This study examined the efficacy of the Put–Call Ratio (PCR), a widely used information ratio measured in terms of volume and open interest, in predicting market return at different time scale. Volume PCR was found to be an efficient predictor of the market return in a short period of 2.5 days and open interest PCR in a long period of 12 days. Thus, traders and portfolio managers should use the appropriate PCR depending upon the time horizon of their trade and investment. The results are robust even after controlling for the information generated from the futures market.

The paper examines the impact of a firm’s financial leverage on its investment decisions in the period 2011–2019, which occurred between two financial crises (2008–2010 and 2020–2022) and was globally marked by low interest rates and high leverage. The study focuses on non-financial listed firms in world’s top 13 largest economies consisting of 11 OECD+ countries and two emerging nations. The analysis explores the relationship between firm leverage and investment decisions, considering the growth opportunities and corporate risks of the firms, as well as the type of economy they operate in. The findings indicate that, overall, there is a negative relationship between leverage and investment. In developed nations, such as the OECD+ countries, this negative effect is more pronounced for firms with limited growth opportunities. Contrary to the existing literature, emerging economies exhibit a positive relationship between firm leverage and investment. Specifically, in China and India, firms with low growth opportunities display a stronger positive correlation between leverage and investment. These results suggest that in developed countries, debt continues to have a disciplining effect on firm investment, even in a high liquidity environment. However, in high-growth emerging economies, both firm management and lending institutions show less concern regarding leverage. Lastly, the study finds that firm risk has an adverse impact on investment decisions. These empirical findings highlight the non-uniform nature of the relationship between firm leverage and investment, which depends on the type of economy and the growth opportunities of the firms. AcknowledgmentsThe infrastructural support provided by Management Development Institute, Murshidabad, India and FORE School of Management, New Delhi, India in completing this paper is gratefully acknowledged.

The present study attempts to track the transmission of volatility across 11 international stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region over a period of 20 years, which includes both crisis (i.e., contagion form) and non-crisis periods. It also investigates whether the global transmission of volatility follows a pattern. The study contributes to the literature in two ways: (a) it provides a historical map of volatility transmission in the Asia-Pacific region and (b) it identifies the path and pattern of volatility spillover across stock markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

The investor community has emphasized the role of firms’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices in the last few years. The present study is motivated by existing studies that have not provided conclusive evidence on the relationship between a firm’s ESG practices and financial performance and whether a country’s economic development status influences this relationship. This study used data from 1917 non-financial firms across the top 13 countries over 10 years to investigate. The results conclusively indicate that the ESG score, by and large, positively impacts firms’ financial performance. The further examination of the results shows that while the impact is positive in the context of developed countries, in the case of firms from emerging economies such as China and India, the ESG score does not impact their financial performance, indicating that for emerging economies, growth takes precedence over ESG concerns. Overall, this study concludes that a country’s economic development status does influence the relationship between a firm’s ESG practices and financial performance.

The journal retracts the article titled, “Impact of Environmental, Social, and Governance Parameters on Financial Performance of Firms: A Cross-Country Analysis” (Banerjee et al

In finance literature, volatility is synonymous with the measure of risk. Spillover of volatility refers to the transmission of disturbances or shock from one m