We investigate the empirical nexus between financial inclusion and economic growth for an extended sample of 21 Asian countries spanning over a period from 2004 to 2019. Further, we also conducted a sub-sample analysis by dividing the overall samples into developed and developing countries. Our results reveal a significant positive long-term impact of financial inclusion on economic growth in Asia. Our pair-wise causality test shows bidirectional causality between financial inclusion and economic development. Our robust results are consistent across various estimation techniques. Our findings suggest that the influence of financial inclusion on economic growth is more pronounced in developing countries compared to developed countries. Our results hold across subsamples. These findings posit important policy insights to enable the policy-makers in designing policies that ensure efficient and inclusive financial system on an equitable basis to achieve sustainable economic growth. JEL classification: O16; O57; C38; C33

We aim to investigate the empirical nexus between carbon emissions and financial inclusion for a panel of 74 countries from 2004 to 2020 based on the environment kuznets curve (EKC). Using the advanced panel data analysis framework of Driscoll-Kraay, Generalised linear model, and Prais-Winsten test for the entire sample and heterogeneous subsamples, we document an inverted U-shape relationship between carbon emissions and inclusive financial system. Notably, an inverted U-shape relationship is established in developed, emerging and frontier economies except in standalone economies. Furthermore, the analysis of region-wise subsamples reveals that nonlinear relationship varies across regions. The heterogeneous response of financial inclusion in curtailing environmental degradation provides vital policy insights. It suggests that financial inclusion can be used as a mitigation measure based on well-structured and robust regulatory and legal frameworks. These frameworks would create synergy effects of financial inclusion in designing policies and addressing issues related to sustainable development and climate change.

The study examined the nexus between the COVID-19 pandemic and the market volatility of the global markets. For this purpose, a 30-country sample was used based on the most COVID-19 cases and deaths during the study period, from January 1 to December 12, 2020. We employed panel quantile regression and Panel Estimated Generalized Least Square (Panel-EGLS) frameworks to analyze the influence of COVID-19 on volatility in the whole sample and subsamples of emerging and developed markets. Our results of Panel-EGLS showed that the new cases and deaths positively impact volatility in the naïve and control models. The results from quantile regression also illustrated that new deaths and cases have positively influenced market volatility at the 50th and 75th quantiles. From the subsamples, our results demonstrate almost similar signs and significance for the impact of COVID-19 on market volatility in developed and emerging markets in both the naïve and control models. Both the results illustrate that any increase in COVID-19 positively caused volatility in the whole and subsamples at the mean and upper quantile levels. Our results necessitate coordinated global government actions to stabilize markets, mitigate volatility's impact by proactive policies in future health crises, and underscore a monetary policy for stability.

This article empirically examines the relationship between corporate governance and firm financial performance, and the interplay of political connections of 150 non-financial listed Pakistani firms ranging from 2001 to 2014. Generally, and consistent with the prior researchers, we reported that corporate governance is an essential predictor of firm financial performance in Pakistan. Moreover, the results indicate that political connections substitute non-executive directors (NXD), executive directors (EXD) and board meetings (BM) in terms of firm performance measure return on asset (ROA), whereas NXD and EXD complement in terms of Tobin’s Q. We also found some variations in these effects, when moving from large to small size sampled firms and dictator to democratic regimes. Theoretically, our results support the Agency, Resource Dependency and Stewardship theories.