The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown has taken the world by storm. This study examines its impact on the anxiety level of university students in Malaysia during the peak of the crisis and the pertinent characteristics affecting their anxiety. A cross-sectional online survey, using Zung’s self-rating anxiety questionnaire was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown. Out of the 983 respondents, 20.4%, 6.6%, and 2.8% experienced minimal to moderate, marked to severe, and most extreme levels of anxiety. Female gender (OR = 21.456, 95% CI = 1.061, 1.998, p = 0.020), age below 18 years (OR = 4.147, 95% CI = 1.331, 12.918, p = 0.014), age 19 to 25 (OR = 3.398, 95% CI = 1.431, 8.066, p = 0.006), pre-university level of education (OR = 2.882, 95% CI = 1.212, 6.854, p = 0.017), management studies (OR = 2.278, 95% CI = 1.526, 3.399, p < 0.001), and staying alone (OR = 2.208, 95% CI = 1.127, 4.325, p = 0.021) were significantly associated with higher levels of anxiety. The main stressors include financial constraints, remote online teaching and uncertainty about the future with regard to academics and career. Stressors are predominantly financial constraints, remote online learning, and uncertainty related to their academic performance, and future career prospects.

This study seeks to meticulously analyze the scholarly discussion on the integration of blockchain technology into accounting and auditing. Based on a total of 67 articles from the Web of Science (WoS) database, this study adopts a bibliometrics and content analysis approach which uses both numerical and visualization techniques to examine the extant literature. It spans the timeframe between 2016 and 2022. Bibliometrix R-package (Biblioshiny, version 4 is employed to analyze the descriptive analysis, which includes publication trends, the most trustworthy sources of scientific publications, prominent scientific authors, prominent documents, and country collaborations. VOSviewer software Version 1.6.20, is used for a network visualization of keywords and bibliographic coupling. Leveraging the content analysis, this research reveals three fundamental themes: first, the use of blockchain technology to strengthen financial reporting systems; second, blockchain technology and the future of auditing; and third, the valuation of cryptocurrencies. Research gaps in the current literature include a lack of comprehensive studies on blockchain’s regulatory and governance aspects in accounting, insufficient exploration of risks and challenges in adopting new technologies in auditing, and a limited understanding of tax consequences, disclosure requirements, and regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrencies, necessitating future research endeavors. Thus, this study extends existing theoretical insights by exploring blockchain’s role in financial reporting, its transformative impact on auditing, and the possible adaptation or development of new valuation methods for cryptocurrencies. It further identifies and discusses future research directions, contributing to potential novel frameworks for addressing regulatory, governance, and socio-economic dimensions of blockchain integration into accounting and auditing practices.

This study undertakes a bibliometric and content analysis on women's financial literacy. The purpose of a bibliometric research on financial literacy and women is to carefully evaluate and quantify the body of literature on this subject. It attempts to identify trends, research gaps, significant authors, and essential ideas, offering a thorough overview that might direct future research and policy activities to increase women's financial literacy and well-being. The data extraction commenced in January 2023 with a thorough criteria search for articles, which includes inclusion and exclusion criteria using Web of Science Core database, resulting in 312 articles, published between 1998 and 2022. Biblioshiny application as well as the VOSviewer software for network visualization of keywords and bibliographic coupling is used. Based on the outcomes of the scientific bibliographic coupling, dominant themes were identified – “Global Financial Literacy: Addressing Disparities and Enhancing Education”, “Addressing gender gap in financial inclusion and personal finance behaviour”, “Empowerment through Financial Literacy: Overcoming the Manacles of Domestic Violence” and “Women's retirement planning and preparedness”. Future research in this area could examine global gender differences in financial literacy, implement targeted financial education interventions, incorporate financial literacy and economic empowerment into domestic violence policies, investigate factors influencing women's retirement planning, and advance gender equality and financial well-being globally. The outcome from the future research is anticipated to assist regulatory bodies, government agencies and non-profit organization in enhancing existing regulations (specifically for women) and provide the platform for a sustainable wealth management and well-being program for women.

This study examines the relationship between COVID-19, government response measures, and stock market volatilities for 11 developed and developing economies within the Asia-Pacific region. Our period of study is between 15 February–30 May 2020. Using the continuous wavelet transformation (CWT) analysis and plots and GJR-GARCH analysis, we examined the effects of the COVID-19 public health crisis and the corresponding government measures on the respective domestic equity markets volatilities. The CWT plots showed a varying level of market volatilities at different investment horizons. All the sample countries, except Japan, experienced very low or low volatility over the short-term horizons. In contrast, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Laos experienced medium volatility over the medium-term horizons. Finally, China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines experienced high volatility over the long-term horizons. The GJR-GARCH results further ascertain that market volatilities are affected by domestic events, notably, the COVID-19 government intervention measures. In most sample countries, the government measures significantly reduce market volatility in the domestic equity markets. Additionally, international events have also triggered market volatilities. Overall, our study offers several contributions and implications for practitioners and policymakers.

This study gains insights into what drives the ASEAN-5 equity markets. Using several wavelet approaches, we examine the correlation between the ASEAN-5 equity markets with the daily new Covid-19 cases and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DowJones), the lead-lag relationships and level of disorder (or randomness) between the ASEAN-5 domestic equity markets and DowJones between February 15 to May 30, 2019 (pre-period) and February 15 to May 30, 2020 (during the pandemic period) respectively. The pandemic period is further divided into three different phases; the beginning (February), mid (March and April), and end (May) of the period. This study finds that Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore equity markets react to Covid-19 cases at the beginning of the pandemic phase, whereas, Thailand and the Philippines showed coherency during the mid-period. As the pandemic progresses (mid-period), all ASEAN-5 equity markets exhibited strong coherence with the DowJones Index. However, at the end of the sample period, no coherency was observed among the ASEAN-5 equity markets, local Covid-19 cases, and DowJones index. This study has two main contributions to the literature: First, we provide insights on equity markets’ reactions during an epidemic/pandemic crisis in the emerging markets, specifically, the ASEAN-5 countries, which is a less studied area. Second, examining the impact of the Covid-19 and DowJones Index on the ASEAN-5 equity markets using the wavelet method is a novel approach that captures both the time and frequency dimensions. The results of this study have a significant contribution to investors and regulators, particularly in navigating the new 'normal' and data-driven era.