Digital inclusive finance (DIF) plays an active role in preventing poverty-stricken groups from returning to poverty and reducing poverty. This paper empirically tests the impact of DIF on rural poverty alleviation using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2020 as a sample. It employs multiple linear regression, mediation effect models, and threshold effect models. The results show that: (1) DIF and its three sub-indicators (coverage breadth, depth of use, and digitalization degree) have significant poverty reduction effects, and the findings hold even when endogeneity is taken into account; (2) a study of regional heterogeneity found that DIF and its sub-indices, coverage and depth of use in the eastern region, have the greatest effect on the poverty alleviation of rural residents, and the effects in the central and western regions have the least effect; (3) the mediation effect test found that DIF could indirectly promote poverty alleviation in rural areas by promoting regional economic growth and narrowing the urban-rural income gap. The Sobel test shows that the mediating effect of regional economic growth is greater than the mediating effect of the urban-rural income gap; (4) it is found through the threshold effect test that regional economic growth has a double threshold effect on rural poverty alleviation, and as the threshold value continues to increase, the poverty reduction effect increases in turn. Therefore, this paper puts forward policy suggestions for the aspects of accelerating the development of DIF in rural areas, implementing regionally differentiated poverty reduction strategies according to local conditions, promoting regional economic growth, and narrowing the urban-rural income gap.

Purpose: The global financial crisis of 2008 still has an impact on the financial systems around the world, for which funding liquidity has been mentioned as one of the main concerns during that period. This study aims to consider the impact of and extent to which the funding structure of Islamic banks along with deposit structure, macroeconomic variables, other bank-specific variables, including alternative funding mix variables (in terms of funding structure measured as financing/deposit ratio), could play a part in explaining the financial conditions and predicting the failures and performances of Islamic banks in the case of Malaysia under the distress created by the global financial crisis. Design/methodology/approach: Multivariate logit model was used with a sample including 17 full-fledged Islamic banks in Malaysia for the period from December 2005 to September 2010 by using quarterly data. Findings: This study found that the funding mix variable (financing/deposit ratio), the composition of deposits, alternative bank-specific variables and alternative funding mix variables are statistically significant. In contrast, none of the macroeconomic variables is found to have a significant impact on bank liquidity. In the final models, the variables that showed significant performance were selected as explanatory variables. The results of McFadden R-squared for both selected models showed an excellent fit to predict the Islamic banks’ performance. Originality/value: This empirical study contributes to the literature in two ways: to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the role of the funding structures of Islamic banks in determining their performance; and it also examines the effect of deposit composition (the mudharabah and non-mudharabah deposits) on Islamic banks’ performance.

Corporate managers are the central figures of corporate activity who can control the strategic direction of companies. The company’s use of financial derivatives can avoid risks and has an important impact on the value of the company. This study examines A-share listed firms in Shanghai over the period 2011–2020, uses an OLS panel and a moderating effects model, and investigates the impact of financial derivatives on firm value from the perspective of managers’ characteristics. We find that financial derivatives can significantly increase the enterprise value of Chinese listed companies, while exchange rate derivatives have a stronger impact on enterprise value. We also find that the higher the proportion of managers who hold shares and have a financial background, the better the effect of firms using financial derivatives. These research results are of great significance to the application of financial derivatives and provide companies with risk management decisions after COVID-19.

The objectives of this research were, first, to examine how an Islamic hedging instrument can be used as a risk management tool, second, to identify the factors that influence the demand for Islamic hedging, and third, to examine the challenges faced by an Islamic financial institution in promoting the use of Islamic hedging instruments. This research is an exploratory study and involves a qualitative research methodology using case study analysis. Data were gathered using published literature and information from official websites as well as interviews with industry practitioners on Islamic hedging instruments from Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad and CIMB Islamic Berhad. The two banks are selected because they are among the major players in the Islamic hedging market in Malaysia. This study reveals that the Islamic hedging instruments offered to corporate clients by the two Islamic banks under study are Islamic Forex, cross-currency and profit rate swaps, and commodity hedging instruments. This study also suggests that price, documentation, bank reputation, awareness, and ownership are factors that influence the demand for Islamic hedging products. Islamic Shariah-compliant hedging instruments are meant to appeal more to clients who are looking for Shariah-compliant hedging instruments to hedge their risk exposure and less to investors who are looking for speculative ventures to gain large returns much like investing in hedge funds. Its use is still limited and it appears that it is more a question of marketing and branding, as Islamic hedging is still unknown even though the needs for it could easily be established to many corporate clients.