Raising Perceptions on Corporate Social Responsibility for Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 is the United Nations development agenda for developing the economy, society, and environment. Moreover, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is an emerging topic in the business world. The paper aims to pursue business students’ knowledge and perception of CSR activities linked to SDGs. The quantitative research design and descriptive research analysis were used. The data were collected from business learning students of three public universities in Bangladesh. CSR’s perception-related items positively correlated with Spearman’s Rho’s formula. The descriptive statistics revealed perceptions of CSR activities among respondents, which are directly and indirectly related to SDGs. In addition, the two-tailed Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis H test showed a variation of perceptions among groups. The findings of this study showed respondents had an acceptable knowledge level on CSR activities. There was a positive perception of respondents on economic and social dimensions of SDGs and mainly included in philanthropic and economic fields of CSR. Besides, their consciousness of the environmental dimension related to ethical and legal activities of CSR concepts was comparatively low. Finally, favourable knowledge and perception of business studying students in CSR activities are imperative for the successful implementation of SDGs.

Reviewer Acknowledgements for Business and Economic Research, Vol. 11, No. 4

Business and Economic Research (BER) would like to thank the following reviewers for reviewing manuscripts from September 1, 2021, to December 1, 2021. Their comments and suggestions were of great help to the authors in improving the quality of their papers. Many authors, regardless of whether BER publishes their work, appreciate the helpful feedback provided by the reviewers. Macrothink Publishing appreciates the following reviewers’ rigorous and conscientious efforts for this journal. Each of the reviewers listed below returned at least one review during this period. Almir A. AlihodžićAzzam HannoonBratu (Simionescu) MihaelaGerasimos T. SoldatosHengky Sumisto HalimHui Shan LeeMohsen MohagheghNana Osei-BonsuNemer BadwanRoderikus Agus TrihatmokoRomeo Victor IonescuRoni BhowmikShyamkumar D. KalpandeYu HsingZi-Yi GuoZoran Wittine

Covid-19 Pandemic: Financial Impact and Intention to Stay in Current Business of Sabah Tamu Operators

In Sabah, Malaysia, a traditional market known as Tamu (means meeting) acts as a hub for local business activity, especially indigenous people. This paper presents an exploratory study whose goal is to investigate the Covid-19 pandemic financial impact and intention to stay in the current business of Tamu operators. Using purposive and snowballing sampling, survey data were collected from 125 Tamu business operators in Sabah. Among the respondents, 61.6 percent indicated Tamu business as their primary income and main entrepreneurial platform. The Covid-19 pandemic Movement Control Order (MCO) enforcement resulted in the Tamu entrepreneurs experiencing 34.2 percent decrease in weekly sales revenue and a 25.7 percent reduction in weekly gross profit. Furthermore, the overall mean score for the Tamu operators' intention to remain in the Tamu business is high at 4.37 based on 5-point likert scale. Thus, the Sabah Tamu operators are more likely to sustain their Tamu business despite the adverse financial impact of the Covid-19 MCO enforcement. This study outcome may guide the relevant government agencies to mitigate the financial impact by formulating and implementing appropriate policies and support programs specifically targeted for the Tamu business operators, who are mostly informal entrepreneurs.

Transmission of Monetary Policy through Credit Interest Rates in Turkey: A Microeconomic Perspective

This study aims to examine the monetary policy transmission through the credit channel from a microeconomic perspective by using the fixed effect dynamic panel model. It is estimated to what extent policy interest rate changes are transferred to the short-term interest rate depending on the type of loan. Results confirm that there is a high degree of inertia in both the commercial and consumer loan interest rates. In terms of the transmission of monetary policy, changes in policy interest rates are transferred to commercial loan interest rates by 11% and consumer loan interest rates by 15% in the short term. These values reveal that policy interest rate changes are gradually transmitted to market interest rates. Variables representing bank size, leverage, and market power in terms of distinctive characteristics have a limited impact on both commercial and consumer loan interest rates in the analyzing period. However, the market share of a bank has a significant impact on both commercial and consumer loan rates.

Financial Development and Macroeconomic Performance: A Cointegration Approach

The paper tests the existence of long-term relations between all the IMF financial development indices and some macroeconomic performance indicators applying panel cointegration tests in a panel with 46 countries, and in a panel including only the sub-sample of the 27 EU countries over the interval 1990-2019. Overall, there are no significant differences between the results obtained for the whole sample and the panel including only the EU countries. The results obtained clearly point to the existence of cointegration between the financial development indices and the real Gross Domestic Product, as well as with the inflation, the unemployment rate, the current account, and the net international investment position. The results also show that there are no significant differences between the results obtained for the financial institutions and for the financial markets indices. Moreover, the results related to the specific aspects addressed by the IMF indices very well demonstrate that much more important than the simple access to or the depth of the financial institutions and markets is the efficiency of these institutions and markets.

Clicks or Bricks? Online Shopping Adoption in Australia

Purpose: This research identifies and ranks the decision factors associated with online shopping adoption in Australia. Design/Methodology/Approach: Primary data for this study was collected with self-administered questionnaires and analysed using EFA and logit regression.Findings: The following factors, ranked in order of importance, influence online shopping behaviour in Australia: perceived risk, service quality, website factors, brand image, product variety and Australian product loyalty. The findings also show that demographic characteristics also influence the probability that Australian consumers will shop online. Originality/value: This is the first empirical study in which the decision factors influencing Australian consumers’ decisions to shop online are examined. The research contributes to the empirical literature on online shopping from a theoretical perspective as the modelling framework can be used to analyse online shopping behaviour in different cultural settings. Longitudinal studies based on the modelling framework can also be undertaken to identify emerging decision factors and to track the changes in importance of the current factors. The results will also enable retailers to make informed decisions on their existing or future shopping channels.

Intellectual Capital and Firm Performance across Pakistani Industries

This study sheds light on the differences in intellectual capital (IC) efficiencies across non-financial sectors in Pakistan and determines the relationship between IC and firm performance. The study used sample of 155 non-financial firms from the manufacturing and service industries of Pakistan for the period 2009-2018. This study contributes to IC research by applying modified value-added intellectual capital (MVAIC) model with relationship to firm performance (return on assets and Tobin’s Q) of Pakistani non-financial firms which was overlooked by the previous researchers. In addition, to deal with endogeneity, the dynamic panel generalized methods of moments regression is applied to test the relationship between IC and performance. Findings provide evidence that different sectors in non-financial industries manage IC components differently. IC increases both market-based performance and accounting-based performance of Pakistani firms. Among all IC components, human capital efficiency is an important determinant of firm performance. The implication can provide help managers and investors to understand the IC to increase the firm performance.

A Mathematical Model of MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) with Profit Return

Even in perfect competition there is a positive profit return if the good is produced with decreasing returns to scale technology. Using a two-periods overlapping generations (OLG) model with production under perfect competition with decreasing returns to scale technology in which the economy grows by technological progress and the older generation consumers receive the profit returns, we consider the problem of budget deficit under economic growth. We will show the following results. 1) We need a budget deficit to achieve full employment under constant price when the economy grows by technological progress. 2) If the budget deficit exceeds the level necessary to maintain full employment in a growing economy under constant price, inflation will be triggered. We need a stable budget deficit to prevent further inflation. 3) If the budget deficit is insufficient to maintain full employment, it will cause a recession with involuntary unemployment. We can overcome a recession and restore full employment caused by insufficient budget deficit by a budget deficit larger than the one necessary and sufficient to maintain full employment without a recession. We should not offset the deficit created to overcome the recession by subsequent surpluses because we can maintain full employment through constant budget deficits. Also, we show that in each case the budget deficit equals the difference between the net savings of the younger generation consumers and that of the older generation consumers.

Fixed Investment and Economic Growth: ARDL and Causality Exploration for SADC Countries

In assessing the short run and the long-run effects of fixed investment and economic growth among Southern Africa countries, we evaluated the economic progress of the SADC (Southern African Development Committee) region. Our objective is to determine how variables (GDP, purchasing power parity, inflation, electricity, balance-of-payments, and unemployment) can be affected by the fixed investment. In determining how fixed investment affects economic activities and policies among the states, the ADRL estimation approach is applied. Using data from 13 countries in the SADC region from the period 1992-2018, we enumerate the variables’ marginal returns against the fixed investment component. The results of diagnostic and other tests show that all statistical procedures are robust. The result proves that the benefits of fixed investment are yielded over a long period rather than short periods. As a result, the cost in the short term cannot be compared to the benefits that will be enjoyed later by an economy as it becomes productive. Furthermore, the lack of consistent fixed investment among countries will eventually lead to insufficient cash flow, which will negatively affect the currency. These results would seem to suggest that the introduction of policies that promote investment will massively contribute to increased productivity and positive economic growth in the region.

Impact of Economic Integration and Information and Communication Technology on Economic Growth for European Union: Dynamic Panel GMM Approach

European Union is the strongest economic union globally and has observed rapid economic growth in the last few decades. This study investigates whether economic integration and information and communication technology (ICT) promotes economic growth in the EU. Additionally, the study examines the role of ICT for economic integration and growth relationship concerning ICT readiness and usage. The study undertook panel data from 2002 to 2019 and employed the Generalized Method of Moments approach to estimate results. The results revealed that economic integration and ICT enhance economic growth. Moreover, enhanced ICT stimulates the impact of economic integration on economic growth. The results also confirmed a more substantial effect of ICT usage on economic growth than ICT readiness.