The objective of the study is to investigate the impact of female representation on boards and female CEOs on firms’ sustainable performance in the context of an emerging economy. We also introduce the CEO duality as a moderator variable between sustainable firm performance and board gender diversity. For this purpose, the study uses a panel data sample from 2005 to 2020 for non-financial listed firms in Pakistan. We use the firm’s operational self-sufficiency for the sustainable performance of firms. For robustness, the study also uses other accounting-based and market-based proxies. We apply the static (fixed and random effect) and dynamic panel estimation (GMM) techniques to deal with the heterogeneity and dynamic endogeneity issues in panel data estimation. The finding shows a significant positive impact of female directors on board and female CEOs on sustainable performance, whereas CEO duality does not moderate this relationship. Furthermore, we find that CEO duality has a significant negative impact on firms’ sustainable performance, which supports the agency theory hypothesis. The study also controls corporate board level factors, including board size and board independence, and uses leverage, firm size, capital expenditure, and tangible assets as firm-level control. The results also reveal that board size and board independence have a significant positive impact on firms’ sustainable performance. Furthermore, firm size, tangibility, and firm age have a significant positive, whereas leverage and capital expenditure have a negative impact on firms’ sustainable performance. Finally, the study has policy implications for stakeholders.

Purpose: A company’s dividend policy is determined not just by its strategy but also by the qualities of its managers, particularly overconfidence. As a result, the purpose of this study is to explore the impact of CEO overconfidence on dividend policy using the dividend payout ratio and dividend yield ratio.Design/methodology/approach: The study’s sample includes 170 non-financial enterprises listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange between 2011 and 2022. Furthermore, we used corporate governance and firm-specific factors as control variables. The fixed effect model based on the Hausman test result and dynamic system GMM estimation technique was employed in the analysis. Furthermore, the dividend dummy variable and alternative proxies of dividend payments are used to ensure the results are robust.Findings: The findings indicate that CEOs’ overconfidence positively impacts dividend payout and dividend yield ratios. Further analysis reveals that board size and remuneration committee significantly impact dividend payment among corporate governance control variables, while block holding has a negative effect. Among firm-specific control variables, the results suggest that firm size, profitability, and market-to-book ratio are significantly positively associated. In contrast, the coefficient of variation and debt ratio are inversely associated with dividend payments.Practical implications: Managerial overconfidence benefits shareholders by increasing dividend payouts, but firms may struggle in the long run if they do not have adequate retained earnings to meet capital requirements. Dividends and retained earnings must be balanced to make enough funds available for long-term investment in capital-intensive projects.Originality/value: Although little previous research has focused on the managerial overconfidence-dividend policy relationship, the authors believe this is the first study to test this relationship generally in emerging markets, particularly Pakistan.

Purpose: Young people are considered more prone to mental health problems, especially those living in lower-middle-income countries. Timely access to financial resources has always been argued as a vital factor in improving the well-being of individuals. The purpose of this research is to empirically investigate a nexus between financial resilience, mental health and well-being of the young. Design/methodology/approach: After obtaining approval from the ethics review board, data for this research were collected from young Pakistanis aged between 17 and 29 years. Findings: Findings show that mental well-being alone does not mediate the association between financial resilience and life satisfaction. Instead, both mental well-being and financial well-being serially mediate the association between financial resilience and life satisfaction. Practical implications: In the context of Pakistan, where more than 60% of the population is aged below 30 years, these findings imply that access to bank accounts, credit opportunities and insurance needs to be increased for the young. Awareness related to financial products and services should also be enhanced along with increasing the social capital of the young. All these factors will strengthen the financial resilience of youth and relax their mind toward their financial worries. Social implications: The findings of this study imply that societies with limited resources can improve the life satisfaction of youth by initiating affordable healthcare initiatives to look after mental health problems, raising financial well-being levels and using financial resilience as a critical buffer against financial stress. Originality/value: This research is in line with the third sustainable development goal by the United Nations, which argues for ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being of individuals. Unlike other studies, this research is the first to find that youth’s financial resilience, mental health and financial well-being are all significant factors in achieving their life satisfaction.

Firm-specific considerations impact decisions about capital structure. A few investigations have been done in Pakistan's oil and gas sector. Most studies have examined the effect on non-financial firms and the textile industry. As this sector is very attractive for investors, The influences on capital structure decisions must be considered. In this study, only firm-specific factors are considered for analysis. The effect of asset structure, financial distress (earning volatility), non-debt tax shield, liquidity, firm size, profitability, and firm growth on capital structure decisions are examined. For this, data ranging from 2007 – 2021 of the firms working in Oil and Gas sector of Pakistan was used. The pool regression approach was applied. As per the results, tangibility and liquidity have an inverse relationship; non-debt tax shields and firm size directly affect profitability, and growth does not impact the capital structure.

Purpose: The relationship between idiosyncratic risk and stock return has been debated for decades; this study reexamined this relationship in the Pakistani stock market by using the quantile regression approach along with the prospect theory. Design/methodology/approach: The present study is quantitative, and secondary data obtained from an emerging market are used. The quantile regression method allows the estimates of idiosyncratic risk to vary across the entire distribution of stock returns, i.e. the dependent variable. In this study, the standard deviation of regression residuals from the Fama and French three-factor model was used to measure idiosyncratic risk. Convenience sampling is employed; the sample consists of 82 firms listed on the KSE-100 index, with 820 annual observations for the ten years from 2011 to 2020. After computing results by using quantile regression, the study's findings, ordinary least squares (OLS) and least sum of absolute deviation (LAD) regression techniques are also compared. Findings: The quantile regression estimation results indicate that idiosyncratic risk is positively correlated with stock returns and that this relationship is contingent on whether prices are rising or falling. Consistent with the prospect theory, the finding suggests that stock investors tend to avoid risk when they anticipate a loss but are more willing to take risks when they anticipate a profit. The results of the OLS and LAD regressions indicate that the method typically employed in previous studies does not adequately describe the relationship between idiosyncratic risk and stock return at extreme points or across the entire distribution of stock return. Originality/value: These empirical findings shed new light on the relationship between idiosyncratic risk and stock return in Pakistani stock market literature.