The study contributes to the existing literature on intellectual capital (IC) performance and profitability by extending evidence from Pakistan. The study examines the impact of IC performance on the profitability of Pakistani financial institutions. It further examines how corporate governance, bank specific, industry specific, and country specific indicators effect Pakistani banks’ profitability. The result reports both the linear and non-linear impact of IC performance on profitability, which affirms an inverted U–shaped relationship. Among the three value added intellectual coefficient (VAIC) components, capital employed efficiency (CEE), and human capital efficiency (HCE) are found to have a significantly positive and structural capital efficiency (SCE) is found to have a significantly negative impact on bank profitability. The study notes a positive impact on profitability of factors like board independence, directors’ compensation, and higher capitalization. It reports a negative impact on profitability of factors like board size, board meetings, credit risk, industry concentration and economic growth. The results also indicate low profitability of banks during the period of government transition. The study provides insights into the important profitability drives and suggests that the impact of investment in IC on profitability is limited to an extent. The findings of this study are likely to be useful for policy makers, management, and academics.

A strong capitalized position of financial institutions is essential to ensure their solvency. Because of their unique nature, banks must always keep an optimum level of capital to ensure smooth banking earnings. Consequently, it is mandatory for all types of banks operating in Pakistan to keep a minimum amount of required capital along with capital adequacy to remain solvent and profitable. Therefore, using three measures of capitalization, i.e., the Capital Ratio (CR), Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR), and Minimum Capital Requirement (MCR), and four measures of profitability, i.e., Return on Avg. Assets (ROAA), Return on Avg. Equity (ROAE), Net Interest Margin (NIMAR), and Profit Margin (NMAR), this study contributes to the existing literature on the relationship between the capitalization and profitability of 29 Pakistani banks over the period of 2007–2018. The results, based on the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) system estimator technique, reported an inverted U-shaped relationship between the two capitalization measures, i.e., CR and CAR, and the four profitability measures, i.e., ROAA, ROAE, NIMAR, and NMAR. This indicates that profitability increases with an increase in capitalization up to a certain level, while beyond that level, a further increase in capitalization decreases profitability. The results also indicate that banks who maintain their MCR have higher profitability than those who do not.

This study examines the role of fintech adoption in enhancing financial inclusion in Qatar, with a particular focus on the mediating influence of access barriers. A structured questionnaire was administered to 220 respondents, of which 200 valid responses were retained for analysis after screening for completeness and outliers. The constructs of fintech adoption (FA), financial inclusion (FI), and access barriers (AB) were measured using validated multi-item scales adapted from prior literature. Measurement reliability and validity were confirmed through Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, and average variance extracted (AVE), alongside confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for construct validity. A structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was employed to test the hypothesized relationships, using maximum likelihood estimation with bootstrap standard errors and confidence intervals. Model fit indices indicated excellent fit (χ² = 48.983, df = 51, p = 0.554; CFI = 1.000; TLI = 1.003; RMSEA = 0.000; SRMR = 0.036). Factor loadings were all significant (p < 0.001), supporting convergent validity. However, the structural paths from FA to FI (β = −0.020, p = 0.827), AB to FI (β = −0.077, p = 0.394), and FA to AB (β = 0.054, p = 0.527) were not significant. The indirect mediation effect of AB was also statistically insignificant (β = −0.004, p = 0.700).

The paper investigates the possibility and spread of creative accounting (CA) related practices in the emerging financial system based on Islamic ideology and economics principles. Analytical methodology has been adopted in order to answer the research questions with a view to improving clarity of concepts. At the doctrinal level, there is little likelihood for practices associated with creative accounting as Islamic finance forbids use of misleading information in business transactions. At the operational level, however, factors like adoption of conventional accounting standards, use of income smoothing practices, and the flexibility in subjective interpretation of scripture based laws (Sharia) open up possibilities for the new financial system to be permeated by creative accounting practices. Islamic finance can be plagued by the pernicious effects of CA practices, therefore, any complacency on the part of advocates of Islamic finance can be misplaced. If practices like creative accounting continue to prevail in Islamic financial system, it will negatively affect the image of Islamic finance as an ethical, just, equitable and fair system. The authors have made a contribution by drawing attention of the research community to the neglected but important issue of creative accounting by critically analysing it and arraying the doctrinal view against the operational view.

Japan’s aging population and declining birth rate presents increasing financial strain on its public pension system. Cultural values such as filial piety (oyakoko) and lifelong employment traditions have historically shaped Japan’s pension system but now present challenges as modernization shifts elder care responsibilities from families to the state. This paper examines how demographic shifts affect social welfare and assesses policy measures to ensure long-term financial stability. Taking a qualitative interpretivist approach, secondary data was collected and analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic framework. Findings highlight low worker contributions, high dependency ratios, and a growing imbalance between inflows and outflows in the pension system. To address these challenges, proposed reforms include investing in stocks, raising the retirement age, and implementing structured savings plans. Lessons from Sweden and Germany suggest that adapting international models to Japan’s unique demographic and cultural context is essential.

Predicting stock returns has been instrumental in our understanding of capital market structure. The validity of models, like the Capital Asset Pricing Model or the Gordon Growth Model, has influenced and contributed to building mathematical representations in predicting required return. Several studies attempted to explore different variables to determine the explanatory power of proxies in predicting stock return. For example, it is reported that dividends can explain up to 25% of the variance in returns. The explanatory power of dividends in the regression analysis showed a significant variation when the analysis follows time-series methodology. This study aims at examining the predicting power in the U.K. equity market by plugging into the regression model some of the variables conventionally measured in the Structural Equation Modeling. The study is quantitative and uses secondary data. The findings of this study suggest that the selected proxies, dividend growth, earnings per share, and beta exhibit weak explanatory power in predicting returns of large U.K. companies.