This research inquiry analyzed the association between corporate governance and firm performance through the mediating role of financial leverage based on panel data of 2568 firms during the period from 2002 to 2017. The study uses a two-step dynamic panel as well as a generalized method of moments (GMM) to estimate these relationships. The findings demonstrated financial leverage mediates the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance in the context of developed economies, and also in emerging economies. Additionally, firm performance is negatively associated with corporate governance through excessive leverage. The study suggests it is the responsibility of the board to use low financial leverage to enhance firm performance. In emerging countries, firms with a large-sized board use low leverage, whereas in developed countries, firms with a small-sized board use low leverage to enhance corporate performance.

Purpose: Economic risk plays a vital role in firm's cash holdings. We aim to determine the impact of economic risk on the firm's cash holdings.Design/methodology/approach: The data is collected from the DataStream from 2002 to 2018, which covers 552 listed firms in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. We apply a two-step dynamic panel estimation to analyze the results.Findings: We use the variance of inflation and variance of interest rate as proxies of economic risk. Our results show that variance of inflation has a significant and negative effect while the variance of interest rate has a significant and positive effect on firms' cash holdings in selected countries. Furthermore, we find economic risk negatively affects the firm's cash holdings in the country-wise analysis. Firms should maintain a reasonable amount of cash reserves to handle uncertain situations.Originality/value: This study may provide insights to financial decision-makers of a firm for better cash management according the economic conditions of the country.

Purpose: This study investigates the key factors associated with financial literacy and examines the effect of financial literacy on investment decisions in Pakistan. Design/Methodology/Approach: The 504 samples were collected via a self-administered questionnaire. The study adopts both OLS and logistic regression techniques to analyze the data. Findings: The findings show that the significant factors which increase financial literacy are father education, father income and marital status. However, guardian occupation decreases financial literacy level. Additionally, the results show that financial literacy can enhance investment decisions. Originality/Value: This study is important to policymakers who can consider these statistically significant factors in efforts to enhance financial literacy as well as investment decisions in Pakistan.

Purpose: This study examines the link between corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, and firm performance with a specific focus of non-financial firms of developed and emerging countries. Design/Methodology/approach: A quantitative approach is used for this study. 2667 non-financial firms are taken as sample from developed and emerging countries. The targeted period for the study is 2005-2021. For the variable; Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) data is collected from Refinitiv database and the remaining variables are collected from DataStream. GMM is used to investigate the link among variables by applying STATA-14. Practical Implication: This study also analyze the mediating role of CSR between corporate governance and the performance of the firm. With the help of defined relationship owners, directors, and policymakers may re-think their strategies. Originality/value: CSR is a real value in this research that how it works between the corporate governance and the firm performance. Furthermore, this research investigates the link in-depth among developed and developing countries.

This study explores the mediating relationship between corporate governance and firm performance. We evaluate the relationship of corporate innovation as a mediator between corporate governance and firm performance for a panel sample of 2688 firms emerging and developed during the period starting from 2002 to 2017. We found that for the full sample, corporate innovation is not mediating between corporate governance and firm performance but in emerging countries defined relationship exists. Akram (2017) proposed a theoretical model for mediating the role of innovation between corporate governance and firm performance. So, we empirically test the mediating model of innovation in our study. This study contributes to the literature by showing defined relationships in emerging countries. This study can be helpful for policymakers, and management to identify the influencing power of innovation in firm value. This study is useful for foreign and local investors to evaluate innovation activities. KEYWORDS: Corporate Innovation, Corporate Governance, Firm Performance, Two-Step System Dynamic Panel Estimation