Profitability determining factors of banking sector: Panel data analysis of commercial banks in South Asian countries.

Aim of the article: The main purpose of this article was to investigate the impact of the determinants of profitability on the commercial banks in Asian countries. An Asian country like Bangladesh and India was selected as the research field. The present study also pursues to examine the impact of specific factors and macroeconomic factors on the profitability in the Bangladeshi and Indian private commercial banking sectors. Methods applied and analysis tools: The data were retrieved from the Annual Reports of Indian and Bangladeshi private commercial banks covering the period of 2010-2021. As sample, 40 private commercial banks were considered randomly, of which 20 were from India and 20 were from Bangladesh. The panel data research methodology was used as an estimation technique to analyze the data. Also, the ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model was used to scrutinize data. To check whether the models were appropriate, the Breusch-Pagan Lagrange Multiplier (LM) Test was employed. Banks' specific factors and microeconomic factors showed almost the same variations for both Bangladesh's and India's private banks. All models and tests were evaluated using E-views econometric software. The major findings: The present study finds that the Return on Asset (ROA) from the banks' specific variables, strength of the Bank size (BS), and Debt to Asset Ratio (DAR) are found to be positive and significant. For banks, the Deposit to Asset Ratio (DTAR) and the Loan to Deposit Ratio (LDR) are found to be negative and significant. The Equity to Asset Ratio (EAR) and Debt to Equity Ratio (DER) do not have any positive/negative impact. Contribution originality and implications: As macroeconomic variables, the inflation rate (IR) and the GDP growth rate (GDPGR) are measured and found to be positive and significant for ROA. As macroeconomic variables, the Inflation Rate (IR) and the GDP Growth Rate (GDPGR) are found to be positive and significant in the case of ROA. The concerned authorities responsible for regulating the financial performance of the banking sector can use the results of this study to take various fruitful decisions on bank profitability.

Association of stigma with mental health and quality of life among Indonesian COVID-19 survivors.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) survivors face societal stigma. The study aims to analyze the association of this stigma with the mental health and quality of life of COVID-19 survivors. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we observed 547 adults who were previously documented as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) positive by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, treated in a hospital or an emergency hospital and proven to be SARS-CoV-2 negative by their latest PCR test. We adopted the Berger HIV Stigma Scale to measure stigma; the World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Form to measure quality of life; and the Mental Health Inventory-38 to measure mental health. The chi-square and binary logistic regression tests were used to find the correlation between the variables. RESULTS: The multivariate analysis revealed that medium stigma was more likely related to quality of life and mental health than low stigma. Females were less likely to experience stigma related to mental health than men, and respondents who worked as laborers and entrepreneurs were less likely to experience stigma related to mental health than those who worked as civil workers/army personnel/teachers/lecturers. COVID-19 survivors experienced medium stigma in society and lower quality of life and mental health status. We found that quality of life and mental health were affected by stigma, sex, and occupation. CONCLUSION: COVID-19 survivors are a vulnerable group that is most at risk when they return to their communities. Creating a safe environment and providing respectful care, including addressing complex stigma factors, is vital for developing appropriate interventions.

The local economy and Re-election of incumbent district leaders in Indonesia.

This paper tests whether economic growth and unemployment rates matter in the re-election of incumbent district leaders in Indonesia. Applying the Probit and Hekcprobit model on Indonesia's local direct elections during 2005-2013, we find that both unemployment and GDP per capita growth has an impact on election outcomes in the election year. However, for incumbent district leaders' it is only the average annual GDP per capita growth that matters for re-election. However, when we separate luck (district's performance due to regional or national economy) from competence (district's own economic performance), we find that competence matters for re-election in the election year, while luck matters for re-election in the average annual performance of the incumbents' tenure. The findings suggest that voters put more attention and vigilance on the incumbents' performances in the last year of their tenure, rather than on their whole tenure.

Remuneration committees, executive remuneration, and firm performance in Indonesia.

Indonesia is currently in the process of mandating the establishment of Remuneration Committees (RCs) for all listed companies. However, little is known about the effectiveness of RCs in Indonesia. This study sheds light on this issue, by examining the relationships between RCs, executive and board of director remuneration, and firm performance in Indonesia. This study uses 847 observations of firms listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX) during 2014-2017. Our results indicate that RCs are positively related to executives remuneration and firm performance. In particular, higher remuneration is only linked to higher performance in firms that have established a remuneration committee. This study documents the interactions between RCs, remuneration levels of senior company officers and firm performance in an emerging market setting with voluntary formation of RCs. This study has implications for regulators and company management in Indonesia (and other emerging markets), as the existence of remuneration committees is found to be associated with more effective remuneration packages and higher firm performance.

CEO busyness and firm performance: evidence from Indonesia.

This study investigates whether busy CEOs are associated with lower firm performance, and if this relationship is moderated by firm growth, CEO tenure and corporate governance practices in Indonesia. This study uses 876 firms-year observations from 268 firms listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) for the period spanning 2014 to 2017. We find that busy CEOs are associated with lower firm performance. This negative relationship is stronger in firms with high growth and when busy CEOs have shorter tenure. We also show that corporate governance practices have no impact on the negative relationship between CEO busyness and firm performance. For firms and shareholders, our findings indicate that it is not a good idea for CEOs to hold two or more outside directorships, particularly in the early years of taking up their CEO position. Our results suggest that restrictions on CEO busyness would be beneficial to shareholders.