Even though a great number of researchers have explored the determinants of environmental pollution, the majority have used carbon emissions as an indicator while only recent studies have employed the ecological footprint which is a broader and more reliable indicator for the environment. The present study contributes to the literature by exploring for the first time in the literature the role of real output, energy intensity (technology), and renewable energy in the ecological footprint under the STIRPAT framework for a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country—the United Arab Emirates. By applying the novel bounds testing with dynamic simulations on the data from 1992–2017, the findings of this paper reveal that energy intensity and renewable energy have a negative and significant influence on the ecological footprint but real output has a positive and significant impact on it. In other words, the empirical results indicate that a rise in the real income increases environmental pollution while increases in renewable energy and advances in technology mitigate the level of emissions. The findings also suggest that the government should establish new programs, investment opportunities, and incentives in favor of energy intensity-related technology and renewable energy for the sake of environmental sustainability. The outcomes from this research analysis are useful for policymakers, industrial partners, and project designers in the United Arab Emirates.

Purpose: This paper has analysed the impact of cultural dimensions, investor sentiment and uncertainty on bank stock returns. Also, the study examined the influences of the interaction between cultural dimensions and individual (private) sentiment (investor sentiment).Design/methodology/approach: To meet the study's objectives, a two-step generalised method of moments estimator was applied to the study sample, which included 105 banks in the nine Middle East and North African region countries between 2010 and 2020.Findings: The cultural dimensions of individualism and masculinity were found to have a positive and significant effect on banks' buy and hold stock return (BUH). At the same time, power distance and uncertainty avoidance were discovered to have negative effects. Besides, the findings revealed that the interactions of power distance, individual sentiment and uncertainty avoidance had positive and significant relationships with banks' BUH. However, individualism, individual sentiment and masculinity had inverse relationships with banks' BUH. Furthermore, the findings revealed that investor sentiment positively influenced banks' BUH. Finally, uncertainty influenced banks' BUH stock returns positively.Research limitations/implications: Important implications for participants in the financial sector and governments may be learnt from this study's conclusions. Due to cultural biases, this study's findings suggested that investors overreact in the stock market.Originality/value: Additionally, this research comprises one of the few studies that have overviewed the link between classical and behavioural finance in MENA countries with distinctive cultural characteristics.

Purpose: This study examines the impact of climate change vulnerability, fintech and investor sentiment on bank performance in the MENA region. Design/methodology/approach: The two-step Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator was employed to investigate 166 listed banks in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, covering the last decade. Findings: The study revealed mixed findings about climate change vulnerability. The study identified that factors such as capacity, habitat, infrastructure, sensitivity and vulnerability had a beneficial impact on the banks' buy and hold stock returns in the MENA area. Nevertheless, it was demonstrated that exposure, ecosystems, food, health, and vulnerability had an inverse impact on these returns. Remarkably, the fintech index negatively affects the long-term stock performance of banks in the MENA region. Research limitations/implications: Policymakers should focus on enhancing infrastructure and boosting banks’ capacity to manage and adapt to climate-related risks. Originality/value: The novelty of this study is that it explored the impacts of climate change vulnerability, fintech and investor sentiment on banks’ buy-and-hold stock returns in the MENA region. Notably, this research employs a unique model that has not been previously examined.

This paper examined the impacts of; investor sentiment, governance, and uncertainty on bank stock returns in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region countries. The sample consisted of 173 conventional and Islamic banks based in the MENA region and 68 conventional and Islamic banks based in the GCC region from 2010–2020. Also, this study employed the Two-step system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimator. The selection of this estimator prevented endogeneity issues related to the variables used in this study. This research found that individual sentiment and uncertainty negatively affected bank stock returns while governance positively influenced bank stock returns. The regression coefficients from the interaction of the governance indicators and conventional banks variable showed a positive and significant effect on bank stock returns in the MENA region, except for the interaction of the rule of law and voice and accountability in conventional banks, showing a negative effect. The GCC countries showed similar results. However, the outcomes were insignificant. Regarding the control variables, the loan ratio and inflation were negative, and bank size and the GDP showed positive and significant effects on bank stock returns throughout all models, excluding the loan ratio and bank size in the GCC region. Overall, the banking sectors of the MENA region countries were sensitive to; investor sentiment, uncertainty, and country-level governance indicators.

The research examines the influence of fintech, broad money and population growth on bank stability (Z-score). We examined the unique interaction of fintech, broad money and population growth to assess the relevance and direction of their association with bank stability. The study sample comprises seven ASEAN nations covering 2010–2022. We employed quantile regression models to identify the significance and directions of exogenous variables on the endogenous variable. Also, for robustness, we used the fixed effect method. Fintech has a significant indirect impact on financial stability at almost all levels of quantiles. Broad money growth constantly demonstrates a significant negative influence on financial stability throughout most of the quantiles. Population growth exhibits a significant positive impact on financial stability at lower quantiles; however, it turns negative at higher quantiles. Finally, the interaction of fintech, broad money growth and population growth is positive and significant across all quantiles. The study highlights the essential need to regulate broad money expansion, manage fintech adoption and synchronise population growth to mitigate the possible risks of beyond appropriate thresholds in ASEAN’s financial institutions and ensure financial stability. Ensuring structural resilience and promoting sustainable development requires a systematic and precisely calibrated approach. This study offers a new examination of the intricate relationship of fintech adoption, overall money growth and demographic factors in influencing bank stability. Examining their collective impacts provides sophisticated insights into the structural factors affecting financial stability in developing ASEAN economies.