Indian Banking sector to be arising out of improper size allocation.</p>