The CSR perspective: Interplay of technological innovation, ethical leadership and government regulations for sustainable financial performance.

The financial performance of Chinese public and private sector banks is changing over time. There is no stability in the financial performance of Chinese banks which hurts businesses and the market. The purpose of current research was to determine the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on driving the sustainable financial performance of Chinese banks. From methodological perspective, data was collected from 329 banking sector employees from China to partial least square-structural equation model (PLS-SEM) is employed for data analysis. The research used SPSS 24 and Smart PLS 4 as statistical analysis tools. This research confirmed that achieving sustainability in financial performance for Chinese banks can be achieved with CSR influenced by technological innovation, ethical leadership, and government regulations. This research has statistically confirmed that transformational leadership leading to CSR with technological innovation, ethical leadership, and government regulations can make significant improvements in financial performance. The framework developed by current research is a novel contribution to the literature. The findings of this research improve the literature on the banking sector and advanced performance. Furthermore, this research has highlighted significant ways that can help the banking sector employees to improve their financial performance with sustainability.

Assessing financial inclusion co-movement with low-carbon development index: implications for regional development.

This study assesses the relationship between financial inclusion and low-carbon development and its implications for regional development. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to analyse data from a sample of E7 countries from 2001 to 2020. Results show that financial inclusion and low-carbon development are significantly related, indicating that financial inclusion is a significant driver of low-carbon development. Additionally, regional differences between E7 countries in financial inclusion and low-carbon development are identified, highlighting the need for region-specific policies to promote sustainable development. Moreover, findings show that deposits, bank accounts, and ATMs of all E7 economies contribute to environmental and economic growth inputs. The findings have important implications. Therefore, encouraging low-carbon growth via increased financial inclusion may be successful. Access to financial services, financial literacy, and financial innovation are all areas where policymakers might do more to advance the cause of financial inclusion. Accounting for variations in financial inclusion and low-carbon development between regions is important when crafting policies to encourage sustainable development. The economic climate, cultural norms, and institutional structures of a given area must all be considered by policymakers if they are to craft plans that will be successful.

Fintech and investment risk of digital finance: mediating role of clean energy and green bonds through the dynamics of spill over.

This study examines how financial technology (FinTech) and green bonds have affected the ability of firms to finance energy efficiency measures by using data obtained from a subset of Chinese companies listed on the A-share market between 2011 and 2021. We apply the quantile-on-quantile method, which allows us to examine the interdependence of time series in each economy separately and yields data on the global and national levels indicating the relationship between the variables. The results show that an increase in both direct and indirect financing for businesses, as well as inter-bank competition, can greatly mitigate the financial limitations that firms suffer as a result of FinTech expansion. Our estimates show that the energy efficiency of the countries we chose improves when they are financed with green bonds across all quantiles of the data. Organizations not owned by the state, SMBs, and the more rapidly developing eastern half of China promise to benefit the most from the moderating effect of FinTech because of the faster pace of development there. The immediate ameliorating effect that financial technology has on reduced lending criteria mostly benefits businesses with either a strong innovation rate or a poor social responsibility performance rate. This is because businesses sharing either of these features are more likely to experiment and develop new products. Both theoretical and practical repercussions of this finding are explored.

The impact of bank's engagement in shadow banking activities on bank's sustainability: Evidence from Chinese commercial banks.

The economic and environmental consequences of bad banking practices have aroused much attention. In China, banks are at the center of shadow banking activities through which they avoid regulation and support environmentally unfriendly businesses such as fossil fuel companies and other high-pollution enterprises. In this paper, we study the impact of bank's engagement in shadow banking activities on its sustainability by using annual panel data of Chinese commercial banks. The result shows that bank's engagement in shadow banking activities has a negative impact on its sustainability and the negative impact of bank's engagement in shadow banking activities is more pronounced for city commercial banks and unlisted banks which are less regulated and lack corporate social responsibility (CSR). Furthermore, we explore the underlying mechanism of our findings and prove that bank's sustainability is impeded because it transforms high-risk loan into shadow banking activities which are less regulated. Finally, by using difference-in-difference (DiD) approach, we find that bank's sustainability improved after the financial regulation on shadow banking activities. Our research provides empirical evidence that the financial regulation on bad banking practices is beneficial for bank's sustainability.

Does environmental, social, and governance performance mitigate earnings management practices? Evidence from US commercial banks.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance has attracted debates of regulatory bodies and the academic community. Previous studies highlighted the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure index and earnings management (EM) for non-financial firms. In this paper, we examine the relationship between the ESG performance and EM practices for a sample of US commercial banks over the period 2010-2019. We use two proxies for earnings management: abnormal loan loss provisions (ALLP) and EM to meet the threshold of reporting small positive profit or avoiding losses (SPOS). Consistent with the transparent financial reporting hypothesis, we find that banks reporting higher ESG performance are less likely engaged in income-increasing practice through ALLP. However, no evidence supports that ESG score mitigates EM through loss avoidance. Furthermore, we disaggregate the ESG score into its main three components: environmental, social, and governance. Our findings show that the governance pillar effectively mitigates EM practice under its two proxies. Specifically, the social pillar also seems to be an efficient constraint of banks' EM through income-increasing abnormal loan loss provisions and loss avoidance activity. However, no supporting evidence of a mitigating role for the environmental pillar is provided. Taken together, our results show that, except the environmental pillar, ESG performance score acts as an efficient mitigating tool for EM practices for US banks. Our findings provide a better understanding of banks' earnings management practices. Our findings are helpful for managers when undertaking long-term investment strategies in ESG reporting practices, regulators when issuing new standards, and banks' stakeholders when assessing both the financial and non-financial performance of such entities.

Does environmental information disclosure affect the financial performance of commercial banks? Evidence from China.

The article uses hand-collected data regarding environmental information disclosure for Chinese 30 listed banks from 2009 to 2019 to investigate the effect of environmental information disclosure on banks' financial performance. Results show that the improvement in the quality of environmental information disclosure enhances the financial performance of banks, and this effect is intertemporal. In terms of the bank heterogeneity, national banks have a more significant effect of environmental information disclosure on their financial performance compared to regional banks. Furthermore, we provide evidence that the regional green development environment moderates the relationship between environmental information disclosure and banks' financial performance. The findings of our study add impetus for commercial banks to improve their environmental information disclosure.

Microcredit programs may increase risk to pastoralist livelihoods in Inner Mongolia.

The literature on microcredit programs has largely focused on positive socioeconomic outcomes and low accessibility issues in farming areas and has provided less insight into the effects of easily acquired microcredit in pastoral areas. Using a case study approach, and econometric models, this paper addresses this gap by examining why and how easily acquired microcredit loans in Inner Mongolian pastoral areas increase the risk to the financial security of households or livelihood risk. Results show that existing microcredit programs increase livelihood risk because loan and repayment requirements do not align with the husbandry production cycle of contemporary Inner Mongolian pastoralists. This misalignment forces pastoralists to borrow from usurers to repay bank loans. Furthermore, households that need to borrow from usurers typically own smaller numbers of livestock and are less likely to be able to repay the usurers by selling animals. Instead, they tend to increase their bank loans in the coming year to repay the previous year's debt, trapping them in a vicious and ultimately impoverishing circle of annual loans they cannot fully pay back, and feeding increasing debt. We suggest that microcredit programs in semiarid areas should be in sync with the local production cycle and recognize environmental constraints that cause high variation in production seasonally and year to year. Our results supplement previous findings on microcredit applications and are particularly pertinent for other semiarid areas of the world.

Facemask-wearing behavior to prevent COVID-19 and associated factors among public and private bank workers in Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Given widespread vulnerability to COVID-19 infection in areas with low vaccination rates, facemask wearing is repeatedly emphasized for the general population including bank workers, who have contact with many customers each day. Over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, studies focused on facemask wearing among healthcare workers but not among bank workers, who are also at risk of COVID-19. To address this gap and to consider intervention measures that encourage the wearing of facemasks, this study was conducted to identify behaviors of facemask wearing and associated factors among bank workers in Dessie City, Ethiopia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 413 bank workers who were selected using a simple random sampling technique from January 1st to 30th, 2021 in Dessie City, Ethiopia. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and on-the-spot observational checklist. The collected data were checked, coded and entered to EpiData version 4.6 and exported to Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 for data cleaning and analysis. Data were analyzed using bivariable (crude odds ratio [COR]) and multivariable (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]) logistic regression model at 95% confidence interval (CI). Variables from the bivariable analysis with a p-value <0.25 were considered for multivariable analysis. Then, variables that had a p-value <0.05 were declared as factors significantly associated with behavior of facemask wearing. MAIN FINDINGS: In this study, the behavior of facemask wearing among bank workers was 50.4% [95%CI: 45.3-55.2%] with 21.1% always wearing a facemask, 72.4% sometimes, and 6.5% never. A majority of the bank workers 350 (84.7%) had good knowledge of COVID-19 and half of them 208 (50.4%) had a positive attitude towards taking precautions against COVID-19. Just over two-thirds of the respondents 284 (68.8%) preferred to wear a non-medical mask. Two hundred fifty-five (61.7%) said wearing a facemask interfered with communication and 259 (62.7%) felt that wearing a facemask was not comfortable. Facemask-wearing behavior was significantly associated with a high level of positive attitude towards taking precautions against COVID-19 (AOR = 3.27, 95% CI: 1.75-6.11), the perception that the consequences of getting COVID-19 could be serious (AOR = 4.87, 95% CI: 2.38-9.94), the presence of chronic illness (AOR = 2.19, 95% CI: 1.07-4.48), sex being female (AOR = 1.87, 95% CI: 1.06-3.32) and age being greater or equal to 35 years (AOR = 9.25, 95% CI: 4.79-17.88). CONCLUSION: The main finding of the study showed that the behavior of facemask wearing among bank workers was relatively low (50.4%) compared to other types of workers as found in other studies. To increase the behavior of facemask wearing among bank workers, health decision makers need to develop updated guidance for promotion of facemask wearing to increase the practical and appropriate use of facemasks among bank workers. Bank managers and concerned government bodies should enforce mask use to change behavior of these workers.

Interrogating the World Bank's role in global health knowledge production, governance, and finance.

BACKGROUND: In the nearly half century since it began lending for population projects, the World Bank has become one of the largest financiers of global health projects and programs, a powerful voice in shaping health agendas in global governance spaces, and a mass producer of evidentiary knowledge for its preferred global health interventions. How can social scientists interrogate the role of the World Bank in shaping 'global health' in the current era? MAIN BODY: As a group of historians, social scientists, and public health officials with experience studying the effects of the institution's investment in health, we identify three challenges to this research. First, a future research agenda requires recognizing that the Bank is not a monolith, but rather has distinct inter-organizational groups that have shaped investment and discourse in complicated, and sometimes contradictory, ways. Second, we must consider how its influence on health policy and investment has changed significantly over time. Third, we must analyze its modes of engagement with other institutions within the global health landscape, and with the private sector. The unique relationships between Bank entities and countries that shape health policy, and the Bank's position as a center of research, permit it to have a formative influence on health economics as applied to international development. Addressing these challenges, we propose a future research agenda for the Bank's influence on global health through three overlapping objects of and domains for study: knowledge-based (shaping health policy knowledge), governance-based (shaping health governance), and finance-based (shaping health financing). We provide a review of case studies in each of these categories to inform this research agenda. CONCLUSIONS: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage, and as state and non-state actors work to build more inclusive and robust health systems around the world, it is more important than ever to consider how to best document and analyze the impacts of Bank's financial and technical investments in the Global South.

Isolation and identification of microorganisms associated with automated teller machines on Federal Polytechnic Ede campus.

Automated Teller Machines (ATM) are visited everyday by millions of people. This machine is accessible to the general public irrespective of class, age or race. The contact point of all ATM machines is the hand which on their own are 'vaults' of microorganisms. An elaborate survey was taken for complete assessment of possible microbial contamination in the Federal Polytechnic Ede campus. Selected ATM machines on campus were used as case study to characterize, identify and determine the degree of bacterial contamination of microorganisms and their potential as reservoir of microbes. Swabs were collected from each ATM screen, buttons, floor, user's hand, and exposure of plates. After collection of the samples, they were plated in nutrient agar. The results showed the presence of increased bacterial count subsequently, most pathogens on characterization revealed the genus of the particular organisms E. coli, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella, Micrococcus, Salmonella and Serratia. The study showed the potential hazard inherent in ATM machine usage and draws attention to our level of hand hygiene compliance.

Banks, alternative institutions and the spatial-temporal ecology of racial inequality in US cities.

Research has made clear that neighbourhood conditions affect racial inequality. We examine how living in minority neighbourhoods affects ease of access to conventional banks versus alternative financial institutions (AFIs) such as check cashers and payday lenders, which some have called predatory. Based on more than 6 million queries, we compute the difference in the time required to walk, drive or take public transport to the nearest bank versus AFI from the middle of every block in each of 19 of the largest cities in the United States. The results suggest that race is strikingly more important than class: even after numerous conditions are accounted for, the AFI is more often closer than the bank in low-poverty racial/ethnic minority neighbourhoods than in high-poverty white ones. Results are driven not by the absence of banks but by the prevalence of AFIs in minority areas. Gaps appear too large to reflect simple differences in preferences.

Interest on reserves, helicopter money and new monetary policy.

We build a nonlinear dynamic model with currency, demand deposits and bank reserves. Monetary base is controlled by central bank, while money supply is determined by the interactions between central bank, commercial banks and public. In economic crises when banks cut loans, monetary policy following a Taylor rule is not efficient. Negative interest on reserves or forward guidance is effective, but deflation is still likely to be persistent. If central bank simultaneously targets both interest rate and money supply by a Taylor rule and a Friedman's k-percent rule, inflation and output are stabilized. An interest rate rule policy is just a subset of a more general monetary policy framework in which central bank can move interest rate and money supply in every direction.

Promises and pitfalls of digital credit: Empirical evidence from Kenya.

Digital credit is a recent innovation that raises hopes of improving credit access in developing countries. However, up until now, empirical research on the extent to which digital credit actually reaches people who are otherwise excluded from conventional credit markets and whether increased credit access is sustainable or threatened by high default and blacklisting rates is very scarce. Using representative data from Kenya, this article shows that digital credit increases borrowing opportunities, including for people less likely to otherwise have credit access in the conventional credit markets. However, we find that digital credit borrowing is also responsible for 90% of all blacklistings, which is partially driven by higher default rates in the digital credit market but also by a higher probability that digital credit defaults lead to blacklisting of the borrower, compared to defaults in other credit markets.

Competition, capital growth and risk-taking in emerging markets: Policy implications for banking sector stability during COVID-19 pandemic.

This paper investigates how banking competition and capital level impact on the risk-taking behavior of banking institutions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The topic is perceived to be of significant importance during the COVID-19 pandemic. We use data for more than 225 banks in 18 countries in the MENA region to test whether increased competition causes banks to hold higher capital ratios. Employing panel data techniques, and distinguishing between Islamic and conventional banks, we show that banks tend to hold higher capital ratios when operating in a more competitive environment. We also provide evidence that banks in the MENA region increase their capitalization levels in response to a higher risk and vice versa. Further, banking concentration (measured by the HH-index) and credit risk have a significant and positive impact on capital ratios of IBs, whereas competition does play a restrictive role in determining the level of their capital. The results hold when controlling for ownership structure, regulatory and institutional environment, bank-specific and macroeconomic characteristics. Our findings inform regulatory authorities concerned with improving the financial stability of banking sector in the MENA region to strengthen their policies in order to force banks to better align with capital requirements and risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Factores de riesgo psicosocial y molestias musculoesqueléticas en cajeros bancarios de una empresa bancaria en Lima - Perú / Psychosocial risk factors and musculoskeletal discomfort among tellers at a banking company in Lima, Peru

Objetivo: Determinar si la presencia de molestias musculoesqueléticas y el nivel de riesgo psicosocial se hallan relacionados en cajeros de una empresa bancaria en la ciudad de Lima. Métodos: Diseño metodológico de tipo transversal y descriptivo. Se analizó una muestra de 234 trabajadores. Los instrumentos utilizados fueron el Cuestionario de Riesgos Psicosociales en el Trabajo SUSESO - ISTAS 21 VERSIÓN BREVE, una adaptación del Cuestionario Nórdico de Molestias Musculoesqueléticas y una ficha de datos sociodemográficos. Se aplicaron los instrumentos de valoración entre los meses septiembre y noviembre del año 2018. Se utilizó la prueba de Chi Cuadrado para analizar la relación entre las variables principales del estudio. Resultados: Las dimensiones de factores psicosociales con más prevalencia de riesgo alto fueron “Exigencias psicológicas” (50.1%) y “Doble presencia” (49.1%). Las molestias musculoesqueléticas más frecuentes fueron las reportadas en el cuello (75.9%) y en la zona dorsolumbar (75.0%). Se observó relación entre el nivel de riesgo psicosocial en la dimensión “Compensaciones” y cantidad de regiones corporales afectadas por molestias musculoesqueléticas en los cajeros bancarios (p<0.05). Conclusiones: Existe relación entre el nivel de riesgo psicosocial en la dimensión de “Compensaciones” y la cantidad de regiones corporales con reporte de molestias musculoesqueléticas. Se recomienda propiciar factores psicosociales protectores para evitar las molestias musculoesqueléticas en los cajeros bancarios (AU)

Objective: We examined associations between psychosocial risk factors and musculoskeletal discomfort among tellers at a bank Lima, Peru. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study of 234 workers. The instruments used were the Questionnaire of Psychosocial Risks at Work SUSESO - ISTAS 21 Short Version, an adaptation of the Nordic Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire and a sociodemographic data sheet. These two questionnaires were administered between September and November 2018. We analyzed associations between the two main study variables with chi-square tests. Results: The most prevalent psychosocial factor dimensions were “psychological demands “ (50.1%) and “double presence” (49.1%). The most frequent musculoskeletal discomfort were in the neck (75.9%) and thoracolumbar (75%) areas. We observed an association between the level of psychosocial risk in the “compensation” dimension and the number of body regions affected by musculoskeletal discomfort (p<0.05). Conclusions: There is a relationship between the level of psychosocial risk in the “compensation” dimension and the number of body regions with reported musculoskeletal discomfort. We recommend implementing psychosocial risk factor preventive measures to avoid musculoskeletal discomfort in bank tellers (AU)

Assessment of Computer Vision Syndrome and Personal Risk Factors among Employees of Commercial Bank of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Background: Computer vision syndrome (CVS) is an amalgam of visual symptoms caused by continued use of computers. Worldwide, up to 70 million workers are at risk for computer vision syndrome resulting in reduced productivity at work and reduced quality of life. Bank employees are among the risky workers with unknown magnitude of the syndrome. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of CVS and its associated personal factors among employees of Commercial Bank of Ethiopia. Methods: A total of three hundred and fifty-nine bank workers participated in the study between February and March 2018. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic data, CVS symptoms, and its personal factors. Snellen chart tool was used to measure blurred vision. Data entry and analysis were performed via Epi Info™ 7 and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Binary logistic regression and multivariable logistic regression were performed to assess the association and control the potential confounders. Result: The prevalence of computer vision syndrome in the last 12 months among the total study subjects, 359 (98% response rate), was 262 (74.6%) (95% confidence interval [CI] = 70.1, 79.5). Risk factors that could not be intervened with were sex (AOR: 1.8; 95% CI (1-3)) and age group (AOR: 3.11; 95% CI (1.2-8)). Causal factors that could be intervened with were use of electronic materials outside work (AOR: 3.11; 95% CI (1.15-8.36). Protective factor that could be intervened with was habit of taking a break (AOR: 0.44; 95% CI (0.3-0.8)). Conclusion and Recommendation. Three-fours of the employees were at risk. Sex, age, habit of taking a break, and use of electronic materials outside work environment were significantly associated with the presence of CVS. Remedial actions need to be considered at individual level.