This paper is interested in examining the impact of corporate social responsibility and governance on corporate financial performance. We selected a panel of 141 worldwide hospitality and tourism firms spanning the period 2012–2018 to assess the effects (direct and indirect) of corporate social responsibility and governance on corporate financial performance (measured in terms of return on assets, return on equity and Tobin’s Q). Although a few studies examine the moderating effect of certain factors, our study fills this gap by examining the moderating effect of governance practices (governance structure and institutional quality) on the nonlinear relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance. The results of the system generalized method of moments suggest the existence of a nonlinear, U-shaped relationship between corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance (return on equity and Tobin’s Q). This nonlinearity is confirmed for corporate social responsibility and corporate financial performance (measured by return on assets). However, this relationship is inverted-U-shaped. Furthermore, our results also show that lagged corporate social responsibility, governance practices, firm-specific variables and macroeconomic variables affect current corporate financial performance. The predictions of stakeholders and agency theories are validated. Given our results, it is recommended that policy makers trade off the benefits and costs of corporate social responsibility and take appropriate financial strategies, thus enabling value creation for their companies.

Artificial-intelligence-integrated 'buy now, pay later' (BNPL) platforms are diffusing rapidly across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), raising concerns about consumer financial vulnerability. Drawing on choice-architecture, payment-decoupling, and financial-literacy literatures, this study examines how three platform-level features — algorithmic nudging, AI personalization intensity, and perceived ease of credit — are associated with impulsive buying tendency and downstream financial outcomes, and whether BNPL-specific financial literacy attenuates these associations. A multi-method design combined cross-sectional partial-least-squares structural-equation modeling (N = 1,247 active BNPL users in seven MENA countries) with a six-month longitudinal follow-up (N = 847, 68% retention). Algorithmic nudging was positively associated with impulsive buying tendency, which in turn was associated with elevated financial stress and longitudinal debt accumulation. AI personalization was positively associated with platform loyalty but co-varied with indirect indicators of financial risk — a pattern we describe as a loyalty trap and empirically document via piecewise longitudinal trajectories. BNPL-specific financial literacy moderated the associations between algorithmic nudging, impulsive buying, and adverse financial outcomes, with the highest-literacy quartile exhibiting substantially attenuated debt trajectories. We discuss boundary conditions, alternative explanations, and the limits of causal inference in non-experimental panel data. Findings inform evolving BNPL regulatory frameworks in MENA, with particular relevance to nudge-transparency disclosures, contractual cooling-off periods, and credit-bureau reporting standards.

Artificial intelligence-integrated ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) platforms are diffusing rapidly across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), raising concerns about consumer financial vulnerability. Drawing on choice architecture, payment decoupling, and financial literacy literatures, this study examines how three platform-level features—algorithmic nudging, AI personalization intensity, and perceived ease of credit—are associated with impulsive buying tendency and downstream financial outcomes, and whether BNPL-specific financial literacy attenuates these associations. A multi-method design combined cross-sectional partial least squares structural equation modeling (N = 1247 active BNPL users in seven MENA countries) with a six-month longitudinal follow-up (N = 847, 68% retention). Algorithmic nudging was positively associated with impulsive buying tendency, which in turn was associated with elevated financial stress and longitudinal debt accumulation. The ‘loyalty trap’—a paradoxical state in which financially stressed consumers maintain high platform loyalty—is provisionally documented via piecewise longitudinal trajectories. We emphasize that this pattern is consistent with but not causally established by the present design, and we outline specific experimental and quasi-experimental research designs needed for causal identification. BNPL-specific financial literacy moderated the associations between algorithmic nudging, impulsive buying, and adverse financial outcomes, with the highest-literacy quartile exhibiting substantially attenuated debt trajectories. We discuss boundary conditions, alternative explanations, and the limits of causal inference in non-experimental panel data. Findings inform evolving BNPL regulatory frameworks in MENA, with particular relevance to nudge-transparency disclosures, contractual cooling-off periods, and credit-bureau reporting standards.

The aim of the paper is to investigate the effect of Shariah governance mechanisms on the efficiency of Islamic banks in a sample of 56 Islamic banks in the GCC region over the period 2008-2020. The main results indicate that Shariah governance can improve the technical and scale efficiency of Islamic banks. The study shows that the introduction of new rules and regulations by policymakers can improve the efficiency of Islamic banks. This will be achieved by giving special emphasis to Islamic governance. our results provide policy makers, bank managers and investors with important insights into the determinants of the technical efficiency of Islamic banks. Policymakers may consider introducing new rules and regulations to improve the efficiency of Islamic banks by paying more attention to sharia governance. In addition, bank managers should consider improving the operations of Islamic banks to increase their market share. Furthermore, investors and customers can easily decide to invest in Islamic banks by referring to their efficiency scores.