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The research issue centers on examining the solvency of urban municipalities in Nepal, focusing on their ability to meet long-term financial obligations. The main aim of the study is to assess the financial condition of municipalities in the context of Nepal. A descriptive research design was employed to assess the financial condition of municipalities. The study targeted only the urban municipalities of Nepal. The study comprises two years of data from 2019/20 and 2020/21. The sample consisted of 37 urban municipalities representing different types in different geographical locations representing all seven provinces and all ecological zones in Nepal.  The analysis of the financial condition of local urban governments in Nepal across two fiscal years (2019/20 and 2020/21) reveals no significant differences in LGFCI based on municipal type (f(2,72)=0.166, p>0.05) or ecological zone (f(2,72)=0.229, p>0.05). In FY 2019/20, 5 local governments were classified as having a good financial condition, 25 as average, and 7 as poor. In FY 2020/21, the numbers dropped to 3 in good condition, 29 in average, and 5 in poor condition. There was limited movement in financial status between the two years, with 7 local governments shifting, and most remained in the average category. This suggests a need for improved financial management in local governments.  In conclusion, the financial condition of local urban governments in Nepal, based on LGFCI, shows no significant difference by municipal type or ecological zone. Most local governments are classified as having an average financial condition, with only a few in good or poor financial status. Over the two fiscal years, few local governments showed changes in their financial status, highlighting the need for better financial management practices to improve stability. The results have policy implications for strengthening fiscal federalism in Nepal.

This study examined the mediating role of net interest margin (NIM) on the nexus between market structure and banks’ performance. Two ordinary least-squares models with a path analysis model were applied to analyze the data. The first regression model measured the indirect effects of market structure, total assets, geographic expansion, and specialization on ROA through NIM and revealed that the higher market share of loans positively effects on bank’s performance and statistically insignificant. Similarly, the geographic expansion was observed to hurt the bank’s ROA, but statistically insignificant. On the other hand, the indirect effect of total asset size and specialization was negative, but the first one was statistically significant, and the second was statistically insignificant. The result of the second regression model measured the direct effect of antecedent variables on the ROA and revealed that the market structure, geographic expansion, and specialization were negatively related to performance measure ROA. However, the direct effect of total assets size was positively related to ROA and statistically significant. The results of the two regression models based on total effects revealed that a higher bank size appeared favorable to Nepalese CBs and was found to have positive effects on ROA but the geographic expansion was a negative effect on ROA, and statistically significant. The results of the study might be helpful to Nepalese bankers, regularity authorities, and other concerned stakeholders to take an effective decision about the direct, indirect, and total effects of chosen antecedent variables on consequent variables through the mediating role of NIM.

This paper aims to investigate the perceived social norms, entrepreneurial motivation, and entrepreneurial education on entrepreneurial intention.  The study adopted a descriptive and causal relational research approach. The survey was based on a structured questionnaire and cross-sectional data for primary sources of information. A total of 525 questionnaires were distributed among the targeted respondents during October-December (2023) and received only 231 (44 percent) usable responses of youth women. The study utilized descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis for analysis of demographic information, to assess the association and for testing the hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that Entrepreneurial Education (EE), Perceived Social Norms (PSN), and Entrepreneurial Motivation (EM) have a strong and positive correlation with Entrepreneurial Intention (EI) among youth women who are pursuing entrepreneurship. The data demonstrates that the intention of women to engage in entrepreneurship is influenced by independent variables. This discovery significantly enhances the current body of work on the characteristics that influence entrepreneurial activity among youth women with entrepreneurial intentions in Nepal. The study's findings will assist planners, local governments, the federal government, educational institutions, economists, and social welfare agencies in implementing effective measures to promote entrepreneurship and formulating suitable strategies, rules, and regulations within the Nepalese business landscape.

The research issue centers on examining the solvency of urban municipalities in Nepal, focusing on their ability to meet long-term financial obligations. The main aim of the study is to assess the financial condition of municipalities in the context of Nepal. A descriptive research design was employed to assess the financial condition of municipalities. The study targeted only the urban municipalities of Nepal. The study comprises two years of data from 2019/20 and 2020/21. The sample consisted of 37 urban municipalities representing different types in different geographical locations representing all seven provinces and all ecological zones in Nepal.  The analysis of the financial condition of local urban governments in Nepal across two fiscal years (2019/20 and 2020/21) reveals no significant differences in LGFCI based on municipal type (f(2,72)=0.166, p>0.05) or ecological zone (f(2,72)=0.229, p>0.05). In FY 2019/20, 5 local governments were classified as having a good financial condition, 25 as average, and 7 as poor. In FY 2020/21, the numbers dropped to 3 in good condition, 29 in average, and 5 in poor condition. There was limited movement in financial status between the two years, with 7 local governments shifting, and most remained in the average category. This suggests a need for improved financial management in local governments.  In conclusion, the financial condition of local urban governments in Nepal, based on LGFCI, shows no significant difference by municipal type or ecological zone. Most local governments are classified as having an average financial condition, with only a few in good or poor financial status. Over the two fiscal years, few local governments showed changes in their financial status, highlighting the need for better financial management practices to improve stability. The results have policy implications for strengthening fiscal federalism in Nepal.

This paper aims to investigate the perceived social norms, entrepreneurial motivation, and entrepreneurial education on entrepreneurial intention.  The study adopted a descriptive and causal relational research approach. The survey was based on a structured questionnaire and cross-sectional data for primary sources of information. A total of 525 questionnaires were distributed among the targeted respondents during October-December (2023) and received only 231 (44 percent) usable responses of youth women. The study utilized descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis for analysis of demographic information, to assess the association and for testing the hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that Entrepreneurial Education (EE), Perceived Social Norms (PSN), and Entrepreneurial Motivation (EM) have a strong and positive correlation with Entrepreneurial Intention (EI) among youth women who are pursuing entrepreneurship. The data demonstrates that the intention of women to engage in entrepreneurship is influenced by independent variables. This discovery significantly enhances the current body of work on the characteristics that influence entrepreneurial activity among youth women with entrepreneurial intentions in Nepal. The study's findings will assist planners, local governments, the federal government, educational institutions, economists, and social welfare agencies in implementing effective measures to promote entrepreneurship and formulating suitable strategies, rules, and regulations within the Nepalese business landscape.

This study examined the mediating role of net interest margin (NIM) on the nexus between market structure and banks’ performance. Two ordinary least-squares models with a path analysis model were applied to analyze the data. The first regression model measured the indirect effects of market structure, total assets, geographic expansion, and specialization on ROA through NIM and revealed that the higher market share of loans positively effects on bank’s performance and statistically insignificant. Similarly, the geographic expansion was observed to hurt the bank’s ROA, but statistically insignificant. On the other hand, the indirect effect of total asset size and specialization was negative, but the first one was statistically significant, and the second was statistically insignificant. The result of the second regression model measured the direct effect of antecedent variables on the ROA and revealed that the market structure, geographic expansion, and specialization were negatively related to performance measure ROA. However, the direct effect of total assets size was positively related to ROA and statistically significant. The results of the two regression models based on total effects revealed that a higher bank size appeared favorable to Nepalese CBs and was found to have positive effects on ROA but the geographic expansion was a negative effect on ROA, and statistically significant. The results of the study might be helpful to Nepalese bankers, regularity authorities, and other concerned stakeholders to take an effective decision about the direct, indirect, and total effects of chosen antecedent variables on consequent variables through the mediating role of NIM.