This study examines the effect of government funding on private-sector research and development (R&D) expenditure across 33 OECD countries from 2005 to 2019. Additionally, the analysis extends to subgroups of countries, including the EU-15, newly joined EU members, other European non-EU countries, and non-European OECD countries. To empirically assess this relationship, we employ both pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and instrumental variable two-stage least squares (IV-2SLS) models. The findings indicate that government support fosters a complementary relationship with private-sector R&D expenditure, rather than a crowding-out effect. This suggests that both direct government funding and R&D tax incentives play a crucial role in boosting private-sector R&D investment, with the effects varying across different economic and institutional contexts. By offering a comprehensive cross-country perspective, this research highlights the differential effectiveness of R&D support mechanisms in OECD countries and contributes to a deeper understanding of how government funding can enhance private-sector R&D investment.

This study addresses the impact of cognitive factors, namely role models, self-efficacy, and risk aversion, on entrepreneurial intentions in Spain, specifically focusing on gender differences. The study employs data from the 2019 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Adult Population Survey (APS), encompassing responses from 22,936 persons aged between 18 and 64. The study uses binary logistic regression models to thoroughly examine the impact of these cognitive characteristics on entrepreneurial ambitions. The research findings reveal that having positive role models and strong self-belief significantly increases the likelihood of aspiring to become an entrepreneur, regardless of gender. Conversely, perceiving high levels of risk, especially the fear of failure, is a deterrent to pursuing entrepreneurship. Moreover, factors such as work status and education level have varying impacts on entrepreneurial intentions based on gender. These findings aid in understanding the factors that influence entrepreneurial intentions, emphasizing the importance of cognitive factors while considering gender-specific contexts.

This study examines the influence of women’s representation in top management positions and availability of skilled human capital on firm performance in Bangladesh, a critical aspect that remains underexplored in the existing literature. We leverage a fresh and comprehensive dataset of 824 firms released by the World Bank Enterprise Survey in 2023 and employ both traditional ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and machine learning algorithms to analyze the relationship. While the presence of female leadership alone may not substantially boost firm performance, our findings underscore a notable positive influence of women in leadership roles, contingent upon the presence of a skilled workforce. Notably, factors such as labor and electricity costs, access to financial resources, and international quality certification consistently show positive associations with firm performance. Our findings offer valuable guidance to policymakers and corporate decision-makers, highlighting the importance of supporting women in leadership roles while simultaneously investing in a skilled labor force to unlock firm productivity and success.

The main purpose of this article is to investigate the impact of economic growth, foreign direct investment (FDI), and trade openness (TO), and the Asian and global financial crisis on environmental quality based on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis on panel data of 32 Asian economies over the 1991–2019 period. Our study supports the EKC hypothesis, implying that economic growth increases emissions to a certain point, after which growth helps reduce carbon emissions. By employing several panel data econometric estimation techniques (such as ordinary least squares, fixed effects models, and difference-generalized method of moments estimations), the study also shows robust findings that FDI could reduce carbon emissions in the Asian region by welcoming environmentally friendly technology and know-how into the economy. However, though the study finds that financial crises reduce emissions in Asian countries, the increase of TO in this region leads to an increase in emissions and causes of environmental degradation. Thus, to ensure environmental sustainability, Asian policymakers should formulate lucrative policies to attract FDI, and trade policies should also be revised.

This study examines the effect of bank concentration and financial development on economic volatility in member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Using the GMM estimator, we cover the 2000–2017 period. Based on both linear and non-linear estimations, we find no significant impact of bank concentration on economic volatility. By contrast, financial development reduces economic volatility. Moreover, the relationship between concentration and volatility is influenced by financial development. Considering this, policymakers should put more emphasis on developing the financial sector than controlling bank concentrations. We find that our findings remain robust in the face of different specifications and proxies used to measure bank concentration and financial development.

After the global financial crisis of 2007, macroprudential policy instruments have gained in recognition as a crucial tool for enhancing financial stability. Monetary policy, fiscal policy, and microprudential policy operate with a different toolkit and focus on achieving goals other than the stability of the financial system as a whole. In ligh of this, a fourth policy – namely macroprudential policy – is required to mitigate and prevent shocks that could destabilize the financial system as a whole and compromise financial stability. The aim of this paper is to contrast macroprudential policy with other economic policies and explain why other economic policies are unable to attain financial stability, which in turn justifies the need for a separate macroprudential policy, the ultimate goal whereof is precisely financial stability of the financial system as a whole. Our research results based on the descriptive research method indicate that, in order to prevent future financial crises, it is indispensable to combine both the microprudential and the macroprudential approach to financial stability. This is because the causes of the crises are often such that they cannot be prevented or mitigated by relying only on microprudential or only on macroprudential policy instruments.

Accounting standards allow the application of two models for subsequent measurement of property, plant, and equipment, and those are the cost model and the revaluation model. The application of a certain model depends on the manager’s choice of accounting policy. The main goal of this paper is to investigate the application of the revaluation model for subsequent measurement of property, plant, and equipment in Croatian companies. Further goals are to examine how the fair value for revalued assets is determined, and what the level is of disclosed information about the determined fair value and the revaluation. The theoretical part of the paper analyzes different models for measurement of property, plant, and equipment, the issue of determining fair value, and disclosure requirements according to national and international accounting standards. The empirical part of the paper is conducted on 500 large and medium-sized Croatian companies from the service (utilities), production, and tourism sectors. Particular attention is placed on the notes to the financial statements of these companies. The research covers the period from 2014 to 2018. Collected data are analyzed by using descriptive statistics methods, point-biserial correlation, and Pearson correlation coefficient.

This paper investigates the role of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in the Western Balkans in supporting industrial policy for economic development. It shows that Serbia and North Macedonia have both implemented policies to establish networks of SEZs that have attracted a relatively large amount of new foreign direct investment, mainly into the motorcar and components industries. Although many jobs have been created and some improvements in export competitiveness have occurred, there is no evidence of improvements in labour productivity or widespread technology spill-over to local economies. The import intensity of production is extremely high, implying little linkage to local economies. The qualitative interviews further reveal limited linkages between SEZ-based companies and local businesses, limited technology transfer, and a lack of appropriate skills among the workforce. In particular, there is insufficient capacity in the motorcar components supply chain. The paper concludes that governments have used SEZ policies as an alternative to regional and local development policies based on smart specialisation. In order to take advantage of the opportunity offered by SEZs, governments in the region should put more effort into developing local supply chains, aligning their policies towards SEZs and smart specialisation in order to leverage the advantages of an increased inflow of direct foreign investment for sustainable economic development in the future.

The main objective of this paper is to explore the adjustment of bank business activities to new regulatory capital requests using panel data analyses of the European banking system. The research hypothesis assumes that the increase in capital requirements affects the banks’ balance sheet adjustment and bank lending to the non-financial sector. The banks can maintain the higher regulatory capital ratio by increasing the volume of share capital or by decreasing the risk-weighted assets and bank lending activities. The high equity premium upon a new equity issue due to asymmetric information about the bank’s net worth discourages the current shareholder to issue additional capital, which has resulted in bank lending constraints and has increased non-risk bank assets. Banks’ response to new capital requirements can announce a long-term negative impact to real economy and bank depending borrowers. The model of empirical analysis of the banking sector adjustment to new capital requirements will be demonstrated on the sample of publicly listed banking firms in the European Union in the period 2000–2016 using dynamic panel-data estimation with the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) in one-step.