• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.12
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• pp.95-105
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• 2021

A prerequisite of a sound financial system is effective channeling of financial resources to efficient users; hence maximizing economic and societal welfare. To that end, the prevalence of bad loans in banks in emerging economies is a major policy concern. In an attempt to add to the growing body of literature explaining the interrelationship between macroeconomic and firm-specific factors, and non-performing loans (NPL), this paper examines data from 24 scheduled commercial banks in Bangladesh from 2008 to 2019. Macroeconomic factors as well as firm-specific factors related to profitability, capital strength, and efficiency are considered. Panel data regression analysis is performed to estimate pooled OLS, fixed effects, and random effects models. Following the necessary testing, it was found that the fixed effects model with robust standard error is appropriate. Results show that return on assets and inflation have a negative influence on NPL, but GDP growth has a favorable impact. The paper concludes by asserting that the evidence supports similar findings from studies both in Bangladesh and elsewhere and it is noted that a combination of these macroeconomic and firm-specific factors explains only a small portion of the total variation in NPL.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.11
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• pp.41-46
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between unemployment and shadow economy for 7 selected ASEAN countries using panel data from 2000-2017. This study uses a sample of 7 ASEAN countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam covering the 2000-2017 period. The stationarity of the variables is determined by Pesaran panel unit-root tests. The Westerlund panel co-integration technique is used to examine the long-run relationship among the variables. In addition, dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) methods are also employed. The DOLS and FMOLS results indicate that unemployment acts as an important driver for the increase in the shadow economy. In addition, the study results also reveal that GDP per capita has a negative impact on the shadow economy. Moreover, government expenditure, bank credit, and inflation are positively related to the shadow economy. The empirical results indicate that the size of the shadow economy is boosted by unemployment in the selected ASEAN economies. In addition, it is also evident that an increase of GDP per capita in the sample countries results in a lower shadow economy. Besides, government expenditure, bank credit, and inflation play a crucial role in the shadow economy.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.689-695
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• 2021

In the current technology-driven era, Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been deemed as one of the leading and prominent drivers of sustainable economic progress in emerging and developing economies such as in the Bangladesh context. Hence, it is of significance to understand what might fuel accelerating performance of SME business as increased SME performance will bring about more sustainability and strong development of SME sector within the country, through which more employment is anticipated to be generated. Therefore, the current study examines the impact of three factors: risk-taking, innovativeness, and proactiveness on SME performance in Bangladesh. The study has gathered data from SME entities in Dhaka city of Bangladesh, by applying a non-probability sampling strategy. 250 SME owners were contacted to act as respondents and finally, 180 SME owners fully completed the survey questionnaire, indicating that the final sample size is n=180. SPSS is used as a purpose of testing the hypotheses by considering a 5% significance level as acceptance criteria of the hypothesis. Hierarchical regression analysis was run to understand the impact of control variables and independent variables on SME performance and found that age of business, risk-taking, innovativeness, and proactiveness have an important impact on SME performance in Bangladesh.

• Acta Via Serica
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.73-90
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• 2018

The Silk Road tied the globe together for the first time by producing an early globalization phenomenon. Some consider that the ancient Silk Road disintegrated around the $18^{th}$ century CE due to the fall of the Muslim empires and the kingdoms between Asia and Europe. However, the maritime trade among East Asia and the Spanish dominion on the American continent reactivated the ancient Silk Road on some levels, and maintained trade dynamics until the $19^{th}$ century. This was possible because of Mexican silver and trade spots. Notwithstanding its historical background, Mexico seems so far away from the new Silk Road, or the Belt and Road Initiative in the $21^{st}$ century. Thus, this paper analyzes Mexico's historic and current role concerning the Silk Road. First, I conceptualize and compare the ancient Silk Road and Belt and Road Initiative through the lens of complex interdependence theory. I propose that, unlike the ancient Silk Road, the Belt and Road Initiative is a case of an induced complex interdependence. Second, I study the Manila Galleons' dynamics in order to trace the ancient ties with the Silk Road. I emphasize Mexican silver's contribution to East Asian economies and the importance of Mexico's role in the East Asia-Spanish trade. Consequently, I analyze Mexico's position in the Belt and Road Initiative. Finally, I present some concluding remarks about Mexico's role in the Silk Road.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.89-97
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• 2021

This research aims to investigate the impact of falling oil prices at the beginning of 2020 on 82 industrial companies listed on the GCC stock markets. The research sample period is divided into two periods pre-COVID and during COVID covering the period starting 1st January 2020 to May 15, 2020. The research uses the Panel Least Square (PLS) method and Panel Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) with fixed and random effects in each country. The results of GMM models reveal a positive relationship between oil prices and the share prices of industrial companies in the Gulf countries, which confirms that the share prices of industrial companies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have been negatively affected by the decline in oil prices with the beginning of 2020. The findings show that the highest impact of falling oil prices has been recorded in the industrial companies in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. However, the falling of oil prices does not have a significant effect on industrial companies in the state of Qatar. The research results suggest that GCC economies have to move on the path of non-reliance on Oil and gas-driven economy.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.81-91
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• 2021

This paper investigates the long run hedging ability of precious metals against the risks associated with adverse conditions of economic and financial variables for Pakistan, the USA, China, and India. Monthly data of gold, silver, platinum, stock returns, exchange rate, industrial production, and inflation was collected for the selected economies. Saikkonen and Lutkepohl (2002) unit root test was employed to access the unit root properties of the data series and identify the break dates. Furthermore, this study used the Johansen cointegration test with and without structural breaks to identify the long-run relationship between metals prices and different financial and economic variables. The findings suggest that the time series under study have unit root problem at level with and without structural breaks. Without considering structural breaks, the Johansen trace test indicates that in Pakistan and China, gold, silver, and platinum hold a cointegrating relationship with macroeconomic and financial variables. For the US, gold indicates cointegration which supports the hedging ability of gold against inflation, stock, and industrial production in the long run. The results of the cointegration test after incorporating the structural breaks provide even stronger evidence of the long-run relationship of precious metals and consumer prices, exchange rate, and stock prices.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.643-651
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• 2021

This study aims to determine the response of regional economic growth to the financial performance of regional economies in regard to the liquidity conditions, saving-investment gaps, trade openness, inflation, as well as the national economic growth. The basic logic theory of research uses the principles of open economics and financial intermediary systems. The data used in this study are secondary data, and the form of data is a quarterly time series for the period from 2008 to 2019. The data were obtained from various publications, such as the Central Statistics Agency (CSA), Regional Financial Economics Statistics (RFES), Indonesian Banking Statistics (IBS), and the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Data processing was done through VAR/VECM analysis; short-term and long-term equilibrium analyses were carried out. The results of the analysis illustrate that regional economic growth and the conditions of liquidity, saving-investment gaps, trade openness, inflation, and national economic growth are related and lead to significant impact variations in the provinces of Papua and West Papua. In conclusion, the findings of this research support the leading supply hypothesis and reformulate the strategy and policy of economic development, bearing in mind that there are still many underdeveloped districts in these two provinces.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.55-67
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• 2021

This study aims to measure the lower tail dependence as risk contagion from the U.S. economy to 18 developing countries affecting FDI inflows using time-series data from 2005 to 2019. Firstly, we utilize four dynamic copula models, namely, Student-t, Clayton, rotated survival Gumbel, and rotated survival Joe, to measure the tail dependence structure between the U.S. and each developing country's real GDP growth. Secondly, we use the regression model to explore the contagion effects on FDI inflows. The results show that there is evidence of the tail dependence between the U.S and developing economies, indicating the presence of the contagion effects. Primarily, we observe that the degree of contagion effects of the global financial crisis varies across countries; a strong impact is observed in Chinese, South African, Russian, Colombian, and Mexican economic growth. Furthermore, we found significant contagion risk affecting FDI inflows positively in China, Indonesia, Columbia, Morocco, and negatively in the Philippines, Bulgaria, and South Africa. This study demonstrates the usefulness of the copulas model in terms of examining contagion. Our findings shed light on the influence of sound policies and regulations to cope with both positive and negative consequences of the contagion on the capital movement.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.69-81
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• 2021

The aim of this paper is to identify the key determinants in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows by using a balanced data panel for the period from 1995 to 2018. This study covers GCC countries in their entirety. The study uses ten explanatory variables, namely, trade ratio, gross domestic product, external balance, fuel exports, gross savings, international tourism, military expenditure, net foreign assets, services value added, and total natural resources. The authors have tried to find the best fit model from the differences methods considered such as OLS, GLS regression with the help of Hausman test, and country by country regressions as additional analysis. The study revealed a significantly positive association between inflation, trade ratio, gross domestic product, gross savings, and net foreign assets with FDI. On the contrary, international tourism was revealed to have a negative association with FDI. The sample of all GCC countries chosen for this study has not been considered widely by any earlier study. Moreover, this study covered many determinants of FDI that add to the previous literature. It is a significant contribution to the current research body and stresses the originality of this paper.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.277-287
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• 2021

This article systematically reviews the adoption of total quality management (TQM) implementation and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives on firm performance. A total of 233 published documents from 1996 to 2020 in international journals have been collected and listed on the SCOPUS database. It aims to fill the existing literature gap regarding TQM and CSR practices and point out a future research agenda. This study employed a systematic literature review approach to review those manuscripts related to TQM, CSR topics focused on firm performance. Consequently, the results stressed that TQM and CSR are excellent tools and have a similarity to support the firms to attain corporate sustainability; however, TQM practices have given more interest than CSR initiatives. Moreover, the results highlighted that only a few articles are interested in simultaneously combining TQM and CSR initiatives although this idea is rising in recent years. Thus, the statistical findings indicated several research gaps that remain unaddressed. It is worthy of considering TQM and CSR integration; however, other scholars need to identify the critical success factors that could enable TQM practices or barriers to CSR adoption. Particularly spending more attention on the transitional economies context, which is considering a promising future research context.