This study examines whether integrated reports that are more closely aligned with the International Integrated Reporting Framework (IIRF) are differently associated with firm value compared to those less aligned. Using panel estimated generalised least squares and other robust estimations, the analysis covers the Top 100 firms listed on South Africa’s Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the United Kingdom’s London Stock Exchange from 2011 to 2018. South Africa presents a mandatory integrated reporting (IR) setting, while the UK adopts a voluntary approach, offering a natural comparative context. An IR quality index was constructed to measure the degree of alignment with the IIRF, and market value of equity and Tobin’s Q are used as proxies for firm value. The results show no evidence of capital market differentiation in South Africa between more and less IIRF-aligned reports. In contrast, UK capital markets may differentiate, with less-aligned reports showing a significant negative association with firm value. These findings suggest that low-quality integrated reports may undermine firm value in voluntary IR settings.

Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are recognized as the cornerstone of Indonesia’s economy, especially in the agriculture, fisheries, and tourism sectors. Given Asta Cita’s ambitious vision for the country, which emphasizes inclusive and sustainable development, MSMEs are under increasing pressure to improve their competitiveness and financial performance. This research aims to develop and empirically evaluate a comprehensive policy framework that identifies digitalization, sustainable development, and innovation as the primary catalysts for MSME progress, with government support as a mediating variable, grounded in dynamic capabilities and institutional theories. A quantitative methodology was used to collect primary data from 435 MSME respondents in North Sulawesi, which was then analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that digitalization, sustainable practices, and innovation have a substantial, positive impact on the financial performance of MSMEs. However, government support cannot mediate the influence of digitalization, sustainable development, and innovation on improving economic performance. This shows that internal organizational competencies are more important than external interventions in achieving financial success. The results of this study underscore the need for MSMEs to prioritize technology integration, incorporate sustainability into their business frameworks, and continue innovating to maintain resilience and competitiveness.

This study examines the influence of FinTech Paylater, Financial Well Being (FW), Behavioral Finance (BF), and Digital Financial Literacy (DFL) on the sustainability of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in South Sumatera, Indonesia. Using a quantitative explanatory design, data from 563 MSME owners were collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling–Partial Least Squares (SEM–PLS). The results show that FinTech Paylater, FW, BF, and DFL have positive and significant effects on MSME sustainability, with DFL emerging as the strongest predictor. Paylater services support sustainability by improving liquidity and access to short-term financing, while FW enhances financial stability and resilience. BF shapes financial decision-making through behavioral control and risk awareness. The integrated model explains 61% of the variance in MSME sustainability and demonstrates that digital capability and psychological factors jointly determine whether FinTech is used productively or consumptively. The findings provide theoretical contributions to the literature on FinTech and MSME sustainability and offer practical implications for policymakers and FinTech providers in designing targeted Digital Financial Literacy programs and responsible Paylater schemes for MSMEs in emerging economies.

In this paper, we investigate the relationship between spot and futures contracts in the context of spot prices being higher than futures (backwardation). We focus on the persistence in stickiness during backwardation periods by covering major agricultural commodities (corn, oats, soybeans, soybean oil, wheat, and hard red wheat). The period of investigation, January 2000–August 2022, comprises many subperiods, including the pre-2008 global financial crisis, the global financial crisis, the single event of 2014, and the post-2014 stability and growth in world trade. We find the presence of price backwardation and its stickiness for corn and wheat, with the most significant determinants being convenience yield and interest risk.

This study investigates the influence of board characteristics—specifically board tenure and board-specific skills—on the quality of ESG reporting among listed firms in five ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines) from 2021 to 2023. Using panel data of 609 firms (1827 firm-year observations) obtained from Refinitiv Eikon, ESG reporting is measured through the reporting score, while board tenure is proxied by the average years of directors’ service and board-specific skills by the proportion of directors with financial or industry expertise. The analysis employs fixed-effects regression with firm-level clustered standard errors to account for unobserved heterogeneity and robust inference. The findings reveal that board tenure has no significant effect on ESG reporting, suggesting that accumulated experience does not necessarily enhance disclosure. In contrast, board-specific skills exhibit a positive and significant impact, highlighting the importance of technical competence in driving transparency. Control variables show that firm age contributes positively to ESG disclosure, while robustness checks confirm the stability of results across alternative specifications and clustering dimensions. Sub-sample country analyses further indicate institutional variations, with board expertise mattering more in Singapore and Indonesia, and firm age in Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. The study offers theoretical and policy implications for strengthening governance reforms and advancing ESG transparency in emerging markets.

This study explores how surprise shocks in Indonesia’s macroeconomic environment—specifically interest rates, inflation, and exchange rates—affect the returns and volatility of key financial assets, including gold, Bitcoin (BTC), stocks (JKSE), and government bonds. Utilizing the EGARCH(1,1) model, this research demonstrates that gold exhibits enduring resilience as a safe-haven during periods of rising inflation and interest rate fluctuations. In contrast, Bitcoin is marked by pronounced speculative dynamics, showing persistent, asymmetric, and extreme volatility, yet delivering attractive gains when market conditions are strong. The findings indicate that stocks and bonds are particularly susceptible to changes in macroeconomic variables, thereby illustrating the vulnerabilities typical of emerging markets. Through portfolio optimization employing the Mean-Variance approach, gold dominates the optimal asset allocation, while Bitcoin provides notable diversification benefits. The results of backtesting using the Kupiec and Basel Traffic Light procedures confirm that GARCH-family risk estimations are robust and meet international regulatory standards. Furthermore, analysis of the Sharpe ratio and cumulative returns reveals that Mean-Variance portfolios consistently outperform equally weighted alternatives by delivering higher risk-adjusted returns and lower overall volatility. By integrating advanced econometric methods with real-world macroeconomic shocks in an Indonesian context, this research offers practical insights for both investors and policymakers addressing asset allocation under uncertainty, while laying the groundwork for future work involving broader asset universes and sophisticated modeling techniques.

Building on prior research, we revisited the 21 personal finance scenarios using OpenAI’s newer ChatGPT-4o to observe whether its financial guidance has meaningfully evolved. Our qualitative analysis relied on expert assessments to examine both the content and tone of the model’s advice, considering how prompt engineering influenced ChatGPT outputs. We observed that ChatGPT-4o often produced more thorough suggestions and paid closer attention to tax implications—though it still overlooked some important details. It also showed more creative thinking in certain situations. However, some of the same shortcomings persisted: Generalizations remained too broad with respect to certain topics, legal references were occasionally misleading, and emotional empathy continued to feel artificial, even with carefully crafted prompts. We also extended our analysis to the newest ChatGPT model (ChatGPT-5). We found that the recommendations generated by ChatGPT-5 were quite similar to those generated by ChatGPT-4o, but the accuracy in the numerical problems was better under ChatGPT-5. While not a replacement for financial professionals, ChatGPT appears to be maturing into a more useful supporting tool for both advisors and clients. Our findings not only suggest cautious optimism but also underscore the need for careful oversight when using such tools in personal financial decision-making.

South Korea has become one of the most important economies in Asia. The largest Korean multinational firms are affiliated with influential family-owned business groups known as the chaebol. Despite the surging academic popularity of the chaebol, there is a considerable knowledge gap in the bibliometric analysis of business groups in Korea. In an attempt to fill this gap, the article aims to provide a systematic review of the chaebol and the role that business groups have played in the economy of Korea. Three distinct bibliometric networks are analyzed, namely the scientific collaboration network, bibliographic coupling network, and keyword co-occurrence network.

This paper compares the rulebooks of five main Shariah-compliant equity indices—DJIMI, KLSI, FTSE Shariah, MSCI Islamic, and STOXX Europe Islamic 50—inside one fixed S&P 500 stock list from Q1 2019 to Q4 2023. For each index, we build both equally weighted and market-capitalization-weighted portfolios, then check their performances with the Sharpe, Treynor, and Jensen’s alpha ratios. All Islamic portfolios beat the regular S&P 500 after adjusting for risk, with STOXX as the most stable winner. Its market-cap version reaches a level of 253.01 by Q4 2023, far above the S&P 500 level of 210.46. Market-cap portfolios, in general, perform better than equally weighted ones. Furthermore, STOXX offer better protection in rough markets, while DJIMI shows relatively better performance when prices recover. Most rule sets cause small advantages to the Islamic portfolios compared to conventional ones, but STOXX’s 33% limit on leverage and liquidity results in higher Sharpe ratios. These results suggest that screening details shape portfolio behavior and point to the need for one clear, shared Shariah rulebook so investors can compare products with confidence. From a business ethics view, our study also shows that strict and open screening brings a real “moral dividend”, as follows: smaller losses when markets fall and stronger risk-adjusted returns overall, linking faith-based rules to the wider talk on responsible investing and stakeholder welfare.

In a context where the measurement of economic value is key for financial decision-making, Economic Value Added (EVA) stands out as a relevant indicator for assessing companies’ financial performance efficiency. This research aimed to determine the impact of the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) and profitability on the EVA of industrial sector companies in Peru. A quantitative approach was used, with a correlational-causal and non-experimental design. The sample included four industrial sector companies listed on the Lima Stock Exchange (BVL). The authors applied the document review technique, and the correlational analysis was carried out using linear regression. Results show that Return on Equity (ROE) is a statistically significant predictor of EVA across all companies analyzed, indicating a direct relationship. In contrast, WACC showed a weak relationship with the variables studied. It is concluded that profitability has a greater influence on EVA than WACC. However, the relationship between WACC, ROE, and EVA differs among companies. The model explains a moderate variability in EVA, suggesting that other factors not considered in the model also affect the generation of economic value.