Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between credit risk and financial performance in non-financial firms. Design/methodology/approach: In order to test the relationship between Altman Z-score model as a credit risk proxy and the Return on Asset and Equity as indicator for financial performance with control variables leverage, liquidity and firm size. Least Square Dummy Variable regression analysis is opted. This research's sample included 69 non-financial companies from the Pakistan Stock Exchange KSE-100 Index between 2012 and 2017. Findings: This study establishes the findings that Altman Z-score, leverage and firm size significantly impact the financial performance of the KSE-100 non-financial firms. However, liquidity is found to be insignificant in this study. Altman Z-score and firm size have shown a positive relationship to the financial performance, whereas leverage is inversely related. Practical implications: This study brings in a new and useful insight into the literature on the relationship between credit risk and financial performance. The results of this study provide investors, businesses and managers related to non-financial firms in the KSE-100 index with significant insight about credit risk's impact on performance. Originality/value: The evidence of the credit risk and financial performance on samples of non-financial firms has not been studied; mainly it has been limited to the banking sector. This study helps in the evaluation of Altman Z-score's performance in the non-financial firms in KSE-100 index as well.

This study investigated the relationship between value relevance and ethical standards as determinants of commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and customer loyalty with the intervening effect of customer satisfaction, corporate reputation, and trust. Multidimensional questionnaires were designed and the structural equation modeling was applied to investigate relationships. Our results provided a general picture of the theoretical process by which the sequential relationship between value relevance, ethical standards, commitment, trust, satisfaction, reputation, and loyalty. The commitment to CSR is positively influencing customer loyalty and customer satisfaction, trust, and corporate reputation also intervened in their relationships. This study is theoretical contributing as identified customer satisfaction, trust, and corporate reputation as intervening factors, while from the practical point of view, customer trust is important because it is considered as justification based on morality . It is, therefore, important that organizations should properly disseminate practical and moral information. This is a novel study in Pakistani context because it is a theoretical contribution in existing literature as well as in organizational CSR practices leading to customer satisfaction, trust, and loyalty.

This study aims to investigate the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on both financial and non-financial performance in the Pakistani banking sector by applying a quantitative research approach to the primary data from 405 branch managers in the Pakistani banking sector. Both financial and non-financial performance indicators are analyzed in relation to CSR practices. The CB-SEM findings of this study reveal a significant and positive correlation between CSR and both financial and non-financial performance. Our results demonstrate that CSR initiatives contribute to improved financial performance, reputation, and innovation within the sector. These findings confirm the importance of prioritizing social responsibility initiatives to enhance overall performance in the banking industry. This study provides valuable insights into the impact of CSR on performance in the context of the Pakistani banking sector. The research contributes to the existing literature by highlighting the positive relationship between CSR and financial/non-financial performance. The findings underscore the relevance of CSR practices for banks in Pakistan and emphasize the potential benefits of incorporating social responsibility initiatives into their operations. This study serves as a foundation for future research, encouraging further exploration of CSR's role in the banking industry and its implications for sustainable business practices.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of ownership structure on dividend payout (DIV) ratio of 100 companies related to non-financial sector listed in Karachi stock exchange for the sample period of 2011–2015. Fixed effects model as a panel data analysis technique indicates that managerial ownership (MO) has shown significant and negative impact on DIV which indicates that as MO rise, they will prefer to retain instead of distribution. Institutional ownership is showing significant and positive behavior with DIV ratio which also showing favorable arguments for dividend distribution. Change in earnings and operating cash flows as control variables are not making variation in DIV. Further, firms having favorable firm’s value and higher firm’s size lead to distribute more dividends with good faith and reputation. Leverage and DIV ratio relationship are an indication of cash flow theory, all earnings must be distributed among shareholders while positive and favorable NPV projects must be availed through debt financing. This study provides supports to shareholders in adjusting their investment strategies because it provides information regarding dividend policies.

Excessive trading phenomenon is contrary to the concept of traditional finance that is based on the rational expectation theorem and efficient market hypothesis. Therefore, this study is aimed at exploring the existence of overconfidence behavior in the stock market. The market-wide panel VAR model is used to investigate the lead–lag relationship between stock returns and turnover. Our results suggest that investors are overconfident in Pakistani stock market because turnover depends directly upon stock returns. The findings have important implications for investors and brokers for developing appropriate trading strategy.

Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the probability of default and examine the relationship between default risk and financial performance, with dynamic panel moderation of firm size.Design/methodology/approach: This study utilizes a total of 1,500 firm-year observations from 2013 to 2018 using dynamic panel data approach of generalized method of moments to test the relationship between default risk and financial performance with the moderation effect of the firm size.Findings: This study establishes the findings that default risk significantly impacts the financial performance. The relationship between distance-to-default (DD) and financial performance is positive, which means the relationship of the independent and dependent variable is inverse. Moreover, this study finds that the firm size is a significant positive moderator between DD and financial performance.Practical implications: This study provides new and useful insight into the literature on the relationship between default risk and financial performance. The results of this study provide investors and businesses related to nonfinancial firms in the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) with significant default risk's impact on performance. This study finds, on average, the default probability in KSE ALL indexed companies is 6.12%.Originality/value: The evidence of the default risk and financial performance on samples of nonfinancial firms has been minimal; mainly, it has been limited to the banking sector. Moreover, the existing studies have only catered the direct effect of only. This study fills that gap and evaluates this relationship in nonfinancial firms. This study also helps in the evaluation of Merton model's performance in the nonfinancial firms.